China Human Rights Briefing August 17-23, 2010
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August 17-23, 2010
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Highlights
- Young AIDS Activist Tian Xi Arrested in Henan: CHRD learned on August 24 that 23 year-old Henan Province AIDS activist Tian Xi (田喜) has been arrested for “intentional destruction of property.” Tian, who contracted AIDS as the result of blood transfusion he received as a child in a Henan hospital, has been a vocal advocate for the rights of AIDS patients in recent years. His family is concerned that he is not receiving necessary medication while detained and is in extremely poor health.
- Sichuan Rights Defenders Convicted on Trumped-up “Fraud” Charges: Prominent Sichuan land rights activist Liu Zhengyou (刘正有) was convicted along with his wife, fellow activist Hu Yulan (胡玉兰), of “fraud” on August 20 and sentenced to two years’ imprisonment. Liu is in prison while Hu is serving a suspended sentence. CHRD believes the “fraud” charges, which allege that Liu falsified his work experience to obtain social security benefits, are groundless.
- Group of Prominent Lawyers, Writers, and Activists Sign Open Letter Regarding Alleged Torture in Chongqing Anti-Mafia Crackdown: An open letter addressing allegations of torture in the recent anti-mafia crackdown in Chongqing has been circulating on the internet in recent days. The letter, which cites the widely-reported case of Fan Qihang, calls on the Supreme People’s Procuratorate to investigate these allegations. For an English translation of the letter, including a list of signatories, please click here.
Contents
Arbitrary Detention
- Sichuan Rights Defenders Convicted on Trumped-up “Fraud” Charges
- Village Officials Disrupt Election, Detain Villagers Following Protest
- Case against Xu Kun, Village Chief Who Led Resistance to Forced Eviction, Transferred to Procuratorate
- Guangxi Villager Given Two Years Sentence for Questioning Election Procedures
- Hubei Petitioner and Doctor Wang Suhua Detained Seven Days
- Young AIDS Activist Tian Xi Arrested in Henan
- Detained Hebei Reporter Xu Yishun Hospitalized after Heart Attack Brought on by Hunger Strike
- Lawyer for Detained Sichuan Activist Liu Xianbin Reports Obstruction by Court
- Case against Artist and Activist Wu Yuren Transferred to Procuratorate
- Hangzhou Housing Rights Activist Yang Yunbiao Sentenced to Three Years in Prison
Harassment of Activists
- Officials at Detention Center Bar Wife from Delivering Clothes, Money to Activist Liu Xianbin
- Fuzhou Activist ‘Butcher’ Seized in Beijing, Forcibly Returned to Hometown
Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or Punishment
- Zhejiang Businessman, Held over Fraud, Dies in Detention
Citizens’ Actions
- Group of Prominent Lawyers, Writers, and Activists Sign Open Letter Regarding Alleged Torture in Chongqing Anti-Mafia Crackdown
Law and Policy Watch
- Amendment to Criminal Law Would Reduce Number of Capital Offenses for First Time Since 1979
Arbitrary Detention
Sichuan Rights Defenders Convicted on Trumped-up “Fraud” Charges
On August 20, the Ziliujing District People’s Court in Zigong City, Sichuan Province convicted human rights defenders Liu Zhengyou (刘正有) and his wife Hu Yulan (胡玉兰) of “fraud.” CHRD believes that the charges of “fraud” against Liu and Hu are groundless and that local officials are persecuting the couple for their years of human rights activism. (CHRD)[i]
Village Officials Disrupt Election, Detain Villagers Following Protest
CHRD learned on August 17 that eight villagers in Raolefu Village, located in Fangshan District on the outskirts of Beijing, have been detained after a protest related to government interference in village elections. On July 27, the villagers gathered to vote for village committee members; they discovered some problems with the ballots and confronted the officials about them, and while they waited for officials to explain the situation, police and government workers ran away with the ballot box. The villagers protested, blocking traffic on a road in the village. The next day, more than 300 police arrived in the village, reportedly attacked some of the villagers, and detained seven villagers- Qiu Lina (邱丽娜), Qiu’s two twin sisters, Zhao Yun (赵云), Ma Zhizheng (马志正), Zhao Zhenghai (赵正海), and Zhao Daqing ( 赵大庆)- on July 28 and 29. Qiu Lina’s family received a formal detention notice stating that she has been criminally detained for “obstructing traffic”; however, families of other detained villagers have yet to receive any official notice regarding the detentions. On August 16, police detained 72 year-old Hao Sen (郝森), a move believed to be in relation to the July 27 protests. Again, no notification has been issued. (CHRD)[ii]
