- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Apr 16, 2024
- Event Description
Police have arrested and detained four Tibetans who protested Chinese authorities’ seizure of pasture land owned by Tibetans in the Tibet Autonomous Region, three sources inside Tibet told Radio Free Asia.
On April 10, residents of Taktsa village in Luonixiang rural township in Markham county in Chamdo, or Changdu in Chinese, clashed with authorities after they appealed against the land grab and demanded compensation, said the sources, who requested anonymity for fear of reprisal.
In 2023, a Chinese county official illegally sold the pasture land to businessmen without the knowledge of locals and without providing them any compensation, the sources said.
The Tibetans had no knowledge that their land had been seized illegally until this April when the businessmen sent people to clear it. The Tibetans then confronted authorities, demanding payment.
Police arrested and detained four of the Tibetans, and slapped and beat many others at the scene, said one of the sources.
There were no immediate details about the status of the four or the charges against them, and it is not clear for what purpose the seized land will be used.
Despite repeated attempts, RFA did not receive any immediate response to calls to Markham county authorities and the local police station.
Chinese authorities in the Tibet Autonomous Region and in Tibetan-populated areas of nearby Chinese provinces often ignore residents’ concerns about mining and land grabs by local officials, who routinely rely on force to subdue those who complain or protest, according to human rights groups.
Over the past few years, there have been several reports of similar land grabs that have taken place in Chamdo, a resource-rich area in eastern Tibet.
Most of the land grabs have been related to mining, including copper, gold and lithium, and development projects that China has undertaken in the areas. In some cases, Tibetans have been forced from their homes.
Thumbs up
Videos obtained by RFA show over a dozen Tibetans pleading before Chinese police as they raised both their thumbs up — a Tibetan gesture of a request to show mercy.
The gesture was also seen being made by Buddhist monks and Tibetans residents during February protests in Dege county, southwestern China’s Sichuan province, in an appeal to Chinese officials to stop a planned dam project on the Drichu River.
In the videos from Markham county, young and elderly Tibetans kneel before police clad in black, and wail, while others pull and tug at the authorities to heed their pleas.
The land in question is used by about 25 Tibetan families to graze their animals and for recreation purposes, the sources said.
Chinese authorities have arrested the official who had colluded with the businessmen to illegally seize the land without compensating the Tibetans, charging him with corruption, said one of the sources.
Now, the residents are demanding compensation for the land that had been occupied, he added.
Chinese police have forbidden the Tibetans from sharing information about the incident with people outside China, the sources said.
- Impact of Event
- 4
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, Land rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Apr 28, 2024
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Mar 23, 2024
- Event Description
The sister of prominent Tibetan prisoner Dorjee Tashi condemns police for destroying phone evidence of their brutality
Tibet Watch has learned that Gonmo Kyi, sister of the high-profile Tibetan prisoner Dorjee Tashi, was severely beaten by police this weekend.
The police assault followed her latest solo protest in front of the Tibet Higher People’s Court in Lhasa on 19 and 20 March, in which she again called for a retrial for her brother.
The incident comes two months after Gonmo held a sit-in protest in front of the same court holding up a paper that says “Dorjee Tashi is innocent!”, and a portrait of Xi Jinping in her lap.
Broken phone of Gonmo Kyi containing evidence of police brutality
In the videos Tibet Watch received, Gonmo Kyi shows injuries she sustained and condemns the authorities for breaking her phone, which she says contained evidence of police brutality committed her.
“You [the authorities] robbed my mobile phone and broke it to conceal the evidence, illegally arrested me and illegally beat me. Youalways propagandised that I have been freely coming to protest and freely going. But each time I came to protest requesting a fair trial for my brother’s [Dorjee Tashi] case, you arrested me and beat me. Then you broke my mobile phone to conceal the evidence”.
Another video shows the paper that says “Dorjee Tashi is innocent!” on a table and she makes the recording in which she condemns the injustice of using political crime against her brother: “You [the authorities] forcefully put a black hat on a white person [Dorjee Tashi]. You don’t have any evidence that Dorjee Tashi has committed a crime. If you have any evidence, please show us and prove it! Dorjee Tashi didn’t do such criminal offences, therefore, you evaded retrial of his case for many years!”
Gonmo Kyi has been appealing to see her imprisoned brother, Dorjee Tashi, and for him to be given a retrial.
During her protests, she has been beaten and threatened. In December, she was detained by police for one week. She has nevertheless continued her protests.
Dorjee Tashi was arrested in 2008 and charged with loan fraud. His family and those following his case vigorously contest these charges.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to Protest
- HRD
- WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Apr 28, 2024
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Mar 26, 2024
- Event Description
Chinese authorities have detained incommunicado a Tibetan monk from the local Kirti Monastery for staging a peaceful solo protest against repressive policies in Ngaba (Ch: Aba) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan Province, in the Tibetan province of Amdo.
On 26 March, a Tibetan monk named Pema was arbitrarily detained and subjected to incommunicado detention by the local Public Security Bureau Officers for staging a peaceful solo protest by holding a portrait of the Dalai Lama on the stretch of a road known to the local Tibetans as’ martyrs road’ in Ngaba County. Local witnesses reported hearing Pema shouting slogans calling for the “Return of His Holiness the Dalai Lama to Tibet” and “Religious Freedom in Tibet,” among others.
Pema, who is in his 50s, is son of Toepa and a native of Soruma village in Ngaba County. Pema serves as a primary teacher at the Kirti Monastery while pursuing higher Buddhist studies. He is widely known in the monastery as Gen Pema (English: Teacher Pema).
Following Pema’s arbitrary arrest, Chinese security forces have intensified their control and restrictions in Ngaba County, especially in Soruma village and Kirti Monastery.
A source informed TCHRD that “prior to deleting his WeChat account, Chinese authorities contacted individuals on his contact list, seeking information about their identities. His personal WeChat is now inaccessible and has been deleted.”
On several occasions, Pema has confronted the local police authorities for pressuring young monks to be enrolled in state-run schools and forcing them to stop attending the Kirti monastic school.
March is considered a ‘politically sensitive’ month by Chinese authorities because of the 10 March anniversary of the Tibetan National Uprising Day that led to the exile of His Holiness the Dalai Lama and thousands of Tibetans since 1959. The annual sessions of the National People’s Congress (NPC) and the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) are also held the same month, leading to heightened restrictions in all parts of Tibet.
The Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD) is gravely concerned about Pema’s fate and whereabouts. His current location remains a mystery, and we call for his immediate and unconditional release. Chinese authorities must also disclose Pema’s whereabouts and condition to his family members without delay and guarantee his physical and mental well-being.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Abduction/Kidnapping
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Minority rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Apr 11, 2024
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Mar 17, 2024
- Event Description
Some 200 Myanmar migrant workers were fired from their garment factory jobs in China’s Yunnan province and forced to leave the country after they protested for better pay and working conditions, a labor union leader told Radio Free Asia.
More than 1,000 workers from two garment factories in Yunnan’s Yingjiang city demonstrated on March 17, according to Tin Tin Wai, the co-chairwoman of the New Light Federation of Labor Unions Myanmar.
“We were threatened through interpreters with police arrest if we didn’t stop the protest,” said a worker who identified himself as Super. “The police officers looked like they were about to beat us, but they ended up not hitting any protesters.”
The next day, factory officials demanded that some of the protesters undergo a medical exam, Tin Tin Wai said. The 200 workers who were fired from the Shangcheng and Xinjiahao factories were told they had failed the exam, she said.
They were then immediately driven out of the factory gates to a police station, where they were told to sign a document that said they weren’t fired for protesting, according to one of the workers, Ma Jue.
“They didn’t allow us to take our belongings out of our rooms,” she told RFA. “We were forced to sign a paper that we were voluntarily returning home.”
The workers were then driven back to Myanmar’s Kayin state, Tin Tin Wai said.
No legal recourse
Protesters had demanded that their usual 8 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. working schedule be scaled back, that they be paid extra for overtime and that they receive a monthly salary of 1,500 yuan (US$208) with an attendance bonus, she said.
They also asked for reasonable output goals and to have Sundays off, she said.
There are more than 1,000 Myanmar migrant workers at the Shangcheng factory and about 300 workers from Myanmar at the Xinjiahao factory.
Because there is no memorandum of understanding between the two governments, Myanmar migrant workers at Chinese garment factories don’t have legal recourse and can be sent home at any time, according to observers of Myanmar labor issues at the Chinese border.
At the Shangcheng and Xinjiahao factories, employment agents who arranged for the workers to come from Myanmar never get involved or take any responsibility when there are disputes between the workers and factory owners, Tin Tin Wai said.
Super told RFA that some Myanmar workers were promised higher salaries than the ones they now receive.
“The Chinese employers offered salaries of 900,000 to 1,000,000 kyats (US$425 to US$475), plus overall expenses for accommodation,” said the worker, who identified himself as Super. “However, the workers did not even get 800,000 kyats (US$380).”
Super said he watched some workers quit because they couldn’t handle all the overtime work and didn’t have access to painkillers or other medicine.
RFA contacted the Chinese Embassy in Yangon and the Myanmar Consulate in Yunnan about last week’s protest, but there was no response.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment, Intimidation and Threats
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to Protest, Right to work
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, Labour rights defender
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Corporation Corporation (others)
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Apr 8, 2024
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Mar 29, 2024
- Event Description
Authorities in the eastern Chinese province of Jiangsu have handed a four-year jail term to veteran rights activist Xu Qin, after repeatedly delaying her trial and sentencing despite concerns over her deteriorating health, and amid reports of torture from a prominent rights group.
The Yangzhou Intermediate People's Court sentenced Xu, a key figure in the Wuhan-based China Rights Observer group founded by jailed veteran dissident Qin Yongmin, to four years' imprisonment on March 29 for "incitement to subvert state power," a charge frequently used to target peaceful critics of the ruling Chinese Communist Party, the Civil Rights and Livelihood Watch rights website reported.
