If human rights activist Xie Junbiao was tortured for asking for water, what kind of cost has he incurred by smuggling out a report of the incident?
Xie first got into trouble for protesting the demolition of houses without due compensation to the home owners, a protest that “escalated to a broader advocacy for democracy and human rights.” His further misfortune, once he had been sentenced to two and a half years in prison for the crime of advocating rights, was to be subject to the control of a notoriously sadistic prison official willing to violate prison rules in order to make the lives of his charges as hellish as possible.
An A4 protest
In the note that he managed to send to the outside world last month, reprinted by Bitter Winter, Xie Junbiao writes:
“I was detained in cell B11. The policeman in charge of the cell was named He Bo. He was the most notorious police officer in Shuangliu Detention Center. He had always been arrogant and domineering. He often insulted and beat detainees, or spit in their faces to humiliate them.
“According to relevant regulations, detention centers should ensure that detainees have enough drinking water. However, the water was often not enough. I reported this to the Director several times, and the Director asked the police who came to the cell to give us water. However, He Bo would not only refuse to give us water but would also curse us. Then I wrote the words ‘I Want to Drink Water’ on A4 paper and bolded it, and held up the sign under the camera in the ventilation room. The cameras are connected to the monitoring center in the prison and are also networked with municipal, provincial and central regulatory authorities.
“At that time, Deputy Director Yan, who was on duty at the monitoring center of the detention center, saw me holding up the sign and said that it was shameful for me to do this…. I guess Deputy Director Yan asked He Bo to give us water, but He Bo didn’t. Deputy Director Yan asked another policeman to bring water to the cell….
“From then on, He Bo always gave us water…. However, He Bo held a grudge against me as somebody who would report mistreatment to the Director and Deputy Director.
“Later, He Bo and his friends found an opportunity to take me to a ‘black box’ [a secret cell used for torture]. They tortured me with a pair of handcuffs on my hands and a pair of shackles weighing several dozen kilograms on my feet. Then they used two pairs of handcuffs to connect my hands and feet together while compelling me to walk. My ankles were bruised, my hands were handcuffed, and I could not straighten my back for 24 hours a day. I slept with my body curled up. My body was bumped everywhere by the handcuffs and shackles. I could not sleep at all, and it was difficult to take care of myself, such as by eating, drinking, urinating, washing my face, and brushing my teeth. I was handcuffed in total thirteen days and thirteen nights. It was unbelievably painful! I learned that the pain of being tortured is far greater than the pain of being just beaten.”
Known secret
The “black box” may be a “secret” cell, as Bitter Winter explains. But how secret, really? Does the official who made sure that Xie Junbaio got water despite his “shameful” determination to communicate his need for water really have no idea about the black box or about He Bo—notorious for his nastiness?
What’s probably happening is that the “better” prison officials, like Deputy Director Yan, know all about the worse ones but let the He Bo types get away with any abuses about which the Yan types are not blatantly and unambiguously informed, perhaps by somebody waving a sign in front of a camera. What Yan et al. “don’t know about,” they don’t have to do anything about.
How much of a rarity is this sadistic creep He Bo anyway? He may be the most vicious official at Shuangliu Detention Center. But he didn’t have to drag Xie Junbiao to the torture box alone, furtively hiding his intentions from everybody. He had the help of buddies, of other thug prison officials. And reports are common of people being tortured in Chinese prisons only because they’re there, in the prison.
Also see:
The Guardian: “Torture still routine in Chinese jails, Human Rights Watch report finds”
“Human Rights Watch also interviewed families of four people who died in detention. The police said all deaths were due to natural causes, despite evidence of neglect and mistreatment. Relatives were blocked in efforts to see full videos of their detention or commission independent autopsies.”
