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URGENT ACTION
China: Fear of torture or ill-treatment: Yang Chunlin (m)
PUBLIC AI Index: ASA 17/042/2007
07 September 2007
UA 240/07 Fear of torture or ill-treatment
CHINA Yang Chunlin (m), aged 52, human rights activist
Human rights activist Yang Chunlin was detained on 6 July in the north-eastern
province of Heilongjiang, and charged with "subversion of state power" on 13
August. He is now held at Heitong Police Station in Jiamusi City; he has been
held incommunicado since he was detained, putting him at risk of torture or
other ill-treatment.
He was detained at his home by six policemen, who confiscated two computers and
a printer. His family went repeatedly to Heitong police station to ask where he
was, but were only told that he was in custody on 13 August. Police told the
family that the main reason for his arrest was his involvement in collecting
signatures for a petition titled "We Want Human Rights, not the Olympics" in
villages where he had been helping farmers whose land was taken away from them
without adequate compensation. The petition has reportedly been signed by more
than 10,000 people, mostly the Heilongjiang farmers who had lost their land.
On 3 September Yang’s two lawyers arrived at the police station and asked to
see him. The police refused, saying that as Yang Chunlin's crime was a serious
one relating to the state he had no right to see his lawyers. The police
harassed the lawyers, threatening to have the local Judicial Bureau investigate
why they had taken up the case.
Members of Yang Chunlin’s family are under surveillance. They have been warned
not to contact the media or human rights lawyers, or risk worsening his
situation.
Yang Chunlin was laid off from his job in a state-owned factory several years
ago. He has been active in supporting a legal action brought by more than
40,000 local farmers whose land had been confiscated without adequate
compensation. In 2006 Yang was detained four times for his involvement in this
case, and for his participation in a hunger strike organized by Beijing human
rights lawyer Gao Zhisheng. Earlier this year he is said to have launched a
campaign behind the slogan "We Want Human Rights, not the Olympics" to capture
the frustration of local farmers, who feel that the Bejing Olympics is being
used to distract attention from violations of their human rights, such as the
confiscation of their land. Later the slogan was adopted by other groups around
the country.
| AI Index: ASA 17/042/2007 | | 7 September 2007 |
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