Meet the people in The People’s Republic of the Disappeared
The 11 people who have shared their stories in this book have done so at considerable risk to themselves, many others have faced reprisals from the Chinese state for speaking out in the past. It has also been painful for them to relive the horrors of their experience. They have made this sacrifice because there is a real need to expose the grave human rights violation of China’s “legalized” system of enforced disappearances, or Residential Surveillance at a Designated Location. And also to empower the inevitable future victims.
These people are mothers and fathers, lawyers and activists, boyfriends and girlfriends. Real people with real lives who were taken by the Chinese state for their conviction for human rights.
The lawyer who campaigned against re-education camps
Tang JitianTang Jitian (唐吉田) is one of China’s most well-known rights defense lawyers. He has taken on many politically sensitive cases including representing rights defenders and Falun Gong practitioners. He also campaigned to end the hated Re-education Through Labor system. In 2010, the government revoked Tang’s lawyer’s license, a common way to attack rights lawyers, but he continues to fight for human rights in China.
The wife, the husband, and the man who tried to save their son
Wang YuWang Yu (王宇) is one of China’s most respected human rights lawyers. Her most high-profile cases include defending Uyghur scholar Ilham Tohti, who was sentenced to life in prison in 2014 as punishment for encouraging ethnic unity. Wang’s courageous rights defense work has won her several international human rights awards and nominations.
Bao Longjun
Bao Longjun (包龙军) is a long-time legal rights activist; he worked for the Feng Rui Law firm in Beijing with his wife, the rights lawyer Wang Yu (see above). Bao was seized at Beijing airport with his teenage son before they could board a plane to Australia, where his son was planning to attend school in the summer of 2015. That same night, security agents raided his Beijing home and abducted his wife.
Tang Zhishun
Tang Zhishun (唐志顺) was inspired to get involved in civil rights activism after facing (and stopping) the illegal demolition of his own home. Since them, Tang has helped other victims of forced evictions on how to better protect their rights. Police seized Tang and barefoot lawyer Xing Qingxian in Myanmar as they were helping Bao Zhuoxuan, the teenaged son of detained rights lawyer Wang Yu and Bao Longjun leave the country.
The lawyer who lost his wife to the police
Liu ShihuiLiu Shuhui (刘士辉) is a lawyer and long-time human rights defender. The authorities have barred him from renewing his lawyer’s license since 2010 because of his rights defense work. In 2011, Liu was placed under Residential Surveillance amid calls for a “Jasmine Revolution” in China, when they deported his Vietnam-born wife. He was also disappeared during the 2015 “709 Crackdown.”
The lawyer who defends rights defenders
Chen ZhixiuChen Zhixiu (not his real name) (陈志修) is a human rights lawyer who has represented some of China’s most marginalized citizens. Along with investigating human rights violations and acting as legal counsel for rights defenders at risk, he has also researched and taught others in more effective ways to use the law in China.
The Swedish rights activist and his girlfriend
Peter DahlinPeter Dahlin is a Swedish human rights activist and co-founder of China Action, an NGO that provided legal and financial assistance to rights defenders at risk. Security agents detained Dahlin in early January 2016 and placed him under Residential Surveillance at a Designated Location in a secret custom-built facility in the outskirts of Beijing. After being made to appear in a nationally-televised forced confession, Dahlin was deported and banned from re-entering China.
Pan Jinling
Pan Jinling’s (潘锦玲) only connection with human rights works was her relationship with her boyfriend, Peter Dahlin. Even so, security agents abducted her at night from her home and placed her under Residential Surveillance, where she was interrogated and held in solitary confinement for 23 days until the authorities deported her boyfriend.
The lawyer who was tortured until he thought he would die in detention
Xie YangXie Yang (谢阳) is a prominent rights defense lawyer; he has represented members of the civil rights group New Citizens’ Movement as well as persecuted Christians and victims of illegal land grabs. In 2015, the authorities targeted Xie in the “709 Crackdown” against lawyers and activists. Stories of Xie’s horrific torture while under Residential Surveillance at a Designated Location hit global headlines in 2016.
The petitioner who helps others seek justice
Jiang XiaoyuJiang Xiaoyu (not his real name) (江孝宇) got involved with rights work in the early 2000s when he himself was a petitioner. Because he could speak fluent English, he started helping Chinese human rights defenders communicate with foreign journalists and diplomats. Security agents seized Jiang in 2016 and starved and beat him for a weekend in an underground prison in the outskirts of Beijing.
The human rights lawyer who won’t give up
Sui MuqingLawyer Sui Muqing (隋牧青) is well known for his work defending other rights activists, including fellow human rights lawyer Guo Feixiong. The authorities have subjected Sui to repeated attacks, including fines and beatings, because of his work on politically sensitive cases. He was also swept up in the “709 Crackdown” in the summer of 2015 and placed under Residential Surveillance at a Designated Location. Even after he was released in 2016, unlike some other other victims of RSDL, Sui has continued taking on human rights cases.