Ren Ziyuan (任自元)

May 28, 2014 Comments Off

Ren Ziyuan 任自元

(released)

*Previously on medical watch

Crime:Subversion of state power Length of Punishment: 10 years plus 3 years deprivation of political rights Court: Jining City Intermediate People’s Court, Shandong Province Trial Date: February 4, 2006 Sentencing Date: March 13, 2006 Dates of Detention/Arrest: May 10, 2005 (detained); June 16, 2005 (arrested); June 9, 2015 (released) Verdict: Shandong Province Jining Intermediate People’s Court Criminal Verdict (Chinese) Date of Birth: October 28, 1979 Medical Condition(s): Tuberculosis Place of Incarceration: Shandong Provincial No. 1 Prison

Background

Ren Ziyuan, born in 1979, was a language and literature teacher at the Zoucheng No. 10 Middle School in Jining, Shandong before he was detained and arrested by the Jining City Public Security Bureau in May 2005 for allegedly trying to form a political party. In 2006, the court claimed in its verdict that Ren had attempted to establish the “Mainland Democratic Front” in order to “overthrow the reactionary and decadent rule of the Chinese Communist Party.” The court used a handbook he wrote, called “Road to Democracy,” and communication with other like-minded individuals as evidence for scheming a government takeover. In prison, Ren has been tortured, beaten, and denied medical treatment, causing his health to greatly deteriorate. Ren’s family has requested bail on medical grounds but was rejected. Ren reportedly has suffered abuses from both prison guards and inmates, and has not been allowed to write letters while being deprived of sleep. His family members were last allowed to visit him in March 2010, when his father learned that Ren had contracted tuberculosis but was not getting proper medical treatment and had become very thin. Since then, his family has not received any letters from him or been granted visitation, and suspect he is under tight surveillance while being subjected to psychological abuse. In 2012, a fellowprisoner who had been released said that Ren had been tortured and put into solitary confinement—the most recent piece of information that his family has received about him. When his father passed away in 2013, prison authorities denied requests for him to attend the funeral. His mother continued to try and visit him in prison, and was often turned away, including in December 2013. Ren Ziyuan was released on June 9, 2015 at the end of his sentence. *CHRD’s Watch List of Detainees and Prisoners of Conscience in Need of Medical Attention

Further Information

Working Group on Arbitrary Detention Opinion No. 55 /201 4 (China) concerning Ren Ziyuan, November 21, 2014, CHRD 2014年11月21日－任意拘留问题工作组第55/2014号 (中国)意见事关：任自元 CHRD submission to UN on Ren Ziyuan – June 13, 2014 “Urgent Appeal: Ren Ziyuan Received Inhuman and Mistreatment in Prison” (紧急呼吁关注任自元狱中受狱方非人道虐待), March 5, 2008, WQW.