By Christine Khamis

Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

 

BEIJING, China –

Chinese rights activist Zhang Liumao died last week in a police detention center in Guangzhou, the capital of Guangdong Province. Police have given no information about Mr. Zhang’s death and his family has been prevented from seeing his body.

Mr. Zhang was detained during a police raid in August for “picking quarrels and stirring up trouble”. His family believes that he was detained in connection with a literary magazine that had been circulating in Guangzhou. Mr. Zhang’s sister, Zhang Weichu, told Radio Free Asia that the police department stated that he had been detained for opposing the Communist Party.

Mr. Zhang was not allowed to meet with his lawyers during his detainment, and his family never received a formal arrest warrant or any information on his detainment. Chinese law mandates that a person must be either officially arrested or freed within 37 days.

When informed of his death, Mr. Zhang’s family and their lawyers traveled to No. 3 Detention Center, where he had been held, for an explanation of his death. They requested to meet with the detention center’s prosecutor, but their request was denied. When Mr. Zhang’s family asked for his personal belongings, detention center staff told them that it was against the rules to return the items and that they would place them in storage instead.

Mr. Zhang’s family has requested a document detailing the causes of his death and has also requested access to surveillance videos of the center and his body. Mr. Zhang’s body was taken to a funeral parlor when he died, and his family has not been allowed to view it. His family has refused permission for the cremation until they have more information about the circumstances of his death.

Mr. Zhang’s family and hundreds of supporters have demanded that authorities give an explanation for his death and allow them to see his body. An online petition in support of those demands had over 200 signatures on Friday.

While China’s Rules on the Handling of Deaths in Detention Centers require authorities to investigate deaths of detainees, Mr. Zhang’s death is not the first to occur under unexplained circumstances. Last year, Beijing activist Cao Shunli died after months in detention. Similarly, the esteemed Tibetan monk Tenzin Delek Rinpoche died earlier this year after many years in prison. Both had been known to be ill, but their deaths remain unexplained.

Mr. Zhang’s death comes as the United Nations Committee Against Torture prepares to evaluate China’s implementation of the Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment on November 17-18.

 

For more information, please see:

The New York Times – Backers of Detained Chinese Activist Demand Explanation for His Death – 6 November 2015

Asia News – Guangdong activist dies in prison before trial: no explanation given to the family – 5 November 2015

Human Rights Watch – Dispatches: An Activist’s Death in Custody in China – 5 November 2015

Radio Free Asia – Family Demands Information After Chinese Activist Dies in Police Custody – 4 November 2015