News | Chinese Human Rights Defenders

[CHRB] New Charity Law Will Further Isolate & Weaken Civil Society in China (March 21-31/2016)

March 31, 2016 Comments Off

China’s newly passed Charity Law, to be implemented on September 1, 2016, further debilitates independent non-profit groups in the country by restricting their access to domestic funding. The legislation is yet another tool the government can use to strangle NGOs in China’s emerging civil society, according to activists who spoke (read more…)

[CHRB] Forced “Switch” to Police-Appointed Lawyers Further Erodes Protections for Detained Rights Defenders (3/15-3/21, 2016)

March 21, 2016 Comments Off

A substantial number of detained lawyers and activists have supposedly “dismissed” their lawyers and “hired” other lawyers to represent them, according to police notifications over the past two months. All but one of the 11 cases that CHRD has documented are tied to the “709” crackdown targeting rights lawyers. Police (read more…)

Jia Lingmin Named 2016 Recipient of Cao Shunli Memorial Award

March 14, 2016 Comments Off

Imprisoned activist Jia Lingmin (贾灵敏) is the winner of the second Cao Shunli Memorial Award for Human Rights Defenders for her contributions in promoting human rights at the grassroots level. Three mainland Chinese NGOs, which launched the award in 2015 to honor the memory of late activist Cao Shunli (曹顺利), (read more…)

China: Forced TV Confessions Violate Principle of Presumed Innocence Before Trial, Constitute Cruel & Degrading Punishment

March 12, 2016 Comments Off

CHRD calls on Chinese authorities to stop “trying” criminal suspects in the “court of public opinion” by broadcasting their “confessions” on state TV, as the practice violates Chinese law and international human rights norms. The “confessors” have not been granted due process rights, and are essentially seen as “guilty” by (read more…)

Help Free Chinese Women HRDs on International Women’s Day

March 8, 2016 Comments Off

Join CHRD’s campaign calling for the release of Chinese women human rights defenders who remain detained and imprisoned on this year’s International Women’s Day. They have been subjected to government retaliation for their defense of women’s rights, housing and land rights, rule of law, and the exercise of their rights (read more…)

[CHRB] Activist Given 4-Year Sentence Despite Terminal Illness; Update on Persecuted Mainland Supporters of Hong Kong Pro-Democracy Protests (2/17-2/25/2016)

February 26, 2016 Comments Off

Heilongjiang activist Zhang Shuzhi (张淑芝), who is terminally ill with cancer, has been given a four-year prison sentence in retaliation against her exercising the rights to free expression and peaceful assembly. Also, by CHRD’s count, 10 mainland activists remain in custody for openly supporting the 2014 pro-democracy demonstrations in Hong (read more…)

“Too Risky to Call Ourselves Defenders”: Annual Report on the Situation of Human Rights Defenders in China (2015)

February 16, 2016 Comments Off

In 2015, Chinese authorities’ persecution of human rights defenders followed a trajectory of increasing severity that has become a hallmark of President Xi Jinping’s leadership, says CHRD in its annual report, “Too Risky to Call Ourselves Defenders”: 2015 Annual Report on the Situation of Human Rights Defenders in China. Government (read more…)

[CHRB] Government Reprisals: Assault, Imprisonment, Torture & Cancellation of a Lawyer’s License (1/28-2/3/2016)

February 3, 2016 Comments Off

Chinese authorities have recently taken reprisals against a host of rights defenders. Lawyer Gao Zhisheng (高智晟), who has gone online lately to express support for persecuted lawyers and activists, was manhandled and threatened by police and thugs after going to see relatives. A pair of Jilin petitioners—a man and his (read more…)

China Imprisons 3 Rights Defenders More Than A Year After UN Called for Their Release

January 29, 2016 Comments Off

CHRD condemns the imprisonment of Guangdong lawyer Tang Jingling (唐荆陵) and activists Wang Qingying (王清营) and Yuan Xinting (袁新亭), who were convicted on January 29 on trumped-up charges of “inciting subversion of state power” and sentenced to to five years, two-and-a-half years, and three-and-a-half years in prison, respectively. The verdict (read more…)

[CHRB] Freedom of Association Under Assault in China: Arbitrary Detentions & Disappearances (1/8-21/2016)

January 21, 2016 Comments Off

There has been a recent escalation of state suppression against individuals and groups in China that lawfully exercised their free association rights. Zhang Haitao (张海涛), who posted online comments critical of the government and kept contact with overseas activists, was given 19 years in prison for two crimes, including an (read more…)

Politically Charged Arrests in China Escalate Persecution of Rights Lawyers

January 14, 2016 Comments Off

CHRD condemns the actions of Chinese authorities who this week formally arrested 11 lawyers, paralegals, and activists on serious charges, politicizing Chinese lawyers’ efforts to protect human rights. CHRD sees the new arrests as indication of a drastic escalation of President Xi Jinping’s campaign against human rights lawyers. Since July (read more…)

[CHRB] Torture of Chinese Human Rights Lawyer Emblematic of Persistent Pattern of Official Reprisal & Abuse (1/1-7, 2016)

January 8, 2016 Comments Off

Human rights lawyer Shu Xiangxin (舒向新) was reportedly subjected to torture and other forms of ill-treatment in a detention center on January 4, in a case emblematic of the harsh reprisals that Chinese human rights lawyers can face. The incident is indicative of the persistence of torture in China’s detention (read more…)