Wang Xiaoqin: Joint Accountability Application Regarding the Criminal Disappearance of Zhang Minghui, Former Director of the Weicheng District Detention Center, the Current Director Ma Hongwei’s Deflection of Responsibility by Saying “People Die in Hospitals Too,” and the Weicheng District Public Security Bureau’s Refusal to Issue a Written Reply

Applicant: Name：Wang Xiaoqin，female， ID number：610404198105226020，contact number：18064379278，address：Family Compound of the No. 4 Thermal Power Company, Jinxu Road 66, Xixian New Area, Xi’an City, Shaanxi Province

Respondents for accountability： 

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

Persons for whom accountability is sought：

1. Zhang Minghui（former director of the Weicheng District Detention Center，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 Center）

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 Letters and Visits Office of the Xianyang Municipal Public Security Bureau） 

Accountability authority requested: Xianyang Municipal Commission of Supervision 

I、Facts and grounds for the accountability application

（I）Basic facts of the case

Victim Wang Yingqiang’s son, Wang Xiaogang, was bitten and frightened into developing a mental illness in 2007 while working at the No. 3 Northwest Electric Power Construction Company of China Energy Engineering Corporation Group, after someone deliberately released the company’s guard dog on duty. Wang Yingqiang petitioned for 16 years without receiving lawful处理. Instead, the Weicheng Subdistrict Office and the centrally administered enterprise hired Ma Yongkui to unlawfully monitor and persecute Wang Yingqiang’s family for years, stopping and intercepting petitioners by every means. Whenever Wang Yingqiang or his family went out to petition, Ma Yongkui would call the leaders to report the situation and follow and surveil them. Whenever Wang Yingqiang returned from petitioning, Ma Yongkui would deliberately pick a quarrel, loudly curse and threaten him, and cause trouble near the courtyard of Wang Yingqiang’s home. The surveillance equipment at the scene of the incident was pointed directly at Wang Yingqiang’s front door, monitoring his family for a long period, and happened to record the entire course of the incident.

On September 27, 2022, victim Ma Yongkui repeatedly went without cause to the entrance of victim Wang Yingqiang’s home carrying a knife, shouting abuse and causing trouble. The officers from the Jinxu Road police station in the jurisdiction who responded that day took no action whatsoever against Ma Yongkui and did not even confiscate the 30-centimeter-long pointed knife he had used before leaving. At around 8 a.m. on September 28, Ma Yongkui again went into the courtyard of Wang Yingqiang and Wang Xiaogang’s home carrying a 30-centimeter-long pointed knife to cause trouble, and was injured by Wang Xiaogang, who had a mental illness, in lawful self-defense. Later, Ma Yongkui’s son, defendant Ma Jianjun, drove an off-road vehicle (license plate Shaanxi A3E79D) into the courtyard of Wang Yingqiang’s home and rammed Wang Yingqiang. The vehicle first violently struck his father Ma Yongkui, who was already sitting on the ground, causing victim Ma Yongkui to be thrown heavily against an iron post. At the same time, the off-road vehicle pushed against his lower body, violently twisting his body, and then drove directly over him. After getting out and discovering that he had run over his own father, defendant Ma Jianjun immediately reversed 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: Ma Yongkui suffered fractures of 16 ribs on both sides of the chest, a fractured sternum, multiple pelvic fractures, a fracture of the left ilium, and multiple contusions and hemorrhaging of abdominal organs, among other injuries). The vehicle then rammed Wang Yingqiang, who was sitting on a stone block in his own courtyard, damaging the stone table and stone bench. Wang Yingqiang was struck in the lower body, his head and upper body were violently thrown onto the front hood, and he was then thrown backward. After defendant Ma Jianjun discovered that he had rammed over and caused his father to go into shock, he drove the vehicle backward and again drove into Wang Yingqiang’s courtyard with the intention of committing violence, but was injured by Wang Xiaogang in lawful self-defense.

