RELEASE JASIC WORKERS, STUDENTS AND ACTIVITISTS IN CUSTODY, IMMEDIATELY!

The Communist Party of China, known as the party for the workers and peasants, is putting suppression on workers who try to form unions, along with students and activists who want to organize solidarity with them. Workers at the Jasic factory in Shenzhen, Guangdong Province, China, established a labor union in May 2018, because they couldn’t bear beating and insults by managers. Workers who set up the union were beaten, fired, and even arrested by the Chinese police.

Students who organized clubs to study Marxism at each university in China, deeply reflecting about the reality of the poor domestic workers by reading the book <A Single Spark, Jeon Tae-il> have actively cooperated against the suppression of Jasic workers by the Chinese authorities. The Chinese authorities then heavily suppressed the students and associated club members, including the Jasic workers, and so far about 38 people, composed of workers, students, and activists, have been arrested or detained.

Many of those arrested are in secret custody, known as China’s infamous “residential surveillance in designated residence”. The Chinese Criminal Law prohibits investigations and detention from exceeding two months after official arrest, but the Chinese authority openly holds suspects in custody for up to six months, while limiting any access to outside contact, which also limits the contact with attorney.

Fu Changguo, a labor activist who has been detained since August last year for allegedly associating with Jasic workers, was not even allowed to attend the funeral of his mother, even though his mother died on January of this year. In addition, two security workers from Beijing University were taken to police station for cooperating with the students’ union.

Such suppression by the Chinese authorities has already been known to the world through foreign media, and scholars from around the world, including Noam Chomsky, have declared not to participate in the Marxism conference sponsored by the Chinese government as a sign of protest. However, Chinese authorities have been closing their ears on demand of the release of detainees. Rather, they have continued to suppress workers and peasants, such as the recent arrest of activists in Guangdong Province, who were trying to create alternative media for peasants.

The arrested university students in China were angry with their country’s labor conditions and agonized over solidarity with workers by not only reading about Marxism but also several texts including <A Single Spark, Jeon Tae-il>. The cry of Jeon Tae-il is a threat to those in power even in China, the world’s factory. The brutal behavior of being fired, beaten, arrested, and detained for crying out for freedom of association and for being in solidarity is still continuing, not only in China, but also in Korea and throughout the world. we will continue to form alliances and solidarity to overcome the barbarism of this age.

Korea’s human rights, labor and civil society organizations are united in support of the Chinese workers, activists, and students fighting for the rights of workers in China, where Korean companies are also in large numbers. In addition, we strongly oppose the Chinese government’s continued detention, suppressing their human rights, including the right to counsel, and we strongly demands that the detainees be released before Lunar New Year’s Day.

January 31, 2019

Activists group for Human Rights 'BARAM’

Advocates for Public Interest Law ‘APIL’

Alliance for Migrants’ Equality & Human rights

Catholic Human Rights Committee

Committee to Support Imprisoned Workers

Dasan Human Rights Center

Disability and Humanrights in Action

Fighting Solidarity for the Emancipation of Labor

Human Rights Education Center 'Deul'

Human Rights Movement Space 'Hwal'

Jeju Peace Human rights Center

Just’ Feminist

Korean Coalition for Abolishment of Insecurity Employment

Korean Confederation of Trade Unions

Korean Gay Men's Human Rights Group 'Chingusai'

Korean House for International Solidarity

Migrants center FRIENDS

MINBYUN-Lawyers for a Democratic Society International Solidarity Committee

NANCEN, Refugee Rights Center

People's Solidarity for Participatory Democracy

People's Solidarity for Social Progress

PINKS : SOLIDARITY FOR SEXUAL MINORITY CULTURES & HUMAN RIGHTS

Sarangbang Group for Human Rights

Seoul Human Rights Film Festival

Society of international solidarity in Justice party

Solidarity against Disability Discrimination

Solidarity for Another World

Solidarity for Peace & Human Rights

The National Council of Churches in Korea Human Rights Center

ULSAN MIGRANT CENTER

Workers’ Solidarity