China Human Rights Briefing October 1 – 30, 2007

October 30, 2007 Comments Off

China Human Rights Briefing

A monthly newsletter of CHRD
October Edition, 2007

Editors’ Note
The crackdown on activists in the lead-up to the 17th Party Congress continued into October. By the start of the month, authorities had rounded up many of those considered threatening to a smoothly run, unblemished Party Congress. The main events in October indicate the Chinese government’s strategy of “snuffing out the small flame before the fire can be set:” It remains intent on preventing any kind of organized activities which it deems threatening to its rule.

The government intimidated and punished individuals who organized protests, signed petitions, congregated to worship, or gathered to discuss topics or mark events it considered sensitive by the government. It has singled out human rights defenders and dissidents for persecution and dealt forcefully with anyone whose complaints may implicate authorities or strike a chord amongst the wider populace.

October saw authorities deal roughly with workers on strike, villagers protesting expropriation of their land, and the disgruntled flocking into Beijing to petition the government for redress. At the beginning of November, authorities prevented hundreds of mourners from gathering for the funeral service of Bao Zunxin, a dissident intellectual associated with the Tiananmen demonstrations of 1989.

Police power meets few limits in dealing with individuals deemed to be threatening to government interests. Police continue to “disappear” individuals and detain or “soft-detain” them in their homes without legal order for prolonged periods. While under detention, individuals are routinely tortured and mistreated, denied medical treatment and denied access to legal counsel. They are also subjected to unfair or secret trials and incarceration in psychiatric hospitals and Re-education through Labor camps without trial . In October, these patterns of human rights abuses appeared as deeply entrenched as ever.

Table of Contents

Freedom of Association and Assembly

Harassment, Detention and Imprisonment

Freedom of Expression

Abuse of Petitioners

Freedom of Religion

Beijing Protestant Activist Hua Huiqi Beaten Again Upon Being Discharged from the Hospital

Policies and Legal Regulations

Noteworthy CHRD Releases

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Freedom of Association and Assembly

1. Hunan Jiangyong Lead/Zinc Miners Suppressed for Strike

On September 6, 283 workers at the Jiangyong Lead and Zinc Mine Factory went on strike to demand that a shareholder meeting be convened, that the company’s books be investigated, and that shares specifically given to company management be cancelled. In response, the local government arrested eight worker representatives on September 30. One was released after three hours of arrest. The other seven are still detained. In October, the local government dispatched a large number of policemen to block traffic intersections in order to prevent workers from petitioning and threatened to place petitioners in Re-education through Labor camps.

Click here for more information in Chinese.

2. Guangdong human rights defender Chen Qitang Criminally Detained

On October 26, Guangdong human rights defender, Chen Qitang, also known as Tianli, was criminally detained by the Ch an City sub-division of the Foshan City Public Security Bureau on suspicion of “impersonating the police for the purpose of defrauding others.” The detention order cites Article 61 of the PRC Criminal Procedure Law. The article pertains to the initial detention of “major suspects” or “active offenders” and does not address the substance of any supposed crime committed by Chen. Chen is now detained at Foshan City Public Security Bureau Detention Center. His home was searched by police on October 31. Chen is believed to have been detained because of his rights-defending activities relating to the Nanhai Villagers.

Click here for more information from Citizen’s Rights and Livelihood Watch.

3. Jail Sentences Upheld for Nanhai Protestors of Forced Land Eviction

On October 27, CHRD learnt that the Foshan City Intermediate Court had rejected the appeal of seven villagers from Sanshan Township, Nanhai County, Guangdong Province. The villagers were activists in local protests against forced land eviction and were convicted of “extortion and blackmail” and sentenced in April. Local officials and land developers colluded to appropriate the villagers’ land for profitable development projects and kick-backs.

On October 31, Chen Ningbiao (陈宁标), one of those imprisoned, died. While in detention, Chen had been beaten several times and served poor food. Since June, he had felt unwell, but he was denied medical treatment until he was in serious pain. Upon examination, Chen was discovered to have terminal liver cancer. During a visit in July, his family applied for his release for medical treatment but was denied. On October 23, his family received a notice from the court urging them to take Chen for medical treatment. However, his family had no money for his treatment and believed that the authorities wanted to get Chen off their hands to avoid responsibility for Chen’s rapid deterioration, which the family believed to be closely linked to earlier mistreatment and denial of medical treatment. Eight days later, Chen died in a police hospital

Click here for more information on Nanhai villagers and here for Chen Ningbiao.

