To:
Working Group on Arbitrary Detention
Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression
Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders
Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment
Chinese Human Rights Defenders (CHRD) hereby respectfully submits an update to an urgent appeal in the case of democracy activist Mr. XIE Fulin (谢福林), a citizen of the People’s Republic of China, who was sentenced to six years’ imprisonment on March 26, 2010, for “larceny.” (See CHRD’s website a prior submission with respect to Mr. Xie’s case: http://chrd.equalit.ie/2012/05/submission-to-un-on-xie-fulin-april-13-2012/.) According to his family, Xie Fulin, who is nearly 63 years of age, was hospitalized on May 8 after his already fragile health took a turn for the worse, and he is in urgent need of medical care.
Before being taken to a hospital, Mr. Xie reportedly suffered a cerebral hemorrhage caused by high blood pressure. Also, his eye blood vessels ruptured, and he was unable to eat for several days. With Xie’s health deteriorating, authorities at Changsha Prison have expressed a willingness to grant him medical parole, an option that authorities have constantly rejected in the past. However, Xie has reportedly stated that he would rather die in custody—presumably so that authorities would be held responsible for his detention and abuses committed against him—but this is precisely what authorities want to avoid.