China Human Rights Briefing September 1 – 30, 2007

September 30, 2007 Comments Off

China Human Rights Briefing

A monthly newsletter of CHRD

September Edition, 2007

EDITOR’S NOTE

In one indication of an intensified power struggle between factions of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) top leadership in the lead-up to the opening of the National Party Congress, held once every four years, in Beijing this week, police and secret police units, controlled by hardliners in the Politburo, struck hard at dissidents, human rights defenders, NGO activists, and protesters, including petitioners. Hardliners are apparently attempting to prevent any disturbances at the time of the country’s most important political gathering, as well as to warn off reformers within the CCP not to push for greater political openness.

In September, many people were detained or visited by police for questioning, forced to leave Beijing and other metropolitan areas, put under residential surveillance or house arrest, and criminally detained. Activists who have attempted to put human rights concerns at the forefront of preparations for the 2008 Beijing Olympics have faced swift and harsh punishment. But even in this context, the abduction and beating of Beijing-based lawyer, Li Heping, was a sign of more brutal measures being taken by the Beijing secret police as well as blatant abuse of their extrajudicial powers.

Petitioners, who traveled to the capital in droves to present their grievances to the nation’s top leaders, fell victim to government “clean-up” operations, including demolition of their lodgings, interception, arrests and detention in illegal facilities. The Beijing Petitioners Village was flattened. Petitioners who were picked up and escorted home often faced detention in illegal facilities, Re-Education Through Labor camps, and psychiatric institutions run by local governments.

While September was a month of darkness, it may be only the ominous beginning of a period of increased repression, as one activist said, probably lasting until the end of next summer’s Olympics.

Table of Contents

Harassment, Detention and Imprisonment

Olympics Watch

Interception, Imprisonment or Forcible Return of Petitioners

Freedom of Association and Assembly

Freedom to Information

Forcible Demolition and Appropriation of Land

Freedom of Religion

Hebei Catholic Bishop Died in Detention

_______________________________________________

Harassment, Detention and Imprisonment

1. Application for Release for Medical Treatment Denied, Li Hong’s Condition Deteriorates

Li Hong (力虹), jailed Zhejiang writer and poet, was denied release for medical treatment on September 22. Li had just started serving a 6-year term for “inciting the subversion of state power” in Changhu Prison, Zhejiang Province early this year when he was diagnosed with a form of muscular dystrophy that could lead to paralysis and even death. In June, Li was transferred from Changhu Prison to Ningbo City Detention Center in Zhejiang. Li’s wife, Dong Min (董敏), said that the transfer is indicative of the severity of Li’s condition. However, Li’s application for release for medical treatment has been rejected, and he has been transferred from Ningbo City Detention Center to Qiaosi Prison in Zhejiang. Li’s wife visited him in prison on September 31 and said Li’s condition has significantly deteriorated and he has difficulties breathing and walking. His family believes that his life is in danger. They have been pressured by the National Security Unit (under the Public Security Bureau) not to communicate with the outside world about Li’s situation.

Click here to read CHRD’s statement on Li and here to read an update on Li’s condition in Chinese.

2. Human Rights Lawyer Li Heping Assaulted; Beijing Police Suspected of Abduction and Torture

On September 29, Beijing-based human rights lawyer, Li Heping (李和平), was assaulted by unidentified men, believed to be police from the National Security Protection Unit of the Beijing Public Security Bureau (北京国保). Several days before the attack, police from the National Security Protection Unit had verbally ordered Li and his family to leave Beijing. At around 5:30pm on September 29, Li was abducted in the parking lot of the office building where his law firm has offices. A dozen plainclothes men put a hood on his head, dragged him into a car, drove for about an hour and took him to an unknown location where he was beaten with electric cattle prods for hours. While torturing him, the men told Li to leave Beijing. Li was dumped in the suburbs of Beijing. When he eventually managed to return home, he discovered that his lawyer’s identification card and other personal belongings were missing, all the files on his laptop computer were erased and the computer reprogrammed and thus unusable. Click here to read the full statement.

