RFA：郭飞雄妻子张青，于绝食抗议日，致中国领导人的公开信

自由亚洲电台首发： 郭飞雄妻子张青，于绝食抗议日，致中国领导人胡锦涛先生，温家宝先生、习近平先生、李克强先生的公开信（六）

2008.01.25

图片：郭飞雄妻子张青2007年12月9日于家中 (张青提供)

—梅州监狱对郭飞雄实施严管三个月，施行三停–停止家人会见、停止通信、停止送物。
—郭飞雄绝食已42天，处境险恶，请社会各界关注和救援。
—呼吁中国政府停止迫害，无罪释放郭飞雄。
—强烈要求中国政府答应郭飞雄家人要求对其申请伤残鉴定的合理合法要求。

尊敬的中国领导人胡锦涛先生、温家宝先生、习近平先生、李克强先生：

您们好!

2008年1月22日，我去了广东梅州监狱，监狱警察通知我说:“你今天见不了杨茂东，我们已经对他施行严管，现在是三停时期–停止家人会见、停止通信、停止 送物。”

同样是1月22日。2007年1月22日，广州市公安局九处预审一大队的陈警官对我说：“杨茂东案已经由检察院退回公安局补充侦查，我们已经把他移送转押到沈阳的 辽宁省看守所。我们需要在沈阳对案件再进行补充侦查。”

对 我而言，这同样的日子里，是同样的残酷，同样的震惊，同样的充满无边无际可怕想象的开始。 对郭飞雄而言，这是和去年在遥远的寒冷的东北沈阳一样的危急时刻。一样的生死攸关的时刻。 2008年1月22日，为了探视郭飞雄，我从早上六点起来，带着失学在家的六岁半的儿子金宝，和一个亲戚一起去了梅州。坐车五小时到达梅州，又换乘另一辆 车，到 达梅州监狱，时间是14：20分。还没上班，等到上班后，我排队等候办手续。在我前面的人，他们和我一样，拿着会见卡和身份证办手续，很快就能打出一份电 脑 单，凭这份电脑单，就可以会见。到我办手续的时候，女警官说，你要等一等。我问为什么，她说，你的情况特殊，我们要向上级请示。她把我办手续的会见卡身 份证都递出来给我，她说，你等一会吧。

申请会见时等上半小时或者四十分钟，在这一年多时间里，在我要求会见，和律师要求会 见时，是常有的事。所以我等着。在过了好一会之后，我又问女警。她说 ，再等一会。又过了一阵，有几个男警官来了，他问谁是张青女士。我说是我。他们说要我去对面的办公室。我说我来探视杨茂东，是在三楼会见。他们说有事要 告诉你。 我和他们一行四人，走进了那间接待室，这是第一次去的时候，我和郭飞雄的姐姐，在这里见过梅州监狱肖科长和廖警官的地方。

进 去之后，一个警官不许其他的人进来，他把门关上，又把窗户关上。然后，三个男警官，坐在会议台的对面，其中中间的警官，扭着头，一副很傲慢的样子，过 一会他开口说话，我问他姓什么，他说他姓张。他说：“杨茂东因非法经营罪到这里来，我们就按这里的管理规定来管制他，他不服从管制。我们就要对他施行严 管。他说。现在是对杨茂东，施行严管的时期，在这个时期，我们对他施行三停–停止家人会见、停止通信、停止送物。所以你今天不能见他。”

我问他为什么对杨茂东严管，他说：“他违反了监狱的制度。”他说：“我们这里是记分的，违反制度就要扣分，扣分多到一定程度就施行严管。”

我问：“他究竟是违反了什么制度，他不是刚刚才来到这里吗，他究竟是做了什么，被你们扣分扣到了严管的程度，作为家人，我有权知道究竟是些什么样的事情 ，你们要对他严管。”

他说：“我说了你也不知道，我们没必要对你说这些。总之是施行了严管，你今天见不到他。”

“我作为家人，大老远的来见他，还带着六岁的孩子，你们说不能见，说施行严管，我要知道他究竟是违反了你们什么样的规定，不许我见他，你们得让我知道具 体的情况。你们得拿出理由来，让我知道。”

他再次说：“这我没有必要跟你说。”