After the incident, the Xixian New Area Public Security Branch immediately took away Wang Xiaogang, a person with mental illness who had acted in lawful self-defense in his own courtyard, but used every means to shield and protect Ma Jianjun, the true killer who had driven an off-road vehicle into Wang Yingqiang’s courtyard, run over Ma Yongkui to death and injured Wang Yingqiang, and did not arrest him. To cover up his dereliction and abuse of authority in responding to the incident on September 27, 2022, Jinxu Road police station director Zhang Shuli unlawfully used artificial-intelligence technology to delete and edit the surveillance video showing Ma Yongkui going to Wang Yingqiang’s home with a 30-centimeter-long pointed knife to commit violence on September 27, 2022. If the Jinxu Road police station had lawfully confiscated his controlled weapon and taken compulsory measures against him when responding on September 27, 2022, the tragedy of September 28, 2022, would never have occurred. After the incident, to shield the true killer Ma Jianjun, Zhang Shuli and others colluded with Xixian New Area case officers 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 and frame victims Wang Yingqiang and Wang Xiaogang, father and son.

Such a simple September 28 intentional-injury case was unlawfully divided by Wang Lin, deputy head of the criminal police brigade, and officers Li Ge, Liang Jin and others of the Xixian Branch of the Xi’an Municipal Public Security Bureau into a Wang Xiaogang intentional-injury case and a Ma Jianjun intentional-injury case, resulting in favoritism and shielding the true 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. They claimed that before then police officers had been assigned to guard him while he received treatment, but his injury assessment was only a minor injury and there was no need for him to remain hospitalized for so long. Liang Jin and others even defied common sense and unlawfully determined that Ma Jianjun’s automatic surrender after being discharged from hospital constituted voluntary surrender.

 

On September 29, 2022, Wang Xiaogang was placed under residential surveillance at a designated location by the Xixian 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 held him at the Weicheng District Detention Center. His admission medical examination form showed that Wang Xiaogang was in good health. During his detention, the Weicheng District Detention Center repeatedly created difficulties and refused to allow Wang Xiaogang’s lawyer, Shao Chenyang, to meet with him. On July 19, 2024, he was sent to hospital because of massive gastrointestinal bleeding and died on July 23. The autopsy report of the Xi’an Jiaotong University Forensic Medicine Judicial Appraisal Center confirmed that the cause of death was hemorrhagic shock caused by rupture of a gastrointestinal stromal tumor of the intestinal wall, but there were systematic violations and dereliction of duty in the supervision and medical-treatment processes. After Wang Xiaogang’s unnatural death at the Weicheng District Detention Center, Gui Cunshe, director of the Weicheng District Public Security Bureau of Xianyang City, and others did not deal with the matter in accordance with the law at the first opportunity, but instead submitted false materials everywhere to conceal the truth of Wang Xiaogang’s death. Weicheng District Public Security Bureau officer Wang Chao told victim 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 Center to learn about the situation, but the matter ended after it reviewed the so-called internal investigation report of the Weicheng District Public Security Bureau. Wang Chao said that if Wang Xiaogang’s family was willing not to pursue the detention center’s legal responsibility, the family 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 Center had each received only 70,000 yuan and that each case had been resolved within one week.

After the incident, the victim’s father, Wang Xiaogang, who had been crippled and confined to bed after the killer Ma Jianjun drove to his home and attacked him, wept every day and could not accept the cruel reality of a white-haired parent burying a child. Victim Wang Xiaogang’s younger sister, Wang Xiaoqin, repeatedly mailed reporting materials to Wang Xiaohong, minister of the Ministry 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 now 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 communicate on the case. Instead, wherever the victim’s family reported the matter, Gui Cunshe and others went there by every means to cover up the wrongdoing. As a result, the deceased Wang Xiaogang has still not received justice, 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 communicate with Deputy Director Wang Haijie and Section Chief Chen Xiaoming about the case of Wang Xiaogang’s unnatural death at the Weicheng District Detention Center.

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

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

I questioned Director Ma: “A hospital is a place that saves lives and treats the injured. Can the death of a detainee in a detention center be treated as the same thing as 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 Center. According to relevant laws, when a detainee dies a normal death, the public security authorities only need to pay funeral expenses. There is no question of any other compensation or accountability.”