3. Zheng Enchong Taken Away after Publishing Letter Addressing UN Summit

On September 29, Shanghai human rights lawyer, Zheng Enchong (郑恩宠), was taken away by Zhabei District Public Security Bureau officers, who summoned Zheng under Article 92 of the Code of Criminal Procedures. Zheng has not yet been released. Zheng was reportedly summoned for having issued on September 26 a public letter addressing leaders at the United Nations Summit and for helping Shanghai petitioners to publish a letter on August 31, which he co-signed, that addressed President Hu during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC). On September 27, Zheng had already been interrogated for 7 hours at Zhabei District Public Security Bureau.

For more information, please visit this Boxun website.

4. Lu Gengsong, Writer and Activist, under Formal Arrest

Detained writer and activist, Lu Gengsong (吕耿松), has been formally arrested on suspicion of “inciting subversion of state power.” Lu is incarcerated at the Xihu (West Lake) Detention Center in Hangzhou City. The arrest notice was issued by the Hangzhou City Public Security Bureau, dated September 29, 2007, and sent to Lu’s wife, Wang Xue E (汪雪娥). Lu was detained on August 24, 2007, on suspicion of “illegal possession of state secrets” and “inciting subversion against state power.” The former charge has apparently been dropped. Earlier, the Bureau cited Article 96 of the Code of Criminal Procedures, arguing that since the case involves “state secrets,” lawyers are barred from contact with the defendant during the investigation period.

Click here for more information.

5. Yunnan Writer and Poet Ouyang Xiaorong Detained

On September 27, Ouyang Xiaorong (欧阳小戎), a poet and writer from Tengchong in Yunnan, was taken from his home by two plainclothes officers. The officers did not show any documents nor explain why they were taking Ouyang away. Ouyang’s mother suspected that he was taken away because of articles he had written on the internet. Ouyang had previously been detained in Feburary 2006 by the Beijing police when he volunteered at Gao Zhisheng’s (高智晟) legal practice and supported Gao in his hunger strike. Please click here to read more in Chinese.

6. Deng Yongliang Deported for Reporting on Independent Candidate at a Local Election

On September 26, Xian dissident internet writer, Deng Yongliang (邓永亮), was immediately expelled from Xian, where he and his family had been living, back to his birthplace in Chengdu, Sichuan. According to Deng’s wife, Zhu Yuling (朱玉玲), four officers from the National Security Protection Unit of the Xian Public Security Bureau searched their home and took Deng with them. Deng was apparently forbidden to stay in Xian because he had earlier published an article about Zhang Zongai (张宗爱), an independent candidate in a local election in Xian who was kidnapped and persecuted for his political participation. Deng works closely with Minsheng Guancha on defending human rights. Click here for more details in Chinese.

7. After Being Kidnapped Twice in a Week, Wife of Chen Guangcheng Continued to be Closed Monitored

Yuan Weijing (袁伟静), wife of the jailed Shandong human rights defender, Chen Guangcheng (陈光诚), was kidnapped and later released for the second time within a week. On August 24, Yuan was kidnapped at Beijing Airport as she was about to depart for the Philippines to accept the Magsaysay Award on behalf of her husband. Again on August 31, Yuan was kidnapped on her way to Beijing to hire lawyers. She was on a bus near Taian City, Shandong Province when she was forcibly kidnapped by about ten officers from the State Security Brigade and the Linyi local government. She was roughly handled, causing bruises, but was allowed return home afterwards. The government has continued to closely monitor Yuan and tightly circumscribed her movements. When Yuan and her daughter visited Chen at Linyi Prison on September 19, she was followed there and back by fourteen men.

Please click here for more information in Chinese.

8. Hu Jia Placed under Tighter Surveillance before the 17th Party Congress

Beijing human rights defender, Hu Jia (胡佳), has been under house arrest since May 18 this year. Every day, fourteen to sixteen secret police are stationed outside of his residence. Recently, Hu published an online article saying that the Committee of Political and Legislative Affairs and the Public Security Bureau are monitoring and arresting human rights defenders all over China in order to create a “harmonious” atmosphere for the 17^th Party Congress in mid-October.

For more information in Chinese, please click here.

9. Yao Lifa Summoned by Public Security Bureau for Giving Radio Free Asia Interview

On September 10, the police said Hubei human rights defender, Yao Lifa (姚立法), was “spreading rumors” following his interview with Radio Free Asia in which he spoke about changes in the public transport system and clashes between public bus owners and the police in Qingjiang City, Hubei Province. He was criticized for telling the outside world about these incidents in Qingjiang and for violating China’s News Law, a law which in fact does not exist. Yao was not detained or charged.

