CHRONICLE OF HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS 2007-08 |
Table of Contents
Arbitrary detention
Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment
Freedom of Expression: 2007
Freedom of Expression: 2008
Freedom of Association and Assembly: 2007
Freedom of Association & Assembly: 2008
Housing and Property Rights: 2007
Housing and Property Rights: 2008
Arbitrary detention
u Cai Aimin (蔡爱)
From Henan Province, is a member of the Pan-Blue Alliance of Chinese Nationalists, an officially illegal internet community affiliated with the Nationalist Party of Taiwan. Cai is a democracy activist and has exposed numerous cases of corruption. On May 25, 2008, Cai was detained by police while assisting farmers travelling to Beijing to complain about the corrupt local government which had confiscated farm land without providing fair compensation. CHRD learned in July that Cai was subsequently sent to RTL camp for one year and nine months for "disturbing public security.”
u Cao Xiaoli (曹晓丽)
Cao was an accountant at a meat factory in Zigong City, Rong County, Sichuan Province and had been persecuted for years for her refusal to make fraudulent accounts to cover the theft of state money and for petitioning to expose local corruption. On September 28, 2007, Cao was sent to the black jail located at Rong County Assistance Station by interceptors from Rong County including the county's policemen and the Party Secretary. She was released on October 6 after staging a hunger strike. However, CHRD learned on December 1, that Cao was again secretly detained in the same "black jail.” Reportedly, Cao was seriously ill and required treatment at the hospital. She was released following two months’ illegal detention.
u Chen Lianqing (陈连清)
On June 4, 2008, Chen Lianqing, a resident of Xinhua District, Shijiazhuang City, Hebei Province, was sent to one year of RTL. Chen was apprehended by Shijiazhuang interceptors while petitioning in Beijing and forcibly sent back to his hometown, from whence he was sent to RTL. Chen started petitioning after his father’s death in 2004, believing that his father had been murdered and that the local PSB was protecting the murderers.
u Chen Qitang (陈启棠)
On October 26, 2007, Guangdong human rights defender Chen Qitang (a.k.a. Tianli [天理]) was criminally detained by the Chan City Sub-division of the Foshan City PSB on suspicion of “impersonating the police for the purpose of defrauding others.” He was detained at Foshan City PSB Detention Center. His home was searched by police on October 31. Chen is believed to have been detained because of his rights-defending activities relating to the case of the Nanhai Villagers in Guangdong Province.
u Chen Shuqing (陈树庆)
From Hangzhou City, Zhejiang Province, Chen is a dissident writer and leading member of the Chinese Democracy Party. Chen is known for his articles promoting democracy and the right to vote. He was convicted of “inciting subversion of state power” and sentenced to four years imprisonment and one year deprivation of political rights on August 16, 2007. In a closed trial on October 29, the Zhejiang Higher People's Court rejected Chen's appeal and upheld his original sentence.
u Chen Shuwei (陈书伟)
On March 5, 2008, Chen, from Shenzhen and one of China's best-known consumer rights advocates, was seized while sleeping by a dozen Beijing police who stormed his room in Hanting Kuaijie Hotel, No.3 Dacheng Road, Fengtai District, Beijing. They produced no warrant at any point during the abduction. Chen and other consumer rights advocates were in Beijing petitioning at the Ministry of the Information Industry about unfair mobile phone charges. On March 20, 2008, after the annual sessions of the NPC and the CPPCC ended, Chen was released from a Shenzhen inn where he had been held. However, according to Civil Rights and Livelihood Watch, a Hubei-based NGO, he was again held at the same inn on May 7. It is unclear whether or not he has been released.
u Chen Xi (陈西)
On May 31, 2008, Chen Xi, a human rights activist from Guizhou Province, was kidnapped by about a dozen policemen at Guiyang Airport as he was attempting to fly to Beijing to commemorate the Tiananmen Massacre. He was detained for nine hours without warrant or explanation at Shixi police station in Guiyang City, capital of Guizhou Province. After that, Chen was sent home, where he has been under house arrest ever since. Police guard his apartment block and have warned him against going out. On June 5, some policemen even moved into his apartment to monitor him. It is unclear whether Chen has been released from house arrest.
