Focus Campaigns | Chinese Human Rights Defenders

June 3-4, 2009: 20th Anniversary of Tiananmen Square Massacre – Map & List of Victims

June 4, 2009 Comments Off

On the night of June 3-4, 1989, troops of China’s People’s Liberation Army moved into Beijing to crush the pro-democracy demonstrations that began in April of that year. In parks, streets, subway stations, and even hospitals and homes, innocent ordinary Chinese men and women were murdered by their government.

Tiananmen Massacre: Citizens Continue to Press for Truth and Justice Despite Suppression

June 1, 2012 Comments Off

For more than two decades, the Chinese government has pursued a policy of denial and silence regarding the 1989 Tiananmen Massacre: discussion of the massacre is widely censored, and there has been neither an investigation nor an apology. But many Chinese have refused to forget the tragedy despite government suppression (read more…)

Chen Guangcheng: A Special Bulletin – Updates on Situation of Chen Guangcheng & His Family Members, Relatives & Supporters Since Chen’s Flight for Freedom

May 15, 2012 Comments Off

Chen Guangcheng (陈光诚), a rural “barefoot lawyer” and activist from Linyi City, Shandong Province, escaped from illegal house arrest in Dongshigu Village on April 22, 2012. On an ongoing basis ever since, CHRD has confirmed retaliatory acts by authorities against Chen’s relatives and supporters.

Individuals Affected by Crackdown on Civil Society Following Call for “Jasmine Revolution”

March 5, 2012 Comments Off

CHRD has documented a total of 52 individuals who the Chinese government has criminally detained since mid-February of 2011 as part of the crackdown after anonymous calls for “Jasmine Revolution” rallies first appeared online in China.

Zhu Yufu (朱虞夫)

August 1, 2011 Comments Off

A veteran Democracy Wall activist in the 1970s, Zhu was taken away by police in Zhejiang Province in March of 2011, and criminally detained on suspicion of “inciting subversion of state power.” In July, his wife appealed to authorities to release Zhu on bail due to his longstanding poor health, (read more…)

Yang Tongyan (杨同彦)

July 5, 2011 Comments Off

Yang Tongyan (pen name: Yang Tianshui, 杨天水) is a dissident writer and member of the Independent Chinese PEN Center, and has published numerous political essays online. Since 2006, Tang has been serving another sentence in Nanjing Prison for “subversion of state power” for his role in organizing the China Democracy (read more…)

Xie Fulin (谢福林)

June 10, 2011 Comments Off

In July of 2009, police officers in Changsha City, Hunan Province took Xie Fulin away for “investigation,” and the next month he was criminally detained on suspicion of “stealing electricity” and formally arrested. Sentenced to 6 years in prison, Xie has suffered from serious illnesses that have gone poorly treated (read more…)

Twenty-Two Years after Tiananmen Massacre, Worst Repression in a Generation

June 2, 2011 Comments Off

No Justice for Past Atrocities, No Guarantee of Human Rights (Chinese Human Rights Defenders, June 2, 2011) – As the world watches and reacts to the events of the Arab Spring unfolding across the Middle East and North Africa, commentators are drawing parallels to the Chinese pro-democracy movement of (read more…)

Wang Yonghang (王永航)

May 5, 2011 Comments Off

Wang Yonghang, a human rights lawyer fighting on behalf of Falun Gong practitioners since 2007, was barred from renewing his license in May 2008 but kept providing legal assistance to practitioners. In July 2009, Wang was taken into police custody and brutally beaten, causing a permanent injury.

Lü Jiaping (吕加平)

March 25, 2011 Comments Off

Lü Jiaping, a dissident military scholar, has been serving a 10-year verdict for “inciting subversion.” In sentencing him in May 2011, a court cited as “evidence” 13 works Lü composed between 2000 and 2010. In particular, the verdict is believed to come in retaliation for Lü’s writings about scandals involving (read more…)

Liu Xiaobo (刘晓波)

July 7, 2017 Comments Off

Liu Xiaobo, the Beijing-based writer, intellectual, dissident, and human rights activist, died on July 13, 2017, not long after being issued medical parole, and over eight-and-a-half years into an 11-year prison sentence. In October 2010, the imprisoned Liu became the first Chinese citizen awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

Gao Zhisheng (高智晟)

February 1, 2011 Comments Off

Gao Zhisheng is a former lawyer and director of the Beijing Shengzhi Law Firm, which had its license suspended by the Beijing Bureau of Judiciary Affairs in November 2005. Gao represented defendants who were persecuted for activities tied to the banned sect Falun Gong and unofficial Christian house churches.