PRC HUMAN RIGHTS: YAO FUXIN ABUSE ALLEGATIONS,

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 SHENYANG 000003 SIPDIS SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR EAP/CM, DRL E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/07/2028 TAGS: PHUM PGOV PINS SOCI CH SUBJECT: PRC HUMAN RIGHTS: YAO FUXIN ABUSE ALLEGATIONS, HEALTH CONCERNS REF: 07 SHENYANG 95 AND PREVIOUS Classified By: CONSUL GENERAL STEPHEN B. WICKMAN. REASONS: 1.4(b)/(d). ¶1. (C) SUMMARY: Health problems continue to beset imprisoned Liaoning labor activist Yao Fuxin, whose case has triggered high-level USG attention since his initial arrest in 2002. In a letter to his daughter he recently managed to have smuggled out of prison, Yao for the first time described severe abuse he claims to have sustained, at the apparent direction of security officials, during his pre-trial detention in late 2002. Yao's family remains under surveillance by police, and PRC authorities continue to refuse to accept the family's petitions for humanitarian medical parole. END SUMMARY. ¶2. (C) Poloff met on January 3 with YAO Dan (STRICTLY PROTECT),the daughter of imprisoned labor activist YAO Fuxin, whom PRC authorities in 2003 sentenced to seven years in prison on charges of subversion following a number of major labor protests he led in Liaoyang, Liaoning Province, in 2002 with XIAO Yunliang. Both cases attracted substantial worldwide interest, particularly from prominent human rights and labor groups, as well as high-level USG officials. Xiao was released in 2006; Yao's term is slated to end in March 2009. HEALTH PROBLEMS, ABUSE ALLEGATIONS -------------- ¶3. (C) Health problems continue to beset Yao Fuxin, now in his late 50s, in part because of abuse directed against him in the past by Liaoyang Public Security Bureau (PSB) officials, according to his daughter, who now visits him once per month at Lingyuan Prison, in a remote area of western Liaoning Province. A heart attack in 2005 and ongoing high blood pressure have taken a heavy toll on Yao's health and well-being, one reason why authorities at Lingyuan Prison have exempted him from the compulsory work regime (i.e., manufacturing spare auto parts for the First Auto Works Lingyuan Automobile Manufacturing Company) in which other prisoners are required to "participate," according to Yao Dan. Another persistent health problem-- numbness in his left leg--stems from abuse Yao Fuxin claims to have sustained in 2002, which he described for the first time in a recent letter he managed to have delivered to his daughter via a prisoner-friend who recently concluded his sentence. ¶4. (C) During his pre-trial detention in late 2002, authorities at the Liaoyang Detention Center placed two or three non-political criminals in Yao's cell as de facto minders who restricted his interaction with others and, at the apparent instruction of at least some officials, severely abused him, according to the letter, described to Poloff by Yao Dan. Yao Fuxin's cellmates allegedly beat him a number of times, tied him with steel chains and kept him awake for extended periods of time. During bitterly cold months in a poorly-insulated cell, his cellmates also repeatedly poured icy water on his legs while restraining him, inducing severe aching--the genesis of Yao's lower- extremity numbness and the slow deterioration in his health that continues today. One of the perpetrators apparently acknowledged (or suggested) to Yao Fuxin that the abuse was being directed by a Liaoyang PSB official surnamed Lang; the inmate explained that he and his cellmates had no choice but to comply with the official's orders. PAROLE PETITIONS DENIED, FAMILY SURVEILED -------------- ¶5. (C) Yao Fuxin maintains his innocence and, according to his daughter, plans to protest his mistreatment through the official petition system once he is released in 2009. In the meantime, Yao Dan is slated to meet next month with (and pass her father's letter to) MO Shaoping, the family's pro-bono, Beijing-based attorney, whose attempts thus far to finesse a humanitarian medical parole have run aground. So, too, have the Yao family's attempts to petition at the local, provincial and national levels; in some cases, Yao Dan reports, petition-office officials have simply refused to accept her paperwork, pointing to instructions to do so from "higher levels." ¶6. (C) Yao Dan and her mother remain under some surveillance by Liaoyang PSB officers, who "accompany" them at times in their hometown of Liaoyang and as far afield as Beijing. During major local and national political events, SHENYANG 00000003 002 OF 002 scrutiny increases substantially, with police closely watching her around the clock, Yao noted. WICKMAN