China Human Rights Briefing Weekly August 10-16, 2010
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August 10-16, 2010
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Highlights
- Procuratorate in Suining City Moves Forward with Prosecution of Liu Xianbin: What has so far been a rapid procession through the criminal procedure system for Sichuan democracy activist and human rightsdefender Liu Xianbin (刘贤斌) continued this past week, as CHRD learned that the Suining City Procuratorate has already transferred his case to the courts for trial. Liu, who is charged with “inciting subversion of state power,” 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.
- Activist and Medical Professor Released from Detention: This week, Beijing human rights activist Zhou Li (周莉) and Dalian City medical professor Yu Xiaoyan (于晓艳) were released from one year and one month of arbitrary detention, respectively. Zhou, who was detained for taking part in a protest against Beijing University professor Sun Dongdong (孙东东), had been convicted of “creating a disturbance.” Yu, a professor at Zhongshan College of Dalian Medical University and the wife of imprisoned lawyer and activist Wang Yonghang (王永航), was being held in a black jail.
Contents
- Arbitrary Detention
- Freedom of Assembly
- Harassment of Activists
- Forced Eviction and Demolition
- Citizens’ Actions
Arbitrary Detention
Case against Sichuan Activist Liu Xianbin Transferred to Courts
CHRD learned on August 13 that the Suining City Procuratorate has decided to prosecute Sichuan democracy activist and human rights defender Liu Xianbin (刘贤斌) for the crime of “inciting subversion of state power” and has transferred his case to the courts for trial. Liu’s lawyer Ma Xiaopeng (马小鹏) learned of the development on August 12 while handling some procedural matters associated with the case. According to Ma, Liu’s case was transferred “a few days ago” to the Suining City Intermediate People’s Court. Further details, including a possible trial date, are not currently available. 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)[i]
Liaoning Professor Yu Xiaoyan Released Following Nearly One Month in Black Jail
On August 11, CHRD learned that medical professor Yu Xiaoyan (于晓艳) was released on July 30 following 25 days of detention in a “legal education class,” a type of black jail. Yu, who teaches at Zhongshan College of Dalian Medical University in Dalian City, Liaoning Province, was taken to a facility in Luotaishan Village, Fushun City, Liaoning, where, she told CHRD, she was forced to listen to speeches that “insulted her religion” and told incessantly that she must give it up. Yu is the wife of Wang Yonghang (王永航), a former lawyer and outspoken advocate for the rightsof Falun Gong practitioners who is serving a seven-year sentence for “using a cult to damage the implementation of the law” in November 2009 after being tortured in detention. (CHRD)[ii]
Beijing Activist Zhou Li Released Following One Year in Detention
On August 11, Beijing human rights activist Zhou Li (周莉) was released following one year in detention for “creating a disturbance.” Zhou was convicted for “creating a disturbance” on May 4, 2010 and sentenced to one year in prison; she was taken into detention on August 12, 2009, and charged in relation to her participation in protests against Sun Dongdong (孙东东), the Beijing University professor who created an uproar in the activist community when he claimed that “99% of petitioners suffer from mental illness,” in March and April 2009. Her sentence was upheld by the Beijing Number Two Intermediate People’s Court following an appeal on July 6, 2010. (CHRD)[iii]
Jiangsu Petitioner Detained More than One Month in Beijing, Hometown
Nantong City, Jiangsu Province petitioner Luan Chuyu (栾楚玉) told CHRD that she was detained in Majialou, a central black jail for petitioners in Beijing, between June 16 and June 18 after she was seized by police in the capital. Luan, one of the villagers in Nantong facing forced evictions, was then forcibly returned to Nantong, where she was detained illegally in a local black jail for one month. She was finally released after local officials pressured her family into signing an agreement consenting to the demolition of their home. (CHRD)[iv]
Freedom of Assembly
NGO Gathering in Beijing Park Disrupted, Police Seize Volunteers
On the afternoon of August 10, a group of volunteers from the Beijing-based organization Yirenping including Yu Fangqiang (于方强), Chang Kun (常坤), and Jin Bianling (金变玲) held an anti-discrimination performance art activity in Huichengmen Park in Beijing. Their workshop was interrupted by a group of individuals who referred to themselves as “park management” workers, but who refused to produce any identification. The unidentified workers shut the park gates and refused to allow attendees of the workshop to leave, and when members of the group contacted the police to report their situation, officers arrived and seized a number of Yirenping volunteers. According to one volunteer contacted by CHRD, police claimed that the workshop was an “illegal gathering” and would have to be investigated. The volunteers were later released. (CHRD)[v]
