Mao Hengfeng

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Mao Hengfeng (Chinese: 毛恒凤; traditional Chinese : 毛 恆 風; pinyin : Máo Héngfēng, born December 9, 1961 ) is an activist for women's rights and human rights in the People's Republic of China . Mao refused to abort her third child after having twins. As a result, she was detained in the ankang (mental hospital) and then fired by her employer.

Mao has reportedly had a forced abortion himself. Since then, she has turned her attention to forced abortion in China.

Mao is a relentless fighter for reproductive rights and against evictions in China, and has been arrested repeatedly for this reason. Since Mao petitioned frequently, she was forced to spend a year and a half in a labor re-education camp from 2004 to 2005 . From 2006 to 2008 she was imprisoned for two and a half years for "deliberately destroying property." On November 29, 2008, she was released from Shanghai Women's Prison .

Since then, Mao has served another year in a re-education camp for advocating for Liu Xiaobo . She was briefly released in February 2011 but placed under house arrest. Mao was arrested again shortly afterwards and taken to the Shanghai Prison Hospital after being tortured and ill-treated.

background

Mao Hengfeng was a mother of twins and was fired from her employer, a soap factory in Shanghai, in 1988 because she became pregnant for the second time with a third child. This was in conflict with China's family planning regulations of the one-child policy . Mao refused to have an abortion and was then detained in a mental hospital.

Their third child was born on February 28, 1989. On March 20th, she was told that she had lost her job because she had not shown up for work for sixteen days. It was the time when she gave birth to her child and recovered from both childbirth and the ordeal she suffered in the mental hospital.

Appeal and petitions

Mao Hengfeng appealed against her dismissal under the Chinese Labor Law and was able to return to work afterwards. But her employer did not accept this decision and objected. At the time of the appeal hearing, Mao was seven months pregnant with their fourth child. The judge told her that she would rule in her favor if she ended this third pregnancy. Concerned for the well-being of her existing family, Mao ended the pregnancy. Even so, the court ruled against her, likely for taking sixteen days of "unauthorized leave" and for violating family planning policies.

Mao petitioned the authorities repeatedly between 1990 and 2004 for compensation and reparation for her dismissal by her employer, her forced abortion and the denial of other fundamental rights, including freedom of expression . She made several attempts to initiate legal proceedings against the authorities regarding these abuses, but the courts repeatedly refused to reply and accept the cases.

Mao not only actively petitioned the authorities for himself, but also campaigned for the rights of others. For example, she is known to have actively supported others who have been subjected to evictions in Shanghai and Shanxi Province . Mao is seen by the Shanghai authorities as one of the most persistent and experienced petitioners in the city. She has been active on behalf of others who have been arbitrarily detained in "re-education through work" or in mental health facilities, including women arrested for alleged violations of family planning policies.

Mao opposes arbitrary detention and fights for legal reforms aimed at ensuring reparation and compensation and protecting ordinary people from abuse of power.

Mao was arrested for supporting human rights activist Liu Xiaobo and protesting for him.

Arrests from 2004 to 2005

Mao Hengfeng was sentenced to eighteen months "transformation through labor" in April 2004, without a trial, after repeatedly protesting various violations of her rights. Her welfare benefits were suspended, which put her family in severe financial difficulties. Many people in Shanghai demonstrated and openly supported them.

On September 13, 2005, Mao and her husband Wu Xuewei (吴雪伟) were beaten by the police while they were gathering with over a hundred other petitioners at the Putuo District Court in Shanghai. They supported Xu Zhengqing, a supplicant who wanted to attend a memorial service in Beijing in January 2005 and was therefore tried. The couple was detained by the police along with dozens of other petitioners. Mao managed to escape and tried to continue protesting on behalf of Xu Zhengqing. However, she was arrested again and taken back to her residential area. There, the local police and government officials apparently threatened her with imprisonment if she continued to protest. The officers presented her with an official police subpoena, which the police wanted to investigate suspected of "disturbing the normal life of others."

