China Human Rights Briefing August 3-9, 2009
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China Human Rights Briefing
Reporting human rights development from the grassroots
August 3-9, 2009
Highlights
- Gongmeng Prevented from Paying Fines; Director and Staffer Still Held: Gongmeng’s remaining organizers are calling for donations to help pay the banned organization’s enormous fine of 1.42 million RMB. Complicating the process, however, is the refusal of tax authorities to issue the necessary paperwork, and the fact that bank accounts belonging to the organization and director Xu Zhiyong (许志永) have been frozen. Meanwhile, families of Xu and Gongmeng staff member Zhuang Lu (庄璐) have yet to be formally notified of Xu and Zhuang’s detention. The two have also been denied family visits as well as legal counsel while in detention.
- Trials Begin for Sichuan Activists Detained after 2008 Earthquake: Sichuan human rights defender Huang Qi (黄 琦) was tried behind closed doors for “illegal possession of state secrets” on August 5. Huang pleaded not guilty and the court is yet to announce the verdict. Huang is believed to have been detained for reporting and giving interviews to foreign journalists about protests staged by families of schoolchildren killed in the Sichuan earthquake in May 2008. Another Sichuan activist detained for speaking with foreign journalists about the Sichuan Earthquake, Tan Zuoren (谭作人), will be tried this coming week on August 12 in Chengdu City, Sichuan Province.
Contents
Freedom of Expression. 2
Professor Summoned and Home Searched for Article on Xinjiang. 2
Guangdong Activist Sent to Re-education through Labor for Publishing Poems. 3
Freedom of Association and Assembly. 3
Two Detained for Protesting against Detention of Xu Zhiyong. 3
Gongmeng Solicits Public Donations; Authorities Refuse Payment for Fines and Freeze Account 3
Gongmeng Director and Staff Still Denied Access to Legal Counsel 4
Fourteen Arrested for Protests Following Suspicious Death of Shishou Man. 4
Guo Quan Tried for “Subversion of State Power”. 4
Member of China Democracy Party Forcibly Returned Home for Visiting a Fellow Member. 4
Persecution and Harassment of Activists. 5
Sichuan Activist Huang Qi Tried behind Closed Doors. 5
Three Fujian Activists Formally Arrested for Alleging Official Misconduct. 5
Two Activists Barred from Attending Dissident’s Trial, Forcibly Returned Home. 5
Chengdu Law Firm Searched. 5
Heilongjiang Family Flees from Harassment for Reporting Rights Abuse. 6
Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment. 6
Woman Seized while Petitioning and Forcibly Detained in Psychiatric Hospital 6
Petitioner Allegedly Raped in “Black Jail”, Witnesses Detained for Reporting the Crime. 6
Citizens Rights Actions. 7
Court Refuses to Hear Lawsuit Filed by Guiyang Rights Defenders. 7
Retired Xian Workers Demand Pension Increase. 7
Hundreds Protest over Pensions in Wuhan. 7
Law and Policy Watch. 8
Shanxi Procuratorate Initiates Q&A Program to Explain Formal Decisions. 8
CCP Central Committee: “Solve” Petitioners’ Problems Locally to Ensure Anniversary Stability 8
Freedom of Expression
Professor Summoned and Home Searched for Article on Xinjiang
On August 7, Guan Yewen (关夜文), a Wuhan University of Technology professor, was summoned by a group of six policemen from the Wuhan Public Security Bureau (PSB) and university officials. Police alleged that Guan was the author of an article entitled “Examining the Legitimacy of the Rule of the Chinese Communist Party Using the Xinjiang Incident,” which has been circulating widely on the internet. Guan denied this allegation. Police also asked Guan about his endorsement of a letter supporting the Shanghai activist Feng Zhenghu (冯正虎). At the end of the summons, police searched Guan’s computers and emails, and took away his three computers for further investigation. (CHRD)[i]
Guangdong Activist Sent to Re-education through Labor for Publishing Poems
CHRD learned on August 3 that Luo Yongquan (罗 勇泉), a poet and a member of the China Democratic Party from Shaoguan City, Guangdong Province, has been sent to two years of Re-education through Labor (RTL) for publishing poems that “attack the Party and the government”. Luo originally disappeared on May 20 in Chengdu City, Sichuan Province, while traveling to various parts of the country to plan commemorative activities for the 20th anniversary of the Tiananmen Massacre. Luo, a Charter 08 signatory, previously served in an RTL camp between 2001 and 2004 for “opposing the Party and socialism”. (CHRD)[ii]
Freedom of Association and Assembly
Two Detained for Protesting against Detention of Xu Zhiyong
