The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a joint programme of the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) and the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), has received new information and requests your urgent intervention in the following situation in the People’s Republic of China (PRC).
New information:
According to the information received, on January 12, 2009 in the morning, Mrs. Mao Hengfeng, accompanied by her daughter Wu Juejin, went to Nanjing Road West in Shanghai to petition the people’s deputies and representatives who were due to attend the annual Shanghai Municipal People’s Congress and the Shanghai Municipal Political Consultative Conference. Across from the meeting site, Mrs. Mao shouted "People’s deputies should represent the people; oppose torture; oppose persecution; demand human rights". Several policemen then surrounded Ms. Mao and her daughter and took them into a police vehicle. They were taken to the Daqiao police station in Yangpu District and were detained in separate rooms. Later, the police drove Ms. Wu back to her home. Mrs. Mao will reportedly be detained for seven days for "disturbing public order".
Furthermore, according to a family member who delivered a comforter to Mrs. Mao at the local police station, her appearance was disheveled and her clothes were torn. Mrs. Mao reported that she was beaten by the police, who also withheld food from her. When Mrs. Mao complained, she was beaten by another policeman, who also pulled her hair.
The Observatory recalls that Mrs. Mao was released on November 29, 2008 after completing a sentence of two and a half years’ imprisonment for "intentional damage to property", after she broke one lamp in the room where she had been placed under "soft detention", without a warrant, from May 23 to June 30, 2006[1]. During her detention at the Shanghai Women’s Prison, she was subjected to various abuses, including a 70-day-long solitary confinement, beating, choking that resulted from forced feeding, and suspension in mid-air with her hands and feet bound (See background information).
The Observatory condemns Mrs. Mao Hengfeng’s arbitrary detention, which seems to merely sanction his human rights activities and as such is a flagrant violation of the provisions of the United Nations (UN) Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations on December 9, 1998.
The Observatory condemns more generally the recurrent use of torture and cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment against human rights defenders, in violation of the provisions of the UN Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment ratified by the PRC, and of UN General Assembly Resolution A/RES/61/153 which provides that freedom from such treatments "is a non-derogable right that must be protected under all circumstances".
The Observatory also wishes to recall that the National People’s Congress amended the Chinese Constitution in 2004 to include that " the State respects and safeguards human rights" and that in April 2006, the PRC submitted a document to the UN Secretariat in order to support its candidacy to the Human Rights Council’s first election[2], in which it affirmed that the amendment to the Constitution was aiming at "defining the position of human rights in the overall national development strategy". The Observatory further wishes to point out that as a member of the Human Rights Council, China "shall uphold the highest standards in the promotion and protection of human rights"[3].
Background information:
On January 12, 2007, Mrs. Mao Hengfeng was sentenced by the Yangpu People’s District Court to two and a half years’ imprisonment for "intentional damage to property", and, on April 16, 2007, the Shanghai Municipal N° 2 Intermediate People’s Court upheld, on appeal, the sentencing of Mrs. Mao. The hearing only lasted ten minutes and her lawyer was prevented from entering the courtroom.
On May 15, 2007, Mrs. Mao Hengfeng was transferred from the police detention centre to prison, in particularly degrading circumstances, as she was only given one very thin and loose shirt to wear, which could hardly cover her body. When she protested, police beat her up and, upon arrival at the prison, she was immediately put in solitary confinement. Mrs. Mao subsequently started a hunger strike to protest against her situation. On three occasions, prison guards forced her to eat, tying her hands and opening her mouth by force, and inserting a tube into her throat. Prison guards also assigned several inmates to watch and insult her. Moreover, Mrs. Mao suffers from high blood pressure and arthritis with painful joints, and her detention conditions were extremely harsh: with no chairs or bed provided to her, she had to sit or lie on the cold and wet floor.
On September 13, 2007, at the instigation of prison authorities, a fellow inmate was forced to beat Mrs. Mao Hengfeng in retaliation for revealing that she had been held in solitary confinement for 70 days in July and August 2007, in violation of Article 15 of the Chinese Prison Law (which stipulates a maximum of 15 days). Mrs. Mao was covered with bruises from the beating. She also reported having been force-fed.
On September 24, 2007, prison authorities sent Mrs. Mao to the Nanhui prison hospital. She had earlier refused to undergo a medical check-up, fearing of being forcibly injected with drugs. At the hospital, Mrs. Mao was tied to a bed so that she could only move her fingers. She was held in this way until October 15, 2007, monitored by closed-circuit television, and force-fed by other inmates.
