China Human Rights Briefing December 28, 2010 – January 3, 2011
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China Human Rights Briefing Weekly
December 28, 2010 – January 3, 2011
To download this edition of CHRB as a .pdf file, please click here
Highlights
- Children’s Rights and Food Safety Activist Zhao Lianhai Believed to Be Released: Zhao Lianhai (赵 连海), founder of the online advocacy group Kidney Stone Babies, has been released from prison on medical parole, according to a message posted on the group’s site and said to be written by Zhao himself. CHRD has so far been unable to independently verify that Zhao has been released, or that he was the author of the message.
- Dissident Writer Li Hong Passes Away: On December 31, 2010, Zhejiang Province-based dissident and author Li Hong (力虹, whose given name was Zhang Jianhong [张建红) passed away, less than six months after he was released on medical parole from prison, where he was serving a six-year sentence for “subversion of state power.” He was 53 years old. Sentenced in January 2007, Li was diagnosed with motor neurone disease, an incurable neurodegenerative disease, during his incarceration and his condition rapidly worsened over the course of his prison term.
- CHRD Issues Report on Chinese Government’s Protection of Children’s Rights: CHRD has published a report (in Chinese) on the Chinese government’s implementation of the Convention of the Rights of the Child, timed to coincide with the government’s submission of their fifth periodic state report to the Committee on the Rights of the Child. The report is divided into three sections, focusing on the government’s record in promoting children’s rights to life and to health, to protection, and to education in the past five years. The report is available here.
Contents
Arbitrary Detention
- Children’s Rights and Food Safety Activist Zhao Lianhai Released on Medical Parole, According to Statement
- Zhejiang Village Director Faces Detention for Leading Protests, Petitions over Land Seizure
- Shanghai Activist Duan Chunfang Released Following 18 Months of Detention
- Veteran Henan Petitioner Seized in Beijing, Detained in Black Jail
Harassment of Activists
- Zhejiang Dissidents Placed under Soft Detention to Prevent Mourning for Writer Li Hong
Updates on Post-Nobel Harassment of Activists
- Shaanxi Activist Zhao Changqing Released after More than Two Months of Soft Detention
Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or Punishment
- Police in Guangxi Lead Attack on Villager Who Petitioned about Illegal Land Seizure
Citizens’ Actions
- Independent Researchers Rush to Zhejiang to Investigate Suspicious Death of Village Head
- CHRD Issues Report on Chinese Government’s Protection of Children’s Rights
Arbitrary Detention
Children’s Rights and Food Safety Activist Zhao Lianhai Released on Medical Parole, According to Statement
According to a message posted on the website of the online advocacy group Kidney Stone Babies, activist Zhao Lianhai (赵 连海) has been released on medical parole and is currently receiving treatment at an undisclosed hospital. The message, which is purported to come from Zhao himself, states that Zhao refuses to speak with anyone about his case, acknowledges the punishment handed down to him by the courts, and “wants to live a normal life.” CHRD has so far been unable to contact Zhao or his family to independently verify that Zhao has been released on medical parole or that Zhao is the author of the online statement. Zhao, who founded Kidney Stone Babies in response to the 2008 tainted milk powder scandal, was convicted of “creating a disturbance” and sentenced to two and a half years in prison on November 10, 2010. Zhao’s apparent release on medical parole seems to confirm earlier suspicions that he had been pressured by officials into firing his lawyers and dropping his plans to appeal his conviction in exchange for this release. (CHRD)[i]
Zhejiang Village Director Faces Detention for Leading Protests, Petitions over Land Seizure
On the evening of December 30, police in Anji County, Zhejiang Province arrived at the home of Henglu village director Jiang Miaotu (蒋 苗土) to take him away. However, Jiang was not at home at the time. Police told Jiang’s daughter that Jiang faced nine days of administrative detention for a November protest outside of the local Bureau of Forestry, a protest which was connected to an earlier incident during which Jiang was beaten by Bureau of Forestry employees while discussing a dispute over village land. Another villager who took part in the protests, Hu Chungen (胡春根), is currently subjected to seven days of administrative detention. In recent years, Jiang has led villagers seeking compensation for land requisitioned by the government for a reservoir. (CHRD)[ii]
