» 01/13/2012 13:47 CHINA Chinese dissidents still subjected to arrests, convictions, prisons and mental hospitals Ahead of the annual meeting of China’s “parliament”, the authorities use every means at their disposal to silence dissidents and ordinary petitioners. The rule of law in China has gone by the wayside.
Beijing (AsiaNews) – As politicians get ready for the annual session of the National People’s Congress (NPC), China’s parliament, in March, security forces continue their crackdown against dissidents and ordinary citizens who dare submit petitions to the central government to protest against corruption and land grabs.
In order to please national leaders and ensure a “harmonious development” to society, the authorities have intensified their attack against dissident voices in the months leading up to the congress.
This year, matters are complicated by the Arab spring that overthrew various regimes in North Africa and the Middle East. Beijing is concerned that this democratic wave might reach China and is using a iron fist to hold it back.
The latest cases of repression are in the northern province of Sichuan where the authorities have confirmed the detention of activist Chen Wei. Arrested in December, he was tried for inciting subversion of state power.
In violation of China’s constitution, the authorities did not inform Chen’s family where he was being held. Chen’s wife, Wang Xiaoyan, was planning to go to the Suining City Detention Centre to see him; however, authorities informed her on Monday that he had been moved to another prison. Under Chinese law, inmates’ families have the right to visit them before they are moved. In Chen’s case, matters are worse because not even his lawyer Zheng Jianwei was able to see him.
Chen was a protest leader in Tiananmen Square in 1989. After spending a year and half in prison for his role in the student demonstrations of that year, he was arrested again in 1992 for organising a political party and commemorating the martyrs of 1989. Convicted, he was given five years in jail. In February 2011, he was re-arrested and brought before a judge twice because the prosecution cold not produce enough evidence to convict him.
Courts are not the only Chinese institutions used to violate the rule of law. Various sources have confirmed that Henan police placed Wang Qunfeng in a psychiatric hospital where for weeks she was forced to take medications even though she does not suffer from mental illness.
She had petitioned the government when the medical expenses of her father, a former Communist Party official, were not properly reimbursed by the government. After her arrest, she was sent back to her home province where police decided to deal with her in a mental hospital. Even though the medical evaluation indicated that she was not mentally ill, the results of the evaluation were not given to the family but to the authorities.
For petitioning, Wang had already been sent to Re-education through Labour camps on three previous occasions and has been administratively detained more than 10 times. She has also being frequently beaten and held in black jails.
Even though petitioning the authorities is a right guaranteed by China’s constitution, local authorities have done all in their power to discourage the practice out of fear that their illegal and unpopular actions could be revealed.
