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Document - China: Fear of disappearance of activist and family: Hada

UA: 2/11 Index: ASA 17/001/2011 China Date: 07 January 2011

URGENT ACTION

FEAR OF DISAPPEARANCE OF ACTIVIST AND FAMILY

Hada, a human rights activist from Inner Mongolia, his wife Xinna and their son Uiles have been detained in northern China and their fate and current whereabouts are unknown. Amnesty International fears they may be subjected to enforced disappearance.

Hada was due to be released from prison on 10 December 2010, on completion of his 15-year prison sentence for “splittism” and “espionage”. His wife Xinna and their son Uiles were detained prior to his expected release date. His other relatives, including his sister-in-law Naraa and his uncle Haschuluu, who were waiting to be reunited with him upon his release, did not receive any information about him on the day.

On 11 December 2010, Naraa received a CD that contained five photos showing Hada having a dinner with Xinna and Uiles. The photos were dated 10 December 2010. Naraa told the Southern Mongolia Human Rights Information Center (SMHRIC) that she believed that based on the clothes seen on Xinna and Uiles, the photos were recent. The same photos had also been anonymously posted on Chinese overseas dissident website Boxun.com.

On 13 December 2010, Haschuluu received an SMS purportedly from Hada urging him not to worry and claiming that both he and Uiles had been released. Haschuluu never received a response to his reply to the sender.

On 14 December 2010, an official from the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region Public Security Bureau visited Naraa and told her that the Public Security Bureau had delivered the photos to Naraa. They also told her that Hada and his family were “enjoying a family re-union” in a “five star luxury hotel” and that they needed “a bit [of time] to plan their next step”. The official did not tell her the hotel name, its location or how long “a bit” was likely to be.

Since the detention of Xinna and Uiles, Naraa and Haschuluu have been the only sources of information about the situation of Hada and his family, but it appears that their channels for communication have been cut, as all phone calls to them have gone unanswered since at least 18 December 2010.

 

PLEASE WRITE IMMEDIATELY in English, Chinese or your own language:

Urging the authorities to immediately clarify the current status and whereabouts of Hada, Xinna and Uiles;

Urging the authorities to immediately and unconditionally release Hada, who has been imprisoned as a prisoner of conscience since 1995;

Urging the authorities to release Xinna and Uiles if they are not to be charged with an internationally recognizable criminal offence;

Urging the authorities to ensure that as long as any of them remain in detention, they have access to family, legal representation of their choosing, and any medical care they may require.

Director of the Nei Menggu Autonomous Regional Department of Public Security

ZHAO Liping Tingzhang

Nei Menggu Zizhiqu Gong'anting

15 Haila’erdajie, Hohhot 010051

Nei Menggu Zizhiqu

People's Republic of China

Fax: +86 471 6550102

Salutation: Dear Director

Chairman of the Nei Menggu Autonomous Regional People's Government

BATE’ER Wulan Zhuxi

Nei Menggu Zizhiqu Renmin Zhengfu

1 Chilechuandajie, Hohhot 010098

Nei Menggu Zizhiqu,

People's Republic of China

Fax: +86 471 6944148

Salutation: Dear Chairman

And copies to:

Minister of Justice of the People's Republic of China

WU Aiying Buzhang

Sifabu, 10 Chaoyangmen Nandajie

Chaoyangqu, Beijingshi 100020

People's Republic of China

Fax: +86 10 65292345

Email: pfmaster@legalinfo.gov.cn

Salutation: Dear Minister

Also send copies to diplomatic representatives accredited to your country. Check with your section office if sending appeals after the above date.

 

URGENT ACTION

FEAR OF DISAPPEARANCE OF ACTIVIST AND FAMILY

Additional Information

Hada was detained on 11 December 1995. The Hohhot Intermediate People’s Court found him guilty of “splittism” and “espionage” following an unfair trial and sentenced him to 15 years’ imprisonment on 11 November 1996. Amnesty International considered him a prisoner of conscience and campaigned for his immediate and unconditional release.

Hada was held in Chifeng Prison in Ulaanhad (in Chinese: Chifeng) Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. In 2004, an inmate who was released from Chifeng Prison reported that Hada was routinely abused there, subjected to disciplinary punishments ranging from solitary confinement to being chained onto a metal “shackle board” in prison (see http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/ASA17/004/2005/en)

Before his detention, Hada was the general manager of the Mongolian Academic Bookshop in Hohhot. His imprisonment was related to his involvement in an organization called the Southern Mongolian Democratic Alliance (SMDA), which aimed to promote human rights, Mongolian culture and “a high degree of autonomy for China’s minority nationalities, as guaranteed in [China’s] Constitution”.

In 2002, Uiles (Hada's son, born in 1984) was sentenced to two years’ imprisonment for his alleged involvement in a robbery. Whilst in prison, he was said to have been pressured to cut ties to his parents.

Xinna, Hada's wife, was detained on 4 December 2010 at the family-run bookstore. The police informed Uiles that she was being held at the Inner Mongolia No. 1 Detention Centre in Hohhot, the regional capital (in Chinese: Huhehaote). The police also raided the bookstore warehouse and detained Uiles. Uiles was released on the same day shortly before midnight and told the SMHRIC that the police had pressured him to agree to not to disseminate any information about himself or his family over the phone or on the internet; to sever his relationship with his parents, and; not to carry out any separatist activities like his father had done.

Uiles was detained again in the morning of 5 December 2010. Naraa, Hada's sister-in-law, later received a notice from the Public Security authorities stating that Xinna was held on suspicion of running an illegal business and that Uiles was suspected of being involved in dealing drugs.

In November 2010, the authorities placed writer and activist Huuchinhuu under illegal house arrest. She had been planning a party for Hada upon his release. Another Inner Mongolian activist, Arslan, who also had been planning a gathering to celebrate Hada’s anticipated release from prison is also under house arrest.

UA: 2/11 Index: ASA 17/001/2011 Issue Date: 07 January 2011