13. Zheng Dajing (郑大靖) 

Male, 46, also known as Zheng Ruifeng (郑瑞峰)

Address: Chengguan Township, Yunxi County, Shiyan City, Hubei Province 

Due to property disputes, Zheng and his family have petitioned in Beijing many times since September 2005 and been repeatedly detained and beaten.  

On June 20, 2006, Zheng was intercepted and forcibly returned from Beijing by Yunxi County PSB and detained in Yunxi County Chengdong Hotel with his wife, Cao Xiangzhen, and their 13-year-old-son, Zhinan, and 7-year-old daughter, Linxin. The next day, Yunxi County PSB announced a five-day administrative detention of the family on grounds of violation of public security regulations during their petition in Beijing. Five days later, they were still locked up in the hotel.  

On July 4, Zheng escaped during a storm and went to Beijing again, his family still in custody. Ten days later, his wife and daughter were transferred to the abandoned Sigou Tobacco Purchasing Station, which had been converted into a black jail by order of Lu Fuchang, Party Secretary of Yunxi County, and had been under the control of Lei Xianchao, Vice-Secretary of the Yunxi Committee on Politics and Law. On July 19, guards removed Xiangzhen, who had been refusing food, from her bed, twisted her hands, and dragged her some 20 meters across the floor. Xiangzhen’s feet were badly wounded and became infected shortly after. On September 19, Xiangzhen and Linxin were released after the mother signed a promise to refrain from further petitions. 

On March 15, 2007, Zheng was again taken into custody by a crowd of interceptors (including Zhou Guodong, a staff member of Shiyan City Government Beijing Liaison Office; Gao Bo and Zhang Wanfu from Yunxi County PSB; and Zhang Gongcai, a staff member from Chengguan Township Government) and kept at Shiyan City Beijing Liaison Office. Zheng’s wife reported the illegal detention the next day, but the police refused to deal with the case. The deputy chair of Shiyan City Beijing Liaison Office, Dai Aihua, had Zheng transferred to Beijing Dongfeng Hotel, where Zheng was pushed to the floor by the police.  

On March 17, Zheng was taken from Dongfeng Hotel by a group of policemen and local authorities from Yunxi County and Chengguan Township to Chengdong Hotel in Yunxi County. On March 23, he was transferred to Sigou Tobacco Purchasing Station, where his left hand was twisted and injured by a guard, Gong Youjian, after he attempted to disclose his location by phone to Huang Qi, organizer of 64tianwang.com (a human rights website).  Zheng escaped on April 15. 

On September 7, 2007, Zheng disappeared in Beijing. Two days later, he was formally detained by Yunxi County PSB on suspicion of ‘disturbing of social order’. On the same day, Zheng was transferred from Yunxi County Detention Center to the black jail at Sigou Tobacco Purchasing station, where he remains to date without charge or trial. 

14. Duan Benji (段本基) 

Male, born August 8, 1944

Address: 5 Longting Village, Longting Township, Yang County, Hanzhong City, Shaanxi Province 

On November 25, 1999, Duan’s wife was severely beaten by their neighbour and died nine days later. On December 24, Wang Ruocheng, Party Secretary of Longting Village, and Zhang Lijun, President of Yang County Court, attempted to force Duan’s 15-year-old son, Duan Tianjun, to sign the cremation permit for his mother’s body. Refusing their demand, Tianjun was badly beaten and disappeared (as of March 7, 2006).  

Duan petitioned many times about his wife’s death and his son’s disappearance. He was repeatedly arrested and sent back to Longting Township by interceptors dispatched by the deputy head of Yang County, Li Yuling (previously head of Yang County Letters and Visits Office).  

Duan was detained several times by Yang County PSB and the local government: ten days in March 2003 by Yang County PSB; one month from January 19, 2004 by Yang County PSB; 15 days in June 2006 after being intercepted in Beijing and sent back to Yang County by order of Li Yuling, with all of his petition documents confiscated; and 45 days from December 28, 2006, again after being intercepted and sent back from Beijing.

Appendix IV: Cases of petitioners sent to RTL or sentenced

15. Jiang Yongwen (姜永文) 

Male, 67 years old

Address: Qinglongshan Village, Xiaochenzi Township, Baoqing County, Shuangyashan City, Heilongjiang Province 

Because Jiang has reported to higher authorities about various instances of misconduct involving local government officials, he has been repeatedly persecuted.    
 
In 1999, Jiang was illegally detained for eleven days by the Baoqing County PSB for petitioning in Beijing about an earlier detention.  

