Photo courtesy of SMHRIC
Ethnic Mongolian dissident Hada issued an open letter on Tuesday to the United Nations Human Rights Council, seeking to put pressure on Chinese officials to end the punishments his family continues to suffer long after his release from two decades in prison.
The veteran rights activist, who is 60, was released from extrajudicial detention in December, four years after his 15-year jail term for "separatism" and "espionage" ended. He said in January that authorities in Inner Mongolia had frozen his bank account, and he now says his family is in dire straits.
“The content of the letter is to request UN officials to deal with Chinese officials to solve the problem of my bank account being frozen,” he told RFA’s Mandarin Service.
“If the UN fails to take action right away, our family will have to beg for food,” he said in a telephone interview.
“I was jailed for 19 years and, during the 19 years, I was illegally detained for 4 years. I was tortured for quite a long time, causing many illnesses,” he said in an interview. He said his family’s livelihood suffered because his bookstore was confiscated and his son was unable to find work as a result of his ordeal.
“The family totally depends on donations from friends to make a living. We almost used up all the savings. Our bank account was frozen by public security,” said Hada.
Hada told RFA he is trying to highlight his family’s plight as Chinese delegates gather in Beijing for the annual meetings of the advisory Chinese People’s Political Consultative Committee and the National People’s Congress, China’s parliament.
“Since China has vowed to use the Constitution to run the country, rule of law is the only option. My purpose of writing this letter is to get attention of the delegates who attend NPC and CPPCC so that they can take concrete measure to ensure the implementation of rule of law,” said Hada.
A commitment to rule of law would mean “our case could be re-evaluated, so we can live a normal life with freedom,” he said.
Xinna, Hada’s wife, echoed her husband, noting that ruling China according to law is one of the “Four Comprehensives” comprising the major political slogan of President Xi Jinping.
“To comprehensively rule the country according to law is one of them,” Xinna told RFA.
The other three exhortations of Xi are to comprehensively build a moderately prosperous society, to comprehensively deepen reform and to comprehensively apply strictness in governing the party.
“I hope the Chinese government can implement the rule of law the earliest so that our family problem can be solved sooner rather than later. For the time being, although Hada had been released, he is not free,” said Xinna.
Reported by Qiao Long of RFA’s Mandarin Service. Translated by Xiaoming Feng. Written in English by Paul Eckert.
Unfortunately, the UN Human Rights Council is completely powerless when it comes to China. Its members are afraid of trade sanctions by or political fallout from China if they criticize China for human rights violations. The High Commissioner for Human Rights would criticize China but he's powerless to do anything about it. The only way there will be genuine human rights in China, Tibet, Xinjiang, Mongolia is when the CCP is ousted from power.
Mar 11, 2015 09:47 AM
The translation of the open letter
To the United Nations Human Rights Council
As far as I know, “Universal Declaration of Human Rights”, “International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights”, “Declaration on the Protection of All Persons from Being Subjected to Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment”, “The United Nations Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment of Punishment” prohibit torture against anyone. As we all know, Chinese government signed and ratified the Convention against Torture in 1986. However I’ve been subjected to torture for a long time; I was sentenced and imprisoned 15 years because of the ethnic issues, 4 more years illegally detained after that, totally 19 years confined. I’ve not been permitted to cure in a hospital even I get a disease, and my family is under a difficulty even in a daily bread; my wife was arrested many times in these 19 years, her bookstore was confiscated many times and she still can’t reopen it because of a judgment; whenever my son got a job, he fired at once because of disturbances and harassments by the authorities. So after I was released, we are living these 3 months with the support of relatives, friends and countrymen.
Recently Mongolian compatriots both at home and abroad donate some money for us; it was already used up because my son bought a cell phone and refrigerator for me. If the Public Security Bureau didn’t freeze my bank account, we could live for a few months. If they obey the international law, Chinese government must start to conduct an investigation into my case and punish the people in charge, also restore our honors and compensate for our damages. However, on the contrary, they froze my bank account and shut out the humanitarian aid under the purpose to make us surrender. This is a violation of International law, as the “Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action” provides clearly; The World Conference on Human Rights stresses the importance of further concrete action within the framework of the United Nations with the view to providing assistance to victims of torture and ensuring more effective remedies for their physical, psychological and social rehabilitation. Providing the necessary resources for this purpose should be given high priority, inter alia, by additional contributions to the United Nations Voluntary Fund for Victims of Torture.
Because of these, I urgently appeal to you that your representative negotiates with Chinese government to unfreeze my bank account and relieve our problem of great urgency. The sooner the better, if it becomes too late, we become homeless and destitute. Of course, if the problem of this frozen bank account did not solve immediately, would you the United Nations give us some humanitarian assistances to make us live, and make me go to hospital? If our family could leave our country and this case of false charge solved, we all would be mostly happy. About the formal petition, it is under the preparation and will be served on you later.
Khadaa
3rd March, 2015
Hohhot, Inner Mongolian Autonomous Region, China
Mar 05, 2015 05:28 PM
His only recourse seems to be to appeal to the UN. The party-run government is trying to drive him into absolute poverty by freezing his bank account after having unjustly imprisoned Hada for 19 years. What sort of regime mistreats an ordinary bookshop owner this way?
Mar 04, 2015 05:55 PM
