CLOSED: China: Free human rights activist Yang Chunlin

Human rights activist Yang Chunlin, who has been detained for nearly 8 months, went on trial on 19 February for his involvement in collecting signatures for a petition entitled "We Want Human Rights, not the Olympics".

During his five and a half hour trial, he was forced to sit on a metal chair with a ring around the bottom which was used to lock his legs in place and fix his sitting position. He was unable to stretch, move or stand up throughout

Background information 

Before his detention Yang Chunlin had been active in supporting a legal action brought by more than 40,000 local farmers in the northern province of Heilongjiang , whose land had been confiscated without adequate compensation. In 2006 Yang was detained four times for his involvement in this case, and for his participation in a hunger strike organized by Beijing human rights lawyer Gao Zhisheng.  

In 2007 he is said to have launched a campaign behind the slogan "We Want Human Rights, not the Olympics" to capture the frustration of local farmers, who feel that the Bejing Olympics is being used to distract attention from violations of their human rights, such as the confiscation of their land. Later the slogan was adopted by other groups around the country.

Yang Chunlin was tried by the Jiamusi City Intermediate People's Court in Heilongjiang Province on 19 February 2008 on charges of ‘inciting subversion of state power’. He pleaded not guilty, but the verdict has yet to be announced. Yang Chunlin was taken from the detention cell in Heitong police station, Jiamusi City, to the court by eight police officers in a police van; one held him by the neck in an arm lock to take him to and from the van. He was forced to wear a hood over his head as well as handcuffs and shackles round his feet. This made it impossible for him to climb into the van so he was thrown in roughly by the police.

When he arrived at the court building he was forced to walk up six floors in this state. The handcuffs, shackles and hood were eventually removed when his lawyer protested. His lawyer believes that this treatment was aimed at humiliating Yang Chunlin. The trial started at 9:00am and ended at around 2:30pm. During the process, Yang Chunlin was forced to sit on a metal chair with a ring around the bottom which was used to lock his legs in place and fix his sitting position. He was unable to stretch, move or stand up throughout the trial. The handcuffs, shackles and hood were put back on after the trial and he was taken back to detention centre.

This treatment follows previous reports that Yang was tortured in police custody. For six days in early August and one day in September 2007, his arms and legs were reportedly stretched and chained to the four corners of an iron bed so that he could not move. He was forced to eat, drink and defecate in that position, and clean up the defecation made by other detainees subjected to the same treatment.

He was also reportedly beaten by a detainee in the same cell with detention officers failing to intervene to stop the assaults. Yang was given no opportunity to raise these allegations in court.

Yang was detained on 6 July 2007. He was denied access to lawyers for several weeks on grounds that his case apparently involved ‘state secrets’, although such charges were not levelled at the time of trial. When he was eventually allowed to see his lawyer, on 25 October 2007, the police reportedly ended the meeting when his lawyer tried to discuss the details of his case and his treatment in detention.

 

Human rights activist Yang Chunlin, who has been detained for nearly 8 months, went on trial on 19 February for his involvement in collecting signatures for a petition entitled "We Want Human Rights, not the Olympics".

During his five and a half hour trial, he was forced to sit on a metal chair with a ring around the bottom which was used to lock his legs in place and fix his sitting position. He was unable to stretch, move or stand up throughout

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