It was once mentioned briefly before, but that work is now in full swing, and the members of this list are probably in a better position to either have use for, or be able to help, in this regard, than any other online group.
Safeguard Defenders is running a year-long project on extraditions to (mainland) China. In brief, through this project, we will (and to some extent already have):
- Offer expert advice on extradition-related legal issues in China, and arrange expert witnesses for court proceedings
- Produce the most authoritative review of criminal justice issues in China as it relates to extradition considerations (torture, right to fair trial, privacy, etc.), using only the (in the eyes of courts) most authoritative sources
- Put together the most complete data on China’s use of extraditions 2013 and onwards (and how it relates to ‘voluntary returns’, foxhunt, Skynet, top100, etc).
- Produce the first-ever report on ‘voluntary returns’ (i.e., when people are sought out by agents abroad and ‘encouraged’ to return (see eight agents facing prosecution in the US, for example), or when the family in China is approached by local police and told to ‘encourage’ the person in question to return).
- We will also collect data on Taiwanese citizens being sought by the PRC for extradition to China rather than Taiwan, and finally,
- Undertake certain advocacy measures related to countries that maintain extradition treaties with the PRC and Hong Kong.
Assistance is needed on subjects related to:
- Known cases of extradition-related guarantees/assurance given by China and later violated upon return to China
- Other related violations, for example, consular access (Michael Spavor, Michael Kovrig), court attendance (Gui Minhai), stripping of citizenship (Lee Bo) etc – anything related to the criminal justice process can be of use (2013- onwards)
- Reports on prison conditions (as opposed to detention center conditions, which is already well covered)
- Known currently in process extraditions cases
- Known prior extraditions cases 2013- onwards
- Known cases of Taiwanese being sought for extradition 2013- onwards
- Any extradition decisions in general that might be precedent setting or possible to invoke
- Any other academic papers or reports on issues related to extradition and China
- Any connection to lawyers who have in the past (or currently) worked on extradition cases (to be interview to determine what type of materials courts places the highest trust in)
- Known cases of ‘voluntary’ returns 2013- onwards
Anything else you imagine could be of use, feel free to share.
So far, Supreme Courts in two ECHR- bound countries have denied extraditions upon being shown that the guarantees issued by China had no basis in (Chinese) law, while another Supreme Court denied extradition of several Taiwanese. Two other ECHR-bound countries’ courts of appeal have likewise turned such requests down, and three more cases are soon to reach their hearings.
These interventions matter – significant – and your help can be an important part of that. With that in mind, should you have any information you think is relevant to the above, don’t hesitate to contact us.