Harassment and Persecution of Human Rights Activists
2. Whereabouts of Rights Activist Qi Zhiyong Still Unknown a Month after his Disappearance
3. Yang Chunlin to Be Tried After Chinese New Year
4. Fujian Jail Bars Huang Weizhong’s Family from Visiting
5. Village Representatives Yu Changwu and Wang Guilin Sent to Re-education Through Labor
6. Guangxi Dissident Li Zhiyou Released Chongqing Human Rights Defender Hu Jing Released from Detention at Psychiatric Hospital
7. Chongqing Human Rights Defender Hu Jing Released from Detention at Psychiatric Hospital
8. Home of Beijing Dissident Forcibly Demolished

Torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment
9. Shandong Barefoot Lawyer Li Xiangyang Beaten by Judge

Persecution of Petitioners
10. Petitioner Yang Guihua Sent to Re-education Through Labor
11. Hubei Petitioner Liu Xiaoqun Escapes from Illegal Detention
12. Hubei Petitioner Wang Guilan Released

Rights to Housing
13. Seven Sentenced after 10,000 People Protest against Forcible Demolition in Zhejiang

Workers’ Rights
14. 18 Railway Workers Killed by Train; Poor Working Conditions Exposed

1. Beijing Censors Websites that “Misrepresent” the Olympics
On January 25, the head of the Beijing Municipal Copyright Department, Feng Junke (冯俊科), said that websites that create or propagate information that distorts or falsifies the Olympics logo and its related pictures, words, music and movies violate the government’s intellectual property rights over the Beijing Olympics. The Copyright Department will work with relevant departments to collect information concerning these websites. Websites that have not registered with the relevant departments will be shut down, and registered sites will be asked to delete the objectionable content. (Jinhua Times)[i]

Harassment and Persecution of Human Rights Activists

2. Whereabouts of Rights Activist Qi Zhiyong Still Unknown a Month after his Disappearance
June 4, 1989 victim and advocate for the rights of the disabled, Qi Zhiyong (齐志勇), has not been seen since January 6. On that day, Qi called a friend to report that he had been warned by the head of Xuanwu National Security Unit (under Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau(PSB)) to “shut up or suffer grave consequences.” Qi’s whereabouts since then are unknown, and it is feared that he has been detained by the police. Qi’s disappearance is believed to be related to the detention of human rights defender, Hu Jia. Qi and Hu are friends. After Hu’s detention on December 27, 2007, Qi kept the outside world informed of Hu’s situation. For this reason, Qi was closely watched by the Xuanwu National Security Unit. (CHRD)[ii]

3. Yang Chunlin to Be Tried After Chinese New Year
Yang Chunlin (杨春林),Heilongjiang human rights defender, was to be tried on January 29 by Jiamusi City Intermediate People’s Court in Heilongjiang Province, according to his sister. Yang’s trial was to be closed because, according to the authorities, the case involves “state secrets.” However, the Court decided to postpone the trial until possibly some time after the Chinese New Year on February 7, stating that the case was complicated and one of Yang’s defense lawyers could not be present at the trial scheduled for January 29. Yang was arrested on August 13 on suspicion of “incitement to subversion of state power.” (CRLW)[iii]

4. Fujian Jail Bars Huang Weizhong‘s Family from Visiting
On January 13, the family of Wang Weizhong (黄维忠), imprisoned rural rights activist from Yangshou Village, Putian City, Fujian Province, was barred from visiting Wang by authorities at Cangshan Prison, where he is being held. The prison authorities at Cangshan Prison, stating that Wang is under “tightened management,” have prohibited Wang’s family from visiting him for five consecutive months. In 2006, Wang was convicted of “gathering crowds to disturb social order” and sentenced to three years of imprisonment. (GMWQ)[iv]

5. Village Representatives Yu Changwu and Wang Guilin Sent to Re-education Through Labor
On January 28, Wang Guilin (王桂林), a village representative from Fujin City, Heilongjiang Province, was sent to one and a half years of Re-education Through Labor (RTL) for “disturbing social order”. Another village representative, Yu Changwu (于长武), was also sent to two years of RTL on January 17. According to Yu’s lawyer, his “crimes” include “violating state safety, disturbing social order, being interviewed by foreign media (especially Falungong media), releasing articles about China’s land system on foreign websites, and saying ‘we want our land, not the Olympics‘” when speaking to reporters.

Villagers in Fujin claim that city officials have appropriated 100,000 hectares of village land. They have been involved in a long-running land dispute with the local government, led by representatives, such as Yang Chunlin, Wang Guilin and Yu Changwu, all three of whom have been detained and sent to RTL for their defense of villagers’ rights. (CRLW)[v]

6. Guangxi Dissident Li Zhiyou Released
On January 24, Li Zhiyou (李志友), a Guangxi dissident taken away by the police on January 14, was released. The police provided no legal justification for his 10-day detention, saying only that he had been “summoned”. During his detention, the police attempted to intimidate Li into signing a pledge that he would not participate in “democracy activities,” but Li refused. (CRLW)[vi]

7. Chongqing Human Rights Defender Hu Jing Released from Detention at Psychiatric Hospital
Hu Jing (胡敬), a human rights defender from Chongqing City, Sichuan Province, was released from detention at a psychiatric institution on January 10. Hu had defended workers’ rights at a state-owned motor company in Chongqing and is a member of the Union of Chinese Nationalists, an internet community that affiliated with the Nationalist Party of Taiwan. In 2005, after petitioning about workers’ rights in Beijing, he was sent by Chongqing Police to a local psychiatric institution where he was reportedly mistreated. In November 2007, Hu was again sent to the institution. Reportedly, after his release from the first detention, Hu was confirmed to be mentally healthy when he went for an assessment at an independent mental hospital. It is believed that the reason the Chongqing Police forcibly confined him to the psychiatric institution a second time was that they were unhappy about him getting an independent mental assessment. (tianwang)[vii]

