Activist Cao Shunli’s death on March 14, 2014, showed the lengths that China’s leaders are willing to go to suppress civil society voices. Cao Shunli unwaveringly pursued the goal to make use of international human rights mechanisms to improve rights conditions in China. As she said: “In China, those involved (read more…)
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Shanghai-based activist Wei Qin was seized along with activist Wang Kouma (王扣玛) in September 2012 on charges of “gathering a crowd to disturb order of a public place.” She was detained for nearly a year before being convicted of a different crime, for which she was sentenced to 2 years (read more…)
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Communique on Behalf of Ge Zhihui, Citizen of the People’s Republic of China, Alleging Arbitrary Detention, Torture, Violation of Freedom of Religion or Belief, Assembly and Association, and Reprisals against Human Rights Defenders. Ge Zhihui (葛志慧), a petitioner, was a victim of a violent forced demolition of her home that (read more…)
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Liu Ping, a prominent Jiangxi-based activist, was detained in April 2013 as part of a nationwide crackdown on freedom of assembly, association, and expression that began in March of that year. Liu was initially arrested for “inciting subversion of state power,” but local authorities later charged her with three other (read more…)
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Peng Lanlan, a leader of the campaign for civil society participation in China’s Universal Period Review and disclosure of China’s implementation of the government’s “National Human Rights Action Plan,” was detained in August 2012 on suspicion of “obstructing official business” and only released after nearly one year. From Hunan, Peng (read more…)
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Shanghai activist Cui Fufang (崔福芳) was handed a one-year RTL punishment in October 2012, allegedly for attending a memorial for the mother of activist Wang Kouma (王扣玛) that January. A month before this RTL decision came down, and despite having been put under house arrest, Cui was criminally detained on (read more…)
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After the pro-democracy protests in Beijing in 1989, Wang Lihong became a dedicated democracy activist and human rights defender. Born October 28, 1955, she has worked on causes such as relief efforts for the “Tiananmen homeless,” and also advocated on behalf of citizens fighting land seizures in Beihai City, Guangxi (read more…)
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Ni, a Beijing housing rights activist, has suffered repeated arbitrary detention, torture, intimidation and harassment since 2002. Her home was forcibly demolished in 2008 when authorities in Beijing’s Xicheng District retaliated against her for her human rights activism. She suffers from a number of medical conditions as a result of (read more…)
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Ma Lijun, a petitioner from Shijiazhuang City, Hebei Province, was sent to 18 months of Re-education through Labor (RTL) for “disrupting public order” in retaliation for her longtime petitioning at Zhongnanhai. Ma was serving a 10-day administrative detention for the same alleged offense when the RTL decision was issued.
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Born on May 25, 1959, Li Hongwei began her rights defense activities in 2007, when her ancestral home was forcibly demolished without an agreement, proper arrangements, or compensation in place. In retaliation for her petitioning, Li suffered various forms of repression from authorities.
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