[blindlaw] FW: [nfbwatlk] Chen Guangcheng

[Nightingale, Noel]

-----Original Message-----
From: nfbwatlk-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nfbwatlk-bounces at nfbnet.org]
On Behalf Of Carl Jarvis
Sent: Monday, June 25, 2007 7:38 AM
To: nfbw
Subject: [nfbwatlk] Chen Guangcheng

>From Amnesty International
Thursday, June 21, 2007

URGENT ACTION

China: Torture/Medical concern/Prisoner of conscience, Chen Guangcheng
(m)
21 June 2007

PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA Chen Guangcheng (m), aged 35, human rights
defender

Jailed human rights defender Chen Guangcheng was severely beaten by
other prisoners on the orders of prison guards on 16 June, and denied
medical treatment. He has begun a hunger strike in protest, refusing
water as well as food. Amnesty International believes his life is in
danger, and that he is at risk of further torture and ill-treatment.

His wife visited him at the Linyi City Prison on 19 June. He told her
that after he refused to have his head shaved, six other prisoners had
pushed him to the floor, encouraged by prison guards, and hit and kicked
him hard. He said his ribs hurt and thought one might be broken. He
began his hunger strike that day.

He said he was being punished for "being disobedient" due to his
insistence on filing an appeal to the provincial higher court. Since
Chen Guangcheng has been blind since birth he requires the assistance of
his lawyer or his wife to help him draft his appeal. However the prison
authorities have refused to permit either his lawyer or his wife to
visit him for longer than 30 minutes per month, making it impossible for
Chen Guangcheng to prepare an appeal.

The prison authorities have refused his family's request to give him
medical attention, including an X-ray to check for broken bones.

Chen Guangcheng is a self-taught lawyer. He helped villagers to take
legal action against the Linyi city authorities, who had allegedly been
forcing women to have abortions so as to meet birth quotas set by
central government.
He had
been under house arrest since September 2005. (See UA 271/05, ASA
17/037/2005,
14 October 2005 and follow-ups.) In August 2006, after a grossly unfair
trial, he was sentenced to four years and three months in prison for
"damaging public property and gathering people to block traffic".

Amnesty International considers him a prisoner of conscience, jailed
solely for his peaceful activities in defence of human rights.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

Chen Guangcheng is one example of a disturbing pattern of Chinese
lawyers and activists being subjected to conviction and imprisonment
after unfair trials.
The pattern continues despite promises by the Chinese authorities to
improve human rights in the run-up to the Beijing Olympics in August
2008.

Despite several measures introduced to curb the practice, torture and
ill-treatment remain widespread in China. Common methods include
kicking, beating, electric shocks, suspension by the arms, shackling in
painful positions and sleep and food-deprivation.

Amnesty International remains deeply concerned that human rights
defenders who attempt to report more widely on violations, challenge
policies which are deemed politically sensitive or try to rally others
to their cause face serious risk of abuse.

Urgent Actions

Amnesty International's global Urgent Action network provides an
effective and rapid means of preventing some of the most
life-threatening human rights violations against individuals. Join the
Urgent Action network

LINK:
http://www.amnesty.org/urgentaction

AI Index: ASA 17/022/2007        21 June 2007

http://web.amnesty.org/library/Index/ENGASA170222007


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