Click here for more information in Chinese.

Olympics Watch

10. Son and Brother of Ye Guozhu, the “Olympics Prisoner,” Detained

Ye Guoqiang (叶国强), brother of the “Olympics Prisoner” Ye Guozhu (叶国柱), and Ye Mingjun (叶明君), son of Ye Guozhu, were both criminally detained on suspicion of “inciting subversion of state power” on September 30. They are incarcerated at the Beijing Xuanwu District Detention Center. Ye Guoqiang was taken away after he staged a protest in front of the Xuanwu District government building on September 29. On the same day, Ye Mingjun was taken from his home by the Beijing Xuanwu District Public Security Bureau police.

Please click here to view the full statement.

11. 261 Prospective Olympics Volunteers Issue Public Letter Calling for Human Rights

On September 28, 261 individuals in Shanghai who applied to become Olympics volunteers signed a joint letter addressing China’s leaders, the Olympics Committee and international human rights organizations. The letter details the human rights violations in China since it successfully became the host of the 2008 Olympics. It calls on the international community to focus on China’s human rights situation so that China can fulfill its human rights promises and the 2008 Beijing Olympics can be in keeping with the Olympics spirit.

Click here for more information.

12. Heilongjiang Activist, Yang Chunlin, Denied Access to Lawyer, at Risk of Torture and Ill-treatment

Yang Chunlin (杨春林), a Heilongjiang activist, is still being denied access to a lawyer after more than two and a half months in custody. Yang was detained on July 6 and formally arrested on August 13 on suspicion of “subversion of state power” because he collected signatures to endorse the open letter, “We Want Human Rights, not the Olympics”. On September 27, Yang’s sister was told that the investigation surrounding Yang’s case was completed and his case had been sent to the Procuratorate. Since early September, the police have denied his lawyer’s requests to meet him because his case involves “state secrets.”

Click here to read the full statement on Yang.

13. Lawyer Gao Zhisheng’s Whereabouts Unknown, Feared Detained by Police

Gao Zhisheng (高智晟) is feared detained by the Beijing police since September 22. All attempts to contact him or confirm his whereabouts have failed. Gao may have been taken away by police officers from the State Security Bureau and the National Security Unit of Beijing Public Security Bureau (PSB), but no eyewitness to the detention has been found, nor has the detention been confirmed by Gao’s family since their whereabouts are not known either.

Gao is a former Beijing lawyer who represented many defendants in sensitive rights-related cases. In 2006, he published a public letter demanding that top Chinese leaders investigate the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners. On December 22, 2006, Gao was convicted of “inciting the subversion of state power” and sentenced to five years’ parole. Days before his disappearance, he also wrote to U.S. Congress urging members to focus on China’s human rights before the Olympics.

Please click here for the full CHRD statement on Gao’s disappearance.

Please see the item below for information about Gao’s close friend, Huang Yan (黄燕), who has helped Gao to release information to the outside world and who was also kidnapped on the same day as Gao.

14. Huang Yan, Lawyer Gao Zhisheng’s Friend, Kidnapped, Detained and Beaten

In the evening of September 22, the same day Beijing lawyer Gao Zhisheng was taken away, Huang Yan (黄燕), who helped Gao by sending human rights information abroad, was also kidnapped from outside of her residence in Haidian District by the National Security Unit of the Beijing Public Security Bureau. They detained her at a hotel near Beijing International Airport. Every night, the police beat her for more than ten minutes, grabbing her hair and hitting her head against the wall. The Beijing National Security Unit has transferred her to the Hubei National Security Unit after four nights of detention in Beijing. She is now detained at an inn in Jingzhou in Hubei Province.

15. “One World, One Dream” Open Letter Campaign Continues

The “One World, One Dream and Universal Human Rights,” open letter campaign continues to accept signatures from those who wish to express their support. The letter was first written and signed by prominent Chinese citizens and leading public intellectuals in China, and it is addressed to both Chinese and international leaders. It proposes seven measures to end human rights violations surrounding the preparations for the Olympics and calls for amnesty for prisoners of conscience.

Please click here to read the letter in English, in italiano, en francais.

