Missing rights lawyer freed - a second lawyer attacked
KimB 10 March 2008, 03:11PM
The abduction of lawyer, academic and human rights activist Teng Biao by Chinese police makes a joke of the country’s promises to improve human rights in the run-up to the Olympics.
Fortunately Teng Biao has been released – after first spending two days in secret police detention. He had gone missing on Thursday night after eyewitnesses saw him being bundled into a black vehicle just outside his home.
The 34-year-old says his abductors didn't show him any identification, but said they were from the Beijing Public Security Bureau. "They shoved me into a car and put a bag over my head."
Teng Biao, who wasn't harmed, told AFP he fears for his safety and that of his wife and their two-year-old child.
His abduction may be linked to the case of another rights activist Hu Jia, who's in jail waiting for a trial on charges of "inciting subversion". The two men recently wrote an article about human rights abuses in China.
In the article the men say visitors to the Olympics will see "tall skyscrapers, broad boulevards, modern sports facilities, and a passionate people. What you’ll see is real, but it’s not the whole picture. It is just like seeing a glacier at sea.
"You may not know it, but some of these fresh flowers and smiles, this harmony and prosperity are built on abuses, tears, imprisonment, torture, and spilled blood."
And just hours after Teng Biao disappeared, another human rights lawyer, Li Heping, was driving his son to school in Beijing when his car was rammed by a police car.
A couple of months ago Li Heping was abducted and beaten by unidentified men, who told him he should leave Beijing or risk further attacks. After the crash on Friday he went to police but they refused to investigate.
Two new attacks on human rights lawyers within just a couple of days suggest China's stranglehold on activists is tightening as the Olympics get ever closer.
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This blog entry was created by KimB and does not necessarily represent the position or opinion of Amnesty International Australia.
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After long-term imprisonment for speaking publicly about human rights issues, Wei Jingsheng was finally released with help from Amnesty International.
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