Case against Xu Kun, Village Chief Who Led Resistance to Forced Eviction, Transferred to Procuratorate
CHRD learned on August 18 that the case against Baihutou Village chief Xu Kun (许坤) has been transferred to the Yinhai District Procuratorate in Beihai City, Guangxi Province. Xu was detained in May 2010 along with at least five other villagers for “operating an illegal business.” Xu has been held without access to his family or lawyer. Additionally, in June this year Baihutou villagers Gao Zhenzhang (高镇章) and Gao Shihui (高世辉) were sentenced to two years in prison for obstructing official business, while Cai Jianyue (蔡建月) was given one and a half years for the same charge. All of the detained villagers were active in resisting forced evictions; local officials have been trying to requisition beachfront property upon which these villagers had operated small businesses to supplement their meager income from fishing. (CHRD)[iii]
Guangxi Villager Given Two Years Sentence for Questioning Election Procedures
On August 18, the wife of Wang Bingrong (王兵荣), a villager from Quanzhou County in Guangxi Province, was notified by the court that her husband has been convicted of “undermining election” and sentenced to two years in prison. According to the verdict, Wang, who was taken into police custody on March 27, 2010, attacked election officials, destroyed ballot boxes and torn over a hundred ballots during an election of the local people’s congresses at the county and township levels on September 15, 2006. However, Wang claimed that he merely confronted the election officials and demanded that they explain a number of procedural violations. When the officials refused to answer Wang’s questions, arguments broke out, followed by some pushing and shoving on both sides. (CHRD)[iv]
Hubei Petitioner and Doctor Wang Suhua Detained Seven Days
CHRD learned on August 19 that Shiyan City, Hubei Province petitioner Wang Suhua (汪素华) has been sent to seven days of administrative detention by the Shiyan City Public Security Bureau. According to Wang, police told her she was being detained for posting petitioning materials in Beijing. Wang, a doctor, has been petitioning for redress after being convicted on trumped-up charges in retaliation for reporting on corruption of her superiors at the hospital where she was employed at the time.. (CHRD)[v]
Young AIDS Activist Tian Xi Arrested in Henan
CHRD learned on August 24 that Xincai County, Henan Province AIDS activist Tian Xi (田喜) has been arrested for “intentional destruction of property.” Tian, who is 23 years old, contracted AIDS as a boy as the result of a blood transfusion in Xincai County Number One People’s Hospital. He recently graduated from Beijing City College, and has remained in Beijing to advocate on behalf of fellow AIDS patients. According to Tian’s father, Tian was lured back to Xincai from Beijing by the county Party secretary, who promised to resolve his case. However, once Tian returned, he was treated dismissively and ignored by both the Party secretary and the director of Number One People’s Hospital, with whom Tian had gone to speak about obtaining more medicine. Following an argument with the hospital director in which he allegedly broke some tea cups and other office items, Tian was seized by local police on August 6. Police originally issued a notice informing Tian’s family that he would be administratively detained for 15 days; however, on August 21 they notified the family that Tian had been criminally detained, and on August 23, Tian was formally arrested. He is currently being held in the Shangcai County Detention Center in Henan, where he is reportedly in extremely poor health and denied access to his family. (CHRD)[vi]
Detained Hebei Reporter Xu Yishun Hospitalized after Heart Attack Brought on by Hunger Strike
