Calls for transparency in China ethnic riot trials
Updated
Trials are expected to start this week in Urumqi, where more than 200 people will be prosecuted over the violent riots last month in Xinjiang province. More than 1,500 people were arrested when ethnic Uighurs and Han Chinese clashed, leaving 197 people dead. It is seen as the worst ethnic unrest in China in decades and apparently started after a dispute over accusations of abuse at a nearby factory. But the issue itself - that of the treatment of ethnic Uighurs in China - has crossed borders and has even played out internationally, with, for instance, the controversial appearances of the Uighur activist Rabiya Kadeer here in Australia.
Presenter: Zulfikar Abbany
Speaker: Albert Ho, lawyer, politician, and chairperson, China Human Rights Lawyers Concerned Group and the Democratic Party, Hong Kong
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HO: I think it is quite clear that the whole world is watching China to see how she is handling this massive number of cases. But there has been concern as to whether or not these trials will be openly conducted and will be conducted in a fair and impartial manner.
ABBANY: So, you mean with public access?
HO: Yes, I mean open trial obviously means that there should be public access to the court to hear the trial, including access by members of the press.
ABBANY: But there is the feeling that China, the mainland may want to make a certain show trial out of this because we're getting - not a lot of information about who exactly has been charged - but we are getting information about the sort of evidence that has been collated. I mean seeing things about bloody batons and the like?
HO: Yes.
ABBANY: That's quite graphic, isn't it? So, perhaps it could be a show trial?
HO: People from outside have difficult of knowing the evidence that would be presented in court in support of the charges. But obviously what we would like to see is that all these defendants can have their own choice of lawyers, so that they can rely on independent legal advice to protect their own rights in the court. But unfortunately, to my knowledge, many human rights lawyers have been denied the right to represent these defendants in Xinjiang.
ABBANY: So, have you also put yourself up to represent people?
HO: Not me, certainly, because I am only a Hong Kong lawyer. I am not entitled to practice in China because there are two separate systems. But to my knowledge many lawyers who are entitled to be in the mainland, including the province of Xinjiang, are unable to take up these sensitive cases. Some lawyers have been warned again and again not to take up these cases.
ABBANY: What do you think would happen if they did take up a case?
HO: A number of lawyers have been denied their registration of their practicing certificate. Over 20 to 30 lawyers whom I know have been denied these registration. So, there is a lot of threat and pressure on mainland lawyers who are activists and who are willing to take up cases and defendants who are involved in what they call sensitive cases.
ABBANY: Albert Ho, there has been a lot of talk about how many people - Han Chinese or ethnic Uighur - were involved in the violence and who died, and who killed whom. Do you think we should be expecting or should expect some sort of bias towards Han Chinese, for instance, in this case?
HO: Frankly speaking, I don't have sufficient information to come to a view at this stage as to whether or not there would be ethnic discrimination in these cases.
ABBANY: Because the Chinese mainland has been very opposed to the Uighur issue internationally, say, and we've seen pressure here in Australia, with a visit and the appearance of the Uighur leader, Rabiya Kadeer, for instance.
HO: Yes, yes, yes. Obviously, we feel that many defendants would be charged with the offence of subversion and so it is not more than charges of engaging in riots or ethnic conflicts, but obviously I am concerned to see that very probably some or many of them will be charged with sedition or subversion. Now all these are political offences.
ABBANY: Has the international community handled this issue correctly do you think?
HO: Of course, in international community, everybody are concerned that people should be given equal protection under the law according to the universal declaration of human rights, to which China is a subscriber. So, obviously I think the international community as well as governments of different jurisdictions should have a say on matters of protection of human rights and I see no reason how China can say, Well, this is only domestic affairs and that any any violation of human rights is matter that should be beyond criticism of people outside China.