It quoted Xu as telling the sentencing hearing: "I'd like to thank everyone for their care and support, and also thank my husband for his help and support. Regardless of whether it’s futile or not, I must appeal. This is my right."
An award-winning activist in a number of high-profile human rights cases, including that of detained human rights lawyer Yu Wensheng, Xu was detained under "residential surveillance at a designated location" in 2021, a form of incommunicado detention rights groups say puts detainees at greater risk of torture and mistreatment.
Her family told RFA in earlier interviews that Xu is a stroke and heart attack survivor who suffers from high blood pressure, among other ailments.
But according to the Civil Rights and Livelihood Watch rights website, many of Xu's health problems were caused by her torture and mistreatment in detention.
"During her detention and interrogation, Xu Qin was brutally tortured to extract a confession, and was held in solitary confinement for a long period of time," the website said in a report about her sentencing published on Sunday.
"Xu already suffered from multiple health problems including stroke, heart attack and hypertension, and as a result [of the torture], she was left paralyzed and unable to stand," it said.
Since she was locked up in the detention center, Xu has started using a wheelchair, according to her lawyer.
Xu told the court on Friday that she would appeal the sentence, which came after more than two years in pretrial detention at the Yangmiao Detention Center in Yangzhou city, where she held intermittent hunger strikes in protest at a loss of communications privileges as well as a months-long ban on meetings with her lawyer, Civil Rights and Livelihood Watch said.
Repeated calls to Xu's lawyer rang unanswered during office hours on Monday.
Trial was delayed
Xu's trial was delayed several times following her initial detention in May 2021, with the authorities citing only "unavoidable circumstances."
But her family says it was delayed due to her refusal to provide the state security police with a "confession."
The trial was eventually held on Nov. 7, 2022, but the verdict and sentencing were also repeatedly delayed until now.
New York-based rights lawyer Chen Chuangchuang, who also heads the U.S. branch of the banned China Democracy Party, said Chen has always been an extremely tenacious activist.
"The trial was held a long time ago, but the verdict and sentencing were delayed multiple times, which is a deliberate form of torture used by the Chinese Communist Party," Chen told RFA on Monday.
Chen said that one of the purposes of the authorities' repeated delay in pronouncing the sentence was to get Xu Qin to plead guilty, and that she had been especially targeted due to her association with Qin Yongmin.
According to the Weiquanwang rights website, the charges against Xu listed her participation in Qin's China Rights Observer and its sister organization Rose China as evidence against her.
Qin was sentenced in July 2018 to 13 years' imprisonment for "incitement to subvert state power," the latest in a string of long sentences for his peaceful dissent and attempts to build the banned China Democracy Party.
A contemporary of exiled dissident Wei Jingsheng, Qin was sentenced to eight years in prison for "counterrevolutionary propaganda and subversion" in the wake of China's Democracy Wall movement in 1981.
He served a further two years' "re-education through labor" in 1993 after he penned a controversial document titled the "Peace Charter."
Qin then served a 12-year jail term for subversion after he helped found the China Democracy Party in 1998 in spite of a ban on opposition political parties.
Xu was honored with the Lin Zhao Freedom Award for her human rights advocacy in 2022, and the Oscar China Freedom Human Rights Award last month.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Denial Fair Trial, Judicial Harassment, Torture
- Rights Concerned
- Access to justice, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Apr 8, 2024
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Mar 3, 2024
- Event Description
Authorities have transferred a Tibetan Buddhist monastery administrator and a village official – both arrested last month on suspicion of leading protests against the construction of a dam – to a large detention center in southwestern China’s Sichuan province, two sources with knowledge of the situation told Radio Free Asia.
Tenzin, the senior administrator of Wonto Monastery in Wangbuding township, and a village official named Tamdrin, were transferred from where they were previously detained to the larger Dege County Detention Center Kardze Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture on March 3, said the sources who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals by Chinese officials.
The men, who both go by just one name, were among the more than 1,000 Tibetan monks and residents of Dege County who were arrested on Feb. 23 for peacefully appealing to halt the construction of the dam on the Drichu River (Jinsha, in Chinese).
Some of these detainees, including Tenzin and Tamdrin, were severely beaten.
The dam construction is expected to cause the forced resettlement of at least two major villages, Wonto and Shipa, and the destruction of several monasteries with religious and historical significance, including the Wonto and Yena monasteries.
On Feb. 27, Chinese police released around 40 Tibetans, even as they forbade them from communicating with outsiders and imposed strict restrictions on the movement of people to and from the various monasteries and villages on both sides of the river.
Checking social media feeds
Sources, however, told RFA on Thursday that Chinese authorities are continuing to arrest more people and have cracked down on the people who posted videos of the arrests and protests that took place in February.
“The police are regularly checking people’s WeChat and TikTok accounts for any evidence of them having shared the videos and for communication with the outside world,” the first source said. “There’s severe restrictions on movement on either side of the river and no internet connection.”
The authorities are carrying out widespread, daily search and interrogations to find the people who posted the videos of black-clad Chinese police restraining the monks, who could be seen kneeling and crying out.
“People who send information out and videos like this face imprisonment and torture,” Maya Wang, interim China director of Human Rights Watch told RFA last month in the wake of the first round of arrests of more than 100 Tibetans that took place on Feb. 22. “Even calling families in the diaspora are reasons for imprisonment.”
“What we do see now are actually … typical scenes of repression in Tibet, but we don’t often get to see [what] repression looks like in Tibet anymore,” Wang said.
‘Open prison’ in Dege
The police are monitoring the monks and locals very closely, and the situation is like an “open prison as they are exercising extreme control,” said the second source.
“The monks and local people are very angry that they were arrested and subjected to beatings and torture for making peaceful appeals,” he added. “They say that if the government really forces them to move, there may be violent protests.”
Chinese officials have, however, made clear that the Gangtuo Dam project will continue, two Tibetans with knowledge of the situation told RFA earlier this month.
The Gangtuo Dam is part of a plan that China’s National Development and Reform Commission announced in 2012 to build a massive 13-tier hydropower complex on the Drichu. It would be located at Wontok (Gangtuo, in Chinese) in Dege county, northwest of Kardze Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture. The total planned capacity of the 13 hydropower stations is 13,920 megawatts.
Over the past two weeks, Tibetans in exile have been holding solidarity rallies in cities in the United States, Canada, France, the Netherlands, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, Australia and India.
Global leaders and Tibetan advocacy groups have condemned China’s actions, calling for the immediate release of those detained.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Environmental rights defender, Land rights defender, Minority rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Mar 17, 2024
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Feb 24, 2024
- Event Description
Chinese police on Saturday began wide-scale, rigorous interrogations of Tibetans arrested for protesting a dam project, beating some of them so badly that they required medical attention, three sources told Radio Free Asia.
On Friday, RFA reported exclusively that police had arrested more than a 1,000 Tibetans — both Buddhist monks and local residents — of Wangbuding township in Dege county of Kardze Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture in Sichuan province, in central China.
The detainees were “slapped and beaten severely each time they refused to answer important questions,” one source told RFA, speaking on condition of anonymity for personal safety. “Many had to be taken to the hospital.”
Since Feb. 14, monks and residents had been peacefully protesting the planned construction of the Gangtuo hydropower dam on the Drichu River, known as Jinsha River in Chinese.
The dam will force two major communities to be relocated and submerge several monasteries, including the Wonto Monastery, famous for ancient murals dating back to the 13th century.
“One of the monks from Wonto Monastery was among those who had to be immediately rushed to the hospital because he had been beaten so badly that he could not even speak," the first source said. "He also had many severe bruises on his body."
Detainees not given food
Many of those arrested were being held in a police station in Upper Wonto while many others were being held in an old prison in Dege county, sources told RFA.
The detainees are being held in various other places throughout Dege county as the police do not have a place to detain more than 1,000 individuals in a single location.
“In these detention centers, the arrested Tibetans were not given any food, save for some hot water, and many passed out because of the lack of food amid the freezing temperatures,” the second source told RFA.
On Friday, RFA learned that the arrested Tibetans were told to bring their own bedding and tsampa – a Tibetan staple – which sources said were an indication that the detainees would not be released anytime soon.
China has also imposed COVID 19-like restrictions in Dege county and deployed a large number of police to the areas where Tibetans have been detained, including in Upper Wonto, to bring the situation under control, the sources told RFA.
“Each of the police units brought in from outside Dege have been tasked with controlling a community each and for carrying out strict surveillance and suppression of the people there,” a third source told RFA.
“In the communities of Wonto and Yena, people have been restricted from leaving their homes and the restrictions are so severe that it is similar to what happened during the Covid-19 outbreak when the entire place was under lockdown,” said the same source.
Police began arresting the protesters on Thursday, Feb. 22. Citizen videos shared exclusively with RFA showed Chinese officials dressed in black forcibly restraining monks, who can be heard crying out to stop the dam construction.
Reactions
A Canadian foreign ministry spokesperson told RFA the government is closely monitoring the situation in Dege and said the detention of Tibetans was a matter of “grave concern.”
“Canada remains deeply concerned about the human rights situation affecting Tibetans, including restrictions on freedom of expression and freedom of religion or belief, and the protection of linguistic and cultural rights,” said Geneviève Tremblay, a spokesperson for Global Affairs Canada.
“We urge Chinese authorities to immediately release all those (Tibetans) detained for exercising their rights to freedom of speech and of assembly,” she said.
Citing RFA’s report of the mass arrests, leaders of the Tibetan government-in-exile along with representatives of Tibet support groups from more than 42 countries issued a statement on Saturday expressing alarm.
