【10/04 Case Updates】9/19 Huang&Wang Detention Watch: From police: “Guangzhou Public Security Bureau responsible for detention, but will not be revealing suspected crime or giving any detention notice."
Women’s rights activist and independent journalist Huang Xueqin and worker’s rights advocate Wang Jianbing were arrested by police in secret at Wang’s residence on September 19. For more than two weeks, the families of both parties have not received any written notification from the police, which is a serious violation of the law. Wang Jianbing’s family have gone to all levels of public security bureau in Guangzhou, and the police have responded that the two were arrested by the Guangzhou Public Security Bureau, but refused to inform the families of their suspected crime or what coercive measures had been taken.
Wang Jianbing’s brother have written to and lodged complaints with to four levels of authorities, including the Guangzhou Haizhu District Xingang Police Station, the Haizhu District Public Security Bureau, the Guangzhou Public Security Bureau, and the Guangdong Provincial Public Security Bureau, asking the police to inform them in writing of the charges against Wang Jianbing and the details of the coercive measures taken against him, but have been met with refusal. In addition, the police asked the family to remain silent about the case.
[Details of the Family’s Search]
On 28 September, after repeated requests from Wang Jianbing’s brother in person, the Haizhu District Xingang Police Station admitted that “Huang Xueqin and Wang Jianbing had been arrested by the Guangdong Public Security Bureau” and found a record in the public security system of the collection of information on the two persons. The record also shows Wang Jianbing underwent a Covid-19 test on 26 September. However, the police refused to inform the department handling the case, the specific coercive measures, the place of detention and other information.
Between September 28 and 30, Wang Jianbing’s brother attempted to file complaints to three Complaints and Proposals Offices (the Complaints and Proposals Office of the Guangzhou Haizhu District Public Security Bureau, the Guangzhou Public Security Bureau and the Guangdong Provincial Public Security Bureau). He requested the relevant public security departments notify Wang Jianbing’s situations in writing of the suspected crime and the compulsory measures taken as required by law. Wang’s brother also called the government hotline “12389” (for reporting disciplinary violations of the police), and reported the irregularities of the public security organs in not notifying the family members of the person concerned.
In the afternoon of September 30, Wang Jianbing’s family called the Complaints and Proposals Offices of the Haizhu District Public Security Bureau, at that time requesting only a formal written notice of Wang’s detention. The head of that office, surnamed Liang, replied, “The section responsible for Wang Jianbing’s case is the Guangzhou Municipal Public Security Bureau, it isn’t convenient for us to tell you the suspected crime and the specific coercive measures taken.” He also repeatedly stressed: “The case is still being processed. Don’t go inquiring everywhere on your own. In some special cases the family is not immediately notified.” In the face of all the excuses and illegal actions of the police at all levels, Wang Jianbing’s brother went to the Guangzhou Municipal Procuratorate to file a complaint, asking it to monitor the violations by the police. However, the Guangzhou Municipal Procuratorate responded, “Because it is impossible to determine the specifics of the case, the procuratorate cannot intervene to monitor.”
Over many days, Wang Jianbing’s brother have gone to every department level of the public prosecutor and law enforcement in the region, but the family continue to have no way to knowing what crime Wang Jianbing is suspected of committing. Furthermore, the evening of September 30, they received a call from the police station in Chigang, Haizhu District, asking them to go to the police station for questioning. Wang’s brother was questioned for more than half an hour. The state security guards clearly informed the family that Wang Jianbing was arrested by the Guangzhou Municipal Public Security Bureau, but could not provide the family with any written notification, nor could they inform them of the charges or where they were currently being held. At the same time, the family was asked not to go to any more departments at any level to inquire about Wang Jianbing and to remain silent about the arrest.
Meanwhile, in the afternoon of September 29, the family went to Wang Jianbing’s rental apartment to check and found that the door had been replaced with a lock and the camera in front of the door had been removed. The surrounding neighbors, suspected to have been warned by the police, were tight-lipped about Wang Jianbing’s situation.
Half a month has passed since the two were taken away by the police, and the family has been running around for days, but they have been unable to learn any other information except that they “were detained by the Guangzhou Public Security Bureau.” Apparently, it is hard to imagine that the Guangzhou police will handle the case of Huang Xueqin and Wang Jianbing legally and fairly.
[Wang and Huang’s bios]
Wang Jianbing (Pancake). Born in 1983 in Tianshui, Gansu Province. Independent labor activist. He has been involved in non-profit work for over 16 years . his friends nicknamed him “Pancake”—a Chinese homophone for Jianbing.. After graduating from university in 2005, he joined the Beijing Western Sunshine Rural Development Foundation and ran rural development projects, which kicked off his career as a non-profit worker who cares deeply about the education and development of the youth. He was the project manager of rural education program at Western Sunshine Foundation for 5 years. In 2014, he joined GongMing Institute of Social Organization and Development in Guangzhou as the project manager and coordinator of the youth development project as well as the disabled community empowerment project. Since 2018, he has been undertaking rights advocacy and service work for workers with occupational diseases, such as pneumoconiosis, providing necessary legal support for them. Wang also participated in supporting the #MeToo movement in China.
Huang Xueqin, born in 1988 in Shaoguan, Guangdong Province. Independent journalist. She worked as an investigative journalist for News Express and Southern Metropolis Weekly, . She wrote on topics related to gender, equal rights, government corruption, corporate pollution, and other marginalized groups. She has also participated in many #MeToo cases and campaigns to provide support and assistance to victims in sexual assault and harassment cases. Huang Xueqin was scheduled to study for a master’s degree in law at the University of Hong Kong in 2019, but was criminally detained by Guangzhou police on October 17, 2019 for “picking quarrels and provoking trouble,”and was later released on bail on January 17, 2020 after being placed under “residential surveillance in a designated location”—a form of enforced disappearance. She had received full scholarship for her master’s studies from Chevening Scholarship earlier this year. She was awarded a scholarship to study for a Master’s degree in Gender and Development at the University of Sussex this fall. She was planning to leave for the UK on September 20th.