China Human Rights Briefing May 26-31, 2011

June 2, 2011       Comments Off on China Human Rights Briefing May 26-31, 2011

China Human Rights Briefing

May 26-May 31, 2011

To download this week’s CHRB as a .pdf file, please click here

Highlights

• First Conviction of “Jasmine Revolution” Detainee: After a quick hearing, Sichuan-based rights activist Li Shuangde (李双德) was sentenced on June 1 to four months and fined 20,000 RMB for “credit card fraud” by the Jinjiang District Court in Chengdu City, Sichuan Province. The sentence for Li, a long-time legal advocate detained on March 24 as part of the “Jasmine Revolution” crackdown, includes time served and is set to expire on July 22.

 

• Human Rights Lawyer Released After Extended Disappearance: Li Tiantian (李天天), a Shanghai-based human rights lawyer who disappeared in February, was released from enforced disappearance on May 24 and flown to her hometown in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. Li explained her lengthy public absence on a blog post the day after being released, and her blog was subsequently shut down.

 

Contents

Arbitrary Detention

• Updates on Detentions and Disappearances Related to the “Jasmine Revolution” Crackdown
• Hubei Petitioner Detained in Psychiatric Hospital

Harassment of Activists

• Police in Henan Seize Local AIDS Activist to Prevent Interview with Al Jazeera
• Beijing Police Round Up, Expel Hundreds of Shanghai Petitioners

Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment and Punishment

• Imprisoned Hunan Activist Xie Fulin Beaten by Drunk Prison Guard
• Guizhou Woman Forced to Undergo Sterilization Procedure

Arbitrary Detention

Updates on Detentions and Disappearances Related to the “Jasmine Revolution” Crackdown

On the morning of June 1, Sichuan-based rights activist Li Shuangde (李双德) was sentenced to four months and fined 20,000 RMB for “credit card fraud” by the Jinjiang District Court in Chengdu City, Sichuan Province. Li is the first activist arrested during the “Jasmine Revolution” crackdown known to be convicted of a crime and sentenced to prison. The sentence came following a 20-minute court hearing; a hearing was originally scheduled for the previous day, but when Li’s supporters and relatives arrived at the courthouse, they were told that the trial had been “canceled” and that Li had pleaded guilty. Li’s lawyer argued that he was unaware of the guilty plea, and asked the court to produce his client to ascertain the claim, but the court refused this request. A well-known legal advocate who has worked for years to help vulnerable groups protect their rights, Li was also not allowed to meet with his lawyer prior to the hearing. Based on time served, Li, who was taken into custody on March 24, is scheduled to be imprisoned through July 22. (CHRD)[i]

 

In addition, on May 24, Shanghai-based human rights lawyer Li Tiantian (李天天) was released and flown to her hometown in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region after more than three months of enforced disappearance. CHRD learned that Li, who disappeared on February 19, had been placed under “residential surveillance” at a guesthouse in an unknown location during the three months she was missing. Li was held in a windowless room for the duration of these months, aside from being taken to a police station on several occasions to be interrogated about her reposting of messages related to the “Jasmine Revolution.” When Li said she has a right to hire a lawyer, the police told her that “the law is not a shield.” Police threatened her, saying that she would be beaten and also locked up in an “iron cage” if she failed to cooperate. Police in Shanghai demanded that Li immediately report to them upon returning to the city. (CHRD)[ii]

On May 25, a day after being released, Li explained her absence on her Sina blog in a post entitled, “May 24: I Was Discharged from the Hospital,” symbolically incorporating a fable about a hornet and a bird. Her blog was subsequently shut down and remains so at the time of writing, but her post from May 25 was saved and translated on Siweiluozi’s blog, at: http://www.siweiluozi.net/2011/05/li-tiantian-fable-of-hornet-bird-and.html.

 

For a list (updated May 26) of the 12 activists still missing, as well as information on others who have been detained or disappeared in recent months as part of the ongoing crackdown on civil society, please see our website: https://www.nchrd.org/2011/04/15/jasmine_crackdown/.

 

Hubei Petitioner Detained in Psychiatric Hospital

 

On May 31, CHRD learned that Hubei Province-based petitioner Zhao Kefeng (赵克凤) is being detained in a psychiatric institution in Xiangfan City, Hubei. Zhao was seized in Beijing by officials from the Beijing Liaison Office of the Hubei Provincial government on May 19 and forcibly returned to Xiangfan, where she was then taken to the Zhangwan Hospital. Zhao has been petitioning since 2004 for redress of what she believes to be an unjust ruling in the criminal case involving her son’s death. (CHRD)[iii]

Harassment of Activists

Police in Henan Seize Local AIDS Activist to Prevent Interview with Al Jazeera

On May 25, a reporter from Al Jazeera TV arrived in Shuangmiao Village, seeking to interview 48 year-old Zhu Longwei (朱龙伟), a local HIV/AIDS activist and director of a local AIDS prevention group. Zhu was dragged from an Al Jazeera car by local officials and forced into a police vehicle; his current whereabouts are unknown. As of the time of writing, six individuals are stationed outside of his home, and family members cannot leave. Al Jazeera sought to speak with Zhu about the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria’s decision to halt funding to China after a dispute over the Chinese government’s monitoring of grant money and its failure to adequately involve civil society groups in the fight against AIDS. Zhu recently wrote an article about corruption among officials responsible for handling Global Fund funding in China. (Aizhixing)

Beijing Police Round Up, Expel Hundreds of Shanghai Petitioners

On the afternoon of May 27, more than 200 Shanghai-based petitioners who came to present grievances in Beijing were taken away to the city’s outskirts. After leaving the State Bureau of Letters and Visits, the petitioners were walking opposite Taoranting Park after 5 p.m. when they were rounded up by several dozen Beijing police officers. The individuals were driven off in more than 10 vehicles and handed over to officials from the Beijing Liaison Office of the Shanghai government, who then bused the petitioners away from the capital. Shortly after 6 p.m., a Shanghai petitioner sent out a message about the situation and added that at least one member of the group, an elderly female petitioner, had been punched and kicked by officials. (CHRD)[iv]

Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment and Punishment

Imprisoned Hunan Activist Xie Fulin Beaten by Drunk Prison Guard

On the morning of May 31, Jin Yan (金焰), wife of imprisoned activist Xie Fulin (谢福林), visited her husband in Hunan Province’s Changsha Prison. According to Jin, Xie reported he had been seriously beaten by a prison guard the previous day. Xie told his wife he was lying on his bed, having just taken his blood pressure medication, when a guard came to his cell for an inspection. Xie was feeling ill and unable to stand when the guard demanded he do so, and the guard, reeking of alcohol, proceeded to drag Xie down a flight of stairs, striking him along the way. Xie was taken to the prison infirmary, where he spent the night. Jin added that guards have also threatened to lock Xie in solitary confinement for a minimum of three months. (CHRD)[v]

 

Guizhou Woman Forced to Undergo Sterilization Procedure

 

On May 27, Luo Xueqin (罗学琴), a mother of two from Huaxi District, Guiyang City, Guizhou Province, was forced to undergo tubal ligation by local family planning officials. According to Luo, she was at home with her two children, an infant and a toddler, when more than 10 officials arrived at her door. They told her to send her elder child to the neighbor’s and to come with them; Luo was not told where they were going or why. She was taken to a local hospital, where the officials forced her into an operating room and the procedure was performed. Prior to the surgery, Luo had received no advance warning or notification from family planning officials. (CHRD)[vi]

 

Editors: David Smalls and Lin Sang

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