Mr. Jiang Xiqing, 66, Chongqing

Name: Jiang Xiqing (???)
Gender: Male
Age: 66
Date of Most Recent Arrest: May 14, 2008
Date of Most Recent Release: Died in Custody
Date of Death: January 28, 2009
Province: Chongqing
City: Jiangjin District
Most Recent Place of Detention: Xishanping RTL Camp

Case Details:

Mr. Jiang and his wife were detained in mid-2008 and then sentenced to RTL. On January 28, 2009, Jiang’s family was informed that he had died in custody. Jiang’s case was widely reported upon after two lawyers who sought to assist his family were themselves detained and beaten. As described by Human Rights in China in a May 13, 2009 report:

“Zhang Kai is a lawyer with Beijing Yijia Law Firm and Li Chunfu is a lawyer at Beijing Globe Law Firm. On the afternoon of May 13, they met with relatives of Jiang Xiqing at their home in Jiangjin District, Chongqing to discuss Jiang’s death while serving a Reeducation-Through-Labor (RTL) sentence.

Jiang Xiqing, 66, was arrested by the police on May 14, 2008, and sentenced to one year of RTL for practicing Falun Gong. On January 28, 2009, the Chongqing Xishanping Reeducation Center informed Jiang’s family that Jiang had died of a heart attack. He was then cremated without consent by his family.

Sources inside China informed HRIC that around 4 p.m. on the afternoon of May 13, four policemen came to the home of Jiang’s relatives… They started to interrogate the lawyers…Soon afterwards, about 20 more people from the state security unit of the Jiangjin District Public Security Bureau and Jijiang Police Substation also arrived. Jiangjin State Security squadron leader Mu Chaoheng asked Jiang Xiqing’s relatives, ‘Who told you to hire lawyers? Your dad died a natural death.’

The police surrounded Zhang Kai and Li Chunfu and began pulling their hair, twisting their arms, tripping them, and beating them while pinning them on the ground. The police then handcuffed them and hauled them into their vehicle. They also took away Jiang Xiqing’s son, Jiang Hongbin.

After arriving at the police station, Zhang Kai was hung up with handcuffs in an iron cage and Li Chunfu was slapped in the face by the police. During the interrogation, the police threatened the lawyer to stop defending Falun Gong cases. When the lawyers argued that everyone had a right to legal counsel, the police said: ‘You absolutely cannot defend Falun Gong; this is the situation in China.'”

Mr. Jiang’s daughter, Ms. Jiang Hong, 41, was subsequently detained on August 28, 2009 for pursuing avenues of investigation and redress over her fathers untimely death.

For more information see:
Chinese Human Rights Lawyers Concern Group: “Beijing lawyers Li Chunfu and Zhang Kai Beaten for Representing Re-education Through Labour Camp Death Case,” May 14, 2009 (report)
Chinese Human Rights Defenders: “Police Beat and Detain Lawyers Representing Family of Man Who Died in RTL Camp,” May 13, 2009 (report)