China Human Rights Briefing August 3-9, 2011

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China Human Rights Briefing

August 3-9, 2011

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

Highlights

  • Updates on Detentions and Disappearances Related to the “Jasmine Revolution” Crackdown: The trial for Beijing rights activist Wang Lihong (王荔蕻), for “creating a disturbance,” will begin on August 12 at the Chaoyang People’s District Court. Her lawyer has encouraged the public and the media to try to attend the proceedings to help ensure a fair trial.
  • Yao Lifa Seized in Beijing, Whereabouts Unknown: Hubei democracy activist Yao Lifa (姚立法), who had escaped in early July from incommunicado detention and fled to Beijing, was seized on August 6 in the capital by national security officers from his hometown. ThoughYao was last seen in the custody of the police, authorities are refusing to disclose Yao’s whereabouts to his family and friends.

 

Contents

Arbitrary Detention

Rights Activist Wang Lihong’s Trial Set for August 12

Harbin Netizen Still Detained After More Than Five Months

Guangxi Court Upholds Village Chief’s Conviction

Enforced Disappearance

Yao Lifa Seized in Beijing, Activist’s Whereabouts Remain Unknown

Harassment of Activists

Police Question Sichuan Activist Huang Qi About His Renewed Advocacy

Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment and Punishment

Lawyer Tang Jingling Describes Torture During Recent Detention

Special Notice

CHRD Urges Accountability, Lifting of Press Restrictions After Wenzhou Train Crash

 


Arbitrary Detention


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

Rights Activist Wang Lihong’s Trial Set for August 12

The public trial proceedings for Beijing activist Wang Lihong (王荔蕻), who has been indicted on suspicion of “creating a disturbance,” will begin at 9 a.m. on August 12, at the Chaoyang People’s District Court’s Wenyuhe Courthouse. Wang is represented by defense attorneys Han Yicun (韩一村) and Liu Xiaoyuan (刘晓原), whose lawyers’ license was finally renewed in late July after a substantial delay. Han has encouraged members of the public and the media to apply to attend the proceedings in an attempt to help ensure a fair trial. The case against Wang stems from her involvement in demonstrations outside the sentencing hearing for three netizens (the “Fujian Three”) in Fuzhou City, Fujian Province, in April 2010.

 

Since Wang’s case was transferred to the court, Han and Liu have met her once at the Chaoyang Detention Center, where she has been held since being detained in March. They indicated Wang is in good spirits and is confident that her actions do not constitute a crime, but that she is experiencing some health problems, including aches and weight loss. (CHRD)[i]

 

Harbin Netizen Still Detained After More Than Five Months

CHRD has confirmed that the netizen Liang Haiyi (梁海怡, aka Miaoxiao [渺小]), of Harbin City, Heilongjiang Province, remains criminally detained on suspicion of “inciting subversion of state power” (煽动颠覆国家政权罪), despite reports that she might have been released. Harbin activist Wang Lihong (王立红) has informed CHRD that, in early June, she and some friends were questioned by police after they had gone to the Harbin No. 2 Detention Center, where Liang has been held since February 19, and tried unsuccessfully to visit her. Little is known about Liang’s current situation, including her emotional state and physical health, and her family is not able to be contacted. According to several of Liang’s friends, Harbin police have stated that she has refused to admit to accusations against her, which involve “posting information from foreign websites regarding ‘Jasmine Revolution’ actions on domestic websites” like QQ, the popular Chinese social networking site. Beijing human rights lawyer Liang Xiaojun (梁小军) had tried to represent Liang, but her family did not give him authorization, so he was not allowed to get involved in the case. (CHRD)[ii]

 

Guangxi Court Upholds Village Chief’s Conviction

On August 2, the Beihai City Intermediate People’s Court upheld the conviction of Xu Kun (许坤), the village chief of Baihutou, Beihai City, Guangxi Province, on the charge of “operating an illegal business.” The conviction relates to Xu’s efforts to lead fellow villagers in resisting land expropriation in Baihutou. Neither Xu’s wife nor his lawyer was present in court when the verdict was delivered because the court failed to give them adequate advance notice. After the court finished reading the decision, Xu and his co-defendants, Gao Shifu (高世福) and Zhang Chunqiong (张春琼), protested loudly and refused to sign the document.

