Human Rights in China
March 5, 2007

Human Rights in China press release

Human Rights in China (HRIC) has learned that Three Gorges activist Fu Xiancai has appealed to the National People’s Congress (NPC) to intervene in his assault case. The Fifth Session of the Tenth NPC opened on March 5, while the Fifth Session of the Tenth National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) began on March 3.

An outspoken advocate for villagers of Zigui County, Hubei Province, displaced as a result of Three Gorges Dam construction, Fu Xiancai was struck from behind by an unknown assailant on June 8, 2006, after local police questioned him over an interview with Fu broadcasted by German television station Das Erste in May. Suffering from paralysis from the shoulders down, Fu was sent to Yichang No. 1 People’s Hospital, where he received an operation paid for by the German government. Further interventions and contributions from the public and German media resulted in Fu being transferred to Beijing’s China Rehabilitation Research Center for further treatment and therapy, and Fu is now able to sit upright in a wheelchair, although he still has no feeling from the waist down, and has only limited movement in his hands.

As reported in previous press releases, the local investigation into Fu’s attack concluded that Fu’s injuries had been self-inflicted, resulting from a fall. Fu had submitted formal requests to have the local Public Security Bureau head and certain other officers removed from the investigation on the grounds that they were implicated in previous instances of threats and harassment against him. However, he has received no response to his requests. In December, Fu sent an open letter to China’s Procurator-general, Jia Chunwang, requesting his intervention, but has received no reply after more than two months.

On the morning of March 5, Fu’s wife took him in his wheelchair to the NPC’s Letters and Petitions office, where Fu attempted to submit a petition to Wu Bangguo, chairman of the NPC’s Standing Committee. However, staff of the letters and petitions office refused to allow Fu into the building, and when Fu’s son tried to submit the petition at the reception booth, he was likewise denied on the grounds that the letters and petitions office only handles cases that have completed the full process of judicial appeals. Fu’s son argued that local law enforcement officials had suppressed the case, preventing any further judicial action on it, but officials at the letters and petitions office simply had him removed from the building. Fu Xiancai was left with no further recourse than to mail his letter to the Letters and Petitions office for forwarding to Wu Bangguo.

Fu Xiancai provided HRIC with the full text of his open letter, which is appended to the Chinese version of this press release. The open letter reviews the background of Fu’s case, the circumstances leading up to his attack, and his unsuccessful attempts to obtain justice. Fu concludes, "Although it has been more than eight months since I was attacked, I have not completely lost my faith in China’s judicial process, and pass every pain-filled day in hope that justice will soon arrive… With no reply from the Procurator-general, Jia Chunwang, I can only appeal to you, NPC Standing Committee Chairman Wu Bangguo. I request that you fulfill your supervisory authority by urging the Supreme Procuratorate to undertake an investigation into my case as soon as possible."

HRIC urges the NPC to exercise its oversight responsibility, and for other relevant authorities to review Fu Xiancai’s case and take appropriate steps to address the serious bias in the local investigation, and the lack of response to Fu’s previous appeals. The obstruction of Fu’s petitioning attempts violates the purpose of the petitioning system laid out in the Regulations on Letters and Visits. Fu Xiancai’s case presents an opportunity for the Chinese authorities to demonstrate the effectiveness of the system for individuals where the judicial organs yield no result. Given Fu Xiancai’s position as a human rights defender, the attack on him raises serious questions that only an independent investigation can resolve.

About HRIC

Human Rights in China (HRIC) is an international monitoring and advocacy non-governmental organization based in New York, Hong Kong, and Brussels. Founded in March 1989 by Chinese students and scholars, it conducts research, education and outreach programs to promote international human rights and advance the institutional protection of these rights in the People’s Republic of China.

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