u Chen Yuping (陈玉平)
A representative of 12,000 dismissed workers of Jilin Oilfields in Songyuan City, Jilin Province, Chenwas criminally detained on April 10, 2008, by police from Songyuan City PSB Songjiang Sub-division. Chen was initially accused of “leaking state secrets” for “accepting interviews by foreign media” but was later charged with “inciting and creating trouble” and “disturbing social order.” On May 6, he was sentenced to 18 months of RTL. He is currently being held at Baicheng City RTL camp in Jilin Province. Chen and other representatives had been preparing to apply to establish an independent union for the dismissed workers. They were warned not to establish the union by the State Security Unit police from Songyuan City PSB. Around the time Chen was arrested, two other representatives were administratively detained for ten days for “accepting interviews with foreign media.”
u Du Fengqin (杜凤芹)
A petitioner from Group 1, Dongliujiu Village, Xingshan Township, Longjiang County, Qiqihar City, Heilongjiang Province. Du has been petitioning against the local government that allegedly appropriated her land without legal procedures or adequate compensation. To pre-empt her from petitioning higher authorities during the 17th Party Congress in October 2007, Du was taken from her home and detained prior to the event. Days later, on October 16, the authorities sent her to one year of RTL because she had “abused staff” and “disrupted normal petitioning procedures” while petitioning in Beijing.
u Feng Qiusheng (冯秋盛)
On June 24, 2008, Feng, a village leader from Taishi Village, Panyu District, Guangzhou City, Guangdong Province, was detained on suspicion of “disturbing social order.” Reportedly, police from Yuwotou Police Station, Panyu, detained him for his suspected role in breaking the news about violations of election procedures in an April villager committee election in Taishi Village. Feng is also known for his role in a failed attempt by the villagers to remove a village committee head suspected of corruption in 2005.
u Feng Zhenghu (冯正虎)
On June 5, 2008, Feng, a Shanghai rights activist and self-taught "citizen lawyer,” was administratively detained by police from Shanghai PSB Yangpu Sub-division for ten days for "using other means to deliberately disrupt social order.” Police searched Feng's home and confiscated his computers. It is believed that he is being punished for chronicling hundreds of cases of allegations of wrongful decisions by Shanghai courts and distributing a document about the cases to government officials. Prior to his detention, on May 22, 2008, Feng was prevented from boarding a flight to Japan by border police at the Shanghai Municipal Immigration Management Bureau who received “orders from the relevant authorities.”
u Gao Zhisheng (高智晟)
Formerly a lawyer and director of the Beijing Shengzhi Law Firm, which had its license suspended by the Beijing Bureau of Judiciary Affairs in November 2005, Gao represented defendants who were persecuted for activities associated with the banned sect, Falun Gong and unofficial Christian house churches. Gao was also outspoken in the overseas media about rights violations. He was “disappeared” for four months in 2006 before he was tried and convicted of “inciting subversion of state power” on December 22, 2006.
While on parole for “inciting subversion of state power,” Gao was again “disappeared” on September 22, 2007. It is believed that he was taken away by police officers from the State Security Bureau and the State Security Unit of Beijing PSB. In the evening of October 28, Gao called Beijing-based activist, Hu Jia (胡佳), but nobody else has heard from him since his disappearance.
Prior to his disappearance, Gao suffered repeated harassment. On July 7, 2007, for example, police from the State Security Unit of Beijing PSB took him and his daughter from their home to a hotel, where they were questioned for several hours. Police warned him not to take any legal work. He was also told not to publish any articles or give interviews. Violations, police warned, would mean going back to prison.
u Geng Huo (耿和)
Since human rights lawyer Gao Zhisheng's (高智晟) disappearance on September 22, 2007, his wife Geng Huo and children have been harassed and closely monitored by the police. Geng is followed by some ten people every time she goes out. Her children, apart from being shadowed, have been ostracized by teachers and fellow students. Gao's family has been warned by the police not to have any contact with the outside world. Their bank account has also been controlled by the police, making it difficult for them to survive.
u Gong Guangzao (龚光早)
"Community" (minban) teachers' representative, of Xiantao City, Hubei Province, Gong was detained on August 31, 2007, after being invited for a “chat” by the local Department of Education. In recent years, local authorities have been replacing lower-status “community” teachers with state teachers. Some of these teachers have taught in community-run (minban) rural schools for many years, but they are not always given the opportunity to convert their experience into formal status. Gong was detained for fear that the teachers would petition before the start of the 17th Party Congress in October. Community teachers in Hubei have petitioned in the provincial capital and Beijing about pensions and subsidies for dismissed teachers. Gong was later released. However, he was again detained on December 14, 2008 and held at an "education class" in Xiantao City. He was subsequently released but the precise details are unclear.
