News - Chinese Human Rights DefendersChinese Human Rights Defenders

[CHRB] End Persecution of Participants in 1989 Pro-democracy Movement for Their Ongoing Activism

June 3, 2015 Comments Off

On the 26th anniversary of the Chinese government’s bloody suppression of the 1989 pro-democracy demonstrations, scores of individuals who took part in the movement are detained or in prison today for their continuing efforts to promote human rights and democratic reforms. Several activists and lawyers seized last year for marking (read more…)

China Must Scrap Draft NGO Law, Respect Freedom of Association

May 28, 2015 Comments Off

The Chinese government must drop the draft Overseas NGO Management Law or remove proposed provisions that, as written, violate the fundamental human right to freedom of association and grant police vast powers to restrict civil society activism. Besides drastically restricting the operations of overseas non-profit organizations in China, the draft (read more…)

[CHRB] China’s Draft National Security Law: More License To Abuse Human Rights (5/15-21/2015)

May 21, 2015 Comments Off

The draft PRC National Security Law, if passed, would legalize the Chinese government’s systematic suppression of political, ethnic, and religious dissent and crack down on civil liberties. The draft includes a broad and ill-defined definition of “national security,” and provisions that would allow prosecution of dissenting views, religious beliefs, information (read more…)

[CHRB] Forced Psychiatric Detention Persists 2 Years After China Enacted Mental Health Law (5/8-14/2015)

May 15, 2015 Comments Off

Forced psychiatric commitment is still widespread two years after China enacted its first Mental Health Law, according to reports by groups in the CHRD network that provide further evidence of the law’s lack of implementation. In particular, officials continue to punish individuals who challenge officials’ conduct or government policies, by (read more…)

[CHRB] “Inciting Subversion” Cases Move Forward; Pu Zhiqiang Still in Legal Limbo (4/23-5/7/15)

May 7, 2015 Comments Off

Six human rights defenders—five activists and a lawyer—facing charges of “inciting subversion of state power” and other “political” offenses have seen developments in their cases this week. As partly seen in these cases, authorities since late 2014 have returned to using more explicitly political charges, like those involving “subversion” and (read more…)

China: Release Journalists, Protect Press Freedom

May 1, 2015 Comments Off

On the eve of 2015’s World Press Freedom Day, CHRD calls on the Chinese government to release the dozens of journalists, bloggers, and citizen journalists imprisoned in China, including the recently imprisoned 71-year old journalist Gao Yu (高瑜). On April 17, a Beijing court sentenced Gao to seven years in (read more…)

China Fails to Right A Wrong, Sentences Victim of Domestic Violence To Death a Second Time

April 24, 2015 Comments Off

(The Network of Chinese Human Rights Defenders — April 24, 2015) Following a retrial of the death penalty case that was returned by the Supreme People’s Court, the Sichuan Provincial People’s High Court issued its verdict of death with a 2-year delay in execution to Li Yan (李彦), who had (read more…)

[CHRB] Alleged Torture To Coerce Confessions in Criminal Gang Case, Violence Against Lawyers (4/17-23/2015)

April 23, 2015 Comments Off

Police allegedly tortured several defendants in a criminal gang case in Hunan Province in order to extract confessions, which prosecutors then used as evidence against them at trial, according to their lawyers. Among 47 total defendants in the case—all accused of being members of the triad known as “Zhou clan (read more…)

[CHRB] Call for Independent Investigation After Attack on Lawyer in Courthouse (3/20-4/16/15)

April 16, 2015 Comments Off

CHRD joins more than 300 lawyers in China in calling for an independent investigation into the alleged violence against lawyer Cui Hui (崔慧), and for the perpetrators to be held legally accountable. Judges and bailiffs at a Beijing courthouse attacked Cui on April 2. The physical assault on Cui follows (read more…)

[CHRB] Concerns Over Health of Detained Woman Activist & Anniversary of Cao Shunli’s Death (3/13-19/2015)

March 19, 2015 Comments Off

Wu Rongrong (武嵘嵘), one of the five female human rights defenders under criminal detention in Beijing after a coordinated police action last week, has been denied any treatment for a serious medical condition. March 14 marked the one-year anniversary of the persecution to death of activist Cao Shunli (曹顺利), with (read more…)

“Silencing the Messenger: 2014 Annual Report on the Situation of Human Rights Defenders in China”

March 15, 2015 Comments Off

Human rights defenders in China experienced unusually severe reprisal in 2014, says CHRD in its annual report, Silencing the Messenger: 2014 Annual Report on the Situation of Human Rights Defenders in China. CHRD asserts that the government’s persecution of human rights defenders in 2014 was as severe as it has (read more…)

Activist Zhou Weilin Named First Recipient of Cao Shunli Memorial Award for Human Rights Defenders

March 14, 2015 Comments Off

Activist Zhou Weilin (周维林) has been named the first recipient of the Cao Shunli Memorial Award for Human Rights Defenders, selected by three Chinese groups sponsoring the award. The award committee, made up of three Mainland-based NGOs—Human Rights Campaign in China, Civil Rights & Livelihood Watch, and Rights Defense Network—announced (read more…)