Wang Xiaoqin: Joint Accountability Application Regarding Zhang Minghui, Former Director of Weicheng District Detention Centre, Disappearing Out of Fear of Punishment; Current Director Ma Hongwei Deflecting Responsibility by Saying “People Die in Hospitals Too”; and the Weicheng District Public Security Bureau Refusing to Issue a Written Response

Applicant: Name：Wang Xiaoqin，female， ID number：610404198105226020，telephone：18064379278，address：Family Courtyard of the Fourth Thermal Power Company, No. 66 Jinxu Road, Xixian New Area, Xi’an City, Shaanxi Province

Units against which accountability is sought： 

1. Weicheng Branch of the Xianyang Municipal Public Security Bureau（Weicheng District Public Security Bureau） 2. Xianyang Municipal Public Security Bureau 

Personnel against whom accountability is sought：

1. Zhang Minghui（former director of the Weicheng District Detention Centre，serving at the time of the incident）

2. Wang Haijie（deputy director of the Weicheng District Public Security Bureau）

3. Chen Xiaoming（section chief of the Weicheng District Public Security Bureau）

4. Ma Hongwei（current director of the Weicheng District Detention Centre）

5. Wang Chao（police officer of the Weicheng District Public Security Bureau）

6. Gui Cunshe（former director of the Weicheng District Public Security Bureau involved in the case）

7. Shen Zu（current director of the Weicheng District Public Security Bureau）

8. Wang Yuanhang（director of the petitions office of the Xianyang Municipal Public Security Bureau） 

Accountability authority requested: Xianyang Municipal Commission for Discipline Inspection and Supervision 

I. Facts and reasons for seeking accountability

(1) Basic facts of the case

Victim Wang Yingqiang’s son, Wang Xiaogang, was deliberately bitten and frightened into developing mental illness by a unit guard dog while working at China Energy Construction Group Northwest Electric Power Construction Third Company in 2007. Wang Yingqiang petitioned for 16 years without receiving lawful handling. Instead, the Weicheng Subdistrict Office and a central state-owned enterprise hired Ma Yongkui to unlawfully monitor and persecute the Wang family for years, using every possible means to block and intercept petitioning. Every time Wang Yingqiang or a family member went out to petition, Ma Yongkui would telephone leaders to report the situation and follow and monitor them. Whenever Wang Yingqiang returned from petitioning, Ma Yongkui would deliberately pick a fight, loudly curse, threaten and cause trouble near the courtyard of Wang Yingqiang’s home. The surveillance equipment at the scene of the incident was directed at Wang Yingqiang’s front door and had monitored his family for a long time, precisely recording the incident in its entirety.

On September 27, 2022, victim Ma Yongkui repeatedly went to the entrance of victim Wang Yingqiang’s home without cause, carrying a knife, cursing and causing trouble. However, police officers from the Jinxu Road police station, which had jurisdiction over the area, who attended the scene that day took no measures against or even reprimanded or educated Ma Yongkui. They did not even confiscate the 30-centimetre-long pointed knife he had used in the attack before leaving. At around 8 a.m. on September 28, Ma Yongkui again went to the courtyard of Wang Yingqiang and Wang Xiaogang’s home carrying a 30-centimetre-long pointed knife to cause trouble, and was injured by Wang Xiaogang, who had a mental illness, while acting in legitimate self-defence. Later, Ma Yongkui’s son, defendant Ma Jianjun, drove an off-road vehicle (licence plate number Shaanxi A3E79D) into the courtyard of Wang Yingqiang’s home and rammed Wang Yingqiang. It first violently struck Ma Yongkui, his father, who was already sitting on the ground. As a result, victim Ma Yongkui was thrown heavily against an iron pillar; at the same time, the off-road vehicle pushed against his lower body, causing severe twisting of his body, and then drove directly over him. After defendant Ma Jianjun got out of the vehicle and discovered that he had run over his own father, he immediately reversed and ran over victim Ma Yongkui a second time, causing Ma Yongkui to go into shock at the scene (Ma Yongkui later died after resuscitation efforts failed. The medical records state that Ma Yongkui suffered fractures of 16 ribs on both sides of the chest, a sternal fracture, multiple pelvic fractures, a left iliac fracture, and multiple abdominal-organ contusions and haemorrhages, among other injuries). Ma Jianjun then rammed Wang Yingqiang, who was sitting on a stone block in his own courtyard, damaging the stone table and stone stools. Wang Yingqiang was struck in the lower body, his head and upper body were violently thrown against the front bonnet, and he was then thrown backwards. After defendant Ma Jianjun discovered that he had rammed and run over his father and caused him to go into shock, he drove the vehicle backwards and again charged into Wang Yingqiang’s courtyard with the intent to attack, but was injured by Wang Xiaogang while the latter was acting in legitimate self-defence.

