WUNRN
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-32285585
China Frees 3 Detained Women's Rights Activists
Fate of Remaining 2 Women of Activist Group Still in Prison – Uncertain
WEI TINGTING PHOTO
April 13, 2015 - Chinese police have
freed three women's rights activists who were held for more than a month, in a
case that sparked an international outcry.
A lawyer for Wei Tingting, Wang Man and
Zheng Churan said they were not charged but their release was conditional.
The women, who were detained shortly before
International Women's Day on 8 March, had planned protests against sexual
harassment on public transport.
The fate of two other women arrested at the
same time is not yet clear.
Their release came as China said it lodged
a formal complaint to the US over a statement by Secretary of State John Kerry
over the weekend.
Mr Kerry urged for an
"unconditional" release of the detainees.
This year International Women's Day
coincided with China's annual parliamentary session, which usually has tight
security and the police regularly detain activists in the lead-up to
high-profile events deemed more sensitive.
Among the activities which the activists
had planned were a march in a Beijing park where participants would wear
stickers advocating safe sex and action against sexual harassment; and
gatherings in Beijing and Guangzhou calling for awareness of sexual harassment
on buses.
ZHENG CHURAN PHOTO
WANG MAN PHOTO
In his statement issued on Friday,
Mr Kerry asked China to "immediately and unconditionally" free the
women.
He said the women were organising a
"peaceful campaign" against sexual harassment and to promote gender
equality.
On Monday, China's foreign affairs
spokesman Hong Lei said China lodged representations with the US over Mr
Kerry's comments.
"China is a country of rule of law and
runs the country according to the law. Everyone is equal before the law.
China's legal authorities will handle this case in accordance with the
law."
"We urge the United States to respect
China's judicial sovereignty and not use any pretext to interfere in China's
internal affairs."
From: WUNRN LISTSERVE [mailto:wunrn1@gmail.com]
Sent: Monday, March 16, 2015 6:24 AM
To: WUNRN ListServe (wunrn_listserve@lists.wunrn.com)
Subject: China - 5 Women's Rights Activists, Demanding End to Sexual
Harassment in Public Transport, Are Formally Detained in Beijing
WUNRN
China - 5 Women’s Rights Activists, Demanding
End to Sexual
Harassment in Public Transport, Are Formally Detained in Beijing
By EDWARD WONG - MARCH 13, 2015
BEIJING — The police in Beijing have
put five young female activists under formal
detention on suspicion of “picking quarrels and provoking trouble,” lawyers for
four of the women said on Friday. The charge is one that the Chinese
authorities have increasingly used in recent years to quell activism and
discussion of social and political issues.
All the women were being held at the
Haidian Detention Center in western Beijing, even though two of them were
detained last week in other cities in eastern China,
according to the lawyers. Only one of the women, Li Tingting, had managed to
meet face to face with a lawyer at the detention center.
“She has done nothing that would
constitute ‘picking quarrels and provoking trouble,’ ” the lawyer, Yan Xin,
said in a telephone interview.
Mr. Yan said that Ms. Li looked fine
when he saw her on Thursday at the detention center. He said she had told him
that the police officers who showed up at her apartment on the evening of March
6 to detain her did not present complete warrants or identification cards.
“We’ll file a complaint over
violations of the law during her arrest,” he said.
The five women were first detained
in coordinated raids by police officers on the night of March 6 and on March 7
in Beijing, Hangzhou and Guangzhou. The women had been organizing a protest
across several Chinese cities that would have been carried out around
International Women’s Day, on Sunday, to call for an end to sexual harassment
on public transportation. The protesters planned to put stickers condemning
sexual harassment on buses, subway cars and other forms of public
transportation.
The women all have ties to
Yirenping, a nonprofit group with offices throughout China that advocates equal
rights for people with hepatitis, H.I.V/AIDS and disabilities.
They are also considered young
leaders in a nationwide network of women’s rights activists. In 2012, Ms. Li,
then a 22-year-old student, organized a campaign to call for officials to
install more public toilets for women.
Besides Ms. Li, the women under
detention are Wei Tingting, Zheng Churan, Wu Rongrong and Wang Man. Ms. Zheng
had been detained in Guangzhou and Ms. Wu in Hangzhou, cities where they lived.
Lawyers for the two women said they did not know why the two were being held at
the detention center in Beijing.
At least five other female activists
were also detained last weekend but were released after being interrogated.
International women’s rights
advocates have been circulating an online petition in the past week denouncing
the seizure of the women and demanding that the Chinese authorities release
them.
A woman answering the telephone at
the Haidian Detention Center on Friday declined to answer questions and said
someone would have to present the questions on paper at the center.