Chen’s Family Members Harassed

Blind activist Chen Guangcheng may have escaped China, but his extended family still living in Dongshigu village is suffering. Their village is now guarded by men who locals claim are government-employed thugs. Chen’s older brother says that police tortured him in order to find out how Chen escaped, and that they also beat his wife. Chen’s 78-year-old mother claims she is harassed everywhere she goes. “The men follow me wherever I go. Three or four of them at a time. Sometimes they search me–my bag, my clothes, my pockets. They even search my shoes.”