China Human Rights Briefing June 29-July 6, 2011

Highlights

• Guangxi Lawyer Yang Zaixin Arrested: Rights Defense Lawyer Yang Zaixin (杨在新), who has been held at the Beihai City Detention Center in Guangxi Province since June 14 on suspicion of “obstructing testimony,” was formally arrested in the morning of June 29. Three other lawyers who were detained at the same time were released on bail a day earlier.

• Thousands of Petitioners Detained Around CCP Anniversary: Several thousand petitioners in Beijing have reportedly been held at the Jiujingzhuang Black Jail and in other locations after being swept up around July 1, the 90th anniversary of the Chinese Communist Party. CHRD also received information on the individual experiences of some petitioners.

ContentsArbitrary Detention

• Updates on Detentions and Disappearances Related to the “Jasmine Revolution” Crackdown
• Guangxi Rights Defense Lawyer Yang Zaixin Arrested, Three Others Released on Bail
• Thousands of Petitioners Detained Around Chinese Communist Party Anniversary

HarassmentofActivists’ Family Members

• Authorities Harass Wife of Missing Elections Expert Yao Lifa
• Parents of Xue Mingkai Beaten After Petitioning in Beijing

EnforcedDisappearance

• Members of Guizhou Human Rights Forum Go Missing
• Beijing Lawyer Abducted from Beijing, Last Heard from in Hebei

LocalNPC Election Watch

• Jiangxi Authorities Harass Independent Candidates, Lawyer Investigating Election Results

Tortureand Other Cruel, Inhuman orDegrading Treatment and Punishment

• Anhui Petitioner Subjected to Ongoing Abuse in RTL Facility

ArbitraryDetentionUpdates onDetentions andDisappearances Related to the “Jasmine Revolution”Crackdown CHRD has learned thatQian Jin (钱进), a pro-democracyactivist from Bengbu City, Anhui Provincewho had been forcibly detained in a psychiatrichospital since February 26, wasreleased on June 29. Qian’s release from AnhuiHuaiyuan Rongguang Hospital camelater than anticipated—Bengbu national securityofficers indicated weeks agothat his release was imminent—and after persistentefforts by Bengbu democracyactivists to gain Qian his freedom.  On the evening ofJune 30, activistswelcomed Qian home with a celebratory dinner and foundthat his psychologicalstate was excellent. Qian explained that although hehad been ordered to take apill every day while a doctor or nurse watched, hefigured out how to dupethem. He would press the pill down under this tongue,take a few sips of waterwhile they watched, then as soon as they turned awayhe would spit the pill outinto his palm and shove it into his pants pocket.  Qian’s activism onbehalf ofordinary Chinese citizens has long angered localauthorities, who increasedtheir monitoring of Qian during the “JasmineRevolution” crackdown and took himaway on February 25 when they suspected he wasplanning to go to Hefei City toparticipate in a “Jasmine Stroll.” The next day, hewas detained in thepsychiatric hospital. Bengbu democracy activists whosought Qian’s release wererepeatedly threatened and summoned by police forquestioning. (CHRD)[i]Guangxi RightsDefense Lawyer YangZaixin Arrested, Three Others Released on BailFour Guangxi lawyerswere recentlydetained in connection with their defense ofindividuals accused of a beatingdeath in Beihai City, Guangxi Province. On June 29,the local procuratorateapproved the arrest of rights defense lawyer Yang Zaixin (杨在新), who has been held atthe Beihai City Detention Centersince June 14 on suspicion of “obstructing testimony.”The three other lawyers—Luo Sifang (罗思方), LiangWucheng (梁武诚), and YangZhonghan (杨忠汉)—were released on bail(取保候审)on the evening of June 28. On June 28, twomembers of a groupof lawyers who have come together to support Yangvisited him at the detentioncenter. When Shandong lawyer ChenGuangwu (陈光武)and Beijing-based lawyer Zhang Kai (张凯) met with Yang, heappeareddistraught and said he hoped the Ministry of Justiceand the All-China Lawyers’Association would take interest in his case, and alsosafeguard the basicrights of China’s criminal lawyers to practice law.Other members of thelawyers’ group now working on Yang’s case include Zhu Mingyong (朱明勇), Wu Lei(伍雷), WangXing (王兴), and YangMingkua (杨名跨). (CHRD)[ii]Thousands ofPetitioners Detained AroundChinese Communist Party Anniversary In the past week,several thousand petitioners in Beijing havereportedlybeen held at the Jiujingzhuang Black Jail and inother locations after beingswept up to prevent them from disrupting the July 1celebrations of the 90thanniversary of the Chinese Communist Party. Petitionerswho wereintercepted by police throughout the city were alltransferred to Jiujingzhuang,a temporary detention facility where petitioners areregistered and sorted before they are taken back totheir hometowns by localofficials. Among the thousandsdetained includemore than 800 from Shanghai and 200 petitioners fromFujian Province. Having to dealwith the enormous number of detainees, officials fromvarious government Letterand Visits Offices who had set up office at Jiujingzhuangwere not accepting petitioners’ written complaintsbut simply recording theorigins of petitioners so that they could informlocal authorities to comefetch them. While detained, many petitioners havebeen deprived of food andwater and endured unusually overcrowded andunsanitary conditions, in somecases for days. (Human Rights Campaign in China)CHRDhas received information on petitioners recentlydetained in black jails inBeijing, including some who were sent back home afterthe wave of detentions:

