China: Feared ill-treatment of Hada

Published: August 20, 2007

 

English PEN is seriously concerned by reports that Hada, a Mongolian political prisoner held since 1995, has been maltreated in detention.

 

According to PEN's information, Hada, editor of The Voice of the Southern Mongolia, is regularly ill treated in Chi Feng prison. There have been unconfirmed reports that he has suffered abuse and that his health has deteriorated as a result. He reportedly suffers from stomach ulcers and coronary heart disease.

 

Hada was arrested on 10 December 1995 for his activities as founder and publisher of The Voice of the Southern Mongolia and for his leading role in the Southern Mongolian Democracy Alliance (SMDA), an organisation that peacefully promotes human rights and Mongolian culture. He was convicted in 1995 of inciting separatism and espionage and sentenced to fifteen years in prison and four years deprivation of political rights. His sentence expires in 2010.

 

Background

 

Hada received a degree in 1983 from the department of Mongolian language and Literature at the Inner Mongolian Teacher's College for Nationalities. In October 1989, he opened the Mongolian Academic Bookstore in Hohhot, the Inner Mongolia capital. The bookstore was closed down immediately after his arrest in 1995, and all the books, research papers and other properties were confiscated as criminal utilities and evidence.

 

Hada, who co-founded the SMDA in 1992, published with the organisation an underground journal, The Voice of Southern Mongolia, and he also finished a book, The Way Out for the Southern Mongols. In the book, Hada detailed what the Chinese government had done to the Mongols of Inner Mongolia, including mass killings, deprivation of social and political rights, and suppression of Mongol culture.

 

 

Please send appeals:

 

- Protesting the fifteen-year prison sentence handed down to editor and political dissident Hada, and calling for his immediate and unconditional release in accordance with Article 19 of the United Nations International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which China is a signatory

 

- Expressing concern for his health and well being following reports that he is frequently ill-treated in detention, and seeking assurances that he is receiving all necessary medical care.

 

Addresses:

 

His Excellency Hu Jintao

President of the People's Republic of China

State Council

Beijing 100032

P.R.China.

 

Procurator General Mr. Jia Chunwang

Supreme People's Procuratorate

Beiheyan Street 147

100726 Beijing

P.R.China

 

 

Please note that fax numbers are no longer available for the Chinese authorities, so it may be most effective to forward these appeals to the Chinese embassy in London:

 

Her Excellency Mrs Fu Ying

Embassy of the People's Republic of China

49-51 Portland Place

London

W1B 4JL

 

  

 

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