China Human Rights Briefing Weekly  June 15-21, 2010

Highlights

• Beijing Activists Harassed Ahead of Dragon Boat Festival: Beijing police, concerned that local activists and netizens would be gathering together during the Dragon Boat Festival, harassed and briefly detained a number of these individuals in and around the capital this past week.  On June 15, police arrived to search the Chaoyang District home of activist Su Yutong (苏雨桐) and took her in for hours of questioning. The same night, National Security officials dragged activist Liu Dejun (刘德军) out of his home, hooded him, and drove him to the outskirts of Beijing, throwing his cell phone out the window en route. The officers beat him before leaving him on the side of the road. On June 16, when around 20 Beijing netizens gathered in support of human rights activist Ni Yulan (倪玉兰), police arrived on the scene and took Ni to the Donghuamen police station in Dongcheng District. Lawyer Teng Biao (滕彪) was also taken from the scene by police for "tea," while Li Fangping (李方平), who had planned to attend, was kept under soft detention at his home. Ni was released shortly after 1 am on the morning of June 17.

Contents

• Arbitrary Detention
  • Released Olympics Protestor Liu Xueli Challenges RTL Decision
  • Beijing Activist Wu Gan Detained 15 Days Following Traffic Stop in Yunnan
  • Beijing-Based Activist Li Jincheng Missing, Believed Detained
  • Chengdu Activist Chen Yunfei Released from Black Jail
• Harassment of Activists
  • Police Break up Gathering in Support of Ni Yulan, Briefly Detain Ni and Husband
  • Beijing Activist Liu Dejun Abducted, Beaten by National Security Officers
  • Police Briefly Detain and Search Home of Beijing Activist Su Yutong
  • Shanghai Activist Jin Yuehua Remains Under Soft Detention as Expo Continues
• Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or Punishment
  • Dissident Li Hong, Recently Released on Medical Parole, in Critical Condition

