From Human Rights In China

On November 9 and 11, continuing their attempt to crush the support for a campaign to form an independent union by workers at the factory of Jasic Technology in Shenzhen, authorities seized 18 supporters in five cities—Beijing, Guangzhou, Shanghai, Shenzhen, and Wuhan. The actions included the physical assault and abduction of a recent graduate of Peking University, Zhang Shengye (张圣业), from the university campus. The Peking University administration did nothing to stop the intrusion and violence.

A group of workers at Jasic, which produces welding equipment, had begun demanding to form an independent union in May 2018, to address deteriorating work conditions and inadequate wages. In June, several of the campaign’s organizers were beaten by unidentified individuals and dismissed by the factory. Protests broke out in July after police detained a group of dismissed workers who attempted to re-enter the factory. The protest has attracted the support of workers, university students and recent graduates from different parts of the country, as well as some Maoist organizations, and an informal support group was formed.

On August 24, police in riot gear raided an apartment in Huizhou (惠州), near Shenzhen, where members of the support group were staying, and took away more than 50 students and workers. On the same day, in Beijing, authorities detained two workers’ representatives in the support group and two activists who were supporters of the Jasic workers.

While some of those detained have subsequently been released, as of now, a total of 32 individuals are still in custody, disappeared, or under “residential surveillance in a designated place” (指定监视居住); among them, four former Jasic workers have been criminally charged with “gathering a crowd to disrupt social order.” (See a list of these individuals and their status at the end of this bulletin.)

According to reliable sources and available information:

• Only five are known to be held at an official detention facility with an address—the Shenzhen Municipal No. 2 Detention Center;
• 27 are missing: they have not been heard from since being disappeared or put under “residential surveillance at a designated place” in facilities of unknown locations;
• None of the four former Jasic workers detained on charges of “gathering a crowd to disrupt social order” has been granted permission to meet with a lawyer in recent months (lawyers for three of the four were forced to withdraw, and a new lawyer for one of them was told he could not meet with his client because his case involves state secrets); and
• Only one of the four detained workers has been granted permission to meet with his family.

HRIC calls on the Chinese authorities to account for the whereabouts of all those missing and to guarantee their personal safety and that they are free from torture. The authorities must accord all detainees due process in accordance with Chinese and international law, including access to lawyers of their own choosing, and allow the detainees visits by family members.

See full article here.