In the Press | Chinese Human Rights Defenders

Xinjiang Court Sentences Uyghur Scholar to Life in Prison

September 25, 2014 Comments Off

Originally published by Radio Free Asia on September 23, 2014. Prominent Uyghur scholar Ilham Tohti was sentenced to life imprisonment on Tuesday after a court in the troubled northwestern region of Xinjiang convicted him for “separatism,” a charge he has vehemently rejected. The former Beijing-based Central University for Nationalities economics (read more…)

Uighur Academic’s Daughter Faces Lonely Road After His Life Sentence on Separatism Charges

September 25, 2014 Comments Off

Originally published by Time on September 23, 2014. It was supposed to be an adventure. It was Feb. 2, 2013, and Ilham Tohti, a Beijing-based professor and writer, and his 18-year-old daughter, Jewher Ilham, were on their way from China to the United States. He was to start a year-long residency (read more…)

Uighur Scholar Tohti Jailed for Life for Inciting Separatism

September 25, 2014 Comments Off

Originally published by Bloomberg on September 23, 2014. Uighur scholar Ilham Tohti was sentenced to life in prison after he was convicted of promoting separatism in the northwest Chinese region of Xinjiang in a verdict that underlines China’s intolerance toward criticism of its ethnic policies. The court also ordered the (read more…)

China Holds Blogger, Rights Activist in Psychiatric Hospitals

September 25, 2014 Comments Off

Originally published by Radio Free Asia on September 18, 2014. A Chinese blogger and a rights activist are being held in mental institutions, rights groups and activists say, sparking fears for their well-being. Authorities in the southeastern province of Fujian detained outspoken blogger Shi Genyuan at his home on June 3 and (read more…)

China authorities detain writer for articles critical of senior official

September 17, 2014 Comments Off

Originally published by Jurist on September 15, 2014. [JURIST] Chinese writer Huang Zerong, known also by his pen name Tie Liu, was detained by Chinese authorities Sunday morning for allegedly publishing articles critical of Communist Party propaganda chief Liu Yunshan [Brookings backgrounder]. According to the Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post, (read more…)

China’s human rights abuses demand a tougher U.S. approach

September 16, 2014 Comments Off

Originally published by The Washington Post on September 14, 2014. THEY KEPT him in a cell so small he could walk barely two steps in any direction. There was no sunlight, no ventilation; just one five-watt bulb, burning dimly 24 hours a day. He was allowed nothing to read and (read more…)

China detains ex-police officer Tian Lan for protesting at trial of activist

February 5, 2014 Comments Off

A Chinese former policewoman has been detained for protesting outside the trial of activist Xu Zhiyong in Beijing last week. Tian Lan, 55, and at least three others were seized by police in Tongzhou shortly after gathering outside the courthouse in support of the legal scholar, according to the Chinese (read more…)

Religious Liberty in China: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

September 4, 2014 Comments Off

Originally published by CATO at Liberty on August 27, 2014. BEIJING—Today China’s big cities look much like urban areas anywhere in the world. There are lots of cars. What I didn’t expect was to see a Christian “fish” on an auto. Religion is “on the rise,” one U.S. diplomat told me. It (read more…)

Two More Anti-Graft Activists Stand Trial in Beijing

February 5, 2014 Comments Off

Authorities in the Chinese capital put on trial two more members of the anti-graft New Citizens’ Movement on Thursday, a day after the trial of its founder member Xu Zhiyong, who viewed the hearing as illegal and stayed silent in protest. Veteran pro-democracy activist Zhao Changqing and another activist Hou (read more…)

Tibet groups join call for Chinese legal scholar-activist’s release

February 5, 2014 Comments Off

(TibetanReview.net, Jan23, 2014) As China prepared to try legal scholar and accountable governance activist Mr Xu Zhiyong in Beijing on Jan 22 for allegedly “gathering a crowd to disturb order in a public place,” rights groups have called for his immediate freedom if China was serious about addressing the corruption (read more…)

Trial of Chinese Citizen Xu Zhiyong Ends in Silence

February 5, 2014 Comments Off

Prominent human rights scholar and activist Xu Zhiyong’s trial began and concluded on Wednesday, with both Xu and his lawyer remaining silent in protest of what they said were the illegal procedures taken by the court during the trial. Both refused to talk during the trial proceedings to demonstrate their (read more…)

China crushes dissent with trials this week

February 5, 2014 Comments Off

BEIJING — Legal scholar Xu Zhiyong missed his daughter’s birth last week. The human rights advocate is unlikely to rejoin his family for next week’s Chinese new year, nor for the next five years. Detained since July, Xu enters a Beijing courtroom Wednesday in the first of a rapid series (read more…)