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China
290. By letter dated 2 September 2002, the Special Rapporteur advised the Government that he had received information on the following individual cases.
291. Li Wangyang, a veteran labour activist in Shaoyang, Hunan province, was reportedly sentenced on 20 September 2001 to ten years' imprisonment on charges of “incitement to subvert State power”, after he allegedly went on hunger strike, demanding compensation for ill-treatment to which he had allegedly been subjected in the past. It was believed that he was seriously ill with heart problems and goitre.
292. Xu Jian, a lawyer from Baotou City, Inner Mongolia, was reportedly arrested in December 1999 and sentenced to four years’ imprisonment by Baotou City Intermediate People’s Court on 18 July 2000 for “incitement to overthrow State power”. He was allegedly held in Area Two of Chifeng Prison, Inner Mongolia, and that he was believed to suffer from hepatitis. His condition was said to have deteriorated to a critical level.
293. By the same letter, the Special Rapporteur advised the Government that he had continued to receive information on the following individual cases of Falun Gong practitioners.
294. Hélène Petit, a French woman, was reportedly assaulted by police officers on 20 November 2001 in Tienanmen Square, Beijing, where she was alleged to have gathered with other foreigners to peacefully protest the alleged persecution of Falun Gong practitioners. Reportedly, she was grabbed by the arms by two police officers and taken away in a police van. It was reported that she was forcibly put into the van and that her legs hit the door many times as a result of which she allegedly sustained bruises on her legs. In the police van a police officer reportedly squeezed her neck against the hedge of the seat and cut it with the strap of her handbag, strangling her and preventing her from moving. At the police station she was reportedly pushed down the stairs and a policeman is thought to have tried to force his hands into her genitals.
295. He Zhihong (f) was reportedly arrested on 3 July 2001 by the Sa District Police, Daqing City, and taken to the Fuqiang Police Station, Daqing City, where she was allegedly beaten and kicked by police officers. As a result, she reportedly sustained bruises on her face and arms. On 4 July 2001 she was reportedly transferred to the Daqing Detention Centre, where it was alleged that she was chained to an iron chair and prevented from sleeping for six consecutive days by officers from Daqing Police Station and the Sa District Police Station. As she reportedly went on hunger strike to protest this treatment, she was allegedly force-fed. Despite her poor condition, she was reportedly sent to perform forced labour in the Harbin City Drug Rehabilitation Centre, Harbin City, Heilongjiang Province. In October 2001 she reportedly went again on hunger strike and was allegedly forced-fed.
296. Tang Zengye (f) was reportedly arrested on 3 July 2001 for practising Falun Gong and transferred to Daqing Detention Centre, where she was alleged to have been beaten and kicked. She was reported to have been handcuffed and hung up for one day and later handcuffed to an iron chair for four consecutive days. It was also reported that she went on hunger strike to protest this treatment and that she was eventually force-fed. On 10 July 2001 a doctor allegedly inserted a force- feeding tube into her nose approximately 20 times and on 12 July 2001 she was reportedly forcefed and dragged on the floor. An unknown substance was reportedly injected into her by force and as a result she is believed to have become extremely weak. instead of being transferred to a hospital, she was reportedly sent to the provincial drug rehabilitation centre in Harbin City.
297. Chen Yutao was reportedly taken to Huanxiling Labour Camp on 25 September 2001, after having been detained for nine months in both the Detention Centres No. 3 and No. 1 in Jilin City and sentenced to two years of forced labour. Reportedly, upon his arrival at the labour camp, he was beaten with electric batons for three hours by guards led by a policeman. Other inmates are believed to have been instigated to beat him and to deprive him of food.
298. Wang Zhaohui, a Falun Gong practitioner, was reportedly arrested, detained and beaten on 8 August 2001 at the Chuanying Branch of the Jilin City Police Bureau and sent to Yongji County Detention Centre two days later. It was reported that he was beaten again in the Detention Centre and that he went on hunger strike to protest both the detention and the treatment to which he was subjected. On 24 August 2001 he was reportedly sentenced to three years of forced labour and sent to Huanxiling Labour Camp, where he was allegedly handcuffed and beaten by the guards. A policeman was said to have stepped on his shoulder for a long time. As a result, he was allegedly unable to lift his arms for a fortnight. He was reported to have been kept in Unit No. 3 where the other inmates were allegedly instigated by the guards to attack him.
299. Chen Aizhong, a Falun Gong practitioner, was reportedly sentenced to three years of forced labour on 12 September 2001 and sent to Tanghsan No. 1 Labour Camp in Hebei Province, where he reportedly died on 20 September 2001. It was alleged that when her sister saw her body in the mortuary, she observed bruises all over the corpse. Their younger brother Chan Aili, a Falun Gong practitioner as well, was reportedly detained in Tangshan City Jidong Prison. On 8 January 2002 he was said to have been seen by somebody who indicated that his weight had considerably gone down and that he showed several signs of dementia.