Harassment, Detention and Imprisonment

4. Beijing human rights defender Zhang Wenhe detained and arrested

On October 2, Beijing human rights defender, Zheng Wenhe (张文和), was taken away by the National Security Unit of Tongzhou Public Security Bureau for “suspicion of damaging public property.” It is feared that Zhang has been sent to a psychiatric institution. On October 1, the Tongzhou National Security Unit had requested that Zhang’s family send him to the Anding Psychiatric Hospital in Beijing, but his family refused. In 1979, Zhang was incarcerated in a psychiatric institution for half a year for his involvement in the Xidan Democracy Wall. For years, Zhang has promoted democratization and has been detained by police many times. In the past year, he was forced by the National Security Unit to undergo three mental health examinations. To protest the persecution he has suffered, Zhang declared a hunger strike on October 1 and was taken away by police the following day.

5. Wuhan Dissident Wang Dalin Secretly Sentenced to Re-Education through Labor for Two Years

On October 10, Wuhan dissident, Wang Dalin (汪达林), released an open letter exposing his arrested by Wuhan police on September 29, 2005 for organizing a nation-wide event called “Patriotic Cultural Clothes.” He encouraged people to write on their clothes an expression of their vision for the country. His idea was a reaction to government corruption after Wang, a former factory worker, had exhausted all legal avenues in defending workers’ rights in the factory. He was secretly sentenced in October 2005, without a lawyer or trial, to two years of Re-Education through Labour for the crime of “inciting subversion of state power.” He was detained at the Hanyang Re-Education through Labour camp in Hubei Province which specializes in detaining “high-risk detainees” such as drug users and people with HIV/AIDS. While in detention, he was not allowed to communicate with the outside world and was seriously beaten many times. After his release on the end of September, he is still closely monitored by the authorities.

Click here to read his letter on Citizen’s Rights and Livelihood Watch.

6. China‘s First Petition Mediator Liu Guiqin Sentenced

In mid-October, Liu Guiqin (刘贵琴), from Yunxi County in Hubei Province, was sentenced to a year and a half for “illegal possession of documents containing state secrets.” Liu is a local petitioner and human rights defender and has a very good reputation amongst petitioners. In May this year, Yunxi County government wanted to use her influence to quell a wave of petitioning in Yunxi and hired her as a petition mediator. However, less than a month later, the local Public Security Bureau arrested her.

Click here for more information from 64tianwang.com.

7. Zhang Zilin’s Case Sent Back to Public Security Bureau for Further Investigation

CHRD has learnt that the Procuratorate has recently sent the case of Zhang Zilin (张子霖), a key member of the Union of Chinese Nationalists accused of “fraud and extortion,” back to the Public Security Bureau for investigation. The Union of Chinese Nationalists is an internet community that recognizes the Nationalist Party. Its members have participated in local People’s Congress elections as independent candidates, and it has written about such issues as rights-defending activities and land disputes. Officially, the Union is illegal and many of its members have been arrested and detained. Other well-known members of the Union includes Sun Buer, Cai Aimin and Xiong Jiahu.

8. Released Human Rights Defender Huang Yan Speaks of Mistreatment in Detention

On October 23, Huang Yan (黄燕), a human rights defender from Hubei, was released. He had been detained on September 22. According to Hu Jia, a Beijing-based activist, who received information from Huang after her release, she suffered mistreatment while detained in Hubei. The police grabbed her hair and slammed her head against the wall, slapped her and insulted her with vulgar language. One female officer smashed her neck with a bottle of mineral water, and a male officer groped her face and blew smoke in her face. Huang is a friend of lawyer Gao Zhisheng who disappeared on the same day Huang was detained. Huang was first detained in Beijing, where she was also mistreated, before being transferred to Hubei.

