China Human Rights Briefing May 26-May 31, 2011

Highlights

• First Conviction of “Jasmine Revolution” Detainee: After a quick hearing, Sichuan-based rights activist Li Shuangde (李双德) was sentenced on June 1 to four months and fined 20,000 RMB for “credit card fraud”  by the Jinjiang District Court in Chengdu City, Sichuan Province. The sentence for Li, a long-time legal advocate detained on March 24 as part of the “Jasmine Revolution” crackdown, includes time served and is set to expire on July 22.
• Human Rights Lawyer Released After Extended Disappearance: Li Tiantian (李天天), a Shanghai-based human rights lawyer who disappeared in February, was released from enforced disappearance on May 24 and flown to her hometown in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. Li explained her lengthy public absence on a blog post the day after being released, and her blog was subsequently shut down.

Contents

• Arbitrary Detention
  • Updates on Detentions and Disappearances Related to the “Jasmine Revolution” Crackdown
  • Hubei Petitioner Detained in Psychiatric Hospital
• Harassment of Activists
  • Police in Henan Seize Local AIDS Activist to Prevent Interview with Al Jazeera
  • Beijing Police Round Up, Expel Hundreds of Shanghai Petitioners
• Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment and Punishment
  • Imprisoned Hunan Activist Xie Fulin Beaten by Drunk Prison Guard
  • Guizhou Woman Forced to Undergo Sterilization Procedure

ArbitraryDetentionUpdateson Detentions and Disappearances Related to the“Jasmine Revolution” CrackdownOn the morning of June1, Sichuan-based rightsactivist Li Shuangde (李双德) was sentencedto four months in prison and fined 20,000 RMB for“credit card fraud” by theJinjiang District Court in Chengdu City, SichuanProvince. Li is the firstactivist arrested during the “Jasmine Revolution”crackdown known to beconvicted of a crime and sentenced to prison. Thesentence came following a20-minute court hearing; a hearing was originallyscheduled for the previousday, but when Li’s supporters and relatives arrived atthe courthouse, theywere told that the trial had been “canceled” and thatLi had pleaded guilty.Li’s lawyer argued that he was unaware of the guiltyplea, and asked the courtto produce his client to ascertain the claim, but thecourt refused thisrequest. A well-known legal advocate who has workedfor years to helpvulnerable groups protect their rights, Li was alsonot allowed to meet withhis lawyer prior to the hearing. Based on time served,Li, who was taken intocustody on March 24, is scheduled to be imprisonedthrough July 22. (CHRD)[i] In addition, on May24, Shanghai-based human rightslawyer Li Tiantian (李天天) was releasedand flown to her hometown in the Xinjiang UyghurAutonomous Region after morethan three months of enforced disappearance. CHRDlearned that Li, whodisappeared on February 19, had been placed under“residential surveillance” ata guesthouse in an unknown location during the threemonths she was missing. Liwas held in a windowless room for the duration ofthese months, aside frombeing taken to a police station on several occasionsto be interrogated abouther reposting of messages related to the “JasmineRevolution.” When Li said shehas a right to hire a lawyer, the police told her that“the law is not ashield.” Police threatened her, saying that she wouldbe beaten and also lockedup in an “iron cage” if she failed to cooperate.Police in Shanghai demandedthat Li immediately report to them upon returning tothe city. (CHRD) [ii]On May 25, a day afterbeing released, Li explainedher absence on her Sina blog in a post entitled, “May24: I Was Discharged fromthe Hospital,” symbolically incorporating a fableabout a hornet and a bird. Herblog was subsequently shut down and remains so at thetime of writing, but herpost from May 25 was saved and translated onSiweiluozi’s blog, at:http://www.siweiluozi.net/2011/05/li-tiantian-fable-of-hornet-bird-and.html.For a list (updatedMay 26) of the 12 activistsstill missing, as well as information on others whohave been detained ordisappeared in recent months as part of the ongoingcrackdown on civil society,please see our website: http://chrdnet.org/2011/04/15/jasmine_crackdown/. HubeiPetitioner Detained in Psychiatric Hospital On May 31, CHRDlearned that Hubei Province-basedpetitioner Zhao Kefeng (赵克凤) is beingdetained in a psychiatric institution in XiangfanCity, Hubei. Zhao was seizedin Beijing by officials from the Beijing LiaisonOffice of the Hubei Provincialgovernment on May 19 and forcibly returned toXiangfan, where she was thentaken to the Zhangwan Hospital. Zhao has beenpetitioning since 2004 forredress of what she believes to be an unjust ruling inthe criminal caseinvolving her son’s death. (CHRD)[iii]Harassmentof ActivistsPolicein Henan Seize Local AIDS Activist to PreventInterview with Al JazeeraOn May 25, a reporterfrom Al Jazeera TV arrived inShuangmiao Village, seeking to interview 48 year-old Zhu Longwei (朱龙伟), a localHIV/AIDS activist and director of a local AIDSprevention group. Zhu wasdragged from an Al Jazeera car by local officials andforced into a policevehicle; his current whereabouts are unknown. As ofthe time of writing, sixindividuals are stationed outside of his home, andfamily members cannot leave.Al Jazeera sought to speak with Zhu about the GlobalFund to Fight AIDS,Tuberculosis and Malaria’s decision to halt funding toChina after a disputeover the Chinese government’s monitoring of grantmoney and its failure toadequately involve civil society groups in the fightagainst AIDS. Zhu recentlywrote an article about corruption among officialsresponsible for handlingGlobal Fund funding in China. (Aizhixing)BeijingPolice Round Up, Expel Hundreds of ShanghaiPetitionersOn the afternoon ofMay 27, more than 200Shanghai-based petitioners who came to presentgrievances in Beijing were takenaway to the city’s outskirts. After leaving the StateBureau of Letters andVisits, the petitioners were walking oppositeTaoranting Park after 5 p.m. whenthey were rounded up by several dozen Beijing policeofficers. The individualswere driven off in more than 10 vehicles and handedover to officials from theBeijing Liaison Office of the Shanghai government, whothen bused thepetitioners away from the capital. Shortly after 6p.m., a Shanghai petitionersent out a message about the situation and added thatat least one member ofthe group, an elderly female petitioner, had beenpunched and kicked byofficials. (CHRD)[iv]Tortureand Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatmentand Punishment ImprisonedHunan Activist Xie Fulin Beaten by Drunk PrisonGuardOn the morning of May31, Jin Yan (金焰),wife of imprisoned activist Xie Fulin (谢福林), visited herhusband in Hunan Province’s Changsha Prison. Accordingto Jin, Xie reported hehad been seriously beaten by a prison guard theprevious day. Xie told his wifehe was lying on his bed, having just taken his bloodpressure medication, whena guard came to his cell for an inspection. Xie wasfeeling ill and unable tostand when the guard demanded he do so, and the guard,reeking of alcohol,proceeded to drag Xie down a flight of stairs,striking him along the way. Xiewas taken to the prison infirmary, where he spent thenight. Jin added thatguards have also threatened to lock Xie in solitaryconfinement for a minimumof three months. (CHRD)[v]GuizhouWoman Forced to Undergo Sterilization ProcedureOn May 27, LuoXueqin (罗学琴),a mother of two from Huaxi District, Guiyang City,Guizhou Province, was forcedto undergo tubal ligation by local family planningofficials. According to Luo,she was at home with her two children, an infant and atoddler, when more than10 officials arrived at her door. They told her tosend her elder child to theneighbor’s and to come with them; Luo was not toldwhere they were going orwhy. She was taken to a local hospital, where theofficials forced her into anoperating room and the procedure was performed. Priorto the surgery, Luo hadreceived no advance warning or notification fromfamily planning officials.(CHRD)[vi]Editors: David Smalls and Lin Sang Follow us on Twitter:  @CHRDnetNewsupdates from CHRD

