Activists
remain detained for investigating the Sichuan Earthquake in China. Trials and
hearings took place recently for the activists, who reported the damages to
foreign journalists and helped the victims, but there has been no verdict until
today.

According
to the Chinese Human Rights Defenders, the trial for Tan Zuoren, an activist
based in Chungdu, Sichuan Province, was held on 5 August 2009. The trial was closed to the public and three witnesses were stopped from appearing in court by the local police. The trial ended without a court decision.

The
activist Tan Zuoren was detained in March by police for "inciting subversion of
state power". He published a number of critical commentaries online about the
government's work after the earthquake. He also encouraged people to conduct
independent investigation on the collapsed school buildings.

Huang
Qi, a Chengdu-based activist and director of Tianwang Human Rights Center, has been detained since 10 June 2008 for "illegal
possession of state secrets". A closed hearing was held on 5 August 2009 and
the court said the verdict will be pronounced later.

He
had given interviews to foreign journalists about protests by families of
schoolchildren who died in the earthquake. A few days before his detention, Huang
met some of the families who wanted to sue officials allegedly responsible for
the substandard school buildings that killed their children.

Zeng Hongling , a survivor of the earthquake and a retired worker at Mianyang Xinan
University, remains to be detained since June 2008. He had posted questioned
the government through articles online about the earthquake.

Although
the Chinese government had pledged to investigate the deaths of students and substandard
construction, no report has been published. According to them, the victims died
as a result of the magnitude of the natural disaster. The government has
actively prevented individuals from performing independent investigations and
suppressed people to take legal action by using methods of intimidation and
arbitrary detention.

China
has signed the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which
guarantees the right to information. The
Regulations of the People's Republic of China on Open Government Information
also provides for Chinese citizens to access to government information that
"involves the vital interests of citizens".

Sichuan Province in
western China was hit by 7.9-magnitude earthquake on 12 May 2008. About 70,000
people were killed, leaving over 18,000 missing.

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Also
related:
CHINA – Mysteries remain as government obstructs investigation on Sichuan Earthquake