To sign it, please email netowrkcrd@gmail.com

Interception, Imprisonment or Forcible Return of Petitioners

16. “Black Jails” in the Host City of the “Open Olympics”

On September 21, CHRD issued its latest report on black jails, secret detention and interrogation centers in Beijing set up by officials from provincial and municipal governments to control the flow of petitioners coming to the capital. As the 17^th Communist Party Congress and the 2008 Olympics near, petitioners seeking justice are being targeted as troublemakers and subjected to even more injustice. They are intercepted on the streets and incarcerated in the liaison offices of the provincial and municipal governments or in rented spaces. They can be jailed for days or months, are poorly fed, and held incommunicado, without proper sanitation facilities or health care. They are often beaten or mistreated by officials or staff of the liaison offices.

Click here to read the full report in English.

17. Updates on “Black Jails” in the Host City of the “Open Olympics”

According to the “Black Jails” report, “most petitioners are grabbed off the streets, often in front of the State Council’s Office of Letters and Visits.” Most recently, on September 24, CHRD learned from a Fujian petitioner that petitioners are not only intercepted in front of the Office but actually intercepted at the Offices of Letters and Visits of the State Council and People’s Congress as well. The petitioner said that while he was waiting at the hall of the Offices, he saw that groups of waiting petitioners were summoned to the reception area behind the hall and taken away by provincial and municipal officials waiting to intercept them there.

The report also mentioned the detention facility at the Tianmei Inn at 131 Canlan Lane, which imprisons petitioners from the northeastern city of Harbin. Petitioners continue to be detained and tortured there. On September 4, Yu Yufeng (遇玉凤) was imprisoned and beaten there, her breasts injured. On September 29, one Mr. Gao, who had just been released, reported seeing Wang Li (王利), a sixty-four-year-old man beaten by the jailers and another forty-eight-year-old petitioner from Jiansheting in Heilongjiang tied up and taken away from the jail.

Sun Wenyuan (孙文远)– a petitioner from Jixi City in Heilongjiang, who the report mentioned as being detained for four days in a black jail run by the Beijing Liaision Office of Jixi City– was kidnapped in Beijing by officials from Moudanjiang City of Heilongjiang Province on September 11. Sun was returned to Moudanjiang City and detained there. The Heilongjiang government wishes to send him to a Re-education Through Labour camp, but the Mudianjiang government is making a final decision.

Another petitioner, Wang Guoying (王国英), was mentioned in the report as having been sentenced to one year and three months of Reform Through Labour by the Gao City government in Hebei in June. Her husband sought administrative re-consideration but the local government has ignored his appeal.

CHRD has also discovered yet another site where petitioners are being detained. On September 20, about twenty Hunanese petitioners in Beijing were imprisoned in the Beijing Liaison Office of Hunan Province and guarded by five or six guards hired by the Office from the Beijing Jinlong Weiye Safety and Crime Prevention Technology Company.

(Updates on the situation of Zheng Daijing (郑大靖), who was also mentioned in the Black Jails report, are available in more detail here.)

Click here for more information about interception of petitioners in the State Council’s Office of Letters and Visits, here and here for the petitioners detained in Tianmei Inn, here about Sun Wenyuan and here about Wang Guoying. Click here about the petitioners detained at the Beijing Liaison Office of Hunan Province.

18. Beijing Government Demolishes Petitioners Village

On September 21, the Beijing municipal government started to demolish the petitioners village at Beijing South Station in Fengtai District. With the village demolished, petitioners are left homeless and finding alternative accommodation is challenging. On September 14, Youanmen Police Station, which is responsible for the area around the Village, had told neighborhood committees that renting accommodation to petitioners is now prohibited. Those who do so will be fined RMB 20,000.

The Beijing police have stepped up efforts to round-up the remaining petitioners in the Village. Between the evening of September 28 and the early morning of September 29, about 300 police, security guards and interceptors from local governments with their police cars, public buses and ambulances surrounded and searched the area around the Village. They caught and arrested about a thousand petitioners and sent them to the Beijing Reception and Assistance Management Center.

The Beijing police have also stepped up efforts to round-up petitioners all over the city in order to create a “harmonious” atmosphere for the upcoming 17^th Party Congress in mid-October.