 

On April 29 of this year, the Yinhai District People’s Court sentenced Xu to four years in prison for “operating an illegal business” and also fined him 200,000 RMB. Gao and Zhang were each given two years’ imprisonment on the same charge and fined 150,000 apiece. After being elected village chief in August 2008, Xu began his advocacy against land expropriation, and subsequently was subjected to government pressure, expelled from the Communist Party, and faced surveillance and monitoring. He was initially detained in May 2010. Altogether, eight villagers from Baihutou have been convicted and imprisoned in related cases since October of 2009, either for “operating an illegal business” or “obstructing official business.” (CHRD)[iii]

 

Enforced Disappearance

Yao Lifa Seized in Beijing, Activist’s Whereabouts Remain Unknown

 

On August 6, elections expert Yao Lifa (姚立法), from Qianjiang City, Hubei Province, was seized by seven or eight plainclothes officers in Beijing, according to his wife Feng Ling (冯玲), who learned the news from friends in Beijing. Their friends told her that Yao identified the officers as being from the national security unit of the Qianjiang Public Security Bureau (PSB), and that they had seized Yao under the pretext of Feng’s having filed a “missing person” report in July when Yao was disappeared. Despite having Yao in custody, Qianjiang authorities have refused to let Feng see him or tell her of his whereabouts. Their Beijing friends have also called the Qianjiang PSB national security unit to inquire about Yao, but officers responded that they don’t know where he is. Yao fled Qianjiang and went to Beijing on July 4 after escaping from incommunicado detention by jumping out of a building. Their friends also told Feng that Yao had severely hurt his lower back during this escape, and that his injury has gone untreated for over a month. They said Yao had spent most of his time in Beijing resting in bed. (CHRD)[iv]

 

Harassment of Activists

Police Question Sichuan Activist Huang Qi About His Renewed Advocacy

 

At noon on August 4, police took away Huang Qi (黄琦), activist and founder of Tianwang Human Rights Center, and questioned him for several hours at the Yunxi Police Station in Wenjiang District, Chengdu City. Police seized Huang from a teahouse when he was meeting Lei Zaiyue (雷再跃, aka Yutian [雨田]), an activist from Zhangjiajie in Hunan Province. Police let Huang go around 5:30 p.m. after asking about the resumption of his advocacy work since leaving prison, including why he was reporting on the rights of farmers whose land had been expropriated and whether he was trying to incite suppressed citizens to defend their rights, such as Wenchuan County residents affected by the earthquake in May 2008. Released from prison on June 10, Huang Qi had served a three-year sentence for “illegal possession of state secrets” (非法持有国家秘密罪) related to sharing information with foreign journalists about protests by families whose children had died in the 2008 earthquake. (Human Rights Campaign in China)[v]

 

Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment and Punishment

Lawyer Tang Jingling Describes Torture During Recent Detention

 

On August 6, CHRD spoke with Guangzhou-based human rights lawyer Tang Jingling (唐荆陵), who was released on August 2 after more than five months of illegal residential surveillance, and learned that although Tang’s overall health is now pretty good, he was subjected to severe sleep deprivation while detained in Guangzhou. Taken into custody on February 22 on suspicion of “inciting subversion of state power,” Tang said that he was first taken on a “trip” and then detained in the Dashi Training Center. Beginning on March 13, Tang was questioned for over a week around the clock by three rotating teams of interrogators, during which time he was not allowed to sleep or rest. After Tang began to suffer from trembling, numbness in his hands, and chest pains, police allowed Tang one to two hours of sleep per day. Beginning in April, police gradually permitted him to sleep for longer periods of time each night. At the time, Tang told his guards that such sleep deprivation violated provisions of a UN treaty that China had ratified (the Convention against Torture), and said he would bring a lawsuit against the perpetrators. Police responded that they were acting on “orders from above.” When Tang requested a lawyer, the police gave him the same response: orders from superiors prohibited Tang from hiring an attorney.

 

Police sent Tang back to his hometown, Yaojia Village in Hubei Province, after his release, having told him that he could not contact his friends or give media interviews. Before leaving Guangzhou, he was not permitted to see his wife, Wang Yanfang (汪艳芳), who was subjected to “soft detention” in their home while Tang was detained, and also deprived of contact with the outside world. Tang’s wife has gone to Yaojia to reunite with Tang. (CHRD)[vi]

 

Special Notice

CHRD Urges Accountability, Lifting of Press Restrictions After Wenzhou Train Crash

 

CHRD issued a statement about the Chinese government response after the high-speed railway accident in Wenzhou City, Zhejiang Province, which occurred on July 23. CHRD pointed out the lack of respect for human life and other human rights abuses following the tragedy, and urged the government to take measures to better handle its aftermath and prevent similar rights violations in the future.

 

To read the statement in Chinese, click here, and click here for the English version. (CHRD)[vii]

 

Editors of this issue: Victor Clemens and Tanya Wang

Follow us on Twitter: @CHRDnet

Join us on Facebook: CHRDnet (NEW!)

