At 10pm, 5 May 2004, some villagers in the West District Police Station of Xincai County, Henan were attacked with axes by more than 20 uniformed armed police, from the countys Fire-fighting Detachment [NOTE 1]. Seven injured villagers from Donghu Village of Gulu Town were later sent to the county hospital. CLB made inquiries at the Xincai County Hospital where a nurse in the Surgical Ward reported that most of the patients had cuts on their heads. The victims included a pregnant woman.
Nurse:
Basically their situation is stable.
Han Dongfang [Han]:
What kind of injuries do they have?
Nurse:
They all have injuries, cuts on the head. There are altogether seven patients.
Han:
It is reported that a pregnant woman was also attacked, is it true?
Nurse:
Yes.
Han:
How is she now?
Nurse:
She is not too bad.
Han:
Which part of her is injured?
Nurse:
A chop on her head.
A sergeant from Gulu Town Police Station told CLB that Mr Yang, a policeman who worked there was also slightly injured.
Police Station:
The incident has been fixed.
Han:
How many armed police were there on that day?
Police Station:
Some, I dont know the exact figure.
Han:
Was a policeman Mr Yang from your station also injured?
Police Station:
Yes, there was getting chaotic and he went to stop it [the attack].
Han:
Was he trying to stop it?
Police Station:
Yes, he had to; otherwise it was getting even more messy.
Han:
Have those armed police been punished? Or have any measures been taken towards them?
Police Station:
Well, quite a few people [armed police] were involved and it will take some time to get information before measures could be taken.
Han:
More information to be gathered?
Police Station:
Yes, we need to get more information.
A villager, whose two relatives are patients, told CLB that the attack had been initiated by a quarrel between an instructor for the armed police and a tri-cycle driver [tri-cycle is a form of taxi in the rural area]. The driver asked for 20 Yuan for a ride and the instructor said if I gave you 100 Yuan would you dare to take it? The disagreement on transport charges escalated and took them to the police station.
Villager:
It was a guy called Pan, Pan Hongwei. Pan is a tri-cycle driver, who makes a living by driving people around. Here people have to fix a price before they use the service and the armed police instructor asked him how much to get to such and such a place. Pan told him 20 Yuan and the instructor said 20 Yuan? implying that was too much. Then he said if I gave you 100 Yuan would you dare to take it [as above) and then they started a quarrel and ended up going to the Police Station. Police there recorded Pans testimony. The instructor said that the police station would have no ability to detain him [believed to be Pan] so the instructor went and called his team to attack the people in the police station. It happened that my uncle [and aunt] were leaving the police station at the time, after not finding a person there they had gone to see, but when they were about to leave, the armed police arrived. It was evening time. More than 20 armed police led by their instructor, carrying axes and sticks, arrived and attacked them. They [my aunt, uncle and some other villagers] were beaten up without being told why. You know the entrance of the police station was all covered with blood and two police officiers at the police station were also beaten up. They also wanted to hack the police station chief as well but he shouted that I am the police station chief and that saved him. The two other police were slightly hurt.
Han:
Were those armed police in plainclothes or uniforms?
Villager:
In uniforms. They came with fire engines, two fire engines. You know he is the armed polices instructor and of course he could order the armed police and the fire engines. It was bad luck that they thought my relatives were Pans family and attacked them without asking. They just hacked them without saying anything.
Han:
That means the armed police attacked the wrong people?
Villager:
Yes, they [my relatives] were not the ones they [the armed police] intended to attack.
Han:
And it was a coincidence that your uncle happened to be there?
Villager:
Exactly!
This villager took some photos of the blood-stained scene after the attack.
Villager:
Pan Hongwei was hacked, four other villagers were severely injured and two [police at the police station] were slightly hurt. So all together seven people were attacked. It is outrageous that they also attacked my aunt, she is pregnant.
Han:
They even attacked your pregnant aunt?
Villager:
Yes. Her injury was the worst. Another woman was badly injured too.
Han:
Which parts were attacked?
Villager:
The head.
Han:
Hacked by axes?
Villager:
Yes. madness! Totally crazy! They even attacked police at the police station, what can you say!?
Han:
Are your aunt and uncle in the hospital now?
Villager:
Right, in the hospital, all of them. One villager, like my uncle, had brought his daughter with him to the police station, that little girl is about six or seven years old. She was so scared she couldnt stop crying. I took pictures of the patients and the bloody scene at the police station, inside and outside, I made a full record.
CLB called the fire-fighting detachment in Zhumadian City [the work unit the armed police were from]. One officer at first denied the incident but later said it was under investigation and that he had no information to provide.
Fire-fighting Detachment:
Oh it is not like that, it is still under investigation.
Han:
What did happen? What facts have you learnt?
Fire-fighting Detachment:
We are still investigating the case.
Han:
It is said that seven villagers have been hospitalized?
Fire-fighting Detachment:
No, it is not true.
Han:
No?
Fire-fighting Detachment:
No!
Han:
Isnt it true that the seven villagers from Donghu Villager were hacked?
Fire-fighting Detachment:
No, no. The department [unknown which department] is investigating it and we dont really know.
Han:
Were the armed police from the fire-fighting detachment involved?
Fire-fighting Detachment:
Hmm
. I dont really know the exact situation; the authority
is going through the case.
Han:
Have any strict measures been taken towards the armed police involved in the case?
Fire-fighting Detachment:
The leaders at the municipal level are investigating it, so I dont know.
Han:
Who are the municipal leaders in charge of the case?
Fire-fighting Detachment:
Leaders at the municipal level. I dont know the exact situation.
Finally, the villager CLB interviewed said that villagers had no idea of the law and they would wait for the government to handle the case.
Villager:
That night after the attack, we went to the police station again and found that no armed police from the fire-fighting detachment were detained there. The official on duty there said, they are armed police and local government cant do anything. We visited the police station several times [to ask for an explanation of the attack] and were told that the case was being investigated. We went to the county committee but officials there were still on their May Day vacation. One official came out [to meet us]. Well I dont know which rank he is and he told us that the police station is handling the case and we should return home.
Han:
What will you do next?
Villager:
What can we do? We cant do anything. They are handling the case and we have no say. We only can wait for them to handle the case. We still cant do anything if they dont handle it.
The Public Security Bureau and the Fire-fighting Detachment appear to be in collusion on this case in order to minimize the incidents seriousness. The villagers worry that the PSB will not take any measures against the suspected armed police officers when handling the case. The villagers are going to send the photos they took to Beijing and are drafting a formal complaint to fax to the Fire Protection Department at the Ministry of Public Security.
NOTES:
Note 1: The Chinese People's Armed Police Force was set up in April 1983 and is made up of PLA forces on domestic defense duty and the armed, frontier defense and fire-fighting police, which carry out a military service system. It is an armed defense force for social security which undertakes police duties. The armed police force follows the rules and regulations of the PLA and enjoys equal treatment with PLA troops. Extracts from http://www.globalsecurity.org/intell/world/china/pap.htm. According to reports from inside China, this type of police have more rights than ordinary Public Security Bureau police and are usually more violent and rigid in their handling disputes. Throughout this transcript, the term armed police refers the armed police from the fire-fighting detachment while police refers to ordinary police officers working for the Public Security Bureau