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

Director Ma: “I was not previously working at the Weicheng District Detention Center. I have only been in the position for a little more than six months. I saw that the Xi’an Jiaotong University autopsy report said Wang Xiaogang died a normal death.”

Me: “The Xi’an Jiaotong University forensic appraisal opinion says: ‘Wang Xiaogang died of multiple-organ failure caused by massive gastrointestinal bleeding resulting from a gastrointestinal stromal tumor of the intestinal wall combined with rupture of the tumor,’ and it does not say that he died a normal death.”

If a gastrointestinal stromal tumor of the small intestine receives timely and effective diagnosis and treatment, it can be treated. Wang Xiaogang was not taken to hospital until two days after the tumor ruptured and bled, when he was in hemorrhagic shock and had become confused, indicating that the Weicheng District Detention Center delayed diagnosis and treatment.

The ten days of detention-center surveillance video before Wang Xiaogang’s death, provided by the Weicheng District Detention Center, clearly shows Wang Xiaogang repeatedly losing consciousness for several hours without anyone attending to him. Could Zhang Minghui, the former director of the Weicheng District Detention Center, and others really bear no legal responsibility for dereliction of duty or abusing detainees?

 

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

I asked Deputy Director Wang Haijie to inform me of his oral handling plan in the form of a written reply, but Deputy Director Wang Haijie categorically refused.

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

After I first met and communicated with Deputy Director Zhang of the Xianyang Municipal Public Security Bureau, Letters and Visits Office Director Wang Yuanhang, and Weicheng District Public Security Bureau Deputy Director Wang Haijie and others after the Central Inspection Group referred 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, and there must be an explanation. Yet this simple demand was subsequently met with countless acts of falsification, buck-passing, wrangling and inaction. Section Chief Chen Xiaoming and Deputy Director Wang Haijie repeatedly claimed that they had not previously handled the case and did not understand the situation, and that they could not act without the leaders’ approval. Their eyes darted away 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 acted evasively and never dared to meet anyone. Xianyang Municipal Public Security Bureau Letters and Visits Office Director Wang Yuanhang has played “hide-and-seek”; his office telephone has never been reachable during working hours. Zhang Minghui, the former director of the Weicheng District Detention Center, mysteriously disappeared after becoming involved in the case as well. Is he hiding somewhere or has he fled in fear of criminal responsibility? The new petitioning regulations issued on July 1, 2026, clearly stipulate that all petition departments must issue written replies to the public. My brother Wang Xiaogang’s unnatural death occurred more than two years ago, yet the Weicheng District Public Security Bureau has never issued me any written reply. I cannot understand: If the Xianyang police repeatedly insist that Wang Xiaogang died a normal death and that they do not need to bear responsibility or 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, even daring not to issue a single written reply to the petition? What exactly is the undisclosed scandal behind this? Or is a larger unseen 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

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

According to Article 2 of the Provisions on Handling the Death of Detainees in Detention Centers, a normal death refers to a natural death caused by aging, 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 the provisions expressly requires that after a detainee dies, where the preliminary determination is that the death was normal, the public security authorities shall immediately seal and review the original surveillance recordings from the 15 days before the detainee’s death, and question and investigate police officers and doctors in positions such as admission, inspection rounds, monitoring and education who may have knowledge of the circumstances relating to the deceased detainee.

In this case, the Weicheng District Detention Center is suspected of failing to perform its supervisory and medical-treatment duties in the following respects：

1. Delayed diagnosis and treatment：Wang Xiaogang’s small-intestinal gastrointestinal stromal tumor could have been treated if diagnosed and treated promptly and effectively, but he was not sent for medical treatment until two days after the tumor ruptured and bled and he became confused from hemorrhagic shock, causing him to miss the best opportunity for treatment.

2. Surveillance video reflects supervisory dereliction：The ten days of detention-center surveillance video before Wang Xiaogang’s death, provided by the Weicheng District Detention Center, clearly shows Wang Xiaogang repeatedly losing consciousness for several hours without anyone attending to him.

