From Human Rights in China

Under intense international anticipation of the release today from prison of prominent rights lawyer Jiang Tianyong (江天勇), who was convicted of the trumped up charge of “inciting subversion of state power,” the Chinese authorities have instead disappeared him. His supporters outside the Henan Provincial No. 2 Prison in Xinxiang (新乡) were told: “He has already been picked up.”

In addition, the authorities have also disappeared Jiang’s father and sister, who were “escorted” in the afternoon of February 27 by domestic security personnel to travel from their home in Xinyang (信阳), Henan, to meet Jiang at the prison. They have not been heard from after about 5:30PM that day. Both their cell phones have been turned off.

“The international community must not accept the totalitarian project underway in China as just another crackdown phase. Only in a lawless regime that continues to trample on human rights and human dignity can someone be imprisoned for legitimate exercise of rights, and serve his full sentence only to be disappeared into a larger prison outside,” said Sharon Hom, Executive Director of Human Rights in China.

“Every concerned person and group of conscience, in particular bar associations, governments, and human rights experts, must speak out on this alarming and outrageous development, and demand the Chinese authorities disclose the whereabouts and status of Jiang and his father and sister and ensure their safety,” Hom added.

Recently, Jiang’s family learned that, upon release, Jiang would not be allowed to move back to his hometown in Xinyang or to Beijing, where he was living before his arrest. They said that he would be relocated in Zhengzhou, the city of his household registration (hukou), where the authorities would also find him a job.

The family has been concerned about Jiang’s physical wellbeing. In a recent interview with Deutsche Welle Chinese Service, Jiang’s wife Jin Bianling (金变玲) said that when Jiang’s sister visited him in prison in early February, “his health was not well, and he looked gaunt, with darkened skin; he also had broken ribs” (他健康状况不佳，人看起来很黑很憔悴，而且肋骨折了).

Full report found here.