The curious case of Hada

15 Dec 2010 | Asia and Pacific, China

His 15-year jail term for spying and separatist activities is finally over, but Chinese dissident Hada, (who is ethnically Mongolian) is missing, along with his wife and son.

The 55-year-old writer was scheduled to be released last Friday, while the world was distracted by the Nobel-Liu Xiaobo shenanigans but the New York-based Southern Mongolian Human Rights Information Center believes Hada is still being detained.

The organisation said his sister-in-law had told them a state security official had delivered a CD over the weekend with pictures of Hada with his wife and son posing in what looks like a hotel room next to a table laden with food. The photos are dated 10 December, the day of his expected release. Curiously the photos had also been anonymously posted to a human rights website boxun.com a few hours earlier.

It is highly likely that the authorities are holding them either under house arrest or detention for the purpose of silencing them through isolation and so-called “ideological work”, the organisation’s president, Enghebatu Togochog, told Index.

It is common in China for freed dissidents to be further detained after their release for a while as a measure to prevent possible unrest and to stop media interviews. The photos may be to reassure his family he is fine and out of jail. But until now he has been prevented from calling his family.

So who is Hada?

The New York Times called him “one of China’s longest serving political prisoners.” He had called for greater autonomy for ethnic Mongolians living inside China in the Inner Mongolia region, a vast land of flat steppe: desert in the west, grassland in the east. The Mongolians share similar grievances as the Tibetans: They believe their culture is being diluted and destroyed by Chinese Han migrants.

Hada was arrested at a rally in the regional capital Hohot back in 1995 for his activities with the underground Southern Mongolian Democracy Alliance. According to the New York Times, the spying charges came from interviews he gave with overseas news media.

China: Missing lawyer located

15 Feb 2010 | Index Index, minipost, Uncategorized

Chinese authorities have told the US human rights group, the Dui Hua Foundation, that Gao Zhisheng – a human rights lawyer who has been missing for more than a year – is in Urumqi, Xinjiang. Zhisheng’s case has drawn international attention due to the unusual length of his disappearance. John Kamm, the foundation’s executive director, said the news was a “tentative step in the right direction toward accountability”, but many questions still needed to be answered such as “What is he doing there? How long has he been there?”

China: Dissident Liu Xiaobo’s prison term upheld

12 Feb 2010 | Index Index, minipost, Uncategorized

Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo’s‘s appeal against a 11-year prison sentence rejected by a court in Beijing. Liu was convicted six weeks ago on charges of subversion, to widespread international condemnation. Roseann Rife, the deputy director for Asia and the Pacific at Amnesty International said, “His harsh sentence is a stark reminder to the Chinese people and the world that there is still no freedom of expression or independent judiciary in China.” Read Liu’s final statement to the court.

The denial of  Liu’s appeal is another signal that China’s leaders are unwilling to tolerate greater pluralism.

Yesterday,  a 20-year-old factory worker who joined a banned political party because he was unhappy with one-party rule was sentenced to jail for 18 months. A court in Shenzhen found Xue Mingkai guilty of subversion of state power because he joined the US-based China Democracy party last April.

Increasing fears for missing Chinese dissident

4 Feb 2010 | minipost, Uncategorized

There are increasing concerns about the whereabouts of missing dissident Gao  Zhisheng. The case is unusual because the Chinese authorities have refusedto divulge Gao’s whereabouts. Gao has vanished without  legal explanation, normally even in the most politicized cases, the Chinese authorities  comply with their own criminal procedure laws.  The only comment came two weeks ago from Ma Zhaoxu, a Foreign Ministry spokesman, who said that Gao “is where he should be.” When asked again last Tuesday, he offered a smile and said: “Honestly speaking, I don’t know where he is. China has 1.3bn people and I can’t know all of their whereabouts.”