China Human Rights Briefing  January 21, 2010

Headlines

• Local Officials Question Relatives of Organizer Zou Chuanshun
• Court Rejects Request for an Appeal Hearing for Liu Xiaobo
• Jiangsu Court to Hear Female Lawyer’s Lawsuit against Family Planning Bureau
• Guangxi Police Harass, Search Journalist Reporting on January 12 Violence
• Longtime Petitioner Guo Qinghua Detained
• Imprisoned Democracy Activist Xie Changfa Kept In Solitary Confinement

Harassmentof Activists

LocalOfficials Question Relatives of Organizer Zou Chuanshun

CHRD has learned that family members of ZouChuanshun (邹传舜),one of the leaders of the National Chinese Farmers' Association, havebeeninterrogated by local government officials seeking to learn Zou'swhereaboutsand contact information. On January 20, officials in LoujialouVillage, JingzhouCity, Hubei Province,questionedZou's father, and officials in PuqiTown, Hubei,questioned his cousin. Zou's family is worried that officials may bepreparingto take action against Zou. In August 2009, Zou was summoned byNationalSecurity officers in Jiangsu's Yixing Cityand questioned about his involvement with the Farmers' Association, andlosthis job as a result. Other leaders of the Farmers' Associations havebeensimilarly summoned and harassed by officials, who have warned themagainstcontinuing any activities associated with the group, which theauthorities saidis “unregistered” and therefore “illegal.” (CHRD)[i]

LegalRights

CourtRejects Request for an Appeal Hearing for Liu Xiaobo

According to lawyers for imprisoned dissidentLiu Xiaobo (刘晓波),the Beijing Upper Court has refused to grant his request for an appealhearing.The court has requested that his lawyers submit a written document inLiu’s defense,to be used for a second instance decision of his case based on writtensubmissions only (without an oral appeal hearing). Liu was convicted of“incitingsubversion of state power” and sentenced to 11 years of imprisonment  on December 29, 2009. Beijing lawyer MoShaoping (莫少平),who was barred from representing Liu by officials because he was afellowsignatory of Charter 08, noted thathe was not surprised by the court's decision. He added that Liu andLiu'slawyers will continue to argue his innocence and seek his immediaterelease.(CHRD)[ii]

Citizens’Actions

Jiangsu Court to Hear Female Lawyer’sLawsuit against Family Planning Bureau

CHRD has learned that the Quanshan DistrictCourt in Xuzhou City, Jiangsu Province will hear an administrativelitigationlawsuit brought by Wang Ying (王莹) against the Quanshan District Family PlanningBureau next week. Wang, a 30 year-old former lawyer, was barred fromobtaininga civil service position by the Tongshan County government on thegrounds thatshe had violated family planning regulations by having a child beforemarriage;the decision by Tongshan County officials was based on documentationprovidedto them by the Quanshan District Family Planning Bureau. Her case,whichtouches on issues of discrimination, right to privacy, and the right towork,has already drawn a great deal of attention domestically. (CHRD)[iii]

Freedomof Expression

GuangxiPolice Harass, Search Journalist Reporting on January 12 Violence

On the evening of January 19, police burst intoa Yangshuo County, Guangxi Province hotel room occupied by journalistZhouFancai (周范才)from the Xinhua News Agency publication OrientalOutlook (瞭望东方周刊),producing a warrant for taking him in for questioning (拘传证)and searching his belongings. Zhou, who was interviewing villagersabout aJanuary 12 clash between police and citizens in Lipu County,Guangxi, stated that he was earlier followed by an unidentifiedindividualwhile conducting interviews in Lipu. The police in Yangshuo confiscatedZhou'snotes as well as personal items, and then forced Zhou into a car anddrove himto Lipu, where an official from the local propaganda department toldhim theyhad "arranged" lodging. Zhou refused, and was allowed to return toYangshou later that night. (CHRD)[iv]

ArbitraryDetention

LongtimePetitioner Guo Qinghua Detained

Beijing petitioners Guo Qinghua (郭清华) andZhang Xiuhua (张秀华)were seized by police on January 20 while petitioning outside of theUnitedStates Embassy in Beijing. The two were taken to the Maizidian PoliceStationin Beijng's Chaoyang District; Zhang was released the same evening butGuoremains detained at the time of writing. Guo, a former sanitationworker at theBeijing People's Congress building, has been petitioning since 2002after herwages were embezzled. She has been beaten and detained on numerousoccasionsover the past eight years for petitioning. (CRLW)[v]

Tortureand Other Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment

ImprisonedDemocracy Activist Xie Changfa Kept In Solitary Confinement

According to the brother of imprisoned dissidentXie Changfa (谢长发),Xie has been in solitary confinement for more than one month and deniedvisitsfrom family. Xie Changzhen (谢长祯) reported on January 21 that he had beeninstructed by prison staff to visit his brother on January 20, but whenhearrived at the prison, he was told that the visit could not take placebecauseXie Changfa was in solitary confinement. Xie Changzhen stated that whenhe lastattempted to visit his brother, on December 16, 2009, he encounteredthe samesituation. A member of the banned China Democracy Party (CDP) and anorganizerof CDP’s Hunan Branch, Xie Changfa is currently serving a 13-yearprison termfor “subversion of state power”. (CRLW)[vi]

Editors: David Smalls and Lin Sang

News updates from CHRD: http://www.crd-net.org/Article/Class9/Class10/Index.html

Reining in Civil Society: The Chinese government’suse of laws and regulations to persecute freedom of associationhttp://www.crd-net.org/Article/Class9/Class11/200908/20090810214902_16733.html

CHRD Yearbook 2007-2008: http://www.crd-net.org/Article/Class9/Class11/200808/20080807093200_9888.html

[i] "Family of National ChineseFarmers'Association Leader Threatened (中华全国农民协会负责人亲属受到威胁)," January 21, 2010, http://www.crd-net.org/Article/Class53/201001/20100121000847_19531.html

[ii] "Beijing Upper Court Refuses toHoldAppeal Hearing for Liu Xiaobo in Open Court (北京市高级法院拒绝开庭审理刘晓波上诉案)," January 21, 2010, http://www.crd-net.org/Article/Class18/lxb/201001/20100121130737_19539.html

[iii] "Jiangsu lawyer Wang Ying'sSuitAgainst Family-Planning Bureau to Be Heard Next Week (江苏女律师王莹诉计生局案下周开庭)," http://www.crd-net.org/Article/Class53/201001/20100121185647_19548.html

[iv] "Lipu, Guangxi police Rush intoGuesthouse, Summon Journalist (广西荔浦警察冲进宾馆拘传记者)," January 21, 2010, http://www.crd-net.org/Article/Class53/201001/20100121200008_19549.html

[v] "Beijing People's CongressSanitationWorker Detained for Petitioning at American Embassy (北京市人大保洁女工郭清华美国大使馆上访被拘留)," http://www.crd-net.org/Article/bzsf/201001/20100121182735_19546.html

[vi] "Xie Changfa in SolitaryConfinement;Family Again Refused Visit (谢长发狱中被关禁闭 家人探视再次遭拒)," January 21, 2010, http://www.crd-net.org/Article/bzsf/201001/20100121164532_19542.html

source: CHRD