1994 was marked by an increase in repression of political dissent in China. This document describes the cases of 19 dissidents who have been held without charge or trial for almost a year. It also lists those detained briefly during 1994. Dissidents in Shanghai and Beijing have been targeted particularly. The authorities curbed attempts to form an independent labour rights group in Beijing, the League for the Protection of the Rights of the Working People (LPRWP), and a human rights group in Shanghai, the Association for Human Rights (HRA). Members of these groups have been arrested and sentenced. Several of the detained are reported to have been ill-treated in the labour camps where they are imprisoned. Some of those sentenced to “re-education through labour” are signatories to the “Peace Charter” launched in Beijing in 1993.
