The following is an English translation of a video statement by Ms.Xinna, wife of the prominent Southern (Inner) Mongolian political prisoner Mr.Hada, speaking on the Chinese authorities' continuing persecution against the family over the past 19 years:

Today is September 20, 2014. In recent days, the persecution against us by the Inner Mongolian authorities has escalated. In addition to nonstop intimidation and harassment, the persecution has been escalated to threaten our attorney and deny our right to visit Hada. In late August, the Inner Mongolian authorities had two officials from the Political and Legal Affairs Committee and the Public Security Bureau make a special trip to Beijing by plane to threaten our attorney Khas, stating that I would be arrested soon due to a new crime I have committed. They claimed that Khas would also be liable for his actions in masterminding the scheme. Their statement was extremely strong and arrogant. A few days earlier on September 16, when my son Uiles asked to visit his father Hada, the State Security Squad of the Inner Mongolia Public Security Bureau, that are responsible for imprisoning Hada, blatantly denied my son’s legal right to visit his father. The reason they gave was that I published posts on the Internet making the higher-ups unhappy. This “black jail” where Hada is held is a place that is particularly lawless. The official prison (where Hada was held) somehow had an explicit stipulation allowing the family members to visit inmates twice a month. However, now the “black jail” that holds Hada is denying our legal visitation rights without any reasonable justification.

In fact, during the past several months, the persecution that we mother and son have been subjected to, has gone from bad to worse. Considering the claim the authorities have been making to arrest and detain me, I think it is necessary for me to publicize to the world the unfair treatment of us, mother and son’s living condition as well as the ugly conduct of the Political and Legal Affairs Committee and the Public Security Bureau in their flagrant violations of the law.

This spring, following the publication of my open letter to Mr.Xi Jinping, our Internet and phone that had long been cut off had unexpectedly been reopened. I was very happy. I started accessing the Internet, chatting with friends, blogging around, finding old and new friends, and broadening my horizons. The Inner Mongolian authorities showed some degree of restraint. Public harassment and deliberate obstruction had noticeably been reduced although some unnoticeable minor harassments such as cutting off electricity in our storage room to obstruct our work for reorganizing our books continued. They also telephoned us to empty out our storage. These were easily dealt with. We just simply ignored them.

Politically, their attitude also slightly changed, allowing Hada to write an appeal within what the law allows. This had never been allowed previously. Therefore, Hada started writing his appeal.

Long story short. In early June, our attorney Khas along with my son Uiles specifically made a prison visit to meet Hada and discussed the appeal. After carefully reading the 29-page 22-point demand appeal letter written by Hada, Khas realized that Hada had a certain degree of confusion as to what points to be emphasized. I suggested our attorney should help him write and Hada agreed. As to what to appeal for, the opinion of our family and our attorney is to emphasize the illegal and extrajudicial detention of the past four years. As far as the unjust trial and the previous 15 years of imprisonment are concerned, since the sentence had completed, it might be difficult to retry the case. This can be appealed after his release. However, under the misleading and deliberate confusion by the prison guards and the State Security authorities, Hada particularly emphasized the unjust treatment of the previous 15 years. The events of the past four years occupied only a few pages in his appeal. After the explanation by us and the attorney, Hada started to understand the reason behind this. He agreed to have the attorney to write the appeal on his behalf. These are the main contents of what the attorney and Hada discussed during their visit on June 8.

On June 19, two officials from the Political and Legal Affairs Committee and the Public Security Bureau specifically talked to my son Uiles. With a relatively polite attitude, they mainly brought up four points. Among them, the point they specially emphasized was that Uiles and I are not allowed to have a copy of Hada’s appeal in order to prevent it being leaked to outside world. They also mentioned that Hada is still revising the appeal and will submit it shortly. Hearing this, I wrote a letter to Hada on June 22, expressing our opinion on the contents of the appeal.

Here I would like to read the original letter:

Hada,

Greetings!