On August 3, Liu Shasha (刘沙沙) and Miaojue Cizhi (妙觉慈智), two female activists, were taken into police custody for unfurling a banner in Tiananmen Square and shouting slogans demanding the release of Xu Zhiyong (许志永), the detained director of the recently banned Beijing NGO Open Constitution Initiative (Gongmeng). The two were taken to the Beijing PSB station in Tiananmen. Liu and Miaojue were then separated. Liu was detained in Juyuan Hostel, a “black jail” run by the Beijing Liaison Office of the Henan Provincial Government. Miaojue was held at the Beijing Liaison Office the Heyuan City, Guangdong Province Government. Both of them escaped by the next day; however, Liu was again caught by policemen from Henan Province on August 7. She was forcibly returned to her hometown, Nanyang City in Henan Province, where she is currently being detained in an abandoned building at her work unit. (CHRD)[iii]
Gongmeng Solicits Public Donations; Authorities Refuse Payment for Fines and Freeze Account
On August 4, recently banned Beijing NGO Open Constitution Initiative (Gongmeng) issued a statement announcing that they would accept public donations in order to pay the 1.49 million RMB fine levied against them by the tax authorities. However, when the remaining organizers of Gongmeng applied to the State Administration of Taxation and the local Bureau of Taxation in Beijing to pay the fines, the tax officials refused to issue them the paperwork necessary to make the payment. The bank accounts of Gongmeng and its detained director Xu Zhiyong (许志永) have also been frozen by the authorities, making it difficult for the organization to pay the fine. (CHRD)[iv]
Gongmeng Director and Staff Still Denied Access to Legal Counsel
Families of Gongmeng director Xu Zhiyong (许 志永) and staff member Zhuang Lu (庄璐) still have yet to receive formal notification about Xu and Zhuang’s detention. Xu and Zhuang disappeared on July 29 in Beijing and it is believed that they have been criminally detained for “tax evasion”. CHRD learned on August 8 that Xu and Zhuang’s lawyers have submitted applications to meet with their clients but the Beijing authorities have not responded. Requests to meet with the detainees by their families have similarly been ignored. (CHRD)[v]
Fourteen Arrested for Protests Following Suspicious Death of Shishou Man
CHRD learned on August 5 that a total of fourteen individuals have been formally arrested for “disturbing social order” for their roles in the massive protests and clashes following the suspicious death of Tu Yuangao (涂远高), a cook at the Yonglong Hotel in Shishou City, Hubei Province, on June 17. Two of those detained were the family members of the diseased—his brother Tu Yuanhua (涂远华) and cousin Tu Xiaoyu (涂晓玉). Shishou authorities have yet to release independent autopsy results regarding Tu Yuangao’s death, which sparked violence after a crowd reportedly as large as 70,000 people gathered to prevent police from removing his body. (CHRD)[vi]
Guo Quan Tried for “Subversion of State Power”
On August 7, Guo Quan (郭泉), detained democracy activist and organizer of the Ximin Party, was tried for “subversion of state power” by Suqian City Court in Jiangsu Province. Guo’s lawyer Guo Lianhui (郭莲辉), his assistant, and Guo’s mother attended the trial. The Procuratorate alleged that Guo established and recruited members for an “illegal organization” and that he published a large number of articles on the internet that sought to “overthrow the socialist system”. Guo’s friends who had traveled to attend the trail were barred from attending it. The court is yet to announce a verdict. (CHRD)[vii]
Member of China Democracy Party Forcibly Returned Home for Visiting a Fellow Member
On August 3, Liu Xianbin (刘贤斌), an organizer of the China Democracy Party (CDP), Sichuan Branch, who was released from prison in November 2008, traveled to visit a fellow CDP organizer who had also been recently released, Li Zhuo (李卓, aka Xiong Ying), in Emei County, Sichuan Province. However, following the meeting, Liu was seized in Emei County by the National Security police from his hometown, Suining City PSB, Sichuan Province. Liu was detained for five hours and then forcibly returned home. He is currently under house arrest. (CHRD)[viii]
Persecution and Harassment of Activists
Sichuan Activist Huang Qi Tried behind Closed Doors
On August 5, Huang Qi (黄琦), detained human rights activist and director of Tianwang Human Rights Center (www.64tianwang.com), was tried for “illegal possession of state secrets” in a closed trial by Wuhou District Court, Chengdu City, Sichuan Province. Huang, who is believed to have been detained for reporting and giving interviews to foreign journalists about protests staged by families of schoolchildren killed in the Sichuan earthquake, has been in detention since June 10, 2008. Huang’s lawyers, Mo Shaoping (莫少平) and Ding Xihui (丁锡奎) attended the trial. Huang pleaded not guilty. The court is yet to announce its verdict. (CHRD)[ix]
Three Fujian Activists Formally Arrested for Alleging Official Misconduct