In recent years, thousands of petitioners who had come to Beijing had gathered around the area near the Beijing South Station, and the area was subsequently dubbed “Petitioners Village.” In early 2006, Beijing authorities announced the plan to demolish the village, claiming that doing so would allow the expansion of the Beijing South Station. Residents of the village were told to leave before September 19, and the water supply was terminated to pressure the residents to leave.

For more information, please visit (in Chinese):

Petitioners Homeless after Authorities Demolish Petitioners Village on Mid-Autumn Festival

Petitioners Village Demolished on Friday

Beijing Prohibits Renting Accommodation to Petitioners

19. The Many Ways to Punish a Petitioner: Detention, Re-Education Through Labour and Incarceration at Psychiatric Institution

Petitioners in Beijing not only risked being sent to illegal black jails in Beijing run by their local governments, but also being sent back to their hometown where they could be detained either at local black jails or formally at the local Public Security Bureau detention centers, sent to Re-Education Through Labour, or forcibly incarcerated in psychiatric institutions.

In March this year, three Heilongjiang farmer representatives went to Beijing to petition about the corruption of a local agricultural official. They were intercepted and persecuted by interceptors and officials from the agricultural department in Heilongjiang. In desperation, the three drank poison and attempted suicide at the hall of the Office of Letters and Visits of the People’s Congress. They were belatedly sent to the hospital. While still in critical condition, they were forcibly sent back to Heilongjiang and imprisoned there for forty days. They have been released in May or June but are under tight surveillance. They were threatened with Re-Education Through Labour if they attempt to petition in Beijing again.

A representative of tobacco growers from Jiangyong County in Hunan Province, Liao Kaihui (廖开慧), went to Beijing to petition for the RMB 6 million the government allegedly owes the growers. On September 28 she was beaten and detained for ten days.

He Fangwu (何方武), also a petitioner from Jiangyong County who went to Beijing to petition, was sent to a psychiatric institution on September 17 by the Jiangyong government. He had already spent three years in a psychiatric institution and two-and-a-half years in Re-Education Through Labour after he exposed the use of violence in the implementation of the government’s birth control policy.

On the same day, on September 17, Lei Mingkun (雷明昆) and six others, from Chengdu were intercepted by Chengdu officers stationed in Beijing. They were beaten, detained, stripped and searched. On September 21, they were sent back to Wuhou in Chengdu and detained for ten days.

On September 22, Jiang Yongwen (姜永文) went to Beijing to petition and expose the concealment of the number of deaths reported by the local government in a mine accident in Baoqing County, Heilongjiang Province. He was intercepted and sent to Re-Education Through Labour. In recent years, Baoqing officials and businesses have colluded to embezzle and sell 6000 hectares of public land and set up thirty illegal coal mines there. Last month, sixteen people died in a mine accident but the authorities reported only two deaths. Reportedly, in 2004 Premier Wen Jiabao had ordered an investigation into the appropriation of land in Baoqing, but the local government managed to conceal the situation and lie to higher authorities. The Baoqing government has used many means to persecute villagers who have for years petitioned about the loss of their land.

Click here to read more in Chinese about the three Heilongjiang farmer representatives, here for Liao Kaihui, here for Lei Mingkun, here for He Fangwu and here for Jiang Yongwen.

20. Black Jail in Shanxi Illegally Imprison Petitioners

On September 27, CHRD learned that there is a black jail called 588 in Taiyuan in Shanxi Province. It was formerly known as the Taiyuan Reception and Assistance Station (太原接济站), and now it is also known as the Assistance and Teaching Centre (帮教中心). The jail illegally detains and imprisons petitioners, including fifty-nine who wrote a joint letter to CHRD exposing this jail.

Click here for more information in Chinese.

21. Teacher Petitioner Warned Against Being Interviewed by Foreign Media

Retired teacher representatives who went to petition in Kunming, the capital of Yunnan Province, have been threatened by officers from the local Public Security Bureau. Amongst these representatives, one Teacher Wei was summoned on September 22 and 24 and told that she would suffer serious consequences if she were interviewed by foreign media again. In Yunnan, retired teachers from “enterprise schools”—schools managed by businesses—are treated worse than teachers managed by local governments. These teachers allege that the local government has not been treating them according to the Teachers Law and the relevant enterprise school regulations, and in recent years they have been petitioning the government for better treatment.

