China: police crackdown on labour rights activists

Labour rights activists are being held in criminal detention following a wide-scale police crackdown in the southeastern Chinese province of Guangdong December 3-5. Police targeted independent worker rights centers and arrested, questioned and detained staff and volunteers against a background of factory closures and rising worker protests and strikes. Seven of the more than two dozen arrested activists are either in detention or cannot be contacted. Confirmed as being in detention and denied access to lawyers for reasons of 'national security' are Panyu Workers' Centre director Zeng Feiyang and staff member Zhu Xiaomei; Foshan Nanfeiyan Social Work Services Organization director He Xiaobo; and Deng Xiaoming.

The IUF-affiliated Hong Kong Confederation of Trade Unions (HKCTU) and Globalization Monitor have initiated an online petition to the Chinese government, calling for the immediate release of all detained activists and an end to the repression of labour rights organizations. CLICK HERE to add your name or that of your organization to the petition - links to translation in various languages are at the top of the page, scroll down for the English text.

December 10 - International Human Rights Day - HKCTU and labour support groups rally for the release of detained labour activists on the Mainland.