300. Ming Zhao, a Falun Gong practitioner studying in Ireland, was reportedly arrested on 1 May 2000 in Beijing and sent to Turn He Labour Camp, Beijing. He was believed to have been kept in custody for 22 months without having been charged. It was reported that in the labour camp he went on a hunger strike but was violently force-fed. During his first month of detention at the labour camp, he was reportedly beaten, in particular on the head, and kicked on the legs while he was tied to a chair. He was believed to have been deprived of sleep and to have been forced to remain in uncomfortable postures known as the “military squatting” and the “driving plane” (sticking the back and arms to the wall with the face towards the ground). Two weeks before being released, he was allegedly tightly tied on a wood bed board by five policemen and subjected to electric shocks. He was reportedly released on 12 March 2002.
301. Thousands of Falun Gong practitioners are reportedly detained in Wanjia Labour Camp, Harbin City, Heilongjiang Province. They are allegedly forced to work long hours, violently force-fed when on hunger strike to protest against their detention or the conditions of their detention, or not given enough food, injected with debilitating drugs and subjected to sleep deprivation or forced to sleep on wet weed mats or on the ground. Despite the fact that winter temperatures are said to range between -10° C and -20° C at night, detainees were reported to wear thin clothing and guards allegedly left the doors and windows open. It was reported that virtually all the practitioners have scabies all over their bodies and some have developed cankers. They were said to be often held in solitary confinement in approximately two square metres cells for long periods, during which they were allegedly beaten and not allowed to have visits, to talk, to take baths or to wash their clothes. The Special Rapporteur had also received information according to which some detainees had been tied to an iron chair for extended periods, raped, subjected to electric shocks and beaten.
302. In particular, the Special Rapporteur had received information on the following individual cases.
303. Zhang Yulan (f) was reportedly sent to the Wanjia Labour Camp in October 1999, where she was alleged to have died on 15 June 2001. Her family was reportedly not allowed to see her corpse until 23 June 2001. It was reported that her body sustained deep rope marks on her neck.
304. Li Xiuqin (f), detained at Wanjia Labour Camp since 26 December 1999, started a hunger strike on 2 April 2001 to protest the treatment to which she was allegedly subjected in the camp. She was believed to have been force-fed 16 times during her 25 days of strike and to have been given rotten milk. It was reported that she was grabbed by the hair, slapped and kicked on several occasions by the chief of the Wanjia Labour Camp Hospital. Reportedly, on 18 June 2001 she was isolated into a small cell where her hands were cuffed behind her back and pulled up until her toes were off the ground by a guard. While in this posture, she was allegedly beaten. She was reported to have died after about 40 consecutive hours of hanging. Her body was believed to have been cremated by the police before notifying her relatives of her death. The family was allegedly sent an urn containing her ashes.
305. Shao Ying (f) was reportedly sent to Wanjia Labour Camp in 2000. On 3 April 2001 she allegedly went on hunger strike to protest her detention, which she claimed to be illegal, and the treatment to which she was believed to have been subjected while in custody. It was reported that she was beaten, in particular on the head and chest, and kicked by the Chief of the Wanjia Labour Camp Hospital. Another doctor reportedly inserted a tube into her stomach and then pulled it out four consecutive times. She is believed to have died on 20 June 2001 after a guard allegedly hung her in the air for approximately 40 hours.
306. He Miao (f) and Deng Weiguo were reportedly arrested in July 2001 by officers from Harbin City Police Department. Deng Weiguo reportedly died after having been thrown out of a window from the 12th floor of the Police Department building. He Miao was allegedly transferred to Wanjia Labour Camp where she was believed to have gone on hunger strike to protest her detention. She was allegedly beaten by guards and subsequently taken into solitary confinement. She was believed to have been force-fed with tubes by a doctor helped by some guards on 29 October 2001. She was reportedly grabbed by the hair, and repeatedly punched, slapped and kicked. She was said to have been force- fed and beaten again on 1 November 2001. It was alleged that on the 30th day of her hunger strike, on 20 November 2001, she was dragged into a guard’s office, handcuffed to a heater pipe, punched, kicked and slapped by a guard and another detainee.
307. Gao Shuyan (f), a detainee at Wanjia Labour Camp, was reportedly put in solitary confinement on 2 April 2001 and beaten by a guard. As a result, the following day she allegedly went on huger strike in protest. On 6 April 2001 she was reportedly force-fed. It was reported that on 16 April 2001 she was sent to the camp hospital where she was allegedly forcibly given an injection.
308. Guo Minxsia (f) had reportedly gone on hunger strike several times to protest her detention, which she claimed was illegal. It was reported that she was beaten by the guards and other prisoners. On 24 October 2001 she was allegedly slapped twice by the chief of the Wanjia Labour Camp Hospital. She was reported to have been forcibly given an injection and taken into solitary confinement. On 7 November 2001 doctors from the camp allegedly pulled out her hair. She was believed to have been force- fed for over 50 days and to have vomited blood on the fortieth day. On 6 December 2001 she was sent again to the Wanjia Labour Camp Hospital along with four other Falun Gong practitioners on hunger strike, Hao Xiuzhi, Ding Yanhong, He Miao, and Shang Yuxia. It was reported that they were all force- fed, hit and kicked by the medical staff.