“The crackdown on non-violent protests in Dege is beyond condemnation. The Chinese authorities’ disregard for the rights of Tibetans is unacceptable by any measure,” said Penpa Tsering, Sikyong or the President of the Central Tibetan Administration.
“The punitive acts demonstrate China’s prioritization of its ideology and interests over human rights,” he said. “We call on the Chinese government to release all those detained and to respect the rights and aspirations of the Tibetan people.”
Tibetans around the world continued to hold demonstrations in solidarity with the protesters, including in Dharamsala, India, home to the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama. Over the past week, Tibetans have demonstrated in front of Chinese Consulates in New York, Toronto and Zurich.
“I want to underscore how rare (it is that) we are able to have a little window into the situation in Tibet given the escalating control of information the Chinese government has imposed on Tibetan areas,” Maya Wang, interim China director of Human Rights Watch, told RFA by phone.
“People who send information out and videos like this face imprisonment and torture.”
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Environmental rights defender, Land rights defender, Minority rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Mar 13, 2024
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Feb 23, 2024
- Event Description
Police on Friday arrested more than 1,000 Tibetans, including monks from at least two local monasteries, in southwestern China’s Sichuan province after they protested the construction of a dam expected to destroy six monasteries and force the relocation of two villages, two sources from inside Tibet told Radio Free Asia.
The arrested individuals – both monks and local residents – are being held in various places throughout Dege county in Kardze Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture because the police do not have a single place to detain them, said the sources who requested anonymity for safety reasons.
Those arrested have been forced to bring their own bedding and tsampa – a staple food for Tibetans that can be used to sustain themselves for long periods of time, the sources said.
“That police are asking Tibetans to bring their own tsampa and bedding is a sign that they will not be released anytime soon,” one of the sources said.
On Thursday, Feb. 22, Chinese authorities deployed specially trained armed police in Kardze’s Upper Wonto village region to arrest more than 100 Tibetan monks from Wonto and Yena monasteries along with local residents, many of whom were beaten and injured, and later admitted to Dege County Hospital for medical treatment, sources said.
Citizen videos from Thursday, shared exclusively with RFA, show Chinese officials in black uniforms forcibly restraining monks, who can be heard crying out to stop the dam construction.
Following news of the mass arrests, many Tibetans from Upper Wonto village who work in other parts of the country returned to their hometown and visited the detention centers to call for the release of the arrested Tibetans, sources said. They, too, were arrested.
The Dege County Hospital did not immediately return RFA’s requests for comment.
The Chinese Embassy in Washington hasn’t commented on the arrests other than in a statement issued Thursday that said the country respects the rule of law.
“China protects the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese nationals in accordance with the law," the statement said.
Massive dam project
The arrests followed days of protests and appeals by local Tibetans since Feb. 14 for China to stop the construction of the Gangtuo hydropower station.
RFA reported on Feb. 14 that at least 300 Tibetans gathered outside Dege County Town Hall to protest the building of the Gangtuo Dam, which is part of a massive 13-tier hydropower complex on the Drichu River with a total planned capacity 13,920 megawatts.
The dam project is on the Drichu River, called Jinsha in Chinese, which is located on the upper reaches of the Yangtze, one of China’s most important waterways.
Local Tibetans have been particularly distraught that the construction of the hydropower station will result in the forced resettlement of two villages – Upper Wonto and Shipa villages – and six key monasteries in the area – Yena, Wonto, and Khardho in Wangbuding township in Dege county, and Rabten, Gonsar and Tashi in the Tibetan Autonomous Region, sources told RFA.
Sources on Friday also confirmed that some of the arrested monks with poor health conditions were allowed to return to their monasteries.
However, the monasteries – which include Wonto Monastery, known for its ancient murals dating back to the 13th century – remained desolate on the eve of Chotrul Duchen, or the Day of Miracles, which is commemorated on the 15th day of the first month of the Tibetan New Year, or Losar, and marks the celebration of a series of miracles performed by the Buddha.
“In the past, monks of Wonto Monastery would traditionally preside over large prayer gatherings and carry out all the religious activities,” said one of the sources. “This time, the monasteries are quiet and empty. … It’s very sad to see such monasteries of historical importance being prepared for destruction. The situation is the same at Yena Monastery.”
Protests elsewhere
Tibetans in exile have been holding mass demonstrations in various parts of the world, including in Dharamsala, India, home to the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama.
In the past week, Tibetans have demonstrated before the Chinese embassies, including those in New York and Switzerland, with more such protests and solidarity campaigns planned in Canada and other countries.
“The events in Derge [Dege] are an example of Beijing’s destructive policies in Tibet,” said Kai Müller, managing director of the International Campaign for Tibet, in a statement on Friday. “The Chinese regime tramples on the rights of Tibetans and ruthlessly and irretrievably destroys valuable Tibetan cultural assets.”
“Beijing’s development and infrastructure projects are not only a threat to Tibetans, but also to regional security, especially when it comes to water supplies to affected Asian countries,” he added.
Human Rights Watch told RFA that it is monitoring the development but that information from inside Tibet is extremely rare given China’s tight surveillance and restrictions imposed on information flow.
“People who send information out and videos like this face imprisonment and torture,” said Maya Wang, the group’s interim China director.
“Even calling families in the diaspora are reasons for imprisonment,” she said. “What we do see now are actually … typical scenes of repression in Tibet, but we don’t often get to see [what] repression looks like in Tibet anymore.”
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Environmental rights defender, Land rights defender, Minority rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Mar 13, 2024
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Feb 22, 2024
- Event Description
Chinese officials arrested more than 100 Tibetan monks and other ethnic Tibetans in China’s southwestern Sichuan province on Thursday to quell protests against a massive dam project that would destroy six Buddhist monasteries and force the relocation of two villages, three sources told Radio Free Asia.
In a rare act of defiance, residents have taken to the streets of Wangbuding township in Dege County in Kardze Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture since Feb. 14 to oppose the plan to build the 1,110-megawatt Gangtuo hydropower station on the Drichu River (Jinsha in Chinese), which is located on the upper reaches of the Yangtze, one of China’s most important waterways.
Residents were particularly distraught that construction of the hydroelectric dam would destroy six monasteries, including the Wonto Monastery, which includes ancient murals that date to the 13th century, the sources said.
Citizen videos exclusively shared with RFA show Chinese officials dressed in black forcibly restraining monks, who can be heard crying out against the dam.
Liu Pengyu, a spokesman for the Chinese Embassy in Washington, said he was not aware of the arrests. "China is a country under the rule of law," he said in an emailed statement. "China protects the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese nationals in accordance with the law."
The detentions reportedly occurred in the Kardze Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture in Sichuan, an area with a large population of ethnic Tibetans. Some of the arrested protesters required hospitalization due to rough treatment, sources said.
Local sources who spoke with RFA despite the Chinese government’s effort to restrict communication from the area said police officers used water cannons, pepper spray and tasers to subdue the protesters. The videos shared with RFA do not show those tactics, however.
Rising opposition
The protests started on Feb. 14, when at least 300 Tibetans gathered outside the Dege County Townhall to protest the dam. Such protests are rare in China, particularly among Tibetans, due to strict controls on public gatherings and extensive surveillance by authorities.
The construction of the Gangtuo hydropower dam will force the resettlement of the Upper Wonto and Shipa villages and the Yena, Wonto and Khardho monasteries in Dege county, and the Rabten, Gonsar and Tashi monasteries in Chamdo township, sources told RFA.
The Wonto and Yena monasteries, which are located closest to the site of the planned project, together have about 300 monks and hold significant cultural and religious importance to locals.
The Wonto Monastery was severely damaged during China’s Cultural Revolution. Locals preserved its ancient murals, however, and began rebuilding the monastery in 1983
The number of monks who live and worship at the four other monasteries slated for destruction is not known.
About 2,000 people live in the two villages and would be forced to relocate due to the dam project, sources told RFA.
The Gangtuo dam is part of a plan that China’s National Development and Reform Commission announced in 2012 to build a massive 13-tier hydropower complex on the Drichu. It would be located at Wontok (or Gangtuo in Chinese), Dege county, northwest of the Kardze Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan province.
The planned capacity of the 13 hydropower stations is 13,920 megawatts.
Chinese authorities closed all the main roads and imposed strict restrictions, including on digital access, on the villages and monasteries in the Wangbuding township following the Feb. 14 protests.
On Feb 20, as authorities inspected Yena and Wonto monasteries in preparation for their demolition, video footage obtained by RFA showed monks prostrating themselves before the visiting Chinese officials to plead with them to halt the construction of the dam.
The appeals continued today. But by then Chinese officials apparently had had enough, and the arrests began. Officials also reportedly confiscated the mobile phones of protesters. Some locals though avoided arrest and were able to record elements of the crackdown.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Environmental rights defender, Land rights defender, Minority rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Mar 13, 2024
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Feb 18, 2024
- Event Description
Chinese activist filmmaker Chen Pinlin has been formally charged in Shanghai with “picking quarrels and provoking trouble,” according to human rights NGOs and media sources in Hong Kong and Taiwan.
The Committee to Protect Journalists, a New York-based NGO, said on Thursday that on Jan. 5 police in Shanghai arrested Chen, who produced and released a film called “Not the Foreign Force” in English and “Urumqi Road” in Chinese, in November. Chen, who also uses the name Plato, has been held at the Baoshan Detention Center ever since and was charged on Feb. 18.
The offence of “picking quarrels and provoking trouble,” is a broadly defined crime often used against activists, lawyers and media workers.
Chen’s film was about the protest movement that became known as white paper movement and was released on YouTube and X (formerly Twitter) on the first anniversary of the movement’s emergence.
The protests began in November 2022 after an apartment building in Xinjiang caught fire and killed at least ten people. There were questions whether China’s strict anti-COVID lockdown measures prevented the victims from escaping or the rescue workers accessing the property.