Click here for more information in Chinese.

22. Hubei Human Rights Defender Zheng Dajing Kidnapped and Detained

Zheng Dajing (郑大靖), a petitioner and human rights defender, was criminally detained on September 9 by the Public Security Bureau of Shiyan City, Yunxi County in Hubei Province for the crime of “petitioning leading to disturbance of social order.” Zheng was said to be at the Yunxi Detention Centre, but on September 18 CHRD learnt that Zheng has been detained, beaten and abused at Yancao Station in Hongtai Yuansigou Village, a black jail established to detain petitioners. The local government claims that the jail is merely a “Class for Petitioners who Have Adopted Unusual Means to Petition” and was established according to central government directives.

On September 7, Zheng was kidnapped in Beijing by Hubei interceptors and returned to his hometown. At the time of his kidnapping, Zheng was surveying petitioners and learning about the demolition of the Petitioners Village. On September 5, Zheng published a letter addressing leaders at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meeting on September 8 and 9, about the deteriorating human rights situation in China.

The local government also attempted to capture his wife, Cao Xiangzhen(曹祥珍), and send her back to Hubei. For fear of being kidnapped, Cao was forced to give up her new job in Beijing. Zheng’s family now lives in fear and has no means to support themselves.

Zheng has been petitioning for years because his house was illegally occupied by the local government. Because of his petitioning, he has been detained and beaten and his family has been threatened. His seven-year-old daughter and his wife were detained for sixty-five days in July 2006. Since early 2007, while his family was petitioning in Beijing, Zheng actively helped hundreds of petitioners and defended their rights.

Click here for more information in Chinese.

23. Hubei Teacher Representative Detained

“Citizen-managed” teacher representative, Gong Guangzao (龚光早), of Xiantao City, Hubei Province, was detained on August 31 after being invited for a chat by the local Department of Education. Recently, citizen-managed teachers in Hubei have petitioned about pensions and subsidies for dismissed teachers in the provincial capital and Beijing. The local authorities detained Gong for fear that the teachers would petition before the start of the 17^th Party Congress.

In the 1950s and 1960s, the government could not afford to pay all teachers. In some village schools, educated young people were recruited as teachers and paid by the villagers. These citizen-managed teachers are outside of the government’s educational system. In the 1990s, the government started to dismiss a large number of these teachers while some who were qualified can have their status changed from citizen-managed to state-managed (i.e. teachers employed by the state). However, in Hubei, many qualified teachers are losing their jobs and their pensions after teaching for decades.

Please click here for more information in Chinese.

24. Hunan Peasant Detained for Failing to Fulfill a Court Judgment that Never Existed

Liu Zhi (刘贽), a peasant from Wugang City, Hunan Province, has been detained for three months by local authorities for “failure to execute the court’s judgement”. According to Liu’s daughter, in 1995, Wugang City traffic police fabricated evidence to hold Liu responsible for a traffic accident. Liu appealed and petitioned. In September 1998, Wugang City Court opened a second trial. After a hotly-debated trial, in which Liu presented eleven witnesses to support him, the court adjourned and has never issued a verdict. Liu went to Beijing to petition. On May 12, 2007, the Shangdian town government in Wugang summoned Liu and told him they were to resolve the issue. Liu was thereupon promptly detained, and on May 26 his status was changed to criminal detention for “failure to execute the court’s judgment”, a judgement that was never handed down. Liu’s wife went to Wugang City Court and was told by Liu Shihao (刘士豪), the president of the court, that in order for Liu to be released, Liu must act according to the court’s verdict—which does not exist—, pay compensation and promise that he will never petition again. Liu’s daughter requested to see the verdict of Liu’s second trial, but the Court said they could not find the related documents.

Click here for more information.

Freedom of Association and Assembly

25. Hunan Villagers Threatened by Local Government for Protest

CHRD received a phone call from villagers of Ganyi Village, Jiangyong County (江永县甘益村) in Hunan Province, reporting that on September 4, all two hundred households of the village jointly opposed the sale, without villagers’ approval, of their forests by the village committee. They also protested against the village committee’s persecution of villagers who defended their rights and demanded that the 12 villagers arrested for defending the villagers’ rights be released immediately or tried fairly in accordance with the law. In response, the local government mobilized a large group of judicial officials to threaten the villagers, telling them joint protests are illegal and they will be arrested as well.