In 2006, after writing to President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao about local government misconduct, Wang Xiaoming, Secretary of the Shuangyashan City CCP Committee, ordered Jiang to be detained for ten days and warned him that if he did not cease his petitioning, he would be sent to a RTL camp.  

On September 22, 2007, Jiang went to Beijing to petition and expose the concealment of the number of deaths reported by the Baoqing government in a mine accident in August. He was intercepted by Baoqing government and sent to RTL.   

16. Li Yufeng (李玉凤) 

Female, born March 10, 1958

Address: Flat 25, 3^rd Floor, Yuejingbei Street, Macun District, Jiaozuo City, Henan Province 

Between 1988 and 2000, Li and her family became involved in a series of property disputes with the Jiaozuo Coal Industrial Group Corporation Ltd., and their home was forcibly demolished without proper compensation. Li filed a lawsuit, and she won the case, but the court gave her meager compensation. Since 2002, Li has been petitioning for appropriate compensation, for which she has been detained and beaten.   

On March 4, 2002, when Li was at Jiaozuo Train Station about to board a train to Beijing to petition, Li was intercepted by officers from Jiaozuo PSB Macun Sub-division. Li was administratively detained for 15 days.  

On August 4, 2004, Han Fusheng, superintendent of the Zhongma Mine of Jiaozuo Coal, and Yang Yiliang, a police officer from the Jiaozuo City PSB Macun Sub-division, led nearly 100 security officers to beat Li and two relatives at Li’s home. During the hours of beatings, Li made some 10 calls for assistance to the respective offices of the Jiaozuo City PSB Macun sub-division, Jiazuo City PSB, Henan Province Ministry for Public Security and National Security Bureau. However, no assistance was dispatched.  

On June 30, 2006, while petitioning in Beijing, Li was intercepted by police from Jiaozuo City PSB Macun Sub-division and sent back to Jiaozuo City. Li was then detained for 10 days and on July 25 formally arrested. She was later put under house surveillance.  

On March 9, 2007, Li was petitioning in Beijing when two important state meetings were hosted there. Without showing her petitioning materials, she was discovered as a petitioner by a plainclothes officer while walking in the vicinity of the meeting venues. Seconds later, unidentified men forcibly took her petitioning materials away and photographed her. They brought Li to Beijing PSB Xihu District sub-division, where the unidentified men alleged that she was waving her petitioning materials and shouting slogans in front of a government office. Li refused to sign the papers which recorded the men’s accusations. 

The next day, Li was administratively detained for 7 days by the Beijing PSB Xihu District sub-division for “disrupting social and public order.” After her detention, she was immediately brought back to Jiaozuo City by Jiaozuo City PSB and criminally detained on suspicion of “hindering official business”. On March 23 she was arrested, and on May 16 she was sentenced to one-and-a-half years in prison for the same crime.   

17.  Du Fengqin (杜风芹) 

Female, born October 10, 1961

Address: Group 1, Dongliujiu Village, Xiashan County, Longjiang County, Qiqihaer City, Heilongjiang Province 

Since 1997, Du has petitioned over land rights issues, for which activity she has been repeatedly beaten and detained.  

On November 7, 2000, when Du was petitioning Xiashan County CCP Committee, policemen struck her on her head and she fainted. Later, she was accused of being a Falun Gong practitioner, and the local police detained her in a Custody Center.  

Du continued to petition. She was detained in a Custody Center in 2001 and again in 2003; beaten by a Xiashan County CCP member in 2003; and sent to RTL by the Longjiang County PSB between September 8, 2004 and July 20, 2005. Months after her release from the RTL camp, Du was sent to RTL again on October 16, 2007 because she was accused of having shouted at Letters and Visits staff while petitioning in Beijing.   

18. Gao Deping (郜德平)  
 
Male

Address: Gaotang Village, Zhengguo Township, Xiangcheng City, Zhoukou (Prefecture-level City), Henan Province

In July 2004, Gao’s son, Gao Junwei, was beaten and severely injured while mediating a fight. But Xiangcheng City PSB police officers, Chen and Wang, falsely accused Gao Junwei of robbery. Xiangcheng City Procuratorate arrested Gao Junwei on suspicion of “intentional harm”. On August 12, 2005, the Xiangcheng PSB realized they had made a mistake and dropped the prosecution of Gao Junwei. That year, Gao Junwei was admitted to a university, but because of the court case, he lost the opportunity to attend. Gao went to Zhoukou City Intermediate People's Court to seek compensation for the mishandling of his son’s case. However, the Court, allegedly influenced by Wang, Chen and the rest of Xiangcheng PSB, refused Gao and his son compensation or apology. Gao began petitioning on his son’s behalf. 

