Message-Id: <3.0.5.32.19980825084009.00906ad0@hella.stm.it>

Date: Tue, 25 Aug 1998 08:40:09 +0200

From: Oyunbilig@aol.com

Subject: Recent news from Inner Mongolia

On July 19, 1998, when Ms. Xinna, with her 13 years old son, went to the city of Chi Feng in eastern Inner Mongolia to visit her imprisoned husband Hada, police from the Public Security Bureau and the National Security Bureau arrested her and her son and detained them for 4 hours.

When the polices were trying to arrest her mother, Xinna's 13 years old son came forward and asked the polices why they are doing so and trying to prevent her mother from being arrested. At the moment, 7 police rounded up the boy and started to beat him. Looking at her son being beaten, Xinna can't do anything but to beg the police to stop beating. When the police stopped, her son was already severely beaten.

Later the police told Xinna that the reason for the arrest is to punish her for having openly asked the international community to pay attention to the situation of her husband, Mr. Hada. They were especially furious about the letter Xinna wrote to the President of the United States a few days before the president's visit to China. They told Xinna that any such kind of action will be proven futile and warned her that further actions of this kind would only result in more severe punishment.

Also, back in June, during the US president's visit to China, the authorities in Hohhot (the capital city of Inner Mongolia and where Ms. Xinna is living) expressed that Ms. Xinna can reopen the Mongolian Academic Bookstore, which was managed by Mr. Hada and Ms. Xinna prior to Hada's arrest. But as soon as the president left China, the authorities backed off from their word and So far, Ms. Xinna is unable to get the permit to reopen the bookstore to feed her family.