u Gong Haoming (龚浩明)
On November 8, 2007, Gong, a Shanghai petitioner and activist, was detained on suspicion of "intentionally leaking state secrets." On December 8, he was released on bail. According to his wife, he was mistreated while in detention. Gong became a petitioner after his home and shop were demolished in 1996. Since then, he has helped his neighbors whose properties were also forcibly demolished and filed a lawsuit against the Shanghai city government for violating housing and property rights.
u Guo Quan (郭泉)
An Assistant Professor at Nanjing Normal University, Gao was put under administrative detention between May 17 and 28, 2008. Prior to his detention, Guo organized a number of meetings with members of China New People’s Party (中国新民党), a new party Guo established in December 2007, to discuss its response to the Sichuan earthquake. He alleged that police detained him after he refused during interrogation to provide them with a list of the Party's members.
u Han Dingxiang (韩鼎祥)
Catholic bishop of Yongnan District, Hebei Province, Han died on September 9, 2007, while in detention. The local police allowed Han’s nephews to tend to him only in his last few days. A few hours after his death, his body was promptly removed for cremation. Han was born in 1937 and had been arrested many times throughout his life. He was first arrested in 1960, when he was accused of “counter-revolutionary activity” and sent to a Reform through Labor farm. He was released in 1979. Han became a priest in 1986 and in 1989 he was appointed bishop by the Vatican. He was last arrested in 1999 for being involved in “illegal religious activities.”
u He Fangwu (何方武)
On September 17, 2007, He, a petitioner from Jiangyong County who went to Beijing to petition, was sent to a psychiatric institution by the Jiangyong government. In previous detentions, He had spent three years in a psychiatric institution and two-and-a-half years in RTL camp after he exposed the use of violence in the implementation of the local government's birth control policy.
u He Weihua (贺伟华)
On August 1, 2007, cyber activist and writer He Weihua, was forced to undergo psychiatric tests at the Hunan Provincial Mental Hospital, followed by one month of compulsory treatment at the Department of Mental Illness in the No.2 Xiangya Hospital in Hunan. He was reportedly released in late September when the one month of psychiatric “treatment” was up.
Prior to his incarceration, in July 2007, he had received a verbal warning from police that if he did not stop writing "nonsense articles,” he would be put into a psychiatric hospital. He wrote and posted an article on the internet in early July that criticized the government's economic policies. On July 19, He was arrested in Shenzhen, near the border with Hong Kong, by police from Hunan on suspicion of "inciting subversion of state power." On July 23, He was taken back to Hunan and detained at the local detention center, before being sent to the psychiatric institution.
u Hu Jia (胡佳)
Hu was taken from his home on December 27, 2007 and formally arrested on January 28, 2008, on suspicion of “inciting subversion of state power.” On March 18, Hu was tried by the Beijing Municipal No.2 Intermediate People’s Court. On April 3, Hu was sentenced to three-and-a-half years’ imprisonment and one year’s deprivation of political rights for “inciting subversion of state power.” On April 14 and 15, 2008, Hu’s lawyers were refused access to the activist, as a result they were unable to consult Hu about his final decision on an appeal before the deadline. Hu is currently held at the Chaobai Prison in Tianjin.
Hu became an activist on HIV/AIDS in 2001. He is co-founder of the Beijing Aizhixing Institute of Health Education as well as Loving Source, a grassroots organization dedicated to helping children from AIDS families. Due to his criticism of the government's failures in HIV/AIDS prevention and care, he had been repeatedly harassed and beaten by police. Hu has reported violations of many different human rights, giving interviews to overseas media and writing about other activists' plight. Prior to his detention on December 27, 2007, Hu and his wife, Zeng Jinyan (曾金燕), had been under "residential surveillance" (jianshi juzhu) without legal authorization since April 2004. Zeng and Hu were often put under house arrest during sensitive periods. On November 3, 2007, for example, along with dozens of well-known human rights defenders, the couple was put under house arrest to prevent them from attending a memorial service for Bao Zunxin (包遵信), an influential dissident intellectual who inspired the 1989 pro-democracy movement.
u Hu Jing (胡敬)
Defended workers' rights at a state-owned motor company in Chongqing and is a member of the Pan-Blue Alliance of Chinese Nationalists, an internet community affiliated with the Nationalist Party of Taiwan. In 2005, after petitioning about workers' rights in Beijing, he was sent by Chongqing Police to a local psychiatric institution where he was reportedly mistreated.