我说：“你们监狱没有依法管理，郭飞雄在监狱遭到毒打，为这件事，我要请律师来介入，要让律师来取证，来调查。” 他说：“我们都是依法办事，我们没有打人。你看到他挨打了？在严管期间，连律师也不能见他。”

我 说：“上次我见杨茂东，他说他遭到毒打，当着两百人的面打的。他说他被打，你们说没有。那我请律师来调查，来取证啊。你们为什么不让律师见呢？我跟你 们政法执法机关打交道已经有两三年的时间，我非常清楚你们的一贯的行事方法，你们最大的招数就是打。然后就是谎言。这个我见得多了，对你们的这一套，我 早就见惯了。我知道你们会说没有的。我不怕你们说没有，不怕你们说谎否认。我知道你们都说谎，不仅在一般的场所说谎，在法庭上，连检察官也说谎，出示伪 证陷害，我早就领教过你们这一套。我知道你们说谎是制度性的，这个制度要求你们昧着良心说谎，你们现在高声地对我说没有打人。你们这些知情人，你们自己 心里也在笑，你们心里清楚得很，你们是在说谎。你们不说谎，你们能说什么呢？就像刚刚这位警官说的，‘我们也是穿这身制服吃这碗饭。’上面要你们说谎， 你们就得说谎，要你们打人你们就得打人。要你们非法剥夺家人会见的权利，你们就得非法剥夺家人会见的权利。只要认为对你们有利，任何非法的事情，你们都 执行。因为你们吃这碗饭。”

我说：“他不仅是在你们这里挨打，他在广州的看守所，沈阳的看守所，他都遭到毒打，他所到之 处，都遭到毒打，遭受酷刑，现在他的身体上被酷刑导致五六处 伤残，你们都说没有打，都说没有使用酷刑，那么现在，我们作为家人要求做伤残鉴定。我们，我和杨茂东的姐姐，还有律师都认为是非常合理合法的要求，我们 写了申请书，他姐姐甚至提出自费做伤残鉴定检查。申请书在12月29号，就寄过来了，为什么还没有回复，按照国家执法机关的办事原则，按照最起码的礼尚往 来 ，现在有申请书递交来了，你们都应该给予答复吧。”

张警官说：“我们今天就是要告诉你，杨茂东已经被执行严管的事实， 现在我们已经对你说明了，我们还有别的事情要办。”他说完起身走开。在门边，他先说没 有收到信。我说：“这不可能的。他的姐姐在12月29号寄来信件，过了几天看到没有回复，又用特快专递寄来，特快专递怎么可能没有收到。这是要签字签收 的。 ”

另一个警官说：“杨茂东姐姐的信收到了，我们会给答复的，答复也要时间嘛。”

我问：“严管是从什么时候开始的。”他说：“就算是今天开始的吧。”过了一会，他又说：“是从1月9号开始的。到什么时候结束你自己可以算出来。”

张警官说：“三个月以后能不能见，要等我们的通知。这要看他的表现，如果他还是不守监狱规定，我们会继续严管的。”

我 说：“你是不是说，这五年都不让我见他了。你们所谓的规定就是把服刑人员当奴隶使用，逼迫他们做强迫劳动，超长时间的劳动。抗议你们这种恶法就要执行 严管，不许家人见了吗？今天你们说对杨茂东施行严管，不让我见他，而我问你们严管的理由是什么？你们都不回答。你们既然不说出理由，那么我要求见你们的 领导，我现在要求见你们的监狱长。他应该能够说出严管的理由，你们得拿出具体的理由说服我。要不我在这里等到明天再要求会见。”

我说：“我完全能够猜想得到，在郭飞雄绝食的时刻，你们说要严管，不许家人见他意味着什么，他一定是生命安全受到极大的威胁，或者他再次遭到虐待，你们 怕他说出来。才不许家人见他的。你们甚至连一个像样的严管理由都说不出来。”

张警官和另一个警官已经走了，只剩下一个男警官和一个女警官，男警官说，“你不要为难我，我们也只是吃这碗饭，我们的监狱长出差了。他不在。”

我说：“你们这么大的监狱，不会只有一个领导吧？那我要求见其他的领导。”他说：“其他领导不是管这些事情的。”