ArbitraryDetentionReleasedOlympicsProtestor Liu Xueli Challenges RTL DecisionCHRDlearned on June 18that Henan Province activist Liu Xueli (刘学立)has filed for administrative reconsideration of the decision to sendhim to Re-education through Labor (RTL) following his release on April2, 2010.Liu, a village representative from Bopo Village, Luoyang City, Henan,wasseized in Beijing in August, 2008, after he submitted an application toprotestat one of the official "Protest Zones" during the Beijing Olympics.In September 2008, Liu was sent to 18 months of RTL for “endangeringpublicsafety” by the Luoyang RTL Management Committee, a decision which waslaterchanged to 21 months of RTL for “abnormal petitioning in Beijing,”“sending apublic letter to the 17th Party Congress signed by over 10,000petitioners,”“distorting the facts and attacking national policy,” and “being inpossessionof illegal leaflets.” (CHRD)[i]BeijingActivistWu Gan Detained 15 Days Following Traffic Stop in YunnanOnJune 19, Beijingactivist Wu Gan (吴淦),alsoknown as "Butcher" (屠夫),wasgiven 15 days of administrative detention by police in Lijiang Town,YunnanProvince. Wu was stopped by police in Yunnan's Yulong County becausethemotorcycle he was riding did not have a license plate; while he did notdisputethis fact, he believes that police were seeking to intercept him (oneofficerasked, "What kind of important person are you, that our superiorsplacedsuch importance on stopping you?") and detain him in retaliation forreporting he performed during the "eluding the cat" incident in 2009,which involved the death of a detainee in a Yunnan detention center. Wuisbeing held in Lijiang's Old Town Detention House. (CHRD)[ii]Beijing-BasedActivistLi Jincheng Missing, Believed DetainedBeijing-basedactivist LiJincheng (李金城)hasbeen missing since June 19 and may be in police detention, CHRD learnedon June20. According to a friend, Li could not be reached by phone on June 19,and afellow activist who was summoned for questioning that evening was askedbyNational Security officials about Li in a manner which this activistbelievedindicated that Li was in police detention. Concrete details regardingLi'swhereabouts remain unknown.  Li, who is originally from ShandongProvince,was recently involved in actions to support Beijing human rightsactivist NiYulan (倪玉兰)as wellas the three Fujian netizens (Fan Yanqiong [范燕琼],Wu Huaying [吴华英],andYou Jingyou [游精佑]convictedof "slander" for their internet postings. (CHRD)[iii]ChengduActivistChen Yunfei Released from Black JailShortlybefore midnight onJune 19, Sichuan activist Chen Yunfei (陈云飞)was released following more than 60 hours in detention. On the morningof June 17, Chen called a friend to say he was being taken to a policestation;however, the call was then cut off and for more than 2 days hiswhereabouts andcondition were unknown. Chen later revealed that he had been taken to ablackjail, and that he went on a hunger strike, which eventually lasted forclose to54 hours before he was released. On June 19, a group of democracyactivists andhuman rights defenders planned to gather the next day outside of thePublicSecurity Bureau (PSB) office in Xindu District, Chengdu City, SichuanProvince,to demand Chen's release; since Chen was released before their protestcouldtake place, they instead accompanied Chen to the PSB office, where hefiled acomplaint about his illegal detention. (CHRD)[iv]Harassmentof ActivistsPoliceBreak up Gathering in Support ofNi Yulan, Briefly Detain Ni and HusbandOnthe evening of June 16,a group of around 20 Beijing netizens gathered in an undergroundpassageway fora celebration marking the Dragon Boat Festival and in support of humanrightsactivist Ni Yulan (倪玉兰),whohas experienced weeks of police harassment since her release fromprison inApril. However, police officers arrived on the scene shortly after thegroupand, claiming that they were "orally summoning" Ni Yulan, took her tothe Donghuamen police station in Dongcheng District. Lawyer Teng Biao (滕彪)was also taken from the scene by police for"tea," while Li Fangping (李方平),whohad planned to attend, was kept under soft detention at his home.FollowingNi's abduction, the netizens hurried to the Donghuamen station,gatheringoutside and demanding Ni's release. They remained outside the stationuntil 11pm, when they were finally driven off by persistent rain. Ni wasreleased shortlyafter 1 am on the morning of June 17. Police took her and her husbandto ahotel in Beijing's Xicheng District. (CHRD)[v]BeijingActivist Liu Dejun Abducted,Beaten by National Security OfficersAround11 pm at night onJune 15, National Security officials arrived at the Beijing home ofactivistLiu Dejun (刘德军)and beganquestioning him about his upcoming travel plans. When Liu refused tocooperatein protest of their invasion of his privacy, the officials hooded himand drovehim to the outskirts of Beijing, throwing his cell phone out the windowenroute. The officers beat him and left him on the side of the road, andthreatened dire consequences if he returned to Beijing. It took Liuuntil earlythe next morning to return home. (CHRD)[vi]PoliceBriefly Detain and Search Home ofBeijing Activist Su YutongAround11 pm on the evening of June 15, claiming to“check her hukou (residency permit) status,” Beijing police arrived tosearchthe Chaoyang District home of activist Su Yutong (苏雨桐).Su was taken to Chaowai policestation in Chaoyang District, where she was held until 4am, when policereleased her following pressure from netizens who gathered outside ofthepolice station demanding her release. According to activist Zhang Hui (张辉),policetargeted Su because she had posted on Twitter an invitation to herfellow activists to gather for a Dragon Boat Festival party in a publicpark onthe evening of June 19. (CHRD)[vii]ShanghaiActivist Jin Yuehua RemainsUnder Soft Detention as Expo ContinuesCHRDlearned on June 12 that Shanghaipetitioner-activist Jin Yuehua (金月花)hasbeen placed under soft detention since April 24 by Shanghai police. Jinhasbeen confined to her home in Shanghai's Minhang District and isaccompanied bypolice on the rare occasions upon which she is allowed to leave. Jinbelievesthat the measure is related to the Shanghai Expo, and that police arehoping toprevent her from visiting the Expo grounds. (CHRD)[viii]Tortureand Other Cruel, Inhuman, orDegrading Treatment or PunishmentDissidentLi Hong, Recently Released onMedical Parole, in Critical ConditionZhejiangwriter Li Hong (力虹,real name: Zhang Jianhong [张建红]),whowas sentenced to six years in prison for "subversion of statepower" based on his articles critical of the government, is in gravecondition. Li, who suffers from a neurological disease, was released onmedicalparole on June 5, and on June 12 dissident Zhu Yufu (朱虞夫)visited him in Ningbo City's MingzhouHospital. Zhu reported that Li appears extremely frail and emaciated,and wasbarely able to nod and smile in response to seeing Zhu. Li's hospitalbills nowtotal at least 3000 RMB per day, and Li's family has been forced tosell theirhome to pay for his care. Still, they are in desperate need of furtherfunding.Li, who was sent to prison in January 2007, became ill whileincarcerated andhis condition rapidly worsened as he was reportedly denied propermedicalattention for years. (CHRD)[ix]Editors:David Smalls and Lin Sang*** CHRD’s Human Rights Yearbook 2009 is now available. For a freecopy, pleasecontact us with your mailing address at crdnetwork@gmail.com.***News updates from CHRDAnnual Report on the Situation of Human RightsDefenders inChina (2009)