On June 3, 2008, Mrs. Mao Hengfeng was taken against her will to the prison hospital in Nanhui district, Shanghai. At the hospital, Mrs. Mao was guarded by a dozen female prisoners who were selected by the prison authorities. They stripped Mrs. Mao naked and tied her tightly to a bed, where she was left for fourteen days. With the help of the prisoners-guards, doctors forcibly injected Mrs. Mao a dozen kinds of unknown medication, which left her a severe headache and an intense burning sensation in her body. Doctors also forcibly drew blood from Mrs. Mao. As she struggled against those restraining her, Mrs. Mao bled profusely. Mrs. Mao was also beaten. The prisoners-guards pinched and beat her, injuring her breast, mouth and genitals. In the sweltering heat of Shanghai summer (with temperatures in high twenties Celsius), the prisoners covered Mrs. Mao with a blanket. Sometimes they would cover her mouth and nose with clothes, which nearly suffocated her. Mrs. Mao was also not allowed to wash.
On June 16, 2008, Mrs. Mao was released from the hospital and transferred back to the Shanghai Women’s Prison.
Actions requested:
Please write to the authorities in the People’s Republic of China, urging them to:
i. Guarantee in all circumstances the physical and psychological integrity of Mrs. Mao Hengfeng;
ii. Release Mrs. Mao Hengfeng immediately and unconditionally since her detention is arbitrary as it only aims at sanctioning her human rights activities;
iii. Order a thorough and impartial investigation into the above-mentioned acts of torture and ill-treatments against Mrs. Mao Hengfeng in order to identify all those responsible, bring them before a civil competent and impartial tribunal and apply to them the penal sanctions provided by the law;
iv. Guarantee that adequate reparation is provided to Mrs. Mao Hengfeng;
v. Put an end to the harassment against all human rights defenders in China;
vi. Conform with the provisions of the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, especially its Article 1, which states that "everyone has the right, individually and in association with others, to promote and to strive for the protection and realisation of human rights and fundamental freedoms at the national and international levels", and Article 12.2, which provides that "the State shall take all necessary measures to ensure the protection by the competent authorities of everyone, individually and in association with others, against any violence, threats, retaliation, de facto or de jure adverse discrimination, pressure or any other arbitrary action as a consequence of his or her legitimate exercise of the rights referred to in the present Declaration";
vii. Ensure in all circumstances respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms in accordance with international human rights standards and international instruments ratified by the People’s Republic of China.
Addresses:
· President Hu Jintao, People’s Republic of China, c/o Embassy of the People’s Republic of China; 2300 Connecticut Ave., NW, Washington, D.C., 20008, USA, Fax: +01 202 588-0032;
· Mr. Wen Jiabao, Prime Minister of the People’s Republic of China, Guojia Zongli, The State Council General Office, 2 Fuyoujie, Xichengqu, Beijingshi 100017, People’s Republic of China, Fax: +86 10 65961109 (c/o Ministry of Foreign Affairs)
· Mr. Wu Aiying, Minister of Justice of the People’s Republic of China, Buzhang Sifabu, 10 Chaoyangmen Nandajie, Chaoyangqu, Beijingshi 100020, People’s Republic of China, Fax: +86 10 6529 2345, minister@legalinfo.gov.cn / pfmaster@legalinfo.gov.cn
· Mr. Yang Jiechi, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China, Buzhang Waijiaobu, 2 Chaoyangmen Nandajie, Beijingshi 100701, People’s Republic of China, Fax: +86 10 6588 2594, Email: ipc@fmprc.gov.cn;
· Mr. Meng Jianzhu, Minister of Public Security of the People’s Republic of China, Buzhang, Gong’anbu, 14 Dongchang’anjie, Dongchengqu, Beijingshi 100741, People’s Republic of China, Fax: +86 10 63099216
· Ambassador Sha Zukang, Permanent Mission of the People’s Republic of China, Chemin de Surville 11, P.O. Box 85, 1213 Petit-Lancy 2, Geneva, Switzerland, Fax: +41 22 7937014, E-mail: mission.china@ties.itu.int;
· Embassy of the People’s Republic of China in Brussels, Avenue de Tervuren, 463 1160 Auderghem, Belgium, Tel: + 32 2 663 30 10 / + 32 2 663 30 17 / +32 2 771 14 97 / +32 2 779 43 33; Fax: +32 2 762 99 66 / +32 2 779 28 95; Email: chinaemb_be@mfa.gov.cn.
Please also write to the diplomatic mission or embassy of the People’s Republic of China in your respective country.
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Geneva - Paris, January 14, 2009
Kindly inform us of any action undertaken quoting the code of this appeal in your reply.
The Observatory, a FIDH and OMCT venture, is dedicated to the protection of Human Rights Defenders and aims to offer them concrete support in their time of need. The Observatory was the winner of the 1998 Human Rights Prize of the French Republic.
To contact the Observatory, call the emergency line:
E-mail: Appeals@fidh-omct.org
Tel and fax FIDH + 33 (0) 1 43 55 20 11 / +33 1 43 55 18 80
Tel and fax OMCT + 41 (0) 22 809 49 39 / + 41 22 809 49 29