News - Chinese Human Rights DefendersChinese Human Rights Defenders

[CHRB] 5 Women’s & LGBT Rights Activists Detained in Escalating Clampdown on NGOs (3/6-12/15)

March 12, 2015 Comments Off

Five female activists working on women’s and LGBT rights issues have been put under criminal detention on suspicion of “creating a disturbance” after authorities in three Chinese cities seized nine activists in total on March 6 and 7. They were all taken into custody prior to a planned anti-sexual harassment (read more…)

[CHRB] Rights Lawyers Fight Against Reprisals (2/27-3/5/15)

March 5, 2015 Comments Off

A law firm in Henan Province has forced out lawyer Ma Lianshun (马连顺) in likely reprisal for his representing “politically sensitive” cases of clients seized prior to the 25th anniversary of the Tiananmen Massacre. In a related issue, more than 100 Chinese lawyers signed on to an open letter to (read more…)

[CHRB] 82-Year-Old Dissident Writer Found “Guilty,” Given 2.5-Year Suspended Sentence (2/20-26/2015)

February 26, 2015 Comments Off

A court in Sichuan tried the writer Tie Liu (铁流), an outspoken government critic, on February 25, convicting him of “illegal business activity” but issuing him a suspended sentence in a case fraught with rights violations. Liu was sentenced to two-and-a-half years in prison, suspended for four years. His caretaker, (read more…)

[CHRB] UN Body Rules 3 Detentions “Arbitrary”; 27 Still Held for Supporting HK Protests (2/13-19/2015)

February 19, 2015 Comments Off

Three arrested Guangzhou activists are being held unlawfully and should be released and provided reparations by the Chinese government, the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention decided in an opinion issued in November and recently made public. Meanwhile, CHRD has documented 115 detentions of individuals swept up since October in (read more…)

China’s Problems With Torture & Impunity for Torturers

February 17, 2015 Comments Off

Torture and mistreatment of detainees is endemic in China, CHRD has reported to the UN Committee Against Torture (CAT). The Chinese government has taken very few measures that are effective in combating acts of torture and instead provides impunity for alleged perpetrators of torture. CHRD raised these and other concerns (read more…)

[CHRB] 27 Members of Ethnic Miao Minority Sentenced for Protesting Death in Detention of Leader (2/6-12/2015)

February 12, 2015 Comments Off

On February 9, a Hunan court sentenced relatives and supporters of Long Baorong (龙保荣), an ethnic Miao leader and former party official imprisoned for exposing corruption, who died right after his medical release. His son-in-law, Long Xianyuan (龙贤员), received 15 years in prison while Long Xianjiang (龙贤江), the brother of (read more…)

[CHRB] Hampered Investigation Into Death in Custody; Ineffective New Rules on Lawyers’ Input in Capital Cases (1/30-2/5/2015)

February 5, 2015 Comments Off

The family of Anhui Province farmer Yang Wusi (杨五四) has called on local authorities to explain how he died in detention, suspecting that he may have been tortured to death. During his autopsy, Yang was found to have no food in his stomach, bruises on his body, a wound on (read more…)

[CHRB] Rule Without Law: Prolonged Pre-Trial Detentions of Human Rights Defenders (1/23-29, 2015)

January 29, 2015 Comments Off

During a string of crackdowns since the spring of 2013, CHRD has documented an alarming number of excessive pre-trial detentions of human rights defenders (HRDs), who were not brought in front of a judge after having been in police custody for at least eight months, and with some held for (read more…)

[CHRB] Forced Psychiatric Detention & Reprisal Against Torture Victim Seeking Justice (1/16-22/2015)

January 22, 2015 Comments Off

Chinese authorities continued to illegally use forced psychiatric detention in 2014 to silence and punish petitioners, activists, and dissidents, according to a new report by a China-based NGO. This form of illegal detention was routinely used to “maintain stability,” particularly around “politically sensitive” periods of the year. Also, authorities in (read more…)

China: Revise draft anti-terrorism law to protect freedom of expression, association and dissent

January 22, 2015 Comments Off

(Geneva) – Chinese authorities should withdraw or substantially revise a proposed counter-terrorism law which could be used to further monitor, censor and criminalise the work of human rights defenders and pro-democracy activists, the International Service for Human Rights and Chinese Human Rights Defenders said in a joint statement today. ‘China’s draft Anti-Terrorism Act contains (read more…)

[CHRB] Torture & Ill-treatment of Detainees & Political Charges Returning Under Xi (1/8-15/2015)

January 15, 2015 Comments Off

Police at two detention centers in Beijing have tortured and mistreated two activists – Song Ze (宋泽, real name Song Guangqiang, 宋光强) and Xu Chongyang (徐崇阳) – arrested during the crackdown on supporters of the pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong. Meanwhile, CHRD sources have confirmed at least 22 cases of (read more…)

[CHRB] Special Coverage: 4 Cases of Torture in Detention (12/26/2014- 1/8/2015)

January 8, 2015 Comments Off

In view of this year’s UN Committee against Torture review of the Chinese government’s implementation of the international convention against torture, CHRD will provide focused reporting and analysis on cases of torture and related law and regulations. In this issue of CHRB, we report on four recent cases of detainees (read more…)