We start with a protest and support message for Mahalah Yousufzai who as you all know was shot by the Taliban for the crime of wanting an education.
I have just sent off a message in support of one of LabourStart's online campaigns to support workers' NGO's in China and Hongkong and I'd like to invite you to do so as well. You can show your support by clicking here to learn more and send off a message too:
On to China and Mao Hengfeng
URGENT ACTION
Rights defender Mao Hengfeng detained
Mao
Hengfeng, a housing rights and reproductive rights defender, was taken away by men
in plain clothes believed to be Shanghai police
officers in Beijing
on 30 September. She was subsequently taken from Beijing
to Shanghai,
and is now detained in the Yangpu district police detention centre. She is at
risk of torture or other ill-treatment.
According to legal
documents shown to Mao Hengfeng’s
family, the decision by local authorities to detain her was made on 24
September and relates to her participation in a commemorative activity for deceased
petitioner (someone who is seeking redress for
perceived injustices from the Government) Teng Jingdi earlier this year.
However, Amnesty International believes her detention is aimed at preventing
her from carrying out campaigning work during the 18th National
Congress of the Communist Party scheduled to convene on 8 November.
On 30 September, Mao and
several other human rights activists met in Beijing to celebrate the Mid-Autumn
festival. According to her family, as the
group were waiting for a bus at Shiliqiao bus station in Beijing,
they were targeted by two men in plain clothes who were believed to be Shanghai police
officers. The group split up as the two
men approached the activists. Mao got on to a bus but was tailed by a police
car. Shortly after this she was
apprehended and taken away. On 2 October at around 1am, Mao was taken from Beijing to Shanghai,
her home city. Later that day, at 2pm, the Shanghai
police notified Mao’s family that Mao was detained in the Yangpu district
police detention centre in Shanghai
under suspicion of “gathering to disturb order
at a public place” under article 291 of the Chinese Criminal Code.
Amnesty
International considers Mao Hengfeng to be a prisoner of conscience, detained
solely for her work as a human rights campaigner/ defender.
Please write immediately in Chinese or your
own language:
n
Expressing concern that Mao Hengfeng is a prisoner of
conscience, detained solely for her human rights campaigning, and calling on
the authorities to release her immediately and unconditionally.
n
Calling on the authorities to ensure Mao Hengfeng is not
subjected to torture or other ill-treatment.
n
Calling on the authorities to ensure that Mao
Hengfeng has access to the necessary medical assistance and treatment she may
require.
PLEASE SEND APPEALS BEFORE 15 NOVEMBER 2012
TO:
Chief of the Public Security
Bureau, Yangpu Branch, Shanghai
Municipal,
Cai Tian Juzhang
No.
2049 Pingliang Road,
Yangpuqu, Shanghai
200090
People’s Republic of China
Telephone: +86 21 65431000
(Chinese only)
Fax: +86 22 170130
Email: Shyp@shyp.gov.cn
Salutation: Dear Chief of
Public Security Bureau
Chief of the Public Security
Bureau, Shanghai
Municipal,
Zhang Xuebing Juzhang
No.128 Wuning South Road
Jing’an, Shanghai
200042
People’s Republic of China
Telephone: +86 21 62310110
(Chinese only)
Fax: +86 24 062676
Email: gaj02@shanghai.gov.cn
Salutation: Dear Chief of
Public Security Bureau
And copies to:
Secretary of Political and
Legal Committee of Shanghai
Municipal
Ding Xuexiang Shuji
No.200 Renmin Avenue
Huangpuqu, Shanghai
200003
People’s Republic of China
Telephone: +86 23 111111 (Chinese only)
Salutation: Dear Secretary
Also send copies to diplomatic representatives accredited to your
country. Please insert local diplomatic addresses below:
Please check with your section office if sending appeals after the above
date.
URGENT
ACTION
rights defender Mao Hengfeng detained
Additional Information
Mao Hengfeng has been repeatedly detained for her work defending women’s
reproductive rights and victims of forced evictions in China. In March 2010, Mao was
assigned 18 months of “Re-education Through Labour” (RTL) for her activism.
While in RTL, she was tortured. She was released on 22 February 2011 on medical
parole due to her high blood pressure and serious injuries caused by the torture
she suffered while in detention. According to her own account, she partially
lost feeling on the left half of her body and could not move properly. Shortly
before her release on 22 February, Mao Hengfeng had been sent to two different
hospitals for medical checks. A doctor did a CT scan on her head and found
signs of bleeding in her brain.
On 24 February 2011, two days after her release on medical parole, she
was taken back into custody for having violated the terms of medical parole and
was detained in the Shanghai
Prison Hospital. On 27 July 2011, Mao Hengfeng fell ill again,
kept slipping in and out of consciousness and was
unable to eat or drink water. On 28 July, the prison hospital was worried about
her health condition, so decided to end her RTL. Upon her release, she remained under police surveillance.
The commemorative activity that Mao Hengfeng was attending
was for petitioner Teng Jingdi,
a victim of forced evictions. In China a petitioner is used to describe
someone who is seeking redress for perceived injustices from the Government.
Name:
Mao Hengfeng, Teng Jingdi
Gender
m/f: Mao Hengfeng (f), Teng Jingdi (f)
Chen Kegui, nephew of human rights activist Chen Guangcheng, was detained on 30 April in Yinan county, Shandong province, China. He has been held in incommunicado detention for more than five months. He is being denied access to his lawyers and family – who are also being harassed and intimidated. He is at risk of torture, an unfair trial and a possible death sentence.
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