New Account Sheds Light on Degrading Conditions at Inner Mongolia’s Chifeng Prison.
Human Rights in China (HRIC) called today for the urgent release of prominent Inner-Mongolian prisoner of conscience Hada. Deemed to be “resisting reform,” Hada is reported to be routinely subjected to torture and ill-treatment, and held under a particularly harsh disciplinary regimen at Chifeng Prison, Inner Mongolia. He is believed to be in extremely poor health and in need of urgent medical attention.
China’s most well-known Inner-Mongolian political prisoner, Hada was sentenced to a 15-year prison term under charges of “separatism” and “espionage” in 1996 in connection with the activities of the Southern Mongolian Democratic Alliance, an organization advocating the preservation of Mongolian culture and self determination.
According to the account of a recently released political prisoner from Chifeng prison interviewed by HRIC, Hada has been routinely abused and brutalized as well as subjected to disciplinary punishments that range from being held in solitary confinement to being chained onto a metal “shackle board” – a bare metal plank equipped with handcuffs at each corner. The source said Hada is prohibited from talking to other inmates, deprived of regular family contacts and denied proper medical attention.
According to HRIC’s source, general conditions of detention that prevail at Chifeng prison are excessively poor and marked by ill-treatment and pervasive brutality. All prisoners engage in grueling work loads of up to 16 hours a day, seven days a week. Food and healthcare are patently inadequate.
Without any effective avenue for complaint and no exterior supervision, prisoners at Chifeng are reportedly subjected to a vast repertoire of disciplinary punishments – many of them falling under the definition of torture in Article 1 of the Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, to which China is a signatory.
In addition to the ubiquitous use of electric batons by guards, customary punishments imposed on prisoners reportedly include being made to be stand for extended periods in uncomfortable and painful positions, being chained upright to a metal door for excruciating lengths of time, and being sent to a cell with dimensions too small to allow the prisoner lie down. The system of pervasive brutality is entrenched by the notorious “cell boss” system, in which certain criminal detainees are specifically appointed by prison officials to enforce discipline – often violently – among fellow prisoners.
Political prisoners and ethnic Mongolians are said to be subjected to an even harsher regimen because of their official designation as a threat to the state under charges such as “endangering state security” or “separatism.” They are reportedly prohibited from talking in their native language and must only use Mandarin, even though some guards are themselves ethnic Mongolians. Further details of conditions at Chifeng Prison, as well as further background on Hada, are provided at the end of this press release.
HRIC President Liu Qing called on the Chinese government to release Hada and open all prisons to external observers. “Hada must be freed and given proper medical attention immediately,” said Liu Qing. “This case illustrates once again that China’s persistent refusal to open its prison system to external scrutiny is feeding a pattern of endemic torture and ill-treatment.”
Human Rights in China is an international monitoring and advocacy non-governmental organization based in New York and Hong Kong. Founded in March 1989 by Chinese scientists and scholars, it conducts research, education and outreach programs to promote universally recognized human rights and advance the institutional protection of these rights in the People’s Republic of China.
