Mi Chongbiao: Beating and continued arbitrary detention
On 23 July 2016, 78 year old human rights defender Mr Mi Chongbiao and his 68 year old wife, Ms Li Kezhen, were reportedly assaulted by officers from the national security bureau in Guiyang, Guizhou province. The couple have been arbitrarily detained for over four years in a number of different locations under the control and surveillance of the Guiyang City police, the Public Security Bureau and hired security guards.
Mi Chongbiao is a member of the Guizhou Human Rights Forum, a locally based informal network of human rights defenders promoting international standards and highlighting abuses committed by the authorities. He has submitted complaints to the UN human rights mechanisms, written articles on political persecution, called for justice for the victims of the Tiananmen massacre and protested for the release of jailed human rights defenders.
Since at least 2011, Mi Chongbiao and his family have been subjected to various forms of abuse because of his human rights activities. In October 2011, on the 100th anniversary of the 1911 revolution in China, Mi Chongbiao stood at the entrance to a park in Guiyang distributing information on that revolution and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. On this occasion he was detained by police, taken to a local police station and beaten severely. Police also reportedly threatened his life.
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- 29 July 2016 : Beating and continued arbitrary detention of 78 year old human rights defender and 68 year old wife
- 11 July 2016 : Ongoing arbitrary detention of 78 year old human rights defender and wife for three years
- 17 November 2014 : Arbitrary detention of human rights defender and wife enters eighteenth month
On 23 July 2016, 78 year old human rights defender Mr Mi Chongbiao and his 68 year old wife, Ms Li Kezhen, were reportedly assaulted by officers from the national security bureau in Guiyang, Guizhou province. The couple have been arbitrarily detained for over three years in a number of different locations under the control and surveillance of the Guiyang City police, the Public Security Bureau and hired security guards.
Front Line Defenders previously issued an Urgent Appeal on their arbitrary detention on 17 November 2014 and 11 July 2016. Mi Chongbiao is a member of the Guizhou Human Rights Forum, a locally based informal network of human rights defenders promoting international standards and highlighting abuses committed by the authorities. He has submitted complaints to the UN human rights mechanisms, written articles on political persecution, called for justice for the victims of the Tiananmen massacre and protested for the release of jailed human rights defenders.
On 23 July 2016 as the Guizhou International Marathon passed close to the location of their detention, Li Kezhen attempted to attract the attention of some of the international participants and media to inform them of her and her husband's ongoing illegal captivity. She was prevented from doing so by four plain clothes national security officers who assaulted her and dragged her back to the apartment in which she is being detained. Once there, national security officials approached Mi Chongbiao, who was sleeping at the time, and reportedly punched him repeatedly in the head and kicked him in his back. Despite being in obvious pain, Mi Chongbiao and Li Kezhen were only permitted to visit a hospital two days later on 25 July. Following an x-ray Mi Chongbiao was reportedly told by a doctor that his spine was damaged from the beating and he required hospitalization.
Following an intervention from the officials accompanying Mi Chongbiao, the doctor changed his prognosis and told the human rights defender that his injuries were not serious and that he did not need to be hospitalized. The x-ray was reportedly confiscated. As a result of his injuries, Mi Chongbiao is having difficulties both standing and sitting. Li Kezhen was found to have a fractured wrist and bruising to her back, head, face, ribs, waist and leg. She was not permitted to see an x-ray of her injuries.
This is the latest in a series of beatings that Mi Chongbiao and Li Kezhen have been subjected to during the course of their three year detention. Guards have repeatedly attempted to force Mi Chongbiao to sign a document saying that he would not contact journalists, other human rights defenders or publish any more writings online should he be released. The couple has been illegally held in various locations since 19 June 2013 when dozens of police officers raided their home in Guiyang city at which time they were immediately placed under house arrest. It is believed the cause of the raid was related to two articles Mi Chongbiao published online the week previously, one of which was critical of China's now abolished re-education through labour system.
The couple were also detained for a number of weeks in 2012 following a protest Mi Chongbiao held in a public park in the city commemorating the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre. Front Line Defenders is deeply concerned about the health and well-being of Mi Chongbiao and Li Kezhen, especially in light of their ages and the frequent beatings and abuse to which they have been subjected. It is further extremely concerned by the ongoing illegal and arbitrary detention of Mi Chongbiao and Li Kezhen, which it believes to be directly linked to Mi Chongbiao's peaceful and legitimate work calling for justice for the victims of the Tiananmen massacre and the release of jailed human rights defenders.
Human rights defender Mr Mi Chongbiao, aged 78, and his wife, Ms Li Kezhen, aged 68, have been held in arbitrary detention in Guiyang city, Guizhou province since they were detained on 19 June 2013. No charges have been brought against them, nor have they been given permission to meet with a lawyer. The couple's two sons, Messrs Mi Zuheng and Mi Yiming, have been subjected to harassment and intimidation as a result of their advocacy efforts on behalf of their parents.
Download the Urgent Appeal (PDF)
On 19 June 2013 dozens of police officers raided the home of Mi Chongbiao and Li Kezhen in Guiyang city and the couple were immediately placed under house arrest. It is believed the cause of the raid was related to two articles Mi Chongbiao published online the week previously, one of which was critical of China's now abolished re-education through labour system. The couple were also detained for a number of weeks in 2012 following a protest Mi Chongbiao held in a public park in the city commemorating the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre.
