This archive collects the source record concerning Zhou Guocong (周国聪), a teenage factory worker who died in Chengdu police custody in June 1989.
Source chronology
- June 6, 1989: Sources report that Zhou was detained in Chengdu during the post-crackdown sweep.
- June 6–7, 1989: Amnesty International later reported that he was beaten to death by police; sources differ on the exact date and on whether he was 15 or 17.
- 2006: Local authorities paid his mother 70,000 yuan as “hardship assistance,” not compensation. Amnesty International described this as the first publicized payment of its kind to a Tiananmen-related family.
- 2014: NPR revisited the case and his mother’s long campaign for redress.
Evidentiary limits
The exact death date and age remain unresolved. The public record reviewed does not include a birth certificate, independent investigation or official admission of responsibility. The 2006 payment was formally described as hardship assistance.
Key sources
- Amnesty International — preliminary findings on the 1989 crackdown
- Amnesty International — later case reference
- June 4th Memory & Human Rights Museum