Jul 30, 2014 • 10:30 pm
China Human Rights Briefing
July 25 – 30, 2014
Contents
Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment & Punishment
Petitioners Severely Beaten in Detention, Held on Suspicion of Killing Policeman
Freedom of Peaceful Assembly & Association
Trials Beginning for 4 Activists Detained in 2013 Crackdown on Civil Liberties
Reprisals Against Human Rights Activists
5 Jiangsu Activists Face Trial Over Black Jail Rescue
Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment & Punishment
Petitioners Severely Beaten in Detention, Held on Suspicion of Killing Policeman
Petitioner Zhang Xiaoyu (张小玉) and her husband, Xu Youchen (许有臣), were severely beaten by police in Henan Province after they were detained on suspicion of killing a policeman. According to Rights Defense Network (RDN), lawyer Liu Shuqing (刘书庆) was able to meet the couple and confirmed that Zhang has nearly lost her eyesight as a result of a police assault in Jiaozuo City, while Xu sustained serious injuries to his face, including many abrasions. Lawyer Liu has requested that Zhang be released on medical grounds. The couple, veteran petitioners who have been detained in black jails many times and also been sent to Re-education through Labor, is currently held at Jiaozuo City Detention Center.
On July 17, Jiaozuo police had abducted Zhang and Xu in Beijing, where the couple was petitioning, and took them back to their hometown, according to Civil Rights and Livelihood Watch (CRLW). Back in Jiaozuo on the same day, they were taken to Zhucun Police Station. Their son, Xu Tianlong (许天龙) was told that his parents were detained for stabbing a policeman at the Jiaozuo police station. Lawyers’ request to move the case to another district to avoid conflict of interest was rejected.
The couple’s case has been fraught with procedural irregularities. The body of the policeman allegedly killed by the couple was rushed to be cremated on July 21, only four days after he died, making it impossible to re-examine the exact time and cause of death. On the same day, after demanding to meet Zhang, lawyer Chang Weiping (常玮平) was summoned and interrogated by police for 12 hours. Police named the lawyer an important witness in the case, effectively preventing him from representing Zhang. Lawyer Chen Taihe (陈泰和) and lawyer Liu Shuqing were subsequently denied visits to Zhang. The attorneys now handling the case, Li Jinxing (李金星) and Liu Hao (刘浩), were beaten up by a group of unidentified men outside of the Jiaozuo City Detention Center on July 30.[1]
Petitioner Zhang Xiaoyu (张小玉), who has recently been detained, has suffered severe damage to her eyes from a police beating. (Image: CRLW)