【404 Archives】Issue 85: The Vanishing Black Clothes: The State Violence Behind the Iron Chain Woman in Fengxian County

"The 404 Archives" tells the story of censorship and anti-censorship in China, and is released in the form of text, audio and video. Podcasts can be listened to by searching for " 404 Archives " on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify or a general-purpose podcast client. Video programs can be watched on Youtube " China Digital Times · 404 Archives ".

Written by: Sisyphus pushing the boulder

Welcome to the 404 Archives. Here, we cross China's digital high wall together.

The case of a mother with eight children chained up in Xuzhou, Jiangsu Province, has been a hot topic for a month since it was fermented on the Chinese Internet at the end of January. China Digital Times quickly collected and sorted out official and private voices and actions, and launched a special page with a full record of the incident of the Iron Chain Woman in Fengxian County; the column "404 Archives" also specially produced three programs to track and record the details of this incident. progress. For readers who are not familiar with this incident, we welcome you to view and listen to it on the website of China Digital Times.

• China Digital Times Special Page: Full Record of the Iron-Chained Girl Incident in Fengxian County

On February 23, 2022, the investigation team of the Jiangsu Provincial Party Committee and the Provincial Government issued the fifth and final official announcement; after that, the discussion of the case gradually faded from the public under the impact of the official ban and other hot topics vision.

However, there are still many people who are unwilling to give up on this, continue to pay attention to the follow-up of the incident, and question the doubts in the official report, but they have paid a heavy personal price for this. Women's rights advocate Wu Yi is one of them.

In this program, we review Wuyi's participation and advocacy in three sections, showing how state violence forcibly extinguished the attention and resistance of the people.

1. Wuyi first entered Feng County

At the beginning of February, when the official announcements aroused anger and doubts in the public opinion, Sina Weibo called @我能按120jin的黑衣 and Weibo user @小梦姐小仁拳 drove to Feng County, Xuzhou to serve as an iron chain. Female voice. However, upon their arrival in Xuzhou, they were harassed and expelled by local government officials.

Wu Yi reviewed the process on his Weibo . After they were not allowed to enter Dongji Village, which was controlled by the police, they wrote on the car, "Dong Zhimin raped a mentally ill girl in Fengxian County and forced her to give birth to 8 children and got rescued." They drove in Fengxian County to express their protest. After 30 minutes of parking, the police found the hotel and asked them to erase the writing on the car. Later, the two girls tried to condolences to the woman in chains who was admitted to the mental hospital, but found that the hospital was under martial law by the police, so they had to ask the doctors and nurses to transfer it on their behalf. Afterwards, the police asked the hotel to close for rectification on the grounds that the hotel where the two stayed violated regulations, and the two were expelled from the hotel.

Four days after Wu Yi posted her experience on Weibo, the two were detained by the local police on suspicion of picking quarrels and provoking trouble, which aroused the anger of netizens who followed the incident. Some netizens posted the supervision and duty phone number of the local police in the comment area, calling on everyone to call to put pressure on the police and ask the police to answer why such severe punishment was adopted. A Weibo netizen left a message in the comment area: "Familiar formula, every time it is necessary to settle accounts after autumn. This time I am in a hurry, and things have not passed yet."

Perhaps due to strong public pressure, the Xuzhou police released the two a few days later, but did not issue a non-prosecution notice. After being released, Wu Yi continued to expose on Weibo how the local police treated the two inhumanely in violation of legal procedures during the detention process.

She revealed that she was subjected to fatigue interrogation by the police: "At the least, 2 rounds a day, and at the peak, 4 rounds a day. One round lasted 2-6 hours." She said: "The time of 'questioning' was the highest, 6 people fired at me at the same time; Privacy is also deprived: no matter eating or going to the toilet, there are special guards. At least 4 people guard when sleeping.”

Wu Yi also described the cruel treatment of detainees in the women's detention center: only two sheets of toilet paper are allowed in the toilet. Women who are menstruating are only given three sheets of toilet paper, and no sanitary napkins are issued. Wu Yi, on the other hand, protested by defecating on the ground of the prison, expressing her anger at such absurd and inhuman regulations.