The protests were calculated to be the largest public demonstrations in many years in mainland China. But, even though many protestors were careful to only hold up sheets of blank paper and avoided directly criticizing the central or provincial governments, their acts were construed as criticism of the state and its censorship system. Many people were reported to have been arrested in Shanghai, but the exact number is not known.
Attention to the White Paper Movement is believed to be partly responsible for charges against another filmmaker late last year. Chinese authorities banned artist and film director Guo Zhenming from traveling to Singapore for the world premiere of his documentary film “Tedious Days and Nights.”
The film was scheduled to play at the Singapore International Film Festival on Dec. 4 in the festival’s Standpoint strand. The screening went ahead without him.
Details of Chen’s charges have not been confirmed by mainland Chinese authorities. But they have been reported from media outside the mainland including the Hong Kong Free Press and Chinese-language human rights news websites Minsheng Guancha and Weiquanwang.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Enactment of repressive legislation and policies, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Artist
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Mar 13, 2024
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Feb 27, 2024
- Event Description
Hong Kong activists on Tuesday staged a rare public protest against government plans for a new national security law, saying it lacked democratic oversight and human rights safeguards.
Public demonstrations have all but vanished in the Chinese finance hub since Beijing quelled huge, sometimes violent pro-democracy protests in 2019 and imposed a sweeping national security law.
Hong Kong officials now say a further homegrown security law is needed to plug “loopholes”, with chief justice Paul Lam earlier saying he heard no objections during a month of public consultations that ends Wednesday.
But activist Yu Wai-pan, from the League of Social Democrats (LSD), told AFP on Tuesday that “many Hongkongers are quite concerned”.
“I don’t understand why the secretary for justice said he heard no objection or worry,” said Yu.
The LSD is one of the last remaining opposition groups in Hong Kong and its members have faced multiple prosecutions for their shows of dissent.
Yu and two other activists were surrounded by press and more than a dozen police officers as they chanted slogans outside the Hong Kong government headquarters Tuesday.
“National security is important to the people, but it must be based on democracy, freedom and rule of law,” said activist Chan Po-ying.
The government referenced examples in the US and Britain in defending the proposed legislation, but Chan said that comparison was misleading, as Hong Kong was not a democracy.
The month-long public consultation for the new security law, known as Basic Law Article 23, was largely limited to pro-Beijing voices, she added.
Xia Baolong, China’s top official overseeing Hong Kong, arrived in the former British colony last week in a tightly choreographed tour to meet with leaders in business and politics.
Xia discussed the security law proposal with two local lawyers’ groups in a closed-door meeting and engaged in “candid exchanges”, the head of the Hong Kong Bar Association earlier told reporters.
Separately on Tuesday, Hong Kong convicted Joseph John — also known as Wong Kin-chung — of “conspiracy to incite secession”, the first such case involving a dual national.
The Portuguese citizen, 41, pleaded guilty to the national security offence, admitting that he was chair of the UK-based Hong Kong Independence Party and an administrator of its six online platforms.
A diplomatic source told AFP that the Portuguese consulate has been unable to visit John since he was arrested and detained in November 2022.
- Impact of Event
- 3
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Mar 13, 2024
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Feb 1, 2024
- Event Description
A Hong Kong court has found four people guilty of rioting over the storming of the city’s legislative council building that marked a major escalation of pro-democracy protests more than four years ago.
Hundreds of protesters stormed the building on July 1, 2019, after a massive protest march against a proposed extradition bill that would have allowed authorities to send people to mainland China for trial.
After forcing their way inside, they ripped portraits of officials from walls and spray-painted slogans calling for the release of arrested demonstrators. An old colonial-era flag was draped over the speaker’s chair and a plaque bearing the symbol of Hong Kong was blacked out with spray paint.
On Thursday, District Court Judge Li Chi-ho found Ho Chun-yin, actor Gregory Wong, Ng Chi-yung and Lam Kam-kwan guilty of rioting.
Student journalist Wong Ka-ho and Ma Kai-chung, a reporter with Passion Times, who were on trial alongside the four, were acquitted of the rioting charge but found guilty of unlawful entry.
During the trial, Gregory Wong told the court he had entered the building solely to deliver two chargers to reporters who were covering the break-in by protesters.
Video evidence played by the prosecution showed Wong left the chamber immediately after delivering the chargers to a reporter in a yellow vest.
Another defendant, Lam Kam-kwan, told the court he was detained in China a month after the storming of Legco and forced to write a repentance letter.
Police officers denied his claims during a cross-examination by the defence.
Last May, seven others including the former president of the University of Hong Kong’s student union, Althea Suen, and pro-democracy activists Ventus Lau and Owen Chow, pleaded guilty to rioting and will deliver their mitigation statements later on Thursday.
They face a maximum of seven years in prison.
While the government eventually withdrew the extradition bill, the protests, which drew more than a million people onto the streets, had already gathered momentum and the demands had widened to include direct elections for the city’s leaders and police accountability.
The protests were the biggest challenge to the Hong Kong government since the city’s return to Chinese rule in 1997 and led Beijing to impose a sweeping national security law in 2020 that has seen many of the city’s leading opposition politicians and activists arrested, silenced or in exile.
More than 10,200 people were arrested in connection to the protests for various crimes, such as rioting and participating in an unauthorised assembly.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline
- HRD
- Student
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Mar 12, 2024
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Mar 2, 2024
- Event Description
Calls are growing for authorities in Hong Kong to release Lai Ke, a transgender activist from China who now faces repatriation after being jailed while transiting the city en route to Canada, her supporters and a rights group said in online statements.
Lai, who is also known as Xiran, was hauled in for questioning while transiting Hong Kong International Airport en route from Shanghai to Toronto in May 2023, and later handed a 15-month jail term for "forging" her travel documents at a secret trial with no lawyer present, according to her supporters.
As is Hong Kong's policy for trans inmates, she served her sentence at the Siu Lam Psychiatric Centre, a psychiatric detention center, and was released early for good behavior on March 2.
But instead of being released, Lai was immediately transferred to the Castle Peak Bay Immigration Detention Centre, sparking fears among her supporters and rights groups that she will be sent back to China, according to the X account @FreeLaiKe.
If she is forcibly repatriated, Lai will be "at grave risk of persecution," Amnesty International has warned.
"The Hong Kong authorities must urgently clarify Lai Ke’s pending immigration status," Amnesty International's China Director Sarah Brooks said in a statement dated March 1. "As she is due to be released after serving her sentence, authorities must free her without conditions and allow her to travel onwards to a destination feasible for her."
"In any event, the authorities must allow Lai Ke to legally challenge any deportation order following her release after serving her sentence," Brooks said.
Mistreated in detention
Lai’s supporters say that she had been a vocal advocate for trans rights back in China alongside her partner Cai Xia, who was detained by the Chinese authorities in June 2023 in connection with her activism and her transgender identity, and accused of "organizing obscene activities."
The Lai Ke (Xiran) Global Concern Group, which has been actively posting about her situation on Twitter and Instagram, said Lai had also been mistreated while in detention in Hong Kong, saying guards deprived her of her hormone medication, put her in solitary for a week calling her an "alien," and forced her to cut her hair short.
The group said Lai had suffered physically and psychologically after being deprived of her hormone replacement therapy for two months, despite having the medication in her luggage.
"Throughout her detention, Lai Ke repeatedly requested access to hormone medication, only to have these requests denied on various pretexts," it said in a statement dated Feb. 27.
"As a result, Lai Ke was forced to cease hormone replacement therapy medication for nearly two months, leading to severe physical and psychological repercussions, including instances of self-harm," it said.
Her parents weren't informed of her whereabouts until July 19, 2023, and the authorities initially claimed that there was no record of Lai having entered Hong Kong, the group claimed in the statement, which RFA was unable to verify independently.
It accused the Hong Kong authorities of "complicity" in the Chinese government's persecution of trans people.
The group also posted a letter handwritten by Lai in classical Chinese, an archaic form of the written language used by premodern writers, in which she complains about her treatment.
It said earlier attempts by Lai to write about her experiences in the detention center were censored by detention center authorities.
'Time is of the essence'
According to Amnesty International, Lai is vulnerable to repatriation under Hong Kong immigration law, because she isn't a resident of the city.
“Time is of the essence to prevent Lai Ke from being unlawfully deported to mainland China, where she would be at grave risk of serious human rights violations – including arbitrary detention, unfair trial, and even torture and other ill-treatment – due to both her transgender identity and her activism,” Brooks said.
“To return her given these risks would be an abandonment of Hong Kong’s obligations under international law," she said.
Amnesty International said it has documented systematic oppression and discrimination of transgender people in China, as well as large-scale censorship in recent years leading to the closure of online lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex groups and social media accounts.
It said police in China have repeatedly arrested, detained and imprisoned human rights defenders of all kinds using "unjustified, broadly defined and vaguely worded charges."
Hong Kong Catholic priest and rights activist Franco Mella said that trans inmates are typically held in Siu Lam Psychiatric Centre, but that the final decision over whether to continue hormone treatment lies with the center's doctor.
"Any medications need to be discussed with the doctor -- who can approve them but can also not approve them," Mella said. "It's the doctor's decision."
He said it was unclear how long Lai might be held at the Castle Peak detention center.
"Once you go in there, there's no way of knowing when you'll be released," he said.
Crackdowns on LGBTQ+ community
LGBTQ+ activism is all but extinct in China, where the ruling Chinese Communist Party under Xi Jinping has cracked down on anyone displaying the rainbow flag in public, members of China's LGBTQ+ community told Radio Free Asia in interviews in January.
In August 2023, Chinese officials removed an LGBTQ+ anthem titled "Rainbow" by Taiwanese pop star A-Mei from her set list from a concert earlier this month in Beijing, while security guards forced fans turning up for the gig to remove clothing and other paraphernalia bearing the rainbow symbol before going in, according to media reports.