On October 25, 2006, Gao was intercepted at a train station in Zhengzhou, capital of Henan Province, by officers from Xiangcheng PSB.  He was detained for 15 days and then sent to 21 months of RTL on November 8. While in the camp, Gao developed uremia in April 2007. He is now in critical condition and in need of a kidney transplant to survive.

19. Hu Chuzhen (胡淑珍) 
 
Female, born June 10, 1961

Address: Brigade No. 3, Yonghe Village, Xuanhe Township, Zhongwei City, Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region  
 
Because of a conflict with Yonghe Village CCP Secretary, Zhou Junmin, Hu has been repeatedly persecuted by Zhongwei City PSB Shapotou Sub-division, as well as the Xuanhe Township government and other local government agencies. Hu has been petitioning about her persecution, as a result of which she suffers repeated arbitrary detention. 
 
On December 6, 2004, Hu was detained for 15 days by the Zhongwei City PSB.  On July 26, 2005, while petitioning in Beijing, she was detained for 14 days by Beijing PSB Zhaoyang Sub-division.  On March 10, 2006, while petitioning in Beijing, Hu was arrested by Beijing PSB Tiananmen Sub-division and sent to 15 months’ RTL on March 13 by Zhongwei City RTL Management Committee. During her time at the RTL camp, a guard named Ma Aiping reportedly forced her to do particularly heavy labor, which resulted in permanent injuries. Hu has been unable to stand since.   

20. Li Ling (李玲) 
 
Female, born July 1959

Address: Beizhan Road, Chenguan Township, Huaibin County, Xinyang City, Henan Province 

On June 24, 2004, Li was petitioning at the National Letters and Visits Office in Beijing about government misconduct during the relocation of those displaced by a flood in Huaibin County, when she was intercepted by police from Xinyang City and Huaibin County. Li was sent back to Huaibin County. On June 26, she was administratively detained at the Huaibin County Detention Centre for 15 days for the crime of “insulting and shouting at government officials”.

On August 16, 2004, Li was again intercepted while petitioning in Beijing and sent back to Huaibin County Detention Center. Four days later, without charge or trial, she was sent by Xinyang City RTL Management Committee to one year’s RTL at the Henan Province RTL camp for Women. She was released on June 27, 2005 after serving her time there.  

21. Liu Xueli (刘学立) 

Male, born January 15, 1967

Address: Unit 2, Bopo Village, Song County, Luoyang City, Henan Province 

Liu was detained several times for petitioning and suing Bopo Village chief, Liu Dongxi, for illegally selling village farmland. 

On April 5, 2004, Liu was arrested by police from Song County PSB near the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. Police officers stripped Liu, pushed him on the ground and stomped on his head. Liu was forcibly sent back to Song County and upon his arrival on April 6, he was immediately detained by Song County PSB. On April 26, Liu was sent to one year’s RTL at Huanghe Bridge RTL camp in Luoyang City. During his time at the RTL camp, Liu developed an illness, the symptoms of which included numbness in his limbs, fatigue and severe pains. His repeated requests for medical treatment were denied by the guards at the RTL camp.  Instead, in winter, they forced Liu to shovel snow with wet shoes on for extended periods of time. As a result of the mistreatment at the RTL camp, Liu suffered intense pain in his feet and his lower body, and now he can no longer feel anything in his feet.   

22. Lu Meijun (卢梅君) 

Female, born in 1955

Address: Unit 1, Aihe Village, Caohe, Fengcheng City, Liaoning Province 

Lu Meijun has been petitioning about certain injustices suffered by her mother, An Helan, and younger sister, Lu Meiying, and has been detained many times.

On September 26, 2003, Lu was detained in Caohe Police Station under Fengcheng City PSB for 25 hours, during which time she was forbidden to use the lavatory and was forced to urinate in the cell. Soon after, she was detained in Fengcheng City Detention Center for 15 days.  

On September 29, 2005, while petitioning in Beijing, Lu was intercepted by staff from Liaoning Province Beijing Liaison Office and taken to the liaison office, where she was locked up, and beaten badly, which caused injuries to her head, face and eyes, as well as five broken ribs on her left side.  