•  After 5 p.m. on June 29, officers from the Youanmen Police Station approached a group of petitioners near the Beijing South Railway Station and took away, among others, An Shaorong (安绍荣) of Guizhou City, Guangxi Province, and Hubei petitioner Liu Jiegang (刘介刚). On July 2, a petitioner received a phone call from An, who tearfully said she was being held in an underground room at the Beijing East Railway Station. A group of petitioners was able to find where An was being detained, but railway police officers would not let them see An, nor allow them to give her anything. As of July 4, there was no further information available about An, who could not be reached by phone.

• Around 3:30 p.m. on July 1, seven petitioners from Chengdu City, Sichuan Province were taken away by police officers before they were able to unfurl banners on Tiananmen Square. Six of them were held at Jiujingzhuang before being taken back to Chengdu in the early morning of July 2 in the company of five security guards. Though these six have returned home, one of them, Hu Jinqiong (胡金琼), was beaten on a street in Shuangliu County in the morning of July 6 by unidentified individuals. Police reportedly took no action even after Hu reported the incident.

The other petitionerin this group, Jiang Yuqiong (蒋玉琼), was taken toTuoyue Hotel in Beijing on the evening of July 1 and,upon being escorted backto Chengdu, was held at the Yongning Police Station,where she was not givenadequate food and felt a great amount of stress due tothe situation, causingher to have problems with her blood pressure. She wassubsequently taken to alocal hospitalfor treatment.Thewhereabouts of four more Chengdu petitioners who hadgone to Beijing with theabove individuals are still unknown. Thesepetitioners—Wang Binru (王彬如), Shi Guangyun (帅光云), Zhang Xiufang (张秀芳), and ChenGuoping (陈国平)—were taken fromTiananmen Square by interceptors from the WenjiangDistrict government. Their phones have been off, andthey also have not been incontact with their families.

• On the evening of July 2, police officers at Jiujingzhuang beat Meng Qingxiu (孟庆秀), from Sanhe City, Hebei Province, and then dragged her away to a police station after she became angry with police over their poor treatment of some older petitioners. Her whereabouts remain unknown at the time of writing. Meng had been detained in the black jail the previous day, but at 7:20 p.m. on July 2, Meng called her husband and informed him she was being held at a police station. Her family members then rushed to Beijing, but the black jail personnel refused to provide information about Meng.

•  Five petitioners from Sanbozi Township, Qinglong Manchu Autonomous County, Qinhuangdao City, Hebei Province, have been detained in a black jail in their hometown after being intercepted in Beijing. The group was abducted around midnight on July 1 and forcibly taken back to Hebei by a large number of township cadres and public security officers. The petitioners were turned over to the county public security bureau and taken in the morning of July 2 to the local civilian militia’s compound, which has barbed wire along the walls, guards stationed at entrances, and bars covering the windows. (CHRD)

•  Peng Qingguo (彭庆国) and Sun Qiong (孙琼), petitioners from Changsha City, Hunan Province, were held at Jiujingzhuang until July 2, when security guards from Changsha came to forcibly take them back home. During the one-day return trip to Changsha, they were only given one meal to eat, were not allowed to use a toilet, and had their cell phones confiscated. When Sun complained about this treatment, the guards beat Sun and, upon reaching Changsha, placed Sun in the custody of the Changsha County Traffic Police, who had not allowed Sun to go home at the time of writing.