Harassment of Activists
Beijing Activists Inquire Regarding Confiscated Personal Property
On August 10, Beijing rights activist Li Xinai (李昕艾) and lawyer Li Xiongbing (黎雄兵) traveled to a reception office of the Beijing Public Security Bureau (PSB) to inquire after the return of personal items confiscated from Li Xinai and her husband,human rights defender Gu Chuan (古川) by police on April 9, 2010. Li Xinai and Li Xiongbing also sought accountability for the officers involved in that April raid, who refused to produce proper identification or state clearly why the property was being confiscated from Li and Gu. However, the officers at the reception office sent the two to the office of the disciplinary inspection commission, whose guards refused to allow Li Xinai and Li Xiongbing into the office or to accept the documents prepared; later that afternoon, Li Xinai and Tang Hongxiu (唐宏秀), the wife of Beijing humanrights defender Wang Debang (王德邦), were finally able to submit their documents regarding confiscated materials at a third police station. Wang and Tang’s home was most recently raided on May 11, and similar to Li and Gu, their property has yet to be returned. (CHRD)[vi]
Ai Weiwei and Fellow Activists Assaulted in Chengdu for Attempting to Petition Regarding Previous Beating
On the morning of August 11, a group including Beijing artist and activist Ai Weiwei (艾未未) and lawyer Li Fangping (李方平) traveled to the Sichuan Provincial Letters and Visits Bureau in Chengdu City to petition regarding violence they faced while trying to petition the previous day at Chengdu’s Jinniu District Public Security Bureau (PSB) office. On August 10, Ai and the group had attempted to file a report regarding his beating in August 2009, when he was attacked by police in Chengdu as he prepared to act as a witness during Tan Zuoren’s (谭作人) trial for “inciting subversion of state power.” According to the group, on August 10, they were chased, pushed and shoved by 5 or 6 plainclothes officers outside of the Jinniu District PSB offices, and uniformed officers who arrived on the scene refused to intervene. As of the time of writing, Ai and the group had been unable to receive a response from officials at the Provincial Letters and Visits Office regarding their petitions. (CHRD)[vii]
Water Cut at Home of Beijing Activist Chen Tianshi
According to activist Chen Tianshi (陈天石), the water has been cut off at his family’s home in Beijing’s Shunyi District for close to two days. Chen believes that the water was cut by his downstairs neighbor in an attempt to force the family out of their home; when he reported the outage to the police on August 11, the officer who arrived at his apartment responded not by investigating the problem but by telling Chen and his family to move. Chen, a student leader in the 1989 pro-democracy movement and a Christian activist, has been pressured into moving on a number of occasions by landlords and local police. (CHRD)[viii]
Forced Eviction and Demolition
Guangzhou City Villagers Allege Violence, Detentions in Forced Eviction
Before dawn on August 13, more than 5000 square meters of property belonging to Xian Village in Guangzhou City, Guangdong Province was forcibly demolished as part of engineering projects being undertaken in preparation for the 2010 Asian Games. According to Xian villagers, officials from the Bureau of Land and Resources, City Administration and Law Enforcement Bureau, and Public Security Bureau were on hand during the forced eviction; so were many unidentified persons armed with steel rods and other weapons. These unidentified individuals reportedly attacked a number of villagers, though the precise number of injured is not known. At least 10 villagers were reportedly seized by police for “violently resisting” the eviction. Villagers told CHRD that they suspected local businessmen and government officials had colluded to approve the demolition in May of this year without the knowledge or approval of the villagers, and that funds for compensation which should have been paid to villagers were instead given to the businessmen. (CHRD)[ix]
Citizens’ Actions
Beijing Court Rejects Lawsuit Filed by NGO Aizhixing against Party Central Propaganda Department
On August 10, Beijing NGO Aizhixing received a notice from Beijing’s Number One Intermediate People’s Court stating that the court would not accept the administrative litigation lawsuit Aizhixing attempted to file on July 29 against the Party Central Propaganda Department. According to the notice, the lawsuit was “not within the scope” of cases which the court could accept. When Aizhixing staff went to file the lawsuit on July 28, court officials told them that the court does not have the power to handle such cases as administrative litigation lawsuits only allow citizens to sue government departments, but not the Party organs.