9. Lawyers Visit Detained Heilongjiang Activist Yang Chunlin for the First Time

On October 25, detained Heilongjiang activist, Yang Chunlin, who has been denied access to a lawyer for over four months, was allowed to meet his defense lawyers, Li Fangping and Zhang Jianguo, for the first time. However, during the meeting, Yang and his lawyers’ conversation was rudely interrupted many times by the policeman present, especially when the lawyers asked Yang about torture and mistreatment suffered while in detention. When the lawyers protested such interference, the policeman terminated their meeting. Yang, who has been detained since July 6, was tortured and mistreated in Heitong Detention Center, Heilongjiang Province, where he is held. According to Yang’s family, Yang has been subjected to a form of torture called “dinglongzi” (literally translated as “nailed in a cage”): A person’s arms and legs are stretched and fixed with iron chains to the four corners of an iron bed. After a long period of time in the same position, the victim feels pain all over her or his body. Yang has also been subjected to a related form of humiliating treatment called kanlongzi (literally translated as “looking after the cage”): He has to clean up the defecation of other detainees being subjected to dinglongzi. His family also said that Yang was repeatedly coerced to confess.

Click here for more information in Chinese and here for CHRD’s last briefing on Yang.

10. Reproductive and Housing Rights Activist Mao Hengfeng Mistreated for the Second Time

On October 26, CHRD learnt that Mao Hengfeng (毛恒风), Shanghai reproductive rights and housing rights activist, had been mistreated in prison.

When Mao’s family visited her in jail on October 26, she told them of her mistreatment. On September 24, against her will, Mao was forcibly taken to the prison hospital with her hands tied behind her back and her mouth and nose masked. A number of female prisoners accompanied and beat her on the way there. At the hospital, Mao was stripped naked and tied to a bed, where she was left for some twenty days. Mao was force-fed, beaten, humiliated and nearly suffocated. She had to defecate while tied to the bed and was not given a bath. She was forced to have her blood pressure measured and her blood drawn for blood tests. Mao did not want her blood pressure measured because she is worried that the authorities would use the excuse that her blood pressure was high to administer unknown medication. Mao’s stay in the hospital was filmed. Inmates monitoring her told her that the prison officials had told them to mistreat her. On October 15, Mao was released from the hospital. The prison officer, together with the female prisoners, lifted Mao’s shirt up, exposing her body to passersby on the street as they dragged her away from the hospital. In the process, the collar of her shirt strangled her neck, making breathing difficult.

11. News from Gao Zhisheng for the First Time Since His Disappearance

In the evening of October 28, Gao Zhisheng called Beijing-based activist Hu Jia from Xi’an, Shaanxi Province. It was the first time anyone had heard from Gao since his disappearance on September 22. In the short phone conversation, Gao told Hu not to visit his family. When Hu asked where Gao was, Gao said he was going to be in Shaanxi and Shanxi Provinces. On September 29, Huang Yan, Gao’s friend detained on the same day as his disappearance but now released, was told by the police that Gao had been released and that he was in either Xi’an or Beijing.

Since Gao’s disappearance, his wife and children have been harassed and closely monitored by the police. His wife, Geng Huo (耿和), is followed by some ten people every time she goes out. His children, apart from being shadowed, have been ostracized by teachers and fellow students. Gao’s family has been warned by the police not to have any contact with the outside world. Their bank account has also been controlled by the police, making it difficult for them to survive.

Click here for the latest news about Gao in Chinese and here for CHRD’s last briefing on Gao.

12. Wife of Jailed Human Rights Defender Barred from Seeking Medical Treatment

On October 29, Yuan Weijing (袁伟静), wife of the jailed human rights defender, Chen Guangcheng (陈光诚), was prevented from seeking dental treatment and roughly handled by policemen from the local Public Security Bureau in Yinan County, Shandong Province. She could not bear the pain of a severe toothache and decided to go to see a dentist in Linyi City. While Yuan was on her way to Linyi, the six policemen who have been monitoring her prevented her from boarding the bus. She then tried to walk but was violently restrained by the six men, who grabbed her shoulders and pushed her. After the incident, Yuan called various Public Security Bureaus in Yinan County to complain, but none was willing to respond. Yuan has been closely monitored by local authorities since her forcible return to Yinan from Beijing, where she was intercepted at the airport and prevented from leaving for the Philippines to receive a prestigious award on behalf of her husband on August 24.

Click here for the CHRD briefing on Yuan.