After the incident, the Xixian New Area Public Security Bureau immediately took away Wang Xiaogang, a person with mental illness who had acted in legitimate self-defence in his own courtyard, but used every possible means to cover up and protect the actual killer, Ma Jianjun, who had driven an off-road vehicle into Wang Yingqiang’s courtyard, run Ma Yongkui to death and injured Wang Yingqiang, and did not arrest him. To cover up his dereliction of duty and abuse of power on September 27, 2022, Zhang Shuli, director of the Jinxu Road police station, unlawfully used AI technology to delete and edit surveillance footage of Ma Yongkui carrying a 30-centimetre-long pointed knife to attack Wang Yingqiang at his home on September 27, 2022. If the Jinxu Road police station had lawfully confiscated his controlled knife and taken compulsory measures when it responded on September 27, 2022, the tragedy of September 28, 2022, would never have occurred. After the incident, in order to cover up the actual killer, Ma Jianjun, Zhang Shuli and others colluded with Xixian New Area investigators Liang Jin, Li Ge and others to find more than a dozen friends and fellow villagers of Ma Yongkui in the community where the incident occurred to give false testimony, framing victims Wang Yingqiang and Wang Xiaogang, father and son.

Such a simple September 28 intentional-injury case was unlawfully divided by Wang Lin, deputy chief of the criminal investigation squadron of the Xixian New Area Public Security Bureau under the Xi’an Municipal Public Security Bureau, and police officers Li Ge, Liang Jin and others into a Wang Xiaogang intentional-injury case and a Ma Jianjun intentional-injury case, in an act of bending the law for personal ends to cover up the actual killer, Ma Jianjun. It was not until 77 days after the September 28 incident that Liang Jin and others took compulsory measures against Ma Jianjun, claiming that police officers had previously been assigned to guard him while he received treatment, although his injury assessment had classified his injuries as only minor and he did not need to remain in hospital for so long. Liang Jin and others even defied common sense and unlawfully determined that Ma Jianjun’s automatic surrender after leaving hospital constituted voluntary surrender.

 

On September 29, 2022, Wang Xiaogang was placed under residential surveillance at a designated location by the Xixian New Area Branch of the Xi’an Municipal Public Security Bureau (the Xixian Branch) on suspicion of intentional injury. On October 31, 2022, the Xixian Branch changed the compulsory measure to criminal detention, and Wang Xiaogang was held at the Weicheng District Detention Centre. His admission medical examination form showed that he was in good health. During his detention, the Weicheng District Detention Centre repeatedly made things difficult and prevented Wang Xiaogang’s lawyer, Shao Chenyang, from meeting him. On July 19, 2024, Wang Xiaogang was sent to hospital because of massive gastrointestinal bleeding, and died on July 23. An autopsy report from the Xi’an Jiaotong University Centre for Forensic Medicine Judicial Expertise confirmed that the cause of death was haemorrhagic shock caused by rupture of a gastrointestinal-wall leiomyosarcoma, but there were systematic violations and dereliction of duty in the supervision and medical-care processes. After Wang Xiaogang’s unnatural death at the Weicheng District Detention Centre, Gui Cunshe, director of the Weicheng District Public Security Bureau of Xianyang City, and others did not handle the matter lawfully at the first opportunity, but instead reported false materials everywhere to conceal the truth about Wang Xiaogang’s death. Police officer Wang Chao of the Weicheng District Public Security Bureau told Wang Xiaoqin, Wang Xiaogang’s younger sister, that the Ministry of Public Security had sent the Shaanxi Provincial Public Security Department to the Weicheng District Detention Centre to learn about the situation, and that the matter ended after they reviewed the so-called internal investigation report of the Weicheng District Public Security Bureau. Wang Chao said that if Wang Xiaogang’s family agreed not to pursue the detention centre’s legal responsibility, they would receive only 70,000 yuan as the price of Wang Xiaogang’s life, and said that the three detainees who had previously died at the Weicheng District Detention Centre had each received only 70,000 yuan, with each case settled within one week.

After the incident, victim Wang Xiaogang’s father, who had been crippled in bed after being rammed at home by the killer Ma Jianjun, spent his days shedding tears and was unable to accept the cruel reality of a white-haired parent having to bury a child. Victim Wang Xiaogang’s younger sister, Wang Xiaoqin, repeatedly mailed reports to Wang Xiaohong, Minister of Public Security, and Dai Binbin, director of the Shaanxi Provincial Public Security Department, but they disappeared without a response. More than two years have passed since the incident, yet no one from the Ministry of Public Security or the Shaanxi Provincial Public Security Department has ever proactively contacted the victim’s family to learn about or discuss the case. Instead, wherever the victim’s family reports the matter, Gui Cunshe and others use every possible means to cover it up. As a result, the deceased Wang Xiaogang remains unable to rest in peace, while his family has suffered suppression and persecution.

