Epoch Times: Strong Reactions in Russia for Kidnapped Mother and Daughter

Apr 02, 2007

After Ma Hui and her daughter, both United Nations refugees living in St. Petersburg, Russia, were abducted in a joint kidnapping ploy by China and Russia, the whereabouts of Ma Hui remain unknown. Her daughter has been sent back to a relative's house and the only information known about Ma Hui is that she is in Harbin city where the persecution of Falun Gong is the most severe (Ma is a Falun Gong practitioner). As more information and facts are verified, the kidnapping of Ma Hui and her daughter increasingly appear premeditated.

According to the latest information, the kidnapping by St. Petersburg immigration was directed by Moscow top-level government, and a thorough plan was drawn up beforehand. According to sources, in order to ensure the success of the repatriation, on the morning of March 28, after Ma Hui and her child had finished breakfast and before they even stepped out of the house, a group of tall men dressed in black broke into the house and quietly abducted them. They were directly brought to the St. Petersburg Pulkovo No 2 international airport. After waiting for more than ten hours, a Russian female police officer and another Chinese official repatriated them that evening on flight FV-215. At local time 19:50, the plane left Russia for Beijing. During the forced repatriation, Ma Hui and her daughter were mentally anguished and lost their personal freedom. Those who had been through Russia's communist days, when they heard about the incident, commented that this was like a KGB kidnapping tactic used by communist Russia to deal with dissidents.

According to narrations from reliable sources, when Ma Hui and her daughter arrived at Beijing airport, they were brought to an isolated room to wait for a transit plane to Harbin. On arriving in Harbin, they were taken into a car waiting for them and driven directly to Ma Hui's sister's house where her daughter was left there. Subsequently, these people told her family that they wanted to talk to Ma Hui and she was taken away. Since then, despite efforts made by her family members to locate her whereabouts, there has been no news about Ma Hui.

This incident has triggered a strong response from the international society. The local Russian media has shown strong concerns because the kidnapping ploy was something unexpected from the Russian government. On the day of the kidnapping, a St. Petersburg based reporter from the Russian radio station "Echo," the most influential radio station in Russia, immediately rushed to the airport and interviewed United Nations Red Cross representative Sophia and Ma Hui's lawyer. The result was a quickly published article narrating the entire incident. In the report, Ma Hui's lawyer said, "According to Russian laws, it is illegal to repatriate a refugee before a court trial. Ma Hui has the legal right to remain in Russia during the period of the trial."

The U.N. Red Cross representative said, "Not only did the Russian government violate its own laws by repatriating Ma Hui, it has also violated the related European Human Rights treaty as well as the international refugee repatriation treaty. Furthermore, it is usual practice to inform a United Nations Red Cross representative and the lawyer, and a signature must be obtained from family members before repatriation."

After news of the kidnapping broke out, it immediately created a stir in Russian society. Mr Li, Ma Hui's husband, received countless phone calls from friends and strangers who heard the news of his wife and daughter's repatriation from radio broadcasts. Besides expressing their deep felt sympathy and regret towards the government's actions, they also expressed concern for the mother and daughter's situation in China. To date, according to incomplete statistics, already 31 media and websites have reported on the kidnapping. Many media organizations have also reported on the Falun Gong persecution in China as a result.

On March 30, the Geneva United Nations Refugee Commission, on its website, publicly expressed strong concerns over the forced repatriation of Ma Hui and her daughter. They indicated that this was a violation of the international treaty signed by the Russian federation and local refugee legislation. According to both legislations, refugee status applicants are prohibited from being repatriated to countries that endanger their lives. Russia has also signed a refugee treaty in 1951. The Commission has requested that the Russian government provide an explanation for this incident.

Also, several organizations have expressed their dissatisfaction and censured the Russian government for its collaboration in the kidnapping. A representative of the St. Petersburg Human Rights organization "Citizens Watch" censured the government for its actions. Svetlana Gannushkina, the Chairman of St. Petersburg's "Citizens Advance," issued a statement saying, "We, human rights organizations, are deeply concerned about the future of Ma Hui and her daughter. We are against this repatriation decision."

The Russian Immigration headquarters and St. Petersburg immigration department were supposed to send a repatriation document to the Falun Dafa Association on March 30, but no documents have yet been received.

It was reported that on March 28 and 29, because of the incident, related departments in Russia were besieged with phone calls. They complained that the volume of phone calls received have severely interfered with their work. Some departments had to even hang up their phones to obtain temporary respite. An even more troublesome task facing them appears to be how they going to come up with an appropriate response to the huge waves of dissenting voices.

http://en.epochtimes.com/news/7-4-2/53641.html

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