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Peter Jesper Dahlin, a Swedish
human rights activist helping rural lawyers and poor people, was arrested by
the Chinese government as part of their crackdown on human rights activists.
Photo: China Files.
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Peter Jesper Dahlin is a human
rights activist from Sweden, who was recently detained in Beijing on charges of
violating national security laws, for which he was expelled from the People’s
Republic of China on January 25th. Swedish officials have confirmed that Dahlin has left China.
He was arrested on January 4th
as part of a crackdown on human rights activists that began last year. Over 280
individuals, mostly lawyers and legal assistants, have been detained, and while
most have been released, some are awaiting trial, while others’ fates are still
up in the air.
Dahlin is the founder of an
organization called Chinese Urgent Action Working Group (also known as China
Action), which works as a legal aid group. They help rural lawyers, and assist
disadvantaged people who have complained about rights violations. Considering
the Chinese government’s crackdown on human rights activists, his arrest comes
as little surprise.
Dahlin was arrested while in an
airport awaiting a flight to Thailand, and was detained without access to legal
help until his release. Shortly before his release, he appeared on state
television to confess that he had helped a Beijing based law firm, Fengrui,
which has been charged with subversion. In the confession, he admitted that he
“had violated Chinese law, caused harm to the Chinese government and hurt the
Chinese public.”
China Action has stated that
the confession seems to have been forced, and that it was absurd. American
co-founder Michael Caster clarified that Dahlin’s Chinese girlfriend, who had
also been detained, had been released, but had not left the country.
The crackdown on human rights
activists hasn’t always ended this cleanly, and several people have disappeared
in Hong Kong, presumably either having gone to ground or been detained by the
government. Meanwhile, it seems that China has no intention of letting up, and
is sending a clear message that “Western” ideas will not be tolerated if they
run counter to Party rules.
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