At around 9 a.m. on Wednesday morning, July 8, 2026, I went as agreed to the Weicheng District Public Security Bureau of Xianyang City to discuss Wang Xiaogang’s unnatural-death case at the Weicheng District Detention Centre with Deputy Director Wang Haijie and Section Chief Chen Xiaoming.

Unexpectedly, Deputy Director Wang Haijie also invited Ma Hongwei, the newly appointed director of the Weicheng District Detention Centre, on the grounds that Director Ma’s participation in the discussion could serve as a warning and educational lesson for his subsequent work. As for Zhang Minghui, the director of the Weicheng District Detention Centre at the time of the incident, there has been no official announcement as to where he has gone to hide out of fear of punishment.

Director Ma Hongwei said to me: “People die in hospitals every day too. Even people die at Beijing Union Medical College Hospital. Hospitals cannot cure every patient, let alone the many detention centres across the country. It is normal for several people to die each year.”

I challenged Director Ma: “A hospital is a place that saves lives and treats the injured. Can the death of a detainee in a detention centre really be equated with the death of a patient in a hospital?”

Director Ma Hongwei repeatedly insisted: “Wang Xiaogang died a normal death while detained at the Weicheng District Detention Centre. Under the relevant laws, when a detainee dies a normal death, the public security authorities only need to pay funeral expenses. There is no such thing as any other compensation or accountability.”

I asked Director Ma: “Were you working at the Weicheng District Detention Centre during the period from Wang Xiaogang’s detention to his death? How did you determine that Wang Xiaogang died a normal death?”

Director Ma: “I did not previously work at the Weicheng District Detention Centre. I have only been in the post for just over half a year. I saw in the Xi’an Jiaotong University autopsy report that Wang Xiaogang died a normal death.”

Me: “The forensic opinion from Xi’an Jiaotong University states: ‘Wang Xiaogang died of multiple-organ failure caused by massive gastrointestinal bleeding resulting from a gastrointestinal-wall leiomyosarcoma complicated by rupture of the tumour,’ and does not say that he died a normal death.”

If a small-intestinal leiomyosarcoma receives timely and effective diagnosis and treatment, it can be treated. Wang Xiaogang was not taken to hospital for treatment until two days after the tumour had ruptured and begun bleeding, when he was suffering haemorrhagic shock and impaired consciousness. This shows that the Weicheng District Detention Centre delayed diagnosis and treatment.

The 10 days of surveillance footage before Wang Xiaogang’s death provided by the Weicheng District Detention Centre clearly shows Wang Xiaogang falling unconscious several times for hours without anyone paying attention. Do Zhang Minghui, the former director of the Weicheng District Detention Centre, and others really bear no legal responsibility for dereliction of duty or mistreating detainees?

 

Deputy Director Wang Haijie gave only an oral response, saying that the condition previously proposed by police officer Wang Chao of the Weicheng District Public Security Bureau while viewing surveillance footage together—compensation of 70,000 yuan for Wang Xiaogang’s life on the condition that Zhang Minghui and others at the Weicheng District Detention Centre not be held accountable—had expired and that this opportunity was no longer available. At present, the leaders of the Weicheng District Public Security Bureau agreed only to reimburse Wang Xiaogang’s funeral expenses based on the premise that he died a normal death, and there would be no other compensation whatsoever.

I asked Deputy Director Wang Haijie to inform me of his proposed oral resolution in a written response, but Deputy Director Wang Haijie flatly refused.

Wang Haijie and the others asked what my demands were. I replied: accountability in accordance with the law and compensation in accordance with the law.

After I first met and discussed the case with Deputy Director Zhang of the Xianyang Municipal Public Security Bureau, Petitions Office Director Wang Yuanhang and Weicheng District Public Security Bureau Deputy Director Wang Haijie and others following the central inspection team’s referral of the case on May 21, 2026, I asked only for accountability and compensation in accordance with the law. My brother Wang Xiaogang cannot die without justice. There are national laws and family rules; there must be an explanation. Yet this simple demand was subsequently met with countless acts of falsification, buck-passing and inaction. Section Chief Chen Xiaoming and Deputy Director Wang Haijie repeatedly claimed that they had not previously dealt with the case, did not understand the circumstances, and could not handle it without the leaders’ approval, while their eyes darted about and their tone was helpless. Gui Cunshe, the former director of the Weicheng District Public Security Bureau involved in the case, has retired, while Shen Zu, who became director of the Weicheng District Public Security Bureau this year, has also avoided me and never dared to meet me. Xianyang Municipal Public Security Bureau Petitions Office Director Wang Yuanhang has played “hide-and-seek”; his office telephone has never been reachable during working hours. Zhang Minghui, former director of the Weicheng District Detention Centre, mysteriously disappeared after becoming involved in the case. Is he hiding somewhere or has he fled out of fear of punishment? The new petitioning regulations issued on July 1, 2026, clearly stipulate that all petition departments must issue written responses to members of the public. More than two years have passed since my brother Wang Xiaogang’s unnatural death, yet the Weicheng District Public Security Bureau has never issued me any written response. I cannot understand this. If the Xianyang police repeatedly insist that Wang Xiaogang died a normal death and that they need bear neither responsibility nor pay compensation, why have the former and current leaders of the Xianyang Municipal Public Security Bureau and the Weicheng District Public Security Bureau behaved abnormally, to the extent that they do not even dare issue a written response to the petition? What exactly is the hidden scandal behind this? Or is a bigger hand manipulating matters behind the scenes and preventing them from handling the case in accordance with the law? What is the truth about Wang Xiaogang’s unnatural death? 

