Human Rights in China (HRIC) has learned that Three Gorges activist Fu Xiancai has sent an open letter to China's Procurator-general, Jia Chunwang, requesting his intervention into Fu's assault case.

An outspoken advocate for villagers of Zigui County, Hubei Province, displaced for the Three Gorges Dam, Fu Xiancai was struck in the back of the neck by an unknown assailant on June 8, 2006, after local police questioned him over an interview with Fu broadcasted by German television station Das Erste in May. Suffering from paralysis from the shoulders down, Fu was sent to Yichang No. 1 People's Hospital, where he received an operation paid for by the German government. Further interventions and contributions from the public and German media resulted in Fu being transferred to Beijing’s China Rehabilitation Research Center for further treatment and therapy, and Fu is now able to sit upright in a wheelchair, although he still has no feeling from the waist down, and has only limited movement in his hands.

As reported in previous press releases, the local investigation into Fu’s attack concluded that Fu's injuries had resulted from a fall. Fu had submitted formal requests to have the local Public Security Bureau head and certain other officers removed from the investigation on the grounds that they were implicated in previous instances of threats and harassment against him. However, he has received no response to his requests.

In his appeal to the Procurator-general, Fu Xiancai concludes:

Since I am a Chinese citizen, I should have the right to appeal to the Chinese government for help. Therefore, you are my last hope, Jia Chunwang, Procurator-general of the People's Procuratorate. I hope that you will be a representative of judicial fairness in China. Indeed, I expect you to be a symbol of judicial fairness in China. Please give this handicapped villager displaced by the Three Gorges Dam project a glimmer of hope for the rule of law.

A full translation of Fu Xiancai's open letter is attached to this press release.

Fu Xiancai's open letter highlights the need for stronger respect for the rule of law and transparent processes in China. HRIC remains seriously concerned about the results of the Zigui Public Security Bureau investigation, which was seriously flawed because it was carried out by the same people who were implicated in previous attacks against Fu Xiancai. HRIC urges the city and provincial authorities to order a new, transparent and independent investigation that will ensure there is no impunity for these kinds of physical attacks on human rights defenders.

Attachment: Full English translation of Fu Xiancai's open letter available at http://hrichina.org/public/PDFs/PressReleases/Fu-Xiancai-18Dec06.open-letter.pdf