Shi Tao Receives Human Rights Watch Hellman/Hammett Grant

On Monday, October 12, 2009, Human Rights Watch announced 37 winners of the Hellman/Hammett Grant, which is given annually to writers “in recognition of their commitment to free expression and their courage in the face of political persecution.” We were pleased to learn that former Human Rights USA client, Shi Tao, was among those recognized by this award.

From the Human Rights Watch Press Release:
Shi Tao (China), poet and writer, worked as a reporter and editor at a number of newspapers and has published several volumes of poetry. He is best known in the West as the victim of Yahoo’s cooperation with the Chinese police. In a now-famous case, Yahoo helped the Chinese police identify Shi Tao as the author of a message posted anonymously on an overseas website about instructions that the Chinese propaganda department had given to newspapers. He is currently serving a 10-year sentence for “illegally providing state secrets overseas.”

In 2007, Human Rights USA represented Shi Tao in a groundbreaking corporate accountability lawsuit against Yahoo! Inc. During the course of litigation, information emerged from Yahoo! that the corporation knew about the charges against Shi Tao and, despite that knowledge, disclosed confidential records about him to the Chinese government. During a hearing before the United States Congress, Yahoo! corporate leaders were chastised for their actions and asked to apologize to the families of Shi Tao and Wang Xiaoning, who had traveled to the U.S. for the hearing. Shortly after, the families settled with the company out of court.

Unfortunately, Shi Tao and Wang Xiaoning remain in prison, but the work of advocacy groups like Amnesty International and Reporters Without Borders, and recognitions like this prestigious prize from Human Rights Watch, continue to raise awareness about their situation. The plight of Shi Tao and Wang Xiaoning also reinforces the need for Information and Communications Technology corporations to respect fundamental human rights when doing business in countries that use electronic communications to target human rights defenders and the media.

To read one of Shi Tao’s inspiring poems, and learn more about the repression of free media in China, click here.

Human Rights USA Pays Tribute to Rep. Tom Lantos

Human Rights USA pays tribute to Rep. Tom Lantos (D-CA), who died of esophageal cancer on Monday, February 11, 2008. Lantos, a Holocaust survivor who twice escaped from forced labor prison camps, was one of Congress’s most outspoken advocates for the protection of human and civil rights.

Led by strong moral convictions and an unwavering devotion to justice, Lantos reached across the political aisle to inspire bipartisan cooperation on human rights issues. As Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Lantos teamed up with Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ) in his relentless pursuit of justice for two of Human Rights USA’s clients, Chinese free speech advocates Shi Tao and Wang Xiaoning, who are imprisoned as a result of the cooperation between U.S. internet giant Yahoo! and the Chinese government.

At a hearing on November 6, 2007, Lantos and Smith sharply questioned Yahoo! CEO Jerry Yang for his company’s role in the arrest, imprisonment, and torture of Shi Tao and Wang Xiaoning. Lantos urged Yang to apologize to the detainees, and to “beg forgiveness” from the detainees’ families, who attended the hearing. Yang turned and bowed, and later acknowledged their responsibility. One week later, Yahoo! and the families settled the Alien Tort Claims Act/Torture Victims Protection Act lawsuit filed by Human Rights USA on behalf of Shi Tao and Wang Xiaoning, and stated its commitment to preventing further abuses of this type.

For the past twenty-four years, Lantos and his wife, Annette, sought to make human rights a more visible issue in Congress by establishing the Congressional Human Rights Caucus (CHRC). The CHRC is designed to bring together members of Congress, Administration officials, and human rights experts to address human rights concerns and to bring them to the forefront of Congress’ work. Through Lantos’ leadership, the group has succeeded in drawing attention to issues concerning the rights of women and children, ethnic genocide, and disappearances, among many others.

Tom Lantos’ leadership, both as a member of Congress and as a loyal friend of the human rights community, will long be remembered.

Celebrating a Year of Unprecedented Success

As the holidays roll in, take a moment to join us in celebrating a year of unprecedented success in litigation on behalf of survivors of torture, slavery, and gender-based violence. Download our Winter 2007 Newsletter (hot off the press today!) and read about our latest work:

• Yahoo! Inc. Settles Historic Human Rights Lawsuit
• Human Rights USA Supports First Prosecution Under Anti-Torture Statute
• Asylum Granted to Albanian Woman Fleeing Forced Prostitution

Join us in ringing in the new year and moving forward:

• Forward our newsletter to your colleagues and friends.
• Buy holiday gifts at our new online store.
• Send a note of support to one of our clients, letting them know that you stand behind them as they fight for their safety, dignity, and rights, or
  
• Make a tax-deductible contribution to Human Rights USA before year’s end.

"A Victory for Freedom"

Blogger, philanthropist, and conservative activist Doug Wilson wrote today on TownHall.com about our recent lawsuit against Yahoo! "Democracy scored a huge victory earlier this month," said Wilson, when "Yahoo Inc., the Internet company made famous by their search engine, settled out of court with two Chinese journalists who sued the company under U.S. human rights laws for providing the Chinese government with identifying information about their Internet use."