13. Yao Lifa and his Wife Released after a Month of Secret Detention

On October 29, Yao Lifa (姚立法), an activist promoting local democratic elections in Hubei Province, was released after a month of secret detention. He had been detained at Qianjiang City Xiongkou Farmers Liaison Office. His wife was also detained. While in detention, he was guarded by fourteen people, including six Public Security Officers. Yao said the authorities detained him on suspicion of “libel” but believed the true reason for his detention was that he had been involved in three sensitive human rights-defending activities at the time, the most sensitive of which was his role as a legal counsel to 6,000 teachers dissatisfied with Hubei Party Secretary, Yu Zheng sheng, who was tipped to join the Politburo Standing Committee during the 17^th Party Congress in mid-October. During Yao’s detention, his son tried looking for him and asked the police about Yao’s whereabouts with no success.

14. Olympics Prisoner Ye Mingjun Released on Bail

On October 30, Ye Mingjun (叶明君) was released on bail and now awaits trial. He had been arrested and detained on September 30 on suspicion of “inciting subversion of state power.” Ye’s release coincided with the conclusion of the 17th Party Congress ended. However, Ye Mingjun’s uncle, Ye Guoqiang, who was detained at the same time, is still in detention.

Click here for CHRD’s previous briefing on the Ye family.

15. Beijing Police Prevent Hundreds from Attending Memorial for Dissident Intellectual

On November 3, apparently under orders from the highest authorities, large contingents of policemen were mobilized to block mourners from attending a memorial service for Bao Zunxin （包遵信）, an influential dissident intellectual who inspired the 1989 pro-democracy movement. About 200 people who had planned to attend the service were prevented by the police from going. Before the funeral, the police used a variety of methods to prevent mourners from attending. The police visited and questioned friends and supporters of Bao to intimidate them. They also placed dozens of well-known human rights defenders under house arrest, residential detention or administrative detention. At the Beijing Eastern Suburb Funeral Home, the site of the memorial service, a large contingent of policemen from Chaoyang District PSB National Security Protection Unit monitored mourners, videotaping them as a means of intimidation, and took some of them away .

Click here for the full CHRD briefing.

Freedom of Expression

16. YouTube Banned in China

On October 18, YouTube was banned in China, a day after it opened its first Chinese website in Hong Kong. Chinese web users cannot access the Chinese website.

17. Private Property Website Closed Down

On October 10, Private Property Rights Web, a website that defends the right to private property, was closed following an order from the Beijing Public Security Bureau. For the last two years, in addition to providing information about forced demolitions, it also provides information to people whose property was expropriated by the state in earlier eras and who are now in disputes with the government concerning the ownership of their property.

Click here for more information from Radio Free Asia.

18. Even Before Trial, Reporter is to be Sentenced

On October 30, CHRD learnt that the case of Qi Chonghuai (齐崇淮), a reporter for Fazhi Morning Post in Shandong Province, is still being investigated four months after his arrest. He was detained on June 25 by Tengzhou Police on suspicion of “fraud.” Qi’s case has not yet been sent to the Procuratorate for prosecution. Qi’s lawyer said his detention exceeds the legal limit of two months. He contacted the police and sought to have Qi released on bail while awaiting trial, but the police refused. The police said “leaders from above are concerned” about Qi’s case and therefore rejected the application for bail. The police even told Qi’s wife that because of the concern from the leadership, Qi would have to be sentenced. Click here for more information in Chinese.

Abuse of Petitioners

19. Police Extend Detention and Arrest Organizers of Open Letter to 17^th Party Congress

Liu Jie (刘杰), of Bei’an City, Heilongjiang Province, will be detained at least until November 26. She was detained on October 13 and charged with “gathering crowds to disturb social order.” Liu was the lead organizer of a public letter signed by 12,150 petitioners calling on leaders at the 17th Party Congress to implement reforms. On October 26, Liu’s husband went to visit her at the Bei’an City Nongken (Military Farm Bureau) Detention Center, where Liu is detained. He was told by officers that she would be detained for another month. Liu’s detention has reportedly been extended because the authorities are gathering information to prosecute her.

Click here for CHRB’s statement on Liu, here for the latest news on Liu in Chinese.

Another organizer of the petition, Wang Guilan (王桂兰), female, from Enshi City, Hubei Province, was released on October 22. She had been detained on October 14 under suspicion of “inciting subversion of state power.”