News updates from CHRD

 


[i] “Special Attention: Trial for Rights Activist Wang Lihong’s ‘Creating Disturbance’ Case to Open August 12,” (特别关注:人权活动家王荔蕻“寻衅滋事”案8月12日上午开庭), August 8, 2011, http://wqw2010.blogspot.com/2011/08/812.html; “Special Attention: Wang Lihong Criminal Charge Changed Back to ‘Creating a Disturbance,’” (特别关注:王荔蕻案涉嫌罪名再变回“寻衅滋事”), August 1, 2011, http://wqw2010.blogspot.com/2011/08/blog-post_1848.html; “Case Against Wang Lihong Going to Court, Many Willing to Testify,” (王荔蕻案将移送法院,多人愿为其出庭作证), July 17, 2011, http://wqw2010.blogspot.com/2011/07/blog-post_17.html

 

[ii] “Harbin Netizen Liang Haiyi in Custody Over Five Months,” (哈尔滨网民梁海怡被羁押逾5个月), August 3, 2011, http://wqw2010.blogspot.com/2011/08/5.html

 

“Individuals Affected by the Crackdown Following Call for ‘Jasmine Revolution,’” August 2, 2011 (updated), https://www.nchrd.org/2011/06/17/jasmine_crackdown/

 

[iii] “Verdict Upheld in Second-Instance Trial of Beihai’s Xu Kun,” (北海许坤案二审维持原判), August 6, 2011, http://wqw2010.blogspot.com/2011/08/blog-post_5694.html; “Health of Beihai Rights-Defending Village Chief Xu Kun in Prison Worth Serious Consideration” (北海维权村官许坤狱中情况堪忧), April 30, 2011, http://wqw2010.blogspot.com/2011/04/blog-post_30.html

 

[iv] “Feng Ling Uncovers Nothing at Police Station, Yao Lifa’s Whereabouts Still Unknown,” (秦永敏:冯玲找派出所无果 姚立法仍无下落), August 8, 2011, http://wqw2010.blogspot.com/2011/08/blog-post_323.html; “Yao Lifa’s Lower Back Severely Injured, No Information for Over 50 Hours Since Being Taken Away,” (姚立法腰部严重受伤,被带走逾50个小时没消息), August 7, 2011, http://wqw2010.blogspot.com/2011/08/50.html; “Urgent Attention: Elections Expert Yao Lifa Seized in Beijing,” (紧急关注:选举专家姚立法在北京被抓), August 6, 2011, http://wqw2010.blogspot.com/2011/08/blog-post_3525.html

 

[v] “Huang Qi Freed, Expresses Thanks for Widespread Concern,” (黄琦已获自由 感谢各界关注), August 4, 2011, http://rightscampaign.blogspot.com/2011/08/blog-post_2263.html; “Huang Qi Taken Away by Police, Accompanying Dissidents and Petitioners Face Limits on Freedom,” (黄琦被警方带走,陪同的义工和访民被限制自由), August 3, 2011, http://wqw2010.blogspot.com/2011/08/blog-post_9073.html; “Urgent Attention: Wenjiang Police Take Away 6/4 Tianwang Founder Huang Qi,” (紧急关注:六四天网创始人黄琦被温江警方带走), August 3, 2011, http://wqw2010.blogspot.com/2011/08/blog-post_7583.html

 

[vi] “Human Rights Lawyer Tang Jingling Deprived of Sleep for Days During Residential Surveillance,” (人权律师唐荆陵监视居住期间多日被禁睡眠), August 5, 2011, http://wqw2010.blogspot.com/2011/08/blog-post_4458.html; “Guangzhou Rights Defense Lawyer Tang Jingling Sent Back to Hubei Hometown,” (广州维权律师唐荆陵被送回湖北老家), August 2, 2011, http://wqw2010.blogspot.com/2011/08/blog-post_9127.html

 

[vii] “CHRD Urges Accountability & Lifting of Press Restrictions—The Chinese Government Must Respect Human Rights in Handling the Wenzhou Train Crash,” August 3, 2011, https://www.nchrd.org/2011/08/03/chrd-urges-accountability-lifting-of-press-restrictions/; “Cherish Life, Defend Human Rights—CHRD Network Statement on 7/23 High-Speed Railway Disaster on Yong-Wen Line,” (珍惜生命,捍卫人权——“维权网”就“7.23甬温线高铁特大车难”的声明), July 30, 2011, http://wqw2010.blogspot.com/2011/07/723_30.html

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