CHRD learned on August 23 that detained Hebei reporter and activist Xu Yishun (徐义顺), who had been on a hunger strike to protest the Re-education through Labor (RTL) system and call for its abolition, has been hospitalized after suffering a heart attack. According to reports, Xu has been in the hospital for three days and remains in very poor health. Xu had hoped to draw attention both to the illegalities of the RTL system as well as the beatings he had suffered since being taken into detention through his hunger strike, the second such action he has undertaken since his detention began. A former reporter for Public Opinion (民意) magazine, Xu has been detained in an RTL camp since April 2010, when he was seized by police after attempting to visit Yuan Weijing (袁伟静), the wife of imprisoned Shandong human rights defender Chen Guangcheng (陈光诚). He was sent to one and a half years of RTL for “fraud” and is being held in the Gaoyang RTL Camp in Hebei Province. (CHRD)[vii]
Lawyer for Detained Sichuan Activist Liu Xianbin Reports Obstruction by Court
According to Ma Xiaopeng (马小鹏), lawyer for Sichuan democracy activist and human rights defender Liu Xianbin (刘贤斌), the Suining City Intermediate Court has illegally prevented Liu’s defense team from preparing an adequate defense ahead of his upcoming trial for “inciting subversion of state power.” Ma stated on August 23 that, since Liu’s case was transferred from the procuratorate to the court earlier this month, he has been barred from meeting with Liu and has been unable to review evidence submitted by the prosecution. Furthermore, officials at the court have refused to provide Ma with a copy of Liu’s indictment. Liu, who is being charged with “inciting subversion of state power” based on articles he wrote and posted online, was criminally detained on June 28 and formally arrested on July 5 of this year. He is currently being held in the Suining City Detention Center. (CHRD)[viii]
Case against Artist and Activist Wu Yuren Transferred to Procuratorate
CHRD learned on August 20 that the case against Beijing artist and activist Wu Yuren (吴玉仁) for “using violence to obstruct judicial officials from carrying out their duties” has been transferred from the public security bureau to the procuratorate. Officials at the Chaoyang District Detention Center informed lawyer Li Fangping (李方平) and fellow activists Yang Licai (杨立才) and Wen Tao (文涛) of the development when the three applied for permission to visit Wu on August 19. However, the procuratorate did not provide Li with a copy of Wu’s indictment. Wu was one of the leaders of a February protest down Beijing’s Chang’an Avenue to draw attention to the forced demolition of the 008 Arts District. He was detained on June 1 after accompanying Yang Licai to the police station to report the theft of a generator, and was allegedly beaten by police while in detention. (CHRD)[ix]
Hangzhou Housing Rights Activist Yang Yunbiao Sentenced to Three Years in Prison
On August 20, the Xihu District People’s Court in Hangzhou City, Zhejiang Province sentenced Hangzhou activist Yang Yunbiao (杨云彪) to three years in prison for “destroying production operations.” A victim of forced eviction, Yang was active defending his own housing rights and those of fellow evictees before his arrest. He was originally detained on September 24, 2009 in Beijing while petitioning about forced demolition. Yang was previously arrested in 2007 while resisting the demolition of his home in Zhuantang Town, Xihu District, Hangzhou, and served one and a half years in prison for “obstructing official business.” In 2006, Yang and fellow villagers were forcibly removed from their homes without adequate compensation. The land was expropriated for “tourism” purposes, but it was used for the construction of upscale mansions. (CHRD)[x]
Harassment of Activists
Officials at Detention Center Bar Wife from Delivering Clothes, Money to Activist Liu Xianbin