A month after that crackdown, authorities in the central Chinese city of Changsha removed the song "Womxnly" – which commemorates a Taiwanese teenager who was found dead in a school toilet after being bullied by classmates for his "feminine" appearance – from the set list of Taiwanese pop star Jolin Tsai, after it became an anthem for the island's lesbian, gay, bisexual, transexual and questioning community.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- LGBTQ+/ Non-Binary
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- SOGI rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Mar 12, 2024
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- May 2, 2023
- Event Description
On May 2, 2023, LAI Ke, a Chinese citizen also known as Xiran, embarked on Hong Kong Airlines flight HX239 from Shanghai to Hong Kong, carrying both a Chinese passport and a Canadian visa, with plans to connect to Cathay Pacific flight CX828 bound for Toronto, Canada, the following morning. Communication with LAI Ke ceased around 6:30 a.m. on May 3, 2023, after her last message confirming transit procedures at the Cathay Pacific counter. Concerns arose among family and friends when LAI Ke failed to board the scheduled flight to Toronto, prompting them to report a potential disappearance to the Hong Kong police in early June 2023. Initially, authorities claimed no record of LAI Ke entering Hong Kong, dismissing the concerns. However, on July 18, 2023, over two months later, LAI Ke's parents received notification of her arrest by the Hong Kong police and subsequent detention at Siu Lam Psychiatric Centre. Following this, on July 19, 2023, LAI Ke's parents were formally informed by the Sichuan Public Security Bureau of LAI Ke's arrest by Hong Kong law enforcement in early May. Despite efforts by a lawyer to clarify the situation during a visit to Siu Lam Psychiatric Centre on July 20, 2023, it was revealed that LAI Ke had been convicted of three immigration offences during the period of disappearance and sentenced to 15 months in prison. Throughout this period, from May 3, 2023, when LAI Ke was initially apprehended, until July 18, 2023, LAI Ke repeatedly sought to communicate with family and engage legal representation, all requests were consistently denied. On December 28, 2023, family and friends were notified by the Correctional Services Department that LAI Ke had exhibited exemplary behaviour during her time in prison and would be granted early release on March 2, 2024. However, to their dismay, in February 2024, merely a month prior to the anticipated release, another notification arrived, informing them of LAI Ke's impending transfer to the Immigration Department's detention facility in Castle Peak on March 2, 2024, with no explanation provided for the indefinite detention. LAI Ke and her partner, Cai Xia, both identify as transgender women and are actively involved in advocating for transgender rights and providing support to the transgender community in Shanghai. However, their efforts have been met with severe repression by the authorities. On November 6, 2022, Cai Xia was forcibly taken from her home in Shanghai by the police and has been unlawfully detained ever since. It wasn't until March 2023 that Cai Xia was formally arrested by the Shanghai police. Initially charged with drug abuse and child abduction, the accusations were later changed to involvement in organizing obscene activities. Following an egregiously unfair trial, Cai Xia was sentenced to imprisonment on June 19, 2023. This case unequivocally represents the Chinese government's systematic persecution of gender minority groups. (For more details on Cai Xia's case, please see The Guardian report: https://www.theguardian.com/globaldevelopment/2024/jan/15/its-difficult-to-survive-chinas-lgbtq-advocates-facejail-and-forced-confession). Due to LAI Ke’s involvement in the case, she had been harassed and followed up by the Chinese police. She was then intercepted by the Hong Kong law enforcement body while on her way to Canada, illustrating how the Chinese government's suppression and persecution of gender minorities have now extended to Hong Kong, employing every tactic to prevent affected individuals from leaving the country. Furthermore, when LAI Ke was apprehended and disclosed her transgender identity, she was denied access to hormone medication contained in her luggage. Throughout her detention, LAI Ke repeatedly requested access to hormone medication, only to have these requests denied on various pretexts. As a result, LAI Ke was forced to cease HRT medication for nearly two months, leading to severe physical and psychological repercussions, including instances of self-harm. Additionally, prison officers insisted that LAI Ke cut her hair. When authorities discovered that LAI Ke had voiced her grievances to her lawyer regarding the prison conditions, she was promptly placed in solitary confinement for a week under the absurd pretext of "alien invasion of Earth." Subsequently, LAI Ke faced intimidation aimed at dissuading her from further complaints. Just a month prior to her scheduled release date, the Hong Kong government abruptly extended her detention indefinitely. This egregious action not only constitutes a flagrant violation of justice but also strongly suggests that LAI Ke's prolonged detention is politically motivated, orchestrated under the directives of the Chinese government.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- LGBTQ+/ Non-Binary
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Abduction/Kidnapping, Judicial Harassment, Restrictions on Movement, Travel Restriction
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of movement, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- SOGI rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary, Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Mar 12, 2024
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Feb 4, 2024
- Event Description
On 4 February 2024, the Linyi Municipal Intermediate People’s Court in Shandong province convicted woman human rights defender Li Qiaochu for “inciting subversion of State power” and sentenced her to three years and eight months in prison, to be followed by two years of “deprivation of political rights”.
Li Qiaochu (李翘楚) is a feminist, researcher, and human rights defender who has advocated for the rights for workers, migrants, women, and human rights defenders detained in China. In December 2022, she was honoured with the Embassy Tulip award from the Embassy of the Netherlands in Beijing.
In the verdict, the court said Li Qiaochu had helped fellow human rights defender and legal scholar Xu Zhiyong to set up and maintain a blog to which articles and essays on topics such as human rights, democratic reforms, and social justice movements were uploaded. The court ruled that these writings were aimed at “subverting State power”. In April 2023, another court in Linyi convicted Xu Zhiyong for “subversion of State power” and sentenced him to 14 years in prison.
The court also defended its decision to close the trial to the public and said it did so in order to protect evidence and other information classified by the police as “State secrets”. The court also rejected Li Qiaochu’s argument that testimonies obtained while she was detained under “residential surveillance at a designated location” should be deemed inadmissible because they were provided under duress.
Front Line Defenders strongly condemns the conviction and sentencing of woman human rights defender Li Qiaochu as it believes it is solely in retaliation against her peaceful and legitimate human rights work. We call on the relevant authorities in China to promptly quash the conviction and sentence against the woman human rights defender and immediately release her. Pending her release, the authorities should ensure she has regular and timely access to adequate medical care to address on-going health issues she has been facing since her arbitrary detention began in February 2021.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Denial Fair Trial, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Right to fair trial, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Related Events
- China: WHRD formally indicted after months of detention (Update), China: WHRD's trial suspended following court harassment against her defence lawyers
- Date added
- Mar 6, 2024
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Jan 25, 2024
- Event Description
On 25 January 2024, the Court of Final Appeal, Hong Kong’s top court, overturned the December 2022 ruling by the High Court acquitting woman human rights defender Chow Hang-tung of “inciting others to participate in an unauthorised assembly” in the 2021 vigil to commemorate the victims of the military crackdown on pro-democracy protesters in Beijing in 1989. The woman human rights defender was sentenced to 15 months in prison earlier in January 2022.
The Court of Final Appeal ruled that Chow Hang-tung could not challenge the legality of a police ban on public assembly as a defense in criminal proceedings. It also rejected the High Court’s ruling that the police did not act lawfully and proportionately when it completely banned the 2021 Tiananmen Vigil on COVID prevention grounds.
The woman human rights defender remains in detention pending trial in another case in which she and other leaders of the now-defunct Hong Kong Alliance, which had organised previous Tiananmen vigils and campaigned for democratic reforms in mainland China, face the charge of “inciting subversion of State power” under the 2020 National Security Law for Hong Kong.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Lawyer, Pro-democracy defender, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Mar 6, 2024
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Feb 16, 2024
- Event Description
A Hong Kong activist with terminal cancer was jailed today for attempted sedition over plans to protest against China’s political clampdown with a prop coffin.
Koo Sze-yiu, 78, is among the handful of outspoken government critics still remaining in the city after Beijing crushed Hong Kong’s huge and sometimes violent democracy protests nearly five years ago.
Chief magistrate Victor So today sentenced Koo to nine months in prison for “attempted sedition” – the second time the veteran activist was hit with the charge.
Koo was planning to stage a demonstration last December opposing local elections, which excluded pro-democracy candidates, prosecutors earlier told the court.
Chief magistrate Victor So today sentenced Koo to nine months in prison for “attempted sedition” – the second time the veteran activist was hit with the charge.
Koo was planning to stage a demonstration last December opposing local elections, which excluded pro-democracy candidates, prosecutors earlier told the court.
National security police arrested him on Dec 8, hours before the protest was scheduled to take place.
The magistrate ruled on Friday that a prop coffin made for the event by Koo “symbolised death … (and) overthrowing the central government”.
The protest, if held, would have encouraged the public to reject the election results and foster resistance, the magistrate added.
A defiant Koo told the court he wanted to be a “martyr for democracy and human rights” before being led away, according to local media.
The long-time activist has been jailed at least 12 times since 2000.
In a similar case from 2022, Koo was given a nine-month jail sentence for attempted sedition over plans to demonstrate against Beijing’s hosting of the Winter Olympics.
Sedition, a colonial-era offence dating to the days of British rule, lay dormant for decades before Hong Kong authorities revived it in 2020.
It has since been used to target dozens of government critics – in many cases criminalising remarks made on social media.
Hong Kong is also undertaking public consultation on a new national security law, which includes a proposal to widen the scope of “sedition” to protect more Chinese and Hong Kong state institutions.
This homegrown legislation, if passed, would exist on top of a sweeping national security law that Beijing imposed on Hong Kong in 2020 to quell dissent.
As of mid-January, police have arrested 291 people for offences related to national security.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Feb 20, 2024
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Jan 5, 2024
- Event Description
On 5 January 2024, Chinese investigative journalist Shangguan Yunkai was sentenced to 15 years in prison and fined 380,000 Chinese yuan (around 50,000 euros) by court, in China’s central city of Ezhou, on five charges, including "picking quarrels and provoking trouble” as well as “selling fake medicines”.