In November 2007, Hu was again sent to the psychiatric institution. Reportedly, after his release from the first detention, Hu was confirmed to be mentally healthy when he went for an assessment at an independent mental hospital. It is believed that the reason the Chongqing Police forcibly confined him to the psychiatric institution a second time was that they were unhappy about him getting an independent mental assessment. He was released on January 10, 2008.
u Huang Qi (黄琦)
CHRD learned on June 17, 2008, that Huang Qi, activist and director of Tianwang Human Rights Center (www.64tianwang.com), was detained on suspicion of “illegal possession of state secrets.” He is currently being held at Chengdu City Detention Center. On June 24, police from the State Security Unit under Wuhou District PSB, Chengdu City rejected his lawyer’s request to visit him on the grounds that Huang’s case involves "state secrets." Reportedly, Huang was detained for reporting and giving interviews to foreign journalists about protests staged by families of schoolchildren who died in the Sichuan earthquake.
u Huang Yan (黄燕)
A friend and assistant to the disappeared human rights lawyer Gao Zhisheng, Huang was kidnapped on September 22, 2007, outside of her residence in Haidian District, Beijing, by the State Security Unit of the Beijing PSB. She was abducted the same day Gao was taken away by Beijing police. They first detained her for four days at a hotel near Beijing International Airport, where she was beaten, before handing her to the State Security Unit of Hubei PSB. She was then detained at an inn in Jingzhou, Hubei Province, until she was released on October 23. During her detention in Jingzhou, Huang was also beaten and mistreated.
u Huang Yixuan (黄义轩)
On December 3, 2007, Huang Yixuan's parents were notified by police from Nancheng City PSB, Jiangxi Province that Huang had been formally arrested on suspicion of "extortion and blackmail." Huang, from Liuzhou, Guangxi Province, recently graduated from Jiangxi Finance and Economics College. Reportedly, he was arrested for seeking compensation from telecommunications providers who had cheated consumers. Huang was released on February 4, 2008.
u Jia Zhiguo (贾治国)
In Zhengding County, Hebei Province, underground Catholic Bishop Jia Zhiguo was arrested on August 23, 2007, by the local police allegedly because he read a letter from Pope Benedict to his disciples. It is unclear whether he is still detained.
u Jiang Hailiang (姜海亮)
On April 18, 2008, Jiang Hailiang, a representative of community (minban) teachers, was sent to one year of RTL by Luoyang City RTL Management Committee in Henan Province for "gathering over a thousand teachers…to illegally gather and demonstrate and seriously disturb the local social order.” The "illegal" demonstration occurred on November 5, 2007, when about 2,000 teachers collectively petitioned at the Yichuan County Letters and Visits Bureau. According to other teacher representatives, authorities punished Jiang to send a warning signal to other Henan teachers who have persisted in petitioning for better treatment in recent years.
u Jiang Yongwen (姜永文)
On September 22, 2007, Jiang went to Beijing to petition and expose the concealment of the number of deaths reported by the local government in a mine accident in Baoqing County, Heilongjiang Province. He was intercepted and sent to RTL. In recent years, Baoqing officials and businesses had colluded to sell 6,000 hectares of public land and set up thirty illegal coal mines there. In August 2007, sixteen people died in a mine accident, but the authorities reported only two deaths. The Baoqing government had used many means to persecute villagers who had been petitioning for years about the loss of their land.
u Li Guohong (李国宏)
From Chongqing City, Sichuan Province, is a laid-off workers' representative at Zhongyuan Oil Field. Li and other representatives have been petitioning higher authorities about proper compensation for the dismissed workers. On October 31, 2007, Li went to Puyang City, Henan Province, where Zhongyuan Oil Field is headquartered, to learn about a lawsuit the dismissed workers are going to file in Beijing against the oil field. While there, Li was promptly administratively detained for fifteen days. He was due to be released on November 16, but the authorities instead sent him to 18 months of RTL for “gathering crowds to create trouble.”
On January 28, 2008, Li staged a hunger strike protesting that RTL authorities had barred his family from visiting him. Since his detention, the authorities had allowed only one visit from Li's wife. On February 1, days after the hunger strike, his father was able to visit him.
On May 30, 2008, Li's family learned that Hualong District People's Court in Puyang City, Henan Province, upheld the decision to send him to 18 months of RTL. Li said he would appeal.
u Li Guozhu (李国柱)
On June 23, 2008, Li Guozhu, a petitioner from Jixi City, Heilongjiang Province, was caught by interceptors while petitioning in Beijing and forcibly returned to Jixi, where he has been detained in a local detention center. Li is a former police officer who started to petition after he was reportedly unfairly dismissed by the local cadres.
u Li Hai (李海)
A former student activist during the 1989 Tiananmen demonstrations and former political prisoner, Li was barred from attending a memorial service on November 3, 2007, for Bao Zunxin (包遵信), an influential dissident intellectual who inspired the 1989 pro-democracy movement. He was taken to the local police station where he was detained and later released.
