THE FOLLOWING STATEMENT HAS BEEN RECEIVED FROM NETWORK OF CHINESE HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDERS:


The Conviction of Mao Hengfeng:

Trump-up Charges against a Human Rights Defender

On January 12, 2007, Shanghai authorities convicted activist/petitioner Mao Hengfeng, female, for "damaging hotel property" and sentenced her to two-and-half years in jail. CRD condemns the conviction, a politically motivated act of retaliation against a human rights defender for her persistent petitioning efforts and protests against abuses of housing rights and women's reproductive rights.

Apparently in anticipation of a surge of Chinese citizens flocking to Beijing to seek hearings of their grievances against local authorities during the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Chinese authorities have stepped up harsh crackdowns on petitioners, including use of police violence as witnessed in the case of petitioner Duan Huiming who was beaten to death by Shanghai police in Beijing where he was intercepted while trying to file petition ( http://crd-net.org/Article_Show.asp?ArticleID=3153).

Mao Henfeng's conviction is yet another case of a harsh sentence based on trumped up charges after a long period of illegal detention. This pattern has characterized the recent retaliation against human rights defenders in general – especially Chen Guangcheng, Gao Zhisheng, Guo Qizhen, and Yan Zhengxue. CRD demands the immediate and unconditional release of Mao Henfeng and all other imprisoned human rights defenders.

On January 12, when the trial opened, several hundred fellow petitioners gathered outside the court to show their support. Police denied them entry into the court room to observe the trial.

During the trial, Mao Henfeng tried to tell the judges about her mistreatment and abuse during her year-long detention. She said that she was put under solitary confinement in filthy and unsanitary conditions. Prison guards put a mask on her in order to prevent her from verbally protesting. The judges ignored her.

Prosecutors accused Mao Henfeng of breaking two desk lamps worth the value of about $900 during her detention by police at a guest house. Lawyers for Ms. Mao argued that the hotel only asked guests to pay the equivalent of $7 for each damaged lamp and that the prosecutor should produce the receipts for the particular lamps to prove the extraordinarily high costs they cited. The prosecutors refused. The judges did not ask for the receipts. In an unusual move, indicating a pre-determined sentencing, the court announced its verdict immediately upon the closing of the trial.

Mao Henfeng will file an appeal through her lawyer. Her lawyers were harassed and physically assaulted when they went to visit Mao Hengfeng before the trial. Today, January 17, Mao's husband Wu Xuewei was questioned in relation to the several hundred supporters outside the courtroom. He was warned not to speak publicly about the case.

Background

Mao, the mother of twins, was reportedly dismissed from her job in 1988 because she became pregnant for a second time with a third child, in violation of China's "one child" birth regulations. Mao Hengfeng refused to undergo an abortion and she was subsequently incarcerated at a psychiatric hospital, where she was forcibly injected with various drugs. She nevertheless continued the pregnancy, giving birth to a girl prematurely on February 28, 1989. She was then notified in March 1989 that she had been dismissed from her job for missing sixteen days at work.



Mao won an appeal about her dismissal according to regulations under China's Labour Law. She got her job back according to a ruling by the Shanghai Municipal Labour Arbitration Committee. However, the soap factory where she worked disputed the ruling, and appealed to Shanghai Yangpu District Court. Mao was seven months pregnant with her fourth child at the time of the appeal hearing. The judge reportedly told her that if she terminated her pregnancy, he would rule in her favor. She refused and lost her job. And she continued to try to get a hearing from authorities on her case.



Mao Hengfeng was detained after she traveled to Beijing to petition authorities for her own and others' grievances (mostly about housing rights abuses and forced eviction) at the time of the annual meeting of the National People's Congress in March 2004. Authorities ruled that her petitioning "disturbed social order." Her welfare allowances were discontinued when she was sent to the Re-education through Labor camp for 18 months in April 2004.



She was released on September 12, 2005. She continued to play an active role in housing activists/petitioners' protests and suffered further abuses along with her husband, Wu Xuewei, who has also been subjected to beatings and threatened with criminal charges. Both have been at risk of persecution, including arbitrary detention and torture or ill-treatment.



Several days after her release, Mao Hengfeng and her family were reportedly held under a form of "house arrest" from 23-27 September, 2005. Officials tried to prevent her from contacting a UN office in Beijing about the abuses she and other Shanghai petitioners had suffered. She was placed under house arrest again from September 29, to October 11, 2005 during the National Day holidays and the fifth plenary session of the 16th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China.

She was detained again in Beijing when she went there to petition the central government on January 24, 2006. She was released on Feb. 8 and detained again on Feb. 13 for 45 days. In mid-May, police detained her and then filed charges against her for "damaging hotel property" in the guest house used by police to detain her in Feb. 2006.

Mao was featured in CRD's 2006 report "Hazardous Times for Human Rights Defenders" http://crd-net.org/Article_Show.asp?ArticleID=186



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CRD is a non-political, non-government network of grassroots and international activists working to advance human rights protection in the PRC. Its objective is to build NGO capacity, to monitor government adherence to its international and constitutional obligations and to aid victims of rights abuses and assist them in seeking redress. CRD encourages efforts to achieve these objectives through democratization and rule of law reform. CRD activities include consultation, dissemination of information, building international solidarity, supporting a program of small grants to those working in China, research assistance, and other services.

I am terrified by the treatment of Mao Hengfeng. There have been too many cases like this, showing how scared the old men in power are of democracy. But changes will come, that I am sure about. Mao's fight will not be in vain.
Shame on you, CPC!

David

i have to say foreigners dont have qualification to judge china's issues,such as human rights. Because the situation here is complex,we have huge area and multiple culture,pls dont see a whole painting just frm a small point! Moreover we are developing!we are dynamic...

