Suppression Ramps Up Before Party Congress; Activist Zhu Jindi Missing for Almost 2 Months

China Human Rights Briefing
 
October 25, 2012

 
Contents
 
Enforced Disappearance

• Shanghai Petitioner-Activist Out of Contact for Nearly Two Months

 Harassment of Activists

• More Activists, Petitioners Seized in Crackdown Before Party Congress

Enforced Disappearance
 
Shanghai Petitioner-Activist Out of Contact for Nearly Two Months
 
Zhu Jindi (朱金娣), a petitioner and activist from Shanghai, has been missing for nearly two months in another case of enforced disappearance, which is increasingly being used by authorities as a method to punish and silence individuals active in rights defense. On August 24, security personnel from her hometown seized Zhu in Beijing as she was petitioning at the Supreme People’s Court. She was forcibly returned to Shanghai the next day and locked up in a black jail, where she was monitored around the clock by a half-dozen guards. Two local officials came to see Zhu in the black jail and tried to intimidate her by saying that her petitioning activities were unlawful. On August 28, Zhu reportedly went on a hunger strike and removed her clothes in desperate protest over her treatment, and two days later fell out of contact. Zhu, who began petitioning after her home was forcibly demolished in 2004, has also helped other petitioners who have lost their homes, and in retaliation has been detained and beaten by police on several occasions.[1]

 
Harassment of Activists
 
More Activists, Petitioners Seized in Crackdown Before Party Congress
 
Authorities continue to round up activists and petitioners in Beijing and elsewhere prior to the Party Congress, which is set to begin on November 8. CHRD sources suggest that such retaliatory acts may reflect quotas that Chinese police have been tasked to meet in order to “maintain security” before the important event. Below are among the most recent incidents of harassment that have been reported:
 

• On October 24, national security officers seized Henan activist and netizen Liu Shasha (刘沙沙) from her Beijing residence and returned her to Zhengzhou. On the way to Henan, officers covered Liu’s head with a hood and beat her. Liu, who is reportedly being held by domestic security officers, has gone on a hunger strike to protest her treatment.[2]

• Police officers seized Hubei petitioner and activist Zheng Dajing (郑大靖) on October 24 from his rental property in Beijing without giving any explanation to his family. A short time later, officers returned to the residence and confiscated a computer. Zheng’s current whereabouts are unknown.[3]    

• Also on October 24, Shanghai police detained farmers Cao Yuyan (曹玉燕) and Luo Xiuli (罗秀丽), who unsuccessfully tried—for the 69^th time—to apply for permission to hold a demonstration about land seizures. The two farmers’ whereabouts are currently unknown.[4]

• On October 25, Shanghai police summoned internet writer Li Huaping (李化平) for questioning for “disrupting social order.” The day before, Li had sent a text message to friends indicating he might be in trouble. Li recently returned from a 17-month trip around China, which included visits to locations of well-known human rights cases.[5]

• On October 25, Beijing police detained activist Wu Tianli (吴田丽) for “disrupting the order of a neighborhood committee office” in likely retaliation for her recent demand that the case she filed alleging abuse of power by local police in the run-up to the Party Congress be accepted by the court. Out of contact at the time of writing, Wu was taken into custody after she discussed the unlawful forced demolition of her parents’ home with staff at the neighborhood committee office, and just before she was to take the matter to the local letters and visits bureau.[6]

 
Edited by Victor Clemens and Joan Wen
 

[1] “Shanghai Rights Activist Shen Jinbao, Others in Beijing Call for Help for Zhu Jindi, Missing for Extended Period” (上海维权者沈金宝等人在北京声援失踪多日的朱金娣), October 24, 2012, WQW; “Shanghai Activist Zhu Jindi Missing for Four Days After Petitioning in Beijing” (上海维权人士朱金娣到北京上访已失踪4天), September 13, 2010, Peace Hall
 

[2] “Henan Rights Defender Liu Shasha Sent Out of Beijing” (河南维权人士刘沙沙被遣送出京), October 24, 2012, WQW
 

[3] “Urgent Attention: Hubei Rights Defender Zheng Dajing Taken Away by Police, Computer Confiscated” (紧急关注：湖北维权人士郑大靖被警方带走并扣押电脑), October 24, 2012, WQW
 

[4] “Lawfully Applying to Demonstrate, Two Shanghai Farmers Who Lost Land Are Illegally Detained” (依法申请示威游行，上海两失地农民被非法抓捕), October 25, 2012, HRCC
 

[5] “Internet Writer Li Huaping Seized by Shanghai Police, Interrogated” (网络作家李化平被上海警方带走调查), October 25, 2012, WQW
 

[6] “Urgent Attention: Beijing Rights Activist Wu Tianli Seized in Early Morning by Public Security Officers” (紧急关注：北京维权人士吴田丽今晨被公安带走), October 25, 2012, HRCC