On the morning of July 25th, a group of rights defenders representing 200 individuals in Shaanxi Province went to the Shaanxi Provincial Letters and Visits Office to submit a joint letter accusing the Shaanxi Provincial Procuratorate of illegal and disciplinary violations to the 15th Central Inspection Team of the Communist Party of China, but their submission was rejected. The rights defenders then resorted to sending the letter by mail. In early August, many signatories of the joint letter received phone calls from relevant departments.
On July 21st, the 15th Central Inspection Team of the Communist Party of China began their work at the Shaanxi Provincial Letters and Visits Office. According to petitioners, with the presence of the central inspection team, there were about 10 reception windows set up in the lobby of the Shaanxi Provincial Letters and Visits Office, resulting in long queues of petitioners every day, creating a mere formality.
The petitioners also mentioned that the reception staff did not wear badges or show work permits, with many of them clearly being familiar faces from the Shaanxi Provincial Letters and Visits Office; they did not notice any strangers with Beijing accents receiving petitioners.
A Central Inspection Team staff member who claimed to be from Beijing was exposed by a petitioner from Xianyang City as being the head of the Xianyang City Letters and Visits Office, Zhou Yonggang. Upon being recognized, the staff member hastily avoided confrontation. Outside the Letters and Visits Office, there were interception personnel and vehicles, police cars, plainclothes officers, and special police vehicles everywhere.
On July 25th, representatives of over 200 petitioners in Shaanxi Province who filed a joint accusation against the Shaanxi Provincial Procuratorate for illegal practices came to the Shaanxi Provincial Letters and Visits Office to submit their complaint to the 15th Central Inspection Team of the Communist Party of China, but were turned away.
Rights defender Wang Xiaoqin told a reporter from Dajiyuan, “A staff member responsible for receiving collective visitors at the Shaanxi Provincial Letters and Visits Office said that the joint letter did not fall under collective visits and therefore would not be accepted. Later, they said, ‘We are aware of your joint letter, but we cannot discuss it or handle it.’ Despite the insistence and arguments of the rights defenders, the reception staff mentioned they would consult with their superiors. The rights defenders waited until noon for the staff member to come out and provide an answer to the consultation request but received no response. During the wait, they were repeatedly driven away by the Shaanxi Provincial Letters and Visits Office staff and the police.”
In the afternoon, the rights defenders decided to send the joint letter to the Chief of the Central Inspection Team, Li Jianming, and the head of the Provincial Inspection Team, Wang Xingning, at the Zhonglou Post Office.
In early August, some rights defenders who signed the joint letter and some petitioners began receiving phone calls or being summoned by local procuratorates, police stations, and government departments.
On August 5th in the afternoon, Wang Xiaoqin received a call from the 12309 staff of the Weicheng District Procuratorate in Xianyang City, asking her to come to the procuratorate promptly to understand some circumstances. Wang Xiaoqin arrived as scheduled, and the 12309 staff mentioned that a document had been transferred from the Central Inspection Team to the provincial procuratorate, which was then sent to the Weicheng District Procuratorate for further verification.
The staff inquired about the departments to which Wang Xiaoqin had submitted the document. Wang Xiaoqin replied that she had sent it to the Weicheng District Procuratorate, Xianyang City Procuratorate, Shaanxi Provincial Procuratorate, the Supreme People’s Procuratorate, the Provincial People’s Congress, the Provincial Political and Legal Affairs Commission, and various other departments by mail. The staff asked about her demands, but there had been no follow-up since.
Wang Xiaoqin had been advocating for justice in the case of her brother, Wang Xiaogang, who suffered abuse and died in the detention center of the Weicheng District in Xianyang City due to a mental illness. She went to the Shaanxi Provincial Letters and Visits Office to register her complaint with the Central Inspection Team. When a staff member who claimed to be from the inspection team heard that she wanted to sue the detention center in the Weicheng District of Xianyang City, he showed discomfort, refused to accept written materials and related evidence, and suggested, “You can report it yourself by going to the Shaanxi Public Security Bureau; we cannot handle it here.” Wang Xiaoqin had no choice but to mail the relevant documents to the head of the 15th Central Inspection Team, Li Jianming.
On the evening of August 6th, rights defender Du Shufang received a threatening phone call from the police at the Xian Electronic City Police Station in Xi’an, inquiring whether she had been to the Central Inspection Team to raise issues and if she planned to go there in the future. Du Shufang acknowledged she had been there and that the issues remained unresolved, stating her intention to visit again. The police threatened Du Shufang, claiming that visiting the Central Inspection Team was causing trouble, and warning of consequences if she persisted. They then asked Du Shufang about the locations where she had submitted materials. Du Shufang responded that she had sent them to various provincial-level departments, major central government departments, and central leadership.
The call, focused on threats, lasted for over an hour before ending.
Du Shufang and her husband Bai Zhongmin, employees of the “205 State-owned Supplies Depot” in Xi’an, had faced retaliation after reporting Yang Chunlei, former deputy director of the depot, for purchasing counterfeit goods and embezzling millions in early 2007. Despite years of petitioning, they had not received proper redress according to the law.
Xian city petitioner Shi Xiujia suffered multiple systemic injuries from dental damage allegedly caused by Ma Lu, a doctor at the Xian Zhongnuo Dental Hospital, during a retaliatory attack following a dental restoration procedure gone wrong. Despite five years of seeking justice, she had not received a resolution. On July 21st this year, she went to the Shaanxi Provincial Letters and Visits Office to register her complaint with the Central Inspection Team, only to be referred by the Weiyang District Court to the Lianhu District Court.
On August 7th, she received a written response of “illegal petitioning” from the Weiyang Public Security Sub-bureau.
At noon on August 7th, Xi’an Lantian County petitioner Li Qihong received a phone call from the Lantian County Procuratorate, informing her that a document had been transferred down by the Central Inspection Team for her to visit in the afternoon and understand some circumstances. Li Qihong refused. She stated that the relevant information was already in the documents and demanded a written response from the procuratorate.
On August 8th, Li Qihong received a written response from the Lantian County Procuratorate, stating that they lacked jurisdiction and passed the responsibility, resulting in no further action.
When Li Qihong went to the Shaanxi Provincial Letters and Visits Office on July 25th to submit materials to the Central Inspection Team, local government stability maintenance personnel and officials from the town government, including the deputy secretary, deputy director of the village committee, two town government employees, and a court employee from Lantian County, also arrived.
Li Qihong had been advocating for justice in the case of her father, Li Zhencai, who died due to unsafe conditions in a abandoned gold mine bought unknowingly, alleging negligence and fabrication of evidence by the Lantian County Court, leading to an unjust ruling.
Li Qihong expressed to Dajiyuan, “Our joint accusation against Wang Xiaodong and Wang Xuguang of the Shaanxi Provincial Procuratorate for prolonged inaction, procedural delays, and negligence does not result in real problem-solving for the people by the Provincial Letters and Visits Office. The materials are ineffective, only focusing on formalities.”