Ill-treatment of Shanghai petitioner Mr. Xu Zhengqing

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 about the acts of ill-treatment inflicted upon Shanghai petitioner Mr. Xu Zhengqing and his bad conditions of detention. Moreover, Mr. Xu Zhengqing suffers from heart and skin diseases, kidney stones and arthritis.

According to the information received, Mr. Xu Zhengqing, who was sentenced in October 2005 to three years in prison on charges of “disrupting public order”, was initially held in Shanghai’s Putuo District Detention Center but was then transferred on 22 Feburary 2006 to Tilanqiao Prison.

According to the information, Mr. Xu Zhengqing told his family during a prison visit in February 2007 that since arriving at Tilanqiao Prison, he has been subjected to a range of physical abuses because he has refused to admit wrongdoing or wear a prison uniform. Mr. Xu Zhengqing was reportedly once placed in restraints used for psychiatric patients for three days and two nights.

Mr. Xu Zhengqing is being held in a cell with two prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment, who have reportedly been instructed to watch his moves. His family visits and telephone conversations are allegedly monitored by prison guards, and if he brings up what the guards consider a sensitive subject, the visit or phone call is abruptly terminated, as occurred in November 2006 when a family visit was ended.

According to the same information, when Mr. Xu Zhengqing’s wife visited him in February 2007, she noticed a long scar above his eye which was apparently inflicted upon him by his two cellmates after the terminated visit in November 2006. His family believes prison guards instructed the cellmates to attack him. The guard in charge of Mr. Xu Zhengqing’s cell has since been replaced but no investigation has been launched into the attack.

Furthermore, the prison authorities have allegedly deprived him of mailing privileges, obstructing letters to his family and to the court. In this regard, following the rejection of his appeal in January 2006, Mr. Xu Zhengqing asked the prison authorities in October 2006 to pass to the court a letter applying for the review of his case. However, when his father inquired with the Shanghai Municipal People’s No. 2 Intermediate Court on 22 January 2007, he was told that the court had never received that letter.

According to the information received, in addition to physical abuses and obstruction of mail, Mr. Xu Zhengqing has also been periodically denied family visits. For the first year and a half of his imprisonment, his family members were denied access to him, and a visit was only allowed after the international community and media raised concern. During a visit to Mr. Xu Zhengqing in February 2007, his wife brought some food for him for the Lunar New Year but prison guards did not allow her to give it to him.

The International Secretariat of OMCT is gravely concerned for the personal and physical integrity of Mr. Xu Zhengqing following the abuses he has already suffered, his poor health condition and the restrictions imposed upon him which are contrary to the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners. Moreover, OMCT also 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.

Brief reminder of the situation

Mr. Xu Zhengqing was detained in Beijing on 29 January 2005 during an attempt to attend a memorial service for former Premier Zhao Zhiyang. Authorities stated that Mr. Xu Zhengqing disrupted public order on a public bus by failing to pay his fare, and later on the train back to Shanghai by shouting that he had been beaten, causing an incident that congested the train corridor. Although the prosecution did not produce evidence at Mr. Xu Zhengqing’s trial on 13 September 2005, he was sentenced on 17 October 2005 to three years in prison. Mr. Xu Zhengqing appealed his sentence on 20 January 2006 which was rejected.

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 Mr. Xu Zhengqing;
2. Guarantee access to his family and any necessary medical treatment;
3. Order his immediate release in the absence of valid charges that are consistent with international law and standards, or, if such charges exist, bring him before an impartial and competent tribunal and guarantee its procedural rights at all times;
4. Order a thorough and impartial investigation into these events, particularly into the allegation of ill-treatment, 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

• 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
• President Hu Jintao, People’s Republic of China, c/o Permanent Mission of the People’s Republic of China, Chemin de Surville 11, Case postale 85, 1213 Petit-Lancy 2, Genève, Swtzerland, Fax: +41 22 7937014, E-mail: mission.china@ties.itu.int
• Minister of Justice of the People’s Republic of China, Zhang Fusen Buzhang, Sifabu, 10 Chaoyangmen Nandajie, Chaoyangqu, Beijingshi 100020, People’s Republic of China, Fax: +86 10 6529 2345
• Minister of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China, Li Zhaoxing Buzhang Waijiaobu, 2 Chaoyangmen Nandajie, Beijingshi 100701, People’s Republic of China, Fax: +86 10 6588 2594, Email: ipc@fmprc.gov.cn
• Ambassador, Sha Zukang, 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.

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Geneva, 22 February 2007