The Director of the Inner Mongolia Political and Legal Affairs Committee Stability Maintenance Office talked to Uiles, stating that you are revising the appeal and are planning to submit it within a week. I am worried and a bit confused. Didn’t you agree to have our attorney write the appeal last time when Uiles and the attorney visited you? How come things changed so quickly within a few days? Regarding the appeals, I hope you keep in mind these two main points : 1. a copy of the appeal draft should be given to us and the attorney for consultation; 2. the appeal should be launched simultaneously within China and overseas. The authorities must not ignore the opinion from family members, obstruct and interfere with the appeal process. If the above mentioned conditions are not guaranteed, isn’t it clear that the authorities are trying to manipulate you on your appeal? What do you think about pushing it back a few months after you are released at the end of this year? It is a right of the citizen to appeal in accordance with the laws. I hope you remain clear-minded at this critical juncture, and not to regret some momentary carelessness now at some point in the future. We hope you take care of yourself and try to keep up with your reading to prepare for release. Please reply to my letter. We are doing fine. Do not worry about us.

Sincerely yours!

Your wife Xinna,

2014-06-22

Here I would like to explain why the authorities let Hada write the appeal although we wanted the attorney to do so. The crux lies in the fact that the party responsible for Hada’s extrajudicial imprisonment is no one else but the Political and Legal Affairs Committee and the Public Security themselves. Therefore, they talk to Hada privately and give him pressure to put the emphasis on the past imprisonment of 15 years and skip the past four years’ events. Because if they allow him to write about the past four years then it is equivalent to suing themselves. However the reason why we family members and the attorney emphasize the past four years is that their conduct during these four years is a flagrant violation of law. Therefore, the target of our lawsuit is nothing but the Political and Legal Affairs Committee and the Public Security authorities. Therefore, they insist on having Hada write this and highlight the past imprisonment of 15 years. This also tells us how Hada’s mental status looks like. After 15 years of imprisonment, he has a certain degree of intellectual confusion. The authorities are trying to take advantage of this to push away their own responsibility. Luckily, my son and myself are not so easily fooled.

On the evening of July 1, our friend Enghebatu from the United States told us over the phone that a preparatory meeting for the United States and China Human Rights Dialogue would be held tomorrow, asking us to provide an update of Hada’s situation. I worked through the night to recompile the appeal letter our attorney wrote and made it an official document. On the second day, I asked my son to visit Hada in order to have him sign the appeal. As a result, we were once again obstructed by the authorities. My son was not able to meet Hada, let alone having him signed the appeal. Fortunately, we confirmed with the attorney that it is a right of family members to write the appeal on behalf of the individual concerned. Therefore, we sent out the appeal the same night after we changed it to a letter of grievance. It was entitled the “Letter to President Xi Jinping, United Nations Human Rights Council and the United States Congressional Committee on Human Rights”. I will not touch upon it again since the original letter was published on the Internet on July 2.

After the letter was sent out, the inhumane and brutal nature of the authorities had fully been exposed again. Under public opinion and strong criticism, the Inner Mongolia Political and Legal Affairs Committee and the Public Security Bureau lost face altogether. Just because we broke through the authorities’ obstruction and successfully sent out this letter, the Inner Mongolian authorities were extremely upset, and turned even more hostile to us. A new round of persecution and harassment started.

On July 10, Uiles requested to visit Hada. The phone call remained unanswered. After repeated attempts, Uiles was told to try next week. A week later, after many twists and turns, Uiles was finally able to meet Hada. When going through the security check, Uiles was thoroughly searched. He was even ordered to take off his underwear due to the authorities’ fear of possible carrying of written materials. Hearing that the grievance letter was sent out, Hada was very happy, and asked Uiles to bring a copy to him next time. In fact, we attempted to bring him a copy during this visit. But the State Security Squad did not allow it. Therefore, Hada still has not seen the original letter.

In the same time, on July 11, the State Security authorities in Beijing telephoned our attorney Khas, threatening him that last year during his visit to the United States he said something he was not supposed to say and met someone he was not supposed to meet. Khas asked them what he was not supposed to say and who he was not supposed to meet. He asked them to provide him with a detailed list. The State Security personnel told him that he is just doing his job and completing the task assigned to him. No further questioning followed. Apparently, behind this were the Inner Mongolian authorities.

Since August, the Inner Mongolian authorities have become even more aggressive.

In mid September, I published my unusual events that took place since August on the Internet in chronological order. Here I will not dive deep into the details, but let me summarize it here briefly.

