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You may submit a letter appeal for possible use. Please make it easy for us: Keep it short. Provide a summary of the fuller information (which we like to get in chronological order). Expect to be edited. Provide a web link if possible, or a citation of the authority for the information, e.g. for an Amnesty International Urgent Action, its number, date, and "write no later than" date. Send to guy@universalworkshop.com

Do letters do any good? Mostly they get no apparent response. But they bother the authorities and have been known to play a part in a prisoner's release. Often they cause atrocious conditions to be improved. If known about by a prisoner or other victim, they mightily ENCOURAGE.

“When the first two hundred letters came, the guards gave me back my clothes. Then the next two hundred letters came, and the prison director came to see me. When the next pile of letters arrived, the director got in touch with his superior. The letters kept coming and coming: three thousand of them. The President was informed. The letters still kept arriving, and the President called the prison and told them to let me go.” —Julio de Peña Valdez, trade union leader, after his release in 1974 from underground solitary confinement in the Dominican Republic

These “remhurls” have been sent by email to a list of friends at irregular intervals (monthly, sometimes less, sometimes more) since 1996. Since 2008 we have used this better method of distribution. We are responsible for them; they are not an official production of Amnesty International, Survival International, or any other of our sources.

Another resource for easily sending human-rights letters (it provides individualized texts or printed letters, for small fees per year or other period):
Appeals Worldwide, www.appealsww.com

updated May 10, 2009

Developments during Hada's imprisonment

Much of this consists of the activities of Hada's plucky wife, Xinna. She seems to be doing her utmost to maintain for him the struggle for ethnic Mongol rights that he would be continuing if he were free.

She gave an interview to the Voice of America, using a cordless phone, which was therefore confiscated. In July 1997 she and their son Uiles were detained for four days during the celebration of the 50th anniversary of establishment of the Inner Mongolian Autonomous Region. In June 1998 she wrote a strong letter to President Clinton a few days before his state visit to China. In July 1998 she and Uiles visited Hada in prison. Both were detained for more than four hours, and the boy was beaten. They were then for a long time stopped from visiting, and could send clothing, but not the medicines Hada needs.

In 2002 Uiles was arrested on an allegation of "involvement in robbery", allowed no lawyer, and his mother was told only 30 minutes before the trial. He was imprisoned for three years in the Youth Jail. On release he was allowed no identity card, and was told he could have one only if he and his mother promised not to "bring trouble" during Inner Mongolia's 60th anniversary.

In February 2005 it was learned from a recently released prisoner that Hada had been repeatedly chained to a "shackle board" — a metal plank with handcuffs at each corner — and was stopped from speaking to fellow inmates.

In August 2007 Uiles visited his father, and afterwards gave a 700-word written report. He had explained to his father why his mother, having myocardial ischemia and a liver illness, had not been able to visit. The prison is mainly for felons (rather than political prisoners). Hada was in an 8-inmate cell with no sunlight. He had become totally gray-haired and "looked so thin and small". Uiles had brought a cotton-padded mattress, but the authorities would not allow this to be given to Hada in place of the thin and dirty one he had. Hada had not received newspapers sent to him, and was denied access to books that had been sent. He suspected he was being given some sort of drug. He had incontinence of urine and feces (probably due to a nerve system disorder, according to a medical friend of Uiles). Another prisoner said that Hada "is monitored every day and not allowed to talk to anybody"; and that the food is "even worse than in the Youth Jail". Prisons generally allow inmates to make purchases, such as of extra food, but Hada has not been allowed to do this even once. Authorities said that Hada was not doing hard labor, because his health was so poor. "I encouraged him and told him that everything will be fine as long as he keeps on."

On March 26, 2008, Xinna sent an open letter to Chinese President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao. She mentioned that, last winter, Hada fell into a coma in the prison toilet. None of the medications given him in jail had relieved his pain. "It is heartbreaking to see him... he looks like a totally different person". She was outraged that on March 18 prison officials, in violation of the Prison Act, confiscated a letter of appeal that Hada had written and wanted to pass to her. "I, along with many Mongols and others, refuse to accept the charges against Hada... it is a typical case of ethnic repression." She made full and bold comments on China's devastating policies in not only Inner Mongolia but Xinjiang and Tibet; and ended with three appeals: right of free expression for citizens; right to self-determination for the minority regions; release of political prisoners including Hada.

In April 2008, the letter that Hada dictated to Xinna during her visit did become available, and is translated in a page of the Southern Mongolian Human Rights Information Center's website. It is a detailed rebuttal of the charges against him.

On July 6, 2008, according to a Reuters report by Ben Blanchard, Xinna issued an appeal to the Chinese government to release her husband as a goodwill gesture ahead of the Olympics. The Olympic torch was to pass through Inner Mongolia in the next few days, including Chifeng itself on July 10. Xinna commented on the irony of this, and said she hoped the torch's arrival in Inner Mongolia would help to highlight the plight of her husband, who has received less attention than more well-known jailed Chinese dissidents.

