China Human Rights Briefing March 31-April 5, 2011

April 6, 2011       Comments Off on China Human Rights Briefing March 31-April 5, 2011

China Human Rights Briefing Weekly

March 31-April 5, 2011

To download this week’s CHRB as a .pdf file, please click here

Highlights

  • With Disappearance of Ai Weiwei, Crackdown Continues to Escalate: On Sunday, artist and activist Ai Weiwei (艾未未) was seized by police at Beijing’s Capital Airport and prevented from boarding a flight to Hong Kong. Officials have yet to release any information about his whereabouts. Ai becomes the most prominent victim of the current crackdown; a total of 30 individuals have so far been criminally detained and approximately a dozen remain missing as of the time of writing.
  • Young AIDS Activist Beaten as Officials Disrupt Meeting in Anhui: Twenty-seven year-old HIV/AIDS activist Chang Kun (常坤) was knocked unconscious and had to be rushed to a hospital after local officials violently disrupted a meeting he organized in Linquan County, Anhui Province. Chang was marking the one-year anniversary of Chang Kun’s Home AIBO Youth Center, a gathering place for local students and center for education projects focusing on health, human rights, and internet freedom.

Contents

Arbitrary Detention

  • Updates on Detentions and Disappearances Related to the “Jasmine Revolution” Crackdown
  • Shaanxi Village Director and Fellow Villager Sentenced for Organizing Resistance to Land Grab
  • Veteran Liaoning Petitioner Sent to RTL for Fourth Time
  • Six Days after Release, Elderly Anhui Petitioner Once Again Illegally Detained
  • Heilongjiang Activists Enter Fourth Week of Detention in Black Jail

Freedom of Assembly

  • Officials Disrupt Annual Meeting of Anhui Province Youth Center Run by AIDS Activist

Harassment of Activists

  • Daughter of Fujian Rights Defender Wu Huaying Prevented from Traveling to Japan

Arbitrary Detention

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

As of April 5, a total of 30 individuals have been criminally detained in relation to the crackdown on the “Jasmine Revolution.” Four— Li Shuangde (李 双德), Chen Wei (陈卫), Ran Yunfei (冉 云飞), and Ding Mao (丁矛)—have been formally arrested; one—Hua Chunhui (华春辉)—has since been sent to Re-education through Labor; and five– Cheng Wanyun (程婉芸), Mo Jiangang (莫建刚), Lan Jingyuan (兰靖远), Weng Jie (翁杰) and Zheng Chuangtian (郑创添)—have been released on bail to await trial. In addition to performing artists Huang Xiang (黄 香), Zhui Hun (追魂), Cheng Li (成力), and Guo Gai (郭 盖), listed below, information on the other individuals who remain in detention is available here. Also included at that link is a list of about a dozen individuals who are currently missing; while Liu Anjun (刘安军) was released over the weekend, artist and activist Ai Weiwei (艾未未) disappeared after being seized by police at Beijing’s Capital Airport.

Over the weekend, CHRD learned:

