The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a joint programme of the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) and the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), requests your urgent intervention on the following situation in the People’s Republic of China.
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A Uyghur man is serving an 11-year sentence for “inciting splittism,” allegedly for translating Chinese-language news related to Kashgar City, in a newly revealed case. In 2009, Mirhemitjan Muzepper (米尔哈米提江•木扎派尔) began serving as a translator for Phoenix TV news but was later taken into custody, and a court found that (read more…)
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In enforcing a new government policy of criminalizing self-immolations by Tibetans, two courts on January 31 sentenced eight Tibetans on charges of “intentional homicide” for their alleged roles in self-immolation protests against Chinese government suppression. The Tibetans were given sentences ranging from three years to a suspended death sentence, which (read more…)
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With the news that the provinces of Yunnan and Guangdong are taking steps to end the Re-education through Labor (RTL) system within their jurisdictions, CHRD strongly urges the Chinese government to follow suit at the national level, steer clear from replacing RTL with other kinds of extralegal detention, and to (read more…)
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On January 31, the parents and wife of Chen Kegui (陈克贵) were allowed to see him for the first time since he was detained in April 2012. The family members met at Linyi Prison, where Chen is serving a sentence that is widely viewed as retaliation against his uncle, the (read more…)
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CHRD joins Chinese lawyers, activists and others in China’s civil society in urging the Supreme People’s Court (SPC) not to issue an execution order following the court’s approval of lower courts’ decisions to sentence to death Li Yan (李彦), an alleged victim of domestic violence. Li killed her husband only (read more…)
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Guizhou activist Liao Shuangyuan (廖双元), a member of the banned Guizhou Human Rights Forum, was held by police for eight hours on January 10, during which time he was interrogated and subjected to torture. According to his wife, national security officials took Liao in to a local police station and (read more…)
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Hunan activist Zhu Chengzhi (朱承志) has been issued six months of “residential surveillance” on a charge of “inciting subversion” and remains held in an undisclosed location, in what may be the first use of Article 73 of the revised Criminal Procedure Law (CPL). The article permits subjecting certain criminal suspects (read more…)
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A policeman from Shenzhen, Wang Dengchao (王登朝), has been sentenced to 14 years in prison for joining in pro-democracy activities. Wang was arrested in March 2012, just before he was to take part in a rally calling for democratic reforms. After being detained for eight months, Wang was convicted of (read more…)
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An Inner Mongolia activist, Song Yunfei (宋云飞), was recently given a two-year sentence—a punishment suspended for three years—on an alleged charge of “intentionally leaking state secrets” for revealing information about land grabs by the local government. In late 2011, Song began posting reports online to expose the takeover of land (read more…)
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BEIJING — It is hard to say exactly which “subversive” sentiments drew the police to Ren Jianyu, who posted them on his microblog last year, although “down with dictatorship” and “long live democracy” stand out.
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Chinese citizens marked Human Rights Day on December 10 by protesting against rights violations and calling for social justice in many parts of the country. Several thousand petitioners who tried to lodge grievances in Beijing, particularly around the UN Development Programme Office and other international agencies, were swept up and (read more…)
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