309. Guo Hongyu (f) was reportedly confined to an iron chair on 4 May 2001. Several guards, the Chief of the Wanjia Labour Camp Hospital, and the leader of team No.12 were reported to have forced a tube into her nose. As a result, her nasal cavity and oesophagus were damaged and she started bleeding. She was then reportedly kept restrained to an iron chair.
310. Tan Guizhen (f) was reportedly sent to a small cell and tied to an iron chair on 1 May 2001. She was reported to have gone on hunger strike to protest the treatment to which she was subjected. On 4 May 2001 she was reportedly force-fed by a guard who allegedly pulled up and down the force-feeding tube allegedly with a view to hurting her.
311. Hao Xiuzhi (f) reportedly went on hunger strike in October 2001 to protest her detention, which she claimed was illegal. She was alleged to have been force- fed and forcibly injected on her ninth day of strike. She was believed to have been grabbed by the hair, pinched and beaten by the guards and nurses.
312. Shang Yuqiu (f) reportedly went on hunger strike on 20 October 2001 to protest her detention, which she claimed was illegal. On 20 November 2001 she was reportedly grabbed by the hair and her head was hit against a wall by a doctor after she refused to be force-fed. She was believed to have been beaten by two male doctors until her face was bleeding.
313. Wu Jiyang (f) reportedly went on hunger strike on 24 January 2001 to protest her detention and the treatment to which she was subjected. As a result, she was reported to have been tied to the top of a cell door and hung by her wrists. It was alleged that she had difficulty breathing and that she fainted. On her sixth day of hunger strike, she was reportedly force- fed and tied to an iron chair.
314. Liu, Li Pan, Liu Fengzhen, Xie Jinxian, Yang Huiling, Song Yusu, Wu Shulian, Cao Liandi, Wu Xinru and X Shurong, and approximately 60 other female detainees were reportedly taken to male units on 24 May 2001 by order of the director of the labour camp. The women were allegedly hung up, beaten, subjected to electric shocks, forced to stand 24 hours a day or to remain in uncomfortable postures for extended periods, deprived of sleep and not allowed to take showers or change clothes. Several women were believed to have been raped by inmates and guards. Reportedly, Song Yusu was put into a water tank; Wu Shulian was drenched and subjected to electric shocks; Cao Liandi was hung up until she lost consciousness; Xie Jinxian, Wu Xinru and X Shurong were hung up, beaten with batons and subjected to electric shocks; Yang Huiling was hung up and her arm was dislocated; and Liu Fengzhen and Xie Jinxian were sent back to the female units where they were tied up and hung for five to six days, and beaten by the head of the female unit No.12.
315. Liu Dongyun (f) was reportedly grabbed by the hair by a chief, pushed to the ground, beaten and kicked on 24 January 2001. It was alleged that she was subsequently grabbed by the hair and dragged into a solitary cell. She reportedly went on hunger strike for 30 days to protest this treatment. She was reportedly released on 10 May 2001.
316. Lei Chuanqing (f) was reportedly beaten by male police guards allegedly for refusing to stop practising Falun Gong. She was believed to have sustained bruises all over her body and to have had difficulty moving for one month. On 18 June 2001 she was reportedly beaten approximately 40 times by two section chiefs and forced to take off her pants in front of them.
317. Wang Guihua (f) was reportedly sentenced to one year of forced labour in Wanjia Labour Camp on 21 January 2001, after she allegedly went to Beijing in December 2001 to appeal to the Government to stop the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners. It is reported that in Wanjia Labour Camp she was beaten after she allegedly practiced Falun Gong with other detainees.
318. Li Lan (f) was reportedly isolated in a cell for over seven months and tied to an iron chair. She allegedly went on hunger strike to protest. On 16 November 2001, two guards reportedly sealed her mouth with tape and beat her. Lu Shiping (f), another detainee, was reportedly subjected to the same treatment. On the following day, Li Tan was allegedly slapped in the face and gagged with dirty socks.
319. Ding Yanhong (f) was reportedly beaten by two guards on 2 Novemb er 2001 because she had allegedly been talking with her cellmate. It was reported that on the following day she was beaten again by two other guards. She was believed to have been beaten again with a broom on 6 November 2001.
320. Pan Xuanhua (f) was reportedly beaten by six policemen on 26 April 2000 and forced to sit on an iron chair for three days. She allegedly went on hunger strike for 17 days to protest this treatment and was forced to sit again on an iron chair for seven days and later taken to a solitary cell for approximately 45 days. On 10 August 2000 she was sent again, along with other Falun Gong practitioners, Zhang Hong, Li Yanhong, Zuo Xiuyun and Wang Fang, to an isolation cell where she was kept for five months. While in solitary confinement she was reportedly handcuffed and forced to listen to loudly played recordings that allegedly slandered Falun Gong. On 24 January 2001 she was reportedly knocked to the ground, grabbed by the hair and arms and taken again to an isolation cell where she was allegedly beaten and kicked. Subsequently she was reportedly forced to sit on an iron chair. The guard reportedly beat her with his fists and with electric batons.