Known for his investigations on the corruption of Chinese officials, Shangguan was detained on 20 April 2023. He had just published a report in a series of articles in which he revealed the wrongdoings of several officials and law enforcement in the city of Ezhou.
“This incredibly severe sentence, based on obviously trumped-up charges, clearly comes as a retribution against Shangguan Yunkai’s investigations on corruption. We urge the international community to build up pressure on the Chinese authorities to secure his release alongside all other journalists and press freedom defenders detained in the country.
Cedric Alviani RSF Asia-Pacific Bureau Director Shangguan, who is a former leading reporter of the state-run newspaper Legal Daily, in recent years ran several groups on WeChat, the leading social media in China, in which he shared evidence of hundreds of officials' and criminals’ violations of discipline and law. In the 1990s, his investigations had already revealed the corrupt practices of Xu Penghang, then vice-governor of Hubei province, in central China, and contributed to the official's dismissal.
Since 2012, in line with Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s crusade against the right to information, the Beijing’s regime has stepped up its crackdown on investigative journalists, such as Huang Qi, a seasoned Chinese journalist and the founder of independent media 64 Tianwang sentenced to 12 years in prison in 2019 for “leaking state secrets'' and “providing state secrets abroad”, as well as Huang Xueqin, a figure of China’s #MeToo movement, who has been detained since September 2021 and who faces a 15 years jail sentence for “inciting subversion of state power”.
Ranked 179th out of 180 countries and territories in the 2023 RSF World Press Freedom Index, China is the world's largest jailer of journalists and press freedom defenders, with at least 121 currently detained.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Feb 14, 2024
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Dec 30, 2023
- Event Description
A dissident writer from the southwestern Chinese megacity of Chongqing, who pledged allegiance to the 1911 Republic of China government in Taiwan in protest at local police, was recently detained for 15 days in a local detention center, Radio Free Asia has learned.
Liu Ermu, who has been a long-time critic of the ruling Chinese Communist Party, vowed last August to switch allegiance to the government of democratic Taiwan if a court didn't decide in his favor in an administrative lawsuit he filed against police.
Taiwan, which recently saw a Democratic Progressive Party president elected for an unprecedented third consecutive term, has never been ruled by the Chinese Communist Party, nor formed part of the People's Republic of China, although Beijing claims the island as its own.
It has been governed as a sovereign state called the Republic of China since the Kuomintang government fled to the island after losing a civil war to Mao Zedong's communists on the mainland in 1949.
Liu made the pledge after the Xiushan County People's Court rejected his complaint about the police handling of a workplace dispute, which they characterized as a "fight," while Liu insisted he was acting in self-defense.
"I felt I was being persecuted in China," he said. "It felt as if the law was unable to protect me under this government, so I openly pledged my allegiance to the Republic of China government."
"The territory [claimed by] the Republic of China includes mainland China," Liu said.
Liu was placed under administrative detention on Dec. 30, ahead of the Jan. 13 presidential and legislative elections in Taiwan.
"Three policemen came and handed a summons directly to my wife, then activated a 15-day sentence suspended in 2021, and took me to the Youyang county police department," he told RFA following his release.
"My guess is that they mostly wanted a way to keep control of me before voting began in the Taiwan elections," he said.
‘Longing’ for democracy
Liu said he made the pledge to draw attention to Taiwan's democratic system.
Taiwan was ruled as a Japanese colony in the 50 years prior to the end of World War II, but was handed back to the 1911 Republic of China under the Kuomintang government as part of Tokyo's post-war reparation deal.
The island began a transition to democracy following the death of Chiang Kai-shek's son, President Chiang Ching-kuo, in January 1988, starting with direct elections to the legislature in the early 1990s and culminating in the first direct election of a president, Lee Teng-hui, in 1996.
"Based on my long-term observation of Taiwan, I have a longing for a political system like that in the Republic of China," Liu said. "One that's full of freedom, justice and the rule of law.”
"I said publicly on Douyin that if the appeal verdict was also unjust, I would choose to be loyal to the government of the Republic of China," he said. "The state security police contacted me many times to ask me not to do this."
But a person familiar with the case who asked to remain anonymous for fear of reprisals said Beijing would see such a pledge as subversive.
"Pledging allegiance to the Republic of China while living in the People's Republic of China isn't an option," the person said. "[An action like that] at the very worst could be regarded as subversion of state power, and at best as picking quarrels and stirring up trouble."
China Pan-Blue Alliance
The 1911 Republic of China officially lays claim to the whole of mainland China, the whole of the independent country of Mongolia, along with parts of Myanmar, India, Russia, Tajikistan and Afghanistan, although the current government is largely focused on holding onto the islands it does control – Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu – in the face of Beijing’s territorial claims.
Support for Taiwan among Chinese dissidents isn't unheard of, however.
In 2006, state security police cracked down on a group of activists known as the China Pan-Blue Alliance, in a reference to the “blue camp” group of parties led by the Kuomintang in Taiwan, after they tried to field candidates in elections to district People's Congresses in a number of locations across the country.
Alliance members in the northern province of Hebei and in the eastern province of Jiangsu taken in for questioning by police, as well as the group's founder, Wuhan-based Sun Bu'er.
Police told them they were an "illegal organization," and “monkeys” that wouldn't be allowed to "create havoc in Heaven," a reference to the Monkey King Sun Wukong, a key figure in Chinese mythology.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Feb 8, 2024
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Dec 25, 2023
- Event Description
Tsering Tso, 39, was arbitrarily detained on 25 December last year under the charges of ''picking quarrels and provoking troubles” following three video clips she posted on social media, calling the police interrogation at Gongri Public Security Checkpoint of Drachen (Ch: Baqing) County in Nagchu City a violation of her privacy, and her attempt to make a phone call to the government hotline service.
In one of the videos posted on 19 December 2023, she said: “Take a look at this [Drachen County] police checkpoint. I came from Yushu to go to Lhasa. They [police] asked what I was going to do there. I told what I was going to do was my right to privacy. What right do you [police] have to know? They consistently infringe on our privacy as if we have no right to privacy. He [the police] also said that the other people have no problem [with the questions]. It is their business that they don’t understand the law. I understand the law. I want to make clear that going to Lhasa is my work.”
Her detention comes only a month after she completed a 15-day administrative detention, from 26 October to 10 November 2023, in Yushu City. According to an official letter from the Yushu Public Security Bureau, shared on her WeChat account, the police claimed she posted over 17 comments from 8 to 25 October 2023 on Douyin - Chinese TikTok- criticizing the government and its staff, although content analysis by the Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD) confirms them to be legitimate grievances and issues that the Yushu PSB has failed to address.
A former participant in the US State Department’s International Visitor Leadership Program, Tsering is known to have been detained five times: in 2017 and November 2020 reported by the International Campaign for Tibet and TCHRD, on 1 November 2022, detained for ten days by the Chengguan Branch of the Lhasa Public Security Bureau, and the aforementioned detentions. She hails from Trika (Ch: Guide) County, Tsolho Tibet Autonomous Prefecture, in Amdo, eastern Tibet.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Enactment of repressive legislation and policies, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Online, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, Minority rights defender, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Feb 8, 2024
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Dec 29, 2023
- Event Description
On December 29, Qin Yongpei, a prominent Christian human rights lawyer from Guangxi, China, appealed his case, he was charged with “inciting subversion of state power.” Guangxi Higher People’s Court upheld his five-year prison sentence from the court of the first instance. The lawyer’s defense was not accepted at all.
“This is the maximum sentence that can be found for this crime,” Qin Yongpei’s defense lawyer Cheng Hai said. Qin Yongpei’s sentence is until October 30, 2024.
Lawyer Cheng Hai expressed: As a defendant who is not pleading guilty or with the opinion that the sentence is excessive, he was completely ignored; it is very regretful. Qin Yongpei’s wife, Deng Xiaoyun, has not made any further comments on the case. This may be related to previous warnings received from the police.
The court’s so-called criminal charges against him primarily stem from Qin Yongpei expressing dissatisfaction and criticism on widely-used Chinese social media platforms like WeChat and Twitter (now referred to as X). These expressions include opinions on pervasive corruption of government officials, lack of freedom of speech, as well as dissatisfaction and criticism of authoritarianism. He also shared complaints regarding illegal circumstances surrounding public security, procuratorial, and judicial personnel while processing his case.
Qin Yongpei exercised his freedom of speech granted by the law and his legitimate right to supervise and criticize. However, he was unlawfully treated as a criminal. Chinese judicial officials knowingly prosecuted him despite his innocence, engaging in a miscarriage of justice for personal gain.
Lawyer Qin Yongpei has been practicing law for over a decade, representing cases involving illegal administrative detention, industrial pollution, forced demolitions, and wrongful convictions. He is the founder of the Guangxi Baijuming Law Firm, where several human rights lawyers in Guangxi have worked. In the nationwide “709 Crackdown” in 2015, he was briefly taken for interrogation and ultimately had his lawyer license revoked.
After the incident, Qin Yongpei initiated a rights defense lawyer alliance called the “Disbarred Chinese Lawyers Club.” However, Beijing authorities deemed it an illegal organization. Lawyer Qin publicly offered rewards to collect evidence of crimes by the heads of the judicial department and public security bureau of Guangxi. He also publicly accused the former Minister of Justice, Fu Zhenghua. Qin frequently commented on national policies and actions on online platforms, including instances of officials abusing power and violating human rights. Due to his online criticisms of the government, several of his social media accounts were closed.