3. An autopsy opinion is not equivalent to a legal determination of “normal death”：The Xi’an Jiaotong University autopsy opinion states that he “died of multiple-organ failure caused by massive gastrointestinal bleeding resulting from a gastrointestinal stromal tumor of the intestinal wall combined with rupture of the tumor,” and does not state that it was a “normal death.” According to the Provisions on Handling the Death of Detainees in Detention Centers 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, where supervisory or medical institutions committed major errors in supervising or treating the party, created or increased legally impermissible risks to the party’s legal interests, and played a role in causing, aggravating or promoting the death, the death 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 center or its staff cause bodily injury or death to a citizen through extorting confessions by torture, beating, abuse or other conduct, or by instigating or conniving at others’ beating or abuse, the victim has the right to obtain compensation. Guiding Case No. 246 of the Supreme People’s Court (the compensation case in which Miao and others applied for compensation from the Mudanjiang Prison of Heilongjiang Province for failing to perform supervisory duties and causing death) makes clear that where detention centers, prisons and other supervisory authorities and their staff violate laws, regulations and relevant provisions, fail to promptly supervise and handle an injury incident involving a person in custody, and are to some extent connected with the person’s death, this constitutes failure to perform supervisory duties, and the organ with the compensation obligation shall bear state-compensation liability.

（III）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 Center：He was the principal person responsible for the detention center at the time of the incident and bore direct leadership responsibility for the safety and stability of the detention facility and the lives and health of detainees. During Wang Xiaogang’s detention, he repeatedly lost consciousness without anyone attending to him and was not sent to hospital in time. Zhang Minghui is suspected of dereliction of duty and abusing detainees, and after the incident he “hid in fear of criminal responsibility” and his whereabouts remain unknown. 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 Group referred the case on May 21, 2026, they told the applicant orally on July 8 that “the condition of 70,000 yuan in compensation had expired” and that “at present, only reimbursement of funeral expenses is agreed,” while refusing to issue a written reply concerning the handling plan. They are suspected of violating the Regulations on Petition Work and the Procedures for Online Handling of Petition Matters, which mandatorily provide that notices, handling opinions and other documents issued to petitioners by organs and units with authority to handle matters shall all be delivered to petitioners within the prescribed time limit.

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

4. Shen Zu, current director of the Weicheng District Public Security Bureau：He has acted evasively toward 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 Letters and Visits 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 Center：During the communication on July 8, 2026, he publicly compared deaths at detention centers with “people dying in hospitals,” asserting that “it is normal for several people to die every year in detention centers nationwide” 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 Safety Work in Public Security Supervision Facilities, which expressly provide that where a major safety accident or incident occurs in a supervision facility and causes serious consequences, the responsible parties and boundaries of responsibility shall be strictly determined; where abuse of power, dereliction of duty or favoritism and fraud is involved, the officials shall, depending on the circumstances and according to the authority for cadre management, be adjusted and dealt with 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.

（IV）The Weicheng District Public Security Bureau violated the statutory procedures for petition work

Under Articles 17 and 18 of the Procedures for Online Handling of Petition Matters, where a petitioner requests a review (reconsideration), the review (reconsideration) organ or unit shall, after examination, issue a Notice of Acceptance (or Non-Acceptance) of an Application for Review (Reconsideration); where the request is accepted, it shall issue an Opinion on Review (Reconsideration) of a Petition Matter within 30 days of receiving the request for review (reconsideration); notices and handling, review or reconsideration opinions issued to petitioners by organs and units with authority to handle matters shall all be delivered to petitioners within the prescribed time limit, and a proof of delivery shall be completed. The Procedures of Shaanxi Province for Online Handling of Petition Matters 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 reply;；

- On July 8, 2026, the applicant clearly requested that Deputy Director Wang Haijie inform her of the oral handling plan in the form of a written reply, but he refused;；

- The new petitioning regulations issued on July 1, 2026, clearly require all petition departments to issue written petition replies to the public, but the Weicheng District Public Security Bureau still failed to implement them.

The above conduct of the Weicheng District Public Security Bureau violates the mandatory provisions of the Regulations on Petition Work and the Procedures for Online Handling of Petition Matters, constituting a procedural violation.