II. Suspected criminal facts and chain of evidence

(2) The Weicheng District Detention Centre is suspected of failing to perform its supervisory and medical-treatment duties

According to Article 2 of the Provisions on the Handling of Deaths of Detainees in Detention Centres, a normal death refers to a natural death caused by ageing, illness or other reasons; an unnatural death refers to death by suicide or death caused by external factors acting on the human body, including natural disasters, accidents, homicide, corporal punishment, abuse and shooting. Article 7 of those provisions expressly requires that after a detainee dies, where the initial determination is that the death was normal, the public security authorities shall immediately seal and review the original surveillance recordings from the 15 days preceding the detainee’s death, and question and investigate police officers and doctors working in positions including admission, patrol, monitoring and education who may have knowledge of the circumstances relating to the deceased detainee.

In this case, the Weicheng District Detention Centre is suspected of the following failures to perform its supervisory and medical-treatment duties:

1. Delayed diagnosis and treatment: Wang Xiaogang’s small-intestinal leiomyosarcoma could have been cured if diagnosed and treated promptly and effectively. However, he was not sent for medical treatment until two days after the tumour ruptured and began bleeding, when he was suffering haemorrhagic shock and impaired consciousness, thereby missing the best opportunity for treatment.

2. Surveillance footage reflects supervisory dereliction: The 10 days of surveillance footage before Wang Xiaogang’s death provided by the Weicheng District Detention Centre clearly shows Wang Xiaogang falling unconscious several times for hours without anyone paying attention.

3. The forensic opinion is not equivalent to the legal classification of “normal death”: The Xi’an Jiaotong University forensic opinion states that he “died of multiple-organ failure caused by massive gastrointestinal bleeding resulting from a gastrointestinal-wall leiomyosarcoma complicated by rupture of the tumour,” and does not state that this was a “normal death”. According to the Provisions on the Handling of Deaths of Detainees in Detention Centres issued by the Supreme People’s Procuratorate, the Ministry of Public Security and the Ministry of Civil Affairs, in practice, although some parties may appear to have died from illness, if supervisory or medical institutions committed serious negligence in supervising or treating them, created or increased legally impermissible risks to their legal interests, and played a role in causing, aggravating or facilitating their deaths, the deaths may also be determined to be unnatural.

Under Article 17(4) of the State Compensation Law of the People’s Republic of China, where a detention centre or its staff cause bodily injury or death to a citizen through extorting a confession by torture, beating, mistreatment or other acts, or by instigating or conniving at others’ beating or mistreatment, the victim has the right to obtain compensation. Guiding Case No. 246 of the Supreme People’s Court (the compensation case in which Miao Moushun and others applied for compensation from Mudanjiang Prison in Heilongjiang Province for failure to perform supervisory duties resulting in death) makes clear that where detention centres, prisons and other supervisory authorities or their staff violate laws, regulations and relevant provisions, fail to supervise and handle an injury incident promptly after it occurs to a detainee, and are to some extent connected with the detainee’s death, this constitutes failure to perform supervisory duties, and the compensation obligor shall bear state compensation liability.

(3) Relevant responsible personnel of the Weicheng District Public Security Bureau are suspected of disciplinary and legal violations and of shirking responsibility 

1. Zhang Minghui, former director of the Weicheng District Detention Centre: As the principal person responsible for the detention centre at the time of the incident, he bore direct leadership responsibility for security and stability at the detention facility and for the life and health of detainees. During Wang Xiaogang’s detention, he repeatedly fell unconscious without anyone paying attention and was sent for medical treatment late. Zhang Minghui is suspected of dereliction of duty and mistreating detainees, and, after the incident, of “hiding out of fear of punishment”. His whereabouts remain unknown, and he should be held accountable in accordance with the law.

2. Weicheng District Public Security Bureau Deputy Director Wang Haijie and Section Chief Chen Xiaoming: After the central inspection team referred the case on May 21, 2026, they orally told the applicant on July 8 that “the previous condition of 70,000 yuan in compensation has expired” and that “at present, we only agree to reimburse funeral expenses”. They refused to issue a written response regarding the proposed resolution, and are suspected of violating the Regulations on Letters and Visits and the Procedures for Handling Letters and Visits Online, which provide that notices, handling opinions and other documents issued to petitioners by organs and units with authority to handle matters must be delivered to petitioners within the prescribed period.