Wilson continued, "Human Rights USA is an important organization whose good work expands far beyond the Yahoo case. Refugee women who want to spare their daughters from sexual abuse have earned the right to do so; the work of Human Rights USA directly resulted in the court decision that established that female genital mutilation qualifies as torture. Their work on another case set a precedent that the usual deadline to file asylum claims need not apply to sexual abuse victims with severe traumatic stress, who might hesitate to report such instances out of fear."

For the full blog post, click here.

MB

Yahoo Settles Internet Human Rights Case

Facing strong Congressional pressure and the threat of court-ordered discovery proceedings, Yahoo agreed to settle the lawsuit filed against it by Human Rights USA on behalf of internet users in China, who were jailed for exercising their free speech rights. This is the second major case in which a U.S. corporation has been held financially accountable, through a settlement agreement, for its involvement in human rights abuses. The other case was Unocal, which involved major human rights abuses by the oil and gas company in its construction of a gas pipeline in Burma.

The Yahoo lawsuit, filed in April, sought to hold the internet company accountable for its complicity in handing over identifying internet user information to Chinese authorities, which was used to arbitrarily arrest and detain two of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit -- well-known Chinese journalist Shi Tao, and pro-democracy advocate Wang Xiaoning. Both men have been subjected to abuse and torture while in prison. It is suspected that many more individuals have been similarly affected by the sharing of internet user information, including journalists and bloggers listed in two recent reports issued by Reporters Without Borders and the Committee to Protect Journalists.

While the details of the settlement agreement remain private according to its terms and the parties' wishes, the issues raised in the course of litigation and in the Congressional hearing indicate some of the key points that were the focus of concern. These include the urgent need to secure, as soon as possible, the release from prison of Wang Xiaoning and Shi Tao; preventing further disclosure of internet user information that could lead to arbitrary arrest and torture; and the need to aid other prisoners who have been jailed as a result of the disclosure of identifying internet user information.

The resolution of the case by settlement agreement is not a perfect solution. Human Rights USA would have preferred that the court make specific findings, on the record, about the unlawful nature of Yahoo's actions, and that the case reach a final judgment that would be legally enforceable by the court. However, the plaintiffs and their families, along with Congress, felt strongly that immediate action was needed to secure the release of the prisoners, particularly given the five years it would take to bring the case to an end, which would have extended beyond the prison sentences that the two plaintiffs are serving.

This settlement agreement highlights the fact that U.S. corporations must pay greater attention to the consequences that their actions have on human rights, and that they will be held accountable for participating in, or aiding and abetting, major human rights abuses.

The agreement should also provide incentive for Congress to adopt the Global Online Freedom Act, a statute which, if passed, would prohibit U.S. internet companies from disclosing identifying internet user information to repressive governments that are likely to use such information to put a clamp on free speech and free press rights. This law would also provide U.S. companies with additional justification for not complying with government requests for this type of information, where compliance would result in the imprisonment or torture of individuals for repressive purposes.

Congress Asks Yahoo to Apologize to HRUSA's Clients

In a hearing on November 6, 2007, Rep. Lantos, Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, urged Yahoo! CEO Jerry Yang to apologize to Wang Xiaoning and Shi Tao, two of Human Rights USA's clients, for handing over their identifying internet user information to Chinese authorities, which led to their arrest, detention, and abuse and torture while imprisoned. "I do not believe that America's best and brightest companies should be playing integral roles in China's notorious and brutal political repression apparatus," said Lantos.

Gao Qinsheng, Shi Tao's mother, and Yu Ling, Wang Xiaoning's wife, attended the hearing, sitting directly behind Yahoo CEO Jerry Yang and General Counsel Michael Callahan during their testimony. Human Rights USA filed suit against Yahoo in April 2007 for its complicity in handing over Wang's and Shi's identifying information to Chinese authorities. As reported by the New York Times, "Lawmakers demanded to know what Yahoo would do to help Shi's family and reacted with derision when neither Yang nor Callahan provided a concrete answer."

For additional news items on this issue, please see below:

• Los Angeles Times Front Page, Yahoo Taken to Task Over China, November 7, 2007
• ABC News, Congress Blasts Yahoo: Moral 'Pygmies', November 6, 2007
• Ars Technica, Congress unimpressed by Yahoo apology for China dissident e-mail testimony, November 6, 2007
• CNet News (reported live from Congress), Yahoo executives grilled by Congress over China policies, November 6, 2007
• CNet News, Democratic leader to Yahoo CEO: China policy is 'spineless', November 6, 2007
• IT World, Lawmakers rip into Yahoo over testimony on dissident arrest, November 6, 2007
• Techdirt, Congress Not At All Pleased With Yahoo's Explanation in Chinese Dissident Case , November 6, 2007
• The Inquirer, Yahoo "deceived" Congress after helping to convict Chinese dissident , November 6, 2007
• Washington Post, US Lawmakers Criticize Yahoo Officials, November 6, 2007
• Wired, Yahoo General Counsel: We'll Consider Settling Yu Ling Lawsuit, November 6, 2007