Arbitrary detention of a petitioner and risk that she is sent to RTL

The International Secretariat of the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) requests your URGENT intervention in the following situation in the People’s Republic of China.

Brief description of the situation

The International Secretariat of OMCT has been informed by a reliable source and Antenna International, a member organisation of OMCT SOS-Torture Network, about the arbitrary detention of Ms. Wang Guilan, a petitioner from Enshi City, Hubei Province, and the risk that she is sent to Wuhan Re-education through Labor Camp (RTL).

According to the information received, on 29 July 2008, Ms. Wang Guilan was criminally detained on suspicion of “disturbing social order”. It is suspected that the impetus for the criminal detention was that she allegedly answered a phone call from a foreign journalist on 27 July 2008 which Ms. Wang denied. She reportedly told her family that the call was from a fellow petitioner and that the two did not speak about "sensitive" issues on the phone. On 28 August 2008, Mrs. Wang Guilan was sent to fifteen months of RTL for "disturbing social order" by Enshi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture RTL Management Committee.

According to the same information, at the time she took the call, Ms. Wang Guilan was already under detention in a "black jail"—an illegal and secret detention facility--, where she had been held since 17 April 2008, reportedly to prevent her from "making trouble" during the Olympics. Ms. Wang Guilan is currently being held at Enshi City Detention Center, where she has been detained since 29 July 2008. Her family has decided to hire a lawyer to appeal the decision to send her to RTL.

Ms. Wang Guilan reportedly began petitioning in 2001 when she had a legal dispute with a local mall where she had rented a stall since 1993. The court presiding over the case reportedly ordered the mall to compensate Ms. Wang Guilan, however the mall failed to do so, and Ms. Wang Guilan exhausted all legal avenues to force the mall to comply with the court order. On 22 November 2001, Ms. Wang Guilan went to the Court to discuss the matter, however the Head of the Enshi City Court Executive Tribunal allegedly pushed her and ordered two court police officers to kick her and forcibly drag her out of the court down four flights of stairs. For her petitioning, Ms. Wang Guilan has been reportedly repeatedly detained and beaten. On 14 October 2007, she was detained on suspicion of "inciting subversion of state power" for organizing a public letter signed by 12,150 petitioners. She was released on 22 October 2007. On 18 December 2007, Ms. Wang Guilan was detained again for having exposed the "sale" of petitioners by police from Fuyoujie Police Station under Beijing Municipal PSB for 500 RMB per petitioner to authorities from the petitioners' hometowns. She was released on 18 January 2008 but was again taken into police custody on 28 February 2008 immediately after the release of an open letter signed by 12,709 petitioners calling on the Chinese government to improve the human rights situation, which Ms. Wang Guilan had helped to organize. She was released in March.

According to the same information, on 17 April 2008, Beijing police picked Ms. Wang Guilan up off the street and handed her to interceptors from Enshi City. She was then escorted back to Enshi, where she was held at an isolated "black jail". On 6 May 2008, Ms. Wang Guilan was reportedly told by the Secretary of the Enshi City Political and Legal Affairs Committee that she was to be detained until after the Olympics.

The International Secretariat of OMCT expresses its concern with regard to the detention of Ms. Wang Guilan, which, according to the information received, is based solely on her active government petitioning and for her rights to freedom of expression. OMCT further fears for her safety, all the more should she be sent to RTL[1]. OMCT recalls that China is a State party to the UN Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment which prohibits torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment. OMCT urges the authorities to conform with China’s international human rights obligations, commitments that were reaffirmed on the occasion of its election as a member of the new United Nations Human Rights Council.

Actions Requested

Please write to the authorities in the People’s Republic of China urging them to:

1. Guarantee, in all circumstances, the physical and psychological integrity of Ms. Wang Guilan;
2. Guarantee immediate and unconditional access to legal representation, her family and any medical treatment she may require;
3. Order her immediate release in the absence of valid legal charges that are consistent with international law and standards, or if such charges exist, bring her before an impartial and competent tribunal and guarantee her procedural rights at all times;
4. Order a thorough and impartial investigation into these events in order to identify all those responsible, bring them to trial and apply the penal and/or administrative sanctions as provided by law;
5. Guarantee the respect of human rights and the fundamental freedoms throughout the country in accordance with national laws and international human rights standards.

Addresses

• 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
• Mr. Ma Zhenchuan, Director of the Beijing Public Security Bureau, Juzhang, Beijingshi Gong’anju, 9 Qianmen Dongdajie, Dongchengqu, Beijingshi 100740, People’s Republic of China, Fax: +86 10 85222320, Email: wbjc2sohu.com
• Permanent Mission of the People’s Republic of China, Ch. De Surville, CP 85, 1213 Petit-Lancy 2, Suisse, e-mail: mission.china@ties.itu.int, Fax : +41 22 793 70 14
• 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 embassies of the People’s Republic of China in your respective country.

Geneva, 24 September 2008

Kindly inform us of any action undertaken quoting the code of this appeal in your reply.

[1] RTL is an administrative detention measure, according to which, without any proper legal procedures or trial, individuals can be sent to detention facilities for forced labor for a maximum of four years. Although detainees have the right to appeal by requesting an administrative review, they can only do so after the decision has been made to send them to an RTL camp. Rarely does an administrative review result in the overturning of the decision to send an individual to RTL.