  • Legal aid worker Li Shuangde (李 双德), of Chengdu City, Sichuan Province, was formally arrested on April 2. Li, taken away by the police on March 21, was criminally detained on March 24 for “credit card fraud.” His arrest comes despite the fact that his family repaid the 20,000 RMB owed by Li to his bank by April 2. It is believed that the charge is being used as a pretense to punish Li for his human rights activism. Li’s family has hired a lawyer, who applied for his release on bail to await trial. Local officials have yet to respond to this request. Li is currently being detained in the Chengdu City Detention Center. He is the fourth individual to be formally arrested as part of the “Jasmine Revolution” crackdown; all four are based in Sichuan Province.[i]
  • On the morning of April 3, prominent Beijing-based artist and activist Ai Weiwei (艾未未) was seized by police at Beijing’s Capital Airport and prevented from boarding a flight to Hong Kong. He has since disappeared, and no information about his whereabouts is currently available. For three consecutive days prior to his disappearance, police had appeared at his Caochangdi studio in Beijing to harass and question his assistants. On Sunday afternoon, police returned to Ai’s studio with a search warrant, and proceeded to search the building for six hours, confiscating all computers and hard drives. Ai’s assistants believe about 30 computers were taken away by officers, who did not leave a list of confiscated items. A total of eight assistants, along with Ai’s wife Liu Qing, were taken in for interrogations by police. They were all later released.[ii]
  • On March 20, dozens of artists appeared at a performance art exhibition at the Beijing Museum of Contemporary Art. Some of the pieces touched on the current crackdown on freedom of expression and the “Jasmine Revolution,” and as a result four artists were detained. On March 24, Beijing artists Huang Xiang (黄香), Zhui Hun (追魂), and Cheng Li (成力) were criminally detained for “causing a disturbance” by officers from the Songzhuang police station in Beijing. The three are currently being held in the Tiahu Detention Center in Beijing’s Tongzhou District. Also on March 24, Beijing artist Guo Gai (郭盖) was taken away by police, who confiscated his computer. It is believed that Guo was seized for taking photographs during the exhibition. Guo is also being held in the Taihu Detenion Center, though further details are currently unavailable.[iii]
  • On April 4, Li Xinai (李昕艾), the wife of missing activist and intellectual Gu Chuan (古川), arrived at the Dongxiaokou police station in Beijing’s Changping District along with her five-month-old baby to begin a hunger strike to protest her husband’s disappearance. Li has been left alone with the couple’s two young children for 45 days since police seized Gu on February 19.[iv]
  • On the afternoon of April 3, CHRD learned that Beijing-based activist Liu Anjun (刘安军), missing for 45 days, has returned home. According to a statement by Mr. Liu, he was seized outside of his home on February 18 by a group of officials including local police and National Security officers. The officers, after beating and kicking him, forcibly took him to a rural area outside of Beijing where he was guarded by local villagers who were being paid 50 RMB a day and given food and drink by local officials. Liu added that officers confiscated his two cell phones and stole 300 RMB from him. Liu went on a 10-day hunger strike to protest his illegal detention and, as a result, was taken to a hospital on March 18, where he remained under guard until he was freed. Local officials who visited him during his detention told him to “shup up and mind his own business.” Liu believes that his detention is related to an interview he gave on February 16 to Radio Free Asia about the jasmine revolution in Egypt.[v]

Shaanxi Village Director and Fellow Villager Sentenced for Organizing Resistance to Land Grab

On April 1, the Chang’an District Court in Shaanxi Province’s Xi’an City sentenced activist Gao Qiang (高强) and villager Wang Wuqin (王武琴) to two years and 15 months, respectively, in prison for “creating a disturbance.” The two were also ordered to pay a total of 60,000 RMB in compensation to plaintiffs in an associated civil suit. Mr. Gao was the elected village director of Banganzhai Village, outside of Xi’an. He and Ms. Wang were detained in March 2010 after organizing villagers to seek compensation for village land occupied by a brick kiln constructed by the village Party Secretary. (CHRD)[vi]

Veteran Liaoning Petitioner Sent to RTL for Fourth Time

CHRD learned on April 3 that petitioner Jiang Jiawen (姜家文), of Dandong City, Liaoning Province, has once again been sent to one year of Re-education through Labor (RTL) by local officials. This is the fourth occasion on which Jiang has been sent to RTL. According to fellow petitioners, Jiang was seized in Beijing shortly before this year’s Spring Festival and forcibly returned to Dandong, where he was detained by police for 15 days. Jiang was released, only to be illegally detained in a black jail and then sent back to detention when he got into a scuffle with the individuals guarding him. Finally, local officials decided to send him to RTL. Jiang has been petitioning for redress of grievances related to a 2001 incident in which he was attacked and injured by a local factory owner, as well as for abuses suffered during his years of petitioning. (CHRD)[vii]

Six Days after Release, Elderly Anhui Petitioner Once Again Illegally Detained

On March 29, 63 year-old petitioner Sun Bangying (孙帮英) was seized while petitioning at the Anhui Provincial Public Security Bureau in Hefei City. She remains missing to date, and efforts to contact her have been unsuccessful. It is believed that she is being held under soft detention by local officials. Sun, of Wagang Village, Changfeng County, was only six days removed from her last episode of soft detention, which lasted for 32 days. Sun had previously stated that, during that detention, she was held in a black jail in Changfeng County where she was repeatedly beaten and kicked. Sun is seeking redress for a land dispute. (CHRD)[viii]

Heilongjiang Activists Enter Fourth Week of Detention in Black Jail

CHRD learned on March 31 that Heilongjiang-based human rights defender Liu Jie (刘杰) and her husband Fu Jingjiang (付井江) remain detained at a guesthouse in Xunke Farm (part of a military agricultural brigade in Heilongjiang Province), where they have been held for 22 days. The couple were seized in Beijing on March 5 and forcibly returned to Heilongjiang before being taken to the guesthouse; officials have interrogated them about the “Jasmine Revolution” and confiscated their cell phones. (CHRD)[ix]

