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Chinese lawyers blocked from defending Tibetans

Senior Chinese lawyers have been blocked from defending three Tibetans currently in prison in Tibet, including Tibetan film-maker Dhondup Wangchen, detained on March 26, 2008, soon after completing filming of the documentary ‘Leaving Fear Behind’. The film documents Tibetan views of last year’s Beijing Olympics, the current situation in Tibet and the Dalai Lama’s return to Tibet. (See: www.leavingfearbehind.com)

According to information published on a Chinese-language blog site and sources who know Dhondup Wangchen, lawyer Li Dunyong, from the Beijing Gongxin law firm, has been blocked from taking on the case. Li Dunyong is said to believe that Dhondup Wangchen’s actions in making the film do not constitute a crime under Chinese law. But there are serious fears now for Dhondup Wangchen’s welfare as he is held incommunicado and without access to a lawyer of his choice, and a trial is believed to be imminent.

Dhondup Wangchen is currently being held in Xining detention center in the provincial capital of Qinghai, and has not been allowed visitors. Li Dunyong was among 21 lawyers who signed a petition last year following the protests in Tibet that began in March publicly stating his willingness to offer legal assistance to Tibetans who had been detained. According to the Chinese-language blog site, Li Dunyong traveled to Xining to meet Dhondup Wangchen, but is now being blocked by the Qinghai Justice Bureau and legal authorities in Beijing from taking on the case.

Chinese lawyer Li Fangping, who attempted to defend two further Tibetan cases earlier this year together with his colleague Jiang Tianyong, has also been blocked from providing legal assistance to two Tibetan monks from Labrang monastery who have been sentenced for ‘splittism’, according to the same Chinese-language blogsite. Tsultrim Gyatso (Chinese: Cicheng Jiacuo) and Thabkey Gyatso (Chinese: Dike Tankai) were reportedly sentenced at a closed trial on May 21 by Gannan Prefecture Intermediate People’s Court in Gansu province. 

Tsultrim Gyatso was sentenced to life imprisonment for the crime of “splitting the nation” and Thabkey Gyatso was sentenced to 15 years imprisonment for the crime of “incitement to split the nation”. Both monks appealed following their trial, and are currently being held in the Gansu Province State Security Department detention center.

The families sought to hire prominent Chinese civil rights lawyer Li Fangping from the Beijing Ruifeng law firm to represent them at the trial. But when Li Fangping went to visit the two Labrang monks last month to prepare for the case, he was denied access. On July 6, he was informed by Gansu High People’s Court that the two monks had already taken on another lawyer.

It is the third Tibetan case that Li Fangping has been involved with. In April, the date for sentencing an important Tibetan lama being defended by Li Fangping and his colleague Jiang Tianyong was deferred.

Phurbu Rinpoche, a highly respected religious leader from Kardze (Chinese: Ganzi) in Sichuan province (the Tibetan area of Kham) was detained in May 2008 and is being charged with weapons possession and misappropriating state property. The lawyers issued a statement in which they said that “taking criminal measures” against Phurbu Rinpoche, “who is very influential locally and who is broadly respected, would be detrimental to upholding local unity of the nationalities.”

The two lawyers also became involved in investigating the case of the monk Labrang Jigme due to fears for his welfare after he was seized from his monastery by armed police on November 4, 2008. Following the involvement of the lawyers, who traveled to Lanzhou where the senior monk was being held, Labrang Jigme was released from custody after six months of detention without charges.

Professor Jerome Cohen, an expert in China’s legal system, says: “Perhaps the best litmus test of reality in the administration of justice in any country is its treatment of its legal profession. One has to note with both regret and shock that… China’s police including agents of both the Ministry of Public Security and the Ministry of State Security continue to restrict, threaten, harass, assault, detain, arrest and recommend prosecution of not only human rights lawyers who dare to defend the accused, but also those who give legal assistance to ordinary people who challenge arbitrary government actions.” (‘A Slow March to Legal Reform’, China’s Great Leap: The Beijing Games and Olympian Human Rights Challenges by Minky Worden, Seven Stories Press, 2008, www.hrw.org).