321. Sam Guo was reportedly arrested in March 2000, and sent to the Feng Tia Detention Centre. He was reportedly interrogated and beaten by the police. It was reported that he was forced into a cell containing 25 prisoners. It was believed that he was punched in the chest and kicked by other inmates, who then stripped him naked and proceeded to slowly pour icy water on him starting from the head down. It is said that the water was so cold that his head turned numb.
322. Many Falun Gong practionioners are reportedly detained in Shijiazhuang Labour Camp, Hebei Province, where it was alleged that in 2001 the Labour Camp authorities resorted to violence against them, including subjecting detainees to beatings with clubs, electric batons and ropes, hanging them handcuffed on iron pipes for extended periods during which only the tips of their toes could touch the ground, inserting needles into their fingers, smashing their fingers with hammers, depriving them of sleep, forcing them to stay in uncomfortable postures for long periods and brainwashing them. Such assaults are reported to have been intensified in the second fortnight of June 2001. Several Falun Gong practitioners, including Tao Hongsheng, Liu Xiurong, Liu Shusong, Zhao Fengnian and Ding Gangzi, reportedly died as a result of such treatment.
323. A number of Falung Gong practitioners were also reported to be detained in Masanjia Labour Camp, Shenyang City, Liaoning Province. They were reportedly forced to work 15 hours a day, forced to stay in uncomfortable postures for extended periods (for instance, practitioners are said to be kept in a head-down bending posture or forced to stand against a wall, to squat in a 30cm by 30cm area, or to stand with the knees bent and the arms held parallel to the ground), beaten, subjected to electrical shocks, kept in 8 by 3 feet isolation cells handcuffed to the door for one to two weeks, and deprived of sleep. Some prisoners were believed to have been hung, with their arms and legs spread for up to four hours.
324. In particular, the Special Rapporteur transmitted information on the following individual cases.
325. Jiang Yuqing (f) was reportedly taken to a separate room on 2 August 2000 and beaten until she allegedly vomited blood. It was reported that afterwards she could not eat and that she could barely walk. She was believed to have sustained cuts and bruises all over her body, to have suffered from pain in her internal organs and to have passed blood in her stool for over one month. She was also alleged to have lost consciousness.
326. Yu Suzhen (f) was reportedly assaulted along with seven other Falun Gong practitioners of Cell No. 2 on 7 August 2000. It was reported that her hair was pulled and that she was slapped in the face. On 13 September 2000 she was reportedly subjected to electric shocks.
327. Qi Zhenrong (f) had allegedly been stripped naked and hit with electric batons several times. It is alleged that as a result she sustained blisters and bumps. In September 2001 she reportedly took part in a hunger strike staged by 130 Falun Gong practitioners, who were protesting their detention. She allegedly fasted for more than 40 days and was eventually transferred to Masanjia Labour Camp Hospital.
328. By the same letter dated 2 September 2002, the Special Rapporteur advised the Government that he had received follow-up information concerning Geshe Sonam Phuntsok on behalf of whom the Special Rapporteur sent an urgent appeal on 9 November 1999 (E/CN.4/2000/9, para. 236) to which the Government replied on 16 May 2000 (E/CN.4/2001/66, para. 310), indicating that inquiries revealed that there were no such lamas as Geshe Sonam Phuntsok in Karze county. According to the new information received, he was reported to have been sentenced in 2001.
329. By letter dated 10 October 2002, the Special Rapporteur, jointly with the Special Representative on human rights defenders, advised the Government that he had received information according to which Li Qun, who allegedly wrote a letter on 13 March 2000 to the Office of Appeal of Nanjing City government calling on the Government to respect the rights of Falun Gong practitioners allegedly being confined and forcibly given harmful drugs in the Nanjing Psychiatric Hospital, was reportedly taken herself to the psychiatric hospital, where she was allegedly force- fed and forced to take psychotropic drugs, with apparent damage to her brain.
330. By letter dated 17 October 2002, the Special Rapporteur reminded the Government of a number of cases sent in 1998, 1999 and 2001 regarding which no reply had been received. By letter dated 11 November 2002, the Government informed the Special Rapporteur that an investigation into the cases included in the letter was under way. The Government indicated that a response will be provided in the future.
Urgent appeals
331. On 24 January 2002, the Speical Rapporteur sent a joint urgent appeal with the Special Rapporteurs on violence against women, and on the right to freedom of opinion and expression and the Chairman-Rapporteur of the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention on behalf of Connie Chipkar, a Canadian Falun Gong practitioner, who had reportedly been arrested in Tienanmen Square, Be ijing, on 23 January 2002. It is alleged that she wore a sash that read "Falun Gong" and "SOS" and began to practise Falun Gong.
332. On 5 February 2002, the Special Rapporteur sent a joint urgent appeal with the Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief on behalf Wei Yanjiang, a 60-year-old woman from Huludao City, Liaoning Province, who was reportedly arrested on 22 December 2001 in Beijing. She was believed to have been detained at the Shunyi County Police Station, Beijing, where she was handcuffed and forced to stand outdoors in the cold winter weather, wearing only a shirt. To protest against her arrest, she is believed to have gone on hunger strike. On the eighteenth day of her hunger strike, she was reported to have been sent to Masanjia Labor Camp, where in March 2001, three Falun Gong practioners were allegedly beaten to death.
