VC | Chinese Human Rights Defenders

“Soft Detention” of Yuan Weijing Continues: Journalist Beaten, Barred from Meeting

March 11, 2009 Comments Off

“Soft Detention” of Yuan Weijing Continues: Journalist Beaten, Barred from Meeting (Chinese Human Rights Defenders, March 10, 2009) –Yuan Weijing (袁伟静), the wife of imprisoned rights activist Chen Guangcheng (陈光诚), remains confined to her home and surrounded by guards. On March 8, a prominent investigative journalist and his student were (read more…)

Months before Tiananmen Anniversary, China Refuses Entry to Exiled Student Leader

March 10, 2009 Comments Off

Months before Tiananmen Anniversary, China Refuses Entry to Exiled Student Leader (Chinese Human Rights Defenders, March 9, 2009) – Yi Danxuan (易丹轩), a former student leader in Guangzhou during the 1989 pro-democracy movement, was denied entry into China on March 7. Yi, now an American citizen, was barred from entering (read more…)

Yuan Xianchen Sentenced to Four Years in Prison for “Inciting Subversion of State Power”

March 6, 2009 Comments Off

Yuan Xianchen Sentenced to Four Years in Prison for “Inciting Subversion of State Power” (Chinese Human Rights Defenders- March 6, 2009) – Human rights activist and “barefoot lawyer” Yuan Xianchen (袁显臣), of Jixi City, Heilongjiang Province, was found guilty on March 4 of “inciting subversion of state power” and (read more…)

Activists Put under House Arrest as Clinton Arrives in China

March 4, 2009 Comments Off

Activists Put under House Arrest as Clinton Arrives in China (Chinese Human Rights Defenders, February 21, 2009) – A number of dissidents and human rights activists, many of whom signatories to Charter 08, have been put under residential surveillance (or “soft detention” 软禁), questioned and followed by Beijing police as (read more…)

Sichuan Activist Detained for Reporting on Protests and Clashes

March 3, 2009 Comments Off

Sichuan Activist Detained for Reporting on Protests and Clashes (Chinese Human Rights Defenders, March 3, 2009) – CHRD learned today that Xing Qingxian (幸清贤), a rights activist based in Chengdu, the provincial capital of Sichuan, has been criminally detained on suspicion of “disturbing social order” by the National Security police (read more…)

China’s Charter 08

January 16, 2009 Comments Off

A hundred years after the writing of China’s first constitution, “Charter 08” called for an end to essential features of the country’s political system, including one-party rule, and their replacement with a system based on human rights and democracy.

Beijing Housing Rights Activist Ni Yulan Sentenced to Two Years

December 18, 2008 Comments Off

(Chinese Human Rights Defenders, December 18, 2008) – a Beijing-based housing rights activist and former lawyer, Ni Yulan (倪玉兰), was sentenced to two years’ imprisonment for “obstructing official business” by Xicheng District Court in Beijing. According to Civil Rights and Livelihood Watch (CRLW), only four people were permitted to attend (read more…)

Submission to UN on Liu Xiaobo – December 15, 2008

December 15, 2008 Comments Off

Communique to Special Procedures on Behalf of PRC Citizen Liu Xiaobo, Alleging Arbitrary Detention, Violation of Free Expression, and Persecution of Human Rights Defenders To: The Working Group on Arbitrary Detention The Special Representative on Human Rights Defenders Special Rapporteur on the Promotion and Protection of the Right to (read more…)

Hubei Villagers Seriously Injured in Violent Land Seizure

December 11, 2008 Comments Off

(Chinese Human Rights Defenders, December 11, 2008) – On December 10, Human Rights Day, thirty villagers were beaten by hired thugs in the presence of policemen who did not intervene in Xinxin Village, Economic Development District, Qianjiang City, Hubei Province. Twelve villagers were injured and seven were sent to hospital (read more…)

Submission to UN on Ji Sizun – November 15, 2008

November 15, 2008 Comments Off

Questionnaire completed by CHRD Alleging Arbitrary Arrest and Detention PRC Citizen Ji Sizun To: The Working Group on Arbitrary Detention The Special Representative on Human Rights Defenders Special Rapporteur on the Promotion and Protection of the Right to Freedom of Opinion and Expression I. IDENTITY 1. (read more…)

Nanjing Political Activist Guo Quan Detained on Suspicion of “Inciting Subversion”

November 14, 2008 Comments Off

(Chinese Human Rights Defenders, November 14, 2008) – Guo Quan (郭泉), a political activist and an Associate Professor at Nanjing Normal University, has been detained by police on suspicion of “inciting subversion of state power”. Guo was taken into custody by police from Najing City Public Security Bureau (PSB) yesterday (read more…)

Courts Refuse to Accept Lawsuit by Detained Applicant to Olympics “Protest Zones”

November 12, 2008 Comments Off

(Chinese Human Rights Defenders, November 12, 2008) – CHRD learned that Liu Xueli (刘学立), a petitioner and activist sent to Re-education through Labor (RTL) after he applied to protest at the “Protest Zones” in Beijing, was refused a court hearing against the RTL decision. On November 12, Liu’s lawyers went (read more…)