Since May 31, 2008, Li’s whereabouts have been unknown. Li had been under police surveillance since late May, in the lead-up to the U.S.-China human rights dialogue in Beijing. The last sign of Li was on May 30, when he told his friends via Skype that he might be forced to travel abroad.
u Li Hanquan (李汉权)
On May 6, 2008, Li Hanquan, a villager of Sanshan Township, Nanhai Prefecture, Foshan City, was criminally detained for “illegal possession of firearms and ammunition” by Nanhai Prefecture PSB. Li is currently held at Nanhai Prefecture Detention Center.
Li is one of the Sanshan villagers who, between 2005 and 2007, exhausted all legal avenues in seeking adequate compensation following the forcible expropriation of their land. Not only were they not properly compensated, the villagers were also persecuted by local authorities. In 2005, when the land grab seemed inevitable, Li turned a piece of wasteland outside of the area designated for expropriation into farmland. However, on May 1, 2008, the authorities poured concrete on the farmland. Li resisted. Authorities alleged that he threatened the workers with a hunting rifle but Li’s wife said they do not own a rifle.
u Li Jianhong (李剑虹)
On December 18, 2007, Li Jianhong, a.k.a. Xiaoqiao (小乔), dissident writer known for her articles promoting human rights, was put under house arrest by the State Security Unit of the Shanghai PSB Pudong Sub-division. The day after, Li and her father were taken to the police station. The police refused to release Li and threatened her father that if he disagreed with them detaining Li at a hotel, he would be held at the police station. Li was then detained at a hotel between December 19 and 23. She was detained to prevent her from attending an Independent Chinese PEN gathering scheduled to be held on December 22 in Beijing. Police told Li the detention was requested by the State Security Unit of Beijing PSB.
Between December 29, 2007, and January 3, 2008, Li was under “residential surveillance.” She was not allowed to leave her home without police authorization. On January 3, police took her from her home and detained her at Bairuijia Hotel in Shanghai. She was released the following day after she staged a day-long hunger strike. Li was again under house arrest until April 28, 2008, when the police escorted her to the airport where she left for a scholarship in Sweden. The reason for Li's house arrest is unknown. Reportedly, it may be related to the detention of Beijing-based human rights defender, Hu Jia.
u Li Jinping (李金平)
A Beijing dissident known for his public call for a re-evaluation of the legacy of Zhao Ziyang, the late CCP General Secretary known for his sympathy with student demonstrators at Tiananmen Square in 1989. Li has been repeatedly detained in the past year.
On February 25, 2008, Li was detained for a day when he visited Ni Yulan (倪玉兰), a Beijing human rights lawyer under house arrest at the time.
On March 3, 2008, Li was detained when he went to Tiananmen Square to find National People's Congress representatives who had come to Beijing for the annual sessions of the NPC and the CPPCC, to ask them to join his call for a re-evaluation of Zhao's legacy. He was incarcerated at Changying police station under Beijing PSB Chaoyang Sub-division. Li was released on March 20 after the sessions ended.
On March 31, 2008, when Li again went to Ni’s home, to discuss setting up an altar to commemorate Zhao, Li was seized by police from Beijing PSB Xicheng Sub-division. Li was incarcerated for two days at a holiday resort at Changyuan Village, Huairou Yanxihu Township, Beijing. He was released on April 1.
On June 2, 2008, Li was again detained in a black jail at Nali Holiday Resort in Huairou District, Beijing. Li was seized by police from Changying Police Station and the State Security Unit of Beijing PSB Chaoyang District Sub-division while visiting his mother. Police told Li that he would be detained until after June 4, the anniversary of the Tiananmen massacre. It is unclear whether or not he has been released.
u Li Shuchun (李树春)
Li, a 65-year-old Tianjin petitioner, went to Beijing on October 16, 2007, to petition about forcible demolition of his property and was intercepted in Beijing and sent back to Tianjin by officials from the municipality and his work unit. On October 17, he was sent to a psychiatric institution in Hexi District, Tianjin. The hospital admitted that Li was not mentally ill and said he could leave if officials from the government or his work unit would come and take him home. Li was released on October 26.
u Li Xige (李喜阁)
An HIV/AIDS activist from Henan Province, since August 2006, Li has been under residential surveillance by police from Ningling County, Henan Province.
