China Human Rights Briefings | Chinese Human Rights Defenders

[CHRB] Concerns Over Health of Detained Woman Activist & Anniversary of Cao Shunli’s Death (3/13-19/2015)

March 19, 2015 Comments Off

Wu Rongrong (武嵘嵘), one of the five female human rights defenders under criminal detention in Beijing after a coordinated police action last week, has been denied any treatment for a serious medical condition. March 14 marked the one-year anniversary of the persecution to death of activist Cao Shunli (曹顺利), with (read more…)

[CHRB] 5 Women’s & LGBT Rights Activists Detained in Escalating Clampdown on NGOs (3/6-12/15)

March 12, 2015 Comments Off

Five female activists working on women’s and LGBT rights issues have been put under criminal detention on suspicion of “creating a disturbance” after authorities in three Chinese cities seized nine activists in total on March 6 and 7. They were all taken into custody prior to a planned anti-sexual harassment (read more…)

[CHRB] Rights Lawyers Fight Against Reprisals (2/27-3/5/15)

March 5, 2015 Comments Off

A law firm in Henan Province has forced out lawyer Ma Lianshun (马连顺) in likely reprisal for his representing “politically sensitive” cases of clients seized prior to the 25th anniversary of the Tiananmen Massacre. In a related issue, more than 100 Chinese lawyers signed on to an open letter to (read more…)

[CHRB] 82-Year-Old Dissident Writer Found “Guilty,” Given 2.5-Year Suspended Sentence (2/20-26/2015)

February 26, 2015 Comments Off

A court in Sichuan tried the writer Tie Liu (铁流), an outspoken government critic, on February 25, convicting him of “illegal business activity” but issuing him a suspended sentence in a case fraught with rights violations. Liu was sentenced to two-and-a-half years in prison, suspended for four years. His caretaker, (read more…)

[CHRB] UN Body Rules 3 Detentions “Arbitrary”; 27 Still Held for Supporting HK Protests (2/13-19/2015)

February 19, 2015 Comments Off

Three arrested Guangzhou activists are being held unlawfully and should be released and provided reparations by the Chinese government, the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention decided in an opinion issued in November and recently made public. Meanwhile, CHRD has documented 115 detentions of individuals swept up since October in (read more…)

[CHRB] 27 Members of Ethnic Miao Minority Sentenced for Protesting Death in Detention of Leader (2/6-12/2015)

February 12, 2015 Comments Off

On February 9, a Hunan court sentenced relatives and supporters of Long Baorong (龙保荣), an ethnic Miao leader and former party official imprisoned for exposing corruption, who died right after his medical release. His son-in-law, Long Xianyuan (龙贤员), received 15 years in prison while Long Xianjiang (龙贤江), the brother of (read more…)

[CHRB] Hampered Investigation Into Death in Custody; Ineffective New Rules on Lawyers’ Input in Capital Cases (1/30-2/5/2015)

February 5, 2015 Comments Off

The family of Anhui Province farmer Yang Wusi (杨五四) has called on local authorities to explain how he died in detention, suspecting that he may have been tortured to death. During his autopsy, Yang was found to have no food in his stomach, bruises on his body, a wound on (read more…)

[CHRB] Rule Without Law: Prolonged Pre-Trial Detentions of Human Rights Defenders (1/23-29, 2015)

January 29, 2015 Comments Off

During a string of crackdowns since the spring of 2013, CHRD has documented an alarming number of excessive pre-trial detentions of human rights defenders (HRDs), who were not brought in front of a judge after having been in police custody for at least eight months, and with some held for (read more…)

[CHRB] Forced Psychiatric Detention & Reprisal Against Torture Victim Seeking Justice (1/16-22/2015)

January 22, 2015 Comments Off

Chinese authorities continued to illegally use forced psychiatric detention in 2014 to silence and punish petitioners, activists, and dissidents, according to a new report by a China-based NGO. This form of illegal detention was routinely used to “maintain stability,” particularly around “politically sensitive” periods of the year. Also, authorities in (read more…)

[CHRB] Torture & Ill-treatment of Detainees & Political Charges Returning Under Xi (1/8-15/2015)

January 15, 2015 Comments Off

Police at two detention centers in Beijing have tortured and mistreated two activists – Song Ze (宋泽, real name Song Guangqiang, 宋光强) and Xu Chongyang (徐崇阳) – arrested during the crackdown on supporters of the pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong. Meanwhile, CHRD sources have confirmed at least 22 cases of (read more…)

[CHRB] Special Coverage: 4 Cases of Torture in Detention (12/26/2014- 1/8/2015)

January 8, 2015 Comments Off

In view of this year’s UN Committee against Torture review of the Chinese government’s implementation of the international convention against torture, CHRD will provide focused reporting and analysis on cases of torture and related law and regulations. In this issue of CHRB, we report on four recent cases of detainees (read more…)

[CHRB] Tibetan Village Leader Dies in Custody & 3 From 2013 Crackdown Given Prison Terms (12/12-18/2014)

December 18, 2014 Comments Off

On December 12, a court in Anhui Province handed down sentences to three activists—Li Huaping (李化平), Yao Cheng (姚城), and Zhou Weilin (周伟林)—based largely on their roles in the 2013 protests advocating for the education rights of activist Zhang Lin (张林)’s daughter. Elsewhere, a village leader in the Tibet Autonomous (read more…)