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The following is a report by Ms. Xinna, wife of the ethnic Mongolian political prisoner Ms. Hada, regarding her recent visit to the Inner Mongolia Jail No.4 in Chifeng City where her husband is serving the 15th year of a 15 year jail term:

This spring I visited Hada in prison. His health condition is still very poor. He looked very thin and pale. However, mentally, he is in a much better state because he knows his jail term is ending soon. I asked about his recent prison conditions. He is confident and hopeful that he can survive and get through this extreme hardship. I told him that many friends are concerned about his situation.

Regarding his current situation, he still has some unusual reactions to the prison meals every time he eats. Books are not allowed to be brought in. Books I sent have never been delivered to him. After my continual requests, he is sporadically allowed to read some newspapers that I ordered for him. Occasionally he is allowed to read selected editions of “Southern Weekend” (nan fang zhou mo). Thanks to some Mongolian version of “Inner Mongolia Daily”, Chinese version of “Can Kao Xiao Xi” and “Southern Weekend”, he is not completely unaware of what is happening outside.

He told me that this spring two officials from the Political-Legal Department of Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region visited and talked to him. On another occasion, officials from the Political-Legal Department of Chifeng City talked to him, asking him about his plans following release. These officials were very polite and offered him freedom to choose either leaving or staying in the country. They stated that if he chooses to stay, they can help him and his son find jobs. Hada did not accept their meaningless “offer”. He said “This is meaningless that they tell me this after they put me through this extreme unjust hardship for this long”. This is actually a trick they use to find out what Hada thinks now.

Hada stated that he will pursue a lawsuit against the unjust trial of his case after his release since this is indeed an ethnic issue but has been deliberately distorted to “separatism” and “espionage”. As a result he was sentenced to a 15 year jail term. This is unjust and we do not accept this ruling. We as a whole family hope to pursue this after his release. 15 years in jail, one of the harshest punishment, is almost over. We are happy that he is surviving this. I personally also felt the injustice of the manner in which this case was handled. People around the world know that the Han ethnic dissident Liu Xiaobo was sentenced to 11 years in jail, but not many know that the ethnic Mongolian dissident Hada was sentenced to 15 years in jail. This testifies to the fact that the Chinese Government policy on ethnic issues is much harsher. If China wants to be a democratic and free country, its ethnic policy must be changed. Hada’s case suggests this.

Recently, a book entitled “True Story of Cultural Revolution in Inner Mongolia” by a Beijing intellectual appeared on book markets on the streets of Huhhot. It was published in Hong Kong but pirate copied in Beijing and sold in Huhhot. According to a private book seller, it has been popular and selling as many as 30-50 copies a day. In a short period of time, 50,000 copies were sold. As a result, the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region Public Security Bureau Department No.3 set up a special task force to confiscate and ban the book. Many Mongolians complain that the Chinese are relatively free to talk about the Cultural Revolution. But the Mongols are completely denied the right to discuss anything about the same issues. This is extremely unfair, unjust and creates an abnormal situation. Once it comes to the issue of the Inner Mongolian People’s Revolutionary Party, policies and
treatments are totally different. There are tons of books discussing the Cultural Revolution, but if it touches the issue of Mongolians, things become serious.

On June 4, this year, the authorities tightened their control over us. Every day strange vehicles appeared near our place. Recently my phone has been experiencing a strange problem. Phone calls have difficulty coming in and going out. They might be trying to prevent us from answering any phone calls or possible interviews.

Control over Mongols has been tightening. For example, recently Sodmongol, administrator of the Mongol Yurt Association Website, was arrested, and the Mongols have reacted to it strongly. The only place of freedom has now been denied to us. Regarding Sodmongol’s current situation, we have no further information. My access to the internet is very restricted and most of the sites previously accessible are no longer accessible.