Mao Hengfeng
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Mao Hengfeng (
simplified Chinese Simplification, Simplify, or Simplified may refer to: Mathematics Simplification is the process of replacing a mathematical expression by an equivalent one that is simpler (usually shorter), according to a well-founded ordering. Examples include: ...
: 毛恒凤;
Traditional Chinese A tradition is a system of beliefs or behaviors (folk custom) passed down within a group of people or society with symbolic meaning or special significance with origins in the past. A component of cultural expressions and folklore, common examp ...
: 毛恆鳳;
pinyin Hanyu Pinyin, or simply pinyin, officially the Chinese Phonetic Alphabet, is the most common romanization system for Standard Chinese. ''Hanyu'' () literally means 'Han Chinese, Han language'—that is, the Chinese language—while ''pinyin' ...
: Máo Héngfēng; born 9 December 1961) is a
women's rights Women's rights are the rights and Entitlement (fair division), entitlements claimed for women and girls worldwide. They formed the basis for the women's rights movement in the 19th century and the feminist movements during the 20th and 21st c ...
and
human rights Human rights are universally recognized Morality, moral principles or Social norm, norms that establish standards of human behavior and are often protected by both Municipal law, national and international laws. These rights are considered ...
activist in the People's Republic of
China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...
. She refused to abort her third child after already having twins and was detained in an ''
ankang Ankang ( zh , c = 安康 , p = Ānkāng ) is a prefecture-level city in the south of Shaanxi Province in the People's Republic of China, bordering Hubei province to the east, Chongqing municipality to the south, and Sichuan province to the s ...
'' (psychiatric hospital) and then dismissed from her job. A frequent petitioner, Mao served a year and a half of
re-education through labor Re-education through labor (RTL; zh, s=劳动教养, t=勞動教養, p=láodòng jiàoyǎng), abbreviated ''laojiao'' ( zh, s=劳教, t=勞教, p=láojiào, links=no) was a system of administrative detention in the People's Republic of China ...
from 2004 to 2005 and two and half years in prison for "intentional destruction of property" in from 2006 to 2008. She was released from Shanghai Women's Prison on 29 November 2008. Since then she has served another year in RTL after protesting in support of
Liu Xiaobo Liu Xiaobo (; 28 December 1955 – 13 July 2017) was a Chinese literary criticism, literary critic, human rights activist, philosopher and Nobel Peace Prize laureate who called for political reforms and was involved in campaigns to end Ch ...
. She was briefly released, in February 2011, but under house arrest. She was almost immediately taken again, and placed in Shanghai City Prison Hospital, where she was previously tortured and ill-treated.Amnesty Urgent Action email network


Background

A mother of twins, Mao Hengfeng was reportedly dismissed from her job at a Shanghai soap factory in 1988 because she became pregnant for a second time with a third child, in contravention of China's family planning regulations. Mao refused to have an
abortion Abortion is the early termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. Abortions that occur without intervention are known as miscarriages or "spontaneous abortions", and occur in roughly 30–40% of all pregnan ...
, and was subsequently detained in a psychiatric hospital. She gave birth on 28 February 1989, and was notified on 20 March that she had been dismissed from her job for missing sixteen days of work. This was the period when she was giving birth and recuperating, as well as recovering from her ordeal in the psychiatric institute.


Appeal and petitions

Mao Hengfeng appealed against her dismissal under China's Labour Law, and was reinstated to her job. However, the soap factory disputed the ruling. Mao was seven months pregnant with her fourth child at the time of the
appeal In law, an appeal is the process in which Legal case, cases are reviewed by a higher authority, where parties request a formal change to an official decision. Appeals function both as a process for error correction as well as a process of cla ...
hearing, when the judge reportedly told her that if she terminated this third pregnancy he would rule in her favour. Concerned for the welfare of her existing family, Mao terminated her pregnancy against her wishes, but still the court ruled against her, apparently because she had taken sixteen days of "unauthorized leave" from work, and also for her original violation of family planning policies. From 1990 to 2004 Mao repeatedly petitioned the authorities for redress for her dismissal from work, her
forced abortion Forced abortion is a form of reproductive coercion that refers to the act of compelling a woman to undergo termination of a pregnancy against her will or without explicit consent. Forced abortion may also be defined as coerced abortion, and may o ...
, and the denial of other basic rights including that of
freedom of expression Freedom of speech is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or a community to articulate their opinions and ideas without fear of retaliation, censorship, or legal sanction. The rights, right to freedom of expression has been r ...
. She also made several attempts to initiate legal proceedings against the authorities in relation to these abuses, but courts repeatedly failed to respond or refused to file the cases. As well as actively petitioning authorities to seek redress for herself, Mao Hengfeng has also acted to safeguard the rights of others. For example, she is known to have actively supported other people seeking redress over alleged forced evictions in
Shanghai Shanghai, Shanghainese: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: is a direct-administered municipality and the most populous urban area in China. The city is located on the Chinese shoreline on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the ...
and
Shanxi Shanxi; Chinese postal romanization, formerly romanised as Shansi is a Provinces of China, province in North China. Its capital and largest city of the province is Taiyuan, while its next most populated prefecture-level cities are Changzhi a ...
province, and is reportedly regarded by the Shanghai authorities as one of the city's most persistent and experienced petitioners. She is actively campaigning on behalf of other individuals arbitrarily detained in "Re-education Through Labour" or psychiatric facilities, including women held for alleged violation of family planning policies. She opposes arbitrary detention and campaigns for legal reforms that ensure redress and protect ordinary people against abuse of power. More recently she was arrested due to her protest in support of human rights activist
Liu Xiaobo Liu Xiaobo (; 28 December 1955 – 13 July 2017) was a Chinese literary criticism, literary critic, human rights activist, philosopher and Nobel Peace Prize laureate who called for political reforms and was involved in campaigns to end Ch ...
.