Since their detentions on 19 June 2013, Mi Chongbiao and Li Kezhen have been held in a number of different locations under the control and surveillance of the Guiyang City police, the Public Security Bureau and hired security guards. Following a number of months of house arrest, in September 2013 the couple were brought to various undisclosed locations and held incommunicado until January 2014. At that time their sons were contacted by the security forces after Li Kezhen suffered a stroke. She spent a week in hospital before she and her husband were once again placed under arbitrary detention at a secret location. Since then, Mi Zuheng and Mi Yiming have been permitted to see their parents once every two weeks, under supervision in an allocated restaurant. During politically sensitive occasions, they are not permitted to meet with them and the couple continue to be moved occasionally to ensure their location is kept secret.
Mi Chongbiao and Li Kezhen have reportedly been beaten a number of times and have not been allowed outside during their three-year long detention. Their sons have expressed fear for the health of their father who is 78 and who has suffered years of mistreatment at the hands of the authorities, and for the health of their mother since her stroke. Guards have repeatedly attempted to force Mi Chongbiao to sign a document saying that he would not contact journalists, other human rights defenders or publish any more writings online should he be released. Since demanding accountability from the local authorities and attempting to hire a lawyer for their parents, Mi Zuheng and Mi Yiming have been subjected to surveillance, harassment, intimidation and threats of reprisals, which have intensified since May 2016.
Front Line Defenders urges the authorities in China to:
1. Immediately and unconditionally release Mi Chongbiao and Li Kezhen, as Front Line Defenders believes that their imprisonment is solely motivated by his legitimate and peaceful work in the defence of human rights;
2. Ensure that the treatment of Mi Chongbiao and Li Kezhen, while in detention, adheres to the conditions set out in the ‘Body of Principles for the Protection of All Persons under Any Form of Detention or Imprisonment', adopted by UN General Assembly resolution 43/173 of 9 December 1988;
3. Inform the family of Mi Chongbiao and Li Kezhen of the place of their detention, and allow them immediate and unfettered access to lawyers of their choosing;
4. Guarantee in all circumstances that all human rights defenders in China are able to carry out their legitimate human rights activities without fear of reprisals and free of all restrictions.
On 19 November 2014, the arbitrary detention of human rights defender Mr Mi Chongbiao and his wife, Ms Li Kezhen, will enter its eighteenth month. The couple have been held against their will in a series of locations by the authorities in Guiyang city, Guizhou province since 19 June 2013. Mi Chongbiao, who turned 75 years old this year, has been promoting the greater protection of human rights in Guiyang city since 2007. Li Kezhen has also assisted in a number of these activities.
Mi Chongbiao and Li Kezhen are currently being held in an undisclosed location in Guiyang city by members of the Guiyang city police force, the Public Security Bureau and hired security guards. They are regularly moved to different locations to ensure that their whereabouts remain unknown. Their two sons are permitted to see them once every two weeks, where they are brought to meet them, under surveillance, for three hours at a restaurant designated by police. The couple are reportedly kept under watch by three teams of ten guards, who work eight hour shifts.
From September 2013 to January 2014 Mi Chongbiao and Li Kezhen were subjected to incommunicado detention. During this time the couple's sons repeatedly sought information on their parents' whereabouts from various levels of the district and municipal government but on each occasion were denied. In January 2014, authorities finally contacted the elder son to sign medical forms after Li Kezhen suffered a stroke while in incommunicado detention. Li Kezhen was permitted to stay in hospital for a single week before being removed and placed once again in arbitrary detention with her husband at an unknown location. Guards reportedly told Mi Chongbiao's sons that if they did not persuade their father to sign a document pledging to stop his human rights activities, the couple would remain in arbitrary detention for an unlimited period of time.
On 19 June 2013 dozens of police officers arrived at the home of Mi Chongbiao and Li Kezhen, forced their two sons to leave, and placed the couple under a very strict form of house arrest, during which they were forbidden from setting foot outside of their home. Their house was searched and two computers were confiscated, along with four mobile phones, a dictaphone and a camera. It is believed that the immediate cause of the raid was two articles posted online by Mi Chongbiao on 10 June 2013, one of which was critical of the re-education through labour system in China.
On 28 and 29 May 2012 Mi CHongbiao held protests in a public square and park in Guiyang calling for justice for the victims of the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre, the release of fellow human rights defender Mr Chen Xi and for a stop to all political persecution. On the evening of 29 May 2012, more than one hundred police along with public and national security bureau officers carried out a raid on his home. Mi Chongbiao and Li Kezhen were taken to Yuyun local police station for interrogation. For 38 hours they were not permitted to sleep, not provided with any food and Mi Chongbiao, who has diabetes, was not given any medication. On the evening of 30 May 2012 Mi Chongbiao's two sons were also detained by police. Their home was raided a further four times and a number of items were confiscated. Following their release two weeks later, Mi Chongbiao and Li Kezhen were relocated to a residence outside of Guiyang city and kept under 24 hour surveillance.
Front Line Defenders expresses its concern regarding the ongoing and lengthy arbitrary detention of Mi Chongbiao and Li Kezhen and the fact that their exact whereabouts are still unknown. Furthermore, Front Line Defenders believes that these actions are solely related to Mi Chongbiao's peaceful and legitimate work in defence of human rights.
