{"id":74542,"date":"2017-06-22T15:06:00","date_gmt":"2017-06-22T15:06:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/127.0.0.1:10081\/?p=74542 "},"modified":"2017-06-22T15:06:00","modified_gmt":"2017-06-22T15:06:00","slug":"74542-revision-v1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/minzhuzhongguo.org\/?p=74542","title":{"rendered":"Ethnic Mongolian Activist Lodges Formal Complaint Over \\&#8217;Tiger Bench\\&#8217; Torture, Interrogation"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>  <p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">2017-06-22<\/span><\/p>  <p>&nbsp;<\/p><div>&nbsp;<\/div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/mzzg.org\/UploadCenter\/ArticlePics\/2017\/25\/2017622image(3).jpg\" alt=\"2017622image(3).jpg (622&#215;350)\" \/><br \/><div>&nbsp;<\/div>  <p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">Devastated grassland is shown in Urad Middle Banner, Inner Mongolia, March 9, 2016.<\/span><\/p>  <p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">Photo courtesy of local herders<\/span><\/p>  <p>&nbsp;<\/p>  <p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">Yangjindolma, an ethnic Mongolian woman from China&#8217;s northern region of Inner Mongolia, has lodged a complaint against the local government after she was tortured and held in manacles during a 15-day detention by Chinese police.<\/span><\/p>  <p>&nbsp;<\/p>  <p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">Yangjindolma said she was detained May 10 on suspicion of &#8220;inciting and planning an illegal gathering&#8221; the day before the sixth anniversary of the killing of fellow ethnic Mongolian herder Murgen in Bayanhuaa township, Xilingol League in 2011.<\/span><\/p>  <p>&nbsp;<\/p>  <p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">Murgen&#8217;s death under a coal truck while protesting the destruction of grazing lands by a mining company sparked weeks of protests across the region by herders and students, and has become a symbol of ethnic Mongolian unrest and anger at the ruling Chinese Communist Party.<\/span><\/p>  <p>&nbsp;<\/p>  <p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">&#8220;I went to lodge a petition on June 20 in [the regional capital] Hohhot,&#8221; Yangjindolma told RFA on Thursday. &#8220;It was in protest at my illegal detention [by police].&#8221;<\/span><\/p>  <p>&nbsp;<\/p>  <p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">She said she still wants an official response to her 15-day administrative detention, a type of punishment that can be handed down by police for up to 15 days to perceived troublemakers without trial.<\/span><\/p>  <p>&nbsp;<\/p>  <p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">&#8220;They kept me shackled to the tiger bench for 24 hours straight, while they interrogated me,&#8221; she said. &#8220;They told me that I would wear manacles for the rest of the night if I didn&#8217;t behave myself.&#8221;<\/span><\/p>  <p>&nbsp;<\/p>  <p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">&#8220;When the interrogation was over, they released me, but I spent the entire first day after I was detained on the tiger bench,&#8221; she said, referring to a device suspended off the ground while a detainee&#8217;s hands are cuffed onto a wooden board and their feet are left hanging.<\/span><\/p>  <p>&nbsp;<\/p>  <p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">&#8220;After I was released, I told the policeman who detained me that I would be expecting an explanation from them,&#8221; Yangjindolma said. &#8220;I still haven&#8217;t had it, so I am taking this to the higher authorities, in the hope of winning some redress.&#8221;<\/span><\/p>  <p>&nbsp;<\/p>  <p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">China<\/span><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\"> ratified the Convention against Torture in 1988, but Chinese police have continued to torture rights activists to extract confessions and punish and humiliate them, the overseas-based Chinese Human Rights Defenders (CHRD) network said in a statement on its website on Thursday.<\/span><\/p>  <p>&nbsp;<\/p>  <p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">&#8220;The government has not taken effective steps, changed incentives, or set up the mechanisms needed to eliminate torture,&#8221; the group said, adding that Chinese officials refuse to provide comprehensive data on such practices, which include the &#8220;tiger bench.&#8221;<\/span><\/p>  <p>&nbsp;<\/p>  <p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">&#8220;Victims of torture in China often have no other choice but to pursue justice through an ineffective petitioning system, which can lead to reprisals,&#8221; CHRD said, adding that compensation for torture victims is rare, and rehabilitation services almost non-existent.<\/span><\/p>  <p>&nbsp;<\/p>  <p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">Grasslands protector<\/span><\/p>  <p>&nbsp;<\/p>  <p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">Yangjindolma said she was detained as she was planning an activity to mark the sixth anniversary of Murgen&#8217;s death on May 11, which she is calling for to be designated &#8220;Protect the Grasslands Day.&#8221; She also wanted to support herders of Honggor village in Siziwang Banner, an administrative district similar to a county, in their fight to prevent mining on their traditional grazing lands.<\/span><\/p>  <p>&nbsp;<\/p>  <p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">&#8220;There has been huge mining exploitation across Inner Mongolia in the last few years, and this has wreaked devastation on the grasslands,&#8221; Yangjindolma said. &#8220;The destruction of the grasslands has led to a collapse in the traditional economics of herding life, which has rocked the whole basis of ethnic Mongolian culture and identity.&#8221;<\/span><\/p>  <p>&nbsp;<\/p>  <p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">But she said the authorities won&#8217;t tolerate even the smallest sounds of protest from herding communities.<\/span><\/p>  <p>&nbsp;<\/p>  <p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">&#8220;They detain people, demolish Mongolians&#8217; yurts, terrorize the local population and go after their friends and relatives,&#8221; she said.<\/span><\/p>  <p>&nbsp;<\/p>  <p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">&#8220;I never expected a few events in support of environmental protection for herding communities would be completely shut down before they even started,&#8221; she said.<\/span><\/p>  <p>&nbsp;<\/p>  <p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">Germany-based ethnic Mongolian rights activist Xi Haiming said he supports Yangjindolma&#8217;s campaign.<\/span><\/p>  <p>&nbsp;<\/p>  <p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">&#8220;Murgen gave his life for the grasslands,&#8221; Xi said on Thursday. &#8220;All of his fellow villagers in Xilingol League remember him, and the harsh repression he met with at the hands of the Chinese Communist Party; this is the face that they turn towards Mongolians.&#8221;<\/span><\/p>  <p>&nbsp;<\/p>  <p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">&#8220;Their aim is to take away all of the land from ethnic Mongolians.&#8221;<\/span><\/p>  <p>&nbsp;<\/p>  <p>&nbsp;<\/p>  <p><br \/><\/p>  <p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.rfa.org\/english\/news\/china\/torture-06222017104847.html\"><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">For detail please visit here<\/span><\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&lt;div&gt;&lt;div&gt;Yangjindolma said she was detained May 10 on suspicion of &quot;inciting and planning an illegal gathering&quot; the day before the sixth anniversary of the killing of fellow ethnic Mongolian herder Murgen in Bayanhuaa township, Xilingol League in 2011.&lt;\/div&gt;&lt;\/div&gt;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-74542","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ChinaHumanRights","et-doesnt-have-format-content","et_post_format-et-post-format-standard"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/minzhuzhongguo.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74542","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/minzhuzhongguo.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/minzhuzhongguo.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/minzhuzhongguo.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/minzhuzhongguo.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=74542"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/minzhuzhongguo.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74542\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/minzhuzhongguo.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=74542"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/minzhuzhongguo.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=74542"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/minzhuzhongguo.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=74542"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}