3. Gui Cunshe, former director of the Weicheng District Public Security Bureau: He has retired after becoming involved in the case, but this cannot exempt him from the leadership responsibility he bore during his tenure.

4. Shen Zu, current director of the Weicheng District Public Security Bureau: He has avoided the applicant and never dared to meet her, and is suspected of violating the responsibility system for petition work by leading officials.

5. Wang Yuanhang, director of the Petitions Office of the Xianyang Municipal Public Security Bureau: He has played “hide-and-seek”; his office telephone has never been reachable during working hours, and he is suspected of violating petition-work discipline.

6. Ma Hongwei, current director of the Weicheng District Detention Centre: During discussions on July 8, 2026, he publicly compared deaths at detention centres with “people dying in hospitals”, claiming that “it is normal for several people to die in detention centres across the country every year” and that “for a normal death, only funeral expenses need to be paid; there is no other compensation or accountability”. His statements seriously violate the Provisions on Pursuing Responsibility for Law-Enforcement Errors by People’s Police of Public Security Organs and the Plan on Strengthening Security Work in Public Security Detention Facilities, which expressly provide that where a major security accident or incident occurs at a detention facility and causes serious consequences, the responsible entities and boundaries of responsibility must be strictly defined; where there is abuse of power, dereliction of duty or corruption, personnel shall, according to the circumstances and under the authority for cadre management, be adjusted and handled in accordance with the law, regulations and discipline, and be held seriously accountable; where a crime is constituted, criminal responsibility shall be pursued in accordance with the law.

(4) The Weicheng District Public Security Bureau violated the statutory procedures for handling petitions

Under Articles 17 and 18 of the Procedures for Handling Letters and Visits Online, where a petitioner requests a review or re-examination, the reviewing or re-examining organ or unit shall, after examination, issue a Notice of Acceptance or Non-Acceptance of an Application for Review or Re-examination. Where the request is accepted, it shall issue an Opinion on the Review or Re-examination of the Petition Matter within 30 days of receiving the request. Notices and opinions on handling, review or re-examination issued to petitioners by organs or units with authority to handle matters must all be delivered to petitioners within the prescribed period, and a receipt of delivery must be completed. Shaanxi Province’s Procedures for Handling Letters and Visits Online contain the same provisions.

In this case:

- More than two years have passed since Wang Xiaogang’s unnatural death, yet the Weicheng District Public Security Bureau has never issued the applicant any written response;

- On July 8, 2026, the applicant expressly asked Deputy Director Wang Haijie to inform her of the proposed oral resolution in a written response, but he refused;

- The new petitioning regulations issued on July 1, 2026, clearly provide that all petition departments must issue written responses to members of the public, but the Weicheng District Public Security Bureau still has not implemented this requirement.

The above conduct of the Weicheng District Public Security Bureau violated the mandatory provisions of the Regulations on Letters and Visits and the Procedures for Handling Letters and Visits Online, constituting a procedural violation.

(5) Legal basis for pursuing responsibility for law-enforcement errors

Articles 9 and 10 of the Implementation Measures of Shaanxi Province for Pursuing Responsibility for Law-Enforcement Errors by People’s Police of Public Security Organs provide that responsibility for law-enforcement errors shall be pursued where, in handling a case, personnel fabricate facts; where the intentional conduct or gross negligence of case-handling personnel results in errors in the main criminal facts or insufficient evidence or an erroneous characterisation of the case; where compensation should be paid in accordance with the law but is not paid, and the party refuses to comply after being ordered to correct the matter by a higher authority; or where threats, deception or other unlawful means cause a party to be afraid to exercise or to abandon its right of action. Article 7 of those measures further provides that higher-level public security organs may directly investigate and handle “law-enforcement error cases that the higher-level public security organ considers it necessary to pursue” and “cases in which the principal leaders of a lower-level public security organ may bear responsibility for law-enforcement errors”.

II. Specific requests for accountability

Based on the above facts and legal grounds, the applicant solemnly submits the following requests for accountability: 

(1) Regarding the characterisation of the case

1. The applicant requests that the Xianyang Municipal Commission for Discipline Inspection and Supervision, pursuant to Article 9 of the Provisions on the Handling of Deaths of Detainees in Detention Centres, initiate a discipline-inspection and supervision investigation into Wang Xiaogang’s death, ascertain the nature of the death in accordance with the law—whether it constituted an unnatural death—and determine whether the Weicheng District Detention Centre engaged in corporal punishment, mistreatment, failure to perform supervisory and medical-treatment duties or other such conduct.

