ANTHEMS OF DEFEAT Crackdown in Hunan Province, 19891989----9292 May 1992 An Asia Watch Report A Division of Human Rights Watch 485 Fifth Avenue 1522 K Street, NW, Suite 910 New York, NY 10017 Washington, DC 20005 Tel: (212) 974974----84008400 Tel: (202) 371371----65926592 Fax: (212) 972972----09050905 Tel: (202) 371371----01240124 888 1992 by Human Rights Watch All rights reserved Printed in the United States of America ISBN 1-56432-074-X Library of Congress Catalog No. 92-72352 Cover Design by Patti Lacobee Photo: AP/ Wide World Photos The cover photograph shows the huge portrait of Mao Zedong which hangs above Tiananmen Gate at the north end of Tiananmen Square, just after it had been defaced on May 23, 1989 by three pro-democracy demonstrators from Hunan Province. The three men, Yu Zhijian, Yu Dongyue and Lu Decheng, threw ink and paint at the portrait as a protest against China's one-party dictatorship and the Maoist system. They later received sentences of between 16 years and life imprisonment. THE ASIA WATCH COMMITTEE The Asia Watch Committee was established in 1985 to monitor and promote in Asia observance of internationally recognized human rights. The chair is Jack Greenberg and the vice-chairs are Harriet Rabb and Orville Schell. Sidney Jones is Executive Director. Mike Jendrzejczyk is Washington Representative. Patricia Gossman, Robin Munro, Dinah PoKempner and Therese Caouette are Research Associates. Jeannine Guthrie, Vicki Shu and Alisha Hill are Associates. Mickey Spiegel is a Consultant. Introduction 1. The 1989 Democracy Movement in Hunan Province.................................................................................... 1 Student activism: a Hunan tradition................................................................................................... 2 The 1989 Democracy Movement.......................................................................................................... 3 Democracy Salon........................................................................................................................................... 4 The "April 22 Incident"................................................................................................................................ 5 Commemoration of the May 4th anniversary................................................................................ 6 The Hunan Students Autonomous Federation.............................................................................. 9 Hunan's response to martial law......................................................................................................... 11 The Workers Autonomous Federation.............................................................................................. 13 Late May: the movement deepens ...................................................................................................... 13 Prelude to repression................................................................................................................................. 16 The final days................................................................................................................................................... 17 2. Enemies of the People: the Crackdown in Hunan........................................................................ 20 The initial arrests.......................................................................................................................................... 21 Banning of "illegal organizations"..................................................................................................... 23 The hunt intensifies.................................................................................................................................... 24 The trials: applying a judicial gloss................................................................................................... 27 Chen Gang ........................................................................................................................................................ 28 Zhang Jingsheng........................................................................................................................................... 30 Overview of the trials.................................................................................................................................. 31 Statistical summary of arrests and convictions....................................................................... 33 Confidential report on political imprisonment in Hunan..................................................... 35 3. Some Prominent Cases of Abuse and Injustice ........................................................................... 40 The "Mao portrait" case............................................................................................................................ 41 Peng Yuzhang ................................................................................................................................................. 43 Zhou Zhirong.................................................................................................................................................... 45 Fan Zhong.......................................................................................................................................................... 48 Chen Gang ........................................................................................................................................................ 50 Li Maoqiu ........................................................................................................................................................... 52 4. Widening the Purge ............................................................................................................................................... 55 Province-wide investigations............................................................................................................... 55 Forced rustication........................................................................................................................................ 57 Bureaucratizing the purge: the students....................................................................................... 58 Plight of released dissidents................................................................................................................. 61 Zhou Liwu..................................................................................................................................... 61 Mo Lihua...................................................................................................................................... 62 Pan Mingdong ......................................................................................................................... 63 Purging dissent within the Party: the Yin Zhenggao Affair................................................... 65 Suppression of renewed pro-democracy activism, 1989-92............................................ 68 5. Torture and IllIll----TreatmentTreatment in Prison.......................................................................................................... 74 I. Abuses by prison officials.................................................................................................................... 74 Electrical assault................................................................................................................... 75 Down-on-knees whipping................................................................................................. 76 Chains and fetters................................................................................................................. 77 Country cuffs (78); Finger cuffs (78); Ankle fetters (78); Rod fetters (79); Multiple fetters (79); Shackle board (79); Full shackle set (80) Martial arts practice........................................................................................................... 80 "Saochai descending from the mountain top.".................................................... 81 Solitary confinement.......................................................................................................... 82 II. Abuses by "Cell Bosses"..................................................................................................................... 83 "Paying respects to the cell god" (83); "Electric shock treatment" (84); "The sandwich filling" (84); "Jetplane ride" (84); "Eating the golden carp" (85); "Heroic martyrdom" (85); "Hammer clanging" (85); "Bouncy bouncy" (86); "Lotus- wrapped egg roll" (86); "Staying upright thrice" (86); "Riding a donkey back to front" (86); "Clubbing the dreamer" (87); "Cassia blossom perch" (87); "Playing the electric piano" (87); "Learning to count" (88); "Embracing the cassia blossom vase" (88); "Blind man groping an elephant" (88); "Eating red-cooked meat" (89); "Playing dead" (89); "Learning the regulations" (89) 6. The Hunan Gulag........................................................................................................................................................ 91 Prisons................................................................................................................................................................ 92 Labor-Reform Camps................................................................................................................................