As Cao Zhixin’s lawyers and family are unlawfully being prevented from seeing her, Cao remains in incommunicado detention, and as such, is at high risk of torture and other ill-treatment.
(Chinese Human Rights Defenders— March 15, 2023) This year marks the 25th anniversary of the adoption of the U.N. Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, which recognizes the key role of human rights defenders (HRDs) in the realization of human rights and provides that each State has a responsibility and duty “to (read more...)
Human rights defenders Xu Qin and Peng Lifa are recipients of the Ninth Annual Cao Shunli Memorial Award for Human Rights Defenders. The decision recognizes Xu Qin’s long-standing civil society activism to promote protection of human rights in China, and the brave civil disobedience by Peng Lifa to spur on (read more...)
The following 25 organizations call on the Chinese government to immediately and unconditionally release Cao Zhixin, Li Siqi, Li Yuanjing, and Zhai Dengrui and all other “blank paper” protesters, and to end its crackdown on free expression around the COVID-19 pandemic.
CHRD urges the United Nations human rights experts to take urgent action, calling on the Chinese government to release all of the “Blank Paper” movement participants and remind the government of its human rights obligations.
On this International Human Rights Day, stakeholders in the international human rights community should appreciate that the protestors are showing us that not all hope is lost for a democratic China, where human rights and rule of law will be respected.