Local Advocate Confined to Home by Chinese Officials for Challenging One-Child Policy

Main Category: Public Health
Article Date: 14 Sep 2005 - 0:00 PDT

email to a friend   printer friendly   view / write opinions

Chinese authorities have confined to his home a Chinese advocate who is seeking to bring a lawsuit challenging human rights abuses associated with the country's one-child-per-family policy, the... Washington Post reports. In a cell phone call on Friday, Chen Guangcheng said that he was at home in Linyi, China, but that he was unable to leave his house or receive visitors, according to the Post. He also reported that the authorities had cut off his landline service and confiscated his computer. He said, "I have no way to stay in touch with the outside world now. I think the situation is rather dangerous" (Pan, Washington Post, 9/10). The confinement follows Chen's release from custody on Wednesday one day after the local authorities detained him (Siu-sin, South China Morning Post, 9/9). He said that during his detention by Linyi officials he was injured, had requests for medical attention denied, and was visited by the head of Linyi public security and the city's vice mayor on Wednesday morning before being released (Cheung/Xiao, Radio Free Asia, 9/8). Chen, who is 34 years old and blind, has recorded testimony from men and women in communities in and around Linyi who have experienced forced abortions and sterilizations, as well as had family members captured and tortured after they tried to hide or run from authorities. He had plans to bring a class-action lawsuit to challenge the government's use of coercive measures to enforce its policy, which has long been restricted from public debate. In the days before his arrest, Chen met with journalists, diplomats from the U.S. Embassy and attorneys who have volunteered to represent him (Kaiser Daily Reproductive Health Report, 9/8). The advocacy group Chinese Rights Defenders in a statement on its Web site called for Chen's release and has asked the Ministry of Public Security to investigate "the unlawful kidnapping and mistreatment of Mr. Chen" (Radio Free Asia, 9/8).

"Reprinted with permission from http://www.kaisernetwork.org. You can view the entire Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, search the archives, or sign up for email delivery at http://www.kaisernetwork.org/dailyreports/healthpolicy. The Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report is published for kaisernetwork.org, a free service of The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation . © 2005 Advisory Board Company and Kaiser Family Foundation. All rights reserved.