(2) Regarding the pursuit of responsibility

2. The applicant requests that the Xianyang Municipal Commission for Discipline Inspection and Supervision and the Shaanxi Provincial Public Security Department, pursuant to the Provisions on Pursuing Responsibility for Law-Enforcement Errors by People’s Police of Public Security Organs, the Implementation Measures of Shaanxi Province for Pursuing Responsibility for Law-Enforcement Errors by People’s Police of Public Security Organs, the Plan on Strengthening Security Work in Public Security Detention Facilities and other provisions, open accountability investigations into the following persons:

   - Zhang Minghui (former director of the Weicheng District Detention Centre): suspected of dereliction of duty and mistreating detainees; hold him responsible in accordance with law and discipline; if a crime is suspected, transfer him to the judicial authorities for criminal responsibility;

   - Wang Haijie (deputy director of the Weicheng District Public Security Bureau) and Chen Xiaoming (section chief of the Weicheng District Public Security Bureau): suspected of buck-passing, violating petition-handling procedures and refusing to issue a written response, in violation of the Procedures for Handling Letters and Visits Online; impose administrative accountability;

   - Ma Hongwei (current director of the Weicheng District Detention Centre): impose administrative accountability for making statements in public that are inconsistent with the security-management duties of public security detention facilities and for making an unauthorised determination that the nature of Wang Xiaogang’s death was a “normal death”;

   - Wang Chao (police officer of the Weicheng District Public Security Bureau): during the viewing of surveillance footage together, he proposed on behalf of the unit an unlawful compensation plan of “70,000 yuan for a human life”, violating the State Compensation Law; impose disciplinary punishment;

   - Gui Cunshe (former director of the Weicheng District Public Security Bureau): although retired, he should be held responsible for his leadership responsibility in the case during his tenure;

   - Shen Zu (current director of the Weicheng District Public Security Bureau): hold him accountable for violating the responsibility system for petition work by leading officials;

   - Wang Yuanhang (director of the Petitions Office of the Xianyang Municipal Public Security Bureau): hold him accountable for violating petition-work discipline and being unreachable during office hours.

(3) Regarding the compensation request

3. The applicant requests that the Weicheng Branch of the Xianyang Municipal Public Security Bureau, pursuant to Article 17(4) of the State Compensation Law of the People’s Republic of China and Article 28 of the Provisions on the Handling of Deaths of Detainees in Detention Centres, provide state compensation in accordance with the law, including:

   - Death compensation (calculated at 20 times the national average annual wage of employees in the preceding year);

   - Funeral expenses;

   - Solatium for emotional distress;

   - Living expenses for persons without the ability to work whom Wang Xiaogang supported during his lifetime.

(4) Regarding a written response

4. The applicant requests that the Weicheng Branch of the Xianyang Municipal Public Security Bureau, pursuant to the Regulations on Letters and Visits and the Procedures for Handling Letters and Visits Online, issue the applicant a written opinion on the handling of the petition within the statutory period, and formally respond in writing on the determination of the nature of Wang Xiaogang’s death, the allocation of responsibility, the compensation plan and other matters.

IV. Conclusion

Wang Xiaogang died while detained at the Weicheng District Detention Centre. The autopsy expressly determined that he died of “massive gastrointestinal bleeding resulting from a gastrointestinal-wall leiomyosarcoma complicated by rupture of the tumour, leading to multiple-organ failure”, while surveillance footage shows that during the 10 days before his death he “fell unconscious several times for hours without anyone paying attention”, and that the delay in sending him for medical treatment lasted as long as two days. Small-intestinal leiomyosarcoma can be treated if diagnosed and treated promptly and effectively—this fact alone is sufficient to show that the Weicheng District Detention Centre seriously failed to perform its supervisory and medical-treatment duties.

Under Article 17(4) of the State Compensation Law of the People’s Republic of China, the Provisions on the Handling of Deaths of Detainees in Detention Centres and other relevant laws and regulations, the detention centre failed to perform its supervisory and medical-treatment duties promptly, and there is a legal causal relationship between that failure and Wang Xiaogang’s death. It should therefore bear state compensation liability.

The buck-passing, fabrication, refusal to issue a written response and violation of statutory petition-handling procedures by relevant responsible personnel of the Weicheng District Public Security Bureau have seriously damaged the public credibility of law enforcement by the public security authorities and violated the fundamental principle that “the people’s public security serves the people”. Whether Zhang Minghui, former director of the Weicheng District Detention Centre, and others committed dereliction of duty or mistreated detainees, and whether they are suspected of criminal offences, must be determined after an independent investigation conducted in accordance with the law by the discipline-inspection and supervision authorities of Xianyang City.

As the immediate relative of the deceased Wang Xiaogang, the applicant has the lawful right to report, accuse and appeal under Article 41 of the Constitution of the People’s Republic of China, Article 19 of the Regulations on Letters and Visits, the Provisions on the Handling of Deaths of Detainees in Detention Centres and other provisions. The applicant solemnly requests: accountability in accordance with the law and compensation in accordance with the law—this is not only necessary to obtain justice for the deceased, but also an inevitable requirement for upholding the dignity of the law, deterring unlawful and irregular conduct in public security detention facilities, and preventing similar tragedies from happening again.