333. By letter dated 24 May 2002, the Government responded that Wei Yanjiang had twice been taken into administrative detention for disrupting public order and has spent a year in re-education through labour. Following her release, she showed no willingness to reform and continued to take part in activities that disrupted social order. On 8 January 2002, the Huludao City law enforcement authorities assigned her to three years’ re-education through labour. The re-education facility treated her sympathetically. She was found to be suffering from a heart disease and was given prompt treatment. She was not ill-treated.
334. On 6 February 2002, the Special Rapporteur sent a joint urgent appeal with the Special Rapporteurn on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions and the Chairman-Rapporteur of the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention on behalf of Xu Fuming, Hu Yong, Gong Bangkun, Gong Shengliang and Li Tongjin (also known as “Immanuel”), who were reportedly sentenced to death on 29 Decmeber 2001 in Hubei Province in connection with their membership of an unofficial Christina organization, the Hunan (South China) Church. Fears had been expressed that their confessions may have been extracted under duress. They also intervened on behalf of three women, Zhang Hongjuan, Li Tongjin and Yang Tongni, who had reportedly been detained on separate occasions between August and October 2001, and were said to have been tortured during interrogation in an apparent attempt to make them confess to having had a sexual relationship with Gong Shengliang., who was reportedly sentenced to death on charges including rape. Police officers at the Public Security Bureau detention centre in Zhongxiang City, Hubei Province, reportedly shackled Zhang Hongjuan’s and Li Tongjin’s hands and feet, ripped open their shirt and beat them on the chest with an electric baton. Yang Tongni was reportedly kicked and beaten, tied up with a rope, whipped with a leather belt, had her hands cuffed behind her back and had books wedged between the handcuffs and her back by police officers at Jingmen Police School and Jingmen No.1 Detention Centre. Yong Tongni and Li Tongjin were reported to be serving three-year terms at Sha yang Labour Camp in Hubei Province. The whereabouts of Zhang Hongjuan were not known.
335. On 8 February 2002, the Special Rapporteur sent a joint urgent appeal with the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions and the Chairman-Rapporteur of the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention on behalf of Chen Yunchuan, who was serving a two-year sentence in Datangwan Prison of Zhangjiakou City, Hebei Province. His wife, Wang Lianying, was said to be missing since January 2001, their daughter, Chen Hongni, was said to be detained without warrant in Gaoyang Labor Camp in Baoding City, Hebei Province, and their son, Chen Aizhong, was said to have been sentenced to three years of forced labor in the Tangshan No. 1 Labor Camp in Hebei Province. On 20 September 2001, eight days after having been sentenced, the latter was allegedly tortured to death. His body was said to have been covered with wounds and bruises. Furthermore, another son, Chen Aili, was reportedly detained in the Tangshan City Jidong Prison where he was believed to be suffering from serious depression and diagnosed as having a low immune function due to depression. It is alleged that he was forced to take drugs through force-feeding. They are all said to have been detained for practising Falun Gong.
336. By letter dated 3 September 2002, the Government informed the Special Rapporteur that the handing down of criminal sentences and labour re-education sentences on them was conducted in accordance with the law and did not entail the infringement of any human rights. Concerning Chen Yunchuan, the Government indicated that he was sentenced on 9 January 2001 to a term of two years’ imprisonment for using threats of violence to obstruct public officials in the performance of their duties. He was serving his sentence in the north district prison in Shijiazhuang. While in prison he manifested good behaviour and his state of mind was stable. Concerning Wang Lianying (Wang Lianrong), the Government reported that that she was detained by the Hebei public security authorities for disrpting public order. She was released in early 2001 and her whereabouts were not known at the time of writing. Concerning Chen Aili, the Government noted that on 9 January 2001 he was sentenced to two years’ imprisonment for using threats of violence to obstruct public officials in the performance of their duties and was first sent to Zhuoln county jail in Hebei Province. The Government indicated that while in prison he committed self- mutilations and went on hunger strike in protest against his sentence. In August 2001 he was transferred to Jidong Prison in Hebei, where he continued his hunger strike. He showed symptoms of severe mental depression and other psychological disorders and was consequently transferred to hospital for treatment. He eventually ended his hunger strike. According to the Government, his health condition improved after December 2001. Concerning Chen Aizhong, the Government noted that on 17 November 2000 he was sentenced to three years’ re-education through labour for seriously disrupting public order and was sent to Tangshan City labour re-education facility on 12 September 2001. Before being admitted to the facility, he went on hunger strike and his health condition was poor. At the facility, he was provided with supplementary nutrition by intravenous and nasal feeding. He was transferred to Tangshan City people’s hospital on 19 September 2001 after he started coughing and vomiting. The Government confirmed that he died the day after as a result of the collapse of his respiratory and circulatory systems and acute renal failure. Concerning Chen Hongni (Chen Hongping), the Government informed the Special Rapporteur that on 17 November 2000 she was sentenced to three years’ re-education through labour. The Gove rnment assured the Special Rapporteur that the labour re-education facility fully respected her human rights and that at no time was she subjected to corporal punishment or ill-treatment.
