News - Chinese Human Rights DefendersChinese Human Rights Defenders

Chinese Government Lacks the Qualifications for Membership on UN Human Rights Council

November 7, 2013 Comments Off

Chinese Human Rights Defenders is concerned that the government of China, which is seeking a seat on the United Nations Human Rights Council (HRC) for a third time, has clearly failed to comply with the standards established by the UN General Assembly. CHRD urges UN Member States to take into (read more…)

[CHRB] Tibetan Received 6 Years over Self-immolation; Cao Shunli Denied Treatment in Detention (12/19/2013-1/2/2014)

January 3, 2014 Comments Off

A monk from Bora Monastery was sentenced in December 2013 to six years in prison for “intentional homicide” on charges related to the self-immolation of another monk in Bora. Gedun Gyatso, 47, had been held incommunicado for a year before the Sangchu (CH: Xiahe) County People’s Court in Gansu Province (read more…)

Activist Chen Jianfang Disappeared, Police Raided Residence – Chinese Authorities Intensify Reprisals Ahead of UN Human Rights Council Election

November 5, 2013 Comments Off

CHRD is deeply concerned about the safety of Shanghai-based activist Chen Jianfang (陈建芳) and the imminent danger of torture she faces. Chen has been missing for more than 24 hours as of November 5, 2013. Chen was last in touch with friends on November 4 when she was on her (read more…)

UN Working Group Finds China’s Psychiatric Detention of Petitioner “Arbitrary”

July 21, 2014 Comments Off

CHRD welcomes the opinion adopted by the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (WGAD) that the lengthy detention of Heilongjiang petitioner Xing Shiku (邢世库) in a psychiatric hospital has been “arbitrary.” In an opinion issued on May 20, the Working Group calls for Xing’s release and requests the Chinese government (read more…)

China: End Impunity for the 1989 Atrocities and Guarantee Right to Redress

June 2, 2014 Comments Off

On the eve of the 25th anniversary of the Tiananmen massacre, CHRD urges the Chinese government to end the impunity for gross human rights violations during the 1989 suppression of pro-democracy protests, to stop its suppression of survivors and outspoken critics, to guarantee the victims’ right to obtain redress and (read more…)

[CHRB] Arrest of Cao Shunli Confirmed; Mysterious Death of Petitioner in Custody and More (10/24-31, 2013)

November 1, 2013 Comments Off

Detained activist Cao Shunli (曹顺利) is suffering from deteriorating health due to lack of medical attention, according to her lawyer. The 52-year-old Beijing-based activist looks very thin and needs urgent treatment for a severe liver disease. The lawyer submitted a bail request on October 31 for Cao to be released (read more…)

[CHRB] Activist Said to Be Secretly Sentenced to 4 Years, Enforced Disappearance of Tibetan Monk (7/10-17/2014)

July 17, 2014 Comments Off

Guangdong activist Huang Wenxun (黄文勋) is said to have been secretly tried and sentenced to four years in prison for “inciting subversion of state power” in Hubei Province. Senior Tibetan monk and scholar Tenzin Lhunrup (丹增龙珠) reportedly disappeared in May 2014 after being seized by police in Diru County in (read more…)

Show Trial of Jiangxi Activists Suspended: Lawyers Demanded Releases, Calling Detentions Unlawful

October 29, 2013 Comments Off

A Chinese court had to suspend the trial of activists Liu Ping (刘萍), Wei Zhongping (魏忠平), and Li Sihua (李思华) on October 28 in Jiangxi Province after defendants and lawyers protested myriad violations of legal rights. A lawyer told CHRD that the prosecutors and the court were pushed back in (read more…)

[CHRB] Violence Against Lawyers Representing Christians in Henan, Many Activists Indicted (12/12-12/18, 2013)

December 19, 2013 Comments Off

Authorities have harassed and assaulted a group of lawyers in retaliation for taking on the cases of Zhang Shaojie (张少杰), a church pastor in Henan Province who has been detained, and 23 other detained church members. The lawyers have been consistently blocked from meeting their clients, who were taken into (read more…)

[CHRB] Cao Shunli’s Detention Confirmed, Crackdown Expands as China Touts “Achievements” at UN Review (10/17-23, 2013)

October 24, 2013 Comments Off

On the eve of the UN’s Universal Periodic Review (UPR) on China, two more activists were arrested in the crackdown on civil society, bringing the number of known arrests to 34 as authorities have suppressed peaceful assembly, association, and expression since March. Authorities also confirmed the criminal detention of activist (read more…)

[CHRB] Nearly 100 Detained, Restricted in Movement Around 25th Tiananmen Anniversary (5/30-6/5/2014)

June 5, 2014 Comments Off

CHRD to date has documented 43 criminal detentions and two arrests, beginning in April, in the most suppressive crackdown seen in China around June Fourth anniversaries. In total, CHRD has confirmed that 91 individuals have been detained, disappeared, questioned by police, or put under house arrest or forcibly taken “to (read more…)

[CHRB] Crackdown Before 6/4 Anniversary: 50 People Detained, Disappeared or Summoned (5/23-5/29/2014)

May 30, 2014 Comments Off

Authorities continue to detain citizens in the days before the quarter-century anniversary of the Tiananmen Massacre. To date, CHRD has tracked 50 individuals affected by the crackdown. In addition, police in separate cases have criminally detained writer Jiang Lijun (姜力均) and netizen Liu Wei (刘伟), each on a charge of (read more…)