Du Bin is a Chinese journalist, photographer, poet and documentary film-maker. Self-taught in photography, Du has worked as a contract photographer for The New York Times since 2011, and has also been published in the International Herald Tribune, Time, and the Guardian. He is originally from Tancheng, Shandong, China, and is based in Beijing. Du was detained by Beijing authorities in June 2013 after releasing a feature-length documentary about the Masanjia Labor Camp.
Notable works
Du wrote the first biography of the artist Ai Weiwei, called God Ai. In 2013 he released Above the Ghosts' Head: The Women of Masanjia Labour Camp, a documentary on torture and other abuses in China's Masanjia Labor Camp. The film was banned in mainland China, but was shown at least once in Hong Kong and Taiwan, and then posted online. He also had a 600-page book on the 1989 military crackdown published, called Tiananmen Square Massacre. The book, which compiles a number of already published accounts of the 4 June crackdown, was published in late May by Mirror Books.
Detention
On 1 June 2013, soon after the release of the book and the film, Du Bin was detained by state security agents in Beijing. Friends say that they found two unsigned police warrants in his home for "disturbing public order." Under Chinese administrative statutes, police could use the charge to hold Du for up to 15 days, after which he should either be released, sent to a re-education through labor camp, or formally charged with a crime. As of 18 June, Du was still being held at the Fengtai District detention center, and his sister said the family had not yet received a formal notice of his detention. Amnesty International and Reporters Without Borders called for his release. Du Bin was released on bail on 8 July 2013, but his freedom is tenuous. He could still face formal charges for "picking quarrels and making trouble," and he expects that his movements will be monitored. The Chinese government has censored his name from Sina Weibo.
