Relatives of Mongolian dissident Hada (哈达), 55, said that Hada has not returned home since his scheduled release on Friday, December 10, 2010, from No. 4 Chifeng (Ulanhad) Prison in the Inner Mongolian Autonomous Region (IMAR) after serving a fifteen-year prison sentence on conviction of separatism (分裂国家罪) and espionage (间谍罪). On December 3, police officers raided the family bookstore in Hohhot maintained by Xinna, Hada’s wife, and confiscated the computer. The next day, Xinna was detained for “illegal business operations” (非法经营罪), and on December 5, Hada’s son, Uiles, was detained for “illegal drug possession” (非法持有毒品). Neither has been heard from since.

Relatives who traveled for 300 kilometers to come to wait in Hada’s home in Hohhot, including Xinna’s 84-year-old mother and Xinna’s younger sister, Naraa, said that they are scared about speaking out, but that they need to know what happened to Hada, Xinna, and Uiles, and whether they are “dead or alive.”

On December 11, photos of the three with a digital date imprint of December 10 were posted anonymously on Boxun News Online, a U.S.-based website. The photos show Hada eating a meal with his wife and son at an unidentified location. Naraa, Xinna’s sister, said that on the same day a person who refused to identify himself delivered a CD with the same photos to Hada’s home while she was there.

Hada, one of China’s longest serving political prisoners, in 1992 helped organized the Mongolian Culture Rescue Committee – later renamed the Southern Mongolian Democratic Alliance – which sought greater autonomy in Southern [Inner] Mongolia. Hada was detained on December 10, 1995, and was convicted in November 1996. He was sentenced to fifteen years in prison and four years of deprivation of political rights following the prison term.