Portraits of Defenders | Chinese Human Rights Defenders

Dai Zhenya (戴振亚), Li Yingjun (李英俊), Zhang Zhongshun (张忠顺)

March 19, 2020 Comments Off

Three activists—Dai Zhenya (戴振亚), Li Yingjun (李英俊), Zhang Zhongshun (张忠顺)—were seized on December 26, 2019, in operations by police from Yantai City, Shandong Province who detained and interrogated more than a dozen human rights defenders across China. The operation also ensnared Beijing-based activist Ding Jiaxi (丁家喜) who had previously served (read more…)

Pan Bin 潘斌

January 21, 2020 Comments Off

Chongqing police detained activist Pan Bin in June 2017. He eventually received a 4-year prison sentence after being tried in November 2018. Pan had been accused of helping organize petitioners to present their grievances to government officials, but his incarceration is also likely tied to his pro-democracy advocacy, including as (read more…)

Huang Yunmin 黄云敏

January 10, 2020 Comments Off

Huang Yunmin, an ex-judge-turned-legal advocate from the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, was sentenced to 10 years in prison following a trial in September 2017. Kashgar Prefecture Intermediate People’s Court convicted him of “organizing, leading, and actively participating in a terrorist organization.” Police in Tumxuk (图木舒克), a city in Kashgar Prefecture, (read more…)

He Fangmei 何方美

November 26, 2019 Comments Off

He Fangmei, an advocate for vaccination safety, was criminally detained in March 2019, after being forcibly returned to her home province of Henan from Beijing. Ms. He had been in Beijing demonstrating with other families whose children had been stricken with illness or disability due to faulty vaccines. Her detention (read more…)

Zhou Yuanzhi 周远志

November 18, 2019 Comments Off

Zhou Yuanzhi, a writer and editor from Hubei Province, was handed a four-and-half-year prison sentence in July 2019, for his alleged efforts to help petitioners organize to present grievances to Chinese authorities, and for making “politically sensitive” online comments. After Zhou was initially detained in November 2017, he was issued (read more…)

Cheng Yuan (程渊), Liu Dazhi (刘大志), Wu Gejianxiong (吴葛健雄)

August 20, 2019 Comments Off

Hunan Province police criminally detained three staff members of an anti-discrimination NGO in Changsha—Cheng Yuan, Liu Dazhi and Wuge Jianxiong—in July 2019 on suspicion of “subversion of state power.” The precise reason the men have been deprived of their liberty is unknown. They were initially disappeared, and lawyers and family (read more…)

Zhang Zhiru 张治儒

July 23, 2019 Comments Off

Zhang Zhiru 张治儒 (released) Criminal charge: Gathering a crowd to disrupt social order Length of Punishment: Three years, suspended for four years Court: Shenzhen Bao’an District Court Trial Date: April 24, 2020 Sentencing Date: April 24, 2020 Dates of Detention/Arrest: January 20, 2019 (detention); February 26, 2019 (formal arrest); May 7, 2020 (read more…)

Wu Guijun 吴贵军

July 23, 2019 Comments Off

Wu Guijun 吴贵军 (released) Criminal charge: Gathering a crowd to disrupt social order Length of Punishment: Three years, suspended for four years Court: Shenzhen Bao’an District Court Trial Date: Unknown Sentencing Date: Unknown Dates of Detention/Arrest: January 20, 2019 (detention); February 26, 2019 (formal arrest); April 22, 2020 (released) Place of Incarceration: Bao’an (read more…)

Ke Chengbing (柯成兵), Wei Zhili (危志立), Yang Zhengjun (杨郑君)

July 18, 2019 Comments Off

Ke Chengbing (柯成兵), Wei Zhili (危志立), Yang Zhengjun (杨郑君) Ke Chengbing (left), Wei Zhili (center), Yang Zhengjun (right) Criminal charge: Picking quarrels and provoking trouble Length of Punishment: N/A Court: N/A Trial Date: N/A Sentencing Date: N/A Dates of Detention/Arrest: January-March 2019 (detention; see specific dates in text); February-April (Residential Surveillance in Designated Location, RSDL; (read more…)

Fu Changguo 付常国

July 18, 2019 Comments Off

Fu Changguo 付常国 Criminal charge: Gathering a crowd to disturb public order Length of Punishment: N/A Court: N/A Trial Date: N/A Sentencing Date: N/A Dates of Detention/Arrest: August 10, 2018 (detention); September 8, 2018 (formal arrest) Place of Incarceration: Current location unknown; previously detained at Shenzhen City No. 2 Detention Center Background Fu Changguo, a staff member (read more…)

Chen Jianfang 陈建芳

May 31, 2019 Comments Off

Chen Jianfang 陈建芳 Criminal charge/s: “Subversion of state power” Length of Punishment: Three years (unconfirmed) Court: Unknown Trial Date: Unknown Sentencing Date: Unknown Dates of Detention/Arrest: March 20, 2019 (enforced disappearance); May 22, 2019 (formal arrest); August 30, 2019 (indicted) Place of Incarceration: Unknown (March 20, 2019-unknown date); Shanghai Detention Center (information only released in October (read more…)

Xue Renyi 薛仁义

May 31, 2019 Comments Off

Xue Renyi 薛仁义 Criminal charge: “Picking quarrels and provoking trouble” Length of Punishment: N/A Court: N/A Trial Date: N/A Sentencing Date: N/A Dates of Detention/Arrest: May 1, 2018 (disappearance), July 31, 2019 (criminal detention) Place of Incarceration: Dianjiang County Detention Center (Chongqing Municipality) Background Chongqing police forcibly disappeared activist Xue Renyi (薛仁义), the founder and head of the environmental (read more…)