Jiang Zuguo, a 72-year-old petitioner from Shanghai’s Jing’an District, was detained in Beijing in December 2021 after distributing materials to air grievances. On the very day of his scheduled release, he was transferred directly to the Jing’an District Mental Health Center, where he has remained illegally detained for 47 months. During this period, Jiang has suffered multiple cerebral infarctions; his family’s requests for medical treatment have been denied, and he has even been refused the MRI scans necessary to diagnose his condition. His health has since deteriorated, resulting in mild hemiplegia (partial paralysis) on his right side. His daughter, Jiang Jinnan, lamented, "My father has been deprived of even the medical rights afforded to death-row inmates."
Since April 2023, Jiang Jinnan has traveled to Beijing 16 times to petition. Although the National Public Complaints and Proposals Administration required officials at both the Shanghai municipal and district levels to provide a signed response, Jing’an District authorities have stalled for 30 months without providing feedback—far exceeding the maximum 60-day response deadline stipulated by the *Regulations on Petitioning*. Jiang Jinnan further alleges that on October 6, 2023, she was forcibly taken away by Shanghai public officials from her residential complex and illegally detained for 36 days in an unofficial detention facility on Chongming Island. During this time, she was subjected to violent beatings, body searches, and intimidation, and her mobile phone was confiscated. After regaining her freedom, she repeatedly visited the Chongming Public Security Bureau to request the filing of a case and a medical examination for her injuries, but was refused. She accuses local officials of abuse of power, illegal detention, obstructing medical treatment, and interfering with the petitioning system. Jiang Zuguo’s condition continues to worsen, and his family is demanding an immediate end to his illegal detention and access to timely medical treatment.