From March 3 to April 18 in 2006, Lu was sent by Fengcheng PSB to Shenyang City Majiashan RTL Camp for Women. Due to her injuries, she was unable to work, and was therefore beaten by the head of the guards.

23. Mo Shuangde (莫双德) 

Male, born January 9, 1965

Address: 179 Bantang Village, Ertang Township, Xiangshan District, Guilin City, Guangxi Province 

In the mid-1990s, because of a conflict between Bantang Village and the Ertang Township government over land appropriation, Mo and his brother, Mo Xiude, were elected by the villagers to petition higher authorities.  

In 1999, when Mo and his wife went to Ertang Township government to demand compensation for their crops, they were severely beaten by government staff who seized Mo’s wife by the hair, repeatedly threw her against a wall and kicked her. The couple was not allowed to seek medical attention and was imprisoned separately for 15 days.  

In 2000, over ten people broke into Mo’s home and beat Mo’s mother, Mo Sanmei, reportedly at the order of the Ertang Township government. 

After failing to achieve any tangible results through petitioning, in January 2005, villagers from Bantang Village blocked the road to the company that bought the disputed land from the township government. A clash ensued. Villagers, including Mo, were severely beaten by the company’s staff, allegedly yielding iron rods. Following the clash, on February 3, four village representatives, including Mo Xiude, were arrested and sentenced for “gathering crowds to disturb social order”. Reportedly, at the time of the sentence, Mo was still receiving treatment at the hospital so he was not sentenced. Mo continued to petition upon recovery. In May 2006, Mo was arrested and sentenced to four years’ imprisonment on charges of “absconding to avoid punishment”.  

24. Wang Guilan (王桂兰)

Female, born May 20, 1961, a laid-off worker of Wuyan Mall, Enshi City

Address: 27 Dongfeng Avenue, Enshi City, Enshi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture, Hubei Province 

Since 1993, Wang rented a stall at Wuyan Mall. In 2001, the mall was sold. Because of disagreement with Wuyan Mall over compensation, Wang refused to move out and was sued by the mall in September 2001. The Court ruled that Wang had to move out, but the mall had to compensate Wang. However, the mall failed to compensate Wang fully. Wang exhausted all legal avenues in demanding the orders of the Court be carried out.  

On November 22, 2001, Wang went to the Court to discuss the matter. Justice Chen, Head of the Enshi City Court Executive Tribunal, pushed Wang and ordered two court police to kick her and forcibly drag her out of the court down four flights of stairs. They then locked the door to the Court. In anger and desperation, Wang set herself aflame with kerosene.  

Wang believed that the court had acted illegally in processing her case and started to complain about the court through petitioning.  

On August 1, 2005, Wang was intercepted in Beijing by six policemen from Enshi City PSB and forcibly sent back to Enshi City. She was detained on August 2 on suspicion of “invasion and illegal occupation”. On September 1, Wang was sentenced to 15 months of Re-education through Labor. She was freed on October 3, 2006. During her period of detainment, Wang suffered damage to various muscles in consequence of excessive forced labor. 

25. Wang Guoying (王国英) 

Female, born on December 9, 1965

Address: Luosheng Village, Jiashizhuang Township, Gaocheng, Shijiazhuang City, Hebei Province. 

In 2003, Wang’s daughter, Cheng Hongyan (born in 1990 and mentally disabled), was scalded while playing at a neighbor’s home. Dissatisfied with the court resolution of the matter, Wang has many times petitioned central government authorities in Beijing, for which she was detained repeatedly.  

On July 1, 2005, while petitioning in Beijing, Wang was arrested in front of the United Nations Development Office in Sanlitun (an area with many embassies), Chaoyang District and detained for 7 days. She was arrested at the same location on July 27 and detained for 14 days, and again on September 19, when she was forcibly sent back to Gaocheng and detained for 10 days.  

Wang returned to Beijing after her release but was arrested once more in Sanlitun on December 12 and detained for 10 days. On December 31, Wang was arrested by Beijing PSB Xicheng Sub-division in front of the Beijing Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) office and detained for 7 days. On May 4, 2006, Wang was arrested at Tiananmen Square by Beijing PSB Tiananmen Sub-division and detained for 7 days, then another 10 days on October 23. 

On June 4, 2007, Wang was arrested in front of Gabong Embassy in Santilun and was sent back to Gaocheng. On June 23, she was sentenced to 15 months of RTL.  

On August 9, 2007, Wang’s son, Cheng Long (born April 23, 1989), was arrested and detained for 10 days because of his appeal on his mother’s behalf. 