Mao and her family were reportedly placed under type of house arrest from September 23-27, 2005 after she said she would go to the United Nations Representative Office in Beijing to protest the abuses. Seven police officers stood guard outside their home to prevent them from doing so; she wasn't even allowed to go shopping.

On September 29, 2005, she was placed under house arrest again. An official told her that this would continue until the end of the fifth plenary session of the 16th Communist Party Central Committee on October 11, 2005. The next day, three police officers and seven security officers from Yangpu District stood in front of her home. Mao was warned that she would be jailed or face violent treatment if she tried to escape.

Detained from 2006 to 2007

In early 2006, during a gathering of petitioners before the anniversary of the massacre in Tian'anmen Square , Mao Hengfeng was arrested and her home was monitored. Mao was then charged with "violating home surveillance" and was given "mild detention" with six other men and women in a small room in a guest house in Yangpu District , Shanghai. While Mao was in detention, she broke two table lamps in the guest house and was officially charged with "willful destruction of property" on June 30, 2006. Mao was sentenced to two and a half years in prison on January 12, 2007 and detained in Shanghai Women's Prison.

Mao and her husband, Wu Xuewei, appealed Mao's conviction. At the appeal hearing on April 16, 2007, the judge of the Shanghai No. 2 Intermediate Local People's Court only read a statement reinforcing Mao's judgment, so neither Wu nor Mao's lawyer could provide evidence. Mao was tortured and tortured by prisoners and prison staff while in custody. Not only was Mao regularly mistreated, but he was also held in solitary confinement for 70 days. This is in violation of China's prison law, which allows a maximum of 15 days in solitary confinement. Mao was finally released on November 29, 2008, at the scheduled end of her detention.

Protest for Liu Xiaobo and imprisonment (2009 to 2011)

On December 25th, 2009, Mao Hengfeng was found guilty of "disturbing public order" by the Beijing Municipal Intermediate Court for her peaceful protest on behalf of human rights activist Liu Xiaobo. Mao was sent back to the labor camp on March 4th, 2010 for "transformation through labor." There she was tortured, including force-fed. She was denied access to food sent by her family, and other inmates were ordered to repeatedly beat her. Because of her protests over human rights violations in the labor camp, she was handcuffed for four days on September 9, 2010 and was given no food or water. This was repeated on September 29th.

Mao was released on February 22, 2011. A computed tomography scan showed that the abuse caused her brain to bleed. Mao was quickly arrested and taken to the Shanghai Prison Hospital, where she had previously been tortured and ill-treated.

On July 28, 2011, Mao was released. According to Amnesty International, Mao “was brought back to her family in a wheelchair from the Shanghai Prison Hospital without her relatives being informed. When her family found her outside the house, she was unconscious and in extremely poor health. Mao regained consciousness shortly afterwards, but was not strong enough to speak or stand up ”.

Amnesty International reported that Mao's family tried to take her to a state hospital on July 29, but ten police officers stopped her by saying, “Shanghai will host the 14th World Swimming Championships until July 31. People like Mao Hengfeng are therefore not allowed to take to the streets for reasons of social peace ”. According to the police, Mao could go outside after the World Cup, but she would continue to be monitored.

On July 31st, Mao felt a little better and was able to stand up and speak. She told Amnesty International about the police mistreatment. Mao passed out from being beaten and woke up in a hospital in Shanghai to find that her blood had been drawn. After that, Mao was locked in a cell in the hospital and one prisoner was kept under constant surveillance. Mao was only allowed out of the cell to go to the toilet, otherwise he was not allowed to shower or bathe. As soon as she moved around the cell without permission, she was beaten.

Police officers are currently still monitoring Mao.

Amnesty campaigns from 2004 to 2013

Amnesty International issued urgent action , demanding Mao's immediate release, an investigation into her abuse, and independent medical attention and evaluation.

