ICFTU expresses serious concern for Yao Fuxin and Xiao Yunliang
20 October 2003
ICFTU Online...
144/171003
China: ICFTU expresses serious concern for Yao Fuxin and Xiao Yunliang
Brussels, 17 October 2003 (ICFTU OnLine): The ICFTU has expressed
serious concern for the fate of detained Chinese union activists Yao
Fuxin and Xiao Yunliang. On 8 October, the two unionists whose medical
condition has been described as extremely critical were transferred from Jinzhou jail to the Lingyuan detention centre. This extensive penal colony, notorious for its dismal conditions, is located close to the Mongolian border.
According to reports from numerous pro-democracy dissidents arrested in the wake of the Tiananmen crackdown and imprisoned in the Lingyuan
facility, described as one of the most brutal in China, political
prisoners are regularly beaten up, subjected to torture by electric
shock and kept in long-term solitary confinement for the slightest
"departure" from the prison rules in force. The use of forced prison
labour is widespread.
52 year-old Yao Fuxin and 57-year old Xiao Yunliang were sentenced to
seven and four years imprisonment respectively for their roles in the
protests that took place in March 2002 in Liaoyang, north-east China,
where state-owned companies laid off millions of working men and women. Both labour activists, who have been kept behind bars since March 2002, were sentenced in May on false charges.
According to the information gathered by members of his family on the
eve of his transfer, which was thereafter corroborated by the prison's
medical staff, Yao Fuxin's condition had seriously deteriorated, which
explains why he was admitted to the Jinzhou jail hospital. Having
suffered from repeated heart failures over several months, Yao collapsed in the shower last month and only regained consciousness after prison staff provided emergency care. Yao Fuxin is also suffering from acute hypertension. He is experiencing great difficulty walking because one of his feet, on which skin had to be grafted following an old wound caused by burning asphalt, has severely atrophied as a result of long-term forced immobilisation in prison. A lesion in his eardrum is also seriously impeding his hearing.
There is also grave concern for the health of Xiao Yunliang who was
prevented from meeting his relatives last month, as a punishment for his attitude, which the prison authorities claimed to be "infringing on prison rules". Since early 2003, Xiao has been suffering from heavy coughing, which the prison doctors have diagnosed as a severe case of full-brown pleurisy, an infection of the membrane lining of the lungs. He is experiencing great difficulty talking and is frequently overcome by violent pains in his chest. His eyes are also in critical condition. Xiao, whom a police diagnosis confirmed as being blind in both eyes, is now suffering from severe conjunctivitis in one eye, while the vitreous matter in his other eye has become completely clouded.
Based on these extremely alarming medical reports, the ICFTU urges the
Chinese authorities to immediately release Yao Fuxin and Xia Yunliang.
It should be noted that the ICFTU has repeatedly condemned the harsh
sentences served on the two Chinese labour leaders, whom the authorities have charged with "subversion". In May, ICFTU General Secretary Guy Ryder sent a letter to Chinese President Hu Jintao
(http://www.icftu.org/displaydocument.asp?Index=991217502), calling for urgent moves to ensure the release of Yao Fuxin and Xiao Yunliang. In its first letter to the Chinese President in January 2003, the ICFTU had stressed that the workers of Liaoyang had merely exercised their rights to freedom of association and collective bargaining, as set down in the ILO Conventions. Guy Ryder had stated that "China, as a member of the ILO, must respect these international obligations and guarantee these established rights,".