On July 31, three veteran human rights activists from Fujian — Fan Yanqiong (范燕琼), Wu Huaying (吴华英) and You Jingyou (游精佑, known online as He Suoge [赫索格]) were formally arrested for “making false charges” (诬告陷害). Fan, Wu, and You were detained between June 26 and July 5 after posting articles online alleging official misconduct and attempts to cover up criminal acts surrounding the death of Yan Xiaoling (严晓玲), a young woman from Minqing County, Fujian Province. The veteran activists were originally charged with libel, which carries a maximum sentence of three years. If convicted of making false charges, they could face up to ten years in prison. It is believed that the charges against the three were changed only for the purpose of punishing them more severely. (CHRD)[x]
Two Activists Barred from Attending Dissident’s Trial, Forcibly Returned Home
On August 6, activists Miaojue Cizhi (妙 觉慈智), from Shenzhen, and Liu Anjun (刘安军), from Beijing, disappeared after they arrived in Suqian City, Jiangsu Province to attend the trial of democracy activist Guo Quan (郭泉). Guo was scheduled to be tried for “subversion of state power” on August 7. It was later discovered that Liu was seized in Suqian City and forcibly returned home to Beijing by half a dozen National Security police under the Beijing PSB. Miaojue’s whereabouts are unknown but it is believed that she too has been sent back to her residence in Shenzhen. (CHRD)[xi]
Chengdu Law Firm Searched
On August 3, Shuhan Law Firm of Chengdu City, Sichuan Province was searched by a group of local police. The police presented a search warrant for the office and a summons for democracy activist Zhao Tianchun (赵天春), who is staying temporarily at the law firm. However, the police did not manage to find Zhao in the operation and Li denied knowledge of Zhao’s whereabouts. Zhao, from Nanchong City, Sichuan Province, was detained for investigation between 1987 and 1991 for “organizing a counter-revolutionary group”. In recent years, Zhao has not been very outspoken and it is unclear why the police sought to question him. (CHRD)[xii]
Heilongjiang Family Flees from Harassment for Reporting Rights Abuse
On August 2, CHRD learned that the family of Chen Qingxia (陈庆霞, aka Chen Jinxia), a detained petitioner from Yichun City, Heilongjiang Province, has been forced to flee for releasing information about Chen. Liu Caihua (刘彩华), Chen’s sister-in-law, said that, since Chen’s case was made public, local policemen have barged into her house and interrogated her repeatedly and unidentified men have broken her windows and threatened her. Fearing for her and her family’s safety, Liu sold her shop and moved south. Chen was originally intercepted in Beijing on April 24, 2007, where she was petitioning because her husband developed a mental illness as a result of repeated detention. In the process, her son was lost, and to avoid responsibility, officials have now detained Chen for close to two years. (CHRD)[xiii]
Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment
Woman Seized while Petitioning and Forcibly Detained in Psychiatric Hospital
CHRD learned on August 5 that Huang Cuihua (黄 翠华), a 49-year-old woman from Hanchuan City, Hubei Province, has been detained in a psychiatric institution for petitioning. On July 23, Huang was handing in an application at the window of the State Bureau for Letters and Visits when she was seized by four policemen and government staff from Xiannushan neighborhood, Hanchuan City. Huang was first held at the Beijing Liaison Office of the Hanchuan City Government, then sent to the psychiatric ward in Wudong Hospital, Qingshan Distrct, Wuhan City, Hubei Province. According to Huang’s family, Huang was force-fed unknown medication and beaten. When Huang’s family asked the hospital to produce an evaluation of Huang’s mental status to justify her detention, the doctor at the ward replied that it did not matter because the local authorities had ordered the treatment. The hospital also refuses to discharge Huang without direct orders from the local authorities. (CHRD)[xiv]
Petitioner Allegedly Raped in “Black Jail”, Witnesses Detained for Reporting the Crime
On August 3, a young female petitioner from Anhui Province named Li Ruirui (李蕊蕊), was reportedly raped by a guard while she was held in Juyuan Hostel, a Beijing “black jail” run by the Beijing Liaison Office of the Henan Provincial Government. When other petitioners being held in the same facility, including activist Liu Shasha (刘 沙沙), learned of the rape, they broke out of the jail and reported the crime to the Beijing Municipal PSB. A number of activists, including Zhao Lianhai (赵连海), Xiao Yong (肖勇), and Ba Zhongwei (巴忠魏) went to the PSB as well. The activists and petitioners were immediately taken to Minhang Police Station under the Beijing PSB, where they were interrogated and detained for a day. They were then released or forcibly returned to their hometowns on August 5.
