China Human Rights Briefing  June 1-7, 2011

Highlights

• Chinese Activists, Dissidents Face Harassment Around June Fourth Anniversary: CHRD documented a wave of police activities throughout China this week intended to monitor, intimidate, and restrict the movement of rights activists and dissidents in the run-up to the anniversary of the Tiananmen Massacre.

• Police in Guangxi Arrest Villager Wounded During Forced Eviction Clash: CHRD learned this week that Guangxi Province villager Feng Dacheng (冯达成) has been formally arrested for “obstructing official business” after petitioning in Beijing. During a clash last year in his village over a land requisition issue, Feng was shot 11 times by police firing rubber bullets.

Contents Arbitrary Detention 

• Guangxi Villager, Shot During Clash Over Land Eviction, Is Arrested After Petitioning

Harassment of Activists

• Democracy Activists, Dissidents Face Heightened Restrictions to Movement, Widespread Harassment Around Tiananmen Massacre Anniversary
• Netizen Activist He Peirong Emerges Safe After Disappearance, Had Attempted to Visit Chen Guangcheng
• Hubei Petitioner Wang Sixiong Suffers Broken Leg in Assault

 Arbitrary Detention GuangxiVillager, Shot During Clash Over Land Eviction, IsArrested After PetitioningCHRD learned on May 31 that Feng Dacheng (冯达成) a petitioner fromFangchenggangCity, Guangxi Province, has been formally arrested onsuspicion of “obstructingofficial business.” Feng, who was seized by police from theJianguomen PoliceStation while petitioning in Beijing on May 15, 2011, iscurrently being heldin the Fangcheng Detention Center. Feng was wounded whenpolice opened firewith rubber bullets on villagers in Fangchenggang during aclash over a landrequisition on April 21, 2010. He was shot 11 times and spent40 daysrecovering in the hospital. Villagers, including Feng,believed their land hadbeen illegally requisitioned and were seeking to prevent localofficials anddevelopers from seizing it. During the confrontation, over adozen villagerswere injured (eight were badly injured), and four werearrested and later imprisonedfor “obstructing official business.” According to a fellowFangchenggangresident, Feng was targeted by local police to prevent himfrom continuing topetition and to scare away other victims of the April 21incident frompetitioning. (CHRD)[i]Harassment of Activists Democracy Activists,DissidentsFace Heightened Restrictions to Movement, WidespreadHarassment AroundTiananmen Massacre AnniversaryOverthe past week, CHRD learned of many cases of police harassmentof activists anddissidents throughout China prior to the June Fourthanniversary[ii]:In Beijing:  

• On June 1, Bao Tong (鲍彤), the 78-year-old former aide to CCP General Secretary Zhao Ziyang (赵 紫阳), and his wife were taken away by national security officers.
• Ding Zilin (丁子霖), founder of the Tiananmen Mothers group, and Zhang Xianling (张先玲), a member of the Tiananmen Mothers, were placed under soft detention at their homes on June 1.
• National security officials watched over the residence of Gao Hongming (高洪明), which had police vehicles and plainclothes police stationed outside. A veteran of China’s Democracy Wall Movement, Gao could not be contacted around the anniversary.
• On June 1, Beijing dissident Zha Jianguo (查建国) was questioned by national security officers from his district. The officers indicated that Zha could not write articles or conduct media interviews around June 4, and officers and vehicles were stationed downstairs from his home. Zha said that he would go on a one-day hunger strike on June 4 in commemoration of the Tiananmen massacre, just as he has done for many years.
• Other dissidents placed under soft detention included dissident He Depu (何德普) and writer Liu Di (刘荻).
• On June 1, Zhao Lianhai (赵连海), founder of the “Kidney Stones Babies” advocacy group, was intercepted by the police in Beijing while out with his wife and children. He and his family members were briefly held in a snack bar for four hours before they were released. After they returned home that evening, their electricity was cut off.
• Many in Beijing were warned by police not to write about the massacre or take part in gatherings around June 4, including Xia Yeliang (夏业良), a professor of economics at Peking University.
• On May 30, netizen Zhang Chao (张超) was questioned by national security and Internet security police officers.

