Case history: Chen Guangcheng

On 19 May 2012, lawyer and human rights defender Mr Chen Guangcheng, along with his wife and two children, arrived in New York nearly a month after his escape from nineteen months of strict and unlawful house arrest in Dongshigu Village, Linyi City in late April 2012. It is understood that Chen Guangcheng will take up a fellowship to study at New York University's School of Law.

On 12 May 2012, Chen Guangcheng's brother, Mr Chen Guangfu, reported that he was beaten and interrogated for two days and three nights following the discovery by local authorities that his brother had escaped house arrest.

Chen Guangfu reported that on 27 April 2012, a group of unidentified men broke into his home, hooded him and drove him away for questioning. He was subsequently tied to a chair and beaten and interrogated on the details of Chen Guangcheng's escape.

Chen Guangfu's wife, Ms Ren Zongju, described how their son, Mr Chen Kegui, was also severely beaten that same day by a number of unidentified men. Chen Guangfu and Ren Zongju described these events publicly during a face to face interview with Hong Kong magazine iSunAffairs.com on 17 May 2012. When a group of guards raided the home of Chen Guangfu after discovering his brother's escape from house arrest, it is alleged that Chen Kegui used kitchen knives to defend himself and reportedly injured some of the guards. Chen Kegui has since been arrested on suspicion of “intentional homicide”, although it is understood that nobody died as a result of the altercation. It has been reported that the family's choice of lawyers for Chen Kegui has been ignored and he has instead been appointed with two lawyers from a local government-run legal aid centre. Lawyers who had volunteered to represent Chen Kegui were warned not to and at least one of the lawyers was placed under house arrest.

In 2006, Chen Guangcheng was sentenced to four years and three months in prison for damaging property and “organising a mob to disturb traffic”. He was released on 9 September 2010. Since then, a strict form of house arrest had been enforced on him and his family, with dozens of unidentified men guarding the entrances to Dongshigu village and refusing access to anyone attempting to visit him.

Front Line Defenders express serious concern at the reprisal attacks against the family of human rights defender Chen Guangcheng – the beating and interrogation of Chen Guangfu, and the beating of Chen Kegui.

It urges the Chinese authorities to take immediate measures to guarantee Chen Guangfu and Chen Kegui's physical and psychological integrity and security, as well as other family members, and to ensure full respect of fair trial guarantees during Chen Kegui's trial, including that he is allowed to be defended by lawyers of his choice, in accordance with international standards.

Front Line Defenders calls for an immediate, thorough and impartial investigation into these serious reports of reprisal attacks; with a view to publishing the findings, and to bringing those responsible to justice in accordance with international standards.

Human rights defender Mr Chen Guangcheng, along with his wife Ms Yuan Weijing, his mother, and six-year old daughter, have now been under house arrest for almost a year, during which time they have been completely isolated from the outside world, and forced to endure severe food shortages as none of the family is being permitted to leave the property. Chen Guangcheng is a blind, self-taught human rights lawyer who served four years imprisonment as a result of his work on women's rights in Linyi City, Shangdong Province.

Since his release from prison on 9 September 2010, neither Chen Guangcheng nor his wife Yuan Weijing have been allowed to step outside their home or maintain any form of contact with the outside world. Phone-jamming equipment has been installed which makes it impossible for the family to use the phone. A group of approximately 30 men surround the house and block off the entrances to the village in which the family lives. Over the previous year, a number of attempts have been made by fellow human rights defenders, journalists, and foreign diplomats to gain access to Chen Guangcheng and his family, however their attempts have been futile. In one particular incident, a human rights defender who attempted to gain entry to the home was threatened, beaten, robbed, abducted and later abandoned on the roadside in a remote area. The human rights defender reported the incident to local police, who subsequently held her incommunicado for three days.

A reliable source has informed Front Line that the family is quickly running out of food and has been forced to survive on vegetables growing in the family's vegetable patch. The vegetables are picked by Chen Guangcheng's 76-year old mother, who is the only family member permitted to step outside the family home.

Chen Guangcheng and his wife have been subjected to severe beatings, following which they have been denied access to medical attention. Chen Guangcheng's health has deteriorated rapidly since his release from prison, however he is continuously denied access to medical treatment. He is reportedly passing blood in his stools, which since early May, has turned from red to black.

Over the previous year, the home of Chen Guangcheng has been raided and ransacked on several occasions. A number of items were confiscated including a computer, a video camera, an audio tape recorder, a radio, books, paper, and Chen Guangcheng's blind cane. The couple's six-year old daughter, who is also under house arrest is being denied the opportunity to attend school. It has become increasingly difficult for Chen Guangcheng and his wife, Yuan Weijing to provide her with home-schooling because basic essentials such as writing instruments and paper have been confiscated during the various raids on the family home. It is further reported that the couple's young son, who is currently in the care of family relatives, has only been permitted one visit to his parents' home during the Chinese new year. Following the visit, the child was strip-searched after he left the premises.

Front Line strongly condemns the ongoing house arrest of human rights defender Chen Guangcheng and his family. Front Line is gravely concerned for the physical and psychological integrity of Chen Guangcheng and his wife following reports that they have been subjected to beatings during the past year and have been denied access to urgent medical attention. Furthermore, Front Line is deeply concerned amid revelations that the family is quickly running out of food and may be forced to starve at the hands of the Chinese authorities.

Front Line believes that the situation of Chen Guangcheng and his family is directly linked to his legitimate work in the promotion and protection of human rights in China.