CHRD learned on August 18 that the Suining City Detention Center has barred Chen Mingxian (陈明先) from delivering clothes or money to her husband, detained activist Liu Xianbin (刘贤斌). According to Chen, when she arrived at the detention center on August 14 with a change of clothes for Liu, a police officer in the reception area refused to accept the items and told her that anything for Liu must be “approved by the court.” The officer also refused to allow Chen to add money to Liu’s account at the detention center. According to the officer, this treatment is unique to Liu, and is the result of “orders from above.” Chen also said she wrote a number of letters to her husband but has received none in return, and suspects that their letters have been intercepted by the prison authorities. (CHRD)[xi]
Fuzhou Activist ‘Butcher’ Seized in Beijing, Forcibly Returned to Hometown
Fuhzou City, Fujian Province human rights activist Wu Gan (吴淦, known online as “Butcher,” 屠夫) was forcibly returned to his hometown from Beijing on August 18. Wu was seized by four Beijing National Security officers around midnight on August 17 after returning to his hostel from dinner with a group of Beijing netizens; after being taken first to the Taipingzhuang police station, he was then taken by police to a hotel for the night. The next morning, officials from Fuzhou and the Beijing officers forcibly returned him to Fuzhou. The precise reason for the police action is not currently known. (CHRD)[xii]
Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or Punishment
Zhejiang Businessman, Held over Fraud, Dies in Detention
On August 19, CHRD learned that Zhejiang businessman Zhu Wanliang (朱完良) had died after spending more than eight months in detention for fraud. Zhu, a farmer from Anji County, Zhejiang Province, had invested in the construction of a factory along with local partners and government officials in Suining County, Hunan Province. According to his son, Zhu Gui (朱贵), Zhu Wanliang was taken into detention on December 7, 2009 on suspicion of “fraud” after a dispute arose regarding the financing of the project. The primary concern of the police seemed to be coercing Zhu into paying back the money he “owed” his partners. When it became apparent that Zhu would not do so, he was prosecuted and put on trial on April 26, 2010, but the court ruled that evidence was insufficient to convict him. However, instead of releasing him, the procuratorate returned the case to the police for “supplementary investigation.” At the detention center, Zhu began to fall ill. Officials ignored his condition until it became serious, and on August 13, he was taken to the hospital for an examination. Zhu’s conditioned worsened. Zhu’s family was not notified until August 16. That afternoon they arrived and took him to another hospital, but it was already too late. Zhu died on August 18. (CHRD)[xiii]
Citizens’ Actions
Group of Prominent Lawyers, Writers, and Activists Sign Open Letter Regarding Alleged Torture in Chongqing Anti-Mafia Crackdown
A group of 50 prominent lawyers, writers, and activists have signed an open letter addressed to the Supreme People’s Procuratorate calling for an investigation into allegations of torture in the recent anti-organized crime crackdown in Chongqing. For an English translation of the letter, please click here. The authors draw particular attention to the case of Fan Qihang (樊奇杭); for CHRD’s reporting on his case, please click here.
Law and Policy Watch
Amendment to Criminal Law Would Reduce Number of Capital Offenses for First Time Since 1979
According to an August 23 People’s Daily article, the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress has begun a review of an amendment to the Criminal Law of the People’s Republic of China which would eliminate 13 economic and non-violent crimes from the list of offenses eligible for the death penalty. There are currently 68 crimes which are punishable by death according to the Criminal Law. If the amendment is adopted, this would mark the first reduction to the number of crimes eligible for the death penalty since the Criminal Law was first introduced in 1979. The draft amendment also suggests that offenders over the age of 75 at the time a crime is committed be spared from the death penalty. (People’s Daily)[xiv]
CHRD continues to urge the Chinese government to abolish the death penalty. Short of complete abolition, however, we welcome concrete steps which will limit the number of individuals sentenced to death, and encourage the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress to approve this amendment and continue to reduce the number of offenses eligible for the death penalty.
