Public Security Officials Detain Activist Hu Jia, Intensify Surveillance of Others

May 5, 2008

Beijing public security officials detained activist Hu Jia on December 27, 2007, on suspicion of "inciting subversion of state power," according to a December 31 Radio Free Asia (RFA) article. Hu has advocated on behalf of HIV/AIDS patients, environmental issues, and rights defenders such as Chen Guangcheng. Officials entered the residence of Hu and his wife, Zeng Jinyan, disconnected the couple's outside lines of communication, and took Hu away before he could get fully dressed, according to a January 2 RFA article.

Beijing public security officials detained activist Hu Jia on December 27, 2007, on suspicion of "inciting subversion of state power," according to a December 31 Radio Free Asia (RFA) article. Hu has advocated on behalf of HIV/AIDS patients, environmental issues, and rights defenders such as Chen Guangcheng. Officials entered the residence of Hu and his wife, Zeng Jinyan, disconnected the couple's outside lines of communication, and took Hu away before he could get fully dressed, according to a January 2 RFA article. They also confiscated a number of items, including the couple's computer, fax machine, camcorder, tape recorder, books, and list of phone contacts. The same article reports that public security officials later intensified their surveillance of Zeng, stationing approximately 30 to 40 officials in and around her building. Hu is being held at the Beijing Municipal Detention Center, located in Dougezhuang township, Chaoyang district, according to his detention warrant as reported in the January 2 RFA article.

It is not clear why Hu has been detained, but John Kamm, Executive Director of the Dui Hua Foundation, said that it may be linked to Hu’s comments at a European Parliament Human Rights Subcommittee hearing on November 26, according to a January 2 Jurist article. Participating via conference call, Hu made comments critical of China's hosting of the Olympics, and noted that China's harassment of rights defenders had reached a peak in recent months. According to Article 69 of the Criminal Procedure Law (CPL), the maximum period of detention prior to approval of a formal arrest is 37 days after taking into account extensions permitted by law. If Hu is formally arrested and tried, it is likely he will be convicted. The Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC) 2006 Annual Report reported that courts convict 99 percent of defendants tried for crimes that allegedly "endanger state security," including "inciting subversion of state power," a crime under Article 105 of the Criminal Law as amended in 1997. According to official information about charges in the CECC Political Prisoner Database as of January 9, 2008, courts had convicted 88 Chinese citizens of subversion. Based on sentencing information available for 84 of the prisoners, courts sentenced them to an average of approximately 6 years and 11 months’ imprisonment.

Lawyers Li Jinsong and Li Fangping delivered paperwork to request a meeting with Hu, but public security officials denied the request, citing the involvement of state secrets in the case, according to a second January 2 RFA article and a January 4 RFA article. According to Article 96 of the CPL, if a case involves state secrets, the criminal suspect must obtain the approval of the investigative organ to appoint a lawyer. In turn, the appointed lawyer must obtain the approval of the investigative organ before meeting with the suspect. Li Jinsong said that he would submit a request for reconsideration of the decision within three days on the grounds that he should be allowed to meet with Hu if materials for the case involved state secrets but the case itself did not, according to the January 4 RFA article and a second January 4 RFA article. Li Jinsong added that he will try to visit Zeng to discuss applying for Hu to be placed under residential surveillance or an order to obtain a guarantor pending trial, which is a process similar to bail, in light of Hu’s health condition, according to the second January 4 RFA article. The article reports that Hu has severe liver cirrhosis.

Public security officials have questioned or heightened surveillance of individuals connected to Hu, including activist Qi Zhiyong, lawyer Li Heping, and activist Wan Yanhai, according to a January 3 RFA article and a December 29 Reuters article. The January 3 RFA article reports that officials also placed Shanghai writer Li Jianhong, whose pen name is Xiao Qiao, under surveillance on the day that Hu was taken away. Officials have frequently used "inciting subversion of state power" to punish citizens who peacefully criticize the government and Communist Party, and in recent months have targeted critics of China's hosting of the Olympics. Two weeks before Hu's detention, officials in Guangzhou province detained Internet essayist Wang Dejia on suspicion of inciting subversion. No exact reason has been given, but Wang had criticized China for focusing on the Olympics at the expense of its citizens. In August 2007, officials arrested Yang Chunlin, the organizer of an open letter titled "We Want Human Rights, Not the Olympics," on the charge of inciting subversion. A January 9 RFA article reports that international organizations, over 700 petitioners in Shanghai, and 62 Chinese citizens, who signed a public letter (in Chinese and English, posted by Boxun on January 8), have called for Hu's release.

Hu has been previously harassed, including being beaten and detained during visits by foreign officials, detained while attending an AIDS conference in 2005, and detained after organizing a hunger strike in 2006.

For additional information about Hu, see the section on Public Health, in the CECC’s 2007 Annual Report, and his record of detention, searchable through the CECC’s Political Prisoner Database. The CECC’s 2007 Annual Report called for an end to the harassment of Hu Jia and other activists.