The applicant respectfully requests that your authority accept this application in accordance with the law, open an investigation, handle the matter fairly, and promptly issue the applicant a written response! 

Respectfully submitted to

             Xianyang Municipal Commission for Discipline Inspection and Supervision

Attachment:Criminal Complaint Regarding Zhang Minghui and Others, Director and Others of the Xianyang Weicheng District Detention Centre, Suspected of the Crimes of Dereliction of Duty and Mistreating Persons Under Supervision

Complainant：

Name：Wang Xiaoqin

ID number：610404198105226020

Address：Family Courtyard of Northwest Electric Power Construction Fourth Company, No. 66 Jinxu Road, Xixian New Area, Xi’an City, Shaanxi Province

Contact details：18064379278 

Persons complained against：

1. Zhang Minghui（then director of the Weicheng District Detention Centre of Xianyang City）；

2. Li Lin（then deputy director of the Weicheng District Detention Centre of Xianyang City）；

3. Wang Haiyang（then resident doctor at the Weicheng District Detention Centre of Xianyang City）；

4. Xu Hongtao、Wang Hui、Wang Weidong（then custodial education officers at the Weicheng District Detention Centre of Xianyang City）；

5. Other personnel involved in the case.

Complaint request：

Open an investigation into Zhang Minghui and others for suspected dereliction of duty and mistreating persons under supervision, and pursue their criminal responsibility.

I. Basic facts

On September 29, 2022, Wang Xiaogang was placed under residential surveillance at a designated location by the Xixian New Area Branch of the Xi’an Municipal Public Security Bureau (the Xixian Branch) on suspicion of intentional injury. On October 31, 2022, the Xixian Branch changed the compulsory measure to criminal detention, and he was held at the Weicheng District Detention Centre. On July 19, 2024, he was sent to hospital because of massive gastrointestinal bleeding and died on July 23. An autopsy report from the Xi’an Jiaotong University Centre for Forensic Medicine Judicial Expertise confirmed that the cause of death was haemorrhagic shock caused by rupture of a gastrointestinal-wall leiomyosarcoma, but there were systematic violations and dereliction of duty in the supervision and medical-care processes.

II. Suspected criminal facts and chain of evidence

(1) Dereliction of duty: systematic disregard for the life and health rights of detainees

1. Delay in treating the illness

Surveillance footage from July 10, 2024, shows that Wang Xiaogang remained unconscious and motionless from the time he got up at 06:09, and did not eat breakfast. At 07:25, custodial education officer Wang Weidong entered cell 206, pointed at Wang Xiaogang, who was lying motionless on the bed, briefly questioned detainee Wu Diao and left. Wang Xiaogang did not fully regain consciousness until 14:07, meaning he had remained unconscious for approximately eight hours without anyone attending to him.

Surveillance footage from July 11 shows that Wang Xiaogang had developed impaired consciousness and was unable to stand. Resident doctor Wang Haiyang merely recommended “increasing the nutritional meals” but did not initiate a medical assessment (Investigation and Verification Files in the Investigation into the Death of Wang Xiaogang, a Detainee at the Weicheng District Detention Centre). On the morning of July 11, Wang Xiaogang did not eat breakfast because he felt ill. At 09:48, a custodial education officer entered (someone called him an instructor) and ordered Wang Xiaogang to go see people from the court. Wang Xiaogang said at the scene: “I haven’t been able to move for the past two days; I can’t even eat.” But the officer did not care about Wang Xiaogang’s condition and instead called several people to forcibly carry him out of the cell to see the people from the court. At 10:07, Wang Xiaogang was carried back to the cell in an unconscious state. At 10:14, a lawyer’s meeting took place, and Wang Xiaogang was again forcibly carried out of the cell by several people. At 10:35, he was carried back to the cell and said: “It feels as though all the bones in my body have come apart; I can’t move.” At 10:38, he again lost consciousness and did not wake until 15:17. At 15:53, custodial education officer Wang Weidong entered cell 206 and called Wang Xiaogang out to talk. Wang Xiaogang said: “I didn’t eat breakfast either. I have severe iron-deficiency anaemia, and I’m very dizzy…” (The rest could not be heard clearly because of loud noise.) At 15:55, several detainees wearing blue vests numbered 001 (Wu Diao), 040 and 578 forcibly pulled Wang Xiaogang off the bed and carried him out of the cell. At 16:04, Wang Xiaogang returned to the cell, limping and leaning against the wall, appearing to be in great discomfort. He appeared to have an injury to his foot, and could not even put on his shoe.

On July 12, 13, 14 and 16, Wang Xiaogang all clearly displayed symptoms including severe abdominal discomfort and dry retching, but no one paid attention or treated him.

At 09:57 on July 18, Wang Xiaogang was called out of the cell, and his whereabouts were unknown. At 10:11, he was carried back in an unconscious and unresponsive state. The custodial officer merely said, “He may have low blood sugar; give him some sugar water,” and left. Wang Xiaogang did not wake until 11:46.