• Yin Huimin (尹慧敏), from Changning District in Shanghai, arrived in Beijing on July 1 to petition, but was taken into custody by police officers near Tiananmen Square and sent to Jiujingzhuang. On July 3, after Yin had been forcibly returned to Shanghai, the Huayang Police Station in Changning punished her by giving her a seven-day administrative detention. Yin has indicated that she would go on a hunger strike while in detention. (Civil Rights & Livelihood Watch)[iii]

Harassmentof Activists’ Family MembersAuthoritiesHarass Wife of Missing Elections Expert Yao LifaFeng Ling(冯玲), the wife of Yao Lifa (姚立法), the democracyactivist from Qianjiang City, Hubei Province who hasbeen missing since June 20 for his advocacy related tolocal People’s Congresselections, has been subject to intense monitoring andharassment as she hascontinued to ask authorities about Yao’sdisappearance. The electricity and waterat their home have recently been cutoff, and Feng has been unable to leave theresidence, which is being monitoredby more than ten surveillance personnel and avehicle. At around 4 p.m. on July5, Feng was forced under duress—with no electricity,food, and water for herand her two-year-old child—to allow two securityguards from Yao’s school whohad been charged with monitoring him to search thehome. The previous day, Feng received a phonecall from someone who threatened to break in,and some individuals pounded on her front door. A weekearlier, Feng had goneto the Qianjiang City Letters and Visits Bureau andthe Public Security Bureauto ask about the whereabouts of her husband. She waseither told to go talk tothe school where Yao is employed or threatened with“consequences” for creatinga disturbance. (CHRD)[iv]Parents of XueMingkai Beaten AfterPetitioning in Beijing Wang Shuqing (王书清) and XueFushun (薛夫顺), the parents ofXue Mingkai (薛明凯), apro-democracy activist from Qufu City, ShandongProvince, were beaten in lateJune for trying to petition the government to complainabout both their son’s criminaldetention and also the beatings Wang endured during astint in Re-educationthrough Labor (RTL). On June 23, Wang and her husbandwent to petition at theHigh People’s Procuratorate in Beijing about theirson’s recent detention inthe “Jasmine Revolution” crackdown but wereintercepted and handed over topersonnel from the Liaison Office of Jining City,Shandong Province. On themorning of June 24, four or five employees came into aroom at the office andbeat Xue Fushun, and then put the couple in a vehicleto send them back toShandong. Late that evening, Wang and Xue were dumpedon the roadside in DezhouCity. Shortly thereafter, another vehicle came andfive or six individuals gotout and beat Xue with clubs. At this time, Xue isstill unable to walk from theinjuries he suffered. (Civil Rights & LivelihoodWatch)[v]Xue Mingkai was detained thispast February and thenformally arrested for “inciting subversion of statepower” (煽动颠覆国家政权罪), and is being held atthe Jining City DetentionCenter. In October 2010, Wang Shuqing was sent to oneyear of RTL by police inJining for petitioning about her son’s previousimprisonment. Though given aone-year RTL penalty in October 2010, she was releasedfrom detention earlythis year after being subjected to severe beatings.EnforcedDisappearanceMembers ofGuizhou Human RightsForum Go Missing By the morning of July1, mostmembers of the Guizhou Human Rights Forum were missingand could not becontacted due to increased monitoring and harassmentaround the CCPanniversary. On the afternoon of June 30, Guiyang