China Human Rights Briefing Weekly  February 2-8, 2011

ArbitraryDetentionOnEve of New Year, Hubei Activist Yao LifaKidnapped, Held in Jiangxi Province Hubei-based humanrights defender Yao Lifa (姚立法)was kidnapped and held for three days, first in Wuhanand later in a hotel inNanchang City, Jiangxi Province, CHRD learned thisweek. Yao was taken awayfrom his home in Qianjiang City on the evening ofJanuary 31 by police officerswho claimed they needed him to “give a statement.”When Yao did not returnhome, his wife became suspicious, and on February 1,she went to the policestation to inquire about his whereabouts. There, shewas struck by policeofficers, sustaining injuries to her back.  Yao returned home on the evening ofFebruary3. Yao, a veteran human rights and democracy activist,has been repeatedlyharassed, threatened, and kidnapped by police andlocal officials in recentyears. Most recently, he went missing for fourteendays in late November andearly December 2010, around the time of the NobelPeace Prize awardceremony.  (CHRD)[i]Freedom ofExpressionThousands SignOnline DocumentProtesting Firing of Journalist Chang PingAn online documentprotesting the firing ofprominent journalist Chang Ping (长平)has gained over 2400 signatures in a little over oneweek. News that Chang Pinghad been forced to leave the Southern Media Groupfirst appeared on January 27,and on January 29, the statement supporting him wasposted to a Google webpage.To view the statement and add your name to the list ofsignatories, pleaseclick here. Chang, a columnist whofrequently wrote about socialproblems, democracy, and civil society, had previouslylost his position asdeputy-editor-in-chief of Southern MetropolisWeekly and had his columnsremoved from Southern Weekend and SouthernMetropolis Daily as aresult of his work on “sensitive” issues. (CHRD)[ii]Freedom ofInformationPolice in GuiyangHarass Activists toPrevent Spread of News about Egypt, TunisiaCHRD learned onFebruary 7 that police in GuiyangCity, Guizhou Province have been cracking down onefforts by Guizhou-basedhuman rights defenders to distribute informationrelated to human rights anddemocracy because of concern about recent events inEgypt and Tunisia.According to activists Mi Chongbiao (糜崇标)and Tian Zuxiang (田祖湘),they and others have been approached by police inGuiyang's Minquan Square andQianling Park and ordered to stop handing out copiesof news articles printedout from rights-focused websites. Concerned that localcitizens would learnabout the democratic uprisings in North Africa, thepolice told the Guizhou humanrights defenders that it was an "unusual time" andoffered to paythem 3000 RMB to cover their costs if they would agreenot to hand out anyarticles. (CHRD)[iii]Editors: David Smalls and Lin Sang Follow us on Twitter:  @CHRDnetNewsupdates from CHRD

[i]"ElectionsExpert Yao Lifa Kidnapped, Taken to Nanchang" (选举专家姚立法被 绑架到南昌), February 2,2011, http://news.boxun.com/news/gb/china/2011/02/201102021152.shtml

[ii]"2380Domestic and Overseas People Jointly Sign in Supportof Chang Ping" (2380名海内外各界人士连署签名支持长平),February 5, 2011, http://www.peacehall.com/news/gb/china/2011/02/201102051551.shtml

[iii]"Democratic Upsurge in North Africa Affects GuizhouCivil RightsDisplay" (北非民主潮 影响到贵州民权橱窗),February 8, 2011, http://news.boxun.com/news/gb/china/2011/02/201102080846.shtml