China Human Rights Briefing September 7-12, 2011

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China Human Rights Briefing

September 7-12, 2011

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Highlights

• Updates on Detentions and Disappearances Related to the “Jasmine Revolution” Crackdown: Activist Wang Lihong (王荔蕻) has been convicted and given a nine-month prison sentence for “creating a disturbance.” Dozens of people gathered outside the courthouse on the day of her verdict hearing to show their support, with many facing restrictions to their movement. Also, the netizen-writer Hu Di (胡荻) has been released from a psychiatric institution, and activist Chen Wei (陈卫) met with his lawyer for the first time since being detained in February.

Contents

Arbitrary Detention
•           Updates on Detentions and Disappearances Related to the “Jasmine Revolution” Crackdown

Beijing Activist Wang Lihong Convicted, Receives a Nine-Month Sentence

Netizen-Writer Hu Di Released from Psychiatric Hospital

Authorities Allow Lawyer First Meeting With Detained Sichuan Activist

•           150 Shanghai Petitioners Detained in Black Jail, Some on Hunger Strike

•           Hunan Authorities Reject Medical Parole Application for Activist

•           Nanning Petitioners Released from Black Jail

Harassment of Activists

•           Nanjing Netizen Roughly Handled at Police Station

Forced Eviction and Demolition/Land Expropriation

•           Hundreds in Shanghai Keep Up Protests, Police Take Away Citizens

Freedom of Expression and of Access to Information

•           Authorities Shut Down Teachers’ Website

Local NPC Election Watch

•           Voting Rigged in District Election in Guangzhou

•           Heilongjiang Authorities Strip Independent Candidates of Electoral Qualifications

•           Jilin Officials Block Qualified Electoral Candidate

Law and Policy Watch

•           Campaign Launched to Crack Down on “Pornographic and Illegal Publications and Information”

Special Notice

•           CHRD Decries Abuses Tied to People’s Congress Elections, Calls for Accountability & Rights Protections

 

Arbitrary Detention

 

Updates on Detentions and Disappearances Related to the “Jasmine Revolution” Crackdown

 

Beijing Activist Wang Lihong Convicted, Receives a Nine-Month Sentence

 

On September 9, Beijing activist Wang Lihong (王荔蕻) was convicted of “creating a disturbance” and given a nine-month sentence by the Chaoyang District People’s Court, following her trial that took place on August 12. Wang has indicated to her lawyers that she will appeal the decision, and her son, Qi Jianxiang (齐健翔), told supporters that his mother is innocent and that the court “should not have sentenced her to even one day in prison.” About 80 supporters, journalists, and diplomats gathered outside the Wenyuhe Courthouse to await the verdict, and about 60 uniformed and plainclothes police were also present.[i] Only Wang’s family and her lawyers, Liu Xiaoyuan (刘晓原) and Han Yicun (韩一村), were allowed to attend the verdict hearing. Many Beijing activists, including filmmaker He Yang (何杨), Zhao Lianhai (赵连海), and dissident Zha Jianguo (查建国), were not allowed to leave their homes or were issued warnings before the hearing took place. Other activists who tried to go to Beijing to show their support were stopped by local police from leaving their hometowns. Netizens reported that authorities temporarily closed the two bus stops near Wenyuhe Courthouse on the morning of the hearing, and as a result many of them failed to arrive on time.

 

Learn more about Wang Lihong’s life and activism by viewing the documentary film “Let the Sun Shine on the Ground” (让阳光洒到地上), which is linked here on CHRD’s website. Made by activist and filmmaker Ai Xiaoming (艾晓明), this documentary about Wang includes interviews with her family, friends, lawyers, and fellow netizens. (CHRD)[ii]

 

Netizen-Writer Hu Di Released from Psychiatric Hospital

 

CHRD learned on September 11 that the netizen and writer Hu Di (胡荻), who had been held in Hefei No.4 Hospital (a psychiatric hospital), has been released. Hu, from Hefei City in Anhui Province, went missing on March 13 and was found to be held in the hospital on August 19. According to netizens who visited him after his release, Hu was in “good shape.” However, details about his disappearance and his detention in the psychiatric institution are currently unclear. (CHRD)[iii]

 

Authorities Allow Lawyer First Meeting With Detained Sichuan Activist

 

On September 8, lawyer Zheng Jianwei (郑建伟) was allowed to visit his client, Chen Wei (陈卫), an activist from Suining City, Sichuan Province, marking their first meeting since Chen was detained over six months ago. Zheng spoke with Chen for about a half-hour at the Suining City Detention Center in the presence of two policemen, and indicated that his client appears to be in fair emotional and physical health. Prior to the meeting, authorities had refused several requests by Zheng to visit with Chen in violation of Article 33 of the Lawyers Law, which states that access to a lawyer should be legally granted “from the day a criminal suspect is taken into custody or questioned for the first time by investigative authorities.”