Click here for more information in Chinese.

26. Protesters in Seven Provinces Dispersed, Beaten and Arrested

The government forcibly dispersed, beat and arrested protesters in seven different provinces in China.

On August 20, in Nanguo Upper Village (南郭上村), Xian Province, several hundred old people began a silent sit-in protest against the government’s forced demolition of their homes. A week later, several hundred police, municipal by-law enforcement officers (城管)and hired men dispatched by the local government forcibly dispersed the demonstrators by carrying each of them to police vehicles which transported them away.

In Sichuan, on September 3, two hundred local Public Security officers surrounded retired workers of the Sichuan Nanchong Transport Company (四川南充运输公司) who were staging a silent sit-in in front of the city government building. The police detained ten of the workers’ representatives and have continued to detain two in order to force other demonstrating retirees to disperse.

On September 6, about a thousand villagers protesting against pollutants released from the local Xinhai Steel Factory (鑫海钢铁厂) in Songxia Village, Changle City (长乐市松下村), Fujian Province, were dispersed by two hundred policemen. Many villagers were injured and three were taken away for questioning. It is unclear whether they are still detained.

In September, discharged soldiers staged a series of protests in four different provinces. On September 3, two thousand discharged soldiers in three railway schools in Inner Mongolia, Shanxi, and Hubei (part of six thousand discharged soldiers recruited earlier by the Railway Authority for re-training) demonstrated their dissatisfaction with the way the schools treated them by rioting and smashing facilities. Local Public Security officers and special tactical response teams were dispatched, fierce clashes ensued and some twenty people were injured and five arrested. The fact that the protests occurred in three different locations on the same day is evidence of coordination rarely seen in recent demonstrations in China. Since the protests on September 3, the Railway Authority has ordered that all six thousand discharged soldiers across six railway schools be returned to their hometowns. However, the Railway Authority has not announced the precise arrangements for these soldiers. On September 14, another group of discharged soldiers at the Heilongjiang Qiqiha’er Railway School protested against their school at the train station. They were met by the police and a tactical response team. The police and the soldiers clashed, ten of the soldiers were injured, five arrested. (Information from Hong Kong-based Information Center for Human Rights and Democracy.)

Click here for more information in Chinese on the protest at Nanguo Upper Village, here for the retired workers in Sichuan and here for the protest in Songxia Village, Changle City.

27. Shandong Shouguang Goodwill Volunteers Banned

The Shandong Shouguang Bureau of Civil Affairs has banned Shouguang Goodwill Volunteers, an organization established by ordinary citizens to help elderly people as well as children without opportunities to attend school. The Bureau claims that the organization was not registered. In June this year, the Bureau and municipal by-law enforcement officers intervened and stopped a charity show the Volunteers organized to raise money for the education of six children. Two months later, the Bureau issued a statement in the local Shouguang Daily that the Volunteers are banned and their property confiscated.

Please click here for more information in Chinese.

Freedom to Information

28. China Guoqing Web Closed Down for Voting Simulation

China Guoqing Web (中国国情网) was closed down on September 17 for twelve hours after it launched a “First Direct Internet Election of China’s Top Leader” page where people could vote for either President Hu or Premier Wen. Twenty-four hours after its launch, the Shanghai Public Security Bureau ordered it to close down. This is the eighteenth time China Guoqing Web was closed down, but this time it was closed for the shortest duration, just twelve hours. Visit 64tianwang for more information.

29. Zhang Jianping Sues Authorities over Internet Closure

On September 10, paraplegic human rights defender, Zhang Jianping (张建平), from Changzhou City, Jiangsu Province, lost his court case against the local Public Security Bureau. In April this year, the Bureau accused Zhang of accessing an “anti-revolutionary” foreign website and forbade him access to the internet. Zhang sued the Bureau, but Wujin District Court in Changzhou City upheld the Bureau’s punishment. A number of other human rights defenders who went to hear the case were not allowed in the court. One person who tried to attend, Wei Daohua (魏道华) from Yixing, was sent home by the police and placed under house arrest.

Click here for more information in Chinese.

