AI URGENT ACTION:  FEAR OF DISAPPEARANCE OF ACTIVIST AND FAMILY

Hada,a human rights activist from Inner Mongolia, his wife Xinna and theirson Uiles have been detained in northern China and their fate andcurrent whereabouts are unknown. Amnesty International fears they maybe subjected to enforced disappearance.

Hadawas due to be released from prison on 10 December 2010, on completionof his 15-year prison sentence for “splittism” and “espionage”.His wife Xinnaand their son Uileswere detained prior to his expected release date. His otherrelatives, including his sister-in-law Naraa and his uncle Haschuluu,who were waiting to be reunited with him upon his release, did notreceive any information about him on the day.

On11 December 2010, Naraa received a CD that contained five photosshowing Hada having a dinner with Xinna and Uiles. The photos weredated 10 December 2010. Naraa told the Southern Mongolia Human RightsInformation Center (SMHRIC) that she believed that based on theclothes seen on Xinna and Uiles, the photos were recent. The samephotos had also been anonymously posted on Chinese overseas dissidentwebsite Boxun.com.

On13 December 2010, Haschuluu received an SMS purportedly from Hadaurging him not to worry and claiming that both he and Uiles had beenreleased. Haschuluu never received a response to his reply to thesender.

On14 December 2010, an official from the Inner Mongolia AutonomousRegion Public Security Bureau visited Naraa and told her that thePublic Security Bureau had delivered the photos to Naraa. They alsotold her that Hada and his family were “enjoying a family re-union”in a “five star luxury hotel” and that they needed “a bit [oftime] to plan their next step”. The official did not tell her thehotel name, its location or how long “a bit” was likely to be.

Sincethe detention of Xinna and Uiles, Naraa and Haschuluu have been theonly sources of information about the situation of Hada and hisfamily, but it appears that their channels for communication havebeen cut, as all phone calls to them have gone unanswered since atleast 18 December 2010.  

PLEASEWRITE IMMEDIATELY in English, Chinese or your own language:

• Urging the authorities to immediately clarify the current status and whereabouts of Hada, Xinna and Uiles;

• Urging the authorities to immediately and unconditionally release Hada, who has been imprisoned as a prisoner of conscience since 1995;

• Urging the authorities to release Xinna and Uiles if they are not to be charged with an internationally recognizable criminal offence;

• Urging the authorities to ensure that as long as any of them remain in detention, they have access to family, legal representation of their choosing, and any medical care they may require.

PLEASESEND APPEALS BEFORE 18 FEBRUARY 2011 TO:

Directorof the Nei Menggu Autonomous Regional Department of Public Security

ZHAOLiping Tingzhang

NeiMenggu Zizhiqu Gong'anting

15Haila’erdajie, Hohhot 010051

NeiMenggu Zizhiqu

People'sRepublic of China

Fax:+86 471 6550102

Salutation:Dear Director

Chairmanof the Nei Menggu Autonomous Regional People's Government

BATE’ERWulan Zhuxi

NeiMenggu Zizhiqu Renmin Zhengfu

1Chilechuandajie, Hohhot 010098

NeiMenggu Zizhiqu,

People'sRepublic of China

Fax:+86 471 6944148

Salutation:Dear Chairman

Andcopies to:

Ministerof Justice of the People's Republic of China

WUAiying Buzhang

Sifabu,10 Chaoyangmen Nandajie

Chaoyangqu,Beijingshi 100020

People'sRepublic of China

Fax:+86 10 65292345

Email:pfmaster@legalinfo.gov.cn

Salutation:Dear Minister

Alsosend copies to diplomatic representatives accredited to yourcountry. Check with your section office if sending appeals afterthe above date.

URGENTACTION

FEAROF DISAPPEARANCE OF ACTIVIST AND FAMILY

ADditional Information

Hadawas detained on 11 December 1995. The Hohhot Intermediate People’sCourt found him guilty of “splittism” and “espionage”following an unfair trial and sentenced him to 15 years’imprisonment on 11 November 1996. Amnesty International consideredhim a prisoner of conscience and campaigned for his immediate andunconditional release.

Hadawas held in Chifeng Prison in Ulaanhad (in Chinese: Chifeng) InnerMongolia Autonomous Region. In 2004, an inmate who was released fromChifeng Prison reported that Hada was routinely abused there,subjected to disciplinary punishments ranging from solitaryconfinement to being chained onto a metal “shackle board” inprison (seehttp://www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/ASA17/004/2005/en)

Beforehis detention, Hada was the general manager of the MongolianAcademic Bookshop in Hohhot. His imprisonment was related to hisinvolvement in an organization called the Southern MongolianDemocratic Alliance (SMDA), which aimed to promote human rights,Mongolian culture and “a high degree of autonomy for China’sminority nationalities, as guaranteed in [China’s] Constitution”.

In2002, Uiles (Hada's son, born in 1984) was sentenced to two years’imprisonment for his alleged involvement in a robbery. Whilst inprison, he was said to have been pressured to cut ties to hisparents.  

Xinna,Hada's wife, was detained on 4 December 2010 at the family-runbookstore. The police informed Uiles that she was being held at theInner Mongolia No. 1 Detention Centre in Hohhot, the regionalcapital (in Chinese: Huhehaote). The police also raided thebookstore warehouse and detained Uiles. Uiles was released on thesame day shortly before midnight and told the SMHRIC that the policehad pressured him to agree to not to disseminate any informationabout himself or his family over the phone or on the internet; tosever his relationship with his parents, and; not to carry out anyseparatist activities like his father had done.

Uileswas detained again in the morning of 5 December 2010. Naraa, Hada'ssister-in-law, later received a notice from the Public Securityauthorities stating that Xinna was held on suspicion of running anillegal business and that Uiles was suspected of being involved indealing drugs.

InNovember 2010, the authorities placed writer and activist Huuchinhuuunder illegal house arrest. She had been planning a party for Hadaupon his release. Another Inner Mongolian activist, Arslan, who alsohad been planning a gathering to celebrate Hada’s anticipatedrelease from prison is also under house arrest.

UA:2/11 Index: ASA 17/001/2011 Issue Date: 07 January 2011