Shanghai Activist Duan Chunfang Released Following 18 Months of Detention
On January 2, Shanghai activist Duan Chunfang (段春芳) was released from the Minhang District Detention Center following a year and half of detention for “obstruction official business.” Duan’s husband and her brother-in-law traveled to the detention center to greet Duan upon her release, but detention center officials neglected to specify a time for her release and deliberately waited until after Duan’s relatives had departed before allowing her to leave. Duan reported that food and medical care in the detention center were extremely poor, and her health suffered as a result; at one point she had lost around 25 kilograms. Duan was imprisoned after she was seized by police at a local government office on July 3, 2009. At the time, she was negotiating the payment of a hospital bill incurred after she was beaten and injured by security guards keeping her under residential surveillance on June 22, 2009. Duan was later charged with “obstructing official business” (police claimed she attacked a police officer) and was sentenced to a year and a half in prison on October 23, 2009. (CHRD)[iii]
Veteran Henan Petitioner Seized in Beijing, Detained in Black Jail
On the morning of December 26, Henan province petitioner Ruan Kaixiang (阮开香) was seized in Beijing by police along with eight busloads worth of fellow petitioners. Ruan was first detained in Jiujingzhuang, a central black jail, before being turned over to interceptors from the Tanghe County, Henan, government. These individuals took Ruan to a black jail operated by the Beijing Liaison Office of the Tanghe County government, where she remains detained as of the time of writing. According to Ruan’s husband, Ruan has been similarly detained on a number of occasions, most recently during Legal Publicity Day on December 4 of this year. Ruan and her husband have been petitioning since 1998, when local family planning officials falsely accused them of violating family planning regulations, confiscated their tractor, and levied a steep fine against them, causing them to lose the land they had leased from the local government to cultivate. (CHRD)[iv]
Harassment of Activists
Zhejiang Dissidents Placed under Soft Detention to Prevent Mourning for Writer Li Hong
Ningbo City, Zhejiang Province dissident writer Zhang Jianhong (张 建红, also known by his pen name, Li Hong [力虹]) passed away on December 31, less than six months after being released from prison on medical parole. Zhang, who was sent to prison in January 2007, developed motor neurone disease, a fatal neurodegenerative disease, while incarcerated, and his condition rapidly worsened as he was reportedly denied proper medical attention.
Friends and supporters report they have been unable to contact Zhang’s family, and a number of dissidents in Hangzhou City, Zhejiang, have been placed under soft detention or had their movements restricted by local officials to prevent them from traveling to Li’s home to pay their respects. Among those affected are dissidents Zhu Yufu (朱虞夫), Wu Yilong (吴 义龙), Zhu Zhengming (祝正明), Chen Shuqing (陈 树庆), Wen Kejian (温克坚), Zan Aizong (昝 爱宗), and Mao Qingxiang (毛庆祥). (CHRD)[v]
Updates on Post-Nobel Harassment of Activists
Shaanxi Activist Zhao Changqing Released after More than Two Months of Soft Detention
On December 31, police in Shaanxi Province released activist Zhao Changqing (赵常青) after more than two months of soft detention. Zhao returned to Xi’an City from Shanyang County, where he had been held since October 25. Before this period of soft detention, Zhao was also administratively detained for eight days in Beijing for celebrating the news that Liu Xiaobo had been awarded the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize. (CHRD)[vi]
Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or Punishment
Police in Guangxi Lead Attack on Villager Who Petitioned about Illegal Land Seizure