30. Strict Control of the Internet before 17th Party Congress

As the 17^th Party Congress nears, the Ministry of the Information Industry has requested that all online message boards, forums and blogs be shut down. They will be allowed to re-open after the end of the Congress. As part of the campaign, in September a number of websites were closed down. On August 31, a Chinese property rights website was closed down, and government officials requested that its owner, Wang Zhiyong (王志勇), stop his rights-defending work. On September 7, the blog of Zan Aizong (昝爱宗), a reporter at Original Ocean in Zhejiang, was closed down after the internet provider of the legal commentary website on which it was posted received a closure request from the Beijing City Internet News Management Office. On September 9, a left-wing socialist website, New Youth Forum, was also closed down.

Click here for more information on the closure of Wang Zhiyong’s website, and here for the closure of Zan Aizong’s blog and New Youth Forum’s website.

Forcible Demolition and Appropriation of Land

31. Forcible Demolition and Appropriation of Land

Residents in areas designated for development in Qingdao, Chengdu and Hangzhou have been either forcibly evicted from their homes or have had their homes forcibly demolished.

In the early hours of September 4, the North district government in Qingdao City together with employees of the developer forcibly demolished a house belonging to two residents (surnames Ma and He) who had not signed an agreement with the developer to demolish their house. The district government has used a variety of means to force residents to leave, including cutting off water and electricity and detaining four residents (one was criminally detained for the crime of libel) who petitioned higher authorities about the issue.

On September 9, in Maan Village, Jinniu District (金牛区马鞍村), Chengdu, Sichuan Province, six households that refused to leave were forced out of their homes. Their homes were then demolished by eight unknown individuals wielding steel rods. The residents were also prohibited from collecting their belongings. In 2003, about a hundred households in Maan Village were reluctant to move. But after persistent harassment by the demolition authority– including an incident in which one resident petitioner was permanently disabled by four unknown men who attacked her with kitchen knives– most moved out.

In Hangzhou, on September 12, Zhang Yongxiang (张勇翔), a disabled resident at 5 Dajing Lane (大井巷) in Shangcheng District, was forcibly carried out of his residence and sent to an old people’s home by the police and the management committee. His home was later sealed with bricks. Since Dajing Lane is a historical area, theoretically speaking, the local government cannot demolish buildings there. However, lured by the commercial potential of the area, the local management committee resorted to force to remove residents reluctant to relocate.

For more information, please visit (in Chinese):

Government and Developer Collude to Forcibly Demolish Homes in Qingdao

Disabled Man Forcibly Removed from His Home in Hangzhou

Chengdu Developer Forcibly Demolish Homes

32. Yang Yunbiao Imprisoned for Opposing Forcible Demolition

On September 11, Yang Yunbiao (杨云彪) of Hangzhou City, Zhejiang Province was sentenced by Hangzhou Xihu Court to two years’ imprisonment for “obstructing the police from carrying out their public duty”. Yang’s wife, Kong Qiuhua (孔秋华) said she would appeal. In August 2006, Zhejiang Holiday Resort forcibly demolished Yang’s home. Yang protested and clashed with the police.

Click here for more information in Chinese.

Freedom of Religion

33. Hebei Catholic Bishop Died in Detention

Catholic bishop, Han Dingxiang (韩鼎祥), of Yongnan District, Hebei Province, died on September 9 while being detained by local Public Security police. The local authorities allowed Han’s nephews to tend to him only in his last few days. Only a few hours after his death, his body was promptly removed for cremation. Han was born in 1937 and had been arrested many times throughout his life. He was first arrested in 1960, when he was accused of “anti-revolutionary activity” and sent to a Reform Through Labour farm. He was released in 1979. Han became a priest in 1986, and in 1989 he was appointed bishop by the Vatican. He was last arrested in 1999 for being involved in “illegal religious activities”.

Click here for more information in Chinese.

Editors: Wang Songling, Su Hui

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Chinese Human Rights Defenders (CHRD) is a non-political, non-government network of grassroots and international activists promoting human rights protection and empowering grassroots activism in China. CHRD’s objective is to build NGO capacities, monitor rights development, and assist victims of abuse. CHRD advocates non-violent and rule of law approaches. CHRD conducts investigation and research, provides information, organizes training, supports a program of small grants, and offers legal assistance.