Ongoing arbitrary detention and ill-treatment of Mr. Yang Maodong, alias Guo Feixiong

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.

New information:

The Observatory has been informed by Human Rights in China (HRIC) that Mr. Yang Maodong, alias Guo Feixiong, a legal adviser with the Beijing-based Shengzhi Law Office who has been in custody for nearly 200 days, has been transferred back to Guangzhou after being sent to Shenyang City, Liaoning Province, in January 2007.

According to the information received, on April 2, 2007, Mr. Guo Feixiong’s wife, Mrs. Zhang Qing, was told by the Tianhe District Procuratorate that Mr. Guo had been brought back to Guangzhou and was now being held in the Guangzhou Municipal No. 3 Detention Centre. She was also told that the Guangzhou Public Security Bureau (PSB) submitted the file on Mr. Guo’s supplementary investigation to the Procuratorate on March 30, 2007. According to the Criminal Procedure Law, the Guangzhou Procuratorate should make a decision on whether to proceed with the case by May 15, 2007.

Furthermore, Mr. Guo has told his lawyer and family that he has been subjected to severely abusive treatment on a number of occasions since he was first detained. He has gone on hunger strike several times to protest his treatment.

The Observatory believes that Mr. Guo’s detention is connected with his involvement in defending the rights of the Taishi villagers, in the framework of their struggle to denounce allegations of corruption against Mr. Chen Jinsheng, the elected chief of the village committee. Indeed, in July 2005, Mr. Guo started to give legal assistance to villagers in Taishi, who were trying to obtain the dismissal of Mr. Chen Jinsheng. Following the government’s refusal to accept their requests, the villagers staged sit-ins and hunger strikes. Since mid-September 2005, the local government decided to take coercive measures against the demonstrations: dozens of villagers were arrested and many got injured. Mr. Guo posted on-line comments about these events.

The Observatory urges the authorities to ensure that Mr. Guo Feixiong’s rights to due process are protected while he awaits the decision as to whether his case will proceed. Moreover, the Observatory calls on the authorities to investigate the allegations of abusive treatment of Mr. Guo in detention and take steps to ensure that he is not subjected to further abuse.

Background information:

On September 13, 2005, Mr. Guo Feixiong, who provided legal advice in a number of controversial right defence cases, was arrested in Guangzhou and held incommunicado until October 4, 2005. He was released without charge on December 27, 2005. Following his release, Mr. Guo was beaten by public security officers on three occasions in February, March and August of 2006.

On February 3, 2006 Mr. Guo Feixiong was detained in the Linhe police station in Guangzhou for 12 hours. He was subsequently released on February 4, 2006. Before he left the building, he was dragged out by a group of unidentified men who beat him violently and took the film. They reportedly twisted his arms and kicked his lower back in front of some policemen who did nothing to defend him.

On February 8, 2006, Mr. Guo Feixiong issued an open letter addressed to the Chinese President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao. In the letter, he protested against the excessive use of force in government crackdowns on recent demonstrations and civil society movements in rural areas, forced evictions, violence against a widening circle of human rights lawyers which appear to be sanctioned by the authorities, and tightening of media censorship. He also requested the authorities to engage in dialogue with villagers in order to avoid escalation of rural land disputes, and to guarantee local democracy, press freedom and protection of human rights defenders.

On the same day, he was detained for 26 hours in the Fuyou police station in Beijing. The next day, he was escorted back home by three policemen. Since then, his house was being watched by the police and he was being followed by policemen.

On September 14, 2006, Mr. Guo Feixiong was detained, before being formally arrested on September 30, 2006 on suspicion of “illegal business activity”.

On September 29, 2006, Mr. Guo’s lawyers were allowed to visit him at the Guangzhou Municipal Detention Centre. Mr. Guo told them about his very bad conditions of detention and that, despite he wrote several letters of complaint to the Prosecutor, detention centre officials refused to deliver them.

On January 6, 2007, Mr. Guo’s wife received a letter from him in prison stating that on December 28, 2006, the Prosecutor had informed him that it had received a “statement of investigation” from the PSB, which content has not been communicated.

During a prison visit on January 11, 2007, Mr. Guo told his lawyer that he had been handcuffed and shackled to his bed for more than 40 days. Mr. Guo further said that he was deprived of sleep for days and subjected to around-the-clock interrogation.

Actions required:

Please write to the Chinese authorities urging them to:

1. Guarantee in all circumstances the physical and psychological integrity of Mr. Guo Feixiong;
2. Release him immediately, as his detention is arbitrary;
3. Put an end to all acts of harassment against him as well as all other human rights defenders in China;
4. Conform with the provisions of the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations on December 9, 1998, 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”, article 6(b), which states that “everyone has the right, individually and in association with others (...) to publish, impart or disseminate to others views, information and knowledge on all human rights and fundamental freedoms”, and its article 8(2), which provides that “everyone has the right, individually and in association with others, to submit to governmental bodies and agencies and organisations concerned with public affairs criticism and proposals for improving their functioning and to draw attention to any aspect of their work that may hinder or impede the promotion, protection and realisation of human rights and fundamental freedoms”;
5. 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
• 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, Suisse, Fax: +41 22 7937014, E-mail: mission.china@ties.itu.int
• Minister of Justice of the People’s Republic of China, WU Aiying Buzhang, 10 Chaoyangmen Nandajie, Chaoyangqu, Beijingshi 100020, People’s Republic of China, Telephone: +86 10 65205114, Fax: +86 10 64729863 or 65292345, Email: minister@legalinfo.gov.cn or pfmaster@legalinfo.gov.cn
• 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 diplomatic representations of the People’s Republic of China in your respective countries.

***

Geneva-Paris, April 3, 2007

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.

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