2004–2005

Mao Hengfeng was assigned without trial to eighteen months' "
Re-education through labor Re-education through labor (RTL; zh, s=劳动教养, t=勞動教養, p=láodòng jiàoyǎng), abbreviated ''laojiao'' ( zh, s=劳教, t=勞教, p=láojiào, links=no) was a system of administrative detention in the People's Republic of China ...
" (RTL) in April 2004 after repeatedly protesting about various abuses of her rights. Her welfare allowances were discontinued, leaving her family in severe financial difficulties. Many people in Shanghai openly demonstrated in support of her. On 13 September 2005, Mao and her husband, Wu Xuewei (吴雪伟), were both reportedly beaten by police when they gathered with over a hundred other petitioners at Putuo District Court in Shanghai. They were supporting Xu Zhengqing, a petitioner who was facing trial in connection with his attempts to attend a memorial service in
Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...
in January 2005. Along with dozens of other petitioners, the couple was detained by the police. Mao Hengfeng managed to escape and tried to continue her protest on behalf of Xu Zhengqing. However, she was detained again and sent back to her residential district, where local police and government officials apparently threatened her with imprisonment if she continued her protests and presented her with a formal police summons for investigation on suspicion of 'disturbing the normal lives of others'. From 23 to 27 September 2005, Mao and her family were reportedly held under a form of
house arrest House arrest (also called home confinement, or nowadays electronic monitoring) is a legal measure where a person is required to remain at their residence under supervision, typically as an alternative to imprisonment. The person is confined b ...
after she stated that she would go to a
United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...
representative office in Beijing to protest about the abuses. Seven police officers reportedly stood guard in front of her flat preventing her from leaving, even to go shopping. On 29 September 2005 she was again placed under house arrest; an official told her that this would continue until the end of the fifth plenary session of the
16th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party The 16th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party was in session from 2002 to 2007. It held seven plenary sessions. It was set in motion by the 16th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party. The 15th Central Committee preceded it. ...
on 11 October 2005. The following day, three police officers and seven Yangpu District Official Guards were stationed in front of her house. She was warned that she would be detained or face violent treatment if she tried to break out.


Imprisonment (2006–2007)

In early 2006, Mao Hengfeng was detained in a roundup of petitioners before the anniversary of the
1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre The Tiananmen Square protests, known within China as the June Fourth Incident, were student-led demonstrations held in Tiananmen Square in Beijing, China, lasting from 15 April to 4 June 1989. After weeks of unsuccessful attempts between t ...
and placed under residential surveillance. She was then charged with "violating the terms of residential surveillance," and placed her under "soft detention" in a small guesthouse room with six other men and women in Yangpu District, Shanghai. While under detention, Mao broke two table lamps in the guesthouse and was for that reason formally arrested on 30 June 2006 for "intentional destruction of property."Incorporating Responsibility 2008,
About the Individual: Mao Hengfeng
She was sentenced to two-and-a-half years in prison on 12 January 2007 and imprisoned at Shanghai Women's Prison. Mao and her husband, Wu Xuewei, filed an appeal against Mao's sentence. At the appeal hearing on 16 April 2007, the judge at Shanghai Municipal No. 2 Intermediate People's Court merely read a statement reaffirming Mao's sentence, allowing no evidence to be presented by Xu or Mao's lawyer. Mao was tormented and tortured by prisoners and staff alike while in prison. In addition to her regular abuse, she was placed under solitary confinement for 70 days, a violation of China's Prison Law, which allows a maximum of 15 days in solitary confinement. She was finally released on 29 November 2008, at the scheduled end of her sentence.


Protest for Liu Xiaobo, and imprisonment (2009–2011)

On 25 December 2009, she was found guilty of "disturbing public order" due to her peaceful protest outside the Beijing municipal intermediate court, where she was campaigning in support of the human rights activist Liu Xiaobo. She was sent back to the
RTL RTL may refer to: Media * RTL Group, a European TV, radio, and production company *** List of RTL Group's television stations (including part-owned channels) *** List of RTL Group's radio stations ** RTL Lëtzebuerg, usually referred to simply a ...
camp on 4 March 2010. There she was tortured and ill-treated. Abuses include force-feeding, blocking her access to food from her family and ordering other inmates to repeatedly beat her. Due to her protests about human rights in the RTL camp, on 9 September 2010, she was tied up for four days in the same position, without food or water. This was repeated on 29 September. She was released on 22 February 2011. A CT scan showed that the ill-treatment had caused her to have bleeding in her brain. She was very quickly taken again, and is now believed to be in Shanghai City Prison Hospital, where she was previously tortured and ill-treated. Recently, on 28 July 2011, Mao Hengfeng has been released again to her family in an unconscious state. Members of the police force are still currently keeping Mao Hengfeng under surveillance.


Amnesty Campaign 2011

Amnesty International have issued an Urgent Action, calling for her immediate release, an investigation into the abuse, and provision of independent medical assistance and assessment.Amnesty's Urgent Action


References


External links


"Feminists Ignore Plight of Mao Hengfeng""About the Individual: Mao Hengfeng"
Incorporating Responsibility 2008
Shangai Woman Petitioner JailedAmnesty International Urgent Action, February 2011Mao Hengfeng's Bittersweet Homecoming Human Rights Now – Amnesty International USA Blog
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mao, Hengfang Amnesty International prisoners of conscience held by China Chinese human rights activists Chinese prisoners and detainees Chinese women's rights activists Living people 1961 births Women human rights activists Forced abortion