In the early hours of May 1, 2008, a dozen police barged into Li's home and took away Li and fellow AIDS activist, Miaojue Cizhi (妙觉慈智), for interrogation. Li and Miaojue were held at the Chengguan Township PSB in Ningling County. On May 15, CHRD learned that Li managed to get home in the chaotic aftermath of the May 12 Sichuan earthquake, but it is unclear whether she is still under residential surveillance. The two activists were taken away in relation to their public call for a hunger strike to protest the recent imprisonment of Hu Jia (胡佳), a fellow HIV/AIDS activist and human rights defender.
u Li Yiqiang (李义强)
Li was arrested on June 3, 2007, on suspicion of organizing the June 1 and 2 protests in Xiamen against plans to build a paraxylene chemical factory in the city, the largest white-collar demonstration in years. Li was released on bail in early August, but could still be charged in connection with June demonstrations. After his release, Li said he was "fine" but refused to reveal more details about his detention.
u Li Zhiyou (李志友)
A Guangxi dissident, Li was detained by police between January 14 and 24, 2007. The police provided no legal justification for his 10-day detention, saying only that he had been "summoned.” During his detention, the police tried to force Li to sign a pledge that he would not participate in "democracy activities," but Li refused.
u Liao Kaihui (廖开慧)
A representative of tobacco growers from Jiangyong County in Hunan Province, Liao went to Beijing to petition for the RMB 6 million the government allegedly owes the growers. On September 28, 2007, she was beaten by the Chief and Vice-chief of Jiangyong PSB and later administratively detained for ten days.
u Liu Guiqin (刘贵琴)
Liu is a petitioner and human rights defender in Chengguan Township, Yunxi County, Hubei Province. In May 2007, the County government wanted to use her influence to quell a wave of petitioning in Yunxi and hired her as a petition mediator. However, less than a month later, the local PSB arrested her. In mid-October she was convicted of “illegal possession of documents containing state secrets” and sentenced to 18 months of imprisonment.
u Liu Houshun (刘厚顺)
From Wendeng City, Shandong Province, Lin had led fellow villagers to petition about a village head who refused to step down after being voted out in an election. Liu was intercepted while petitioning and administratively detained for seven days during October 2007. Authorities alleged that during his detention, Li damaged some property of the detention facility and on October 25, 2007, he was sent to 12 months of RTL for “damaging public and private property.”
u Liu Jie (刘杰)
From Beian City in Heilongjiang Province, Lin is a petitioner. Since 2003, every year Liu has organized petitioners to submit open letters advocating legal and political reforms. On October 8, 2007, Liu released a public letter signed by 12,150 petitioners calling on leaders at the 17th Party Congress to reform. Three days later, Liu was seized by the Beijing Police and sent back for detention in Beian City by interceptors from Beian City Military Farm Bureau PSB. During her detention, Beian City PSB sent her case to the Procuratorate but the latter refused to prosecute her due to lack of evidence. On November 12 Liu was sent to 18 months of RTL for “instigating trouble and disturbing social order.”
On February 19, 2008, Heilongjiang RTL Management Committee rejected Liu's application for an administrative review of the decision to send her to RTL. Liu then filed an Administrative Lawsuit with the Heilongjiang Military Farm Bureau Intermediate People's Court, suing the local RTL authorities for their decision to send her to RTL, but the Court refused to accept the lawsuit on March 4 without giving any reasons or a written rejection letter. Liu filed a similar Administrative Lawsuit with the Nangang District People's Court, Heilongjiang Province, on March 3. The Court has not responded to the lawsuit. On May 22, 2008, Liu was transferred from Qiqihar RTL camp to Harbin Drug Rehabilitation Center.
u Liu Xiaobo (刘晓波)
Beijing dissident and intellectual, Liu was briefly detained by the Beijing police on June 4, 2008, the 19th anniversary of the crackdown on the Tiananmen demonstrations. At 6 p.m., Liu and his wife were on their way to dinner when they were stopped outside of their apartment block by officers from the local police station under the Beijing PSB. Police asked Liu to come with them for a chat. Liu refused. The head of the police station then grabbed Liu's head and neck while several other policemen grabbed Liu's arms. Together, they forcibly dragged him to a small house nearby. Liu was released a few hours later but continued to be prevented from leaving his home.
