In the Press - Chinese Human Rights DefendersChinese Human Rights Defenders

Chinese court sentences human rights lawyer Li Heping in secret trial

May 8, 2017 Comments Off

Originally published by AFP on April 28, 2017 BEIJING (AFP) – China sentenced a prominent human rights lawyer to a three-year suspended sentence on Friday (April 28) following a secret trial, raising concerns the country is moving to further reduce transparency in high-profile, politically sensitive cases. Beijing has come under increased fire (read more…)

Thwarted by China’s courts, ‘diehard’ lawyers ‘fight to the death’ for justice

May 8, 2017 Comments Off

Originally published by The Globe and Mail on April 27, 2017 Little more than an hour after the opening of a retrial against Wilson Wang, two women burst out of the courthouse at the Wuhu City Jinghu District People’s Court. “The court beats people! Come and see, everyone!” they shouted in front (read more…)

Trial of China human rights lawyer delayed: supporters

May 8, 2017 Comments Off

Originally published by AFP on April 25, 2017 A Chinese court indefinitely postponed the trial of a prominent human rights lawyer on Tuesday, his supporters said, in a case that has sparked international concern after allegations he was tortured. Xie Yang, who had worked on numerous cases considered politically sensitive by the (read more…)

China rights lawyer Xie Yang denied own defence for trial

May 6, 2017 Comments Off

Originally published by Hong Kong Free Press on April 22, 2017 Prominent Chinese lawyer Xie Yang will not be allowed to pick his defence at his upcoming trial, his former attorney said, in a move rights groups called a breach of international standards. Xie, who has worked on numerous cases considered politically (read more…)

Chinese Environmental Protester Seeks Refuge in Thailand Ahead of Earth Day

May 6, 2017 Comments Off

Originally published by Radio Free Asia on April 21, 2017 A Chinese rights activist involved in recent environmental protests in the southern province of Guangdong has fled the country to seek political refugee status in Thailand. Wang Xili had been giving help and advice to residents of Junpu village near Guangdong’s Chaozhou (read more…)

Chinese dissident disappears in Taiwan

May 6, 2017 Comments Off

Originally published by Taiwan News on April 15, 2017 TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – A Chinese activist once detained in his country for “causing social disorder” disappeared the day after he arrived in Taiwan with a tour group, reports said Saturday. Zhang Xiangzhong (張向忠), 48, had registered for a tour of eight (read more…)

At Least Nine Rights Activists ‘Secretly Detained’ in China’s Suzhou

May 6, 2017 Comments Off

Originally published by Radio Free Asia on March 24, 2017 Authorities in the eastern China province of Jiangsu are holding several rights activists under “residential surveillance” in an unknown location following a secret crackdown in Suzhou city that began last September, rights activists said. Several of the detainees had been protesting in (read more…)

U.S. absent as 11 countries rebuke China for torture of human rights lawyers

May 5, 2017 Comments Off

Originally published by Humanosphere on March 21, 2017 Eleven countries have jointly called on the Chinese government to investigate “credible claims of torture” against human rights lawyers, the Globe and Mail reported yesterday. In a letter dated Feb. 27 – which the Canadian newspaper said has not been made public – the signatories also condemned (read more…)

Report: Human rights lawyers in China beaten, arrested

March 30, 2017 Comments Off

Originally published by AP on February 15, 2017 BEIJING (AP) — Lawyers who defend human rights activists and dissidents targeted by China’s communist government have increasingly themselves become subject to political prosecutions, violence and other means of suppression, according to a report released Thursday. The Network of Chinese Human Rights Defenders, a coalition (read more…)

Lawyer detained in China crackdown released on bail but still under police surveillance, wife says

March 30, 2017 Comments Off

A lawyer detained in China’s sweeping crackdown in 2015 has been released on bail, but has not yet returned home, according to his wife. Yuan Shanshan said that she learned of Xie Yanyi’s release when he called her on Thursday. He is at a hotel in the northern city of Tianjin but (read more…)

Torture accusations: EU ambassador raises case of China lawyer

March 30, 2017 Comments Off

Originally published by AFP on January 25, 2017 BEIJING: The EU ambassador to Beijing said Wednesday that Europe was concerned about the case of detained Chinese lawyer Xie Yang, who rights groups say has been tortured by police. Chinese President Xi Jinping has overseen a tightening of controls on civil society since assuming (read more…)

China ‘eliminating civil society’ by targeting human rights activists – report

March 30, 2017 Comments Off

Originally published by The Guardian on February 16, 2017 China’s human rights situation further deteriorated last year as police systematically tortured activists and forcibly disappeared government critics while state TV continued to broadcast forced confessions, a new report shows. A creeping security state also attempted to codify much of its existing behaviour on (read more…)