Amnesty International launched an Urgent Action for Mao Hengfeng in 2004, 2010 and 2012 . In a letter marathon in 2004, thousands of people campaigned for the human rights activist. In 2007, countless activists again wrote letters against forgetting and for the release of Mao Hengfeng as part of the campaign.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e f g About the Individual: Mao Hengfeng , Incorporating Responsibility, 2008, accessed March 31, 2017
  2. ↑ a b c d e f g Shanghai Labor Camp Mother in Court with Bruises , Radio Free Asia, November 22, 2004, accessed March 31, 2017
  3. ↑ a b Verna Yu, 'I could hear the baby cry. They killed my baby ... yet I couldn't do a thing ': The countless tragedies of China's one-child policy , South China Morning Post, November 15, 2015, accessed March 31, 2017
  4. ↑ a b c d Mao Hengfeng , Amnesty International Network, accessed March 31, 2017
  5. ↑ a b Mao Hengfeng Sentenced to 2-1 / 2 Years for Breaking Lamps ( Memento March 7, 2007 in the Internet Archive ), Human Rights in China, January 16, 2007, accessed on March 31, 2017
  6. ↑ a b Ulrike Maiwald, A long fight , Amnesty International Journal, April 2013, accessed on March 31, 2017
  7. ↑ China: Women's Rights Activist Sentenced to Labor Camp , Amnesty International, November 7, 2012, accessed March 31, 2017
  8. ↑ a b c d Urgent Action: Re-Detention , Amnesty International, February 24, 2011, accessed March 31, 2017
  9. ↑ Human rights defenders in China at risk of persecution , Amnesty International, October 20, 2010, accessed March 31, 2017
  10. ↑ Mao Hengfeng is free and thanks everyone for their commitment ! Amnesty International, February 19, 2013, accessed March 31, 2017
  11. ↑ a b c Urgent Action: Mao Hengfeng Sentenced , Amnesty International, November 7, 2012, accessed March 31, 2017
  12. ↑ Urgent Action: Human Rights Defender Imprisoned , Amnesty International, October 4, 2012, accessed March 31, 2017
  13. ↑ a b Amnesty International, Urgent Action: Torture and Abuse ( Memento April 21, 2017 in the Internet Archive ), January 27, 2006, accessed April 18, 2017
  14. ↑ The Conviction of Mao Hengfeng: Trump-up Charges against a Human Rights Defender , Chinese Human Rights Defenders, January 29, 2007, accessed April 18, 2017
  15. ↑ Mao Hengfeng Protests Abusive Confinement ( Memento of October 12, 2007 in the Internet Archive ), Human Rights in China, September 19, 2007, accessed on March 31, 2017
  16. ↑ Rights Defense Heroine Mao Hengfeng Released; Torture from within Jail What like "living death"! ( Memento of April 29, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) (维权 英雄 毛恒凤 获释 ， 监狱 酷刑 "生不如死"！), (Chinese), December 1, 2008, accessed on March 31, 2017
  17. ↑ Mao Hengfeng: Amnesty urgent action , The Guardian, June 25, 2011, accessed March 31, 2017
  18. ↑ Urgent Action: Concern for Mao Hengfeng , Amnesty International, July 15, 2011, accessed March 31, 2017
  19. ↑ a b c Urgent Action: Mao Hengfeng Released , Amnesty International, August 10, 2011, accessed March 31, 2017
  20. ↑ Mao Hengfeng's Bittersweet Homecoming Human Rights Now - Amnesty International USA Blog , Amnesty International, August 8, 2011, accessed March 31, 2017
  21. ↑ a b Mao Hengfeng released from prison in a wheelchair , Asia News, July 29, 2011, accessed March 31, 2017
  22. ↑ Urgent Action: Mao Hengfeng , Amnesty International Germany, 2004 to 2013, accessed on March 31, 2017
  23. ↑ Urgent Action: Mao Hengfeng Free Again , Amnesty International, February 15, 2013, accessed March 31, 2017
  24. ↑ Letters Against Oblivion, Mao Hengfeng , Amnesty International, January 2011, accessed March 31, 2017


personal data
SURNAME Mao, Hengfeng
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Chinese women's rights activist
DATE OF BIRTH December 9, 1961