By ANDREW JACOBS
Published: October 24, 2011
Multimedia
Related
Taking Big Risks to See a Chinese Dissident Under House Arrest (October 19, 2011)
Chinese Officials Beat Activist and His Wife, Group Says (June 18, 2011)
Out of Jail in China, but Not Free (March 10, 2011)
China: Rights Group Says Couple Beaten for Making Video (February 11, 2011)
As in the past, all those who tried to reach Mr. Chen were violently thwarted by guards before they could get near his home, according to several of the participants and the group Chinese Human Rights Defenders.
Among those who made the trip to Dongshigu village on Saturday were 30 activists from across China. The next day when they approached the entrance to the village, the group said they were attacked by as many as 300 people, robbed of their cellphones and cameras, and chased out of town.
One of China’s better-known rights defenders, Mr. Chen has been under house arrest with his wife and daughter since completing a four-year, three-month prison term in September 2010. Over the last decade, Mr. Chen, who is blind, made a name defending farmers, the disabled and women who say they were forced to undergo abortions or sterilizations as a part of China’s strict family planning policies.
His latter legal defense efforts angered local Communist Party officials and led to his jailing, and, advocates say, the continuing extralegal punishment that includes isolation and violence at the hands of thugs hired by the local government.
The three-week effort to challenge the guards and visit Mr. Chen has drawn scores of activists, who have described their harrowing confrontations through microblog messages. In recent Internet postings, several would-be participants in Shanghai, Beijing and other cities say that security personnel warned them against traveling to Shandong.
Last week, Mr. Chen’s 6-year-old daughter was reportedly allowed to attend school for the first time in a year: a victory that supporters say was prompted by the growing attention to the family’s predicament.
Among those who made the trip to Dongshigu village on Saturday were 30 activists from across China. The next day when they approached the entrance to the village, the group said they were attacked by as many as 300 people, robbed of their cellphones and cameras, and chased out of town.
One of China’s better-known rights defenders, Mr. Chen has been under house arrest with his wife and daughter since completing a four-year, three-month prison term in September 2010. Over the last decade, Mr. Chen, who is blind, made a name defending farmers, the disabled and women who say they were forced to undergo abortions or sterilizations as a part of China’s strict family planning policies.
His latter legal defense efforts angered local Communist Party officials and led to his jailing, and, advocates say, the continuing extralegal punishment that includes isolation and violence at the hands of thugs hired by the local government.
The three-week effort to challenge the guards and visit Mr. Chen has drawn scores of activists, who have described their harrowing confrontations through microblog messages. In recent Internet postings, several would-be participants in Shanghai, Beijing and other cities say that security personnel warned them against traveling to Shandong.
Last week, Mr. Chen’s 6-year-old daughter was reportedly allowed to attend school for the first time in a year: a victory that supporters say was prompted by the growing attention to the family’s predicament.
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