Elsewherein the country:  

• On June 2, Guiyang dissident Li Renke (李任科) was forced by police to “travel” outside the city, and suffered injuries when officers from the Yan’an Zhong Road Police Station pushed him down two flights of stairs when expelling him from his home. Li, who is over 60 years old, was in great pain and had bleeding wounds, but police did not take him to the hospital for treatment. Li went missing for several days before police allowed him to go home on the evening of June 6. Not having health insurance, Li received only basic care at the hospital.
• When dragging off Li Renke, the police told him that they had already taken away other Guiyang dissidents and members of the Guiyang Human Rights Forum, including Chen Xi (陈西), Liao Shuangyuan (廖双元), and Wu Yuqin (吴玉琴), none of whom could be contacted around June 4 and were believed to be under some kind of police control.
• On the afternoon of June 3, Yang Hai (杨海), a democracy activist and student leader during the 1989 democracy movement, was forced to “travel” away from his home by national security forces from Xi’an City, Shaanxi Province. Yang’s mother is currently in ill health and Yang has been responsible for her care, including administering medication on a daily basis.
• In Chongqing Municipality, national security officials placed retired teacher Mu Jiayu (穆家峪) under soft detention at his residence beginning June 3. Officers monitored him around the clock, following him when he went out and not allowing him to leave town.
• On June 1 in Nanjing City, Jiangsu Province, local national security officers called Li Yong (李勇), a student participant in the 1989 democracy movement, and warned him not to stir up trouble during the anniversary period. Police also told Li that his cell phone and computer communications may be blocked during that time, and later that night his Internet access was cut off.
• In Qianjiang City, Hubei Province, there was increased police monitoring at the home and office of human rights activist Yao Lifa (姚立法). Yao’s home has been under 24-hour surveillance since February 20, 2011.
• On May 31, national security officers forcibly removed dissident Zhang Jiankang (张鉴康) from his home in Xi’an City, Shaanxi Province, to take him on a “trip.”
• On June 2, the well-known Chengdu performance artist and activist Chen Yunfei (陈云飞) was placed under soft detention, with a large number of state security officers dispatched to prevent him from leaving his home.
• On the afternoon of June 2, a large number of officers subjected Wuhan dissident Qin Yongmin (秦永敏) to soft detention in his home.
• Dang Guan (党管), a dissident writer from Anhui and member of Independent Chinese PEN Center, was detained by police while on his way to Guangzhou to see friends, and subsequently was forced to return home by Anhui national security officers.
• On the afternoon of June 2, Guangzhou poet Wu Mingliang (吴明良), who writes under the name Langzi [浪子]) was called for “talks” by national security officers. Reportedly, he was taken away by police later that evening. Wu posts on Twitter under the name @langzichn.
• Chongqing writer Liang Xiwen (梁西文) and democracy activist Wang Ming (王明) were repeatedly warned by police not to leave their homes.
• On May 30, He Shilin (何士林), an independent candidate for the local people’s congress from Hangzhou, was questioned by the police.