就这样我被梅州监狱拒绝会见郭飞雄。

2007 年1月22日，广州警方通知我，杨茂东案因证据不足退回公安局，补充侦查，他被押送到沈阳，在后来我们得知他在沈阳遭受到的险恶处境是，被安排于死刑犯 关押在一起，死刑犯要挖他的眼睛。他被沈阳警方办案人反手吊起来，靠双手肩关节承受身体的重量；坐老虎凳；2007年2月12日。警方用高压电警棍电击他 的生殖 器。3月19日，沈阳办案人，再次用电警棍（未通电）伸到裤子里面击打生殖器达五六分钟之久。

在今年的同样的日子 里，我又被梅州监狱告知：对郭飞雄施行严管，他又被广东梅州监狱封闭在铁笼子里，连唯一的一个窗口也强行关闭。他正在绝食抗议所遭受 到的新一轮的身体摧残和虐待。我无法得知他的实际情况，不知他在绝食40多天之后，面临着怎样的危急处境。不知他是否得到人道对待。在2005年因太石事 件入 狱时，郭飞雄曾绝食绝水59天，在开始，警方给他每天输液一次，以维持生命，后来改为每两天输液一次，又改为每三天输液一次，直到最后出现生命危险，送医 院抢救…

从郭飞雄去年到沈阳所遭受到的包括使用高压电警棍电击生殖器在内的种种非人酷刑；从2005年太石事件绝食绝水出现的抢救的危情，我推想到今年的情形，郭飞 雄现在的日子，每一天都是煎熬，每一天都是危险。

尊 敬的胡锦涛先生、温家宝先生、习近平先生、李克强先生，我给您们写这些公开信，我所呼吁的种种，远远比不上，在2007年7月9日，郭飞雄案在天河区法院 开 庭的时候，我们的人民的检察官在法庭上出示伪证之后，两次高声的要求法官重判的理直气壮和满有把握。我深深地感到我的要求的无力和无望。因为我们都知道 ，检察官的要求会得到应许，而我的呼吁得不到应许。我知道这样的事实，但，我还是要这么呼吁，我要唤回人类的良知和道义，我要再次再次呼吁，人民的政府 对待人要遵循人类的其本原则–己所不欲，毋施与人。我要说：暴力和谎言泛滥的社会是极其危险的！！！

我之所以这么坚持 着，我是要用每一颗文字，如图钉一样把我们所遭受到的，政府所做出来的恶行钉在中国历史上。我清醒地知道，我所做的一切，在眼下，对改 善郭飞雄的处境毫无果效。我也清醒地知道我的这些公开信，能使我心安，凡我所做的努力，都可以让我感到心安，让行恶者感到心不安。在强权暴力，在国家诬 陷面前，在郭飞雄所到之处，都对他施行身体摧残为主的政治迫害面前，没有什么能够阻挡这些无耻行经的发生再发生，我能够做的就是，用这些文字，如图钉一 样，把这些丑恶的行经钉在这段奇异的历史上。

我希望那些执行者和下达命令的人，念及自己也是血肉之身，也遭受不起经久的酷 刑和虐待，也都是遭受不住高压电警棍电击生殖器的柔软的肉体，我希望他们在 对待别人的时候，存留起码的一点不忍和良知，不要一再一再地恶待人。说到底，郭飞雄只是要推动中国社会走向文明，走向自由民主、人权法治的社会，他所做 的，都是为中国人民好，也是为共产党好。

胡锦涛主席，我仔细地读了您的2008年的新年贺词，您在贺词中说–此时此刻， 我们深深挂念世界各地身受战火、贫困、疾病、灾害煎熬的人们。中国人民深切 同情他们的遭遇，愿尽己所能帮助他们早日摆脱困境。我们衷心希望各国人民自由、平等、和谐、幸福地生活在同一蓝天之下，共享人类和平与发展的成果。

胡 锦涛主席，我真心希望您的眼睛不仅能看到遥远的世界各地的人民所遭受到的灾害，并尽力帮助他们早日摆脱困境。我真心希望，你的眼睛能够看到眼跟前的–我 写给您和其他领导人的，多达六封甚至还会更多的公开信，述说我的丈夫郭飞雄的冤情和遭受到的非人酷刑的灾害，我真心希望这些实情能够被您所知，能够 得到您的帮助，而得以使郭飞雄能够早日摆脱冤案和非法非人酷刑的灾害。

祝新年平安健康！

张青 2008年1月23日第11个绝食抗议日起草
2008年1月25日完成。

附上申请伤残鉴定的申请书，和保外就医申请书。

保外就医申请书

梅州市监狱:

