(Network of Chinese Human Rights Defenders—April 8, 2026) Two recent cases highlight Chinese authorities’ ongoing criminalization of free expression. On March 24, 2026, a Beijing court sentenced publisher Tu Jincan to three years and six months in prison for “illegal business operations.” In February, in Anhui Province, a court tried (read more…)
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The undersigned organisations express deep concern over the conviction of human rights lawyer Xie Yang on 23 March 2026, sentencing him to five years’ imprisonment for “inciting subversion of state power.” We urge the Chinese authorities to quash the conviction and drop the charges, as they stem solely from his (read more…)
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(Network of Chinese Human Rights Defenders—March 25, 2026) Chinese Human Rights Defenders learned today that Sanhe City Court in Hebei Province will put detained artist Gao Zhen on trial on March 30 at 9 AM local time. The trial hearing will be held behind closed doors. Authorities will not allow (read more…)
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After a public call for nominations and a vote by the initiating organizations, the 12th Cao Shunli Memorial Award for Human Rights Defenders (2026) is awarded to two human rights defenders from China: Ms. Wei Wenyuan and Ms. Wang Rongwen.
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经“曹顺利人权捍卫者纪念奖”发起机构公开征集提名、并由发起机构表决，决定将2026年第十二届“曹顺利人权捍卫者纪念奖”颁发给中国大陆人权捍卫者危文元女士和王蓉文女士。 2026年3月14日是曹顺利女士在她被任意羁押期间受折磨而被夺去生命十二周年纪念日。3月14日被大陆维权人士设定为“人权捍卫者日”。
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(Network of Chinese Human Rights Defenders—March 12, 2026) Chinese Human Rights Defenders learned this week that the Sanhe City Court in Hebei Province has postponed—for the third time—the trial of wrongfully detained artist Gao Zhen. Gao, who will soon turn 70, has been held for more than 18 months in (read more…)
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Chinese Human Rights Defenders supported a joint statement delivered by ARTICLE 19 during the Item 2 General Debate at the 61st Session of the UN Human Rights Council.
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(Network of Chinese Human Rights Defenders—March 2, 2026) New CHRD research shows that Chinese authorities are denying retirement-age prisoners of conscience their pension benefits following their releases from wrongful detention.
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(Network of Chinese Human Rights Defenders—February 24, 2026) Twenty-six civil society organizations are calling on United Nations (UN) High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk to use his February 27 address to the UN Human Rights Council (HRC) to detail his office’s efforts to investigate alleged Chinese government crimes against (read more…)
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(Network of Chinese Human Rights Defenders—February 17, 2026) On February 13, 2026, a Chinese court sentenced two human rights defenders to prison on charges of “picking quarrels and provoking trouble.” Activist Zou Wei and writer Zan Aizong had participated in a seaside commemoration of Nobel Peace laureate Liu Xiaobo, who (read more…)
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(Network of Chinese Human Rights Defenders—February 8, 2026) CHRD calls for the release of Jimmy Lai, the 78-year-old Hong Kong-British prodemocracy activist and owner of the shuttered newspaper Apple Daily, who was sentenced to 20 years in prison today.
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(Network of Chinese Human Rights Defenders — February 4, 2026) On February 1, Chengdu Public Security Bureau officers detained renowned journalist Liu Hu while he was traveling to Beijing. On February 2, Liu’s family learned that Chengdu authorities had placed Liu under criminal detention on suspicion of “making false accusations” (read more…)
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