Aizhixing decided to sue the Party Central Propaganda Department after officials there failed to respond to a request made by Aizhixing in March 2010 that the department investigate and report on media outlets which Aizhixing believed to be violating regulations regarding reporting on AIDS. The media outlets in question had issued reports which portrayed the possession of condoms as evidence of prostitution. (CHRD)[x]
Editors: David Smalls and Lin Sang
News updates from CHRD
Annual Report on the Situation of Human Rights Defenders in China (2009)
[i] “Special Attention: Liu Xianbin to Be Formally Prosecuted” (特别关注：刘贤斌被正式起诉), August 13, 2010, http://news.boxun.com/news/gb/china/2010/08/201008130034.shtml
[ii] “Liaoning Associate Professor Yu Xiaoyan Released Following Close to a Month in ‘Legal Education Class’ Detention” (辽宁于晓艳副教授被关“法教班”近一月后获释), August 11, 2010, http://news.boxun.com/news/gb/china/2010/08/201008111000.shtml
[iii] “Beijing Activist Zhou Li Has No Fixed Address Following Release” (北京维权人士周莉出狱后居无定所), August 11, 2010, http://news.boxun.com/news/gb/china/2010/08/201008111836.shtml
[iv] “Luan Chuyu, of Nantong, Detained in Black Jail for Petitioning in Beijing” (南通栾楚玉赴京上访 被关黑监狱), August 10, 2010, http://news.boxun.com/news/gb/china/2010/08/201008100009.shtml
[v] “Yirenping Volunteers Hold Anti-Discrimination Demonstration, Are Taken Away by Police” (益仁平志愿者举 行反歧视表演被警方带走), August 10, 2010,http://news.boxun.com/news/gb/china/2010/08/201008101602.shtml
[vi] “Human Rights Activist Li Xinai’s Fruitless Request for Return of Confiscated Personal Property” (维 权人士李昕艾索要被扣押私人财物的无果过程(图)), August 10, 2010, http://news.boxun.com/news/gb/china/2010/08/201008101743.shtml
[vii] “Artist Ai Weiwei Petitions After Being Beaten Again in Chengdu” (艺术家艾未未成都再次被打后信访), August 11, 2010, http://news.boxun.com/news/gb/china/2010/08/201008111713.shtml
[viii] “Water Cut Off at Christian Activist Chen Tianshi’s Home to Force Family to Move” (基督徒维权人士陈天石租 住房被断水逼搬), August 12, 2010,http://news.boxun.com/news/gb/china/2010/08/201008121508.shtml
[ix] “Xian Village in Guangzhou Forcibly Demolished Ahead of Asian Games’ Arrival” (广州亚运到来前被强拆的冼村(图)), August 15, 2010, http://www.peacehall.com/news/gb/china/2010/08/201008151156.shtml
[x] “Aizhixing Sues Party Central Propaganda Department; Beijing Court Refuses to Accept Case” (爱知行 起诉中宣部 北京法院拒绝立案(图)), August 16, 2010,http://www.peacehall.com/news/gb/china/2010/08/201008161709.shtml