Netizen Activist HePeirong EmergesSafe After Disappearance, Had Attempted to Visit ChenGuangcheng On June 5, HePeirong (何培蓉, aka “Pearl” [珍珠]), a netizen activist fromNanjing,contacted friends and indicated that she was free after beingheld for fivedays in Linnan County, Linyi City, Shandong Province. He hadoriginally gone tothe area on May 31 to visit “barefoot” lawyer and activist Chen Guangcheng (陈光诚), detained in his village homein Shuanghou Town since hisrelease from prison in September 2010. After He was unable toenter the villagebecause the entrance was heavily guarded and blocked by a newbuilding, shewent to confront officials at the county government office.About an hour afterthe officials left He, a group of unidentified individualsforced He into avan, where she was searched and robbed, and driven more than100 kilometersaway to Tancheng County, where she was involved in a trafficaccident. Policeofficers in Tancheng then sent He back to Linnan County toreport the accident.He said that, once there, she was taken to a local policestation and thendetained in a hotel room for several days until she wasreleased on June 5. Atthe time of writing, several netizens had embarked forShandong to meet He.When He went to visit Chen in January of this year, she alsoencounteredharassment by the police; during that visit, they smashed hercar and verballyabused and threatened her. (CHRD)[iii] HubeiPetitioner Wang Sixiong Suffers Broken Leg in AssaultCHRD has learned that Wang Sixiong (王思雄), a petitioner from WuhanCity,Hubei Province, suffered a leg fracture following his attemptto presentgrievances about compensation over land use to ChinesePresident Hu Jintaoduring Hu’s recent local inspection tour. After beingintercepted on June 2 atan appearance by Hu at Huazhong University of Science andTechnology, Wang wastaken away to the local police station and released the sameday. The next day,Wang received a phone call from the Hubei ProvincialDevelopment and ReformCommission, asking him to pick up a document at thecommission. However, he wastaken away upon arrival to the commission building by villagecommitteeofficials and Huashan police forces, who dragged him back tothe police stationfor more questioning. They eventually let him go, but as Wanggot off a publicbus on his way home, thugs who had trailed behind in anothervehicle beat himwith rods and hammers, breaking his leg around the knee.According to Wang, theassailants shouted at him, saying that he will not be able topetition once heis disabled. (CHRD)[iv] Editors: Victor Clemensand DavidSmalls Follow us on Twitter: @CHRDnetNews updates from CHRD [i]“Guangxi April 21 ViolentIncident: Feng Dacheng, Shot 11Times, Arrested” (广西4·21征地血案：中11弹的冯达成被捕),June 1, 2011, http://wqw2010.blogspot.com/2011/05/42111.html [ii] “Many Dissidentsin Beijing Have Been Subjected to Soft Detention and Havetheir FreedomRestricted” (北京多位异议人士被上岗限制自 由),June 1, 2011, http://wqw2010.blogspot.com/2011/06/blog-post_7737.html; “As June 4 Approaches,Strict Control to Suppress DissentIntensifies across the Country” (六四将临，全国严控打压升级), June 2, 2011, http://wqw2010.blogspot.com/2011/06/blog-post_9483.html; “As June 4 Approaches,Strict Control to Suppress DissentIntensifies Across the Country (Continued),” (六四将临，全国严控打压升级 （续）),  June 3, 2011, http://wqw2010.blogspot.com/2011/06/blog-post_5197.html; “Guizhou Human Rights Forum ExpressesOutrage Over Injuries toLi Renke at Hands of PublicSecurity,” (贵州人权论坛：强烈抗议贵州公安对李任科先 生的伤害! ), June7, 2011, http://wqw2010.blogspot.com/2011/06/blog-post_1420.html [iii]“He Peirong Robbed, HasLimits Placed on HerFreedom When Visiting ChenGuangcheng,” (何培蓉探访陈光诚遭遇抢劫车祸，被限制人身自由 ), June 7,2011, http://wqw2010.blogspot.com/2011/06/blog-post_07.html; “NanjingHe PeirongVisits Chen Guangcheng, Attracts Widespread Concern as SheFalls out ofContact” (南京何培蓉探访陈光诚，与外界失去联 系引各界关注), June 2,2011, http://wqw2010.blogspot.com/2011/06/blog-post_9730.html [iv] “HubeiPetitioner Wang SixiongHas Leg Broken When Trying toPresent Grievances to PresidentHu Jintao,” (湖 北访民王思雄因欲见胡主席上访被打断腿),June 6, 2011, http://wqw2010.blogspot.com/2011/06/blog-post_7223.html