8. Home of Beijing Dissident Forcibly Demolished
On January 24, about 100 officials from a number of Beijing Municipal government departments, including Beijing Municipal Chaoyang District PSB and Chaoyang District Changying Village Government, forcibly demolished the home of Beijing dissident, Li Jinping (李金平), at Shilipu in Changying Village. When Li resisted, a number of the officials kicked him. Li was later forcibly carried to the Shilipu Village Committee Office. Reportedly, the officials also mistreated Li’s family, confiscated his money and valuables and offered him insufficient compensation. In addition, the officials also destroyed the altar Li set up in his home for Zhao Ziyang (赵紫阳), the late Chinese Communist Party Secretary known for his sympathy with student demonstrators at Tiananmen Square in 1989. Li became well known as a dissident largely because of his public call for a reevaluation of Zhao’s legacy. (CRLW)[viii]

Torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment

9. Shandong Barefoot Lawyer Li Xiangyang Beaten by Judge
On January 17, Li Xiangyang (李向阳), a human rights defender and barefoot lawyer from Yishui County, Shandong Province, was beaten for four hours by the judge presiding over a case involving a property rights dispute. His clients, Sun Hua and Sun Xia, were also beaten. The judge, Li Jingfu (李京富), conducted the beating together with four others at Longjiaquan Court, in Yishui County. The beating was so severe that the victims’ bodies were bruised and swollen, and they needed to go to the hospital for treatment. (CRLW)[ix]

Persecution of Petitioners

10. Petitioner Yang Guihua Sent to Re-education Through Labor
CHRD learnt on January 26 that petitioner, Yang Guihua (杨桂华), has been sent to RTL for a year for “disturbing social order in front of the United Nations Development Program offices in Beijing.” Yang has reportedly been petitioning because the local court in Qiqihaer, Heilongjiang Province, delayed processing her case concerning money disputes. She was caught by interceptors on November 5, 2007, and later sent to RTL. Yang, 51, has heart disease and cervical cancer, amongst other illnesses. Her husband is also ill and her children are still in school. Yang’s children have requested that the Heilongjiang RTL Management Committee allow Yang access to medical treatment and release her based on humanitarian reasons. (CHRD)[x]

11. Hubei Petitioner Liu Xiaoqun Escapes from Illegal Detention
On January 12, Liu Xiaoqun, a petitioner from Laohekou City, Hubei Province, escaped from the local government’s illegal detention. Liu is now in hiding. Three days later, on January 15, his wife, who was petitioning in Beijing, was intercepted and detained by Laohekou officials stationed in Beijing.

Liu has been petitioning about the forcible demolition of his properties. He was detained on December 26, 2007 when he distributed thousands of copies of a protest letter near the National People’s Congress Office in Xiangfan City, Hubei Province. Liu was first detained at a detention center, then at a local inn where he was required to “learn” the Regulations on Letters and Visits. At the time of his escape, Liu was being detained at another local inn in Laohekou City, where he was guarded by over 10 government officials and security guards. (CRLW)[xi]

12. Hubei Petitioner Wang Guilan Released
On January 18, Wang Guilan (王桂兰), a petitioner from Enshi City, Hubei Province, was released after a month’s detention. Wang had exposed the “sale” of petitioners by police from Fuyoujie and Youanmen Police Stations under the Beijing Municipal Security Bureau. The police had been turning over petitioners to governmental authorities from the petitioners’ hometowns in exchange for payment. (Canyu)[xii]

Rights to Housing

13. Seven Sentenced after 10,000 People Protest against Forcible Demolition in Zhejiang
CHRD learnt on January 14 that seven participants in a protest against forcible demolition in Shengzhou, Zhejiang Province, were sentenced on December 27, 2007. On June 20, 2007, alerted by organizers through SMS messaging, about 10,000 gathered in a demonstration protesting against the Shengzhou government’s forcible demolition of some properties in the city center. The police and the demonstrators clashed. Qiu Yi (裘宜), a Shengzhou citizen,attended the demonstration and was involved in the clash with the police. On August 13, he was formally arrested, together with six others, for “obstructing public duties.” The longest sentence is one year and nine months. Qi is sentenced to one year and three months. The seven are now detained at the Shengzhou City Detention Centre. (CRLW)[xiii]

Workers’ Rights

14. 18 Railway Workers Killed by Train; Poor Working Conditions Exposed
On January 23, Multiple Units Train D59 from Beijing to Qingdao killed eighteen and injured nine China Railway workers between Anqiu City and Changyi City on the Jiaoji Line in Shandong Province. Initial investigations suggest that the accident was caused by workers from the 16^th Office of China Railway beginning work on the railway 20 minutes before schedule. The accident draws attention to the poor working conditions of these workers. They live 10 each to a room and sleep close to the cold floor. Reportedly, the workers begin work early that day in order to escape the cold and crowdedness of their quarters. They work 15 hours a day and now the surviving workers’ salaries are to be deducted by their managers. They were hoping their salaries would be released, so that they could return home for the Lunar New Year. (Nanfang Daily, the Beijing News)[xiv]