[CHRB] Chinese Authorities Resort to Violence Against Human Rights Defenders (5/ 9-14, 2013)

May 14, 2013       Comments Off on [CHRB] Chinese Authorities Resort to Violence Against Human Rights Defenders (5/ 9-14, 2013)

China Human Rights Defenders

May 9-14, 2013

Contents

Reprisals Against Human Rights Defenders

• Sichuan Activist Chen Yunfei Beaten by “Thugs” as Police Look On
• Sichuan Police Detain, Physically Assault Human Rights Lawyers
• Lawyer Assaulted by Police After Requesting Meeting With Detained Jiangxi Activist

---

Reprisals Against Human Rights Defenders

Sichuan Activist Chen Yunfei Beaten by “Thugs” as Police Look On

On May 13, Sichuan-based human rights defender and blogger Chen Yunfei (陈云飞) was attacked in the street by four “thugs” in Pixian County, near Chengdu. During the assault, the men hit Chen hard in the head, causing him to suffer nausea, dizziness, and a headache, along with numbness and swelling in his face. Currently hospitalized, Chen is awaiting test results for a possible concussion. Before attacking Chen, the four “thugs” had followed and harassed him near his rental residence, yelling at Chen to move out of the property, for which his landlord, under pressure from authorities, has already withdrawn his lease. Later that day, the thugs, among whom one was reportedly the “head security chief” from a neighboring village, suddenly attacked him, but Chen was able to run to a police station for protection. Police refused to intervene and let the thugs get away, however, and also scolded Chen for his stubbornness and warned him to forget about renting an apartment in the area. On May 8, Chen had been released from a five-day detention in a black jail.[1]

Sichuan Police Detain, Physically Assault Human Rights Lawyers

A dozen lawyers were recently taken into custody in Ziyang County in Sichuan Province, with police subjecting them to violent assaults while holding some for as long as 24 hours. On May 13 and 14, police detained eight lawyers—including Jiang Tianyong (江天勇), Liang Xiaojun (梁晓军), Tang Jitian (唐吉田), Tang Tianhao (唐天昊), and Lin Qilei (蔺其磊)—for “obstructing official business.” The lawyers had gone to investigate a black jail that Yingjie Township authorities are running as a so-called “rule of law education center,” where more than 200 people are being illegally detained. While holding the lawyers, police violently assaulted them, causing numerous injuries; Jiang Tianyong is suffering pain in one leg, and Tang Tianhao was bloodied after being beaten on his head. Four more lawyers, including Li Heping (李和平) and Wen Haibo (温海波), rushed to Ziyang to seek the others’ release, but they were also detained and questioned for several hours on suspicion of “fabricating information and disrupting social order” before being let go. Around noon on May 14, police escorted all twelve lawyers out of town.[2]

Lawyer Assaulted by Police After Requesting Meeting With Detained Jiangxi Activist

Shandong lawyer Liu Jinbin (刘金斌) was severely beaten by national security police after he had made a request at a police station in Xinyu City, Jiangxi Province to meet his client Wei Zhongping (魏忠平), an activist who has been criminally detained since late April. On May 10, Liu went to the Yuanhe Branch of the Xinyu City Public Security Bureau to file an application to meet with Wei. Police asked Liu to wait for a reply, but more than 10 police officers subsequently attacked him in the street, smashing his mobile phone and warning him to drop his legal representation of Wei. Taken into custody on April 27, Wei is likely facing a charge of “inciting subversion of state power,” though the charge is yet to be confirmed. He was seized after he joined other activists in calling for public disclosure of top officials’ financial assets.[3]

Edited by Ann Song & Victor Clemens