(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