337. On 9 April 2002, the Special Rapporteur sent a joint urgent appeal with the Special Rapporteur on the right to freedom of opinion and expression on behalf of four workers' representatives, namely Yao Fuxin, Xiao Yunliang, Pang Qingxiang and Wang Zhaoming, who had been charged with “illegal assembly and demonstration” for their part in organizing protests in Liaoyang City, Lianing Province. It was reported that up to 30,000 workers in north-eastern China have been demonstrating since 11 March against lay-offs, alleged management corruption and insufficient severance pay. Yao Fuxin was reportedly detained on 17 March and has since been hospitalized for “heart problems” which may have been caused by his detention. Yao Fuxin was reportedly detained incommunicado until 31 March. At the time of writing, he was reportedly not allowed to receive visits, and the real state of his health was not known.
338. On 11 April 2002, the Special Rapporteur sent a joint urgent appeal with the Special Rapporteur on the right to freedom of opinion and expression on behalf of Liang Zhenxing, Liu CHengjun, Zhou Runjun (f), Lei Ming, Zhao Jian, Yun Qinglin and Li Yanmei (f), who have reportedly been detained during a security crackdown in Changchun City and accused of having tapped, on 5 March 2002, into the signal of eight major television stations, in order to broadcast footage exposing the Chinese Government’s alleged persecution campaign against Falun Gong practitioners. Local police officials are said to have indicated that 15 other people have been arrested in connection with the same broadcast. An official of the Changchun Re-education through Labour Bureau has reportedly indicated that between 100 and 200 people have been detained since the broadcast and would probably be sent to a a labour camp.
339. By letter dated 28 June 2002, the Government responded that Liang Zhenxing, Liu Chengjun, Zhou Runjun, Lei Ming Zhao Jian, Yun Qingbin, Chen Yanmei and other diehard adherents of Falun Gong had severed the local cable television transmission lines and had inserted Falun Gong audio and visual materials, seriously endangering public security. The supects were subsequently arrested for breach of articles 124 and 300 of the Chinese Criminal Code, inter alia, for sabotage and using a heretical sect to disrupt the application of State law. The case is currently being heard. The allegation that between 100 and 200 people have been arrested in connection with this case and that they are likely to receive sentences in labour camps have no basis in fact. The Government stated further that Falun Gong was an evil cult. In order to protect human rights, it had banned the organization. In relation to the overwhelming majority of ordinary practitioners, the Government primarily adopts the method of persuasive education to help them break free from the sect. Torture is strictly prohibited in China.
340. On 28 May 2002, the Special Rapporteur sent a joint urgent appeal with the Special Rapporteur on the right to freedom of opinion and expression on behalf of Yao Fuxin, Xiao Yunliang, Pang Qingxiang, all workers' representatives, as well as Wang Zhaoming, on behalf of whom the Special Rapporteurs intervened on 11 April 2002. They were reportedly still held in detention. Yao Fuxin was believed to be seriously ill, possibly due to ill-treatment. The right side of his body appears to be numb. His family had allegedly appealed for his release to receive medical treatment, but to no avail. Following their detention, demonstrations calling for their release and an investigation into the alleged embezzlement of funds from the Liaoyang City Ferroalloy factory, where Yao Fuxin was employed, have reportedly taken place. On 15 May 2002, demonstrators, including Gu Baoshu as well as a retired woman and her son, were allegedly beaten by plain-clothes policemen. The whereabouts of another activist, Wang Dawei, remained unknown since mid-April, when reportedly he was travelling to Beijing from Liaoning Province to file a petition to the central authorities against the current situation at the Ferroalloy factory.
341. By the same urgent appeal, the Special Rapporteurs intervened on behalf of Gu Baoshu, an activist involved in demonstrations, who was allegedly severely beaten by the police on 16 April 2002. He was released after several hours of interrogation. He was reportedly covered in bruises, suffering from severe chest pains and had blood clots in his eyes. He was reportedly threatened and harassed by the police, following his demands for those responsible for his beatings to be investigated and his medical costs to be paid for by the Public Security Bureau.
342. On 24 June 2002, the Special Rapporteur sent an urgent appeal on behalf of Won, a North Korean asylum-seeker, who had reportedly sought refuge in the South Korean Consulate in Beijing on 13 June 2002. He was violently removed by police officers from the South Korean Consulate on that day. It was believed that South Korean diplomats, who attempted to protect him, were injured as a result. His son was believed to have also entered the South Korean Consulate during these events, and to be currently seeking asylum in South Korea, along with 17 other North Koreans currently inside the Consulate. It was feared that Won may forcibly be returned to North Korea, where he would be at risk of torture upon his return.
343. By letter dated 28 November 2002, the Government informed the Special Rapporteur that an inquiry has confirmed that he had already left China for another country. It did not have any information about the other individuals mentioned in the Special Rapporteur’s communication.