我 是杨茂东的姐姐杨茂平，杨茂东现被以非法经营罪关押于贵监狱。我本人以及他妻子于2007年12月28日探望了他。我是执业多年的医务人员，看到他后，我 发现他有贫血貌，行走困难，腰部僵直，以上情况我推断他患有营养不良症以及严重的腰椎间盘突出症，急需住院检查和治疗。而在一年前，他在我家居住的时候， 我给他做了全面的身体检查，包括生化和影像学检查，结果尚在我处，身体状况良好。由此可知，他目前的状况完全是在看守所、监狱等地方遭受刑讯逼供或虐待所 致。

根据《刑事诉讼法》第二百一十四条、《监狱法》以及相关法律法规的规定，特向贵监狱申请保外就医。我本人是医生，从他的身体征来看，他必须进行腰椎核磁共振（MRI）检查以了解腰椎损害程度。

本人愿意作为其保外就医的担保人。

请予批准为盼！

申请人（具保人）：杨茂平（签名）
2007年12月29日

本人联系方法：

地址：湖北省十堰市东风汽车公司总医院老年科。邮政编码：442000

电话：138 7282 9152

法医鉴定申请

广东省检察院

我 是杨茂东的姐姐杨茂平，杨茂东被以非法经营罪现关押于梅州市监狱，我本人以及他妻子于2007年12月28日探望了他。我是执业多年的医务人员，看到他 后，我发现他有贫血貌，行走困难，腰部僵直，以上情况我推断他患有营养不良症以及严重的腰椎间盘突出症，急需住院检查和治疗。而在一年前，他在我家居住的 时候，我给他做了全面的身体检查，包括生化和影像学检查，结果尚在我处，身体状况良好。由此可知，他目前的状况完全是在看守所、监狱等地方遭受刑讯逼供或 虐待所致。我本人是医生，从他的身体征来看，他必须进行腰椎核磁共振（MRI）检查以了解腰椎损害程度。

请求贵院及时履行法律监督职能，对杨茂东的伤病情况进行法医鉴定。

申请人：杨茂平（签名）
2007年12月29日

本人联系方法：

地址：湖北省十堰市东风汽车公司总医院老年科。邮政编码：442000

电话：138 7282 9152

IHT: China’s genocide Olympics

By Nicholas D. Kristof
Thursday, January 24, 2008

The Beijing Olympics this summer were supposed to be China’s coming-out party, celebrating the end of nearly two centuries of weakness, poverty and humiliation. Instead, China’s leaders are tarnishing their own Olympiad by abetting genocide in Darfur and in effect undermining the UN military deployment there. The result is a growing international campaign to brand these “The Genocide Olympics.”

This is not a boycott of the Olympics. But expect Darfur-related protests at Chinese embassies, as well as banners and armbands among both athletes and spectators. There’s a growing recognition that perhaps the best way of averting hundreds of thousands more deaths in Sudan is to use the leverage of the Olympics to shame China into more responsible behavior.

The central problem is that in exchange for access to Sudanese oil, Beijing is financing, diplomatically protecting and supplying the arms for the first genocide of the 21st century. China is the largest arms supplier to Sudan, officially selling $83 million in weapons, aircraft and spare parts to Sudan in 2005, according to Amnesty International USA. That is the latest year for which figures are available.

China provides Sudan with A-5 Fantan bomber aircraft, helicopter gunships, K-8 military training/attack aircraft and light weapons used in Sudan’s proxy invasion of Chad last year. China also uses the threat of its veto on the Security Council to block UN action against Sudan so that there is a growing risk of a catastrophic humiliation for the United Nations itself.

Sudan feels confident enough with Chinese backing that on Jan. 7, the Sudanese military ambushed a clearly marked UN convoy of peacekeepers in Darfur. Sudan claimed the attack was a mistake, but diplomats and UN professionals are confident that this was a deliberate attack ordered by the Sudanese leaders to put the United Nations in its place.

Sudan has already barred units from Sweden, Norway, Nepal, Thailand and other countries from joining the UN force. It has banned night flights, dithered on a status-of-forces agreement, held up communications equipment and refused to allow the United Nations to bring in foreign helicopters. The growing fear is that the UN force will be humiliated in Sudan as it was in Rwanda and Bosnia, causing enormous damage to international peacekeeping.

