• Urgent Action

Urgent Action Update: Prisoner of Conscience Ill-Treated in Prison (China: UA 71.17)

February 13, 2019

Taiwanese activist Lee Ming-che has been given rotten food and insufficient clothing in his freezing prison cell. As a result of exposing these prison conditions, his wife is not allowed to visit him again until 22 April 2019. Sentenced in 2017 to five years’ imprisonment for “subverting state power”, Lee Ming-che is a prisoner of conscience and should be immediately and unconditionally released.

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President of the People’s Republic of China, Xi Jinping Zhongnanhai Xichangan’jie Xichengqu, Beijing Shi 100017 Fax: +86 10 6238 1025 Email: [email protected]
Ambassador Cui Tiankai Embassy of the People’s Republic of China 3505 International Place NW, Washington DC 20008 Phone: 202 495 2266 I Fax: 202 495 2138 Email: [email protected] Salutation: Dear Ambassador
Dear President: Taiwan NGO worker Lee Ming-che, along with co-defendant and Chinese citizen Peng Yuhua, was sentenced to five years’ imprisonment for “subverting state power” in November 2017 by the Yueyang City Intermediate People’s Court in Hunan province. Lee Ming-che was given rotten food, asked to work long hours and was not given enough clothes in his freezing prison cell, according to his wife Lee Ching-yu who visited him in Chishan Prison on 18 December 2018. All previous requests to visit him had been denied for nearly four months. On 29 January 2019, Lee Ching-yu held a press conference to say that she had received a notice from the Chishan Prison telling her that she would not be allowed to visit Lee Ming-che for three months from 23 January 2019 to 22 April 2019 as the prison authorities accused her of making up the allegations of ill-treatment. Lee Ming-che is a prisoner of conscience as he has been imprisoned solely for peacefully exercising his right to freedom of expression and has committed no crime. Therefore, I call on you to immediately and unconditionally release Lee Ming-che as he has been detained solely for peacefully exercising his human right to freedom of expression; and pending his release, ensure that Lee Ming-che is protected from torture and other ill-treatment, and that he has regular, unrestricted access to family and medical care on request or as necessary while in detention Yours sincerely,
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