Chinese authorities in Inner Mongolia are holding an ethnic Mongolian dissident writer under house arrest ahead of the release from prison of the head of a Mongolian democratic movement.
Govruud Huuchinhuu, an ethnic Mongolian dissident writer, activist and member of the Southern Mongolian Democratic Alliance (SMDA), was detained by Horchin district police in the city of Tongliao Nov. 11.
Huuchinhuu had been working to rally and organize Mongols in welcoming Hada, a prominent ethnic Mongolian political prisoner who is expected to be freed on Dec. 10 after completing a 15-year jail term for subversion.
"I asked them if they had a warrant to arrest me and they said they didn't," Huuchinhuu said in a recent interview.
"I asked them to go into an Internet cafe so I could inform my friends and relatives about what had happened to me, otherwise they would be very worried at my sudden disappearance. They wouldn't let me go."
She said that no formal proceedings took place when they arrived at the police station, however.
"No one from the public security department has given me any formal notification or discussed with me why they did this."
However, Huuchinhuu said she thought her detention could be linked to to the forthcoming release of Hada, a Mongolian writer who is also chairman of the banned SDMA.
"I wrote on my blog that I planned to go and visit him, to meet him on his release," she said.
"They probably detained me under house arrest ahead of time, for fear that I would spread the news around."
According to the New York-based Southern Mongolian Human Rights Information Center (SMHRIC), Huuchinhuu is unlikely to regain her freedom until after Hada's release on Dec. 10.
Mongolian activist
