HUMAN RIGHTS: POLICE FORCE CHEN GUANGCHENG'S

C O N F I D E N T I A L BEIJING 013273 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/21/2016 TAGS: PHUM PREL TBIO CH SUBJECT: HUMAN RIGHTS: POLICE FORCE CHEN GUANGCHENG'S RELATIVES FROM BEIJING OVER PLANNED NEWS CONFERENCE Classified By: Susan Thornton, Political Section, Acting Internal Unit Chief. Reasons 1.4 (b/d). ¶1. (C) Chen Guangcheng's elderly mother and three-year old son were taken from Beijing and forcibly returned to Linyi, Shandong Province on June 19 because they had planned to participate in a news conference highlighting Chen's mistreatment. Attorneys and other supporters of Chen involved with the news conference were put under police scrutiny and local hotels were alerted by security authorities to report on any such news conference, attorney Jiang Tianyong (strictly protect) told poloff. The news conference was ultimately cancelled. ¶2. (C) Chen's mother and infant son were taken from the home of Beijing attorney Teng Biao on June 19 by officials believed to be Linyi undercover police, Jiang said. They were forcibly returned to Linyi and are now being held under house arrest at the home of one of Chen's brothers. Another brother of Chen's, Chen Guangfu (strictly protect),was also in Beijing for the press conference but was not at Teng's house at the time of the raid, Jiang said. Chen Guangfu's whereabouts are unknown and Jiang believes he is in hiding. ¶3. (C) More than 20 people who had planned to attend the press conference were placed under police supervision or house arrest on June 19, Jiang said, including attorneys Xu Zhiyong, Zhang Xingshui and Li Heping and activists Yao Yao and Zeng Jinyan. The press conference was intended to highlight the plight of Chen Guangcheng, after he was charged March 11 with disrupting traffic and destroying property. Chen is the blind legal activist who in August 2005 disclosed to the Washington Post massive family planning abuses in Shandong Province. RANDT