Ding Zilin, Zhang Xianling and Huang Jinping Arrested in China, March 2004
According to information received from the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, Ding Zilin, Zhang Xianling and Huang Jinping, all spokespeople for families of victims of the violent crackdown against protesters in Beijing on 4 June 1989, were arrested by police on 28 March 2004. The arrests are allegedly in connection with a video CD which includes testimonies from the three women about relatives they lost in Tiananmen Square, and which is due to be shown to the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances at the UN Commission on Human Rights.
On 28 March 2004, Zhang Xianling was allegedly apprehended in her home by two police officers who reportedly presented a warrant stating that she was being detained under Article 50 of China's National Security Law. It is alleged that the police told Zhang Xianling's husband that the Tiananmen Mothers Campaign and the Tiananmen Mothers were reactionary organizations through which entities inside and outside China were conspiring to harm national security and to incite subversion of state power.
In addition, according to the information received, on the same day, Huang Jinping was arrested in her home by National Security police bearing an arrest warrant, and Ding Zilin was arrested in her home by three police officers who did not present any legal documentation. Since their arrests, the homes of all three women have allegedly been searched by the police.
Front Line is concerned that Ding Zilin, Zhang Xianling and Huang Jinping were targeted because of their work on behalf of families of victims of the violent repression of protests in Beijing in June 1989. In particular, a video CD was reportedly recently released presenting the testimonies of six family members of these victims, including Ding Zilin and Zhang Xianling and Huang Jinping. The Tiananmen Mothers Campaign, a Hong-Kong based support group, reportedly brought the video CD to Geneva with the intention of presenting it to the Commission's Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances.
Front Line has urged the Chinese authorities immediately and unconditionally to release Ding Zilin, Zhang Xianling and Huang Jinping, and to guarantee their physical and psychological integrity in all circumstances.