Another possible sign of Sudan’s confidence: An American diplomat, John Granville, was ambushed and murdered in Khartoum early this month. Many in the diplomatic and intelligence community believe that such an assassination could not happen in Khartoum unless elements of the government were involved.

Chinese officials argue that they are engaging in quiet diplomacy with Sudan’s leaders and that this is the best way to seek a solution in Darfur. They note that Sudan has other backers, and that China’s influence is limited.

It’s true that since the “Genocide Olympics” campaign (www.dreamfordarfur.org) began a year ago, China has been more helpful, and it’s only because of Chinese pressure on Khartoum that UN peacekeepers were admitted to Darfur at all. But the basic reality is that China continues to side with Sudan – it backed Sudan again after it ambushed the UN peacekeepers – and Sudan feels protected enough that it goes on thumbing its nose at the international community.

Just a few days ago, Sudan appointed Musa Hilal, a founding leader of the Arab militia known as the janjaweed, to a position in the central government. This is the man who was once quoted as having expressed gratitude for “the necessary weapons and ammunition to exterminate the African tribes in Darfur.”

Other countries also must do much more, but China is crucial. If Beijing were to suspend all transfers of arms and spare parts to Sudan until a peace deal is reached in Darfur, then that would change the dynamic. President Omar al-Bashir of Sudan would be terrified – especially since he is now preparing to resume war with South Sudan – and would realize that China is no longer willing to let its Olympics be stained by Darfuri blood.

Without his Chinese shield, Bashir would be more likely to make concessions to Darfur rebels and negotiate seriously with them, and he would no longer have political cover to resume war against South Sudan. That would make long-term peace more likely in Darfur and also in South Sudan.

I’m a great fan of China’s achievements, and I’ve often defended Beijing from unfair protectionist rhetoric spouted by American politicians. But those of us who admire China’s accomplishments find it difficult to give credit when Beijing simultaneously underwrites the ultimate crime of genocide.

China deserves an international celebration to mark its historic re-emergence as a major power. But so long as China insists on providing arms to sustain a slaughter based on tribe and skin color, this will remain, sadly, The Genocide Olympics.

CNN: Human rights questions remain for China

* Story Highlights
* China has made promises on environmental issues tied to the 2008 Olympics
* IOC: Olympics will be “key moment” for China’s political development
* Human rights observers say social controls have tightened in China since 2001

By Niall Fraser
For CNN,January 23, 2008

HONG KONG, China (CNN) — With a year to go before the 2008 Olympics get under way, questions linger over China’s efforts to improve its human rights record.

Observers and pressure groups have criticized the efforts of the Chinese government and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) since Beijing won the bid in 2001, rejecting assertions by both that the Games will lead to lasting positive change in the world’s most populous nation.

After praising Beijing’s preparations as “excellent across the board,” the IOC official charged with overseeing Beijing’s preparations, Hein Verbruggen, sparked further anger from advocacy groups with his recent comments that, “…the way the Games are being used as a platform for groups with political and social agendas is often regrettable.”

The International Federation for Human Rights claimed his remarks will “embolden” hard-line elements within the Chinese Communist Party to ignore international pressure over human rights promises. But the IOC says, there is a widespread misconception that a list of “human rights promises” was ever sought by the IOC in the first place.

“There were some declarations made by senior Chinese leaders in Beijing who raised the human-rights question proactively and talked about how the Games would be part of the process to help human rights development,” says IOC’s director of communications Giselle Davies,. “But that was never a [piece of] criteria on which the IOC judged and assessed Beijing’s bid.

“The IOC decision is not made in a political or social context. It is very much based around what is a coming together at a sporting event and everything for which that can be a catalyst for,” Davies adds.

And that, she believes, is a force for good. “The IOC fundamentally believes that the world will look back and see the Games as a key moment along a period of change and development for good in China,” she says.

Meanwhile, Human Rights Watch has sharply criticized Beijing. On Thursday, the organization said China’s government has failed to live up to pre-Olympics promises of greater human rights freedoms and has instead clamped down on domestic activists and journalists, according to reports from The Associated Press.

