Report in which the committee requests to be kept informed of development - Report No 281, March 1992

Case No 1500 (China) - Complaint date: 19-JUN-89 - Closed

1. 68. The Committee has already examined this case on four occasions, in November 1989, February and November 1990 and November 1991. (See 268th Report, paras. 668-701; 270th Report, paras. 287-334; 275th Report, paras. 323-363; and 279th Report, paras. 586-641, approved by the Governing Body at its 244th, 245th, 248th and 251st Sessions, respectively.)
2. 69. Since then the Government has sent its observations in a communication dated 29 January 1992.
3. 70. China has ratified neither the Freedom of Association and the Protection to Organise Convention, 1948 (No. 87), nor the Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention, 1949 (No. 98).

A. Previous examinations of the case

1. 71. The allegations presented by the ICFTU in June 1989 stemmed from the measures taken by the authorities against the Workers' Autonomous Federations (WAFs) set up in several Chinese provinces, their leaders and workers; the banning of these organisations; the death of a number of union leaders following an attack by the army; the sentencing to death and execution of workers; and arrests. In support of the allegations the ICFTU supplied a long list of workers said to have been arrested or executed, which the Committee annexed to its May and November 1990 reports.
2. 72. In its replies the Government had emphasised the illegal character of the WAFs, in that they had not observed the registration procedure prescribed by law. The Government had made its observations on the factual allegations presented and, in particuar, had provided information on all the people cited in the original communications as having been arrested or convicted.
3. 73. At its November 1991 Session, the Governing Body approved the following recommendations of the Committee:
   • (a) The Committee deeply deplores once again that workers were sentenced to death and expresses its consternation at the execution of these workers.
   • (b) The Committee deplores the high number of casualties which occurred during the events of June 1989 and deeply regrets that all necessary measures were apparently not taken to avoid these tragic events.
   • (c) While welcoming the positive step constituted by the release of certain persons, including Messrs. Hang Dongfang and Liu Qiang, leaders of the Beijing WAF, the Committee expresses its serious concern at the number and harshness of sentences handed down by the courts, in view of the doubts remaining as to the respect of due process. The Committee insists with the Government that, more than two years after the events, measures should be taken urgently to release the detained workers; it requests the Government to keep it informed of any development in this respect.
   • (d) The Committee requests the Government urgently to provide information on the persons listed in the Annex to the present report (reasons for arrest; proceedings instituted, if any; present situation of the persons concerned).
   • (e) As regards the workers subjected to re-education-through-labour measures, the Committee requests the Government to examine this issue on a priority basis, so that the persons detained without judgement be released. It requests the Government to provide information on the measures it intends to take in that respect.
   • (f) The Committee requests once again the Government to take the necessary measures so that the right of workers to establish organisations of their own choosing and the right of free functioning of these organisations be recognised in the legislation and guaranteed in practice.

B. The Government's reply

1. 74. In its reply the Government recalls that it has stated its position on this case on several occasions and has always maintained that it has nothing to do with freedom of association. It was in the exercise of China's sovereign right that the judicial authorities tried and sentenced a small number of members of WAFs who had violated the Constitution and criminal laws of the country during the chaos and rioting in Beijing in June 1989. The Government requests once again that its position of principle be seriously taken into consideration by the Committee so that it reaches just conclusions. Although the complaints and prejudiced allegations contained in the so-called additional information prepared by the ICFTU are groundless, the Chinese Government states that it is prepared, in a spirit of cooperation with the ILO, to provide comments and information in an effort to clarify the facts.
2. 75. The Government states that the judicial authorities have now completed the trials of the persons who had violated the country's criminal laws. The outcome of the trials was a combination of punishment and clemency based on the charges made and on the law. Serious and responsible investigations have been conducted and the charges of violations and criminal activities have been checked, in order to redeem those who could be redeemed. Those who committed lesser crimes were thus shown clemency and subjected to education, and only an extremely small number of people who committed serious violations of the law were judged by the courts.
3. 76. The Government provides the following additional information on the people listed in the annex to the Committee's last report: Yang Jian, Li Yi, and Wang Baomei have been released; Dai Jenping and Yan Tinggui have been sentenced to eight and five years imprisonment respectively for the serious crimes of disturbing the traffic and social order by participating in the riots; Zhang Renfu, Ma Zhiquing and Chen Jinliang have been sentenced to five years' imprisonment for violating the criminal law by inciting to, and participating in the riots and by conspiring to overthrow the Government; Sun Xisheng has been sentenced to seven years' imprisonment for the serious crimes of disturbing the traffic and hooliganism; Song Tianli and Xiaolin have been sentenced to 15 and 10 years' imprisonment respectively for inciting and participating in riots and conspiring to overthrow the Government; Zhang Jinsheng and Wang Changhuai have been sentenced to 13 and 3 years' imprisonment respectively for inciting to, and participating in riots and conspiring to overthrow the Government; Zhao Demin, Ren Xiying, Xu Ying, Bao Hongjian, Chang Ximin, Zhou Yong, Lu Zhaixing and Li Zhifu have all been released; Zheng Liang and Zhang Renfu, on whom the Government has already provided information, are still being held; He Qunyin, You Diangi, Wang Wang and Zhang Hongfu were released immediately after questioning by the public security authorities.
4. 77. In Changchun, the seven people who had been subjected to education through labour were released a year ago. Education through labour is governed by regulations issued by the Standing Committee of the National Peoples' Congress in 1957. People educated through labour are those of 16 years of age or more who have upset the social order in large and medium-sized cities and refuse to mend their ways despite repeated admonition, or who commit an offence which is not serious enough for criminal punishment. Under the relevant regulations, people educated through labour retain the civil rights prescribed by the Constitution, including the right to vote, to freedom of correspondence, to holidays and to be reunited with their family. The institutions responsible for education through labour pursue a policy of educating, persuading and redeeming the offenders. Each year about 50 per cent of the people educated through labour have their term reduced and are released ahead of time. This practice has prevented a large number of people from continuing illegal activities and becoming criminals. The Government considers that, in the interests of social order and stability, education through labour is an effective measure which meets the specific conditions of China. It therefore believes that this policy can in no way be considered as a violation of basic human rights.

