PUBLIC

To: Health professionals

From: Health and Human Rights Team/Asia Program

Date: 23 December 2004

Dr Yang, originally a mathematician, is a permanent US resident who was detained during a visit to China in April 2002, having entering the country illegally (using a friend’s passport). He reportedly suffered a stroke in late July 2004 in Beijing No. 2 Prison, where he is serving a five-year sentence. Dr Yang has reportedly applied to prison authorities for medical parole - a measure available to prisoners in China whose illness is sufficiently serious as to benefit from conditional release to allow for recovery outside the prison. However, as Dr Yang’s case has been marked by a series of procedural failures and irregularities on the part of the Chinese judiciary, leading to extended delays in proceedings, there are serious concerns his application will not be processed promptly, leading to possible additional risks to his health.

According to members of Dr Yang’s immediate family who visited him in prison on 14 December 2004 - the first family contact he has been allowed since his detention in April 2002 - Dr Yang is experiencing numbness down his left side, and is himself extremely concerned for his health.

There were concerns for Dr Yang’s condition and safety in March 2004 amid reliable reports that he had been beaten in detention, and had staged a hunger strike to protest the serious legal shortcomings in the case against him. He suffered bruising and lacerations on his wrists when forced to wear handcuffs for a week following his hunger strike.

Background

Dr Yang Jianli, a research fellow at Harvard University, is the founder of the Boston-based organization Foundation for China in the 21st Century, which seeks to promote democratic reform in China. He was detained in April 2002, having entered China on a friend’s passport to research labour unrest in China’s northeast.

In an opinion adopted on 7 May 2003, the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (WGAD) concluded that Dr Yang’s arrest and detention are arbitrary, and infringed his right to a fair trial. This decision was based on evidence that the Chinese authorities had detained Dr Yang for more than two months without an arrest warrant or charge. They also failed to formally acknowledge Dr Yang’s arrest or give him access to a lawyer throughout this time. The WGAD has asked the Chinese Government to "take the necessary steps to remedy the situation".

Dr Yang Jianli was formally charged with illegal entry and "espionage" in July 2003, some 15 months after his initial detention. The espionage charges reportedly relate to small research grants from a nationalist Taiwanese political party in the early 1990s, which Dr Yang passed on to researchers in China. He was tried in secret on 4 August 2003, but his sentence of five years in prison was not announced by the court until 13 May 2004, over 9 months after his trial - 164 days after the time-limit prescribed in Chinese law. Against the advice of his lawyer and family, Dr Yang refused to appeal against the sentence, claiming to do so would give undue credibility to the court, laws and procedures used to convict him.

Recommendations

Please write letters in Chinese if you are able, English or your own language to the authorities below, ideally using professionally-headed paper if you use this in your work:

· introducing yourself in your professional capacity and/or as a member of Amnesty International concerned with human rights;
· expressing concern at reports that Dr Yang Jianli, currently held in Beijing No. 2 Prison, has reportedly suffered a stroke, and that his case requires prompt and effective investigation and management;
· urging the authorities to ensure that he is permitted to receive whatever specialist care he requires including through transfer to a specialist medical facility if this is necessary;
· noting that Chinese law permits medical parole in cases of serious illness and urging the Chinese authorities to grant Dr Yang medical parole with immediate effect;
· expressing concern that despite the imprisonment of Dr Yang being considered arbitrary by the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (WGAD), the Chinese government has so far failed to take steps to remedy the situation, as recommended by WGAD.

Addresses

Prime Minister of the People's Republic of China

WEN Jiabao Guojia Zongli

The State Council

9 Xihuangcheng Genbeijie

Beijingshi 100032

People's Republic of China

(No electronic addresses or fax numbers available)

Salutation: Your Excellency

Copies of appeals

Please send copies of your appeals to:

· Minister of Justice of the People's Republic of China

ZHANG Fusen Buzhang
Ministry of Justice
10 Chaoyangmen Nandajie
Chaoyangqu
Beijingshi 100020
People's Republic of China

Email: pfmaster@legalinfo.gov.cn (Please forward to His Excellency the Minister of Justice)

· Director of the Beijing Municipal Justice Bureau

WU Yuhua Juzhang
Beijingshi Sifaju
12 Xinjiekouwaidajie
Xichengqu
Beijingshi 100088
People's Republic of China
Email: webmaster@bjsf.gov.cn (Please forward to Wu Yuhua, Director of the Beijing Municipal Justice Bureau.)

· Diplomatic representatives of China accredited to your country.

If you receive no reply from the government or other recipients within six weeks of dispatch of your letter, please send a follow-up letter seeking a response, referring to your previous letter(s). Please check with the medical team if you are sending appeals after March 2005 and send copies of any replies you do receive to the Health and Human Rights Team at the International Secretariat (medical@amnesty.org).

Thank you for any appeals you are able to send.

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Source: "Amnesty International".