26. Su Fengcai (苏风彩)

Male, born March 26, 1949

Address: Songdaokou Village, Liuzhimiao Township, Jing County, Hengshui City, Hebei Province   

In 1991, because of a tractor business dispute with Wang Yuxin (also known as Wang Yixin) from Wangguopu Township, Pingyuan County in Shandong Province, Su and his family were severely beaten and looted by Wang and policemen from Wangguopu Township police station (under Pingyuan County PSB). Su has been petitioning about these abuses involving Wngguopu Township police.  

On April 20, 1995, while petitioning in Beijing, Su was intercepted by Chen Guangrong and Lu Yujie, policemen from Pingyuan PSB. Su was brought back to Pingyuan PSB where he was forced to sit on an electric chair and beaten until he passed out. While Su was unconscious, Chen put Su’s fingerprints on two prepared documents, the content of which Su had no knowledge about. Chen and others then confiscated about RMB 40 and an identification card from Su as “evidence” of his “crime”. Su was then criminally detained in Pingyuan County Detention Center by Pingyuan PSB. On July 25, Su was convicted of “cheating” and sentenced to one year’s imprisonment by Pingyuan County PSB. On January 16, 1996, Su’s son went to visit him in Pingyuan Detention Center. Somehow the police let Su out of the Detention Center and thus he was released.  

On November 2, 2005, Su was petitioning in Beijing when he was beaten by a policeman (no. 023499) from Fuyou Police Station (under Beijing PSB Xicheng Sub-division). Su was promptly brought back by Jing County PSB to Jing County, where he was detained and later sent to 18 months’ of RTL on November 28. 

27. Tan Jinhua (谭金花)

Female, born February 14, 2957

Address: No. 8 Tianqiao Group, Gongjiaping Village, Xintang County, Enshi City, Hubei Province 

In 2002, Tan was arrested on suspicion of murdering her neighbor. During the interrogation, she was allegedly tortured to confess to the murder by Enshi City PSB. Later, Tan was released to await trial. However, Tan was never tried and the case was left unsettled.  Due to police torture, Tan’s left arm was broken, her right arm deformed, her ears beaten to deaf and she developed serious injuries to her waist and kidneys. Tan lost the ability to work for a living and has been surviving as a beggar. Tan has been petitioning because she is dissatisfied with the local government, which left the case unsettled and failed to compensate her properly for the physical and psychological abuses she suffered.

For her petitioning activities, Tan has been repeatedly detained. Between June 23 and July 3, 2005, Tan was arrested and detained for ten days; between November 20 and 25, 2005, Tan was arrested by Beijing City PSB Tiananmen Sub-division and detained for five days; on May 1, 2006, Tan was kneeling and shouting about her injustices in front of Xinhua Office in Beijing, when she was arrested by Beijing PSB Xicheng Sub-division and detained for 10 days. On March 12, 2007, Tan was criminally detained for “provoking and creating trouble” and on April 10 sent to 18 months’ of RTL by Enshi RTL Management Committee. 

28. Wang Xiuzhi (王秀芝 or 王秀枝)

Female, born March 8, 1955

Address: Chuizhuang Village, Jiuzhou Township (formerly Jiuzhou County), Guangyang District (formerly Anci District), Langfang City, Hebei Province 

Wang has been persistently petitioning because she believes that the local government failed to properly and fairly handle the cases of her husband’s murder in 1983 and the assault on her and her children in 1988. For her petitioning, Wang has been detained and beaten repeatedly by Langfang City PSB Anci Sub-division and other government agencies. 

In 1995 alone, Wang was beaten at least three times. In April, when Wang was petitioning Langfang City CCP Committee, she was intercepted, beaten and then detained in Langfang City Custody Center. On July 25, when Wang was coming out of the Anci District CCP Committee Office, she was beaten and her ribcage broken by a government employee. On September 4, Wang was detained without a warrant by police from Jiuzhou police station (under Langfang PSB Anci Sub-division). Wang was detained for 28 days and while in detention she was beaten until she passed out by Wang Jianting, Secretary of the Anci District CCP Committee on Politics and Law.  

In March 1998, Wang was detained at home by a group of interceptors including staff from Jiuzhou County All-China Women’s Federation, Jiuzhou police station and Chuizhuang Village CCP Committee. The interceptors tortured Wang with sleep deprivation and hurled verbal abuses at her. The interceptors then brought Wang to Tianjin City Anding Mental Hospital, where she was detained for 11 days. After her detention, Wang went to file a report with police in Langfang PSB Anci Sub-division. However, not only did police refused to register her case, Wang was handcuffed and beaten by Sun, the vice chief of the PSB and Teng, the head of the Letters and Visits Office at the PSB. 