At 12:13 on July 19, Wang Xiaogang fell ill for the first time that day and collapsed. The detention centre then delayed sending him for medical treatment for six hours, violating Article 26 of the Regulations on Detention Centres, which provides that “a person with a serious illness shall be sent for medical treatment immediately” (Investigation and Verification Files in the Investigation into the Death of Wang Xiaogang, a Detainee at the Weicheng District Detention Centre).

At 02:50 on July 20, detention-centre staff, although the consent should have been confirmed by the signature of the unit’s responsible person, telephoned the family urging them to go to the hospital to sign. The person responsible for the detention centre, Director Zhang Minghui, did not sign the surgical consent form until 11:40, nearly nine hours later, delaying the best opportunity for treatment and causing the haemorrhagic shock to worsen (Informed Consent Form for Interventional Diagnosis and Treatment of Haemorrhagic Disease from Yan’an University Xianyang Hospital; Wang Xiaogang’s inpatient medical records).

(2) Crime of mistreating persons under supervision: long-term toleration of violence and systematic management failures

1. Dominant detainees existed

Detainee No. 181 in a blue vest (the chief inmate) controlled order in the cell, imposed corporal punishment and withheld food (summary of surveillance viewed by Wang Xiaoqin).

Surveillance footage from July 11 to 19, 2024, shows that detainees wearing blue vests numbered 143, 040, 578, 220 and 320 bullied Wang Xiaogang violently to varying degrees. Those numbered 143, 040 and 578 were particularly serious and vicious.

On July 16, detainee No. 040 in a blue vest repeatedly verbally abused and threatened Wang Xiaogang and beat him with a shoe. At 18:30, he struck Wang Xiaogang on the head. On July 17, detainee No. 578 struck him on the back of the head (summary of surveillance viewed by Wang Xiaoqin).

2. Supervisory personnel tolerated the mistreatment

In September 2023, Wang Xiaogang reported that a custodial education officer had kicked him in the left chest. The detention centre said that “the area was covered by surveillance”.

Beginning in May 2024, custodial education officers frequently contacted the family, saying that he was “having an episode” and “malnourished”, corroborating long-term mistreatment. 

III. Legal basis and analysis of criminal responsibility

1. Crime of dereliction of duty (Article 397 of the Criminal Law):

The Detailed Rules for Law Enforcement by Detention Centres provide: (3) Handling of detainees who are ill and receive medical treatment inside the facility: 1. Medical personnel shall promptly examine detainees who are ill. For common illnesses that do not require treatment in hospital, symptomatic treatment shall be provided and follow-up observation conducted. (4) Handling of detainees receiving medical treatment outside the facility: 1. Where a detainee’s condition is serious or life-threatening, or where the detainee has a sudden illness, a prolonged illness that has not improved and is not under control, or an unknown illness requiring diagnosis, and medical treatment outside the facility is necessary, the doctor shall promptly report to the director and, after approval, send the detainee to hospital for diagnosis and treatment.

Article 26 of the Regulations of the People’s Republic of China on Detention Centres provides that detention centres shall be equipped with necessary medical instruments and commonly used medicines. Where an inmate falls ill, timely treatment shall be provided; where treatment in hospital is required, the local hospital shall be responsible for treatment; where the illness is serious, the inmate may, in accordance with the law, be released on bail pending trial or granted medical parole.

Zhang Minghui and others knew that Wang Xiaogang had a malignant tumour and severe anaemia, but failed to fulfil the medical-protection obligations set out in the above Detailed Rules for Law Enforcement by Detention Centres and the Regulations of the People’s Republic of China on Detention Centres. This directly led to a delay in treatment and caused his death, meeting the provisions of the Interpretation of the Supreme People’s Court and the Supreme People’s Procuratorate on Several Issues Concerning the Application of Law in Handling Criminal Cases of Dereliction of Duty, which state: “Where a state-agency employee abuses his power or neglects his duties and falls under any of the following circumstances, it shall be determined that the employee has caused ‘major losses to public property and the interests of the state and the people’ as provided in Article 397 of the Criminal Law, thereby constituting the crime of dereliction of duty.”

2. Crime of mistreating persons under supervision (Article 248 of the Criminal Law):

Long-term tolerance of detainees beating Wang Xiaogang, forcing him to stand as punishment and restricting his food intake, causing multiple injuries to his body, meets the requirement of “serious circumstances”. 

In conclusion, Zhang Minghui and others are suspected of the crimes of dereliction of duty and mistreating persons under supervision. We respectfully request that your procuratorate immediately open a case for investigation, pursue their criminal responsibility and initiate state compensation proceedings (Articles 3 and 17 of the State Compensation Law). As this case involves dereliction of duty and mistreatment across departments, we recommend that your procuratorate report it through the proper channels to the Shaanxi Provincial People’s Procuratorate for designation of jurisdiction in another locality.