Alerts & Statements | Chinese Human Rights Defenders

CHRD Report to UN Committee against Torture Highlights Issues the Chinese Government Should be Asked to Address in its Next Periodic Report

September 16, 2010 Comments Off

(Chinese Human Rights Defenders- September 16, 2010) With China’s fifth periodic report to the Committee against Torture (CAT) upcoming, many key problems raised by CAT in 2008 as it considered China’s fourth periodic report have yet to be adequately addressed. In a report to CAT submitted on September 8, CHRD (read more…)

Activist Chen Guangcheng Released after Serving Full Sentence

September 8, 2010 Comments Off

Activist Chen Guangcheng Released after Serving Full Sentence Authorities Must Stop Soft Detention and Harassment of Chen and Family (Chinese Human Rights Defenders, September 9, 2010) –Chen Guangcheng (陈光诚), a well-known human rights activist and “barefoot lawyer,” was released today from Linyi Prison in Shandong Province after serving his full (read more…)

Open letter requesting Supreme People’s Court immediately to open an investigation into the use of torture in the Chongqing anti-mafia campaign

August 23, 2010 Comments Off

The following is a translation of a public letter signed by a group of Chinese lawyers, activists, and writers concerned over allegations of torture in the Chongqing anti-mafia campaign. For the original text, in Chinese, please click here. Open letter requesting Supreme People’s Court immediately to open an investigation into (read more…)

Sichuan Rights Defenders Convicted on Trumped-up “Fraud” Charges

August 20, 2010 Comments Off

(Chinese Human Rights Defenders, August 20, 2010)- This afternoon, the Ziliujing District People’s Court in Zigong City, Sichuan Province convicted human rights defenders Liu Zhengyou (刘正有), Hu Yulan (胡玉兰), Ma Xingquan (马兴权), and Feng Guiqin (冯桂琴) of “fraud.” All four were involved in a group known to local residents as (read more…)

China’s Highest Court Must Overturn Death Sentence Based on Confession Extracted by Torture

August 3, 2010 Comments Off

(Chinese Human Rights Defenders- August 3, 2010) Last week, following the transfer of Fan Qihang’s (樊奇杭) case to the Supreme People’s Court for a review of his death sentence, Zhu Mingyong (朱明勇), lawyer for the alleged Chongqing mob boss, made public secret recordings in which Fan describes being subjected to (read more…)

A Public Letter by Chinese Citizens Urging the Release of Uyghur Journalist Hailaite Niyazi

July 30, 2010 Comments Off

(Chinese Human Rights Defenders- July 30, 2010) A group of Chinese lawyers and scholars have made public an open letter expressing concern about the “criminalization of speech” in the case of Uyghur journalist Hailaite Niyazi, who was sentenced on July 23 to 15 years in prison for endangering state security (read more…)

CHRD Protests Harsh and Unjust Sentence for Uyghur Journalist Hailaite Niyazi

July 23, 2010 Comments Off

CHRD Protests Harsh and Unjust Sentence for Uyghur Journalist Hailaite Niyazi (Chinese Human Rights Defenders- July 23, 2010) On July 23, a court in Urumqi, Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) sentenced journalist Hailaite Niyazi (whose name also sometimes appears as Hairat or Gheyret Niyaz or Niyaze) to 15 years in (read more…)

Human Rights Defender Li Jinfang Summoned by Police, Home Raided and Property Confiscated

July 1, 2010 Comments Off

(Chinese Human Rights Defenders, July 1, 2010) Fifteen police officers raided the Xianghe County, Hebei Province home of human rights defender Li Jinfang (李金芳) this afternoon, confiscating 74 items, including human rights-related documents, computer equipment and financial documents. Several officers took Li and her teenage daughter Ar Dan (阿丹) to (read more…)

Sichuan Democracy Activist Liu Xianbin Criminally Detained for “Inciting Subversion of State Power”

June 29, 2010 Comments Off

(Chinese Human Rights Defenders- June 29, 2010) Little more than a year after he was released following a decade in prison, convicted of “subversion of state power” in 1999, Sichuan democracy activist Liu Xianbin (刘贤斌) has once again been criminally detained, this time for “inciting subversion of state power.” On (read more…)

Liaoning High People’s Court Must Overturn Death Sentence Given to Street Vendor Xia Junfeng, Victim of Official Violence

June 28, 2010 Comments Off

(Chinese Human Rights Defenders- June 28, 2010) On June 29, the Liaoning Provincial High People’s Court (Liaoning HPC) will convene an open court session to hear the appeal of Xia Junfeng (夏俊峰), a street vendor in Shenyang City who was sentenced to death for killing two City Administration and Law (read more…)

Tan Zuoren’s Harsh Sentence Upheld by Sichuan High Court

June 8, 2010 Comments Off

Tan Zuoren’s Harsh Sentence Upheld by Sichuan High Court (Chinese Human Rights Defenders- June 9, 2010) The Sichuan Provincial High People’s Court announced this morning that it had upheld the judgment of activist and environmentalist Tan Zuoren (谭作人). Tan was convicted of “inciting subversion of state power” in February 2010 (read more…)

Tiananmen Anniversary Marked by Harassment, Detentions, and Official Silence

June 3, 2010 Comments Off

Tiananmen Anniversary Marked by Harassment, Detentions, and Official Silence (Chinese Human Rights Defenders, June 3, 2010) On the eve of the 21st anniversary of the Tiananmen Massacre, the Chinese government continues to refuse to openly and truthfully address the events of June 4, 1989, and persists in its efforts to (read more…)