In March 4, 1999, Wang was petitioning the Beijing PSB when she was arrested by Hang, head of the Letters and Visits Office at Langfang City PSB. Wang was brought back to Jiuzhou police station and later detained in the Jiuzhou County government office. On March 11, while in detention, three County government staff seized Wang’s hair and repeatedly hit her head against an iron bed. They also threatened to burn her eyes. After Wang was released, medical examination showed that a blood clot (as big as 5cm×5cm×2cm) developed near her left temporal bones. 

On April 29 1999, Wang was sent to three years’ of RTL by Langfang City RTL Management Committee. Wang was release on November 11, 2001. A year later, on November 12, 2002, Wang was again sent to one year’s RTL by Langfang City RTL Management Committee.

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1、Liu Debo is a representative of the authors of the original report in Chinese, the Road to Petitioning Is Filled with Tears and Blood-an Investigative Report on Petitioning, on which the current report is based. Liu Debo is a pseudonym, as the authors cannot give their full names as doing so would endanger their safety.
2、In this report, "petitioning" and "letters and visits" refer to two aspects of the same phenomenon. Whereas the individuals petitioning are called petitioners, the offices that receive these petitioners are called Letters and Visits Offices.
3、According to the official government definition, petitioners are citizens or organizations that "give information, make comments or suggestions or lodge complaints to the people's governments at all levels and the relevant departments of the people's governments at or above the county level through correspondence, e-mails, faxes, phone calls, visits, and so on, which are dealt with by the relevant administrative departments according to law," Article 2 of the PRC State Council Letters and Visits Regulations (国务院颁布《信访条例》).
4、Law Yearbook of China, China Law Press, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007
5、It is not uncommon for Chinese authorities to confine dissidents or "troublemakers" to psychiatric institutions.
6、One limitation of this report is that due to the recent crackdown on petitioners, some of the authors of this report have been sent to RTL, forcibly returned to their home areas or scattered in other ways so they could not be reached when CHRD was assisting in the editing and translation of the report. As a result, CHRD was unable to access some of the primary research data.
7、This information is based on the observations of the authors, who are long time petitioners and activists who have assisted petitioners for many years.
8、This is a quote from a petitioner in Beijing petitioners' village, from the report by Xueyu Xingfeng (雪羽星枫, pseudonym) , a member of the Beijing Institute of Technology Rural Development Research Society, entitled Moving Unhindered in the Society: Whose tears are flying? The sad lives of Beijing petitioners. (available here in Chinese). Other reports of petitioners being frozen to death in Beijing are "Petitioners Living on the Streets, One After Another Frozen to Death," Zhao Zifa (赵子法), Dajiyuan Newspaper (available here in Chinese on Boxun) and "Beijing East Village Petitioners' Village Secret Enquiries and Report" by Xu Zhiyong  (许志永, available here in Chinese on China Labor Bulletin).
9、Susan Jakes, "the Time Magazine Office of Letters and Visits," Time: the China Blog, January 23, 2007. An excerpt from this article illustrates well the pesistent faith petitioners have in the Letters and Visits system.  '"How shall I put it," [the veteran petitioner] replied bowing his head slightly, "If China is a rule of law country, then there must be a way to win justice." "And after all of this, you still really believe China is a rule of law country," [the author] asked, surprised. He bowed his head again for a moment and then looked back up at me. "If China doesn't have the rule of law," he said, "Then what's the point of petitioning?"'
10、Human Rights Watch, "'We Could Disappear at Any Time': Retailiation and Abuses Against Chinese Petitioners," December 2005.
11、These include the Central Committee People's Government Committee Office, Central Committee People's Government Affairs Office Secretariat and Office of the Premier. Later on, the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress Office Secretariat established "People's Reception" which specializes in dealing with petitioning affairs.
12、The two regulations released were, "Notice Regarding the Strengthening of the Work of Letters and Visits" (关于加强人民来信来访工作的通知), released on September 20,1963, by the CCP Central Committee and the State Council; and "Draft Regulations Concerning the processing of Letters and Visits by the country's agencies" (国家机关处理人民来信和接待人民来访工作条例（草稿）), released on October 15, 1963 by the State Council Secretariat.
