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IDHAE INFORMATION
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Yang Maodong (also known by the alias Guo
Feixiong), a legal adviser with the Beijing based Shengzhi Law Office, was detained on 8 February by the
police in Beijing – just a few days after he was released from detention in
Guangzhou city, Guangdong province. He is now reportedly being held at Fuyou police station in Beijing. Amnesty International believes
he is at risk of torture and ill-treatment. Yang Maodong
was released from detention in Fuyou police station in
Beijing on 9 February and was handed over to police officers from his home city of Guangzhou. The police
officers escorted him back to Guangzhou, and he arrived at his home the
following day. He was not tortured or ill-treated in detention but was not
permitted contact with family and friends.
Since his return home, police have kept him under "residential surveillance".
Yang Maodong
is best known for providing legal assistance to villagers in Taishi, Guangdong province, as they sought to remove the
allegedly corrupt village leader from office. On 4 February Yang Maodong was detained in Linbe
police station in Guangzhou for 12 hours after visiting Taishi
village with another lawyer, Tang Jingling. On their release, they were
reportedly beaten by a group of unidentified men. Yang Maodong
then went into hiding in fear for his safety. When he emerged from hiding on 8
February, Yang Maodong issued an open letter addressed to the Chinese
President Hu Jintao and
Premier Wen Jiabao. In
the letter, Yang Maodong protests 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 requests 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. The letter was also posted online at http://www.peacehall.com/news/gb/china/2006/02/200602081553.shtml
After the publication of the
letter Yang Maodong began a public hunger strike
near Xinhuamen, a gate to the Zhongnanhai
government compound, near Tiananmen Square in Beijing. His hunger strike is
in response to a call by Gao Zhisheng,
the director of the Shengzhi Law Office whose
license to practice law was revoked by the authorities in December 2005 and
who recently survived an attempt on his life (see UA 14/06, ASA 17/001/2006,
19 January 2006). On 4 February, Gao Zhisheng called for a "hunger strike group" to
protest against Yang Maodong's detention and
beating in Guandong Province, and against the
government crackdown on human rights defenders. Yang Maodong
was reportedly detained as he carried out his public hunger strike and taken
to Fuyou police station. It is not known if he is
continuing his hunger strike. The official reason for his detention has not
been announced. On 8 February, lawyer Teng Biao
called the Beijing Public Security Bureau branch that supervises the Fuyou police station and offered to provide legal
assistance to Yang Maodong. He was told by an
unnamed police officer that it’s "better not to get involved in this
case". Over 100 petitioners and human
rights defenders in Beijing and Shanghai have reportedly joined the
"hunger strike group". Some sources suggest that the hunger strikers
aim to carry on their protest until the 2008 Summer Olympic Games in Beijing,
by having a series of individuals and groups participating in turn. BACKGROUND INFORMATIONYang Maodong,
an independent academic, writer and self-educated legal adviser, gave legal assistance to
the villagers of Taishi seeking the removal from
office of the village committee head Chen Jingsheng.
The villagers' protests began shortly after they submitted a recall
referendum motion to the local authorities on 29 July 2005 as they feared the
authorities may try to eradicate any evidence supporting the their claims.
Yang Maodong reportedly advised the villagers to
adopt strategies of passive resistance, including hunger strikes, and helped
them to attract international media attention to their cause. He also posted
online news and commentary regarding the events in Taishi.
Many villagers as well as
activists and journalists who tried to enter Taishi
after the protests began were reportedly beaten, mistreated, and intimidated
by the police or individuals who appear to have been acting with the consent
of or on the orders of local government authorities. Dozens of villagers were
reportedly detained during August and September 2005. The recall motion in Taishi, which has been widely interpreted in the Chinese
and overseas media as a test case of local democracy in China, was declared
invalid by the authorities as of September 2005. Due to his involvement in
the motion, Yang Maodong was detained on 13
September 2005 and held incommunicado until 4 October 2005 when his legal
representatives Guo Yan
and Gao Zhisheng were
notified of his arrest on suspicion of "assembling crowds to disturb
public order". He was released without charge on 27 December 2005. You can also of the Law
Society of England and Wales. PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY.
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