“The government seems afraid that its own citizens will embarrass it by speaking out about political and social problems, but China’s leaders apparently don’t realize authoritarian crackdowns are even more embarrassing,” Brad Adams, Asia director of New York-based Human Rights Watch, said in a statement carried by the AP

On first glance it would appear Beijing is sensitive to certain international concerns. In June, Chinese officials and the IOC moved quickly to launch an investigation into allegations by the advocacy group Playfair 2008 that four official souvenir makers were using child labor. Earlier that month, Beijing took the landmark step of allowing the mother of a victim of the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown to mark the anniversary of his death publicly.

But others believe that since 2001 there has been a tightening of controls on political dissent and freedom of speech, as Beijing has sought to contain the social and political fall-out from the country’s breakneck economic development.

The IOC says, for example, that the Olympic Games has led to improvements in China’s labor system in which workers endure long hours in harsh conditions for less than the legal minimum wage.

Han Dongfang, the Hong Kong-based labor rights activist for the China Labour Bulletin organization, which monitors workers’ rights in China, insists “It’s about markets and it’s about cheap labor … Labor rights have become worse over the past few years.”

He says that any real change in China can only come from the inside as a result of pressure from workers and the development of free trade unions and the right to collective bargaining — and not from international pressure.

“The Chinese leadership does not care about international pressure. It is not China who is knocking at the door of the international community looking for favors — it is the other way around,” Han says.

The IOC says “enormous” progress has been made in terms of the freedom the news media will have to report on the Olympics, following the 2001 pledge by the secretary general of the Beijing Olympic Bid Committee Wang Wei. “We will give the media complete freedom to report when they come to China,” he said at the time.

Not so, says veteran China scholar Willy Wo Lap Lam, author of the recently published “Chinese Politics in the Hu Jintao Era.”

“The police and secret police departments in every city have lists of dissidents and ‘dangerous’ people who are not supposed to talk to the western media,” Lam says.

“So, instead of following these Western reporters around, the police will simply post more ‘guards’ outside the dwellings of ’suspect’ people in each city and county. They will ensure they can’t talk or work with western journalists.”

Professor Joseph Cheng of Hong Kong’s City University agrees with Lam. “China’s only concern as far as the Olympics is concerned is to showcase itself to the international community. To this end it will treat foreign journalists and visitors very well – but all the troublemakers will ‘disappear’,” he says.

“Twenty years ago they put trouble-makers under harsh house arrest or worse. Today, they give them a holiday. Either way, they won’t be speaking to foreign journalists.”

Lam adds that any pledges Beijing did actually make does not necessarily mean human rights will improve. “The main pledges made by Beijing are clearing up the environment and curbing traffic jams. Both of these are achievable through draconian methods,” Lam says.

Furthermore, while the world-at-large may be expecting an Olympics-led metamorphosis, the reality is very different, he says.

“Beijing will not relax controls over dissidents, NGOs as well as ‘agitators’ for Tibet or Xinjiang. There will be tighter surveillance of potential troublemakers,” Lam says.

“The South Korean Olympics in 1988 marked the beginning of genuine political liberalization. For China, it is a very different story. The Chinese Communist Party sees the Games as an opportunity to show the world China’s great achievements in the economy and infrastructure and to demonstrate their diplomatic clout. Internally, the Games will help the Party foster ‘internal cohesiveness’ using national pride to justify the Party’s ruling status.

“No Chinese Communist Party leader wants to use the Games as a juncture to push forward reforms.”

HU JIA’S LAWYER PUT UNDER HOUSE ARREST, FOREIGN JOURNALISTS PREVENTED FROM VISITING WIFE AND DAUGHTER

Reporters Without Borders/Reporters sans frontières
Press release

11 January 2007

CHINA
HU JIA’S LAWYER PUT UNDER HOUSE ARREST, FOREIGN JOURNALISTS PREVENTED FROM VISITING WIFE AND DAUGHTER
Reporters Without Borders today accused the Chinese authorities, especially state security, of violating the new regulations for foreign journalists by preventing them from visiting the wife of detained human rights activist Hu Jia and of violating the right of Hu’s lawyers to visit their client. One of the lawyers was placed under house arrest for a few hours.

“Despite all the appeals from within China and throughout the world for Hu’s release, the government is taking an even tougher position by depriving his wife and their two-month-old daughter of their freedom,” the press freedom organisation said.

On 10 January evening, one of Hu’s lawyers, Li Jinsong, was placed under house arrest for a few hours in a Beijing hotel, after inviting foreign journalists to confirm that it was impossible for him to see Hu’s wife, Zeng Jinyan. He is under surveillance by the police. His other lawyer, Li Fangping, was not detained but he was strongly urged not to try to approach Zeng’s home.