On October 31, 2019, Qin Yongpei was arrested by the local police in Nanning City, China, and subsequently held in prolonged detention. In March of the following year, the Guangxi Nanning Intermediate People’s Court sentenced human rights lawyer Qin Yongpei to 5 years in prison for the charge of “inciting subversion of state power” and deprived him of political rights for 3 years.
During Qin Yongpei’s detention, his wife Deng Xiaoyun, and their family from April 14 to 16, 2020 were subjected to harassment from the police. When his elderly mother passed away, Qin Yongpei was not allowed to attend the funeral, causing him to have an emotional breakdown.
Currently, he is being held at the second detention center of the Guangxi Autonomous Region. Unless there are outstanding circumstances, he will be transferred to prison and will stay there until his release.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Denial Fair Trial, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Right to fair trial, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Lawyer
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Feb 8, 2024
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Dec 21, 2023
- Event Description
A Hong Kong court on Thursday sentenced the younger sister of a pro-democracy labour union leader to six months imprisonment for removing evidence from the latter’s home amid an ongoing security crackdown in the China-ruled city.
Marilyn Tang, 63, had earlier pleaded guilty to perverting the court of justice after she removed devices including a laptop and mobile phone belonging to her sister, Elizabeth Tang, soon after she was arrested in March.
Magistrate Patrick Tsang said while the offence wasn’t very serious and that the defendant hadn’t “turned on or obstructed the devices” he still handed down a custodial sentence.
Elizabeth, 65, had been arrested on March 9 for collusion with foreign forces under a China-imposed national security law, soon after she returned to the city to visit her jailed pro-democracy activist husband Lee Cheuk-yan, 66.
The husband, a former lawmaker and leading democrat, faces an incitement to subversion charge under the national security law and is awaiting trial.
The two sisters had been linked to the Hong Kong Confederation of Trade Unions (HKCTU) – the city’s largest opposition trade union coalition that disbanded in 2021 after several members received messages threatening their safety. Elizabeth had served as its chief executive.
Tang’s lawyer Robert Pang had earlier told the court during a mitigation hearing that Marilyn’s behaviour was “not premeditated” while highlighting her lifelong service to the community.
Pang added that Elizabeth’s laptop and phone only contained personal information, family pictures and letters to her husband which had no direct impact on the police investigation.
More than 280 people have been arrested so far in Hong Kong under the national security law that punishes acts including subversion, secession, collusion with foreign forces, and terrorism with up to life in prison.
Leading China critic and media tycoon Jimmy Lai, 76, is currently battling a foreign collusion charge in a closely watched trial that has become a diplomatic flashpoint.
The national security law has been criticised by some Western governments as a tool to curb free speech and dissent while the Hong Kong and Chinese governments say it has restored stability after mass, pro-democracy protests in 2019.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Labour rights defender, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Related Events
- China: Hong Kong pro-democracy WHRD arrested
- Date added
- Feb 1, 2024
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Dec 21, 2023
- Event Description
A Hong Kong court on Thursday rejected a fresh bail application for pro-democracy activist and lawyer Chow Hang-tung, whose subversion trial under a China-imposed national security law is expected to open in late 2024.
In making the latest in a series of so far unsuccessful bail applications, Chow’s lawyer, Cheung Yiu-leung, noted Chow had already served more than 2 years in detention after being arrested on suspicion of “incitement for subversion” over her ties to a group that organised an annual June 4 vigil.
High Court judge Andrew Chan, however, said he couldn’t grant bail because Chow might carry out acts that endanger national security.
A tentative trial date was provided for Chow’s case in the second half of 2024 at the West Kowloon court, Chan said. A case-management hearing was also tentatively expected to be held on Feb. 15, 2024, he added.
Chow, 38, a human-rights lawyer, was the vice-chairperson of the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements in China, a now disbanded pro-democracy group. Despite being jailed, she has continued to defy Beijing’s campaign to subjugate the city.
Chow is charged with “incitement to subversion”, which carries a sentence of up to 10 years imprisonment, alongside two former Alliance leaders Albert Ho and Lee Cheuk-yan under the national security law (NSL).
Chow has been detained since September 2021 at a maximum security women’s prison.
Hong Kong laws usually restrict reporting of full bail application proceedings to only key details, but Justice Chan lifted these restrictions over objections from the prosecution.
“I don’t see that anything you said, or I said, cannot be published. The press are free to publish whatever,” Chan said.
Chow was recently put in solitary confinement for 18 days for possessing “too many letters” from her supporters, according to a person familiar with the situation.
Hong Kong prison authorities said they wouldn’t comment on individual cases.
Chow has already finished two sentences for unauthorised assembly in relation to the banned Tiananmen vigils in 2020 and 2021.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Denial Fair Trial, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Right to fair trial, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Lawyer, Pro-democracy defender, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Feb 1, 2024
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Dec 8, 2023
- Event Description
Niu Tengyu, is a young activist known for allegedly leaking information regarding the family details of the leader of the Red Empire, Xi Jinping. He is reportedly experiencing mental distress while imprisoned in Guangdong. Niu Tengyu’s single mother is seeking justice for her son and has been advocating for his rights. However, her peaceful efforts for justice have recently been suppressed, which led to discomfort in her heart. The surrounding area of the prison (where Niu Tengyu is being held) has been reinforced with increased security. Over 100 international human rights and democracy organizations, along with more than 300 pro-democracy advocates, have jointly signed an open letter aimed at rescuing Niu Tengyu, a prisoner of conscience in China.
In a video call with his mother Coco in November, 19-year-old Niu Tengyu’s speech was unclear, and did not call out to his mother as usual and even failed to recognize her. He uttered some incomprehensible words for his mother. Suddenly, a prison guard wearing glasses appeared and disconnected the call. This video call took place at a police station near Coco’s residence in Jiaozuo City, Henan Province.
Coco stated that her son Niu Tengyu was tortured to the point of insanity at Sihui Prison in Guangdong.
Eager to see her son, Coco traveled from central Henan to southern Guangdong to visit him in prison. On December 5, 2023, she arrived at Sihui prison in Zhaoqing, Guangdong Province, to confirm the safety of Niu Tengyu. From the morning of the 6th to the early morning of the 7th, she engaged in a 15-hour-long negotiation with the prison authorities. The prison rejected her request for visitation, citing Niu Tengyu’s abnormal mental state.
Coco insisted on meeting her son, on December 9, Coco stated: “…… Guangdong’s Sihui prison refused to let me see my son Niu Tengyu. They deployed a large number of police officers and special and armed police to intimidate me! On December 8, 2023, I arrived at the Guangzhou Prison Administration from Sihui to Guangzhou to report the situation……That evening, I fell ill in the hotel and still cannot go out today. But I will not leave Guangzhou, I will wait for a response and continue to safeguard my rights!”
On December 11, Beijing time, Coco went to the Guangdong Provincial Party Committee and the Provincial Political and Legal Affairs Committee to report that Sihui Prison in Guangdong prevented her from meeting her son Niu Tengyu, and she intends to inquire about the progress of the appeal case.
While sitting in a car near the Guangdong Political and Legal Affairs Committee, Coco was suddenly surrounded by several plainclothes police officers. The one leading in the front was a medium-built man with a fierce appearance. He forcibly opened the door of her taxi at once. The man claimed to be from the Guangzhou Public Security Bureau but refused to show identification. His actions were rough, and was loudly shouting; he tore apart her bag that contained documents, forcefully pulled her hand, and threatened her. This resulted in injuries to her hand, two of her fingers were swollen and numb, bruised and swollen, and she experienced discomfort in her heart, chest tightness, and shortness of breath. The secret police would not allow her to take the medication she carried around with her, Coco revealed.
Subsequently, a short-haired woman wearing a mask forced her and her older sister and others to put all their bags in the trunk, prohibited them from answering phone calls, and escorted her to a hotel. Even the hotel’s landline phone was taken away.
Niu Tengyu’s mother, Coco, was forcibly sent back to her home in Jiaozuo, Henan province.
Coco believes that Sihui prison received orders from higher-ups in Guangdong to deprive her and her son, Niu Tengyu, of the right to meet. Even with coordination between the police in Henan and Shanxi province (her hometown), Guangdong authorities still refused to allow her to see her son.
Coco said that Guangdong authorities’ harsh and arrogant attitude further confirmed her suspicion: prison personnel poisoned Niu Tengyu, leading to his abnormal mental state. Depriving her of the right to visit is simply to prevent the details of their poisoning from being discovered and exposed, which in return revealed their scheme.
Niu Tengyu’s mother, who was physically and mentally devastated by her son’s long prison sentence, is unable to take care of herself and needs care throughout the day.
The Guangdong authorities deprived Niu Tengyu of the right to meet, the right to communicate, and the right to seek medical treatment outside prison, gaining sympathy from over 100 global human rights and democracy organizations and more than 300 democracy activists. They jointly signed an open letter aimed at rescuing Chinese prisoner of conscience Niu Tengyu. On December 8, 2023, the letter, in both Chinese and English, was submitted to the White House for petitioning, and to 15 member countries of the United Nations Security Council, human rights offices worldwide, human rights officials at foreign embassies in China, and the Chinese government.
For background, in May 2019, the overseas websites Zhina Wiki and the Zhina Red Foundation published personal information about Xi Jinping’s brother-in-law, Deng Jiagui, and daughter, Xi Mingze. Subsequently, public security officials in Maoming, Guangdong province, arrested 24 members of the “Vulgar Wiki” website for forwarding the links. Niu Tengyu, a 19-year-old member of the Vulgar Wiki, was convicted by CCP authorities as the main culprit and sentenced on December 29, 2020, to 14 years in prison and a fine of 130,000 yuan in the first trial. In April 2021, a court in Maoming, Guangdong, upheld the original sentence in the second trial, which was held behind closed doors.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment, Intimidation and Threats, Restrictions on Movement
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of movement, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Family of HRD, Youth
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Jan 31, 2024
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Dec 8, 2023
- Event Description
Christians including Wang Honglan, her husband Ji Heying, her son Ji Guolong, her daughter Liu Minna, her nephew Wang, Yang Zhijun, Zhang Wang, Liu Wei (Liu Minna’s husband), Li Chao, and others are charged with “illegal business operations” for “subsidizing money to help people buy the Holy Bible” in Hohhot. As of December 1, 2023, the case has been in trial at Huimin District People’s Court for nine days, entering the phase of evidence presentation and cross-examination.