In addition, Wu Yi also said that he had been beaten, and attached a picture of a bruised arm. She said that the assailant was not wearing a police uniform, but did it in front of surveillance and police. Wu Yi's straightforward description of police violence and unyielding attitude gave great encouragement to other netizens, and many people also began to muster up the courage to call officials in Feng County, Xuzhou to put pressure on them.

2. Settle accounts after autumn: Disappeared and unreceived notices

After being temporarily released, Wu Yi continued to update her status on Weibo. Although most of her microblogs reveal optimism and bravery, she also mentions the harm caused by public power in one microblog. She wrote: "The extreme fear made me subconsciously turn on the whole body defense mode almost instantly, and it was accompanied by the collapse of the world view. What I have always trusted and what the country has always taught me have all become lies and become The sword that went into me." She also mentioned that she may be suffering from post-traumatic disorder, and that she wants those who hurt her to pay for it.

However, Jiangsu Province's last official report on the Iron Chain Woman attempted to settle all doubts. After this announcement was issued, a large number of questions and discussions were deleted, and many voices were blocked, and even faced more severe punishment. After February 21, Wu Yi's Weibo was banned; on March 1, Wu Yi lost contact again, and it was reported that he was taken away by Xuzhou police.

According to the provisions of the "Criminal Procedure Law", after taking criminal coercive measures against a criminal suspect, except in the case where the family members cannot be notified or the notification may hinder the investigation due to the suspected crimes endangering national security or terrorist activities, the criminal suspect shall be punished within 24 hours. Notify family members. However, according to an article by the netizen "Global Village Citizen" who has been following the incident, the Xuzhou authorities did not read the notice to Wu Yi's father until March 15, and they were not allowed to leave the notice, and were even forbidden to take photos.

In addition, according to the Criminal Procedure Law, suspects have the right to see a lawyer after the first interrogation. However, Wu Yi has not been able to meet with a lawyer so far, and any lawyer willing to provide representation was promptly warned by the authorities. These methods, which seriously violate the procedural justice of Chinese law, have also been used many times in criminal justice against human rights defenders. The book "The People's Republic of Disappearances" compiled by the European NGO organization "Safeguard Defenders" has revealed these phenomena in detail.

3. We have not forgotten: the difficult road of collective resistance

After Wuyi disappeared under the persecution of state power, the authorities also tried their best to suppress people's attention to this matter. But there are still people trying to help find Wu Yi with all their efforts.

Some netizens continued to voice their voices on Weibo: I asked today, have the black clothes been released? Some people kept in touch with Wu Yi's parents, helped them contact lawyers, and even hired a lawyer in advance to prevent themselves from disappearing like Wu Yi.

There are more people, like Wu Yi, who are paying attention to the follow-up of Fengxian Iron Chain Girl, unwilling to forget all kinds of doubts because of the official final decision. Some people distributed leaflets and posters in the community and on campus , reminding people not to forget this matter and keep paying attention. Some people also applied to the Fengxian government for information disclosure , but they were warned by their work units, residential communities, and the police. Some Weibo netizens went to Feng County, Xuzhou, and took pictures wearing iron chains in the procuratorate, police workstations, courts and other places in the dark, expressing their support for the Iron Chain Girl, Wuyi and Boxing Girl, and every oppressed woman.

Although these actions are under the patriarchal oppression endorsed by the state power, it is difficult to achieve significant results in a short period of time. But as one netizen said: "You can arrest a Wuyi, but we will never give up."

• Read more:

[404 Archives] Issue 76: Five Reports on the Feng County Incident——The Noise and Silence of the Chinese Public Opinion Field

[404 Archives] No. 69: The Chinese Government’s Actions in Human Trafficking——From the case of the kidnapped eight-child mother in Xuzhou

China Digital Times CDT is dedicated to documenting and disseminating censored information on the Chinese Internet, and people's efforts to combat censorship. Everyone is welcome to submit articles to us through the Telegram platform , and make your contribution to documenting and fighting against Chinese Internet censorship! Please refer to the text introduction of this podcast for the submission address. To read more, please visit our website CDT.MEDIA.