China urged to account for Mongolian activist

From http://www.phayul.com BEIJING -- Amnesty International urged Beijing on Monday to account for an independence activist in Chinese-controlled Inner Mongolia who was released from prison one month ago only to be detained again by authorities with no word on his whereabouts. Hada, center, with his wife Xinna and his son Uiles before his imprisonment. (AFP/Getty Images) The London-based rights group called on China to free the 56-year-old activist Hada, his wife Xinna and son Uiles, who were detained around the time of Hada's scheduled prison release on Dec. 10 after a 15-year term. "Amnesty International fears they may be subjected to enforced disappearance," the group said in a statement. While ethnic separatism is not well known in Inner Mongolia, a Chinese-run region bordering the independent state of Mongolia, it's a sensitive issue for China's government, which fears the spread of the violent ethnic unrest that has hit Tibet and Xinjiang in recent years. Hada, who like many Mongolians uses just one name, campaigned for Inner Mongolia's independence from China before being jailed in 1996 on charges of separatism and spying. Amnesty International said Hada's sister-in-law, Naraa, was told on Dec. 14 by an official from the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region Public Security Bureau that Hada and his family were "enjoying a family reunion" in a hotel and that they needed time to "plan their next step." The official did not go into specifics, the group said. Calls to the region's public security bureau rang unanswered Monday while the mobile phones of Xinna, Uiles and Naraa were switched off.