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Beijing State Security Bureau Detention Center

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Beijing State Security Bureau
Detention Center
Map
LocationNo. 47 Dahongmen South Road, Fengtai District, Beijing, China
Coordinates39°48′36″N 116°23′03″E / 39.809978°N 116.384225°E / 39.809978; 116.384225
StatusOperational
Security classDetention center
Former nameBeijing International Prison
Managed byBeijing State Security Bureau of the Ministry of State Security

The Beijing State Security Bureau Detention Center[a] (BSSBDC; Chinese: 北京市国安局看守所) is a jail for political prisoners and foreigners located in the Fengtai district of Beijing, China. The detention center is operated by the Beijing State Security Bureau (BSSB) of the Ministry of State Security (MSS). Its role housing political prisoners in proximity to the national capital is comparable to Lefortovo Prison in Moscow. The facility was once known as the Beijing International Prison (Chinese: 北京市国际监狱).

Some prisoners have been moved to the BSSBDC after serving time in a BSSB black jail of the Residential Surveillance at a Designated Location (RSDL) program, an extrajudicial regime of secret detention which facilitates the "disappearing" of individuals – often foreigners – charged with endangering state security.[1][2]

Members of the Falun Gong movement allege the BSSB has repeatedly detained their followers in the facility.[3]

Notable inmates

[edit]
Name(s) Case details Date of arrest
Gao Yu Prominent Chinese journalist, sentenced to six years in prison on November 10, 1994, for “illegally providing state secrets to institutions outside [China’s] borders” in a series of four articles in Overseas Chinese Daily.[4][5] While held in the BSSB Detention Center, she was awarded the 1997 UNESCO World Press Freedom Prize. In the years since her release, she repeatedly served additional sentences handed down by Beijing courts.[6] 2 October 1993
Xiao Biguang Chinese dissident involved in the Beijing Protestant Christian community, helped file a lawsuit on behalf of the Jesus Family, a Chinese Pentacostal group. Charged with "swindling" after authorities discovered the ID card issued by his employer contained an inaccuracy describing him as holding a PhD. Xiao spent pre-trial detention in the BSSBDC with no outside contact beyond a single one-hour meeting with his lawyer.[7] 12 April 1994
Xu Wei & Jin Haike Xu, reporter for the Consumer Daily; Jin, a geologist and writer, and two others were sentenced to ten years in prison on charges of inciting subversion of state power for their involvement in a study group discussing political reforms in a case that made global headlines.[8][9][10] According to Reuters, by 2009 both had been transferred to other facilities after Xu reportedly developed mental illness and Jin contracted a debilitating intestinal disease.[11] 13 March 2001
Yang Jianli Chinese-American Mathematician and dissident who was jailed and sentenced to death on charges of espionage and illegal entry upon arriving in China in defiance of an entry ban issued by the government for his involvement in the Tiananmen Square protests. On May 28, 2003, a United Nations working group on arbitrary detention ruled that Yang's detention constituted a violation of international law.[12] April 2002
Wang Xiaoning Chinese engineer and dissident who served to ten years in prison for inciting subversion of state power for publishing pro-democracy material online using his Yahoo! account after the company provided Chinese authorities information used to identify him. Held in the BSSBDC from the time of his arrest in September 2002 until May 2004.[13] September 2002
Zhao Yan Chinese investigative journalist in the Beijing bureau of The New York Times. He was arrested 17 September 2004, on charges of fraud and revealing state secrets. He was released on 15 September 2007 after being found guilty of fraud but not of revealing state secrets. He is believed to be the first person to be acquitted of charges of revealing state secrets in China.[14] 15 September 2007
Yang Hengjun Chinese-Australian spy novelist and businessman, and one-time MSS intelligence officer who was arrested during a visit to China and given a death sentence with reprieve on charges of espionage in February 2024.[15] He was moved to the BSSBDC after being subject to Residential Surveillance at a Designated Location (RSDL) in a black jail of the BSSB. Held in the BSSB during the COVID-19 pandemic during which time all outside contact was suspended.[16][17] 19 January 2019

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Yaqiu Wang (2 August 2015). "What You Need to Know About China's 'Residential Surveillance at a Designated Place'". China Change. Archived from the original on 30 April 2023. Retrieved 10 July 2016.
  2. ^ Michael Caster ed., The People's Republic of the Disappeared, 2nd ed. (Madrid: Safeguard Defenders, November 2019): 11.
  3. ^ "迫害法轮大法修炼者的恶人单位: 北京市国家安全局" [Beijing Municipal State Security Bureau]. Minghui.org (in Chinese). 2021-06-16. Archived from the original on 2023-06-08. Retrieved 2024-12-04.
  4. ^ ""Leaking State Secrets": The Case of Gao Yu". Human Rights Watch. 7 (8). July 1995. Archived from the original on 2024-04-20. Retrieved 2024-12-04.
  5. ^ "Journalist Gao Yu Jailed for Six Years After a Secret Trial" (PDF). Amnesty International. 1994-11-18.
  6. ^ Jiang, Steven (2015-04-17). "China jails prominent journalist Gao Yu for leaking state secrets". CNN. Archived from the original on 2024-08-06. Retrieved 2024-12-03.
  7. ^ "Whose Security? "State Security" in China's New Criminal Code" (PDF). Human Rights Watch. 9 (4): 40. 2003-12-15 – via U.S. Department of Justice.
  8. ^ "Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders Annual Report 2003 - China". United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. 2004-04-14. Retrieved 2024-12-04.
  9. ^ "Four Internet writers sentenced to lengthy prison terms". Committee to Protect Journalists. 2003-05-28. Archived from the original on 2024-11-20. Retrieved 2024-12-03.
  10. ^ Pan, Philip P (2004-04-22). "A Study Group is Crushed in China's Grip". The Washington Post.
  11. ^ Blanchard, Ben (2009-03-13). "China releases two dissidents after 8 years in jail". Reuters.
  12. ^ Jianli, Yang (2008-05-05). "'I spent five years on China's death row'" (Interview). Interviewed by Rhoda Buchanan. The Guardian.
  13. ^ Cheever, Julia (2007-04-18). "Imprisoned Chinese dissident sues Yahoo". Fog City Journal. Retrieved 2024-12-04.
  14. ^ "Media Summary: China's Detention of New York Times Researcher Zhao Yan". Congressional-Executive Commission on China. 2004-10-21. Retrieved 2024-12-04.
  15. ^ Galloway, Anthony (2020-06-19). "Torture concerns for Australian writer held in Chinese prison". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 2024-12-03.
  16. ^ "China: Australian-Chinese writer held incommunicado: Yang Hengjun". Amnesty International. 2020-06-18. Retrieved 2024-12-04.
  17. ^ Graham, Ben (2021-05-26). "Detained Australian author at 'grave risk of torture' by China". news.com.au. Archived from the original on 2021-10-18. Retrieved 2024-12-04.
  1. ^ It is often written as "centre" in British English translations

See also

[edit]
  • Qincheng Prison – the Ministry of Public Security's facility for political prisoners in Beijing.
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