13、Although Article 2 of the "Temporary Regulations Concerning the Work of Party and Government Agencies on Letters and Visits" (关于党政机关信访工作的暂行条例) published by the State Council in 1982 states that petitioning is a constitutional right, reference to the Constitution was removed in the 1995 and 2005 Regulations on Letters and Visits.
14、Wang Debang, "From Recovering Power to Protecting Rights: A Comparison between the two upsurges of petitioning", Democratic China, February 1, 2008, available here in Chinese.
15、The Administrative Divisions Net, www.xyqh.org
16、See CHRD, " 'Black Jails' in the Host City of the 'Open Olympics': Secret detention facilities in Beijing are illegally incarcerating petitioners", September 21, 2007, available here: http://www.crd-net.org/Article/Class9/class97/200709/20070921161949_5739.html
17、According to a petitioner who witnessed the incident and who told this story to one of the authors of this report.
18、CHRD, "Shanghai Life and Death: Human Rights Defender Chen Xiaoming Tortured to Death," July 24, 2007, available here in Chinese
19、The document is entitled "Regulations Regarding the Investigation of Responsibilities of the Implementation of the Work of Letters and Visits" (关于实行信访工作责任追究的若干规定).
20、Ankang hospitals are "China's police-run network of institutes for the criminally insane", according to the Human Rights Watch report, ""Dangerous Minds: Political Psychiatry in China Today and its Origins in the Mao Era",  (Preface, available here: http://www.hrw.org/reports/2002/china02/china0802.htm#P224_20396)
21、Human Rights Watch, "Dangerous Minds: Political Psychiatry in China Today and its Origins in the Mao Era", available here: http://www.hrw.org/reports/2002/china02/china0802-08.htm#P892_322630
22、Human Rights Watch, "Dangerous Minds: Political Psychiatry in China Today and its Origins in the Mao Era", available here: http://www.hrw.org/reports/2002/china02/china0802.htm#P224_20396
23、See CHRD, " 'Black Jails' in the Host City of the 'Open Olympics': Secret detention facilities in Beijing are illegally incarcerating petitioners", September 21, 2007, available here: http://www.crd-net.org/Article/Class9/class97/200709/20070921161949_5739.html
24、See CHRD, " 'Black Jails' in the Host City of the 'Open Olympics': Secret detention facilities in Beijing are illegally incarcerating petitioners", September 21, 2007, available here: http://www.crd-net.org/Article/Class9/class97/200709/20070921161949_5739.html
25、In an interview, Huang Qi, founder of 64tianwang.com, one of China's prominent human rights information websites, said: "We know that there are too many of this kind of 'classes'-they are innumerable."  See "Yang Xianhong Interviews 7-year-old Girl: Eating Leftovers", 64tianwang.com, January 20, 2007, available here in Chinese on CHRD website.
See CHRD, "A Look at how Hunan's Jiangyong County Forcibly Detains Petitioners in 'Education Classes'," February 12, 2008, available here in Chinese on CHRD website.
26、See for example, Radio Free Asia, "Liu Qinfang, who Petitioned Because of her Husband Yao Baohua, was Sent to an Education Class", available here in Chinese on CHRD website.
27、See CHRD, "A Look at how Hunan's Jiangyong County Forcibly Detains Petitioners in 'Education Classes'," available here in Chinese on CHRD website.
28、RFA, "Compensation for Several Thousand Hectares Land Loss Appropriated, Over Ten Thousand Petitioners Have Nowhere to Lodge Complaints," May 24, 2007, available here in Chinese.
29、Petitioner Yang Donglin was detained alone in an "education class" (see "Hubei Villager Escaped from Education Class, Yicheng City Government Level Farmland Today," 64tianwang, available here in Chinese) whereas 500 were detained in the same class in Haerbin (see "Haerbin Detains Over 500 Petitioners in an Education Class", CHRD, available here in Chinese)
30、See for example, 64tianwang, "7-year-old Chinese girl detained for 65 days in an education class," available here in Chinese on CHRD website.
31、RFA, "One Hundred Petitioners Escorted Away from Tiananmen Square", January 16, 2008, available here in Chinese; RFA, "Over a Hundred Uighurs Detained for Petitioning Collectively," May 31, 2007, available here in Chinese.
32、Article 247 states, "Judicial workers who extort a confession from criminal suspects or defendants by torture, or who use force to extract testimony from witnesses, are to be sentenced to three years or fewer in prison or put under criminal detention. Those causing injuries to others, physical disablement, or death, are to be convicted and severely punished according to articles 234 and 232 of this law."
