[CHRB] Detained Activists Denied Access to Lawyers or Bail Request, Latest Detention (10/3-10/9, 2013)

China Human Rights Briefing

 October 3 – 9, 2013

Contents

Arbitrary Detention

Updates on Crackdown on Peaceful Assembly, Association & Expression

• Denied Access to Lawyers, Rejected Bail Request & Trials to Begin
• Newest Detainee in Ongoing Crackdown: Hu Daliao
• Tibetans Secretly Detained, Elderly Man Sentenced for Pro-Dalai Lama Slogans

Law & Policy Watch

• Government’s “Mass-Line” Policy in Tibet: Influx of CCP Cadres & Resistance by Tibetans

Arbitrary Detention

Updates on Crackdown on Peaceful Assembly, Association & Expression

Denied Access to Lawyers, Rejected Bail Request & Trials to Begin

Police have not permitted Guangzhou-based activist Guo Feixiong (郭飞雄, aka Yang Maodong, 杨茂东) to meet his lawyers since he was criminally detained two months ago. His detention now well exceeds the normal 37-day legal limit allowed without his either being released or formally arrested. Police at Tianhe District Detention Center in Guangzhou have repeatedly prevented lawyers from meeting Guo, who was placed under criminal detention on a charge of “gathering a crowd to disrupt order of a public place” on August 8 (see previous CHRB). The lawyers have filed suit against authorities’ violation of Guo’s right to access legal counsel, but to no avail.[1]

In Anhui Province, a family member recently applied for the release on bail of activist Zhou Weilin (周维林), but police denied the request without any explanation. Police initially detained Zhou on September 6 on suspicion of “gathering a crowd to disrupt the order of a public place” for his role in protesting the deprivation of education rights of Annie Zhang, the young daughter of activist Zhang Lin (张林).[2]

A court in Jiangxi Province has notified lawyer Zhang Xuezhong (张雪忠), who is representing activist Liu Ping (刘萍), of a pretrial meeting scheduled from October 11 to 14. On top of “unlawful assembly,” Liu Ping is being held on suspicion of “gathering a crowd to disrupt order of a public place” and “using cult to undermine implementation of the law”—a grouping of charges by Wuxi City authorities that look to be an attempt to bolster a flimsy criminal case. With the recent development, lawyer Zhang believes that Jiangxi authorities may be setting an example for authorities in other places where other activists have been detained in the ongoing crackdown.[3] Meanwhile, a Beijing court will reportedly try petitioners Xu Nailai (许乃来) of Tianjin and He Bin (何斌) of Hubei, who have both been arrested on charges of “creating a disturbance,” on October 10. They both had taken part in a public gathering to draw attention to their grievances against local officials.[4]

Newest Detainee in Ongoing Crackdown: Hu Daliao

Police in Beijing seized Hu Daliao (胡大料), a petitioner-turned-activist from Henan Province, when she tried to attend the trial of a celebrity’s son involved in a rape case on September 26. The next day, Hu was criminally detained on suspicion of “creating a disturbance,” and she is being held at Fengtai District Detention Center. Hu has been petitioning over a grievance involving land disputes for more than a decade. She had also joined other activists in the recent anti-corruption campaign as well as the protest outside of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, demanding a civil society role in the upcoming UN Universal Periodic Review of China. In addition, she has helped to disclose “black jails,” or illegal detention cells. For these activities, police have beaten Hu and her husband, causing them permanent disabilities. Hu’s eldest daughter also suffers from a severe injury, inflicted by the local Party Secretary’s relatives. Hu’s detention has left several young children without any care. Her children were not granted official registration at birth as legal residents because they were born beyond the birth-control quota as dictated by the “one child” family planning policy.[5]

The children of Hu Daliao (胡大料) appeal for her release outside of a Beijing detention center where she is being held. (Image: HRCC)

Tibetans Secretly Detained, Elderly Man Sentenced for Pro-Dalai Lama Slogans

Several Tibetans have been beaten and secretly detained in recent weeks, including an elderly man already sent to prison, as officials maintain a clampdown in restive Diru County in the Tibet Autonomous Region. Dayang, a 68-year-old layman, has been given a sentence of two years and five months, in apparent retaliation for shouting slogans in support of the Dalai Lama at a cultural show on September 3. After police took Dayang from his home later that day, he was not seen again until October 7, when he was admitted to a hospital due to injuries reportedly sustained in police custody. Two other Tibetan laymen, Tsering Gyaltsen and Dorje Dragtsel, both disappeared after being detained by police. Gyaltsen was taken into custody on September 29 after he was among dozens of Tibetans beaten by police in Diru. His whereabouts were unknown until he was hospitalized on October 5 with several injuries. Dragtsel, who has protested the government’s move to station permanent Communist Party cadres in Diru, is still missing after being seized on October 3.[6]

In addition, Tibetan poet Lobsang Namgyal is reportedly being held in a detention center in Chengdu after disappearing in Sichuan Province outside his workplace, the Buddha Cultural Centre, in May 2012. Authorities have yet to bring formal charges against him, and his family has not been allowed to visit him. Police apparently suspect Lobsang Namgyal of publishing and distributing speeches by the Dalai Lama.[7]

Law & Policy Watch

Government’s “Mass-Line” Policy in Tibet: Influx of CCP Cadres & Resistance by Tibetans

Chinese authorities’ consolidation of several campaigns targeting the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) under President Xi Jinping’s “mass-line” policy has led to serious confrontations, as ethnic Tibetans have resisted an increase in surveillance and the official push for “patriotic education.” Just since September 2013, more than 60,000 Chinese Communist Party (CCP) cadres have been sent to areas of the TAR to conduct patriotic education campaigns, which have involved propagating pledges of “love and gratitude” to the CCP and the country, according to the Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy. About one-third of these cadres have been permanently stationed in restive Diru County (see story above). A new ‘Nine Must Haves’ campaign now makes it mandatory to fly the Chinese national flag on the rooftops of all homes in Mowa Village in Diru, a placement traditionally reserved for Tibetan prayer flags. Implementation of this campaign has led to serious clashes between Tibetans in that village and Chinese armed police and the military.[8]

[1] “Lawyers Unable to Meet Guo Feixiong After Multiple Visits, Public Fear For His Safety” (郭飞雄律师多次探访无法会见 舆论担忧其恐遭不测), October 7, 2013, WQW

[2] “Lawyer to Meet Guo Feixiong is Obstructed Again, Family Denied Request for Zhou Weilin’s Release on Bail” (律师会见郭飞雄再遭推诿，家属取保周维林被拒绝), October 8, 2013, WQW

[3] “Lawyer Zhang Xuezhong Writes to Call Public Attention to Developments in Liu Ping’s Case” (张雪忠律师撰文呼吁各界关注刘萍案进展), October 7, 2013, WQW

[4] “Trial of Activist Xu Nailai and He Bin’s “Creating a Disturbance” Will Commence Tomorrow” (维权人士许乃来、何斌“寻衅滋事案”于明日开庭), October 9, 2013, WQW

[5] “Henan Hu Daliao Is Criminally Detained, Causing Petitioners Everywhere to Protest” (河南胡大料被刑事拘留，引发各地上访维权者抗议), October 9, 2013, WQW

[6] “Diru Under Lockdown: One Tibetan Sentenced; More Injured by Gunshots and Disappeared,” October 8, 2013, TCHRD

[7] “Tibetan Poet Found Detained After Months of Disappearance,” September 25, 2013, TCHRD

[8] “Beatings, detention, threats after Tibetans reject China’s ‘Mass Line’ policy in Diru,” 5 October 5, 2013, TCHRD