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October 19, 2009 SMHRIC New York
Batzangaa,
a Southern (Inner) Mongolian exile and the Principal of the Ordos
Mongol-Tibetan Medical School, was arrested at the front entrance of
the United Nations Refugee Agency office building in Ulaanbaatar,
capital of the independent country of Mongolia on October 3, 2009
while seeking United Nations political refugee status. Four Chinese
policemen sent from China accompanied by more than 10 Mongolian
policemen carried out the arrest. Batzangaa¡¯s wife Ms.Bayanhuaar and
their 9-year old daughter were also arrested in Ulaanbaatar.
The three were deported back to Ordos Municipality ( E Er Duo Si in
Chinese), Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, China, on the same day,
with no apparent recourse to Mongolian legal proceedings to
challenge the deportation order. Prior to his exile, Mr.Batzangaa
ran the Ordos Mongol-Tibetan Medical School and had a series of
disputes with the Chinese authorities over the government¡¯s land
appropriation and the right to maintain the school¡¯s ethnic
characteristics.
Immediately after arriving at Dongsheng District of Ordos
Municipality, the three were detained at the Ordos Municipality
Detention Center. On October 7, Bayanhuaar and their daughter were
released from detention, but placed under house arrest. On October
8, Bayanhuaar was given a notice by the local authorities about the
official arrest of her husband Batzangaa who remains in the same
detention center.
Mr.Batzangaa, 35 years old, a native Mongolian of Otog Front Banner
(banner is equivalent to county), Ordos region of Southern Mongolia,
studied Mongol-Tibetan medicine at the Qinghai Nationality
University in Khukhnuur (Amdo in Tibetan and Qinghai in Chinese)
region of northwest China.
In 2001, Batzangaa established the Ordos Mongol-Tibetan Medical
School in Dongsheng District of Ordos Municipality, to offer classes
in traditional Mongolian medicine that is closely related to Tibetan
medical traditions. As of 2008, more than 1000 Mongolian students
had graduated from this school and practiced Mongolian medicine in
almost every corner of Southern Mongolia, providing affordable,
sometimes even free, medical treatments to poverty stricken rural
Mongolian communities. Later on, Batzangaa also set up the
Affiliated Hospital of Ordos Mongol-Tibetan Medical School with the
coordination of Henan County Mongol-Tibetan Hospital in Khukhnuur
Province.
To expand the school¡¯s infrastructure and provide better educational
environment to the increasing number of students, Batzangaa
contracted with the Government of Dongsheng District to lease 11,562
square meter land for building a dormitory for students in
accordance with Chinese laws and local regulations concerning
nationality education. After a series of evaluation and paper work,
on April 19, 2007, the Government of Dongsheng District agreed to
lease the land to Ordos Mongol-Tibetan Medical School at a high
price of 5.2 million yuan (approximately 1 million US dollars). With
personal loans and other investments, Batzangaa as the Principal of
the school, somehow managed to pay off the amount in order to start
the construction quickly.
However, due to its growing popularity and close ties with Tibetans
and Mongolians in Khukhnuur region, the Ordos Mongol-Tibetan Medical
School, was put under the authorities¡¯ tight surveillance.
On June 20, 2008, the Government of Dongsheng District violated its
own contract with the Ordos Mongol-Tibetan Medical School by
canceling the lease agreement, causing unexpected interruption of
schooling for more than 300 students, bringing a substantial
economic loss to the school. Batzangaa filed a lawsuit against the
Government of Dongsheng District that reluctantly paid back the
original payment, but refused to pay any compensation to the school
for the losses.
The ¡°Decision Regarding the Suspension of Ordos Mongol-Tibetan
Medical School¡¯s School License by Ordos Municipality Bureau of
Education¡± states that the Principal Batzangaa ¡°has always been
uncooperative with the Bureau of Education over the land dispute
with the Government of Dongsheng District, and had even taken an
attitude of resistance towards the mediation by the Bureau of
Education¡±.
According to a communication received by the Southern Mongolian
Human Rights Information Center, the so-called ¡°mediation¡± is
nothing more than intimidation by the Government of Dongsheng
District through its Bureau of Education to de-emphasize the
Mongolian and Tibetan ethnic characteristics of the school and sever
ties with Tibetans by changing the official name of the school.
On October 8, 2008, the Legislative Affairs Office of Ordos
Municipality organized a hearing on the case. Before the hearing,
the representative of Dongsheng District Government made it clear
that ¡°the cancellation of land lease contract was not due to an
issue of money, but it was due to the authorities¡¯ suspicion and
surveillance towards ethnic minorities¡±.
According to Bayanhuaar, wife of Batzangaa, who was contacted by the
Southern Mongolian Human Rights Information Center over the phone,
Batzangaa along with his wife and his 9 year old daughter left China
for Mongolia on May 26, 2009, fleeing the Chinese authorities¡¯
intimidation and possible persecution.
Shortly after arriving at Ulaanbaatar, capital of Mongolia, the
Batzangaa family applied to the United Nations Refugee Agency office
in Mongolia for political refugee status. Their application was
turned down, but the reason for the denial is still unclear.
On October 3, 2009, four Chinese policemen with the cooperation of
local Mongolian police arrested Batzangaa, Bayanhuaar and their
daughter. They were deported to China without any opportunity for
them to challenge the deportation order in the Mongolian courts.
Currently, Bayanhuaar and their daughter are under house arrest, and
Batzangaa remains in the Ordos Municipality Detention Center. Family
members and relatives are not allowed to visit Batzangaa at the
Detention Center, and his health condition remains unknown.
Overseas Southern Mongolian communities in the United States,
Europe, and Japan are strongly condemning the Government of China
and the Government of Mongolia for their flagrant violation of
international human rights conventions in the manner in which the
Batzangaa case was handled. Southern Mongolian exiles especially
criticized the Government of Mongolia, a democratic and independent
sovereign nation, for not following legal conventions in allowing
Chinese police to make an arrest on Mongolian soil. At the same
time, Southern Mongolians expressed their disappointment to the
United Nations Refugee Agency for its failure to provide necessary
protection to Mr.Batzangaa and his family based on a fair and
reasonable judgment.
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