Article 248 states, "Supervisory and management personnel of prisons, detention centers, and other guard houses who beat or physically abuse their inmates, if the case is serious, are to be sentenced to three years or fewer in prison or put under criminal detention. If the case is especially serious, they are to be sentenced to three to 10 years in prison. Those causing injuries, physical disablement, or death, are to be convicted and severely punished according to articles 234 and 232 of this law. Supervisory and management personnel who order inmates to beat or physically abuse other inmates are to be punished according to stipulations in the above paragraph."
33、According to Committee Against Torture (CAT), Concluding observations of the Committee against Torture: China. 09/07/96. A/51/44, paras.138-150. (Concluding Observations/Comments), China failed "to  incorporate the crime of torture into the domestic legal system, in terms consistent with the definition contained in article 1 of the Convention." Similar concern was also raised in CAT's subsequent report on China, Conclusions and Recommendations of the Committee against Torture: China. 09/05/2000. A/55/44,paras.106-145.
34、Working Group on Arbitrary Detention: Individual Complaints, Urgent Appeals, Deliberations.
35、See for example, Veron Meiying Hung, "Reassessing Reeducation Through Labor," China Rights Forum, No.2, 2003, p.37; Hu Xingdou, "Abolition of the RTL system: a Proposal to CCP Politburo, National People's Congress and State Council," November 9, 2003;  Liu Renwen, "Reform of China's Reeducation through Labor System," the Brookings Institution, January 25, 2005.
36、See CHRD, " 'Black Jails' in the Host City of the 'Open Olympics': Secret detention facilities in Beijing are illegally incarcerating petitioners", September 21, 2007, available here: http://www.crd-net.org/Article/Class9/class97/200709/20070921161949_5739.html
37、This is generally the case with any groups in China given the strict government regulations on registering non-government organizations.
38、A report by the Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC) argues a similar point: "These [responsibility] systems apply progressively harsher disciplinary sanctions to government officials depending on the scale of the mass petitions and the bureaucratic level to which they are directed, rather than linking punishment solely to the legal merit of the complaints. For example, Anhui provincial regulations impose formal criticism on local officials who face mass petitions (over 50 petitioners at the provincial capital or over 20 at the national level) that remain for more than 48 hours at government agencies." Mass petition movements of over 100 people to the provincial capital (or over 30 to Beijing) result in suspension of the responsible official." For more detail, see CECC, "2005 Annual Report", Section V (e) Access to Justice, available here:  http://www.cecc.gov/pages/annualRpt/annualRpt05/2005_5e_access.php?PHPSESSID=c6379ce28878904283b3a1a911922d49
39、"2007 Measures of Shimen County to Assess the Work of Maintaining Stability" (石门县2007年度维护稳定工作考评办法), Notice Major Item 2 Article 16
40、"Regulations Regarding the Investigation of Responsibilities of the Implementation of the Work of Letters and Visits" (关于实行信访工作责任追究的若干规定). It was issued on May 16, 2007.
41、"2007 Measures of Shimen County to Assess the Work of Maintaining Stability" (石门县2007年度维护稳定工作考评办法), Notice Major Item 2 Article 16
42、"Yilan County Launches the battle/work plan that focuses on the resolution of the most difficult petitioning cases,"
(依兰县开展重点疑难信访案件集中化解专项会战工作方案) dated July 10, 2007.
43、The regulations state: "this policy is formulated according to the spirit of the documents released by the [Yongzhou (a prefecture level city)] Municipal CCP Committee and Municipal Government: 'An Urgent Notice Regarding the Resolute Containment of Unusual Petitioners in Beijing"'and 'Notice Re-transmitting the Provincial Joint Office's 'an Urgent Notice Regarding…Unusual Petitioners in Beijing'."
44、A Speech dated April 13, 2007, at the "Working Conference on Petitioning Stability in the County" (在全县信访稳定工作会议上的讲话), by a member of Standing Committee of County CCP Committee, Political-Legal Committee Secretary in Henan Province.
45、These Custody Centers were part of the Custody and Repatriation System that was abolished in 2003.
46、Yuan was subjected to two forms of torture: she was forced to wear steel shoes and subjected to a punishment called "sitting at a tiger bench". With "Sitting at a tiger bench", the tortured is sat upright on a long bench, her hands tied behind her back. Her thigh is fastened with a rope to the bench while her feet are raised by bricks placed under her feet. This puts extreme strain on the knee and is an extremely painful form of torture especially when placed in this position for an extended period of time.

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