Alerts & Statements | Chinese Human Rights Defenders

Politically Charged Arrests in China Escalate Persecution of Rights Lawyers

January 14, 2016 Comments Off

CHRD condemns the actions of Chinese authorities who this week formally arrested 11 lawyers, paralegals, and activists on serious charges, politicizing Chinese lawyers’ efforts to protect human rights. CHRD sees the new arrests as indication of a drastic escalation of President Xi Jinping’s campaign against human rights lawyers. Since July (read more…)

Verdict against Human Rights Lawyer Pu Zhiqiang A Travesty of Justice

December 22, 2015 Comments Off

CHRD condemns the guilty verdict, with a suspended three-year sentence, handed down to prominent human rights lawyer Pu Zhiqiang (浦志强) by the Beijing No. 2 Intermediate People’s Court today. The ruling makes a mockery of the Chinese President Xi Jinping’s “rule of the country with law” and China’s criminal justice (read more…)

Free Pu Zhiqiang: Staunch Defender of Free Speech in China Faces Trial for 7 Posts on Weibo

December 10, 2015 Comments Off

Human rights lawyer Pu Zhiqiang (浦志强), well-known in China as a staunch defender of free speech, will be tried in Beijing on December 14, 2015, according to his lawyers. The charismatic Pu, 50, has been detained for over 19 months without trial, and is accused of “picking quarrels and instigating (read more…)

Join CHRD’s “Free 10 by 12/10” Campaign in Run-up to International Human Rights Day

December 1, 2015 Comments Off

To mark this year’s International Human Rights Day, we invite you to join CHRD’s “Free 10 by 12/10” Campaign for the release of 10 human rights defenders who have been detained or imprisoned in China. Each day from December 1 through to Human Rights Day on December 10, we will (read more…)

Unaccountability at Root of Persistent Torture in China

November 10, 2015 Comments Off

The Chinese government has systematically failed to prevent torture, hold torturers accountable, and respect the rights of torture victims, a report by CHRD and a coalition of Chinese human rights defenders finds. Torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment and punishment remain persistent and widespread in China. Authorities often ignore (read more…)

CHRD Decries Grossly Unjust Life Sentence Against Buddhist Leader Wu Zeheng

November 5, 2015 Comments Off

CHRD finds a Chinese court’s sentence of the Buddhist leader Wu Zeheng (吴泽恒) to life in prison excessively harsh and grossly unjust. The decision, which was announced in a closed-door hearing in Guangdong on October 30, highlights the wider religious suppression occurring in China over the past few years. This (read more…)

《中华人民共和国国家安全法》为人权侵害开绿灯

October 18, 2015 Comments Off

“人权捍卫者联网”声明（2015年7月30日）《中华人民共和国国家安全法》于2015年7月1日由全国人大常委通过生效，这部法律相当于在法律上护航中国政府对民间异议与公民自由的全面压制，举凡政治、少数民族与宗教层面无不包罗。这部法律对“国家安全”的定义宽泛潦草，其中有关条文将异议观点、宗教信仰、网络资讯以及对中国的所谓“网络主权”挑战一一入罪。除此以外，它还法定了一系列公民与团体必须遵从的“义务”清单，疏忽者可能需负刑责。

China Must Scrap Draft NGO Law, Respect Freedom of Association – Chinese version

October 6, 2015 Comments Off

（2015年5月28日人权捍卫者联网讯）中国政府应叫停《境外NGO管理法》草案或删除草案中所写的，有关侵犯自由结社的基本人权条款和赋予警方极大权力打压公民社会维权活动的条款。《管理法（缩写）》不但严重限制境外非营利机构在中国的运作 (包括港澳台)，国内ＮＧＯ亦成为被打压对象。 “《境外ＮＧＯ管理法》一旦实施，将“严重摧残”中国独立的民间团体”某中国ＮＧＯ负责人告诉人权捍卫者联网。

What Has Xi Done? Xi Jinping Leadership’s Human Rights Record (March 2013 – September 2015)

September 25, 2015 Comments Off

March 2013 – Present: Since President Xi Jinping’s presidency began, CHRD has documented more than 1,800 cases of arbitrary detention and torture of human rights defenders. Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Liu Xiaobo (刘晓波), detained in December 2008, remains imprisoned. March 2013 – Present: Torture remains endemic in Chinese detention centers (read more…)

UN Women: Press China to Protect, Not Persecute, Women Rights Defenders

September 16, 2015 Comments Off

CHRD is concerned that the Chinese government is to co-host a world summit with UN Women on gender equality and women’s empowerment, at a time when women human rights defenders and NGOs are facing unusually harsh repression under President Xi Jinping. Xi will open the global meeting at the UN (read more…)

The US Must Press China for Concrete Human Rights Gains before Xi’s State Visit

September 1, 2015 Comments Off

Chinese President Xi Jinping’s state visit to the United States on September 24-25 comes at a time when his government is staging a ferocious crackdown against human rights lawyers. China’s overall human rights conditions have deteriorated since Xi took power in 2013. Xi has presided over the detentions and imprisonment (read more…)

China: Open letter to States for joint action to address worsening crackdown on human rights defenders and lawyers

August 12, 2015 Comments Off

10 August 2015 To: Permanent Representatives of Member States and Observer States of the UN Human Rights Council China: Open letter to States for joint action to address worsening crackdown on human rights defenders and lawyers Your Excellency, We urge your delegation to make statements, both jointly and (read more…)