And on July 19 a letter by Xinna was read by Rick Moody to a meeting called "Bringing Down the Great Firewall of China" hosted by the PEN American Center in New York City. She mentioned that his illnesses "are not only untreated but have worsened in the prison; recently he has felt severe leg pain and deteriorating vision. June 20, this year, the prison authorities took him to an unidentified hospital and examined his health condition. He was put in handcuffs and shackles during his hospital visit. The results of the medical examination were not given either to me or my son or to Hada himself. The only thing that encouraged us to live through this extreme hardship is that he has never given up what he believes. We haven't seen any smile on his face when we visited him. But he smiled last time when I told him that freedom loving friends around the world are encouraging and supporting us."

Xinna managed to get another statement out to the world, about the plight of Mongol herders and the suppression of information on it. This was reported by Free-Hada-Now.org on May 2, 2009. Xinna said:
"Recently, following my previous statement on the state of affairs of the herders of my home town, I was contacted by a correspondent from the Agence France-Presse (AFP). In mid-April, he visited Hohhot, and interviewed me about my husband Hada's prison situation and human rights issues of Southern Mongolia in general. I explained the situation with the herders and how their lands and animals were being plundered. I also offered to put him in touch with Mongolian herders of Darhan-Muumingan Holboot Banner (Banner is equivalent to county) who have been affected by the policies related to the "Ecological Migration" ("sheng tai yi min" in Chinese). I also introduced him to another friend of mine who agreed to serve as his driver and interpreter, someone who would personally escort him to the herders' community for him to conduct personal interviews and observe firsthand the effects on the Mongols of the Banner where I used to live.
"The authorities were eavesdropping on my telephone conversation with the reporter, so they were forewarned about the visit the correspondent was planning to make. They knew the time and date when he was planning to go and who would be escorting him. So when the correspondent set off on his trip to my hometown, somewhere on the road, they were stopped by the police and asked to submit their papers for a 'routine' check. The routine check led to a 4-hour delay, during which time, the police had ample opportunity to rush to herders' place. They advised the locals that a foreign correspondent was coming and they were told under threat of severe punishment to say nothing negative about their living conditions or the situation regarding the forced migrations. So naturally, when the correspondent arrived, he heard nothing negative. In addition, the authorities also threatened the escort and intimidated him such that he too has now severed all contact with me. This is why the Chinese government's so-called policy of openness accorded to foreign journalists and correspondents is completely without merit, because they can still manipulate facts through intimidation of citizens."

In September 2009 Xinna was able to make another visit to the prison, and found that her husband's health and his treatment by the Chinese authorities had not improved.

On November 15, 2009 — during Obama's visit to China — Xinna's bookstore was raided by 17 or 18 men from the "Cultural Marketing Management Bureau". They confiscated nine boxes full of CDs and other materials. These were Mongolian music and traditional songs. The authorities accused Xinna and other Mongolian bookstores (only hers has been raided twice; no Han Chinese store has been raided) of pirating CDs. The reason is that production of Mongolian music is repressed in Inner Mongolia, so that, to meet the demand for their own music from the 4 milllion indigenous inhabitants, CDs have been made clandestinely or imported from Mongolia proper. Xinna's vigorous statement, dated Dec. 31, and sent to us by Tikan Chemenlik of Free Hada Now, can be read at http://free-hada-now.org/blog/?p=67

On December 25, 2009, Uiles after an overnight journey from Hohhot reached the prison and was made to wait 6 hours (authorities were "in a meeting") for a half-hour visit to his father.
Hada said he had been taken in October (in handcuffs and foot shackles) to a hospital and diagnosed with two conditions, peripheral neuritis and phlebitis. (This may have been why family visits were refused for two months.) Some medicine had eased leg pain slightly but swelling had not gone down. He cannot sleep well, because of leg pain and upset stomach.
He is now in a cell on the 5th floor, so that his leg condition makes it impossible for him to take walks. In the system of "inter-inmate monitoring", Hada's monitor is Zhang Jian Xin, a murderer who killed his own brother, and who constantly yells at and threatens Hada — did so while Uiles was there.
Hada has not been allowed to watch news channels, just channels that he has no interest in. Though prison regulations state that prisoners may read official publications including newspapers and books, newspapers bought with the family's money and sent to Hada have been confiscated, except for a few without political content. Uiles brought books but could get no receipt or promise that they would reach Hada.
"Otherwise, the prison authorities' attitude has seemed to be relaxed a bit because my father's prison term is closer."
After returning home, Uiles did some research on peripheral neuritis and phlebitis: if they occur together they could be caused by insufficient blood supply and could indicate diabetes. The family has often asked to see Hada's medical records, now especially needed to prepare for medication after his release; the prison authorities still refuse, claiming "confidentiality".
"One thing my father asked me to appeal for is that he really wants to read some books, to prepare for his release. He wants to understand what has happened after more than 14 years in prison."
This is slightly condensed from the efficient report by Uiles, which can be seen at http://free-hada-now.org/blog/?p=70