Editors: David Smalls and Lin Sang
News updates from CHRD
Annual Report on the Situation of Human Rights Defenders in China (2009)
[i] “Sichuan Rights Defenders Convicted on Trumped-up ‘Fraud’ Charges,” August 20, 2010, https://www.nchrd.org/2010/08/20/sichuan-rights-defenders-convicted-on-trumped-up-%E2%80%9Cfraud%E2%80%9D-charges/
[ii] “Fangshan Villagers’ Ballot Box Stolen; Eight Villagers Detained” (房山村民选举权票箱被抢8村民被抓), August 17, 2010, http://news.boxun.com/news/gb/china/2010/08/201008171048.shtml
[iii] “Beihai ‘Xu Kun Frame Case’ Transferred to Procuratorate” (北海“许坤构陷案”移送检察院), August 18 2010, http://news.boxun.com/news/gb/china/2010/08/201008181854.shtml
[iv] “Guangxi Qunzhou Wang Bingrong Sentenced to Two Years for Undermining Elections” (广西全州王兵荣被以“破坏选举罪”判刑两年), August 18, 2010, http://news.boxun.com/news/gb/china/2010/08/201008192321.shtml; “CHRD Researcher Wang Debang Interviews Election Expert Yao Lifa on the Case of Wang Bingrong in Guangxi Province” (“维权网”信息员王德邦就广西“王兵荣选举案”采访选举专家姚立法), August 8, 2010, http://www.peacehall.com/news/gb/china/2010/08/201008081732.shtml
[v] “Shiyan City, Hubei Petitioner Wang Suhua Detained Again” (湖北十堰市访民汪素华再次被拘留(图)), August 19, 2010, http://news.boxun.com/news/gb/china/2010/08/201008191819.shtml; http://www.peacehall.com/news/gb/china/2010/08/201008081732.shtml
[vi] “Henan AIDS Activist Tian Xi Criminally Detained” (河南艾滋病感染维权人士田喜被刑事拘留), August 23, 2010, http://news.boxun.com/news/gb/china/2010/08/201008231744.shtml
[vii] “Hebei Activist Xu Yishun Hospitalized After Hunger Strike to Protest Re-education through Labor” (河北维权人士徐义顺因绝食抗议劳教病重入院), August 23, 2010, http://news.boxun.com/news/gb/china/2010/08/201008231712.shtml
[viii] “Suining Court Illegally Obstructs Liu Xianbin’s Lawyer from Handling Case” (遂宁法院违法阻扰刘贤斌律师办案), August 23, 2010, http://news.boxun.com/news/gb/china/2010/08/201008231331.shtml
[ix] “Case Against Chang’an Avenue Protest Organizer Wu Yuren Sent to Procuratorate” (长安街游行组织者吴玉仁被起诉到检察院), August 20, 2010, http://www.peacehall.com/news/gb/china/2010/08/201008202225.shtml
[x] “Hangzhou Activist Yang Yunbiao Sentenced to Three Years in Prison” (杭州维权人士杨云彪被判三年有期徒刑), August 20, 2010, http://peacehall.com/news/gb/china/2010/08/201008202240.shtml
[xi] “Detention Center Bars Family from Delivering Clothes, Money to Liu Xianbin” (看守所拒绝家属给刘贤斌送衣服与存钱), August 18, 2010, http://news.boxun.com/news/gb/china/2010/08/201008182205.shtml
[xii] “Activist Butcher Forcibly Returned from Beijing to Hometown” (维权人士屠夫被强行从北京遣送回家), August 18, 2010, http://news.boxun.com/news/gb/china/2010/08/201008182011.shtml
[xiii] “Suining County, Hunan Detention Center Holds Zhejiang Businessman until Death” (湖南绥宁看守所将浙江商人关致死), August 18, 2010, http://news.boxun.com/news/gb/china/2010/08/201008190954.shtml
[xiv] “Eight Amendment to Criminal Code Eliminates 13 Nonviolent Economic Crimes from Death Penalty Eligibility” (刑法修正案(八)拟取消13个经济性非暴力犯罪死刑), August 23, 2010, http://npc.people.com.cn/GB/12515839.html