Annual Report on the Situation of Human Rights Defenders in China ...

<strong>Annual</strong> <strong>Report</strong> on the Situation of Human Rights Defenders in China (2009)April 26, 2010Tongjiang City, Sichuan Province labeled her a “possible danger to state security” inrejecting her application, her second attempt to obtain a passport. 146However, no case of restricting an activists’ right to travel drew as much attention as thesaga of Shanghai human rights defender Feng Zhenghu ( ). Feng, a Chinese citizenwith a valid passport, traveled to Japan on April 1, and first attempted to fly back toShanghai after June 4. In early November, after Feng was prevented from returning toChina for the eighth time, he refused to re-enter Japan in protest, and decamped in a largelobby area outside the immigration hall in Tokyo’s Narita Airport. In the 92 days Fengspent at the airport, he provided frequent updates on his situation via Twitter, blogs, andinterviews with international media, rallying a large group of supporters to his cause. InDecember, some petitioners and activists in Shanghai even began a hunger strike insupport of Feng’s right to re-enter China. Shortly before Chinese New Year in February2010, Feng was finally allowed to return home. 147虎 正 冯3. Violence against human rights defenders: disappearances, attacks, and torturea. Kidnappings and disappearancesPolice continued the practice of kidnapping, holding human rights defenders in secretlocations, and “disappearing” them in 2009. While victims were not always able toidentify the individuals who unlawfully took them away, in most cases the police wereeither known or believed to be involved. Common locations where human rightsdefenders were taken included police stations, detention facilities, and hotels. Oftenhuman rights defenders were driven to the outskirts of town or to nearby villages to beheld; occasionally, the police hooded their victims so that they would not know wherethey were being taken. 148 Most disappearances were reported when friends or familymembers discovered they could not contact an individual because their cell phones orother means of communication were disrupted.As with “soft detentions” and other forms of harassment, the periods of time aroundsensitive events in 2009 marked the height of kidnappings and disappearances of humanrights defenders. According to one estimate, in the lead-up to the 60 th anniversary of thefounding of the PRC, more than 100 human rights defenders went missing across thecountry. 149 All were held for at least 4 or 5 days, though some were held for upwards ofthree weeks.Undoubtedly the most shocking case from 2009 is that of Gao Zhisheng ( ), humanrights lawyer and former director of the Beijing Shengzhi Law Firm. Mr. Gaodisappeared on February 4, when relatives saw at least seven policemen take him fromhis hometown in Shaanxi Province. The government refused to disclose his whereaboutsbut occasionally released cryptic remarks when asked about Gao by his family or foreignmedia. After Beijing National Security officials told his brother in early 2010 that Gaohad “gone missing” and they did not know where he was, a Chinese Foreign Ministryspokesperson said Gao was “where he should be” on January 21, 2010. Embassy officialsin Washington later reported Gao was working in Urumqi, Xinjiang. 150 On March 28,晟 智 高40