Tuesday (9th) marks the 9th anniversary of the "709 Crackdown". The U.S. Congressional-Executive Commission on China released an introduction to nine "709 lawyers", including Li Heping, Wang Quanzhang, Wang Yu, and Li Yuhan, on the social media platform X, describing the charges and sentences they were charged with by the authorities, the torture they suffered in prison, and the oppression they suffered after being released from prison.
CECC calls on the US government to sanction officials involved in the " 709" incident
The chairman of the committee stressed that human rights lawyers imprisoned in the "709" crackdown must be allowed to travel without restrictions, and called on the US government: "Secretary of State Blinken and Treasury Secretary Yellen should hold Chinese officials accountable for the torture and arbitrary detention of these lawyers, including imposing sanctions on them."
The Committee also called on the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk and UN experts to join them in condemning China’s “collective punishment” of the families of human rights defenders and its serious human rights violations.
The German Embassy in China also issued a statement on its official Weibo account, praising Chinese human rights lawyers for standing up for people who had no voice, but who were still retaliated against after being released from prison. Not only did they lose their basic freedoms, they were also excluded from normal social and economic life, and their families and underage children were implicated. Germany called on China to revoke the verdict on the "709 lawyers" and to conduct political rehabilitation for the relevant personnel to ensure justice.
Nine years have passed. Former Minister of Justice Fu Zhenghua and former Vice Minister of Public Security Sun Lijun, who were accused of planning the "709 crackdown", have both been brought down. However, the "709 lawyers" and their families are still living under oppression.
On the 9th anniversary of the “709 Crackdown,” overseas groups Human Rights in China, 29 Principles, China Aid Association, Chinese Democratic Academy, and the website Changing China jointly organized the 8th Chinese Human Rights Lawyers Day and released a commemorative video , inviting six “709 lawyers” and three “709 lawyers’ families” to talk about their current situation and voices.
In the nine years since the " 709" incident, they have had their IDs suspended, been placed under border control, and been forced to relocate.
As the first lawyer arrested in the "709 case", Wang Yu said that she and her husband Bao Longjun, who is also a lawyer, were both revoked of their lawyer licenses and could no longer represent cases as citizens: "So we are now facing a very serious difficulty in life, and we cannot leave the country. My son is studying in the United States now, but my husband and I cannot go abroad. So far, I have not been able to apply for a passport, so I don't know how long the persecution will end."
Like Wang Yu, the families of "709 lawyers" Li Heping and Wang Quanzhang were also detained. They were trapped in China by the authorities, but were forced to relocate and become homeless. Their wives, Wang Qiaoling and Li Wenzu, have been running around and shouting for their husbands outside the prison walls since the "709 crackdown." However, after their husbands returned home, their lives still could not return to peace.
Li Wenzu said: "Not only in Beijing, but also in other cities after we left Beijing, we were still forced to move. And our children's schooling has become a problem. The children of our two families still cannot go to school normally."
Ordinary wish: return to normal life
Jiang Tianyong, one of the "709 lawyers", said that although the "709 lawyers" have been released from prison one after another, other lawyers have lost their freedom, such as Xie Yang and Yu Wensheng, and those outside the prison are still facing "hunt-like persecution."
He himself has been unable to leave the country and has been forced to be separated from his wife and daughter who immigrated to the United States for 11 years. At this moment, he has only one ordinary wish: "What we want most now is to be able to return to normal life, to be reunited with our family, to have a place to live without being forced, and for our children to go to school normally and have a happy childhood."
As the last person arrested in the "709 case" to have his case closed, lawyer Wang Quanzhang said with emotion: "Nine years can heal my trauma, but it cannot make me forget. Moreover, with the collection of various information and the precipitation of time, we can have a better perspective to look at this major historical event."
They all expressed their gratitude to individuals and organizations at home and abroad for their attention, solidarity and support over the past nine years, and warned those who use public power to do evil to learn from the fate of Fu Zhenghua and Sun Lijun, make the right choice between good and evil, and at least "raise the gun an inch higher."