A Petition of the Chinese Peasants

To: General Office of the State Council; Central Committee of Political and Legal Commission; The Ministry of State Security; The Ministry of Justice; The Supreme Procuratorate; Standing Committee of Jiangxi Provincial Council; Jiangxi Provincial Political and Legal Bureau; Jiangxi Provincial Procuratorate; Jiangxi Provincial Public Security Bureau

Plaintiffs: Xinian Zheng, female, 42, having developed schizophrenia already, residing in

Xiafu Village, Sipu Town, Hengfeng County, Jiangxi Province (the victim Kaihuo Huang’s wife);

Xiaohua Wang, female, 21, residing in Xiafu Village, Sipu Town, Hengfeng County, Jiangxi Province (the victim Kaihuo Huang’s daughter).

Requests: 1. To investigate and prosecute suspect Shiming Deng’s criminal responsibility for Kaihuo Huang’s death, according to the due legal procedure;

2. To order the defendant make monetary compensation for Kaihuo Huang’s death, pay all the funeral expenses, and pay the living expenses of the family members without working ability and previously supported by the victim, according to the due legal procedure;

3. To order the defendant pay all the expenses for the victim’s family members’ traveling and work loss incurred during the process of petition to every governmental level and prosecutor departments, according to the due legal procedure.

In the afternoon on April 13^th, 1997, Sipu Town Office sent someone to summon my father to the Town Office of Political and Legal Affairs. They chained my father’s hands and feet for 26 hours in order to make him pay 6000 RMB (~$750) fine on the behalf of his church. We thought that religious freedom is clearly stated in our “constitution”. However, due to the fact that the majority of the church congregation had not much education, we did not know there were some “practicing policies” superceding the “constitution”. Therefore, it was a fact that our church did not report to the county United Front Line Department to get permission. However, the government should not have put the kind Christian to death.

The town office had never told us, the Christians, about the Communist Party’s “practicing policies” on religion. What they did was to extort money from the kind Christians. In the afternoon on April 23^rd, they summoned my father to the town office. By brutal means, they chained him for 26 hours. But they did not get what they want – 6000 RMB. Then, at 8:00 in the morning on 28^th, they summoned my father again to the town office. He was detained for 14 hours. By the time he got home, it was already 10:00 at the night. After returning home, my father said, “The town office ordered me hand in 300 RMB for myself before 9:00 tomorrow (29^th), and then lead them to every believer’s home to collect 6000 RMB before 12:00 noontime. Otherwise, they will detain me.”

My father was a timid and submissive person. In the morning on 29^th, he borrowed 300 RMB from the village friends and then went to the town office at 10:00. Till 12:00, not seeing my father come back home, I became a little nervous. I went to the town office ask about my father. The Town Political and Legal Office associated manager told me, “Your father did not come to the town office.” This made me more worried. I hurried back home and asked some people to go to look for my father. Two days passed. But we could not find him. My heart filled with grief and indignation! How came my father would disappeared. Until May 1^st, around 6:00 in the afternoon, a 14-year-old village child found my father’s body while picking up mushrooms in the mountain at the back of our house.

I rushed immediately to the mountain. I saw my father’s body lying on the ground, fully covered with injuries and blood. The chains left deep mark on his wrists and feet. His chest swelled and became black. Feces were on his pants inside and outside. We could not stand with such scene. The whole family fell in deep grief. All the village residents cried with us. I almost died of grief. I stumbled to the town office to ask for the reason, and reported to the county Public Security Department. The county police came to the scene very quickly and took photographs. About 10:00 at the night, we had his body carried home.

“The town office has nothing to do with Kaihuo Huang’s death,” and then continuing, “Recently, Kaihuo Huang showed disagreement to what the town office did.”

In fact, Mayor Deng’s behave was just the confession without being questioned, telling the reason of my father’s death – done by the town office. This caused the indignation of the whole village. They carried my father’s body to the town office. In stead of trying to calm down the people, the town officials called police from the county Public Security Department to crackdown the people, more than 20 armless people were injured by the police. Among them was Jiyong Huang who was severely injured and unable to run away. The police detained him at the town office, and forced him to sign and finger-print on some documents. In the afternoon on 5^th, the town office called an emergent meeting, ordering every town and village official to come to our village to suppress the people’s suspecting and talking about the reason for my father’s death.

Seeing that the village people’s indignation was too much and worrying about another protest, the town office privately instructed Xiafu Village’s Party Secretary Xiaoling Fu to offer 1600 RMB in the excuse of helping with my family’s financial difficulties to buy a coffin and bury my father. The fact was that the town office wanted to bury my father to close the case as soon as possible. But our family and the village people did not agree to bury my father before the death cause was investigated to clear. The town office was in great afraid, and mobilized more than one hundred all kinds of the officials. They came suddenly, forcibly took away my father’s coffin and buried him in the mountain while guarded by the police in case someone would interrupt.

The more vicious thing was that, on May 2^nd and 5^th, autopsy reports came from the county and district political and legal departments, and we were not allowed to take a look. Several days later, they counterfeited one report and gave to us. Then the town office declared: that my father died of stroke and self poisoning, he committed suicide, and he was not murdered, etc.

If my father died of stroke, why they said he also self-poisoned himself? In addition, my father went to the town office at 10:00 and I went there at 12:00 to look for him. There was only two hours in between. If he died of stroke, he must die on the road to or back from the town office. How come he died in the mountain with so many injuries? If he poisoned himself, then it must be because the town officials beat him up since he could not pay the 6000-RMB fine, and he would be beaten up again if he still could not get the money. He was obviously pushed to this dead end. How could the town office have nothing to do with his death?

The reason for my father’s death became clearer from the town officials’ behave of covering the facts and abusing their power like “local emperors” over the village people. Everyone knows in heart that my father was killed by the town office. Obviously, the officials’ conduct has already violated the state’s “Criminal Laws”. However, the “Criminal Laws” could not do anything to prevent the authorities to use the party’s “practicing policies” to mistreat the Christians.

My family lacks of labor power. My mother’s schizophrenia has been becoming more and more severe. She cannot work but needs attendance. Our family of four lost the source for basic life. We are facing extreme financial difficulty. We beg the respected leaders of General Office of the State Council, Ministry of State Security, Ministry of Justice, Supreme Procuratorate and Jiangxi Provincial Political and Legal Bureau to deal with this case according to Item 3, Article 27, State Compensation Law. If the Town Office refuses to compensate, then we request to open the coffin to run the autopsy again and thoroughly investigate this case in order to maintain the state law and calm down the people’s indignation!

We request our government punish the Town Office’s criminal conduct of putting people in a dead position after being unable to extort money. We, the mass peasants, want to see the dignity of law. We have been expecting any answer from any department. Please answer us. Isn’t it true that the upper government would not care if the lower government kills Christians? Isn’t this connivance to these “local emperors” who publicly abuse people’s lives?

We have no where to appeal. The only thing we can do is to kneel down before our Communist Party and the People’s Government and knock our head on the ground!!!

Petitioners for Redress Wrong: Peasants Xinian Zheng and Xiaohua Huang

June 23^rd, 1997

There has been no any response from any department until now. This is the real “religious freedom” that tens of millions house church Christians are facing under the “protection” from the public state “constitution” and the suppression from the secret “practicing policies”. We were told that the victim had a son. He dared not to sign on the petition even the village people abused him, since one may be killed if offending the “local emperor”. The mass people have no place to appeal. If they shout “injustice” for some time, the government would use police to crackdown the protest disturbing “social order”. The plight the Chinese believers have been suffering is much more injustice than the “injustice” in the TV dramas showing the dark time in China history.