[i]"LiuXueli Files for Administrative Reconsideration of RTL Decision at StateCouncilLegal Office" (刘学立到国务院法制 办就劳教一事提起行政复议),June 20, 2010, http://www.crd-net.org/Article/Class18/liuxueli/201006/20100620072059_21795.html.

[ii]"BeijingActivist 'Butcher' Administratively Detained for 15 Days in Lijiang" (北京维权人士屠夫在丽江被拘留十五日),June 19, 2010, http://www.crd-net.org/Article/Class53/201006/20100619230247_21792.html.

[iii]"BeijingActivist Li Jincheng Loses Contact with Outside World" (北京维权人士李金城与外界失去联系),June 20, 2010, http://www.crd-net.org/Article/Class53/201006/20100620083856_21797.html

[iv]"ChenYunfei and Yellow Ribbon Action Team Members File Complaint Regardinghis IllegalDetention" (陈云飞与 黄丝带行动人员到公安局投诉对他的非法羁押),June 20, 2010, http://www.crd-net.org/Article/Class53/201006/20100620155837_21803.html

[v]"BeijingTwitterers Gather in Support of Ni Yulan Outside of Donghuamen PoliceStation" (北京推友团在 东华门派出所声援倪玉兰律师),June 17, 2010, http://www.crd-net.org/Article/Class53/201006/20100617100142_21752.html.

[vi]"HumanRights Activist Liu Dejun Beaten and Taken to a Remote Location byPolice inthe Middle of the Night" (维权人士刘德军深夜被警察殴打并抛深山), June 16, 2010, http://www.crd-net.org/Article/Class53/201006/20100616113951_21724.html.

[vii]"BeijingNGO Worker Su Yutong Has House Searched" (北京NGO人士苏雨桐被抄家),June 16, 2010, http://news.boxun.com/news/gb/china/2010/06/201006160015.shtml.

[viii]"Shanghai Activist Jin Yuehua Still Under Soft Detention Because ofShanghai Expo" (上海维权人士金月花因世博会仍被 软禁),June 15, 2010, http://news.boxun.com/news/gb/china/2010/06/201006150850.shtml.

[ix]"DissidentZhu Yufu Visits Li Hong in Hospital; Li Hong in Critical Condition, inNeed ofEmergency Aid" (异议人士朱虞夫到医院探望力虹，力虹病情危急需救助), June 16, 2010, http://crd-net.org/Article/Class18/Class70/201006/20100616090211_21714.html.