MCLC: detention deaths

[Denton, Kirk]

MCLC LIST
From: kirk (denton.2 at osu.edu)
Subject: detention deaths
***********************************************************

Source: NYT (6/20/13):
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/21/world/asia/detention-deaths-in-
chinese-corruption-cases-stir-concern.html

Detention Deaths in Chinese Corruption Cases Stir Concern
By THE NEW YORK TIMES

BEIJING — The reported cause of death was respiratory failure, but the
images circulating over Chinese social media Thursday told a different
story, of a man staring blankly from a hospital bed, his gaunt body
covered with bruises and scabs.

Qian Guoliang, 48, is the third Chinese official in the last three months
known to have died while under detention of Communist Party investigators.
His death, which came two months after he was ordered to submit to an
extralegal investigative procedure reserved for party members, has raised
concerns about China’s renewed efforts to crack down on official
corruption.

Xi Jinping, China’s new leader, has emphasized tackling official
malfeasance, and says that a failure to control graft could threaten the
survival of the Communist Party. On Tuesday he began a “party
rectification” campaign to stamp out waste, bureaucracy and graft. He has
said the party must fight “tigers and flies at the same time,” meaning
both top officials and lowly cadres.

In recent months a handful of senior officials have been targeted in
corruption investigations, including Liu Tienan, a top economic planner,
and Ni Fake, a former vice governor of Anhui province. Liu Zhijun, the
former head of the railway ministry, went on trial earlier this month,
charged with receiving millions of dollars in bribes, and Bo Xilai,
formerly a rising party secretary in Chongqing, has been in detention for
more than a year while under investigation on charges of corruption and
abuse of power.

The Communist Party makes use of a secretive system of detention known as
“shuanggui” to scrutinize and discipline its members. The investigative
mechanism exists outside the Chinese legal system, offering wide potential
for abuse.

“Shuanggui has its own rules. It doesn’t follow the rule of law,” said Fu
Hualing, a law professor at the University of Hong Kong. “The party system
has its own rules.”

Shuanggui means “double regulations,” referring to a set time and place at
which party members are meant to appear. The targets can be held at
special party detention centers or hotels. The system allows open-ended
detention, and subjects are sometimes beaten, starved and sleep-deprived
to force confessions.

“The practice of shuanggui is above and outside the law, yet it is so
commonly used,” said Si Weijiang, a lawyer hired by Qian’s family and who
has represented the families of other officials who have died in custody.
“It is highly dangerous. I’m afraid this death won’t be the last if this
practice continues.”

Reports of abuse of criminal suspects can often generate public concern in
China, but sympathy for officials who have died in shuanggui custody is
tempered by greater anger over corruption.

“If you look at all the surveys, corruption is always ranked as a top
public concern,” Mr. Fu said. “As long as shuanggui is used as an
anti-corruption enforcement weapon I think it has the support of general
public.”

Lower-level officials, the “flies” in Xi Jinping’s formulation, have
endured the harshest treatment while under investigation. Jia Jiuxiang, a
49-year-old court official in Sanmenxia, a city along the Yellow River in
central Henan province, died on April 23 after 11 days in custody. His
death was reported as a heart attack, but his family said his body was
swollen and bruised.

Yu Qiyi, a 41-year-old engineer with a state-owned firm in the southern
coastal city of Wenzhou, died on April 9 after five weeks of detention.
Six people have been arrested and charged with intentional assault in
connection to his death, according to Mr. Si and a microblog account run
by Mr. Yu’s family.

Mr. Qian, the latest official to die while under investigation, was head
of the seismological bureau in Huangmei county in central Hubei province.
He was detained by Communist Party investigators on April 8, but after he
began to suffer convulsions and lose consciousness he was sent to a
hospital on June 3, according to the Guangzhou-based Southern Metropolis
Daily, which first reported his death.

“So far the family has not received any official explanation as to why
this happened to Qian,” said Mr. Si, the lawyer. “The family demands to
see recorded videos and audios of the interrogation, but there has been no
reply.”

The Huangmei county propaganda department did not answer calls seeking
comment on Thursday.

Mr. Qian’s wife, Wang Qizhen, confirmed her husband’s death in a brief
phone interview but declined to discuss his case further, saying she was
preparing for his funeral. She told The Southern Metropolis Daily that
they had earlier heard rumors that Huangmei county was under orders to
uncover at least three corrupt officials this year, but her husband was
unconcerned.

“We don’t know who the next unlucky one will be,” she quoted her husband
as saying, “but I’m a clean official, so I can sleep easy.”

Mia Li and Amy Qin contributed research.