（V）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, there is fabrication or fraud; where the intentional misconduct or gross negligence of case officers results in errors concerning the principal criminal facts, insufficient evidence or an incorrect characterization of the case; where compensation should be paid under the law but is not paid and the refusal to correct the matter continues after an order to do so by a higher-level organ; or where threats, deception or other unlawful means cause a party to be afraid to exercise, or to abandon, the right to bring an action. Article 7 of the measures further clarifies that a higher-level public security organ may directly investigate and handle cases of law-enforcement errors occurring in a lower-level public security organ where “the higher-level public security organ considers it necessary to pursue responsibility” and cases “involving the possibility that 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 facts and legal grounds above, the applicant solemnly submits the following requests for accountability： 

（I）Regarding the characterization of the case

1. The applicant requests that the Xianyang Commission for Discipline Inspection and Supervision, pursuant to Article 9 of the Provisions on Handling the Death of Detainees in Detention Centers, initiate an investigation by the Commission for Discipline Inspection and Supervision into Wang Xiaogang’s death, determine the nature of the death in accordance with the law—whether it was an unnatural death and whether the Weicheng District Detention Center engaged in corporal punishment, abuse, or failure to perform its supervisory and medical-treatment duties.

（II）Regarding the pursuit of responsibility

2. The applicant requests that the Xianyang Municipal Commission of 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 Safety Work in Public Security Supervision Facilities and other provisions, open accountability investigations into the following persons：

   - Zhang Minghui (former director of the Weicheng District Detention Center)：suspected of dereliction of duty and abusing detainees; pursue responsibility in accordance with law and discipline; where a crime is suspected, transfer the matter to the judicial organs for criminal prosecution;；

   - 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-work procedures and refusing to issue a written reply; they should be subject to administrative accountability for violating the Procedures for Online Handling of Petition Matters;；

   - Ma Hongwei (current director of the Weicheng District Detention Center)：for making statements in public that are inconsistent with the safety-management duties of public security supervision facilities and making an unauthorized determination that Wang Xiaogang’s death was a “normal death,” he should be subject to administrative accountability;；

   - Wang Chao (police officer of the Weicheng District Public Security Bureau)：while accompanying the viewing of surveillance video, he proposed on behalf of the unit an unlawful compensation plan of “70,000 yuan as the price of a life,” violating the provisions of the State Compensation Law; he should receive disciplinary punishment;；

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

   - Shen Zu (current director of the Weicheng District Public Security Bureau)：he violated the responsibility system for petition work by leading officials and should be held accountable;；

   - Wang Yuanhang (director of the Letters and Visits Office of the Xianyang Municipal Public Security Bureau)：he violated petition-work discipline and could not be reached during office hours; he should be held accountable.

（III）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 Handling the Death of Detainees in Detention Centers, provide state compensation in accordance with the law, including：

   - Death compensation (calculated as 20 times the national average annual salary of employees for the previous year);；

   - Funeral expenses;；

   - Solatium for mental distress;；

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

（IV）Regarding a written reply

4. The applicant requests that the Weicheng Branch of the Xianyang Municipal Public Security Bureau, pursuant to the Regulations on Petition Work and the Procedures for Online Handling of Petition Matters, issue the applicant a written opinion on the handling of the petition within the statutory period, and provide a formal written reply on the determination of the nature of Wang Xiaogang’s death, the allocation of responsibility and the compensation plan.

IV、Conclusion

Wang Xiaogang died while detained at the Weicheng District Detention Center. The autopsy clearly determined that he died of “multiple-organ failure caused by massive gastrointestinal bleeding resulting from a gastrointestinal stromal tumor of the intestinal wall combined with rupture of the tumor,” while the surveillance video shows that during the ten days before his death he “repeatedly lost consciousness for several hours without anyone attending to him,” and that the delay before he was sent for medical treatment lasted as long as two days. A gastrointestinal stromal tumor of the small intestine can be treated if diagnosed and treated promptly and effectively—this fact alone is sufficient to show that the Weicheng District Detention Center 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 Handling the Death of Detainees in Detention Centers and other relevant laws and regulations, the detention center failed to perform its supervisory and medical-treatment duties in a timely manner, and there is a legal causal relationship between this failure and Wang Xiaogang’s death. It should bear state-compensation liability.

