August   20, 2007

CHINA/INNER MONGOLIA: Fears of ill treatment for detained editor Hada.

RAPID ACTION NETWORK

20 August 2007

RAN 32/07

The Writers in Prison Committee of International PEN is seriously
concerned by reports that Hada, a Mongolian political prisoner held since 1995,has been recently maltreated in detention. International PEN believes Hada, who is serving a fifteen-year sentence for his writings, is held in
violation of his rights to freedom of expression as guaranteed under Article 19 of the United Nations International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which China is a signatory, and is calling for his immediate and unconditional release. PEN is also seeking assurances of his well being
from the Chinese authorities.

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 Hada has suffered abuse and that his health
has deteriorated as a result.

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. He reportedly suffers from stomach ulcers and coronary heart  disease.


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.


Recommended Actions

Please send appeals to the Chinese authorities:
- 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.


Government 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 you may wish to ask the diplomatic representative for
China in your country to forward your appeals.

Centres may find that the Chinese representative in their own countries
are more likely to respond to appeals, so please copy to your Chinese
embassy or write in place of the above address.

For further information please contact Cathy McCann at International
PEN Writers in Prison Committee, Brownlow House, 50/51 High Holborn, London
WC1V 
6ER, Tel.+ 44 (0) 20 7405 0338, Fax: +44 (0) 20 7405 0339, email: 
cathy.mccann@internationalpen.org.uk

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