Christians Discovered at Black Jail in Henan, China

ICC Note: Three Christian members of the Nanle County Christian Church were recently found being held by authorities at a “black jail” in Henan Province, China. “Black jails” are unofficial detention centers where authorities are able to extra-judicially hold individuals for almost indefinite lengths of time. The discovery of the jail by local Christians and the report issues by human rights organization ChinaAid effectively led to the quick closure of the jail and the transfer of the three Christians to another location. In November of last year, authorities kidnapped or arrested nearly two dozen members of the Nanle Country Christian Church in the harshest crackdown on a government approved church in China in more than two decades. 
2/20/2014 China (ChinaAid) – Three Christians from the centrally-located Henan province have been confirmed as missing since the black jail they were previously held in was closed on Sunday; their family members tried unsuccessfully to obtain help from local authorities yesterday.
ChinaAid previously reported that the illegal detention center was found vacant on Sunday after believers had called local authorities to report their suspicions.
Of the nine remaining believers in detention, six have been placed under criminal detention. Those include Nanle County Christian Church Pastor Zhang Shaojie, Fan Ruiling, who is disabled, and Zhang Cuijuan, who are all being held at the Puyang Municipal Detention Center. The other three under criminal detention are being held at the Nanle County Detention center and include Zhao Junling, Zhao Zhijun and Yan Beibei.
The remaining three Christians are those who were held in the black jail: Li Cairen, Wu Guishan and Zhao Guoli.
Since the black jail shut down, the three were moved during the night to an unknown location.
Family members of some of the detained reported the disappearances to the Puyang Public Security Bureau, but officials there refused to acknowledge Li, Wu and Zhao Guoli as missing.
“My father and I went to the Public Security Bureau to report a case of disappearance. There person there told us to report the case at the county police station,” Li Bianling, Zhao Guoli’s wife, said.
“‘The person in the county government told us to come here,’ I said. [The police officer] told me to go to the Bureau of Letters and Calls. I asked him whether the Bureau of Letters and Calls takes care of disappearance cases, and he said this was not a disappearance case,” Li Bainling said.
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