Incorporating Responsibility 2008

Recent Update: 2011/07/11: Hada update; 2011/10/31: Chen Guangcheng update

[Human Rights and the Olympics: What you can do!]

Take Action for Mao Hengfeng

On this page:

Letter Writing

Write to the Director of the Shanghai Women's Prison and urge the prison to ensure Mao is treated in accordance with the PRC Prison Law and international standards.

Sample letter to the Prison Director:

Printer-friendly letter

[Insert your name, title, and address]

Head of Shanghai Women's Prison
Sijing 610-401, Songjiang District, Shanghai
People's Republic of China

Dear Prison Director,

I am writing to express my grave concern regarding the imprisonment of petitioner and women's rights defender Mao Hengfeng, who was convicted of intentional damage of property on January 12, 2007, and sentenced to two-and-a-half years' imprisonment. Mao Hengfeng is currently detained at your prison. She has reportedly been beaten and is in poor health as a result excessive confinement indoors. Mao also suffers from joint problems and has developed high blood pressure.

Mao Hengfeng's sentence is disproportionate to her convicted offense. She broke two lamps and other items while in custody, and her lawyers have disputed the value of these items attributed to them at trial, as well as the validity of other major evidence used. I believe that the heavy sentence levied against Mao Hengfeng is a means to silence her and punish her for invoking her lawful right to petition the government. Her right to criticize the government as guaranteed in the Chinese Constitution has been violated: I believe that she and other people detained for peacefully invoking their lawful petitioning rights should be immediately released.

I urge you to ensure that Mao Hengfeng is given immediate and appropriate medical treatment for her deteriorating health, and that she and all others in your facility are treated in a humane manner consistent with the PRC Prison Law and international law and standards, including the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, and Degrading Treatment, and the Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners.

Sincerely,
[your signature]

Send appeal to the Chinese government urging Mao's release.

Sample letter to Hu Jintao:

Printer-friendly letter

[Insert your name, title, and address]

President Hu Jintao
President of the People's Republic of China
Yongdingmenjie, Beijing 100032
People's Republic of China

Your Excellency,

I am writing to express my grave concern regarding the imprisonment of petitioner and women's rights defender Mao Hengfeng, who was convicted of intentional damage of property on January 12, 2007, and sentenced to two-and-a-half years' imprisonment. Mao Hengfeng's conviction results from her steadfast refusal to cease demanding justice both for herself and for other petitioners.

Mao Hengfeng's sentence is disproportionate to her convicted offense. She broke two lamps and other items while in custody, and her lawyers have disputed the value of these items attributed to them at trial, as well as the validity of other major evidence used. I believe that the heavy sentence levied against Mao Hengfeng is a means to silence her and punish her for invoking her lawful right to petition the government. Mao's exaggerated sentence is part of a worrying trend of a crackdown on petitioners that indicates that the authorities are willing to bend the law in order to silence the dissenting voices of the powerless and the wronged. Furthermore, while in detention, Mao, like other petitioners, has been subjected to cruel and humiliating treatment and abuse.

I therefore urge the government to immediately and unconditionally release Mao Hengfeng and others detained for peacefully invoking their lawful rights to petition. Their right to freedom of expression and to criticize the government is protected both in the Chinese Constitution and international law.

Sincerely,
[your signature]

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Publish or Blog for Mao Hengfeng

Do you have a website or a blog? Do you belong to any online communities, such as Facebook or MySpace? Download the banners below and link back to this Take Action website (http://www.ir2008.org) to encourage others to help make a difference.

If you would like to accompany the link with a short profile of Mao Hengfeng, please copy and paste the following text:

Mao Hengfeng (b.1961), a long-time activist and petitioner was fired from her factory job in 1988 for refusing to terminate her second pregnancy. She lost her court battle against the factory, and was later forced to undergo an abortion during her third pregnancy.

After petitioning for several years against her mistreatment and the loss of her factory job, Mao was sentenced to a Reeducation-Through-Labor term in 2004, during which she was allegedly tortured. Mao was sentenced to two-and-a-half- years' imprisonment for breaking lamps in the hotel room where police detained her, during a general roundup of petitioners shortly before the 2006 anniversary of the June 4 crackdown.

She is currently held at Shanghai Women's Prison, where, reportedly, she has been tortured. She is due for release on November 29, 2008.

If you would like to create your own buttons, posters, banners, or other items to support Mao Hengfeng, an image of Mao Hengfeng is available for use under Creative Commons.

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