SAMPLE CHINA REGIONAL ACTION NETWORK (CHIRAN) CASE
(November 2008 onward)
China: Chen Zhenping (f), Falun Gong practitioner
Concerns: Fear of torture
Summary:
Falun Gong practitioner Chen Zhenping was arrested without a warrant on 9 July at her home in the city of Zhengzhou, Henan province. Her family has not been allowed to visit her, and it is unclear where she is now held. She is in grave danger of torture.
She was first held for 10 days at Matougang Village Detention Centre and then moved to Zhengzhou City No.1 Detention Centre. Zhengzhou City Jingshui People's Court officials told one of her relatives on 10 October that Chen Zhenping had been sentenced to between seven and 15 years imprisonment. However, the family has not been served an official notification of a trial by court authorities.
After Chen was arrested, her family contacted lawyers in Zhengzhou to represent her. The lawyers told them that before the Olympic Games the government had warned them not to take Falun Gong cases. Chen is therefore unlikely to have had legal representation, making any trial that took place unfair.
On 28 October Chen’s family discovered that her signature had been forged on the register where detainees are required to sign when they receive provisions from relatives and friends.
According to a fellow inmate, Chen Zhenping has been held in a cell with over 30 people and forced to sleep on the floor. She was reported by a former cell-mate to have been forced to work up to 19 hours a day producing rugs, Q-tips and other goods, with strict production targets; if she did not meet these targets she was beaten and otherwise ill-treated.
Background
Falun Gong is a spiritual movement that gained large numbers of adherents in China during the 1990s. After a peaceful sit-in on Tiananmen Square in July 1999, the government outlawed the group and launched a long-term campaign of intimidation and persecution, directed by a special organization called the 610 Office. The crackdown on Falun Gong intensified in the lead-up to the Olympics. Falun Gong sources reported over 8000 arrests of its practitioners nationwide during this period, and say that in 2007 over 100 died in detention or shortly after being released due to torture, starvation and lack of medicine. Falun Gong practitioners are a primary target of China’s system of Re-education through Labor (RTL), a form of punitive administrative detention in which people can be deprived of their liberty without trial for up to four years. Between 300,000 and 500,000 are estimated to be under RTL.
Take Action: Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible in English or your own language:
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asking authorities where Chen Zhenping is held, and asking them to provide immediate guarantees for her safety, and assurances that she will not be tortured or ill-treated;
-asking them to release her immediately and unconditionally unless she is to be charged with a recognizably criminal offense;
-demanding that Chen Zhenping be given immediate access to a lawyer of her own choosing, her family and any medical treatment she may require;
-expressing concern that she has been imprisoned solely for her religious beliefs.
Check with the China CoGroup if sending appeals after December 15, 2008: chinacogroup@aiusa.org
Addresses of the President of the Supreme People’s Court and four other appropriate officials follow.
N.B. The above is a sample only and cannot be downloaded. For current and downloadable CHIRAN letters contact us at: info@aiusagroup11.org
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