u Liu Xiaoqun (刘小群)
On December 26, 2007, Liu, whose property was forcibly demolished in Laohekou City, Hubei Province, brought over a thousand copies of a protest letter entitled, "A Harmonized Society in Disharmony: Under the Mountain of Peace, We do not Live in Peace," to the People's Congress and People's Court in Xiangfan City, Hubei Province, with the intention of distributing the letter to passers-by. He was seized by the Xiangfan City PSB. The PSB handed him to Laohekon City authorities, who criminally detained him at the Laohekou City Detention Center. On January 5, 2008, Liu was removed from criminal detention, but he continued to be detained in Room 105 of the Jiaotong Inn in Laohouke City. During his detention at the 'black jail', Liu was guarded by as many as nine local government officials and was required to “learn” the Regulations on Letters and Visits. Liu was transferred to another inn in Laohekou City, where he was guarded by over ten government officials and security guards. On January 12, Liu escaped from the inn. Liu and his family have continued to suffer official harassment for petitioning for appropriate compensation.
u Liu Zhengyou( 刘正有)
A petitioner-turned-activist from Zigong City in Sichuan Province, Liu was charged with "using a cult to undermine the implementation of law" after an eight-hour police interrogation. Liu had also been interrogated the day before. The subjects of the interrogation included recent activities, such as accepting interviews with foreign media, posting online articles critical of the detention of rights activist, Huang Qi (黄琦); organizing donation drives to aid victims of the Sichuan earthquake and participating in the relay of the "Human Rights Torch,” an activity organized by Falun Gong practitioners. At the end of the June 18 interrogation, Liu was released on bail for up to a year to await trial. Liu believed that police put him on bail to exert tightened control over him, as he is not allowed to travel while under this measure.
u Liu Zhi (刘贽)
CHRD learned on September 10, 2007, that Liu Zhi (刘贽), a peasant from Wugang City, Hunan Province, had been detained for three months by local authorities for "failure to execute the court's judgment.”
In 1995, Wugang City traffic police allegedlyfabricated evidence that Liu was responsible for a traffic accident. Liu appealed and petitioned. In September 1998, Wugang City Court opened a second trial, after which the court adjourned. It never reconvened or issued a verdict. Liu went to Beijing to petition. On May 12, 2007, the Shangdian Township government in Wugang summoned Liu and told him they were to resolve the issue. Liu was thereupon promptly detained and on May 26, his status was changed to criminal detention for "failure to execute the court's judgment,” although a verdict had never been handed down. Liu's wife was told by the president of the court that in order for Liu to be released, he must act according to the court's non-existent verdict, pay compensation and promise that he will never petition again.
u Lu Gengsong (吕耿松)
Lu is a Hangzhou-based freelance writer. In addition to authoring the book, A History of Corrupt CCP Officials, Liu frequently posted articles criticizing the government and reports of human rights violations online. He was detained on August 24, 2007, on suspicion of "inciting subversion of the state power" and "illegal possession of state secrets." Lu was formally arrested on suspicion of "inciting subversion of state power" on September 29. He was convicted of the same crime on February 5, 2008, and sentenced by the Hangzhou City Intermediate People's Court to four years' imprisonment and one year's deprivation of political rights. The Zhejiang Provincial High Court rejected Lu's appeal in a closed trial on April 14. Lu said he is going to file a complaint to the Supreme People's Court.
u Miaojue Cizhi (妙觉慈智)
A Buddhist nun devoted to helping HIV/AIDS villagers and orphans in Henan Province. Miaojue travels constantly, mostly between Guangdong and Henan Provinces, to collect and deliver donated goods for AIDS orphans. Miaojue has been called “China’s Mother Teresa” by the Hong Kong press.
In the early hours of May 1, 2008, a dozen police barged into the home of Henan AIDS activist, Li Xige (李喜阁), and took away Li and Miaojue for interrogation. They were held at the Chengguan Township PSB, Ningling County, Henan Province. Miaojue was released on May 8. The two activists were taken away in relation to their public call for a hunger strike to protest the recent imprisonment of Hu Jia (胡佳), a fellow HIV/AIDS activist and human rights defender.
u Daniel Ng (吴魁)
Pastor and CEO of Yinuo Group, Ng and his family were put under house arrest between October 12 and 25, 2007. Although authorities lifted their house arrest, the Ngs are barred from leaving China even though they are Australian citizens. Ng is a devout Christian who established Yinuo Group as an international trade company to support the poor and promote sustainable development. Reportedly, the authorities clamped down on Ng and his company because they suspected it as a front for promoting Christianity. The Ngs’ personal and company assets have been frozen since September 13, 2007. Authorities said Ng and his company are suspected of “operating without a license” and “tax evasion.”
u Ni Yulan (倪玉兰)
On April 15, 2008, dozens of workers and police knocked down a wall of Ni's home. Ni tried to stop them. Police detained Ni, alleging that she beat a member of the demolition crew. On April 29, Ni was formally arrested on suspicion of "obstructing official business" by the Beijing PSB Xicheng District Sub-division. She is currently held at the Beijing Xicheng District Detention Center.