The conduct of the relevant responsible personnel of the Weicheng District Public Security Bureau—including buck-passing, fabrication, refusal to issue a written reply and violation of the statutory procedures for petition work—has seriously damaged the credibility of law enforcement by public security organs and violated the fundamental principle that “the people’s public security serves the people.” Whether Zhang Minghui, former director of the Weicheng District Detention Center, and others committed dereliction of duty or abused detainees, and whether they are suspected of criminal offenses, must be determined after an independent investigation by the discipline-inspection and supervision departments of Xianyang City in accordance with the law.

As an immediate family member of the deceased Wang Xiaogang, the applicant has the legal 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 Petition Work, the Provisions on Handling the Death of Detainees in Detention Centers and other provisions. The applicant solemnly requests: accountability and compensation in accordance with the law—this is not only a demand for justice for the deceased, but also an inevitable requirement for safeguarding the dignity of the law, deterring unlawful and irregular conduct in public security supervision 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 reply! 

Respectfully submitted to

            Xianyang Municipal Commission of Supervision

Attachment:Criminal Complaint Regarding Suspected Dereliction of Duty and Abuse of Persons in Custody by Zhang Minghui, Director of the Weicheng District Detention Center of Xianyang City, and Others

Complainant：

Name：Wang Xiaoqin

ID number：610404198105226020

Address：Family Compound of the No. 4 Northwest Electric Power Construction Company, Jinxu Road 66, Xixian New Area, Xi’an City, Shaanxi Province

Contact information：18064379278 

Persons accused：

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

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

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

4. Xu Hongtao, Wang Hui and Wang Weidong (then officers responsible for detainee education and management at the Weicheng District Detention Center of Xianyang City);；

5. Other staff involved in the case.

Complaint request：

Open an investigation into Zhang Minghui and others for suspected dereliction of duty and abuse of persons in custody, 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 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 held him at the Weicheng District Detention Center. On July 19, 2024, he was sent to hospital because of massive gastrointestinal bleeding and died on July 23. The autopsy report of the Xi’an Jiaotong University Forensic Medicine Judicial Appraisal Center confirmed that the cause of death was hemorrhagic shock caused by rupture of a gastrointestinal stromal tumor of the intestinal wall, but there were systematic violations and dereliction of duty in the supervision and medical-treatment processes.

II、Suspected criminal facts and chain of evidence

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

1. Delay in treating the illness

Surveillance on July 10, 2024, shows that from the moment Wang Xiaogang got up at 06:09, he remained unconscious and motionless and did not eat breakfast. At 07:25, officer Wang Weidong entered cell 206, pointed at Wang Xiaogang, who was lying motionless on the bed, made a brief inquiry of detainee Wu Diao and left. Wang Xiaogang did not fully regain consciousness until 14:07, remaining unconscious for approximately eight hours without care.

Surveillance on July 11 shows that Wang Xiaogang had developed confusion and was unable to stand. Resident physician Wang Haiyang merely recommended “increasing the nutritional meals” but did not initiate a medical assessment (the investigation and verification files in the case concerning Wang Xiaogang’s death at the Weicheng District Detention Center). On the morning of July 11, Wang Xiaogang did not eat breakfast because he was suffering from illness. At 09:48, a detention officer entered (someone called him the instructor) and ordered Wang Xiaogang to meet 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 meet 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: “All the bones in my body feel scattered; I can’t move.” At 10:38, he again lost consciousness and did not wake up until 15:17. At 15:53, officer Wang Weidong entered cell 206 and called Wang Xiaogang out for questioning. Wang Xiaogang said: “I haven’t eaten breakfast either. I have severe iron-deficiency anemia, and I’m very dizzy……” (The rest could not be heard clearly because of the noise.) At 15:55, several detainees in blue vests, numbered 001 (Wu Diao), 040 and 578, forcibly pulled Wang Xiaogang down from 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 considerable distress. His foot appeared to be injured, and he could not even put on his shoe.

On July 12, 13, 14 and 16, Wang Xiaogang continued to show obvious symptoms including severe stomach discomfort and dry heaving, but no one paid attention or provided treatment.

