|
|
¡¡
SMHRIC Jan 30, 2011 New York
Mr. Batzangaa (Ba Tu Zhang Ga in Chinese), 38, the former principal
of the Ordos Mongol-Tibetan Medical School, was sentenced to 3 years
in jail with 4 years reprieve, on January 27, 2011, by the Dongsheng
District People¡¯s Court, Ordos Municipality, Inner Mongolia
Autonomous Region (IMAR), for the charge of ¡°diverting a special
fund¡±. Batzangaa pleaded not guilty at the trial which took place 8
days before the court judgment was pronounced. Batzangaa¡¯s attorney,
Mr. Huhbulag, is preparing an appeal to the Ordos Municipality
People¡¯s Court. Currently Batzangaa is free on bail.
On October 3, 2009, Batzangaa was arrested at the front entrance of
the United Nations Refugee Agency office building in Ulaanbaatar,
capital of the independent country of Mongolia while seeking United
Nations political refugee status. Batzangaa¡¯s wife Ms. Bayanhuaar
and their 9-year old daughter Chilguun were also arrested in
Ulaanbaatar shortly afterwards. The family was deported back to
Ordos Municipality ( E Er Duo Si in Chinese), IMAR, China, the
following day. The arrest and deportation were secretly carried out
by four Chinese police officers and ten or more Mongolian police
officers in a joint operation carried out by the Governments of
Mongolia and China.
In May 2009, Batzangaa, along with his wife and daughter, fled China
in an effort to escape possible persecution due to his plans for
organizing public demonstrations to protest the authorities¡¯ illegal
confiscation of the school¡¯s campus grounds.
According to a copy of Batzangaa¡¯s call for demonstrations received
by the Southern Mongolian Human Rights Information Center (SMHRIC),
at least on two separate occasions, Batzangaa sent formal
applications to the local Public Security authorities to organize
public sit-in protests and hunger strikes by more than 200 of his
students at the city¡¯s Chingghis Khaan Square and in front of the
Party Committee building, demanding the ¡°ethnic minority¡¯s right to
education¡±, and protesting the authorities¡¯ ¡°violation of ¡®ethnic
minorities¡¯ legal rights¡±. The Dongsheng District Public Security
Bureau turned down his application without giving any explanation.
After arriving in Mongolia, Batzangaa with his wife and daughter
sought asylum with the United Nations Refugee Agency in the capital
city Ulaanbaatar. According to the Asylum-seeker Certificate
(Reference No. 670-09C00008), issued on August 27, 2009, by the
United Nation High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Batzangaa,
along with his family members, were seeking asylum and ¡°should, in
particular, be protected from forcible return to a country where
he/she claims to face threats to his/her life or freedom, pending a
final decision on his/her refugee status.¡±
In an hour-long telephone interview with SMHRIC yesterday,
Mr.Batzangaa said that he is determined to pursue his pending asylum
case with UNHCR as he is particularly outraged by the Government of
Mongolia¡¯s violation of international human rights standards and
relevant United Nations human rights conventions. Batzangaa
particularly mentioned three individuals who were directly involved
in the arrest and deportation. They are Ms. Anaraa Nyamdorj,
employee of the United Nations Refugee Agency Office in Ulaanbaatar,
Mr. Erdenbulgan, employee of the same office, and Mr. Murun Dashdorj,
head of the Office of Immigration, Naturalization and Foreign
Citizens of Mongolia. SMHRIC will publish the English transcript of
the entire interview shortly.
[click here for the original court verdict in Mongolian]
The following is the Asylum-seeker Certificate issued to Batzangaa
by UNHCR:
 ¡¡
 ¡¡
http://www.smhric.org/Latest_B.htm ¡¡ ¡¡ |
|