Ni, a Beijing-based human rights lawyer, suffered repeated harassment prior to her detention. On February 25, 2008, Ni was surrounded at her home by over a dozen security guards and police from Xinjiekou Police Station under Beijing PSB Xicheng Sub-division. The police broke into her home and beat her husband when he attempted to leave. Ni's home had recently been under police surveillance. The harassment of Ni was reportedly related to the annual sessions of the NPC and CPPCC held in Beijing every March.
u Ouyang Xiaorong (欧阳小戎)
On September 27, 2007, Ouyang Xiaorong, a poet and writer from Tengchong, Yunnan Province, was taken from his home by two plainclothes officers. The officers did not show any warrant for arrest or explain why they were taking Ouyang away. His mother suspected that he was taken away because of articles he had written on the internet. According to an RFA report, Ouyang was released on October 24, 2007, following detention at an inn in Tengchong guarded by about half a dozen State Security police.
Ouyang had previously been detained in Feburary 2006 by the Beijing police when he volunteered at Gao Zhisheng's (高智晟) legal practice and supported Gao in his hunger strike.
u Pan Sufang (潘素芳)
A petitioner from Santai, Sichuan Province, Pan travelled to Beijing to petition about local police violence which had left her eye permanently damaged. She was forcibly sent back to her hometown, where she was sentenced on July 27, 2007, to two years' RTL for "disrupting official business.”
u Pu Zhiqiang (浦志强)
A Beijing-based lawyer, Pu was barred from attending a memorial service on November 3, 2007, for Bao Zunxin (包遵信), an influential dissident intellectual who inspired the 1989 pro-democracy movement. Pu was detained at the Fanjiacun Police Station by the State Security police under Beijing Municipal PSB for five hours, during which time he was verbally abused.
Pu was also barred from commemorating the 19th Anniversary of the June Fourth Massacre in Tiananmen Square. From June 2, 2008, Pu was closely followed by the Beijing police and warned to stay away from the square. In the afternoon of June 3, Pu was taken into police custody for several hours. He was later released, but police continued to closely monitor him. Pu has vowed to commemorate those killed in Tiananmen Square every June 3 and had done so since 1989.
u Qi Chonghuai (齐崇淮/齐崇怀)
On June 25, 2007, Qi, a Legal Daily (法制日报) reporter known for his articles exposing local corruption, was detained. On August 2, he was formally arrested on suspicion of "extortion and blackmail.” On May 13, 2008, he was convicted of this offence and sentenced to four years in prison by Tengzhou City Court, Shandong Province. During the trial, the prosecutor's "evidence" included documents supplied by the local Publicity Department and PSB which supposedly indicated that Qi had extorted money from government agencies. No witnesses were called, nor were any bank statements or receipts presented.
During his 11-month detention before trial, Qi reported having been threatened and beaten. In August, he told his lawyers that police slapped his face about twenty times in succession to force him to confess to the crime.
u Qi Zhiyong (齐志勇)
A June 4th victim and disability rights activist from Beijing, Qi was under house arrest for several days at
the beginning of August 2007 as Beijing tightened security to mark the one year countdown to the Olympics on
August 8.
Qi was also put under house arrest to prevent him from attending a memorial service on November 3, 2007, for Bao Zunxin (包遵信), an influential dissident intellectual who inspired the 1989 pro-democracy movement. He disappeared between January 6 and February 23, 2008. At the time of his disappearance, nobody knew what had happened to him. After his release, it became clear that he had been detained by police from the State Security Unit of Beijing PSB. From the questions the police asked Qi, it is believed that his detention was directly related to the detention of human rights defender, Hu Jia (胡佳). Following his release, Qi was put under house arrest, though police reportedly relaxed control over him after Hu was sentenced on April 3.
Qi was again put under house arrest by Beijing police between May 30 and June 6, 2008, during the China-US human rights dialogue and the sensitive anniversary of the Tiananmen Massacre.
u Qiao Yanbing
From Yantai City, Shandong Province, Qiao is a former soldier discharged under the government scheme “soldiers into cadres” (junzhuan ganbu). Qiao is a representative of soldiers in the scheme, many of whom are dissatisfied with it and has been petitioning for the last ten years for better welfare and treatment for these soldiers. On November 16, he was arrested on suspicion of “using a cult to undermine the implementation of national laws and forging documents.” On January 3, 2008, Qiao was convicted of the crime and sentenced to four years imprisonment in a secret trial.