20. At Least Twenty-Four Petitioners from Four Provinces and Two Municipalities Persecuted in October

On September 28, petitioner Cao Xiaoli (曹晓丽) from Zigong City, Sichuan Province, was sent to the black jail located at Rong County Assistance Station. She was released on October 6 after going on a hunger strike. Cao was an accountant at a meat factory in Rong County and has been persecuted for years for her refusal to make fraudulent accounts to cover the theft of state money and for petitioning to expose local corruption.

On October 7, Shang Shiyou (尚世友), a Heilongjiang farmer representative, was taken away from his home in Liaoning Province by Heilongjiang Nonken (Military Farm Bureau) officials. Shang was one of three Heilongjiang farmer representatives who went to Beijing in March this year to petition about corrupt local Nonken officials. After persistent persecution by Heilongjiang Nonken officials stationed in Beijing, the three attempted suicide by drinking poison at the hall of the Office of Letters and Visits of the People’s Congress. They were sent back to Heilongjiang and imprisoned for forty days. Since their release, they have been under tight surveillance. In early October, Shang escaped from official restriction of movement and went back to his original home in Liaoning Province. Heilongjiang officials caught him there and took him back into custody. His whereabouts are currently unknown.

On October 13, nineteen village representatives from Cushijiang Town, Jiangyong County in Hunan Province were criminally detained. The villagers had gone to Changsha, capital of Hunan, to petition the provincial government about the town government’s appropriation of land without proper compensation. While they were in Changsha, the provincial government notified the Jiangyong County government, which promptly criminally detained the petitioners upon their return.

Click here for the same information in Chinese.

65-year-old Tianjin petitioner, Li Shuchun (李树春), who went to Beijing to petition about forcible demolition of his property, was intercepted in Beijing and sent back to Tianjin by officials from Tianjin and his work unit. On October 17, he was sent to a psychiatric institution in Hexi District, Tianjin. The hospital admitted that Li is not mentally ill and said he could leave if officials from the government or his work unit would come and take him home. But so far none of them have done so.

Click here for more information in Chinese.

On October 19, petitioner, Xu Jiangjiao (徐江姣), originally from Tiantai in Zhejiang Province and now resident in Hangzhou City, was intercepted while petitioning in Beijing by Tiantai government officials. In the early hours of October 22, the interceptors dropped her on the road to Tiantai. Since she resides in Hangzhou and has no money, she now has no way of returning home.

Click here for more information from Citizen’s Rights and Livelihood Watch in Chinese.

On October 29, CHRD learnt that Beijing Shunyi petitioner, Zhang Shufeng (张淑凤), has been sent to Re-Education through Labour camp for a year for “spreading false information to the outside world, distorting facts about the society and seriously disturbing social order.” Zhang was detained on October 19 for 10 days for the same alleged crime but was released on October 29 only to be sentenced. A few years ago, Zhang’s husband was beaten for complaining about his child being beaten by teachers at school. The beating left him with a permanent debilitating injury. The dispute was brought to court. Zhang believed that the court made an unfair decision and started petitioning. As a petitioner, Zhang has many times been arrested, beaten and sent to Re-Education through Labor.

Freedom of Religion

21. Beijing Protestant Activist Hua Huiqi Beaten Again Upon Being Discharged from the Hospital

On October 17, Hua Huiqi (华惠棋), a Protestant activist, was again beaten by police while under house arrest. He had earlier been beaten by about ten Chongwen District police officers so severely that he fainted and was admitted to the hospital, According to Hu Jia, a Beijing-based human rights defender, Hua has been persecuted for refusing to be an informant of the National Security Unit of the Beijing Public Security Bureau. Since October 2, the National Security Unit has stepped up its persecution of Hua, culminating in the severe beating of October 11. On October 17, Hua was beaten by those monitoring him when he requested to use the toilet at his house. (Click here for more information in Chinese.

Policies and Legal Regulations

22. President Hu Suggested Equal Voting Ratios for Rural and City Voters

In his report to the 17^th Party Congress, President Hu Jintao said “to expand people’s democracy and ensure that people are in charge of making decisions,” there should be “gradual implementation of similar ratios of representation for urban and rural voters in voting for People’s Congress Representatives.” In 1953, China’s first Election Law stipulated that People’s Congress Representatives represent different numbers of voters depending on their constituency. National People’s Congress Representatives of rural areas represent about eight times as many voters as representatives of cities. Provincial and County People’s Congress Representatives from rural areas represent, respectively, five and four times as many voters as their urban counterparts. In 1979, at the Second Conference of the Fifth National People’s Congress, the current Election Law was passed but these stipulations remained unaltered. In 1995, when China amended the current Election Laws, village voters’ voting rights were uniformly determined to be one-fourth of city voters’ rights. Click here for more information in Chinese from Legal Daily.

