China Human Rights Briefing June 1-7, 2011

June 8, 2011       Comments Off on China Human Rights Briefing June 1-7, 2011

China Human Rights Briefing

June 1-7, 2011

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Highlights

• Chinese Activists, Dissidents Face Harassment Around June Fourth Anniversary: CHRD documented a wave of police activities throughout China this week intended to monitor, intimidate, and restrict the movement of rights activists and dissidents in the run-up to the anniversary of the Tiananmen Massacre.
• Police in Guangxi Arrest Villager Wounded During Forced Eviction Clash: CHRD learned this week that Guangxi Province villager Feng Dacheng (冯达成) has been formally arrested for “obstructing official business” after petitioning in Beijing. During a clash last year in his village over a land requisition issue, Feng was shot 11 times by police firing rubber bullets.

Contents

Arbitrary Detention

Guangxi Villager, Shot During Clash Over Land Eviction, Is Arrested After Petitioning

Harrassment of Activists

Democracy Activists, Dissidents Face Heightened Restrictions to Movement, Widespread Harassment Around Tiananmen Massacre Anniversary

Netizen Activist He Peirong Emerges Safe After Disappearance, Had Attempted to Visit Chen Guangcheng

Hubei Petitioner Wang Sixiong Suffers Broken Leg in Assault

Arbitrary Detention

Guangxi Villager, Shot During Clash Over Land Eviction, Is Arrested After Petitioning

CHRD learned on May 31 that Feng Dacheng (冯达成) a petitioner from Fangchenggang City, Guangxi Province, has been formally arrested on suspicion of “obstructing official business.” Feng, who was seized by police from the Jianguomen Police Station while petitioning in Beijing on May 15, 2011, is currently being held in the Fangcheng Detention Center. Feng was wounded when police opened fire with rubber bullets on villagers in Fangchenggang during a clash over a land requisition on April 21, 2010. He was shot 11 times and spent 40 days recovering in the hospital. Villagers, including Feng, believed their land had been illegally requisitioned and were seeking to prevent local officials and developers from seizing it. During the confrontation, over a dozen villagers were injured (eight were badly injured), and four were arrested and later imprisoned for “obstructing official business.” According to a fellow Fangchenggang resident, Feng was targeted by local police to prevent him from continuing to petition and to scare away other victims of the April 21 incident from petitioning. (CHRD)[i]

Harrassment of Activists

Democracy Activists, Dissidents Face Heightened Restrictions to Movement, Widespread Harassment Around Tiananmen Massacre Anniversary

Over the past week, CHRD learned of many cases of police harassment of activists and dissidents throughout China prior to the June Fourth anniversary[ii]:

In Beijing:

• On June 1, Bao Tong (鲍彤), the 78-year-old former aide to CCP General Secretary Zhao Ziyang (赵紫阳), and his wife were taken away by national security officers.
• Ding Zilin (丁子霖), founder of the Tiananmen Mothers group, and Zhang Xianling (张先玲), a member of the Tiananmen Mothers, were placed under soft detention at their homes on June 1.
• National security officials watched over the residence of Gao Hongming (高洪明), which had police vehicles and plainclothes police stationed outside. A veteran of China’s Democracy Wall Movement, Gao could not be contacted around the anniversary.
• On June 1, Beijing dissident Zha Jianguo (查建国) was questioned by national security officers from his district. The officers indicated that Zha could not write articles or conduct media interviews around June 4, and officers and vehicles were stationed downstairs from his home. Zha said that he would go on a one-day hunger strike on June 4 in commemoration of the Tiananmen massacre, just as he has done for many years.
• Other dissidents placed under soft detention included dissident He Depu (何德普) and writer Liu Di (刘荻).
• On June 1, Zhao Lianhai (赵连海), founder of the “Kidney Stones Babies” advocacy group, was intercepted by the police in Beijing while out with his wife and children. He and his family members were briefly held in a snack bar for four hours before they were released. After they returned home that evening, their electricity was cut off.
• Many in Beijing were warned by police not to write about the massacre or take part in gatherings around June 4, including Xia Yeliang (夏业良), a professor of economics at Peking University.
• On May 30, netizen Zhang Chao (张超) was questioned by national security and Internet security police officers.

