  An elderly Sichuan woman was handcuffed and dragged to death by the police HRWF Int. (09.02.2009) - Due to a neighbourhood dispute, a 58-year-old woman named Shu Xuebin from Xin Min town of Qian Wei county, Sichuan province was handcuffed and sent under escort by the local police. Soon she was found spitting foam after being escorted for over 100 meters. She died soon after being sent to the local hospital. Her sudden death caused much anger among the local general public. According to the cousin of the dead, Shu Xuebin's niece named Huang Kang was planning to get married on February 3, 2009. Her mother Shu Xuezhen thought that her shop front was not big enough to hold all the guests, thus she talked to her neighbour named Zhang Xiaoping over the use of Zhang's shop front, and Zhang agreed. However, on the day when the wedding ceremony was held, Zhang closed her shop and disappered, Huang Kang's mother had no choice but to hold the wedding ceremony on the street side since all the invited guests had arrived. On the morning of 4 February 2009, Shu Xuezhen, along with her cousins, asked Zhang Xiaoping why she broke her promise, which caused quarrel among the two parties. Soon the police from Xin Min police station came and handcuffed Shu Xuebin, trying to take her away. Her relatives reminded the policemen that Mrs. Shu was suffering from high blood pressure and should not be handcuffed. Unfortunately, the local policemen ignored the advice. Poor Shu was dragged by force along the street for about 20 meters when one of her nieces found she was weak and limp, with her face being pale. Her niece immediately knelt down, asking the policemen not to drag her aunt any more. According to the relative of Mrs. Shu, the policemen continued to take her away in handcuffs. When the policemen found she was spitting foam, they started to undo her handcuffs. By then, the two policemen had already escorted Shu Xuebin for over 100 meters and she was in a state of unconsciousness. They then sent her to the local hospital. At 6 of the next morning, the hospital announced that Shu was dead. This is another typical case of China's massive violations of human rights. The author believes that this is just an ordinary civil dispute and the policemen should not have used handcuffs. Unfortunately, enforcing the law brutally and abuse of power are common occurrence among China's judicial personnel. In the eyes of most policemen in China, ordinary Chinese don't have basic human rights at all. terug naar boven (03.02.2009) HRWFAn outspoken Chinese human rights lawyer who disappeared for two weeks and was allegedly being held by security forces at an unknown location has returned home, an international rights group said Tuesday. Gao Zhisheng, who has described being tortured in the past by Chinese security officials, is currently safe after Western diplomats pressed China on his case, according to Human Rights Watch. The New-York based group did not give any other details and said it was not immediately clear when Gao was let go. Gao, a bold critic of China's civil rights lapses, disappeared on Jan. 19 and was "subsequently detained by Chinese security forces," according to a joint letter issued earlier Tuesday by Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and Human Rights in China that expressed fears for his safety and called for his release. The groups were "particularly concerned" about his disappearance because it appeared arbitrary and did not follow any apparent action on Gao's part, said Nicholas Bequelin, Asia researcher for Human Rights Watch. "It seemed to be an escalation in treatment by security forces," he said. China has long been criticized for its violations of freedom of speech and religion and brutal repression of critics, and the U.N. Human Rights Council is set to review its rights record starting next week. Gao, an attorney, has tackled cases involving property-rights violations, the banned Falun Gong spiritual movement and religious persecution from 2002-2006. He was arrested in August 2006, convicted at a one-day trial and placed under house arrest. He was accused of subversion on the basis of nine articles posted on foreign Web sites, state media reported at the time. In September 2007, he was again detained for several weeks after sending an open letter to the U.S. Congress denouncing China's human rights situation and detailing his and his family's harsh treatment by security forces. He graphically described torture sessions he allegedly endured that involved severe beatings, electric shock to his genitals, and cigarettes held to his eyes. Last November, the U.N. Committee Against Torture issued a report on China saying that it remained "deeply concerned about the continued allegations, corroborated by numerous Chinese legal sources, of routine and widespread use of torture and ill-treatment of suspects in police custody terug naar boven |