Dear Kylie,

Despite your claim that no one outside China (that is, foreigners) have no say when it comes to China's alleged breach of human rights, I hope you do consider as 'human', don't you?

Well, if you do consider yourself as being 'human' than you should assess for yourself whether Mao has been treaded fairly or not. Like your late supreme leader said 'to get rich is glorious' there's no doubt that your country's economic growth is phenomenal, but at what cost? You are like the person who has the goose that lays 'golden egg'. I hope your greed won't take you that far to 'kill the goose that lays the golden egg'.

At the moment in China the air is not good enough to breathe. Because of China's thirst for energy misery to the people is spread not only in Asia but right accross Africa like situation in Darfur and the instability in Nigeria.

Don't get me wrong, I admired Chairman Mao very much for how he and his colleagues managed to lift China from a big lump of poverty stricken mess into where everyone has enough to eat. I also admire Deng-Hsiao-Peng for being 'pragmatic' but the China that I know and the China that I've admired is gone. You're paying 'lipservice' to 'Communism' and didn't have the guts to say so but calling the system 'Communism with Chinese Characteristics'. In the same way I should say that you must be 'human with Chinese Characteristics'.
,

To me human rights are global principles not restricted by the borders of nations. Standing up for individuals who are not treated according to basic human rights is a duty for each and one of us, not depending on where neither the victims nor us live.

John

ok,every one has his rights to talk what he likes.I just cant stand people just heard news or read some books,and think that understand the real china,what a joke,haha... we have so many people,cant be clear about the real situation frm reading several persons!
Frm my point of view,we are not very humble,means we cant just think about how powerful we were in the ancient time,and most peole lack of an awareness.that's the key!besides i acknowledge that we should be more open and flexible,because some aspects we performance in too old style....look at things dialectically,we have our own situation which is completely differ with other countries,history,culture and we are big that means very hard to manage... one thing i can make sure that we are walking forward,though it need a long time for innovation. i also know in western world people like talk about human rights,actually we dont use it that word usually,and we are feeling comfortable live in China.Why u like tell us words that make no sense for us?! look at this,chinese characteristics,what a bullshit.
Any way it's a free area for people who want show their opinions,i will not argue with this topic,it's useless and things will be clear someday ...also unnecessary to speak more,just showing....give China time!<br><br>Post edited by: kylie, at: 2007/04/13 08:46

ok,every one has his rights to talk what he likes.I just cant stand people just heard news or read some books,and think that understand the real china,what a joke,haha... we have so many people,cant be clear about the real situation frm reading several persons!
Frm my point of view,we are not very humble,means we cant just think about how powerful we were in the ancient time,and most peole lack of an awareness.that's the key!besides i acknowledge that we should be more open and flexible,because some aspects we performance in too old style....look at things dialectically,we have our own situation which is completely differ with other countries,history,culture and we are big that means very hard to manage... one thing i can make sure that we are walking forward,though it need a long time for innovation. i also know in western world people like talk about human rights,actually we dont use it that word usually,and we are feeling comfortable live in China.Why u like tell us words that make no sense for us?! look at this,chinese character,what a bullshit.
Any way it's a free area for people who want show their opinions,i will not argue with this topic,it's useless and things will be clear someday ...also unnecessary to speak more,just showing....give China time!

To me this is very simple: China is run by a dictatorship who will not accept any opposition! Although the country is opening up on many arenas, this does not apply to political rights. In this area everything is more restricted now. That is very bad, I think. And the situation cannot go on.

David

r u chinese or not? i know there are many foreigners working in beijing. Frm ur detail i know u r a manager working in beijing,so u must know the real business situation in here,but i pay more attention to how can u treat and improve problems in,not just talk about how bad u have known...

To David,

It really isnt as simple as you see it. China has a dictatorship, yes. There is very, very little room for opposition, yes. I am not sure that this fact in itself may be seen as either &quot;bad&quot; or &quot;good&quot;, I would have to say that the legitimacy of such a situation depends on the policies.

Today China is lifted out of poverty at breathtaking speed. I have many friends and relatives who lived in mud huts a handful of years ago who now have decent housing, decent jobs, clean water and some basic health care.

Very little of this progress would have taken place should China have had all decisions involved in this transformation debated on by an indirect democratic assembly like what most Western countries have. This is a true dilemma facing anyone who takes a closer look at China's modernization: It simply could not have taken place in a democracy. Most Western countries who are industrialized, sanitized and well-educated used two or three hundred years on that process. China is using one tenth or that time.

Mrs. Mao's case is a case which dates back to 1989. In 1989 China did not yet have a rule-of-law system, it has now. Mrs. Mao furthermore has given birth to four children, which I personally guess is the chief reason for her failure to win sympathy with the courts of law. We have earlier in this forum touched upon the particular challenges facing rural China, with its close to one billion impoverished populace. While Mrs. Mao is situated in Shanghai, giving birth to four children is the kind of act that really sets you apart from what authorities here are trying to create: Some sort of basic social and economic providence for all. It is the equivalent of arsoning ones home and asking the government for more matches.

China does not have a fair legal system, it does not have a clean legal system, and China violates human rights. But China has a fairER legal system, a cleanER legal system and violations of human rights are exposed and clamped down upon more now than before. In other words, slowly but surely things are going in the right direction here.

I am sure those two lamps weren't worth 900 Yuan. Probably just nine yuan or so. This isnt a major point.

If you want to criticize China for its unfair and dirty legal practices, you should be able to find a more illustrious case than this. Mrs. Mao appear to be a hair in the soup for the authorities and she appears to be treated like that. Let us hope that she is released soon. She has four kids to get through school. My sympathy, I have only one.<br><br>Post edited by: Igor, at: 2007/04/24 17:32