Elsewhere in the country:

• On June 2, Guiyang dissident Li Renke (李任科) was forced by police to “travel” outside the city, and suffered injuries when officers from the Yan’an Zhong Road Police Station pushed him down two flights of stairs when expelling him from his home. Li, who is over 60 years old, was in great pain and had bleeding wounds, but police did not take him to the hospital for treatment. Li went missing for several days before police allowed him to go home on the evening of June 6. Not having health insurance, Li received only basic care at the hospital.
• When dragging off Li Renke, the police told him that they had already taken away other Guiyang dissidents and members of the Guiyang Human Rights Forum, including Chen Xi (陈西), Liao Shuangyuan (廖双元), and Wu Yuqin (吴玉琴), none of whom could be contacted around June 4 and were believed to be under some kind of police control.
• On the afternoon of June 3, Yang Hai (杨海), a democracy activist and student leader during the 1989 democracy movement, was forced to “travel” away from his home by national security forces from Xi’an City, Shaanxi Province. Yang’s mother is currently in ill health and Yang has been responsible for her care, including administering medication on a daily basis.
• In Chongqing Municipality, national security officials placed retired teacher Mu Jiayu (穆家峪) under soft detention at his residence beginning June 3. Officers monitored him around the clock, following him when he went out and not allowing him to leave town.
• On June 1 in Nanjing City, Jiangsu Province, local national security officers called Li Yong (李勇), a student participant in the 1989 democracy movement, and warned him not to stir up trouble during the anniversary period. Police also told Li that his cell phone and computer communications may be blocked during that time, and later that night his Internet access was cut off.
• In Qianjiang City, Hubei Province, there was increased police monitoring at the home and office of human rights activist Yao Lifa (姚立法). Yao’s home has been under 24-hour surveillance since February 20, 2011.
• On May 31, national security officers forcibly removed dissident Zhang Jiankang (张鉴康) from his home in Xi’an City, Shaanxi Province, to take him on a “trip.”
• On June 2, the well-known Chengdu performance artist and activist Chen Yunfei (陈云飞) was placed under soft detention, with a large number of state security officers dispatched to prevent him from leaving his home.
• On the afternoon of June 2, a large number of officers subjected Wuhan dissident Qin Yongmin (秦永敏) to soft detention in his home.
• Dang Guan (党管), a dissident writer from Anhui and member of Independent Chinese PEN Center, was detained by police while on his way to Guangzhou to see friends, and subsequently was forced to return home by Anhui national security officers.
• On the afternoon of June 2, Guangzhou poet Wu Mingliang (吴明良), who writes under the name Langzi [浪子]) was called for “talks” by national security officers. Reportedly, he was taken away by police later that evening. Wu posts on Twitter under the name @langzichn.
• Chongqing writer Liang Xiwen (梁西文) and democracy activist Wang Ming (王明) were repeatedly warned by police not to leave their homes.
• On May 30, He Shilin (何士林), an independent candidate for the local people’s congress from Hangzhou, was questioned by the police.

Netizen Activist He Peirong Emerges Safe After Disappearance, Had Attempted to Visit Chen Guangcheng

On June 5, He Peirong (何培蓉, aka “Pearl” [珍珠]), a netizen activist from Nanjing, contacted friends and indicated that she was free after being held for five days in Linnan County, Linyi City, Shandong Province. He had originally gone to the area on May 31 to visit “barefoot” lawyer and activist Chen Guangcheng (陈光诚), detained in his village home in Shuanghou Town since his release from prison in September 2010. After He was unable to enter the village because the entrance was heavily guarded and blocked by a new building, she went to confront officials at the county government office. About an hour after the officials left He, a group of unidentified individuals forced He into a van, where she was searched and robbed, and driven more than 100 kilometers away to Tancheng County, where she was involved in a traffic accident. Police officers in Tancheng then sent He back to Linnan County to report the accident. He said that, once there, she was taken to a local police station and then detained in a hotel room for several days until she was released on June 5. At the time of writing, several netizens had embarked for Shandong to meet He. When He went to visit Chen in January of this year, she also encountered harassment by the police; during that visit, they smashed her car and verbally abused and threatened her. (CHRD)[iii]

Hubei Petitioner Wang Sixiong Suffers Broken Leg in Assault

CHRD has learned that Wang Sixiong (王思雄), a petitioner from Wuhan City, Hubei Province, suffered a leg fracture following his attempt to present grievances about compensation over land use to Chinese President Hu Jintao during Hu’s recent local inspection tour. After being intercepted on June 2 at an appearance by Hu at Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wang was taken away to the local police station and released the same day. The next day, Wang received a phone call from the Hubei Provincial Development and Reform Commission, asking him to pick up a document at the commission. However, he was taken away upon arrival to the commission building by village committee officials and Huashan police forces, who dragged him back to the police station for more questioning. They eventually let him go, but as Wang got off a public bus on his way home, thugs who had trailed behind in another vehicle beat him with rods and hammers, breaking his leg around the knee. According to Wang, the assailants shouted at him, saying that he will not be able to petition once he is disabled. (CHRD)[iv]

Editors: Victor Clemens and David Smalls

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