Arbitrary detention of Ms. Zheng Mingfang

April 21, 2008

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 on the following situation in the People’s Republic of China (PRC).

New information:

The Observatory has been informed by Chinese Human Rights Defenders (CRD) that Ms. Zheng Mingfang, a petitioner and human rights defender in Ji County, Tianjin, was sent to Re-education through Labour (RTL) for two years.

According to the information received, on February 29, 2008, under the pretext of “helping Ms. Zheng to solve her problems”, the Tianjin police took Ms. Zheng away from her home. Since then, Ms. Zheng’s family has not been able to contact her. Her family has not received any formal (written or verbal) detention order and their requests to meet with Ms. Zheng have been repeatedly denied by the police.

On April 4, 2008, a dozen Tianjin policemen warned Ms. Zheng’s family against communicating with the outside world. In addition, the police made Ms. Zheng’s family change their phone numbers and subjected her husband to tightened monitoring.

Furthermore, according to Ms. Zheng’s family, who obtained information from a detainee released from the same RTL camp where Ms. Zheng is reportedly being held, her health has deteriorated and she is going blind.

The Observatory expresses its deepest concern regarding Mrs. Zheng Mingfang’s arbitrary detention, as it seems to merely sanction her human rights activities. Indeed, shortly before her detention, Mrs. Zheng had campaigned with, and protested the arrests of Messrs. Ye Guozhu[1] and Hu Jia[2], for which she has suffered retaliation. In particular, she had been collecting signatures to demand that authorities release Mr. Hu Jia.

The Observatory further fears for Mrs. Zheng Mingfang’s physical and psychological integrity as an increasing number of human rights defenders have been subjected to torture or ill-treatments by the authorities over the past years.

Background information:

On the evening of October 19, 2007, Mrs. Zheng Mingfang was sleeping when policemen from the Ji County Public Security Bureau (PSB) came and asked her husband to step out to “have a talk”. When he returned, Mrs. Zheng had disappeared from her residence. On October 20, 2007, with help from friends, her husband was able to locate her: she had been taken into custody by the local police. She was later detained at the PSB Detention Centre, but her family did not receive any formal detention order.

Shortly before her detention, Mrs. Zheng had reported about the psychiatric detention of a petitioner from Tianjin, Mr. Li Shuchun. Mrs. Zheng was released on November 3, 2007.

In 2004, Mrs. Zheng had petitioned in Beijing and asked the permission to organise with other the “Tiananmen 9.18 Ten-Thousand-People March” but her request was denied and she was subsequently imprisoned for two years for “illegally operating” her computer business. Her shop was demolished and parts of forty computers were confiscated by the authorities. While in prison, Mrs. Zheng was allegedly mistreated and tortured. She was released in September 2006.

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 Mrs. Zheng Mingfang;
2. Ensure her immediate release since her detention is arbitrary as it merely aims at sanctioning her human rights activities;
3. Guarantee her unconditional access to her lawyers and her relatives, as well as to any medical treatment she requires;
4. Put an end to the harassment against all human rights defenders in the People’s Republic of China;
5. 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”, 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”;
6. 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:

• 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
• 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.

Geneva - Paris, April 21, 2008

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

[1] Between 2001 and 2003, the government forcibly demolished the homes and restaurant of Mr. Ye Guozhu and his brother, Mr. Ye Guoqiang, to clear land for a facility to be used in the 2008 Beijing Olympics. The brothers were not offered sufficient compensation, and were thus deprived of their livelihood and rendered homeless along with their families, including their aged parents. The two have repeatedly petitioned authorities for compensation without success. In desperation, Mr. Ye Guoqiang attempted suicide in October 2003. For that, he was sentenced to two years in jail for “provoking and making trouble”. Mr. Ye Guozhu began helping petitioners coming to Beijing to file complaints with the central government. In August 2004, he applied for permission to organise the “September 18 10,000-People March” to protest against forced evictions. He was promptly detained and on December 18, 2004 was sentenced to four years in prison for “provoking and making trouble”. He is imprisoned in Chaobai Prison, Qinghe Sub-Division, Beijing. He has reportedly been tortured during his detention and imprisonment. The rest of Mr. Ye’s family have continued their activism on housing rights and other human rights issues. For these activities, Messrs. Ye Guoqiang and Ye Mingjun, Mr. Ye Guozhu’s son, were both detained on September 29, 2007 on suspicion of “inciting subversion of State power”. Both of them were later released on bail and are now awaiting trial.

[2] See Observatory Urgent Appeal CHN 009 / 1107 / OBS 141.5, issued on April 3, 2008.