On August 11, my two cell phones were subjected to sudden harassment;

On August 15, Internet police knocked on my door and said that they are here to warn me that I published illegal posts on the overseas Internet sites. I asked for the evidence to their claim. They said they would present it to me later. But they still haven’t done so;

On August 17, my home Internet was cut off again. I bought an Internet access card. Later on, it was also blocked. Since then, I have had no choice but to find a free wireless connection outside to access the Internet.

Cell phones are subject to harassment and the connection to the Internet cut off. There is no explanation not even a notification from the authorities.

From August 21 to 25, the Police Station on Zhong Zhuan Road threatened to punish me for publishing illegal posts on the Internet. They stopped after I requested them to present the evidence. Later on the Judicial Department stressed that they would tighten up their surveillance of me and issued a new restriction to me.

The contents of the restriction read:

[I] must report to them once a week by phone; must come to report in person and submit a written statement once a month; To take a week off, must come to the Judicial Department in person to get an approval; To take a time longer than a week and shorter than a month off, must come to the local Judicial Department to apply and the decision will be made by the District Judicial Department. Later on, the local Judicial Department personnel also forced me to write an agreement. The following is what I wrote:

My position:

1. Trial on my case is unjust and unfair. I appealed to the relevant authorities on the trial.

2. For the work of the Judicial Department, I can cooperate because it is your job. I understand that.

3. The Inner Mongolia Political and Legal Affairs Committee and the Public Security Bureau have continually harassed me since my release. Especially it has been worsening today. I have been harassed through the phone, and my Internet is cut off. My life has been extremely miserable. I protest the authorities’ nonstop persecution against my entire family.

Sincerely,

Xinna

August 26, 2014

No matter it was phone harassment or cutting of my Internet or police threats or the Judicial authorities’ pressure on me, isn’t it because of my activities in exposing the authorities’ endless persecution of my family on the Internet? They are afraid that their ugly nature is exposed to the world. They try every means to silence me.

On August 28, the Inner Mongolian authorities sent officials from the Political and Legal Affairs Committee, Public Security Bureau and State Security by plane to Beijing to harass and threaten our attorney Khas again. The main contents of the discussion are as follows:

1. Xinna has been rallying people on the Internet to unite together to put an end to the one-party dictatorship. This means to overthrow the Communist Party, and this already constitutes a crime. If she is to be arrested, this time it will not be because of her existing 3 years sentence with 5 years reprieve, but because of a new crime.

2. You (Khas) as the attorney told Xinna that publishing posts on the Internet is part of her right to free speech guaranteed by the law, which led her to post articles on the Internet criticizing the Communist Party. If you continue to do this, your freedom of movement will be restricted, and legal action will be taken against your activities.

3. Attorney Khas rebuffed:

1), What I said is all based on the constitution. If you consider what I said is illegal, then please go arrest those who wrote the constitution first;

2), Xinna is not afraid of being arrested again. Her husband is still not released after completing his prison sentence; her son was falsely accused of “drug possession”. She appealed to the higher authorities multiple times. Not only did you refuse to address her grievance, but also you continued to persecute her with economic blockade and political oppression. If she is to be arrested again, at least she will have some free meals, and her life will be a bit peaceful. Outside the prison, if it is not phone harassment then it is Internet blockade or police threatening or Judicial authorities’ pressure, pushing her life to the brink of collapse. Her current extreme misery is single-handedly created by you all. Your persecution against their family will sooner or later be held accountable by laws.

Our attorney Khas was not afraid of their intimidation.

My son Uiles has recently never left me because he is afraid that I would be arrested. However, over the past several days, considering that there would not be further harassment, he requested to visit Hada.

On September 18, he telephoned the State Security Squad that is responsible for imprisoning Hada to request to see him. His request was turned down. The reason given was even more absurd, saying that I had published posts on the Internet and criticized the authorities, making the higher-ups unhappy. Therefore, prison visit was denied. My son questioned why his request to see his father was turned down because of his mother’s activities. The other side hung up the phone. I was speechless. It was all because I exposed the Inner Mongolian authorities’ conduct of abusing power and deliberate violation of the laws.

Let me say the following before I wrap up. If we look at the conduct of the Inner Mongolian authorities in a legal context, it can be said that the Inner Mongolian authorities are blatantly violating the law in the name of “maintaining stability”. The true nature of the “stability maintenance” by the Inner Mongolian authorities is itself against the law. 

(English translation by SMHRIC)