According to a report received recently by CHRD, a family in Laofang Village, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, was attacked by a group of individuals led by a local police chief on December 4. The head of the Liunan District, Liuzhou City, Public Security Bureau led approximately thirty others into the home of villager Li Fanghua (李芳华), where they beat Li and his relatives. Li’s 63 year-old father Li Mingguang (李明光) suffered a broken femur and fractured vertebra in the attack. Li and another relative were taken away by police; their whereabouts remain unknown as of the time of writing. Residents of Laofang Village and surrounding villages have been protesting the seizure of a total of twenty thousand mu (approximately 3300 acres) of land by local officials, who the villagers claim acted illegally. The attack is believed to be in retribution for a petitioning journey to Beijing undertaken by Li Fanghua and four other villagers regarding the land seizure on November 24. (CHRD)[vii]
Citizens’ Actions
Independent Researchers Rush to Zhejiang to Investigate Suspicious Death of Village Head
The suspicious death of Qian Yunhui (钱 云会), Zhaiqiao village director and land rights activist who was crushed by a truck on December 25, has led to widespread outrage and discussion online as gruesome images of the scene of the incident have been circulated among netizens. As the state-run media rushed to cover the event, so too did a number of citizen journalists and independent research teams, who arrived in Zhejiang Province in recent days. On December 29, local officials declared Qian’s death the result of a traffic accident, a conclusion many challenged. Doubts remain regarding the lack of surveillance footage from the scene as well as police actions taken against Qian’s family and witnesses to the incident. As of December 30, at least three independent research teams were attempting to conduct investigations into the incident; CHRD is awaiting the results of their work. (CHRD)[viii]
CHRD Issues Report on Chinese Government’s Protection of Children’s Rights
CHRD has published a report on the Chinese government’s implementation of the Convention of the Rights of the Child, timed to coincide with the government’s submission of their fifth periodic state report to the Committee on the Rights of the Child. The report is divided into three sections, focusing on the government’s record in promoting children’s rights to life and to health, to protection, and to education in the past five years. It finds that children have suffered from unsafe buildings, food, vaccines, medical care and pollution and that they have been the victims of child labor, trafficking and sexual assault. Children of petitioners, human rights defenders and dissidents have been subjected to discrimination and persecution as a result of their parents’ political activities. Finally, the report also finds an unequal playing field in the provision of educational opportunities and resources to children depending on their family background, most notably between those living in cities and rural areas. The report (in Chinese) is available here.
Editors: David Smalls and Lin Sang
Follow us on Twitter: @CHRDnet
[i] “Kidney Stone Babies’ Father Zhao Lianhai Possibly Released on Medical Parole” (结石宝宝之父赵连海或已保外就医), December 29, 2010, http://news.boxun.com/news/gb/china/2010/12/201012290034.shtml
[ii] “Anji, Zhejiang Rights-Defending Village Head Faces Detention” (浙江安吉维权村长面临被拘留), December 31, 2010, http://www.peacehall.com/news/gb/china/2010/12/201012310037.shtml
[iii] “Shanghai Activist Duan Chunfang Released from Prison, Family Blocked from Greeting Her” (上海维权人士段春芳出狱，家属被阻止迎接), January 3, 2010, http://www.peacehall.com/news/gb/china/2011/01/201101031233.shtml
[iv] “Henan Petitioner Ruan Kaixiang Detained in Tanghe County Black Jail by Interceptors” (河南访民阮开香被截访人关入唐河县黑监狱), December 28, 2010, http://news.boxun.com/news/gb/china/2010/12/201012282023.shtml
[v] “Many Dissidents Placed Under Soft Detention as Zhejiang Dissident Author Li Hong Passes Away” (浙江异议作家力虹去世，多位异议人士被软禁(图)), January 1, 2010, http://www.peacehall.com/news/gb/china/2011/01/201101011207.shtml
[vi] “Democracy Activist Zhao Changqing Released after 66 Days of Soft Detention” (民主人士赵常青在被软禁六十六天后获释), January 1, 2011, http://www.peacehall.com/news/gb/china/2011/01/201101011326.shtml
[vii] “Liuzhou Public Security Bureau Director Leads Group to Beat Rights-Defending Villager” (柳州一公安局长率 众殴打维权村民(图)), December 25, 2010, http://www.peacehall.com/news/gb/china/2010/12/201012251021.shtml
[viii] “Rights-Defending Village Head Qian Yunhui Death Case Draws Interest, Civil Society Independent Research Teams Travel to Site of Incident” (维权村长钱云会致死案引关注，民间独立调查团陆续前往事发地), December 30, 2010, http://www.peacehall.com/news/gb/china/2010/12/201012301112.shtml