Previously, the authorities prevented them from visiting Hu in prison on 4 January on the grounds that the case had been classified as a “state secret.”

The police today prevented a group of foreign journalists from entering the Beijing apartment building where Zeng, a well-known blogger, lives with the couple’s two-month-old daughter Qianci, saying it was because a “criminal investigation” was under way. After checking their passports, the police allowed the reporters to leave but made the photographers delete the photos they had taken.

On 8 January, Zeng was able to talk to some German journalists through one of the windows of her apartment. She talked about the conditions in which her husband is being held and how the police are preventing all his friends and relatives from seeing her. “The police have searched the apartment several times and have taken our computer and telephones,” she said, adding: “I am very worried about Hu Jia.”

After that conversation, the police installed a curtain to prevent Zeng from being seen from outside the apartment. More than 20 police officers are permanently stationed around her home. Zeng has been completely isolated since Hu’s arrest, when the phone lines and Internet connection were cut off.

A friend of Hu’s told Reporters Without Borders he had also been prevented from visiting Zeng at home and that police officers were subsequently stationed outside his own home. On 5 January, the police searched the home of Hu’s parents to ensure they did not have documents about his arrest that they could give to the news media.

Hu has been held since 27 December on a charge of “inciting subversion of the state.” Referring to his arrest on 3 January, a foreign ministry spokesman said: “Everyone is equal before the law and no one is above the law. We are handling this case according to the law.”

Li, the lawyer who was placed under house arrest today, was awarded the French government’s human rights prize last month. French justice minister Rachida Dati met him when she accompanied President Nicolas Sarkozy on a visit to China in November.

Fifty-seven Chinese activists and writers released an open letter on 6 January calling for Hu’s immediate release and urging the police to ensure that his health does not deteriorate while in detention. Hu has a liver ailment.

————–

CHINE
L’AVOCAT DE HU JIA PLACÉ EN RÉSIDENCE SURVEILLÉE ; DES JOURNALISTES ÉTRANGERS EMPÊCHÉS DE RENCONTRER SON ÉPOUSE ET LEUR FILLE DE DEUX MOIS
Reporters sans frontières dénonce l’attitude des autorités chinoises, et plus particulièrement de la sécurité d’Etat, qui violent les nouvelles régulations pour la presse étrangère et les droits des avocats de Hu Jia à voir leur client. “Malgré les appels en Chine et dans le monde à la libération du militant des droits de l’homme, le gouvernement durcit le ton et prive son avocat, son épouse et leur fille de deux mois de leur liberté”, a affirmé l’organisation.

Le 10 janvier 2007 dans la soirée, l’avocat Li Jinsong a été placé en détention pendant quelques heures, dans l’hôtel de Pékin où il réside alors qu’il avait invité des journalistes étrangers à constater qu’il lui était impossible de rencontrer Zeng Jinyan. Il est surveillé par la police. L’autre avocat de Hu Jia, Li Fangping, n’a pas été interpellé, mais la police lui a fortement déconseillé de tenter de s’approcher du domicile de Zeng Jinyan. Déjà, le 4 janvier, les autorités avaient refusé aux avocats de rendre visite à leur client, prétextant que cette affaire relevait du “secret d’Etat”.

Le 11 janvier, un groupe de journalistes étrangers ont été empêchés d’entrer dans l’immeuble où vit Zeng Jinyan et leur fille, Qianci, âgée de deux mois. Les policiers ont expliqué qu’une enquête criminelle était en cours. Ils ont laissé les correspondants étrangers partir après avoir contrôlé leurs passeports. Les agents ont demandé aux photographes d’effacer leurs clichés.

Le 8 janvier, Zeng Jinyan a pu s’adresser à des journalistes allemands par une fenêtre de son appartement. Elle leur a expliqué les conditions de l’arrestation de son mari et que la police empêchait tous ses proches de la voir. “Les policiers ont fouillé l’appartement plusieurs fois et ils ont pris notre ordinateur et les téléphones. Je suis très inquiète pour Hu Jia”, a affirmé la blogueuse aux reporters.

