CHINA

Lawyer and human rights defender Zheng Enchong was released on 5 June 2006, after serving a three-year prison sentence. (See : idhae-uk-page4.1.ench1.htm ). However, since he was freed, he and his family have been harassed and intimidated by the authorities, and Zheng Enchong has been detained four times since his release. Amnesty International fears they are at risk of further abuse.

On 12 July, Zheng Enchong and his wife Jiang Meili were detained by police at their home in the Zabei district of Shanghai and taken away to the district police station. They were questioned separately for several hours about Zheng Enchong's activities on behalf of families forcibly evicted by the Chinese authorities in urban development projects. At the same evening, around a dozen police officers from Zabei district police station searched Zheng Enchong’s home. They confiscated his computer, documents, and names of contacts, as well as draft documents about alleged forced evictions. The police warned Jiang Meili, and later her brothers and sisters, that they will be detained if they continue to speak to the media about Zheng Enchong’s situation.

The police detained Zheng Enchong again on 21 July to question him about information they found on his computer. He was released from Zabei police station after four hours of questioning. Zheng Enchong had also been briefly detained on 11 June and on 18 June.

Zheng Enchong has reportedly been warned by police and municipal officials that his physical safety may be at risk if he continues to work on cases of alleged forced evictions. Amnesty International is aware of numerous cases of human rights defenders and activists becoming victims of violence after their release from prison.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION (See : idhae-uk-page4.2.ench1.htm ).

RECOMMENDED ACTION : Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible, in Chinese, English or your own language :

·        welcoming Zheng Enchong’s release, but expressing concern at the continued restrictions imposed upon him which violate his rights to freedom of expression, of association and of movement, and calling for these restrictions to be lifted immediately ;

·        calling on the authorities to stop the campaign of intimidation and harassment against Zheng Enchong and his family, and to ensure that they are not subjected to further human rights violations ;

·        urging the authorities to guarantee that Zheng Enchong and all other lawyers and human rights defenders are able to carry out their legitimate human rights work without fear of arbitrary detention or harassment ;

·        calling on the authorities to amend or repeal legislation which can be used to violate the rights to freedom of expression, association or assembly, including laws concerning ’state secrets’, which facilitate the detention of human rights defenders.

APPEALS TO :

Director of the Shanghai Bureau of Justice

MIAO Xiaobao Juzhang

Shanghaishi Sifaju

225 Wuxinglu

Shanghaishi 200030

People’s Republic of China

Email : contact_us@eastday.com

webmaster@justice.gov.cn

jijianjiancha@eastday.com

Fax : + 86 21 64743029

Salutation : Dear Director

Prime Minister of the People’s Republic of China

WEN Jiabao Guojia Zongli

The State Council

9 Xihuangcheng Genbeijie

Beijingshi 100032

People’s Republic of China

Email : gazette@mail.gov.cn

Fax : + 86 10 65292345 (c/o Ministry of Communication)

Salutation : Your Excellency

COPIES TO :

Mayor of the Shanghai Municipal People’s Government

HAN Zheng Shizhang

Shanghaishi Renmin Zhengfu

30 Fuzhoulu

Shanghaishi 200002

People’s Republic of China

Email : webmaster@shanghai.gov.cn

China