China: Release Activist and End Deprivation of Medical Care in Detention

April 15, 2026 Comments Off

Yin Dengzhen suffering from lymphoma in prison

(Network of Chinese Human Rights Defenders—April 15, 2026) Hubei authorities should release activist Yin Dengzhen from Wuhan Women’s Prison and ensure she receives adequate medical treatment. Yin is serving a 4.5-year prison sentence and is suffering from lymphoma (cancer of the lymph nodes), which was diagnosed in December 2024. Her health has deteriorated due to a denial of adequate medical care in detention.

“The ongoing incarceration and treatment of Yin Dengzhen is a blatant violation of Chinese and international law and may amount to torture,” said Angeli Datt, research and advocacy coordinator at the Network of Chinese Human Rights Defenders (CHRD). “Authorities are denying her adequate medical care with despicable disregard for her life.”

Beijing police administratively detained Yin on January 16, 2025 as she tried to file a petition with the Supreme People’s Court. Police alleged Yin had “disrupted the order of state organs” and held her for seven days. Shiyan City police then seized Yin from her Beijing apartment on January 26 and brought her to Shiyan, her Hubei Province hometown, and criminally detained her that day.

On July 15, 2025, Shiyan City Court sentenced her to 4.5 years in prison on charges of “picking quarrels and provoking trouble,” a vague charge criticized by United Nations human rights experts. The verdict cited her petitioning—filing grievances through legal channels to higher level officials—as the basis of her prison sentence. Shiyan City Intermediate Court turned down her appeal on August 22.

While held in pre-trial detention between January and July 2025 at Shiyan City Detention Center, Yin’s health deteriorated to the point where she was no longer able to walk or eat on her own. She was admitted twice to Shiyan People’s Hospital and hospitalized from July to September 2025. At that time, Yin weighed approximately 80lbs, could not get out of bed, and had to be fed through a nasogastric tube.

In September 2025, authorities transferred her directly from the hospital to Wuhan Women’s Prison to serve her sentence. According to her family, prison authorities told them that they had conducted a physical examination upon her admittance, as required by Chinese law, and that Yin was in “excellent health” and did not have lymphoma. Prison authorities subsequently denied providing adequate medical treatment to her, claiming she was not ill. Officials eventually admitted to her family in February 2026 in a phone call that she does have cancer, is bedridden, and is unable to walk.

Yin, her family, and her lawyer applied for her release on medical bail 10 times before her conviction. Authorities only replied to two of the applications, stating that she does not meet the criteria. She has continued to apply for medical parole, but these applications have been ignored, according to CHRD’s sources. Authorities are violating China’s Criminal Procedure Law as an individual may be held outside of a detention center or serve their sentence outside of prison if they are seriously ill.

Yin Dengzhen is a former businesswoman who began petitioning in the 2000s after exposing local government corruption. She has faced repeated prosecution from authorities for her efforts.

Denying medical treatment to individuals in custody constitutes a life-threatening form of torture. Authorities’ failure or refusal to provide adequate medical care for detainees violates Chinese law and multiple international standards, including the Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, which China ratified in 1988.

Authorities should immediately and unconditionally drop all charges against Yin Dengzhen and release her, and ensure all prisoners are provided adequate medical treatment.

For more information, please contact:

Sophie Richardson, Co-Executive Director, Chinese Human Rights Defenders, sophierichardson[at]nchrd.org, +1 917 721 7473

Angeli Datt, Research and Advocacy Coordinator, Chinese Human Rights Defenders, angelidatt[at]nchrd.org, +1 934 444 6155

Shane Yi, Researcher, Chinese Human Rights Defenders, shaneyi[at]nchrd.org