344. On 9 July 2002, the Special Rapporteur sent a joint urgent appeal with the Chairman-Rapporteur of the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention on behalf of Wand Aihua, a Falun Gong practitioner from Yubei District, Chongqing City, Sichuan Province. She was reportedly arrested on 6 March 2002 and taken to Lianglu Police Station where she was allegedly subjected to threats and other forms of illtreatment. As a result, she could hardly lift her arm. On the same day, she was sent to Yubei Detention Centre where she was subjected to further acts of ill-treatment. Her whole body was allegedly swollen. On the following day, she was allegedly subjected to further ill-treatment.
345. By letter dated 4 October 2002, the Government informed the Special Rapporteur that she had been taken into custody on 12 May 2000 for causing public disturbance and sentenced on 20 June 2000 to a one year’s re-education through labour. On 6 March 2002, she was detained for disseminating propaganda materials and for disrupting public order in Chongqing and placed in detention as she showed resistance by refusing to eat and by banging her head against a wall. The police custody centre took the necessary measures to prevent her from further self- inflicted injuries. The Government assured the Special Rapporteur that she was not subjected to verbal abuse or torture.
346. On 22 July 2002, the Special Rapporteur sent an urgent appeal on behalf of Li Wangyang, a former labour activist, who was denied medical treatment while being detained in Chishan Prison in Yanjiang City, Hunan Province. He was said to be suffering from heart disease, hyperthyroidism, neck and lower back pain and to be going blind. He was reportedly sentenced in September 2001 to ten years' imprisonment on charges of “incitement to subvert State power”, aft er campaigning for compensation for the ill- treatment he had received in prison while serving a previous term of imprisonment for his involvement in the 1989 pro-democracy movement. He was twice released on medical grounds. He allegedly spent many periods in solitary confinement and suffered several beatings from prison guards while imprisoned for the first time. Following his release, he went on a 22-day- long hunger strike in February 2001 to demand compensation for the ill-treatment he received in prison and for costs of medical treatment of his illnesses, but to no avail. Furthermore, his sister, Li Wanglin, was allegedly sent to a labour camp for three years in July 2001 for publicly supporting her brother in his appeal for compensation for the abuses he had allegedly suffered in prison.
347. On 26 July 2002, the Special Rapporteur sent a joint urgent appeal with the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions on behalf of Ryu Mi-hwa (f), Han Sol-hee (f), Roh Myung-ok (f), Jeong Eun-mi (f), aged 10, Jeong Eun-chul, aged 8, Kim Chul-nam, Kim Ji-sung, Nam Chun-mi (f) and her new-born baby and four other Korean nationals whose names are unknown, who were allegedly detained in in Manzhouli Prison in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region of China and were believed to be at risk of imminent forcible return to the Democratic People’s Republic of North Korea, where, it was feared, they could face serious human rights violations, including arbitrary detention, torture or death in custody. They were reportedly arrested on 31 December 2001 in Hulunbeier City, Inner Mongolia, while being led through north-east China towards the neighbouring State of Mongolia by a South Korean pastor, Chun Ki-won, and his assistant, Jin Qilong, an ethnic Korean Chine se national, who were also reportedly arrested, charged with "helping other people to illegally cross the national border", tried by the Hulunbeier Municipal People's Court in Inner Mongolia and sentenced to payment of fines.
348. On 16 September 2002, the Special Raporteur sent a joint urgent appeal with the Chairman-Rapporteur of the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, the Special Representative on human rights defenders and the Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers on behalf of Dr. Wan Yanhai, the founder and coordinator of the AIZHI (AIDS) Action Project, a non-governmental organization that provides information on HIV/AIDS and promotes the protection of human rights in the context of HIV/AIDS. He was allegedly detained by State security authorities on 24 August 2002, and held without being allowed to contact his family or friends. His detention was believed to be related to his alleged dissemination of information he had obtained from an AIDS research report on concerns about the collection of blood in Henan Province.
349. By letter dated 28 November 2002, the Government informed the Special Rapporteur that he had been detained by members of the Beijing State Security Bureau on suspicion of unlawfully transmitting State secrets abroad. Reportedly, the detainee requested in writing that his family should not be notified of his detention and voluntarily renounced his right to legal counsel. The Government further indicated that, in view of his positive attitude in acknowledging his guilt, he was granted a discharge on 20 September 2002. The Government gave assurances that he was not subjected to ill-treatment while in detention and that, at the time of writing, Wan Yanhai’s health was entirely satisfactory.
350. On 2 December 2002, the Special Rapporteur sent an urgent appeal on behalf of Luo Rong (also known as Yoko Kaneko), a Chinese Falun Gong practitioner with permanent residence in Japan, and her sister, Luo Zhen. Luo Rong had reportedly been arrested as she was handing out Falun Gong leaflets on 24 May 2002 during a visit to Beijing and transferred to a labour camp. She was reportedly seriously ill and was hospitalized for high blood pressure. She was believed to have bruises around her wrists and to have lost weight. Luo Zhen had reportedly been arrested on 5 November 2002 by the Public Security Bureau in Mudanjiang City, Heilogjiang Province, following her involvement in publicizing her sister’s case. She was allegedly held in incommunicado detention and her family was not informed of her whereabouts.