[i]“Li Shuangde Sentenced to Four MonthsinPrison, Fined 20,000 RMB” (判处有期徒刑4个月罚款2万元), May 31, 2011, http://wqw2010.blogspot.com/2011/05/42.html;  “XinQingxian: a Record of Li Shuangde’s Trialon May 31, 2011” (幸 清贤：李双德2011年5月31日开庭纪实),May31, 2011, http://wqw2010.blogspot.com/2011/05/2011531.html“Trial inLi Shuangde Case to Begin on May 31” (四川李双德案5月31日开庭),May27, 2011, http://wqw2010.blogspot.com/2011/05/531.html

[ii]“HumanRights Lawyer Li Tiantian Released After ThreeMonths of Residential Surveillance”(维权律师李天天被监视居住3个多月后获自由),May 25, 2011, http://wqw2010.blogspot.com/2011/05/3.html

[iii]“AnotherHubei Petitioner, Zhao Kefeng, Detained inPsychiatric Institution” (湖北又一访民赵克凤被关入精神病 院), May 31, 2011, http://wqw2010.blogspot.com/2011/05/blog-post_6001.html

[iv]“MoreThan 200 Shanghai Petitioners Expelled to BeijingOutskirts” (200多名上海访民被扔到郊外),May 27, 2011, http://wqw2010.blogspot.com/2011/05/200_27.html

[v]“DrunkPrison Guards Beat Xie Fulin, Threaten to Shut Himin Solitary Confinement” (狱警酒后殴打谢福林，威胁关其禁闭),May 31, 2011, http://wqw2010.blogspot.com/2011/05/blog-post_8025.html

[vi]“AnotherViolent Forced Birth Control Incident on theOutskirts of Guiyang City” (贵阳城郊再次发生暴力计划生育事件),May 30, 2011, http://wqw2010.blogspot.com/2011/05/blog-post_118.html