(Clearwisdom.net) Ms. Zhao Tingyun, 54 years old, was from Xinxiang
City, Henan Province. On January 6, 2006, the police arrested her. Her home was
then searched and her husband was arrested and detained, as well. Section head
Qian from the Muye Police Branch of Xinxiang City led the police do this
unlawful deed. At around 9:00 p.m. on January 15, at a detention center, Xu
Qiang, head of the Monitoring and Supervision Branch of the Xinxiang Police
Department, told Zhao Tingyun's husband that Ms. Zhao died between 4:00 a.m. and
5:00 a.m. that morning. He ordered Ms. Zhao's husband to sign the autopsy
authorization. Xu Qiang refused to let the family see the body first and
threatened that an inspection would not be accurate 12 hours after death.
To seek justice in the death of his mother, Ms. Zhao's son, Liu Yan, has been to
all of the law offices in Xinxiang City but no one dared to accept the case. He
only option now is to appeal to the provincial capital. Here is his Letter of
Appeal:
Appellant: Liu Yan, 26, son of Zhao Tingyun. Lives in the Bus Factory's
residential community, Tielu West of Xinxiang City. Phone number: 86-373-2162149
Pleadings:
1. Investigate how my mother died
2. Uphold justice and punish the murderers
The Facts:
My mother, Ms. Zhao Tingyun, 55, was a retiree from the Xinxiang Bus Factory. On
January 6, 2006, when she was visiting a friend, agents from the Hongqi Police
Branch of the Xinxiang Police Department arrested and interrogated her in
Dongfang Hotel in Xinxiang County. She was then detained with a charge of
"disturbing the social order." That same day in the evening, Muye Police Branch
section head Qian led more than 10 policemen to break into my parents' home to
conduct a search. Later my father was arrested and sent to the No. 760 Factory
guest house. He was illegally detained there for two days and three nights and
then sent to the municipal detention center. At around 9:00 p.m. on January 15
in the detention center, Monitoring and Supervision Branch head Xu Qiang told my
father that my mother had died between 4:00 and 5:00 am. that morning and
ordered my father to sign the autopsy permission slip. My father did not agree
to sign but agreed to discuss the issue after my mother's family viewed the
body. Agent Xu Qiang didn't agree and threatened that the exam would be
inaccurate because death had occurred 12 hours before. My father had no recourse
but to sign the permission slip. They finally released my father the next
morning.
At 9:00 a.m. on January 18, agent Xu Qiang came to my home and said the cause of
my mother's death was "collapse from hunger strike." My mother was detained the
afternoon of January 6 and was declared dead on the morning of January 15. How
could she have died of collapse due to a hunger strike? We have many doubts. The
officials then did not try to explain to or comfort us. In fact many people,
including those from the Muye District municipality, the police department, and
my mother's workplace, came to my home in turn to advise and intimidate us to
sign the cremation permission, otherwise they would do it anyway.
We later repeatedly requested the written results of the autopsy report. Xu
Qiang, who was in charge of the case, stated that the autopsy report was a legal
document and the family was not privileged to receive a written copy but was
only entitled to an oral report. Xu Qiang also intimidated us and said that the
municipal procuratorial court and the police department's Discipline Inspection
Committee had been involved and believed there were no violations.
To see my mother for the last time and provide a change of clean clothes for
her, we had asked the related offices and persons in charge many times to permit
us to do so. Finally, on January 27 we got permission. When we arrived at the
funeral home, dozens of police were already there waiting for us. As it turned
out, only four of us were permitted to see her body. To cover up the fact that
my mother had suffered brutal beatings when she was alive, they already changed
her clothes and covered her with a set of old-style, big, loose clothing. My
mother's hair was messy. When we tried to put on makeup, we found congealed
blood on the left side of her neck. There was a five centimeter-long wound
behind her left ear and a strip of bloody bumps on the back of the head. A
hunger strike could never have caused these injuries. They were wounds from
being struck with a solid object. When we asked to see the original clothes my
mother had worn, Xu Qiang hemmed and hawed and lied, and finally said to check
with the Hongqi Police Branch. Since our visit to determine my mother's cause of
death made the officials very uncomfortable, Xu Qiang refused many times to
accede to our family's right to view my mother's remains again.
On February 23, the police department agents notified us to come see the autopsy
report. It reported cavities in my mother's lung and concluded that long-term
malnutrition had caused her death.
From what we saw, the cause of my mother's death was not what the report said.
First, before my mother was interrogated on January 14, she looked very normal.
When she was sent back, she kept vomiting blood and moaning painfully. At night
she experienced stiffness all over her body.
Second, if my mother's death was caused by "collapse from hunger strike," how
are the wounds on her head and her neck to be explained?
Third, if lung cavities caused her death, as it stated in the autopsy report, it
was the savage beatings that caused these internal injuries. Several hours
before my mother died, she was interrogated and subjected to ruthless torture.
It is likely that they subjected her to force-feeding.
The above facts are convincing evidence that it was not a hunger strike but the
savage beating during interrogation or the force-feeding that caused my mother's
death.
To find justice for my mother's death, I have been to every law office, but no
one has dared to accept my case. I have no other recourse but to appeal to the
provincial capital and hope that you can give me a satisfactory answer.
Appellant Liu Yan
March 26, 2006
May 6, 2006
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