Li returned home to Anhui Province after her family was notified and they were promised that the alleged crime would be investigated. However, CHRD learned on August 10 that Li’s parents and uncle have been pressured by the local authorities to sign a letter of consent sending Li to a psychiatric institution, and that they must notify the local government if Li and family were to go to Beijing again. (CHRD)[xv]
Citizens Rights Actions
Court Refuses to Hear Lawsuit Filed by Guiyang Rights Defenders
On August 5, Guiyang City Intermediate People’s Court told a group of human rights defenders from Guiyang City, Guizhou Province, that it cannot accept the administrative lawsuit filed by the group against the Guiyang City PSB. The activists allege that they have suffered beatings, illegal detention and other illegal treatment at the hands of policemen from the Guiyang City PSB. When they handed in the application on July 29, the court told the group that the application could not be accepted because it was not of the correct format. Eventually, the court took the application and told the group to come back a week later. The group returned in a week, only to be told that the court could not accept the case because they could not file an administrative lawsuit with diverse complaints and that they lacked the legal documents supporting the case, such as summons and detention warrants. However, the activists pointed out that they are suing the police partly because the police failed to produce these documents when detaining them. (CHRD)[xvi]
Retired Xian Workers Demand Pension Increase
Between two and three hundred representatives of retirees of former state enterprises petitioned the Shaanxi provincial government in Xian City, Shaanxi Province, on August 4, demanding that the government raise their pensions. There are an estimated 600,000 such retirees from various state enterprises in Xian City, who receive between 1,000 and 1,300 RMB a month as pension. The representatives complained that their pension is meager and cannot cover their living expenses. In addition, although they were all state employees, their pensions are only half or a third of those of civil servants and dismissed soldiers. (CHRD)[xvii]
Hundreds Protest over Pensions in Wuhan
On August 6, a group of 400 retirees gathered outside the Social Security Department in Wuhan City, Hubei Province, demanding that the government provide them with adequate health care and old-age insurance. These 70-year-olds were city dwellers who relocated to the countryside in the 1960s in response to the government’s campaign to move to rural villages. They moved back to the city in the 1990s and now find themselves worse off than those who did not leave the city, who generally enjoy some health care and old-age insurance provided by their former work units. (CHRD)[xviii]
Law and Policy Watch
Shanxi Procuratorate Initiates Q&A Program to Explain Formal Decisions
According to a Shanxi Daily article dated August 7, the Taiyuan City Procuratorate in Shanxi Province has initiated a new program under which families and the legal counsel of the individuals formally arrested, prosecuted or whose court ruling the Procuratorate appeals, can submit inquiries about these decisions to the Procuratorate and have them answered. This decision is believed to make available a new avenue for citizens to appeal decisions made by the Procuratorate in Taiyuan City. (Shanxi Daily)[xix]
CCP Central Committee: “Solve” Petitioners’ Problems Locally to Ensure Anniversary Stability
Between August 4 and 6, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Central Committee Political-Legal Committee organized a meeting and training in Beijing on the handling of petitions, that involve complaints about the courts and the Procuratorate. At the training, Secretary of the Political-Legal Committee said political-legal committees at all levels of the Party must ensure that petitioners’ problems are solved before they reach Beijing. This is to ensure a “stable social environment” for the 60th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) on October 1. (Xinhua)[xx]
CHRD has also received information from petitioners in the past month that they have been subjected to harsher punishment for bringing their petitions to Beijing. We have obtained reports that various local and central government authorities have made promises to petitioners that their problems are better solved if they return to their hometowns. As with the buildup to the 2008 Olympic Games, it appears that the authorities want to ensure that Beijing is free of these potential “troublemakers” whose very presence contradicts the image of harmony and stability the government is trying to portray as the anniversary approaches.