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

At 12:13 on July 19, Wang Xiaogang collapsed for the first time that day. The detention center then delayed six hours before sending him for medical treatment, violating Article 26 of the Regulations on Detention Centers, which provides that “where the condition is serious, the person shall be sent for medical treatment immediately” (the investigation and verification files in the case concerning Wang Xiaogang’s death at the Weicheng District Detention Center).

At 02:50 on July 20, detention-center staff, although the circumstances required confirmation by the person in charge of the unit, instead urged the family by telephone to go to the hospital to sign. The director of the Weicheng District Detention Center, 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 hemorrhagic shock to worsen (the informed-consent form for interventional diagnosis and treatment of hemorrhagic disease from Yan’an University Xianyang Hospital and Wang Xiaogang’s inpatient medical records).

（II）Crime of abusing persons in custody: long-term toleration of violence and systematic management failures

1. Existence of a cell boss and prison bully

Detainee No. 181 in a blue vest (the “big cell boss”) controlled order in the cell and carried out corporal punishment and withheld food (Wang Xiaoqin’s viewing summary of the surveillance footage).

Surveillance from July 11 to 19, 2024, shows that detainees wearing blue vests numbered 143, 040, 578, 220 and 320 bullied and assaulted Wang Xiaogang to varying degrees. The conduct of detainees Nos. 143, 040 and 578 was particularly egregious and serious.

On July 16, detainee No. 040 in a blue vest repeatedly insulted 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 (Wang Xiaoqin’s viewing summary of the surveillance footage).

2. Supervisory personnel tacitly permitted abuse

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

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

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 in Detention Centers provide: (3) Handling of detainees who receive medical treatment inside the facility: 1. For detainees who are ill, medical personnel shall conduct examinations promptly. For common illnesses that do not require hospital treatment, symptomatic treatment shall be provided and follow-up observation shall be conducted. (4) Handling of detainees receiving medical treatment outside the facility: 1. For persons whose condition is serious or who face a risk of death, who have a sudden illness, whose illness has persisted without improvement and whose condition is not controlled, or whose cause of illness is unknown and requires diagnosis, and who need to leave the facility for medical treatment, the doctor shall promptly report to the director and, after approval, send the person to hospital for diagnosis and treatment.

Article 26 of the Regulations of the People’s Republic of China on Detention Centers provides that detention centers shall be equipped with necessary medical equipment and commonly used medicines. Where a prisoner becomes ill, timely treatment shall be provided; where hospital treatment is required, the local hospital shall be responsible for treatment; where the condition is serious, the person may be released on bail pending trial or receive medical parole in accordance with the law.

Zhang Minghui and others knew that Wang Xiaogang had a malignant tumor and severe anemia, but failed to perform the medical-protection obligations prescribed by the Detailed Rules for Law Enforcement in Detention Centers and the Regulations of the People’s Republic of China on Detention Centers. This directly caused a delay in treatment and resulted in his death, meeting the provisions of the Supreme People’s Court and Supreme People’s Procuratorate’s Interpretation on Several Issues Concerning the Application of Law in Handling Criminal Cases of Dereliction of Duty (I): “Where a state-agency employee abuses power or is derelict in duty and any of the following circumstances applies, it shall be determined as ‘causing major losses to public property and the interests of the state and the people’ as provided in Article 397 of the Criminal Law, constituting the crime of dereliction of duty.

2. Crime of abusing persons in custody (Article 248 of the Criminal Law)：

Long-term toleration of detainees beating Wang Xiaogang, making him stand as punishment and restricting his food intake, causing multiple injuries throughout his body, meets the element of “serious circumstances.” 

In conclusion, Zhang Minghui and others are suspected of the crimes of dereliction of duty and abusing persons in custody. The applicant respectfully requests that your procuratorate immediately open an investigation into the case, pursue their criminal responsibility, and initiate state-compensation proceedings (Articles 3 and 17 of the State Compensation Law). As this case involves cross-departmental dereliction of duty and abuse, it is recommended that your procuratorate report it through the hierarchy to the Shaanxi Provincial People’s Procuratorate for designation of jurisdiction in another locality.