Depuis, les policiers ont installé un rideau pour l’empêcher d’être vue de l’extérieur. Plus de vingt policiers sont en permanence positionnés autour du domicile. L’épouse du militant des droits de l’homme est isolée après ses lignes téléphoniques et sa connexion Internet ont été coupés.

Un proche de Hu Jia a confirmé à Reporters sans frontières avoir été lui aussi empêché de se rendre au domicile de Zeng Jinyan. Des policiers ont ensuite été placés devant chez lui. Le 5 janvier, ce sont les parents de Hu Jia qui avaient été inquiétés. La police avait fouillé leur domicile de peur qu’ils ne donnent des documents concernant l’arrestation de leur fils aux médias.

Par ailleurs, les autorités refusent toujours aux avocats l’accès à leur client, détenu à Pékin, depuis le 27 décembre pour “incitation à la subversion de l’Etat”. Le 3 janvier, un porte-parole du ministère des Affaires étrangères chinois a déclaré à propos de l’arrestation de Hu Jia : “Chacun est égal devant la loi et personne n’est au-dessus des lois. Nous gérons cette affaire conformément au droit.”

Li Jingsong a reçu, en décembre, le prix des Droits de l’homme décerné par la France. La ministre française de la Justice, Rachida Dati, avait rencontré l’avocat lors de la visite en Chine du président de la République, Nicolas Sarkozy, en novembre dernier.
Le 6 janvier, 57 avocats, militants et écrivains chinois ont publié une lettre ouverte demandant la libération immédiate de Hu Jia, et appelant la police à veiller à son état de santé lors de sa détention. Hu Jia est malade du foie.

China Urged to Improve Human Rights Before Olympics

January 7, 2008

By REUTERS

Filed at 3:20 a.m. ET

BEIJING (Reuters) – A group of Chinese dissidents has signed an open letter condemning the arrest of an AIDS and environmental activist on subversion charges and urged the government to improve human rights ahead of this year’s Olympics.

The letter, signed by 57 lawyers, academics, editors, writers and civil rights campaigners, said Hu Jia’s arrest last month on charges of inciting to subvert the government was “unacceptable” as his words and deeds were protected under the constitution.

Hu’s activism has set him on a collision course with the Communist Party, which has stepped up curbs on non-governmental organizations, the media, the Internet, lawyers, academics and civil rights campaigners to maintain its grip on power.

The signatories urged the government “to make good use of the opportunity to make the Olympics a truly grand event for the Chinese nation by opening the door of social reconciliation” and proving that it has made efforts to improve human rights.

The letter, e-mailed to reporters by the rights watchdog Chinese Human Rights Defenders, said Hu, 34, was suffering from liver problems and should be released at once.

At the very least, he should receive medical attention and be allowed to meet his relatives and lawyer.

Last week, European Parliament President Hans-Gert Pottering called on Beijing to free Hu, saying he hoped the Olympics would be a chance for China to show it is committed to internationally recognized human rights standards, including freedom of expression.

Asked to comment on Pottering’s remarks, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said: “China is a country ruled by law. Everyone is equal before the law. No one is above the law. Relevant agencies acted in accordance with the law.”

CUT OFF

Police have prevented Hu’s wife, blogger and fellow AIDS activist Zeng Jinyan, her newborn baby and elderly mother from leaving the couple’s Beijing home. Authorities have cut off her communications with the outside world.

“They broke into our home and took away Hu Jia … Then they searched our home for about five hours and took away our cell phones, laptops, fax machine, business cards, bank pass books, notebooks and video tapes,” Zeng told Reuters last week.

“Six men refused to leave and occupied our living room for two days and one night. I protested angrily but they ignored me and called me a traitor,” she said, using a friend’s cell phone which was smuggled in but has since been confiscated.

“I feel tremendous pressure … I don’t know what’s going on,” said Zeng, named by Time magazine last year as one of the world’s 100 most influential people.

In May, Hu and Zeng were barred from leaving the country and accused of endangering national security.

Hu has been a thorn in the government’s side and spent 214 days under house arrest in 2006. He first came to prominence over his advocacy for AIDS sufferers in rural China.

While under house arrest, Hu followed closely the trials of human rights lawyer Gao Zhisheng, blind civil rights campaigner Chen Guangcheng and octogenarian AIDS doctor Gao Yaojie, e-mailing almost daily updates to foreign reporters.

(Editing by Nick Macfie and Roger Crabb)