Editors: David Smalls and Lin Sang
[i] CHRD, “Professor of Wuhan University of Technology Summoned <武汉理工大学教师遭到传唤>”, August 9, 2009, https://www.nchrd.org//Article/Class53/200908/20090809000542_16702.html z
[ii] CHRD, “Guangdong Shaoguan Democracy Activist Luo Yongquan Sent to Two Years of RTL <广东韶关民主人士罗勇泉被处劳教两年>”, August 3, 2009, https://www.nchrd.org/Article/Class53/200908/20090803131752_16613.html
[iii] CHRD, “Liu Shasha Forced Out of the Black Jail to Defend Human Rights <刘沙沙冲出黑监狱维权经过>”, August 8, 2009, CHRD, “Breaking News: Liu Shasha and Miaojue Cizhi Escaped from ‘Black Jails’” <快讯：刘沙沙和妙觉慈智分别逃出“黑监狱”>”, August 4, 2009, https://www.nchrd.org/Article/Class53/200908/20090804081242_16622.html
[iv] CHRD, “To Tide over the Crisis, Gongmeng Has Decided to Accept Donations <为渡难关“公盟”决定接受社会捐款>”, August 4, 2009, https://www.nchrd.org/Article/Class53/200908/20090804155029_16632.html; CHRD, “Gongmeng’s Bank Account Has Been Frozen; Xu Zhiyong’s Bank Account Might be Frozen Too <公盟银行账户被冻结 许志永个人账户也可能被冻结>”, August 6, 2009, https://www.nchrd.org/Article/Class53/200908/20090806134857_16666.html
[v] CHRD, “Xu Zhiyong and Zhuang Lu Still Denied Access to Legal Counsel More than 10 Days of their Apprehension <许志永和庄璐被捕超过10天仍不能和律师见面>”, August 8, 2009, https://www.nchrd.org/Article/Class53/200908/20090808094443_16695.html
[vi] CHRD, “Hubei Shishou Incident the Government Broke its Promise and Arrested 14, in which 2 are Family Members of the Deceased <湖北石首事件政府毁约逮捕14人其中2名是死者家属>”, August 5, 2009, https://www.nchrd.org/Article/Class53/200908/20090805125304_16644.html
[vii] CHRD, “Guo Quan Tried for ‘Subversion of State Power’ by Suqian Court <郭泉涉嫌“颠覆国家政权案”在宿迁开庭>”, August 7, 2009, https://www.nchrd.org/Article/Class53/200908/20090807224820_16689.html
[viii] CHRD, “Liu Xianbin Forcibly Returned Home for Visiting Li Zhuo <刘贤斌探访李卓被遣送>”, August 5, 2009, https://www.nchrd.org/Article/Class53/200908/20090805190122_16652.html
[ix] CHRD, “Wuhou District Court in Chengdu City Hears the Case of Huang Qi in Secret <黄琦案在成都市武侯区法院法院秘密开庭>”, August 5, 2009, https://www.nchrd.org/Article/Class18/huangqi/200908/20090805150203_16647.html
[x] CHRD, “Three Fujian Activists Formally Arrested for Alleging Official Misconduct”, August 4, 2009, https://www.nchrd.org/Article/Class9/Class10/200908/20090804234817_16634.html
[xi] CHRD, “Beijing Rights Activist Liu Anjun Disappeared in Suqian City, Jiangsu Province <北京维权人士刘安军在江苏宿迁失踪>”, August 7, 2009, https://www.nchrd.org/Article/Class53/200908/20090807111301_16678.html; CHRD, “Miaojue Disappeared this Afternoon <妙觉今天下午离奇失踪>”, August 6, 2009, https://www.nchrd.org/Article/Class53/200908/20090806225128_16669.html; CHRD, “Liu Dejun Sent Home <刘安军被送回家中>”, August 8, 2009, https://www.nchrd.org/Article/Class53/200908/20090808151157_16698.html
