MCLC: mother of rape victim sentence to hard larbor

[Denton, Kirk]

MCLC LIST
From: Anne Henochowicz <annemh at alumni.upenn.edu>
Subject: mother of rape victim sentence to hard labor
***********************************************************

Source: Tea Leaf Nation (8/6/12):
http://tealeafnation.com/2012/08/mother-of-rape-victim-sentenced-to-hard-la
bor-chinese-blogosphere-explodes-in-indignation/

Mother of Rape Victim Sentenced to Hard Labor, Chinese Blogosphere
Explodes in Indignation

Street vendor Tang Hui and her family’s life took a tragic turn in October
2006, when her 11-year old daughter went missing in her hometown Yongzhou,
a small city in Hunan Province. After three months of tireless search,
Tang found out that the fifth-grader was repeatedly raped, beaten and
forced into prostitution in a nearby spa center. This outrage made
national headlines in China in 2007 and 2008. In 2008, the local court
handed out death sentences to two defendants accused of rape and sex
trafficking, life sentences to two accomplices, and long jail sentences to
two others accused of rape.

The tragedy did not end there. The defendants appealed. Tang and her
family, on the other hand, believed that the sentencing was too lenient on
the defendants who escaped the death sentence and the justice system
failed to punish certain police officers who did not do their jobs or
tried to cover up the crime. What’s more, one of those convicted sought to
reduce his sentence based on “meritorious conduct” that the local police
may have helped fabricate. As a result, Tang has continued to seek justice
for her daughter and air her grievances for more than five years. (In June
2012, a higher court handed out two death sentences, four life sentences
and a 15-year jail sentence to those involved.)

On August 2, however, Tang was sentenced to 18 months of hard labor for
“disruption of social order” because she slept in a court room for 15
days, tried to block cars and gates at various public institutions and
distributed leaflets about the case during the course of her appeal.
Tang’s “labor re-education” sentence, as is often the case in China, was
handed down by the police
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Re-education_through_labor> and was not
subject to judicial due process.

The news exploded onto China’s social media, with most netizens expressing
shock and outrage at Tang’s misfortunes. On Sina, Weibo, China’s Twitter,
a recent search for mentions of the normally anonymous city of Yongzhou
yielded over 4.3 million tweets. In the face of growing controversy, on
August 5, Yongzhou police (@永州市公安局 <http://weibo.com/yongzhougongan>)
released two statements on Weibo describing Tang as a vexatious woman who
refused to accept court decisions. The statement attracted more than
37,000 mostly negative comments calling for Tang’s release.

Well-known blogger Li Chengpeng tweets angrily,

<<Her 11-year old daughter was raped, her 11-year old daughter was forced
into prostitution. She wanted to appeal the sentences but she still
believed in the Party and the court. She knelt before government buildings
and lied down in front of officials’ cars. You put her into labor camp for
disrupting social order, but you are the ones disrupting social order.
Your social order is an evil order. You have daughters and mothers too, go
home and ask them whether it is humane to put into labor camp a mother
seeking justice for her daughter. Hunan, release her, I’m looking at you!
>> [1] 

Behind the raw anger about Tang and her family’s misfortunes, many
netizens have re-opened the discussion on abolishing China’s “re-education
through labor” system. According to the website of the Bureau of
Reeducation-Through-Labor Administration
<http://www.legalinfo.gov.cn/moj/ldjyglj/content/2011-07/07/content_2785241
.htm?node=258>, there were 350 labor facilities with 160,000 inmates in
China as of the end of 2008.

Writer Murong Xuecun (@慕容雪村 <http://weibo.com/hawking>) directs his ire
at 
the system: “Tang’s case shows barbarism and inaction of the law
enforcement agencies, but also the darkness and cruelty of the labor
re-education system. A person can be thrown into prison for offending a
local official, without trial or evidence. Millions have met this fate
since [the system was put in place] 45 years ago, and it will continue to
bring pain and suffering in the days to come. It’s not only dangerous for
Tang, but for all citizens. If labor re-education is not abolished,
citizens will never be secure.” [2]

There is some evidence that Tang may gain her freedom soon. On August 6,
the People’s Daily reports that a special committee went to Yongzhou to
investigate the case and promised to punish all those responsible. The
People’s Daily’s Internet portal (@人民网 <http://www.weibo.com/renminwang>)
conducted an “Tweet-erview” of Tang’s attorney Hu Yihua (@胡益华律师
<http://weibo.com/dukehu>) and asked him how to improve the general
public’s confidence in government and the justice system. Attorney Hu
tweeted in response, “An independent judiciary, an open media, the
exercise of governmental power within a legal framework. Punish all
violations of the law during the exercise of governmental power. Resolve
the so-called “political issues” within the legal framework, and resolve
the legal issues professionally. Then you will have the people’s trust and
improve the people’s confidence in the government.” [3]

[1] 
<http://tealeafnation.com/2012/08/mother-of-rape-victim-sentenced-to-hard-l
abor-chinese-blogosphere-explodes-in-indignation/#footnote-1>


[2] 
<http://tealeafnation.com/2012/08/mother-of-rape-victim-sentenced-to-hard-l
abor-chinese-blogosphere-explodes-in-indignation/#footnote-2>

[3] 
<http://tealeafnation.com/2012/08/mother-of-rape-victim-sentenced-to-hard-l
abor-chinese-blogosphere-explodes-in-indignation/#footnote-3>