News | Chinese Human Rights Defenders

[CHRB] Violence & Black Jail Await Petitioners; RTL Victim Seeking Justice Stonewalled (12/5-12/11, 2013)

December 12, 2013 Comments Off

Local authorities detained 73-year-old petitioner Xu Wanying (许万英) in a “black jail” in Hubei Province, after she was intercepted. During her detention, the head of the local women’s association group violently assaulted Xu. In a separate incident, Wang Defang (王德芳) and Shi Wenxuan (时文选) were badly beaten by two unidentified (read more…)

Charter 08’s Legacy & China’s Failure to Honor Human Rights Obligations

December 9, 2013 Comments Off

December 10, 2013, marked the 5th anniversary of Charter 08—a manifesto on human rights and democracy in China—and the 65th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Unfortunately, that day of great inspiration was marred because the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize recipient Liu Xiaobo (刘晓波), continued to languish in (read more…)

[CHRB] Organizer of Farmers Detained for “Subversion of State Power”; Harassment, Violence against Lawyers, and more (11/28-12/4, 2013)

December 5, 2013 Comments Off

Police seized rural activist Zhao Fengsheng (赵枫生) on November 28 in Hunan Province on charges of “subversion of state power.” In Jiangxi, the long-delayed and suspended trial of activists Liu Ping (刘萍), Wei Zhongping (魏忠平), and Li Sihua (李思华) resumed on December 3. On the next day, the scene outside (read more…)

[CHRB] Detained Activists Denied Access to Lawyers or Bail Request, Latest Detention (10/3-10/9, 2013)

October 11, 2013 Comments Off

Police have not permitted Guangzhou-based activist Guo Feixiong (郭飞雄, aka Yang Maodong, 杨茂东) to meet his lawyers since he was criminally detained two months ago. In Anhui Province, activist Zhou Weilin (周维林) was denied his release on bail. In Beijing, police seized Hu Daliao (胡大料), a petitioner-turned-activist from Henan Province, (read more…)

Alert: More Lawyers & Activists Criminally Detained or Disappeared in Run-up to Tiananmen Anniversary

May 19, 2014 Comments Off

More lawyers and activists have been detained or disappeared in the run-up the June Fourth anniversary. Prominent human rights lawyers Tang Jingling (唐荆陵) and Liu Shihui (刘士辉) have been criminally detained. In Guangzhou, activist Wang Qingying (王清营) has been criminally detained as well, while activist Yuan Xinting (袁新亭), who has (read more…)

China Must Stop Excluding Civil Society From UN Human Rights Review

October 7, 2013 Comments Off

Two weeks before China undergoes a UN human rights review known as the Universal Periodic Review (UPR), Beijing police once again suppressed demonstrations demanding civil society’s role in national preparations for UPR. On October 3 and 4, police forcibly removed more than a dozen activists who had returned to demonstrate (read more…)

[CHRB] Tiananmen Anniversary Crackdown: Detainees Deprived of Medicine, More Taken Into Custody (5/9-15, 2014)

May 15, 2014 Comments Off

Two participants in a June Fourth commemorative seminar being detained in Beijing are not getting proper medical care, according to lawyers who visited them on May 8. Human rights lawyer Pu Zhiqiang (浦志强) is not receiving “ideal” treatment for his diabetes, while retired scholar Xu Youyu (徐友渔) has grown very (read more…)

[CHRB] Missing Activist Cao Shunli Reportedly Detained on Order of Ministry of Foreign Affairs (9/26-10/2, 2013)

October 3, 2013 Comments Off

China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) reportedly ordered national security officers to prevent activist Cao Shunli (曹顺利) from leaving China to attend a training in Geneva on UN human rights mechanisms and then criminally detain her. Last November, the MFA had refused Cao and others’ request for disclosure related to (read more…)

[CHRB] Labor Camp Victims Jailed for Seeking Justice; Accused “Illegal Demonstrator” Testifies to Torture in Court Trial (June 28 – July 3, 2014)

June 30, 2013 Comments Off

Eight women once held at the notorious Masanjia Women’s Re-education through Labor camp in Liaoning Province were sentenced in mid-June to prison terms ranging from one year to 18 months in retaliation for seeking remedies for abuses they suffered. Ten more individuals have been formally arrested in the crackdown tied (read more…)

Chinese Government Must Stop Intimidating Citizens Seeking Truth About June 4, 1989

May 6, 2014 Comments Off

CHRD is alarmed by reports that Beijing police have summoned intellectuals and family members of Tiananmen victims after they organized or attended a seminar on May 3 about June Fourth. It is unusual that, with still one month to go before the anniversary of the Tiananmen Massacre, Chinese authorities have (read more…)

[CHRB] Crackdown Underway for Commemorating 25th June Fourth (5/2-8, 2014)

May 9, 2014 Comments Off

Five dissidents and activists have been criminally detained after taking part in a seminar commemorating June Fourth held on May 3 in Beijing, while a veteran journalist who supported the 1989 pro-democracy protests also has gone under criminal detention. In Hunan Province, police also gave five-day administrative detentions to three (read more…)

China: Reverse Travesty of Justice, Free Persecuted Human Rights Defenders in Jiangxi

June 20, 2014 Comments Off

CHRD condemns the harsh punishments issued to Jiangxi activists Liu Ping (刘萍), Wei Zhongping (魏忠平), and Li Sihua (李思华) and demands their immediate release. The activists were sentenced by the Yushui County District Court in Xinyu City on June 19, over 14 months after they were first detained and more (read more…)