CityNational SecurityOfficers took Tian Zuxiang (田祖湘) away to the GuiyangPublic SecurityBureau after he and other members of the Guizhou HumanRights Forum arranged toget together. Soon thereafter, XuGuoqing (徐国庆)and several others were prohibited from going out, andWu Yuqin (吴玉琴) and MoJiangang (莫建刚), who had arrived atthe meetingplace, were forcibly taken to the local policestation. In addition, Yong Zhiming (雍志明) told CHRD that hewould be forced to“take a trip.” When police arrived at the home of Chen Xi (陈西), he sent an onlinemessage to his friends warning them:“We’re going to go missing again, public securityofficers are at my door.”Messages sent back to him were not returned, but hiscomputer was reportedlystill online. Friends speculate that officers hadentered his home and takenChen away before he could shut down his computer.(CHRD)[vi]Beijing LawyerAbducted from Beijing, Last Heard from inHebeiCHRD learned thatlawyer Jin Guanghong (金光鸿) was abducted inBeijing and takenby car towards Shenyang City, Liaoning Province, andthen abandoned along thehighway at the Shanhaiguan service area in HebeiProvince. Jin was able to makea brief call from the service area to a Mr. Lin, whothen spoke with CHRD.Jin’s call was quickly cut off, and further attemptsto reach him on his cellphone have been unsuccessful. At the time of writing,Jin’s whereabouts andsituation are unknown. It is believed that he waslikely abducted by Beijing“stability maintenance” enforcement personnel intenton restricting his freedomaround the CCP anniversary. Back in April, Jin wasdetained for about 10 daysin a detention center and then a psychiatric hospital,where he was beaten,tied to a bed, given injections of unknown substances,and forced to ingestunidentified medicine. (CHRD)[vii] Local NPCElection WatchJiangxiAuthorities Harass IndependentCandidates, Lawyer Investigating Election ResultsOnJuly 4, Liu Ping (刘萍) and LiSihua (李思华), two independentPeople’s Congresscandidates from Xinyu City, Jiangxi Province, and alawyer from Wuhan surnamedWu, went to the Xihe Management Office (in XijiaduVillage) to investigate thesituation with the June 29 election held at theTongzhou Subdistrict Office inYushui District. After they arrived, one village cadrewas extremely rude tothem, and when Liu Ping attempted to photographpostings on the wall of electionresults, several staff members from the villagecommittee rushed over andinstigated a physical altercation with Liu and Wu.Liu’s cell phone wasdestroyed and his camera thrown onto a roof. Liu andWu later went to theBaoshi Road Police Station to file a report on whathad transpired. (CivilRights & Livelihood Watch)[viii]Torture andOther Cruel, Inhuman orDegrading Treatment and PunishmentAnhui PetitionerSubjected to Ongoing Abuse in RTL FacilityCHRD has learned ofthe continuous physical abuse ofDing Meifang (丁美芳),a 54-year-old petitioner from Hefei City, AnhuiProvince, serving prison time inthe Anhui Women’s Re-education through labor (RTL)facility. Ding was given aone-and-a-half-year sentence by the Hefei CityPeople’s Court after climbing atower in Beijing last November to bring attention toher grievance. During her detention,Ding’s legs have been permanently debilitated due tobeing forced to sit on alow stool for up to 17 or 18 hours a day and frombeatings by public securityofficers. The RTL facility has not responded toDing’s requests for medicaltreatment, and has denied her family’s appeal torelease Ding on medicalgrounds. Ding has reportedly been subject to abusebecause she did not agreewith the