 

Suining police officers criminally detained Chen on February 20 on suspicion of “inciting subversion of state power,” and he was formally arrested on March 28. His detention is allegedly tied to a series of articles that he published online. By August, his case had reportedly been submitted to the local procuratorate for a second time. A 1989 Tiananmen student protester, Chen has been imprisoned on two occasions for his democratic rights activism, and has emerged in recent years as a leader in organizing human rights actions in Sichuan. (CHRD)[iv]

 

150 Shanghai Petitioners Detained in Black Jail, Some on Hunger Strike

 

On September 10, a group of about 20 petitioners were riding a public bus in Beijing when policemen stopped the bus and demanded that they showed their ID cards. When the petitioners refused, the policemen seized them and sent them to Jiujingzhuang Black Jail. The petitioners counted a total of about 300 petitioners held in the same jail. On September 11, about 150 of these petitioners, all from Shanghai, were then sent to another black jail in Beijing South Train Station. Some of them went on a hunger strike to demand their release. It is unclear whether they have been released. (CHRD)[v]

 

 

Hunan Authorities Reject Medical Parole Application for Activist

 

Prison authorities have rejected an application for medical parole for Xie Fulin (谢福林), a rights activist from Changsha City, Hunan Province who has been unable to receive adequate medical treatment, according to his wife, Jin Yan (金焰). Jin visited Xie in Changsha Prison on September 6, and has indicated that his blood pressure and pulse are very high, and that he feels an overall lack of strength. While authorities refuse to release Xie on medical grounds, they are reportedly pressuring him to admit his guilt, after which time it is possible they would reduce his sentence, but Xie has refused to do so. Earlier this year, Xie was reportedly beaten by a prison guard, and guards had also threatened to lock him in solitary confinement.

 

In March of 2010, Xie was sentenced to six years’ imprisonment by Changsha’s Furong District Court for “stealing electricity” in a case believed to be brought in retaliation against Xie for his rights activism. He is also a signatory to Charter 08 and has participated in activities with the China Pan-Blue Alliance. (CHRD)[vi]

 

 

Nanning Petitioners Released from Black Jail

 

Two petitioners from Nanning City, Guangxi Province, were taken back home this week after being held in a black jail in Beijing, including Quan Lianzhao (全连昭), who had served a criminal detention early this year as part of the Jasmine Revolution crackdown. Along with Quan, Li Yanjun (李燕军) was seized by police on August 30 and then detained in Jiujingzhuang Black Jail before Nanning interceptors took them to another black jail, reportedly in the Daxing District of Beijing. While there, they were kept in very uncomfortable and unsanitary conditions, and Quan, who is in poor health, began a hunger strike. She was finally returned to her home in Nanning on September 4. Li was taken back to Nanning on September 5, but then was interrogated by public order personnel at a local police station before being allowed to go home on September 7. (CHRD)[vii]

 

Harassment of Activists

 

Nanjing Netizen Roughly Handled at Police Station

 

On September 8, police officers from the Bailu Police Station of the Qinhuai branch of the Nanjing Public Security Bureau (PSB) in Jiangsu Province took to their station the netizen and activist, He Peirong (何培蓉, aka “Pearl” [珍珠]), and a friend, who was reportedly taken in after not having registered to visit He. He Peirong was asked to fill out a report at the station, and while doing so a man, believed to be a plainclothes policeman, beat and scratched her, and also tried to take away her cell phone, according to He. The man refused to show identification, and instead called over the station chief and other authorities. Earlier this year, He was harassed by police on at least other two occasions, when she tried to visit “barefoot” lawyer and activist Chen Guangcheng (陈光诚), who is under house arrest in his village home in Shandong Province. (CHRD)[viii]

 

Forced Eviction and Demolition/Land Expropriation

 

Hundreds in Shanghai Keep Up Protests, Police Take Away Citizens

On September 7, more than 200 villagers from Anting Town, Jiading District, Shanghai Municipality broke through a blockade by local authorities and took the subway to the municipal center to continue protesting over land requisition and demolitions. The Kangping Road Police Station dispatched a large number of officers, who prevented Anting villagers from reaching the Shanghai Municipal Party Committee Office and forced them onto vehicles before turning them over to personnel with the Jiading District government. Police also dragged off two Shanghai residents who were taking photographs at the scene, and took into custody Zhang Yongyuan (张永元), a Wuzhao Village resident of over 70 years old who has since been released. The actions on September 7 marked the 35th time since August 17 that Anting residents have gathered to demand the Shanghai government look into possible illegal land requisitions and property demolitions in their local villages. (CHRD)[ix]

