Alerts & Statements - Chinese Human Rights DefendersChinese Human Rights Defenders

A Public Letter by Chinese Citizens Urging the Release of Uyghur Journalist Hailaite Niyazi

July 30, 2010 Comments Off

(Chinese Human Rights Defenders- July 30, 2010) A group of Chinese lawyers and scholars have made public an open letter expressing concern about the “criminalization of speech” in the case of Uyghur journalist Hailaite Niyazi, who was sentenced on July 23 to 15 years in prison for endangering state security (read more…)

CHRD Protests Harsh and Unjust Sentence for Uyghur Journalist Hailaite Niyazi

July 23, 2010 Comments Off

CHRD Protests Harsh and Unjust Sentence for Uyghur Journalist Hailaite Niyazi (Chinese Human Rights Defenders- July 23, 2010) On July 23, a court in Urumqi, Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) sentenced journalist Hailaite Niyazi (whose name also sometimes appears as Hairat or Gheyret Niyaz or Niyaze) to 15 years in (read more…)

Human Rights Defender Li Jinfang Summoned by Police, Home Raided and Property Confiscated

July 1, 2010 Comments Off

(Chinese Human Rights Defenders, July 1, 2010) Fifteen police officers raided the Xianghe County, Hebei Province home of human rights defender Li Jinfang (李金芳) this afternoon, confiscating 74 items, including human rights-related documents, computer equipment and financial documents. Several officers took Li and her teenage daughter Ar Dan (阿丹) to (read more…)

Sichuan Democracy Activist Liu Xianbin Criminally Detained for “Inciting Subversion of State Power”

June 29, 2010 Comments Off

(Chinese Human Rights Defenders- June 29, 2010) Little more than a year after he was released following a decade in prison, convicted of “subversion of state power” in 1999, Sichuan democracy activist Liu Xianbin (刘贤斌) has once again been criminally detained, this time for “inciting subversion of state power.” On (read more…)

Liaoning High People’s Court Must Overturn Death Sentence Given to Street Vendor Xia Junfeng, Victim of Official Violence

June 28, 2010 Comments Off

(Chinese Human Rights Defenders- June 28, 2010) On June 29, the Liaoning Provincial High People’s Court (Liaoning HPC) will convene an open court session to hear the appeal of Xia Junfeng (夏俊峰), a street vendor in Shenyang City who was sentenced to death for killing two City Administration and Law (read more…)

Tan Zuoren’s Harsh Sentence Upheld by Sichuan High Court

June 8, 2010 Comments Off

Tan Zuoren’s Harsh Sentence Upheld by Sichuan High Court (Chinese Human Rights Defenders- June 9, 2010) The Sichuan Provincial High People’s Court announced this morning that it had upheld the judgment of activist and environmentalist Tan Zuoren (谭作人). Tan was convicted of “inciting subversion of state power” in February 2010 (read more…)

Tiananmen Anniversary Marked by Harassment, Detentions, and Official Silence

June 3, 2010 Comments Off

Tiananmen Anniversary Marked by Harassment, Detentions, and Official Silence (Chinese Human Rights Defenders, June 3, 2010) On the eve of the 21st anniversary of the Tiananmen Massacre, the Chinese government continues to refuse to openly and truthfully address the events of June 4, 1989, and persists in its efforts to (read more…)

Beijing Activist Wang Debang Interrogated by Police, Home Searched

May 13, 2010 Comments Off

Crackdown on Civil Society Continues (Chinese Human Rights Defenders, May 13, 2010) On the afternoon of May 11, officers from the National Security Unit under the Beijing Public Security Bureau (PSB) took freelance writer and human rights activist Wang Debang (王德邦) from his home in southwest Beijing and interrogated him (read more…)

U.S.-China Human Rights Dialogue: Time to Make it Effective

May 12, 2010 Comments Off

(Chinese Human Rights Defenders, May 10, 2010) On May 13, the governments of China and the United States are set to hold the next round of talks in the U.S.-China Human Rights Dialogue. These dialogues, which have been held on 12 previous occasions since 1989, are widely viewed as not (read more…)

Chinese Government Silences Activists Ahead of Shanghai World Expo

April 28, 2010 Comments Off

(Chinese Human Rights Defenders, April 28, 2010) As the 2010 Shanghai World Expo opens on May 1, conspicuously absent from the festivities will be the residents of Shanghai who have lost their homes, businesses, and freedom to exercise their rights in the government’s drive to bring its ambitious plans for (read more…)

Hearing on Revocation of Lawyers’ Licenses Ends without Decision, Lawyers Condemn Baseless Punishment

April 22, 2010 Comments Off

Hearing on Revocation of Lawyers’ Licenses Ends without Decision, Lawyers Condemn Baseless Punishment (Chinese Human Rights Defenders, April 22, 2010) -About 200 lawyers, activists and petitioners gathered outside of the building of the Beijing Bureau of Justice (BBJ) this morning in a show of strong support to human rights lawyers (read more…)

Three Fujian Digital Activists Convicted as Thousands Gather in Landmark Protest

April 16, 2010 Comments Off

(Chinese Human Rights Defenders- April 16, 2010) Fujian activists Fan Yanqiong (范燕琼), Wu Huaying (吴华英), and You Jingyou (游精佑) were convicted of “slander” today for posting articles and video online urging government officials to investigate the alleged rape and murder of a young woman. Fan, who is seriously ill, was (read more…)