Letter  of petition to Chinese President Xi Jinping, United Nations Human Rights Commision and United States Congressional Foreign Affairs Committee

Petitioners:

Hada, male, 59 years old, Mongolian, education : graduate school

Xinna, female, 58 years old, Mongolian, education: college

Uiles, male, 30 years old, Mongolian, education: high school

Hada completed his full prison term on December 10, 2010. Yet he was not freed, but remains in extrajudicial detention at a secret “black jail” of suburban Hohhot carried out by the Inner Mongolia Public Security Bureau. This particular “black jail” is located inside a compound in eastern suburban Hohhot. A sign on its outer gate reads “Scientific Research Restricted Area No trespassing”. The compound is guarded by plainclothes security personnel in two shifts. Large in area, it has another interior smaller compound at its northwestern corner protected by four layers of electric barbed wire fences. Inside the small compound is a two-story small building. Hada is held on the second floor of this building. More than twenty police from the Inner Mongolia Public Security Bureau State Security Squad guard this smaller compound. The windows are constructed of extra thick and tightly sealed glass.

Hada was arrested at his home at midnight of December 10, 1995 for establishing the “Southern Mongolian Democratic Alliance” (SMDA). He was later sentenced to 15 years in prison. He served his full prison term at the Inner Mongolia Jail No.4 at Chifeng City. During his 15 years of imprisonment, Hada repudiated every demand to declare his guilt. Wife Xinna also appealed for his release and called the attention of the international community to this human rights violation case. She urged that pressure be applied on the Chinese Government to stop the persecution. They stated to the world that: the motivation and purpose of the establishment of the “Southern Mongolian Democratic Alliance” were to “oppose the Chinese Government’s large scale immigration policy to Southern Mongolian grasslands, and cultivation and destruction of grasslands in order to prevent further desertification of grassland; to demand a genuine or higher autonomy in Southern Mongolia in order to stop further destruction of grassland ecosystem, in order to prevent the Southern Mongolians from losing their language and tradition and being assimilated, as well as  to prevent the Mongolian culture from being eradicated” (from the statement of indictment). Establishing the SMDA, giving lectures on Mongolian history to Mongolian youths and writing 13 articles on ethnic problems are not unconstitutional, but an exercise of civil rights that are guaranteed by the law. How can this be the basis for accusations of “committing crimes”? What is even more egregious is that after Hada completed the 15 year prison term, the Inner Mongolia Public Security Bureau carried out inhumane persecutions against Hada’s wife and son. Here are some examples of their shameless and vicious acts:

1. Continuing to imprison Hada after the completion of his prison term and demanding that he admit guilt to all charges is a flagrant violation of “Criminal Law”, “Prison Law” and other relevant regulations. Imprisoning him in a “black jail” has already constituted the crime of extrajudicial detention. Individuals responsible for this illegal imprisonment must be prosecuted in accordance with laws.

2. From December 3 to 5, 2010, the Inner Mongolia Public Security Bureau arrested Hada’s wife and son a week before his scheduled release. They shut down Xinna’s bookstore called the “Mongolian Studies Bookstore” and confiscated a large number of books and souvenirs. They lacked any search and seizure warrant. The seized materials have still not been returned.

3. Xinna and Uiles were detained at Hohhot No.1 and No.3 Detention Centers respectively. At the same time, the Inner Mongolia Public Security State Security Squad also threatened Hada, “if you do not admit guilt, Xinna and Uiles will be sentenced to jail. If you admit guilt and cooperate with us, we will release them immediately…”

4. On December 10, 2010, the Public Security Bureau brought Xinna and Uiles from the detention centers to the “black jail” where Hada was held, and let us have a “family reunion” within the high walls and barbed wires of the compound. During this period personnel from the State Security and officials from the Inner Mongolia Committee on Political and Legal Affairs attempted to convince Xinna and Uiles to persuade Hada to admit guilt. Not only did Xinna and Uiles refuse they also strongly supported  Hada’s position. Later on due to the family’s hunger strike protesting the illegal detention, the family was again torn apart following the 17-day brief reunion after 15 years isolation. Xinna and Uiles were taken back to their respective detention centers, and Hada continued his hunger strike to protest the Inner Mongolia PSB’s inhumane persecution against the family.

5. Shortly after Xinna and Uiles were taken back to detention by the Inner Mongolia Security Bureau, the Saihan District Court of Hohhot notified Xinna’s relatives that the cases of Xinna and Uiles were already transferred to the court in preparation for the start of trial. Xinna’s brother, an attorney, requested additional  review of relevant materials, but the Saihan District Court refused to disclose the case files to him on the pretext of the judge’s absence. After months of delay, Xinna’s case was heard at the court. No evidence was submitted on the charge of “drug possession” against Uiles. The charges were groundless. The court has not released any files related to the case.  The case was returned to the People’s Procuratorate where the decision was made not to prosecute Uiles although he is still considered guilty.

After the trumped up accusation of “illegal business” against Xinna, the Public Security Bureau notified her attorney only three days prior to the trial date. This is obviously violating the law. The attorney had to travel from Beijing to review the case, meet the defendant and prepare the materials. Due to the difficulty of completing the preparation work in three days, the attorney requested to postpone the trial for several days. The court rejected the attorney’s request. At the trial, the attorney defended Xinna and pleaded not guilty, and denounced the police authorities’ fabrication of evidence and other illegal activities. The court refused to take note and consider these arguments. Detaining Xinna for 16 months before the trial is a serious extrajudicial detention. At the end, Xinna was sentenced to 3 years in jail with 5 years reprieve on a charge of “illegal business”. The Inner Mongolia Public Security Bureau’s false accusation and groundless criminal charges against Xinna and Uiles is clearly connected with Hada’s refusal to admit guilt, and constitutes a crime of false accusation. The responsible parties must be prosecuted according to the law.

In summary, we strongly urge the international community to continue to pay attention to the harsh persecution of our family. We strongly urge the Chinese Government to release Hada immediately and improve the human rights conditions of all ethnic minorities in China.

Sincerely,

Chinese citizens from Southern Mongolia: Hada, Xinna and Uiles.

July 2, 2014

Click here for original Chinese version