[xii] CHRD, “Chengdu Shuhan Law Firm Searched <成都蜀汉法律事务所被搜查>”, August 3, 2009, https://www.nchrd.org/Article/Class53/200908/20090803215754_16616.html
[xiii] CHRD, “Petitioner Chen Qingxia’s Family Flees as a Result of Threats <访民陈庆霞家属受威胁外逃>”, August 4, 2009, https://www.nchrd.org/Article/Class53/200908/20090804121821_16628.html
[xiv] CHRD, “Hubei Petitioner Huang Cuihua again Kidnapped and Detained in Psychiatric Hospital, Her Life in Danger <湖北访民黄翠华再次被绑架关进精神病 院生命危险>”, August 4, 2009, https://www.nchrd.org/Article/fmzj/200908/20090805204454_16653.html
[xv] CHRD, “Breaking News: Liu Shasha and Miaojue Cizhi Escaped from ‘Black Jails’” <快讯：刘沙沙和妙觉慈智分别逃出“黑监狱”>”, August 4, 2009, https://www.nchrd.org/Article/Class53/200908/20090804081242_16622.html; CHRD, “Beijing Municipal PSB Toke away the Victim and Witnesses of Rape in Black Jail; Liu Shasha Again Detained <北京市公安局带走黑监狱强奸受害人及 报案人 刘沙沙再次被抓>”, August 4, 2009, https://www.nchrd.org/Article/Class53/200908/20090804135419_16630.html; CHRD, “Liu Shasha Forced Out of the Black Jail to Defend Human Rights <刘沙沙冲出黑监狱维权经过>”, August 8, 2009, https://www.nchrd.org/Article/Class53/200908/20090808081845_16691.html; CHRD, “Rape of Female Petitioner in Beijing’s Black Jail; the Police Still Has No Answer <北京黑监狱女访民被强奸案：警方迄今仍无交待>”, August 9, 2009, https://www.nchrd.org/Article/Class53/200908/20090809160347_16710.html; CHRD, “Li Ruirui, Raped in Black Jail, Might Face Detention in Psychiatric Institution <“黑监狱”被强奸的李蕊蕊面临被送精神病院>”, August 10, 2009, https://www.nchrd.org/Article/Class53/200908/20090810121910_16722.html
[xvi] CHRD, “Court Refuses to Accept the Application to Sue the PSB for Illegal Behavior by a Group of Guizhou Human Rights Defenders <贵州人权捍卫者行政起诉公安违法法院拒收诉状>”, August 6, 2009, https://www.nchrd.org/Article/Class71/200908/20090806225327_16670.html
[xvii] CHRD, “Xian Retired Workers Demand a Raise in Pension <西安老退休职工要求增加退休金>”, August 5, 2009, https://www.nchrd.org/Article/fmzj/200908/20090805020801_16635.html
[xviii] CHRD, “400 Went on the Streets in Wuhan City <武汉市400多市民上街维权>”, August 6, 2009, https://www.nchrd.org/Article/Class53/200908/20090806233312_16671.html
[xix] Shanxi Daily, “Taiyuan City Procuratorate Pilots a System of Q&A for Formal Arrest and Prosecution <太原市检察院试行“捕诉答疑”制度>”, August 10, 2009, http://fl.cqnews.net/fzdt/200908/t20090810_3497836.htm
[xx] Xinhua, “Political-Legal Committee Demands that Petitions Involving the Courts and the Procuratorates Should be Solved before They Reach Beijing <政法委要求涉法涉诉信访“不到北京也能解决问题” >”, August 7, 2009, http://news.xinhuanet.com/legal/2009-08/07/content_11840345.htm
