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SMHRIC Jan 23, 2011 New York
Southern (Inner) Mongolian well-known dissident writer Mr. Erden-uul,
known by the penname Unaga, author of the book "Forefront of
Independence" ("Tusgaar Togtoniliin Umun Front" in Mongolian) was
arrested on December 16, 2010 by the Inner Mongolia Autonomous
Region Public Security authorities in China. He is currently being
held at the Hohhot No.1 Detention Center in the regional capital
Hohhot City under an accusation of involvement in an "illegal
publication".
Family members of Erden-uul were not informed of his arrest and
detention and only after his brother Hasbaatar came to Hohhot to
search for his missing brother and visited the Detention Center
personally did he find Erden-uul's name among a list of recent
detainees.
"I was not allowed to meet with him," Hasbaatar told the Southern
Mongolian Human Rights Information Center (SHMRIC) on a telephone
interview, "I left some cash for him hoping that he can buy some
food with it."
SMHRIC contacted the Hohhot No.1 Detention Center by phone to
determine directly the condition of Mr. Erden-uul but was told "It
is a state secret. No information about any detainee is allowed to
be given out to others," a female officer who declined to identify
herself told SMHIRC and hung up the phone.
Erden-uul is a native of Uushin Banner, Ordos Municipality (E Er Duo
Si Shi Wu Shen Qi in Chinese) and has authored dozens of books and
hundreds of poems under many different pennames including Chavidar,
Uulen, Haliun, and Shivree.
In February 1992, along with two other Mongolian men, Erden-uul was
arrested by the Chinese authorities in Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous
Region in an attempt to cross the border to Mongolia. The three were
sentenced to 8 months in labor camp. After his release Erden-uul
started writing poems, essays, and privately published books
dedicated to the freedom of the Mongolian people in China.
Erden-uul was previously arrested and detained several times
following the publication of another book entitled "Prisoners
Outside Prison" ("Shorong'iin Gadnah Horigdol" in Mongolian) in
1999. In this book, he included a Mongolian version of "A European
Parliament Resolution on Inner Mongolia/1997" that condemned China's
human rights violations in Southern Mongolia, in particular the
arrest of Mr. Hada and the crackdown of the Southern Mongolian
Democratic Alliance (SMDA). The full article can be found at:
http://smhric.org/Hada/Hada_7.htm .
In 2003, Erden-uul published his 4th Essay Collection entitled
"Poet's Eyes Always Wide Open" through the Tian Ma Publishing House
in Hong Kong.
In December 2010, he privately published his new book "Forefront of
Independence" that, according to close friends, discusses matters
related to the independence of Southern Mongolia. Before his arrest
on December 16, 2010, Erden-uul invited his close friends to attend
his book publishing ceremony planned to take place on December 17,
2010.
In addition to Erden-uul, during the past two months alone, at least
seven other Mongolian dissidents and activists have either been
placed under house arrest or been forcibly disappeared by the
Chinese authorities. They are the prominent political prisoner Hada,
his wife Xinna and son Uiles, dissident write Ms. Huuchinhuu,
activist Mr. Arslan and two member of a Mongolian music band.
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Southern Mongolian Human Rights Information Center
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