“We didn’t break the law in any way. We made no mistakes. We were simply and sincerely trying to push forward China’s democracy. This is a very persuasive argument.”
Guo Feixiong is the pen name of Yang Maodong, a well known figure in China’s rights defence movement who has previously spent five years in prison for his human rights activities. He has defended the right to freedom of expression, exposed government corruption, and been subjected to a litany of abuses in prison and detention. He is a finalist for the 2015 Front Line Defenders Award for Human Rights Defenders at Risk, presented annually to one human rights defender who has made an exceptional contribution to defending the human rights of others in their country.
In 2005 the human rights defender provided legal assistance and organisational support to residents in Taishi village in Guangdong province who were seeking to remove their village chief whom they accused of corruption. As a result of his involvement in this case, Yang Maodong was held by the police for three months without charge, during which time he went on hunger strike to protest his treatment.
When he was released in December 2005 he was subjected to regular surveillance, harassment and at least one brutal beating before being detained again in September 2006. In November 2007 he was sentenced to five years in prison, back dated to his arrest the previous year, for “illegal business activity” following his publication of a book documenting a political scandal in China’s north eastern Liaoning province.
On his release in September 2011, Yang Maodong said that the treatment he received while in police custody and later in prison was ‘beyond people’s imagination’. He was reportedly shackled to a wooden bed for 42 days and hung from a ceiling by his arms while police used an electric baton to electrocute his genitals. Since his release he has been active once again in the rights defence movement in China and has been subjected to regular surveillance, questioning by the police and periods of house arrest.
Over the years, Guo Feixiong has undertaken five hunger strikes in support of human rights and protesting his treatment. These have lasted 3, 59, 24, 75, and 25 days respectively.
In August 2013, Guo Feixiong was arrested again and detained for 10 months without charges . In June 2014, he was eventually charged with ‘gathering crowds to disrupt public order’. These charges relate to his organisation of and involvement in protests in support of freedom of the press in January 2013, during which he called on the Chinese government to ratify the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. He was tried on 28 November 2014 in proceedings that lasted nearly 18 hours and during which, according to Guo Feixiong’s sister who attended the trial, the judge interrupted both Guo and his lawyer “several hundred times” while they were speaking. A verdict has yet to be announced.
GUO FEIXIONG NAMED AS ONE OF 5 FINALISTS FOR THE 2015 FRONT LINE DEFENDERS AWARD FOR HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDERS AT RISK
On Wednesday 04 March the Jury for the 2015 Front Line Defenders Award for Human Rights Defenders at Risk announced the 5 finalists for this year’s Award, all of whom are either in jail, in hiding or face the threat of jail because of their peaceful work defending the rights of others.
Around the world human rights defenders are smeared in the media, arrested and intimidated and accused of undermining the interests of the state or involvement in terrorism. The Front Line Defenders Award recognises the legitimacy of their work and highlights its vital importance in creating more just and equal societies.
Guo Feixiong was chosen as a finalist for the 2015 Front Line Defenders Award, presented annually to one human rights defender who has made an exceptional contribution to defending the human rights of others in their country.
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