—A report by Sun Haitao, information officer of CHRD (China Human Rights Defenders)
Feb. 22, 2011
The whereabouts of lawyers Tang Jitian, Jiang Tianyong and Teng Biao, who were kidnapped one after another on Feb. 16 in Beijing, are still unknown at this time.
At about 6:45 p.m. on Feb. 16, soon after the prominent human rights lawyer Tang Jitian got back to his house located in Guangdong University of Foreign Studies, Beijing police arrived with a locksmith who forcibly pried open his door. The police then kidnapped Tang Jitian, and he has been missing ever since. After that, the room he rents was searched.
On the afternoon of Feb. 19, Jiang Tianyong, another prominent human rights lawyer, was kidnapped by Beijing police in the residential compound of his brother’s house, and taken to an undisclosed location. At about midnight on Feb. 20, two police officers and four agents in plain clothes forced their way into the house of Jiang Tianyong’s brother and took Jiang Tianyong’s notebook computer and internet wireless card.
Also on the afternoon of Feb. 19, the prominent human rights lawyer Teng Biao was kidnapped by Beijing police, and the outside world has lost contact with him. The police searched his house for over two hours and seized two computers, an all-in-one printer/fax machine, some printed articles, 10-20 political books banned in China, 20-30 documentaries and several dozen photos of Chen Guangcheng. While they were searching the house, they installed a device to block cell phone signals.
As of now, has been six days since Lawyer Tang Jitian went missing and three day since the lawyers Jiang Tianyong and Teng Biao went missing. After the lawyers were kidnapped, their relatives and friends have tried various ways to discover their whereabouts, but in vain. In the meantime, the relatives have not received any legal documents related to this incident.
On the morning of Feb. 21, the wife of Lawyer Tang Jitian went to the police station of Guangdong University of Foreign Studies to inquire about his whereabouts. She was told by the police that Tang Jitian would probably be back home in four or five days, and that if he was not home by that time, the relatives could come back for further inquiries. Mrs. Tang was taken away and escorted to a train at noon by Yanbian authorities stationing in Beijing. On Feb. 21, Lawyer Teng Biao’s house was again searched.
The authorities committed a more heinous act at about 1 p.m. on Feb. 21, when police officers from Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau again brought a search warrant and searched the house of Jiang Tianyong’s brother (the room where Jiang Tianyong’s family stayed on a temporary basis). They seized a main computer unit and several other items. Jiang Tianyong has high blood pressure and has to take medications daily at regular hours. Mrs. Jiang, worried about her husband’s health, requested that the police allow her to bring the medications to him. However, the police said they will let him have medical attention if he is sick. When she asked where Jiang Tianyong was, the police said she should go back home and wait, and that once the nature of his offense is determined, his relatives will be notified. Since Jiang Tianyong was violently treated by the police on Feb. 16, his relatives and friends are concerned that Jiang Tianyong may suffer torture this time.
Also, Ran Yunfei and Gu Chuan (who were taken by the police and whose houses were searched on Feb. 19, and Chen Wei (who was taken away by the police and whose house was searched on Feb. 20) have still not regained their freedom. CHRD is concerned with the personal safety of these three lawyers and three human rights activists.
Feb. 20, 2011
Around midnight on Feb. 20, police officer Ji Wenfeng from Songyuan Police Station of Changping and a police officer named He brought with them four plainclothes agents and came to the house of Jiang Tianyong’s brother, claiming they were from Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau. They told Jiang Tianyong’s wife, Jin Bianling, that Jiang Tianyong was at the Municipal Public Bureau on suspicion of some crime, and that they wanted to search Jiang Tianyong’s house in Haidian.
When Jin Bianling wanted them to show their identifications, they refused. They took Jiang Tianyong’s computer, and threatened to take Jin Bianling herself to the police station. Jin Bianling and her family refused and resisted before driving these people away. The police and plainclothes agents proceeded to wait downstairs, besieging Jiang Tianyong’s family in his brothers’ home.
The phone number of Jin Bianling, Jiang Tianyong’s wife: 1+186 13911225074
—Translated by China Aid Association
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Rachel Ritchie, English Media Director
Cell: (432) 553-1080 | Office: 1+ (888) 889-7757 | Other: (432) 689-6985
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