23. Shenzhen Thieves Will Be Sent to Re-Education through Labor for Stealing More Than Once

Shenzhen Police recently implemented a “Mechanism to Strike Light Crimes”, according to which, the Public Security Bureau Public Transport Division will sentence thieves who have been caught stealing more than once but whose crime has not reached the minimal standard for criminal punishment to Re-Education through Labor. The sentence can be as short as one year and as long as four. Click here for more information in Chinese.

24. New Edition of Lawyers Law Contains Important Changes

According to Article 34 of the newly amended Lawyers Law, lawyers will no longer need approval from the judiciary to meet suspects and defenders nor will their conversations during the meeting be monitored.

The article further states, “From the day of investigation and indictment (e.g. when the procuratorate takes on the case), the retained lawyer has the right to peruse, summarize and copy prosecution documents and documents in the case file.” Previously, the law allowed law enforcement agencies to limit access to case documents.

If indeed this law is properly implemented, this is an important step contributing to the rights-defending activities of criminal law lawyers and the rights of the accused.

However, the new edition also places new restrictions on lawyers’ freedom of expression in court. Chapter Four, Article 37, “Lawyers’ Profession, Rights and Responsibilities,” stipulates, “In their professional activities, lawyers’ personal rights are not to be violated. When a lawyer is acting on behalf of, and speaking in defense of, a defendant, he/she will not be legally responsible. However, this does not apply to lawyers whose speech endangers the state’s safety, maliciously slanders others and seriously disturbs the order of the court.” This article goes against the internationally widely accepted view that lawyers are exempt from prosecution for statements made in court. Since there is no clear definition of “endangering the state’s safety,” this article can easily become a legal trap to suppress the speech of outspoken lawyers.

Click here and here for more information from Sina.net and here for more information from Radio Free Asia on these amendments.

25. Laws on the Restriction of Freedom and Forcible Entry to Private Residence

On October 25, at the 30^th conference of the 10^th National People’s Congress Standing Committee, a committee was set up to deliberate a draft of the Administrative Enforcement Law.

In the draft, there are six types of Administrative Enforcement measures. Amongst them, two regulations on the “restriction of citizens’ personal freedom” and “forcible entry to residential homes” cause particular concern and have gained the most public attention.

The draft stipulates that “when the purpose for the implementation of the restriction of personal freedom has been reached, or when the conditions which necessitate such a restriction of personal freedom disappear, such restriction must be immediately removed.” (Source: Xin Jin Bao)

Legal experts find it alarming that such a measure which restricts individuals’ freedom does not stipulate a clear time limit. In most countries, such administrative enforcement law requires approval and strict supervision by the judiciary.

Noteworthy CHRD Releases

26. Pre-Congress Crackdown Raises Fear for Olympics

On October 15, the day the 17^th Communist Party Congress started, CHRD released a statement detailing the human rights violations during the two-month crackdown preceded the Congress. Since August, authorities have closed down websites, tightened surveillance of activists, put many under house arrest or criminal detention, disappeared others, and instigated physical attacks. Click here to read the full statement.

27. CHRD and Reporters without Borders Release Report “Journey to the Heart of Internet Censorship”

A Chinese internet expert working in the IT industry has produced an exclusive study of the key mechanisms of the Chinese official system of online censorship, surveillance and propaganda.

Click here to read the report.

28. CHRD Releases “China‘s ‘Future Leaders’ Lack Commitment to Human Rights”

On October 31, CHRD released a statement expressing concern that two of the four new members appointed to the Standing Committee of the Politburo, Li Keqiang and Xi Jinping, had poor human rights records in the provinces where they were party chiefs. Chinese human rights activists see the Congress’s decision to promote the two men as indication of the Chinese leadership’s lack of commitment to improving human rights. Click here to read the report.

Please write to us if you have any questions and comments. Thanks!

CHRB Editors: Wang Songlian, Su Hui