C. The Committee's conclusions

1. 78. The Committee has noted the information supplied by the Government in response to the requests for information it formulated in its previous report. These requests related to the situation of people who, according to the complainant organisation, had been arrested (a list of names was annexed to the Committee's report) and to the present circumstances of the people subjected to education through labour.
2. 79. The Committee notes with interest that the Government has supplied information on all the people whose names were cited in the additional information furnished by the ICFTU. Since the case was opened, the Government has provided details on all the people mentioned in the complainant's various communications.
3. 80. The Committee notes with interest that several WAF leaders and militants have now been released. However, it notes with serious concern that, since the beginning of the case, the Government has informed it that 66 people have been sentenced by the courts; nine of these were condemned to death and six to life imprisonment. Furthermore, it would appear that most of those who were given long prison sentences are still being detained. The Committee recalls once again that it had requested the Government to reconsider these cases. Since it has yet again received no indication as to any intention on the part of the Government to declare an amnesty or to show clemency, the Committee urges it to take immediate measures to put an end to the detention of the people concerned and to keep it informed of the action taken in this respect.
4. 81. As regards the seven workers of Changchun subjected to "education through labour", the Committee notes that they have now been released. The Committee notes this information but must emphasise once again that, in its view, the "system of education through labour" constitutes a form of forced labour and administrative detention of people who have not been convicted by the courts and who, in some cases, are not even liable to sanctions imposed by the judicial authorities. This form of detention and forced labour constitutes without any doubt a violation of basic ILO standards which guarantee compliance with human rights and, when applied to people who have engaged in trade union activities, a blatant violation of the principles of freedom of association. The Committee therefore urges the Government to refrain from taking measures of this kind against workers who have engaged in trade union activities.
5. 82. Having examined the Government's replies to the allegations in this case, the Committee feels obliged to emphasise that all the punitive and coercive measures taken against a large number of workers originated in the wish they expressed to set up independent organisations in order to defend and promote their interests. As the Committee observed in its previous reports, the by-laws of these organisations and the nature of their demands came under the normal activities of workers' organisations and as such should have been recognised. The Committee considers that the solution to economic and social problems cannot be found by banning organisations that the workers wish to establish. In the Committee's opinion, the measures taken by the Government in the case under examination go far beyond punishing the excesses that may have been committed by individuals, since the consequence of the arrest of leaders and militants has been the dismantling of the organisations they had established. In order to prevent a repetition of such occurrences, therefore, the Government must take the necessary steps to ensure that the right of workers to establish organisations of their own choosing and the right of these organisations to function freely are recognised in the country's legislation and guaranteed in practice.

The Committee's recommendations

1. 83. In the light of the foregoing conclusions, the Committee invites the Governing Body to approve the following recommendations:
   • (a) While noting with interest the steps taken by the authorities to release certain people, the Committee urges the Government to take immediate measures to put an end to the detention of workers still in custody and to keep it informed of the action taken in this respect.
   • (b) The Committee urges the Government to refrain from taking measures of administrative detention and forced labour, such as the so-called system of education through labour, against workers who have engaged in trade union activities.
   • (c) The Committee urges the Government to take the necessary steps to ensure that the right of workers to establish organisations of their own choosing and the right of these organisations to function freely are recognised in the country's legislation and guaranteed in practice.