court’s original decision and due to her“troublesome” attitude.Ding’s past petitioning involved seekingcompensation for medical expenses and demandinga criminal investigation of her beating by police inHefei in 2008. (CHRD)[ix]Editorsof this issue: Victor Clemens and Renee Xia   Follow us on Twitter: @CHRDnetJoinus on Facebook: CHRDnet (NEW!)News updatesfrom CHRD [i] “Democracy ActivistsHold Welcome Dinner for Qian Jin; QianDiscusses Resistance to “Being Made to Suffer MentalDisorder,” (民主人士为钱进接风洗尘，钱进谈抗拒“被精神病”经验), June 30, 2011, http://wqw2010.blogspot.com/2011/06/blog-post_9912.html; “Bengbu RightsActivist Qian Jin Released from PsychiatricHospital,” (蚌埠维权人士钱进从精神病院获释), June 29, 2011, http://wqw2010.blogspot.com/2011/06/blog-post_3429.html?spref=tw; “BengbuAuthorities Break Promise, Continue to Detain QianJin in Psychiatric Hospital,” (蚌埠当局违反承诺将钱进继续关押精神病院),June 14, 2011, http://wqw2010.blogspot.com/2011/06/blog-post_3889.html;“IndividualsAffected by the Crackdown Following Call for‘Jasmine Revolution,’” June 30, 2011 (updated), http://chrdnet.org/2011/06/17/jasmine_crackdown/    [ii] “Case of FourGuangxi Lawyers: One Arrest Approved, ThreeLawyers Released,” (广西四律师案：一人被批捕，三人已释 放), June 29, 2011, http://wqw2010.blogspot.com/2011/06/blog-post_29.html; “Beihai, GuangxiRights Defense Lawyer Yang ZaixinCriminally Detained,” (广西北海维权律师杨在新被刑拘),June 14, 2011, http://wqw2010.blogspot.com/2011/06/blog-post_9513.html  [iii] “UncoveringJiujingzhuang’s Secrets,” (久敬庄揭秘), July 2, 2011, http://rightscampaign.blogspot.com/2011/07/blog-post_02.html; “Guizhou Petitioner AnShaorong Still Being Held in‘Black Jail,’” (贵州访民安绍荣被关“黑监狱”至今未放),July 3, 2011, http://wqw2010.blogspot.com/2011/07/blog-post_7495.html; Chengdu PetitionerHu JinqiongBeaten by Unidentified Individuals After Releasefrom Black Jail,” (成都访民胡金琼出黑监狱后被不明身份人殴打), July 6, 2011, http://wqw2010.blogspot.com/2011/07/blog-post_06.html; “IllegalDetention of Chengdu PetitionerJiangYuqiong Leads to MedicalEmergency, Rescue,” (成都访民蒋玉琼被非法关押导致病危正在抢救), July 4, http://wqw2010.blogspot.com/2011/07/blog-post_6138.html?spref=tw; “Several ChengduPetitioners Disappear AfterForced Return Home,” (成都多位访民被押送回当地后失踪), July 3, 2011, http://wqw2010.blogspot.com/2011/07/blog-post_9491.html; “Four ChengduPetitioners on 7/1 Taken Away from Tiananmen,Disappearedby Government Personnel,” (成都四访民“7.1”在天安门被政府人员带走后失踪), July 2, 2011, http://wqw2010.blogspot.com/2011/07/71.html; “Hebei PetitionerMing Qingxiu MissingAfter Police Beating at Jiujingzhuang,” (河北访民孟庆秀在北京久敬庄遭警察打伤后下落不明), July 2, 2011, http://wqw2010.blogspot.com/2011/07/blog-post_6469.html; “Five Qinhuangdao,Hebei Petitioners Held in ‘Black Jail’,” (河北秦皇岛五访民被关“黑监狱”中),July 3, 2011, http://wqw2010.blogspot.com/2011/07/blog-post_1305.html; “Interceptors BeatHunan Petitioner On Way Back to Changsha,” (湖南长沙访民遭截访押回途中被殴打), July 4, 2011, http://www.msguancha.com/Article/ShowArticle.asp?ArticleID=14406; “ShanghaiPetitioner Yin Youmin To Serve AdministrativeDetention,” (上海访民尹慧敏七·一上访被行政拘留), July 3, 2011, http://www.msguancha.com/Article/ShowArticle.asp?ArticleID=14403 [iv] “Elections ExpertYao Lifa’sDisappearance Enters 17th Day, HomeSearched,” (选举专家姚立法失踪进入17天，家中被搜查), July 6, 2011, http://wqw2010.blogspot.com/2011/07/17.html?spref=tw; “Elections ExpertYao Lifa Missing for 15 Days, Wife Threatened,DodgedWhen Making Inquiry,” (选举专家姚立法失踪15天，其妻上访被威胁搪塞), July 4, 2011, http://wqw2010.blogspot.com/2011/07/15.html; “ChineseElections Expert Yao Lifa Goes Missing,” (中国选举专家姚立法先生失踪), June 20,2011, http://wqw2010.blogspot.com/2011/06/blog-post_8197.html; &l