Freedom of Assembly

Officials Disrupt Annual Meeting of Anhui Province Youth Center Run by AIDS Activist

On April 4, the annual meeting of 27 year-old HIV/AIDS activist Chang Kun’s (常坤) AIBO Youth Center in Linquan County, Anhui Province, was disrupted by local officials. The meeting, which took place in the conference room of a local hotel, was interrupted first by hotel management and later by officials from the Guangming Subdistrict Office of Linquan County. Chang was pushed out of his chair by these officials, and struck his head violently on the floor. He was unconscious for approximately three hours before regaining consciousness in a nearby hospital. In the days leading up to the meeting, the same officials also destroyed signs outside of the youth center and smashed a camcorder belonging to Chang. AIBO Youth Center was founded as part of “Chang Kun’s Home” in May 2010. “Chang Kun’s Home” is designed to provide a place for students to gather and also act as a venue for carrying out health, human rights, policy, and internet freedom education projects. (Yirenping)[x]

Harassment of Activists

Daughter of Fujian Rights Defender Wu Huaying Prevented from Traveling to Japan

On the afternoon of April 1, the daughter of Fujian-based human rights activist Wu Huaying (吴华英) was prevented from boarding a Japan-bound flight by officials at Xiamen’s Gaoqi International Airport. Officers told her that she might “endanger state security” after leaving the country. According to her mother, she had planned to study abroad in Japan. (CHRD)[xi]

Editors: David Smalls and Lin Sang

Follow us on Twitter: @CHRDnet

News updates from CHRD

[i] “Chengdu Legal Worker Li Shuangde Formally Arrested” (成都法律工作者李双德被正式 逮捕（图）), April 5, 2011, http://wqw2010.blogspot.com/2011/04/blog-post_05.html

[ii] “Ai Weiwei Blocked from Leaving Country, Yao Lifa Prevented from Paying Respects to Mother” (艾未未出境受阻，姚立法祭母被截), April 3, 2011, http://wqw2010.blogspot.com/2011/04/blog-post_4069.html; “Ai Weiwei Detained More than 12 Hours, Studio Searched” (艾未未被羁押超过12小时，工作室被查抄（图） ), April 3, 2011, http://wqw2010.blogspot.com/2011/04/12.html

[iii] “Many Beijing Artists Criminally Detained for Holding Exhibition” (北京多位艺术家因举办艺术展被刑事拘 留（图） ), April 2, 2011, http://wqw2010.blogspot.com/2011/04/blog-post_2341.html

[iv] “Gu Chuan Missing 45 Days, Wife Begins Hunger Strike at Police Station” (古川失踪45天，妻子到派出所绝食抗议), April 4, 2011, http://wqw2010.blogspot.com/2011/04/45_04.html

[v] “Human Rights Activist Liu Anjun Returns Home after 45 Days of Soft Detention During Which He Was Beaten and Robbed” (维权人士刘安军被软禁45天后回到家中，期间遭到殴打抢劫), April 3, 2011, http://wqw2010.blogspot.com/2011/04/45.html

[vi] “Shaanxi Activist Gao Qiang Sentenced to Two Years in Prison” (陕西维权人士高强被判刑两年 （附判决书）), April 4, 2011, http://wqw2010.blogspot.com/2011/04/blog-post_5007.html

[vii] “Liaoning Petitioner Jiang Jiawen Sent to RTL for Fourth Time” (辽宁访民姜家文第4次被劳教), April 3, 2011, http://wqw2010.blogspot.com/2011/04/4.html

[viii] “Hefei Petitioner Sun Bangying Again Loses Freedom” (合肥女访民孙帮英 又失去人身自由), April 1, 2011, http://wqw2010.blogspot.com/2011/04/blog-post_7484.html

[ix] “Rights Activist Liu Jie Still Under Soft Detention in Xunke Farm” (维 权人士刘杰仍然被软禁在逊克农场), March 31, 2011, http://wqw2010.blogspot.com/2011/03/blog-post_7148.html

[x] “Report Regarding the Beating of AIDS Welfare Worker Chang Kun by Subdistrict Cadres, Damaging of Youth Activity Center” (关于艾滋公益人士常坤遭社区 干部殴打、青年活动中心遭破坏的举报信), April 5, 2011, http://chinaaidsgroup.blogspot.com/2011/04/china-aids6402.html

[xi] “Citizen’s Legitimate Attempt to Study Abroad Blocked, Police Claim Possible Threat to State Security” (合法公民出境求学受阻，警方称可能危害国家安全), April 1, 2011, http://wqw2010.blogspot.com/2011/04/blog-post.html

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