US officer charged in beating of Tianjin woman : Cleveland IMC (((i)))

The Chinese Consulate General in New York expressed great concern to the case and urged the US side to make a serious and complete investigation and punish the people responsible.

The preparatory group of the US-China Free Trade Promotion Society has also lodged a protest to the US State Department, complaining against such serious violation of Chinese business people's human rights.

She and two other women were crossing the Rainbow Bridge over Niagara Falls on the US-Canada border late last Wednesday when Customs and Border Protection officers confiscated marijuana from a male pedestrian.

The three were trying to take pictures when the officers inside a house nearby called and then rushed out of the building.

Associated Press reported Rhodes then threw her against a wall and kneed her on the head as she knelt on the ground. He then struck her head on the ground while holding her hair. The other officers joined him.

"I have been to many countries in the past for business purposes, and the United States is the most barbarous," Zhao was quoted as saying in a report on the website of People's Daily.

Zhao said she told the officers she had legal documents, including a passport and visa, but they did not stop beating her.

After she managed to display the documents she was told "it is a misunderstanding," Zhao said.

Now she wants to return home as soon as possible, but her lawyer, Stanley Legan, said she would sue for US$5 million in compensation.

"Subsequent investigation reveals (the victim) had nothing to do with the marijuana smuggling but was merely a tourist who happened to be in the area," a supervisor said in an affidavit obtained by Associated Press.

Senior Special Agent Steven MacMartin, who interviewed Zhao several hours later, noted that "both of her eyes were nearly swollen shut, that she had a large swollen area on the front of her forehead, that she had bruises around the eyes, and that she had a contusion high up on her forehead. (The woman) also complained of a scraped knee," MacMartin said.

In a statement written as part of normal procedure, Rhodes said after marijuana was found on the male pedestrian, another officer told him to go get three women who were believed to be traveling with him.

Rhodes said he went outside and asked the Chinese woman and two others to come into the inspection station but that they ran.

Zhao said she did not while the two others do. She was wondering what kind of help the police might need and approached the glass door.

He said he grabbed the nearest one and sprayed her with pepper spray when she swung her arms at him.

Rhodes has reportedly been transfered to a local court and faces criminal charges. He could face years in prison if convicted.

July 26, 2004

http://english1.peopledaily.com.cn/200407/26/eng20040726_150761.html

A Chinese-American trade group Saturday lodged a strong protest with the US authorities over the recent brutal beating by US law enforcers of a Chinese business woman, it was learned Sunday.

The group, which calls itself Preparatory Committee of the Commission for the Promotion of US-China Free Trade, said in a statement the US government bears unshirkable responsibility for the serious human right violation on the soil of the United States,a country that claims to be the model of the free world.

The incident occurred late Wednesday near the Niagara Falls at the US-Canadian border, when Zhao Yan, a Chinese business woman from Tianjin on her first US business trip, was attacked by officers of US Customs and Border Protection in disregard of normal checking procedures.

Zhao obtained her visa, the statement noted, after being subjected to the strictest security checks when US authorities imposed the most rigid regulation on non-immigration visa since the Sept.11, 2001, terror attack.

So why should Zhao still encounter such a disaster in the US territory, the statement asked.

On Friday, Zhao told a press conference that she and two friends were passing a row of rooms when a uniformed officer waved to them to come in.

But she barely had time to react in the room when one of the officers pounced at her and sprayed her with pepper spray. The officer then struck her head on the ground while holding her hair and kicked her on the head when she was forced to kneel on the ground.

Zhao had bumps and bruises on her face and head and her eyes were nearly swollen shut. She was taken to hospital for treatment and later released.

The incident, however, put her to great panic and despair. She told her friends that her only wish is to return home as soon as possible.

The officer, named Robert Rhodes, claimed he mistakenly believed Zhao was involved in an illegal drug deal. In a written statement, he said he grabbed a Chinese woman and two others ran when he asked them to come into the inspection station, and sprayed her with pepper spray when she swung her arms at him.

Rohodes was charged Friday with violating Zhao's civil rights. If convicted of the charge, he could face up to 10 years in prison.

The statement said it is understandable that the United States beefed up security to safeguard the country after the Sept. 11 terror attack, but the US immigration officers have no right to assault business people from other countries without even bothering to find out the basic facts, the statement said.

The statement urged the US authorities to take this incident seriously.

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