In the Press | Chinese Human Rights Defenders

Human rights activist wins Int’l Women of Courage award, barred from leaving China for ceremony

April 1, 2016 Comments Off

Originally publish by Hong Kong Free Press on March 30, 2016 Chinese human rights activist Ni Yulan has been banned from leaving the country to receive an International Women of Courage award in the US. Ni told US-backed Radio Free Asia (RFA) on Monday that police in Beijing had frozen her passport and – despite seeking help from (read more…)

It’s International Women’s Day!

March 14, 2016 Comments Off

Originally published by Morning News USA on March 14, 2016 Today, March 8, marks the 108th International Women’s Day, which recognizes the contribution of women in shaping the world. For more than a century, the world has been celebrating this special day for women in a bid to recognize how they (read more…)

Activists Call For Release of Jailed Chinese Women

March 14, 2016 Comments Off

Originally published by Radio Free Asia on March 8, 2016 Rights groups called on Tuesday for the release of key women activists on International Women’s Day, as five feminists detained for planning a campaign event this time last year came under renewed pressure from police. The overseas-based Chinese Human Rights Defenders (CHRD) (read more…)

Terminally ill Chinese Activist Sentenced to 4 Years in Prison

March 7, 2016 Comments Off

Originally published by Latin American Herald Tribune on February 16, 2016 BEIJING – A court in China has sentenced an activist with terminal cancer to four years imprisonment for “disrupting social order,” a common practice in the country against critics of the government, Chinese Human Rights Defenders, or CHRD , said Friday. (read more…)

China ‘Ignores’ U.N. Treaty, Routinely Tortures Activists: Report

March 7, 2016 Comments Off

Originally published by Radio Free Asia on February 16, 2016 The ruling Chinese Communist Party, which has ushered in the harshest crackdown on critics yet under President Xi Jinping, has largely ignored a United Nations treaty banning all forms of torture or cruel and degrading punishment, an overseas rights group said in (read more…)

U.N. Rights Official Urges China to Release Detained Lawyers

March 7, 2016 Comments Off

Originally published by New York Times on February 16, 2016 GENEVA — The United Nations’ top human rights official called on China on Tuesday to immediately and unconditionally release a group of lawyers detained starting last summer, and he expressed concern over a “very worrying pattern” of arrests and disappearances. The Chinese authorities have arrested (read more…)

Activists Sentenced to Prison for Demanding Democracy in China

March 7, 2016 Comments Off

Originally published by Voice Of America on January 29, 2016 A Guangzhou, China court Friday handed down guilty verdicts for three Chinese rights activists — Tang Jingling, Yuan Xinting and Wang Qingying — who now face up to five years in prison for “inciting subversion of state power.” Human rights groups (read more…)

‘China’s Gandhi’ Jailed For Five Years in Guangzhou Three Verdict

March 7, 2016 Comments Off

Originally published by Radio Free Asia on January 29, 2016 Authorities in the southern Chinese province of Guangdong on Friday handed down jail terms of up to five years to the “Guangzhou Three” rights activists for subversion, after they sought to launch a civil disobedience campaign to protect human rights. The (read more…)

Beijing’s War on Rights Lawyers and Activists Continues

March 7, 2016 Comments Off

Originally published by The Wall Street Journal (blog) on January 23, 2016 A trio of recent repressive actions by the Chinese party-state represents a disturbing three-pronged attack that treats legality as an unnecessary burden on governance over society, and illustrates how far China is willing to go to snuff out dissent. (read more…)

Activist in China’s Troubled Xinjiang Region Is Handed 19 Years in Jail

March 7, 2016 Comments Off

Originally published by Time on January 22, 2016 China has handed prison sentences totaling more than 19 years to an activist in the northwestern region of Xinjiang, the home of the mostly Muslim Uighur ethnic group. Zhang Haitao, who is himself Han Chinese, was given 15 years for “incitement to subvert state power” (read more…)

China Jails Xinjiang Rights Activist For 19 Years For Subversion, Spying

March 7, 2016 Comments Off

Originally published by Radio Free Asia on January 21, 2016 Authorities in the northwestern Chinese region of Xinjiang have jailed a Han Chinese rights activist for 19 years on subversion and spying charges after he openly criticized government policy in the troubled region. Zhang Haitao was handed a 15-year prison term (read more…)

Two More Fengrui Detainees Formally Arrested For Subversion

March 7, 2016 Comments Off

Originally published by Radio Free Asia on January 14, 2016 Authorities in the Chinese capital have formally arrested another associate of the Beijing Fengrui law firm and a rights activist on subversion charges, bringing the total facing jail on similar charges to 10, a Hong Kong-based rights group said on Thursday. Fengrui (read more…)