351. On 11 December 2002, the Special Rapporteur sent a joint urgent appeal with the Chairman-Rapporteur of the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention on behalf of Yang Jianli, a Chinese citizen permanently residing in the United States of America, who has been active in the movement to promote democratization in China. He had reportedly been arrested on 26 April 2002 in Kunming, for reportedly entering China with false or incomplete identity documents. Since then, he had been held in incommunicado detention. Authorities informally acknowledged his detention after two months, when the Linyi City Public Security Bureau in Shandong Province informed Yang' s brother by telephone of his detention.
Follow-up to previously transmitted communications
352. By letter dated 14 December 2001, the Government responded to an urgent appeal sent in July 2001 by the Special Rapporteur on behalf of Han Yuejuan (ibid., para. 365). On 21 July, Ms. Han and others plotted and mobilized nearly 1,000 Falun Gong practitioners to besiege the seat of the Guangdong provincial government. On 5 July 2001, she was arrested under a writ issued by the Guangzhou Municipal People’s Prosecutor on a charge of mobilizing and using a sect to break the law. A competent public security organ is conducting a judicial investigation into the case. Ms. Han’s mental and physical health is duly protected and she is not being subjected to torture.
353. By letter dated 31 January 2002, the Government responded to an urgent appeal sent in October 2001 by the Special Rapporteur on behalf of Zhang Maoxing and his eldest daughter, Zhang Juan (ibid., para. 367). The two were detained together on suspicion of obstructing law enforcement through the organization of a cult (Falun Gong), and held at the Jiujiang Public Security Bureau’s detention centre. After being admitted, Zhang Maoxing began to fast and all attempts to rescue his life, including intravenous infusions, failed. He was in no way tortured. His daughter was sentenced in March 2001 to two years of re-education through labour, but was released on parole in August 2001 and is now living at home.
354. By letter dated 19 February 2002, the Government responded to an urgent appeal sent in October 2001 by the Special Rapporteur on behalf of Huang Guodong (ibid., para. 366). He was arrested on 9 February 2001, on tips from other citizens when he was carrying out illegal Falun Gong activities. He confessed to all his offences. On 1 October 2001, he began to fast at Mudanjiang No. 1 detention centre. He refused to take food or medical treatment and even went so far as to remove intravenous needles. On 29 October 2001 he was sent to Northern Hospital in Mudanjiang City for medical tests. All results were normal, but he has a urethra infection for which he is being treated. Allegations of torture and starvation are unfounded.
355. By letter dated 19 February 2002, the Government responded to a letter sent by the Special Rapporteur jointly with the Special Rapporteur on violence against women on 30 September 2001 (ibid., paras. 351 to 353).
356. Concerning the detention of 42 young women (ibid., para.352), the Government replied that the director of Fengjia Township Police Station and the deputy director had summoned and illegally detained 12 local women and two nonlocal women engaged in prostitution during an extensive campaign to combat prostitution and protect the legal rights of women from June 1997 to June 1998. They were subsequently sentenced to six months’ imprisonment suspended for one year, and to one year suspended for two years by the People’s Court of Xinhua County, later reduced to six months each, suspended for one year.
357. Concerning the detention of a young woman by the head of the Public Security Bureau Communication Department of Xinmi City, Henan Province (ibid., para.353), the Government responded that all cases involving prostitution handled by the Public Security Bureau of Xinmi City in May 1999 were properly dealt with. The accusation of illegal detention and torture of a young woman is unfounded and false. The Government observes its legal obligations under the Constitution and the Women’s Rights and Interests Protection Act and strives to strengthen its legislation on women’s rights. Efforts have been made to prevent and combat prostitution, as well as to ensure women’s rights to personal safety and property.
358. By letter dated 4 October 2002, the Government responded to a joint urgent appeal sent by the Special Rapporteur with the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on human rights defenders on 21 June 2001 on behalf of Zhang Shanguang (E/CN.4/2002/76/Add.1, para. 367). The Government informed the Special Rapporteur that he was convicted of illegally providing intelligence information and sentenced to 10 years’ imprisonment with 5 years’ deprivation of his political rights in December 1998. Upon admission into Hunan No.1 Prison, he had been recovering from tuberculosis. Appropriate to his physical condition, he was assigned the job of sweeping floors by the prison authorities. In an attempt to obtain permission to receive medical treatment on parole, he refused to carry out any work. The prison authorities are encouraging him to mend his ways. He has not been denied medical treatment and has not been made to work long hours. The Government firmly opposes the practice of mistreatment and torture of criminals through manual labour.
Observations
359. The Special Rapporteur notes with concern that no response has been
provided to a number of cases brought to the attention of the Government since 1998
but he acknowledges the letter dated 11 November 2002 by which the Government
expressed its intention to cooperate with the Special Rapporteur in providing
responses to these cases. He hopes that the pending invitation since February 1999 to
the Special Rapporteur to visit the country will come to fruition in the near future.
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This report has been published by Equipo Nizkor and Derechos Human Rights on August 2, 2005.