By:  Lindsey Brady
Impunity Watch, Managing Editor – News

Two elderly women, Ms. Wu (79 years old) and Ms. Wang (77 years old) were notified this past Monday that they had been sentenced to “re-education through labor” for a period of one year.  The two women had been seeking permits to hold demonstrations in one of China’s newly designated protest areas.  It was their fifth visit to the police when they were told they had been given the administrative punishment for their acts of “disturbing the public order.”

Ms. Wu and Ms. Wang had been neighbors in Beijing before their homes were destroyed to make way for China’s redevelopment project.  Despite agreeing to the move on the premise that they would have a new home built for them, six years later both women are living in rundown apartments on the outskirts of Beijing.  The Chinese government announced in July that three city parks would serve as protest areas while the Olympics were in Beijing but so far no demonstrations have taken place and no applications for demonstrations have been approved.  Ms. Wu and Ms. Wang wanted to use one of these protest areas to fight what they view as unjust compensation for the demolition of their homes.

Ms. Wu and Ms. Wang are not the only applicants who have faced what human rights advocates view as unjust treatment.  It has been reported that two Chinese advocates were seized from a Public Security Bureau’s protest application office and have not been heard of since.  Ms. Wang’s son, Mr. Li, has attempted to apply for a permit since his mother’s sentencing but has not even been allowed the opportunity to fill out the required forms.  Human Rights advocates have been criticizing the use of administrative sentences such as “re-education through labor” because they are handed down without a trial or option of appeal.  Similar punishments have been handed out to Chinese citizens caught taking pictures of schools destroyed during the earthquake in China and believe government corruption led to the school’s faulty construction.

For more information, please see:

New York Times – Two Women Sentenced to “Re-Education” in China – 20 August 2008

Canadian Press – 2 Chinese Sentenced to Labour Camp – 20 August 2008

AFP – China Detains Six US Pro-Tibet Activists at Olympics – 20 August 2008

Impunity Watch – A Pre-Olympic Look at China’s HR Record; Pakistan’s Taliban Threatens Women with Acid; Sri Lankan Government Accused of Allowing Serious Human Rights Violations to Continue – 04 August 2008