ovruud Huuchinhuu, a writer and advocate for equal rights and the preservation of Mongolian culture, who has been missing since January 27th, is believed to have been severely beaten while being held by Chinese authorities.
Below is an article by Radio Free Asia:
An ethnic Mongolian dissident writer has
been subjected to repeated harassment and beatings by authorities while
in detention in northern China, according to new photos obtained by a
Mongolian rights group.
The New York-based Southern Mongolia
Human Rights Information Center (SMHRIC) said in a statement Thursday
that it had received new information showing Govruud Huuchinhuu, a
former activist in the 1981 Mongolian student movement, with severe
bruising on her face and arms.
“SMHRIC obtained a written communication
and new photos dated from July 20 to July 30, 2011, showing that Ms.
Huuchinhuu Govruud … was frequently beaten by police from the Tongliao
city Horchin district Public Security Bureau in eastern [Inner]
Mongolia,” the statement said.
Huuchinhuu has been held in Tongliao
city under “enforced disappearance” since Jan. 27, when she was released
from the hospital following treatment for a stroke.
SMHRIC said Huuchinhuu, an activist and
member of the banned Southern Mongolia Democratic Alliance (SMDA), is
shown in a photo dated July 20 with a swollen contusion on her forehead,
which was “likely caused by a blow from a baton.”
It said fresh bruises on her elbow and
the area surrounding her eyes on photos dated July 22, 23, and 30
suggest “she had been beaten multiple times within an interval of 10
days.”
An officer who answered the phone at the
Horchin district Public Security Bureau said he had no knowledge of
Huuchinhuu being brought to the station.
“We have received no news of the missing person and she has never been detained at our facilities,” the officer said.
Members of Huuchinhuu’s family could not be reached by phone.
Huuchinhuu was placed under house arrest
on Nov. 11 last year after a brief detention by the Tongliao city
Public Security Bureau for rallying Mongols online to gather and show
their support for SMDA chief Hada on his expected release from prison.
Hada, who completed a 15-year jail term
for “splittism” and “espionage” on Dec. 10 last year, is believed to
have been released, but later taken into custody again with his wife and
son.
During her house arrest, Huuchinhuu had
extremely limited access to the outside world. Her Internet and phone
lines were cut off by authorities and more than 20 police in two
vehicles guarded her home 24 hours a day.
Huuchinhuu was admitted to the hospital
under round-the-clock police guard in late December, but suffered from
severe headaches for more than a month before being given medicine to
temporarily relieve her pain.
She was believed to have been released from the hospital on Jan. 27 and immediately placed into police detention.
In a November interview, Huuchinhuu said she had not been presented with any legal documents during her arrest.
The U.S. Congressional Executive
Commission on China said at the time that Huuchinhuu's house arrest “may
have amounted to a form of home confinement that lacks basis in Chinese
law.”
Huuchinhuu is an active member of the
SMDA, an ethnic Mongolian organization that seeks the protection of
Mongolian culture, language, and identity, and eventual independence
from Chinese rule.
She has written two books dealing with the problems faced by China’s ethnic Mongolians, and hundreds of political essays.
Both of her books, The Stone-hearted
Tree and Silent Stone, were recently banned by the Chinese authorities
and withdrawn from bookstores.
Huuchinhuu is also a keen advocate of
press freedom, helping to run a number of online Mongolian discussion
forums, all of which have now been shut down for posting "separatist
content" and “discussing ethnic problems."
In August 2007, she was deemed a
“possible threat to the national interest and state security of China”
after applying for a passport to travel to Mongolia. Her passport
application was rejected and she was informed by the Tongliao Public
Security Bureau that she could not travel abroad for five years.
Source:www.unpo.org
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