 

Freedom of Expression and of Access to Information

 

Authorities Shut Down Teachers’ Website

 

On September 6, authorities shut down a website maintained by substitute teachers who had been dismissed from their jobs. The blog itself had been providing support for teachers at minban schools—schools not operated by the state—and may have been shut down because of an article posted in July about how to launch a national association for such teachers. Before being closed down, the site’s address had been http://www.mbdkjsw.com/Item/Show.asp?m=1&d=1611. (CRLW)[x]

 

Local NPC Election Watch

Voting Rigged in District Election in Guangzhou

On September 8, voting concluded for the People’s Congress representative in the Lijiang Garden electoral district for Panyu District, Guangzhou City, Guangdong Province, with the process reportedly rigged in favor of the eventual winner. The elected representative, Long Bin (龙滨), also the director of the Lijiang Neighborhood Committee, received 384 votes, with many reportedly from individuals from outside the area who should have been ineligible to vote. Independent candidate Liang Shuxin (梁树新) received the second-most support—64 write-in votes—though he had been stripped of his electoral qualifications in late August after trying to run as an independent candidate.

Local residents observed that around 200 individuals had turned up the night before and then cast ballots on September 8, though their names had not been announced 20 days prior to the election, thus violating electoral law. Plainclothes police and city administration personnel were on hand during the vote count, and cell phone reception had been blocked, thus hindering efforts to monitor the results. Though Long Bin received by far the most number of votes, she did not appear at the scene or speak with any residents after the votes had been counted. A voter said that a security guard had recently disclosed that a local property management company had told its employees that those who had not registered to vote in their hometowns to register and vote in Lijiang. It is suspected that these particular voters cast their ballots for Long. (CHRD)[xi]

 

Heilongjiang Authorities Strip Independent Candidates of Electoral Qualifications

 

On September 6, when the list of preliminary candidates for the People’s Congress election in Jiguan District, Jixi City, Heilongjiang Province, was announced, independent candidates Shan Yajuan (单亚娟) and Sun Changfu (孙长福) did not find their names on it. Shan and Sun have been recommended by more than 10 recommenders, the minimum requirement to run in the election according to the Article 29 of the Election Law. When Shan confronted the coordinator of the district’s election committee, she was told that the director of Jiguan District People’s Congress was responsible for ensuring that her name does not appear on the list. (CHRD)[xii]

 

Jilin Officials Block Qualified Electoral Candidate

 

On September 7, election officials in Baiqi Town, Shulan City, Jilin Province, had left off the name of Xu Yimin (徐翊民) from a final list of local People’s Congress candidates even though he had garnered the required number of recommenders. On September 5, when Xu submitted names of 40 of his 78 total recommenders, the Baiqi Village Branch Secretary Song Xiangye (宋相烨), who is also the head of the election committee, said that Xu could not run for the local People’s Congress because high-ranking local officials likely resent Xu for leading efforts against their selling off of collective assets. The 17 candidates on the list are largely Communist Party members and cadres with low educational levels, while Xu intended to run as an independent candidate and has earned a college degree. Reportedly, the listed candidates also had not registered their recommenders according to the relevant legal requirements. (CHRD)[xiii]

 

Law and Policy Watch

 

Campaign Launched to Crack Down on “Pornographic and Illegal Publications and Information”

 

According to a September 6 article on Xinhua, the Chinese government is conducting a nationwide campaign to crack down on “pornographic publications and harmful information” between September 5 and November 5. The campaign, conducted by various government departments, including the Ministry of Public Security, will target websites, shops, and companies where such publications and information is found. This campaign follows a similar one conducted between November 2009 and May 2010, which “successfully improved the cultural environment on the Internet,” according to the article. (Xinhua)[xiv] It is feared that the current campaign, like the previous one, will be used to target freedom of expression on the Internet.

 

Special Notice

 

CHRD Decries Abuses Tied to People’s Congress Elections, Calls for Accountability & Rights Protections

 

On September 6, CHRD released a statement criticizing the suppression by authorities against individuals involved in local People’s Congress elections, which are being held in China this year and in 2012. The statement specifically outlines the ongoing mistreatment of democracy rights activist Yao Lifa (姚立法), who has been disappeared, detained in unhygienic conditions and closely monitored for advising citizens around the country about running as independent candidates. In addition, CHRD points out the detention, beatings, and harassment of hundreds of potential candidates. The statement demands that authorities safeguard constitutional and electoral rights, identify those legally responsible for ongoing harassment and arrange for compensation for those who rights have been violated, and allow for greater press freedom to report on the elections. (CHRD)[xv]

 

Editors of this issue: Victor Clemens and Songlian Wang

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