Since the beginning of November 2002, Amnesty International has also received reports of people being detained in connection with publishing or accessing materials on the Internet: Liu Di, a student from Beijing, who goes by the pen-name "Stainless Steel Rat" and Li Yibin, a political activist were detained in early November 2002. Liu Di had posted various items on the Internet, including a statement in support of Huang Qi, a computer engineer detained in June 2000 and charged with ‘subversion’ after setting up a human rights website. Li Yibin had published an online pro-democracy magazine, called "Democracy and Freedom". It is unclear whether they have been formally charged and their current whereabouts are not known. Amnesty International had earlier documented the cases of 33 people, including Huang Qi, who had been detained for Internet-related offences. Most have been charged with ‘subversion’. ( For more information , please refer to: People's Republic of China: State Control of the Internet in China, ASA 17/007/2002 and People's Republic of China: State Control of the Internet in China - appeal cases, ASA 17/046/2002).

Veteran dissident Xu Wenli was released into exile in the USA in December 2002, nine years before the end of his sentence. Xu Wenli was serving a 13-year prison sentence for "subversion" imposed in 1998 after he established the China Democracy Party. He was officially released on medical parole due to a deterioration in his state of health after he contracted Hepatitis B in prison.

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL


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