Before the court session, defense lawyers requested the prosecution to provide an outline of evidence to enhance trial efficiency, but this request was refused by the prosecutor. The collegial panel asked the prosecutor to present evidence, and the prosecutor read aloud two sets of evidence. The presiding judge directly allowed the defendants to cross-examine. The defense lawyers requested to view the original documents. The presiding judge asked lawyers to present the legal grounds. After presenting the legal grounds, the collegial panel agreed to allow the lawyers to examine the original case files. The lawyers insisted that the defendants should be shown the original case files when presenting evidence, ensuring they know the materials to express their opinions; otherwise, they requested to present the evidence one by one. The collegial panel and the prosecutor ignored them and did not respond to this request.
The trial continued at 2:00 PM, with the prosecutor spending half an hour reading about eighty volumes of evidence on bank transfer records and accounting appraisals. Due to the refusal to disclose an outline of evidence, the court clerk’s hurried recording could not capture the complete details. Defense lawyers listened attentively to the prosecutor’s presentation but found it challenging to follow, while the defendants appeared bewildered. When the presiding judge and the prosecutor finished, the defendants were asked to express their objections. The defendants mentioned being detained for over two years, having poor memory, and requested to see the original evidence presented. This immediately faced opposition and rejection from the prosecutor Yang Yan. The presiding judge stated that if they did not express objections, it would be deemed as waiving the right to speak. The defense lawyers protested, demanding the defendants be allowed to examine the evidence presented.
Despite multiple requests, the presiding judge continued to refuse. Lawyer Zhao Qingshan protested the unjust conduct of the presiding judge, who responded that the application for request did not meet the Articles 29 and 30 of the “Criminal Procedure Law of the People’s Republic of China” and was rejected without reconsideration.
Judge Han Yanjie of the collegial panel also argued that the defendants had no right to view the original case files during cross-examination phase. She criticized the lawyers for not diligently verifying the evidence with their clients in advance. Lawyer Zhao Qingshan stated that verification of evidence with their clients during visitation doesn’t void the defendant’s rights to examine original case files during cross-examination, the collegial panel should ensure the defendants’ right to examine the original case files.
Other defense lawyers again requested the prosecutor to present the evidence he read aloud and show this part of the case files to the defendants. The presiding judge insisted that the defendants review the court clerk’s records but refused to let them see the case files. The dispute continued. Lawyer Zhao Qingshan criticized the presiding judge for unjustly presiding over the trial, accusing him of violating the law. The presiding judge responded, ‘Then come up and hit me!’
The stalemate remained for a long time. The presiding judge finally announced an adjournment, instructing court security to provide five defendants with the case files to review.
The prosecutor Yang Yan stated, “Now that we are showing the case files to the defendants, what’s the point of having defense lawyers?”
Lawyer Zhao responded, ‘Defense lawyers can only verify evidence with their own clients and cannot cross-examine evidence with other co-defendants. If lawyers have already verified the evidence with the defendants, there’s no need for the defendants to see the materials in the courtroom. What’s the purpose of the trial then?’
Several defense lawyers live in other cities. At the end of the afternoon session, without consulting the defense lawyers, a sudden decision was made to hold court proceedings over the weekend. This arrangement disrupted the plans of many lawyers, especially those from out of town, and many lawyers expressed opposition. They believe that such an arrangement is too arbitrary. The court did not schedule trial over the weekend, and yesterday, on Thursday, a working day, no trial were arranged. However, after concluding the trial on Friday, there was a sudden decision to hold court over the weekend, completely disregarding the feelings of the lawyers. If a trial is necessary on the weekend, advance notice should be given. Such arbitrary arrangements have left the lawyers feeling unacceptable.
After reviewing the case files, it was already 4:15 PM, approaching the adjournment time. The prosecutor Yang Yan, proposed extending the trial to Saturday. The presiding judge asked court security if they could provide personnel on Saturday, and they replied that they can borrow personnel from week days. The presiding judge then went out to negotiate with court security and came back to announce directly to the lawyers: “The trial will continue tomorrow [Saturday].”
The lawyers expressed objections, stating that Thursday was a regular working day but an adjournment was arranged. Holding court trial on Saturday is an additional burden, but there was no prior consultation with the lawyers. Three lawyers had already left early because there were no court sessions last weekend, anticipating no hearings this weekend. Additionally, five lawyers had already booked round-trip flights for the evening.
Hearing the lawyers’ objections, the presiding judge Duan Wen directly said, “If you have booked a ticket, reschedule it. Tomorrow’s trial will proceed.” The five lawyers who had booked flight went up to the sixth floor to find the court president and report the arbitrary scheduling of court sessions by the collegial panel. However, they were intercepted in the corridor of the fourth floor by the head of the security team, who prevented them from going upstairs. The lawyers then requested that their message be conveyed to court president Mr. Zhou for coordination. Later, the head of the security team brought back Mr. Zhou’s response: He doesn’t meet with lawyers during the trial. Around 5:30 PM at the end of the court’s working hours, the head of the security team asked the lawyers to leave the courthouse.
During the sixth day of the trial, there was also an outburst from the audience accusing the prosecutor. The cause was that Christian who are over 70 years old, while answering questions, revealed that during questioning, the prosecutor not only falsely accused him of being a religious scammer but also mocked his personal life tragedy from over twenty years ago when his child died. The elderly, with gray hair and plagued by illness, became furious. This also triggered the anger of the audience, whose accusations were mostly directed at how a public servant could treat an elderly person of their parents’ age so heartlessly, not only lacking basic empathy but also using derogatory language, completely devoid of humanity.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to work
- HRD
- Lawyer
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Jan 31, 2024
- Country
- China
- Event Description
Tibet Watch has learned that Gonmo Kyi, sister of Tibetan political prisoner Dorjee Tashi, was detained this morning, Wednesday 13 December, in Lhasa. Her husband Choekyong is also being held.
According to a source who spoke to Tibet Watch, Gonmo Kyi and Choekyong went to Lhasa People’s Court with a letter, urging officials to retry Dorjee Tashi, who has been in prison since 2008. They also requested that they be allowed to meet Dorjee Tashi in prison, something authorities had previously promised.
Instead, the pair were arrested by security personnel and taken to a police station in Lhasa. The source stated that it is difficult to know the couple’s current situation and in which police station they are detained.
Dorjee Tashi, a hotel owner, has been in prison since his arrest in July 2008. He was sentenced to life imprisonment for “loan fraud”, a charge he and his family contest, and has been subjected to torture while in prison.
In response, Gonmo Kyi, has held a series of protests targeted at officials in Lhasa, urging them to let her see her brother and for his case to be retried.
Police have attempted to block her protests from public view. According to Tibet Watch’s source, all photos, videos or information of Gonmo Kyi’s protests have been censored since August 2023, the last time that Tibet Watch received any information about her.
Police have also treated her violently, assaulting Gonmo Kyi in August and leaving her in need of hospital treatment, which was denied to her. In March this year, Gonmo Kyi was detained and beaten.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Jan 30, 2024
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Oct 26, 2023
- Event Description
Tibetan human rights defender Tsering Tso had been subjected to arbitrary detention for the second time in three years for her social media posts calling out Chinese authorities for engaging in human rights abuses against Tibetans in Kyegudo (Ch: Yushu) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Qinghai Province, in the Tibetan province of Kham.
Tso was sentenced to 15 days of “administrative detention” by the Yushu Public Security Bureau (PSB) in the Yushu city detention centre from 26 October to 10 November 2023.
According to the official letter by the Yushu Public Security Bureau posted by Tsering Tso on her WeChat on 11 November 2023, The Yushu PSB or police claimed that between 8 and 25 October 2023, Tso committed the crime of “picking quarrels and provoking troubles” by posting a series of videos and personal statements on her Douyin account to “falsely accuse the government and spread misinformation on her private social media”.
The allegation of “picking quarrels and provoking troubles,” often directed at human rights defenders, minority ethnicities, critics, dissenters, and individuals deemed disloyal, is a legal tool to compel alignment with the official narrative, functioning as a means to deter questioning and dissent. Whether operating at the central or local level, the party-state assumes an authoritative role in delineating the boundaries of what constitutes picking a quarrel and provoking trouble. Essentially, any deviation from the official mass line falls within this defined category.
After examining Tso’s social media posts on Douyin, TCHRD can confirm that the Yushu PSB failed to address the legitimate grievances and issues Ms Tso raised and misused its discretionary powers.
In a video statement posted on 16 October 2023, Tso criticised the “feudalistic mindset” of official power holders and how it hinders the “hardworking and educated people from ordinary households to accomplish great deeds and realise their dreams”. She also called out the local leaders for misusing their power to further personal interests and subjecting ordinary people to corrupt bureaucratic practices.
In another video posted on 19 October 2023, she shared the challenges she faced in opening her own business in Kyegudo city, exposing the unfair practices of the local government leaders. Her efforts to operate business enterprises from 2016 onwards in the city have met with undue pressure and harassment from the local government authorities.
One of her widely viewed posts was a video she captured at the Lhasa railway station in July 2023, in which she called out the railway authorities for engaging in blatant racial discrimination against Tibetan passengers who were asked to show additional documents while Chinese tourists proceeded unhindered without any scrutiny or examination. She can be heard speaking Chinese in the video, “Lhasa authorities are violating the nation’s laws; they are engaging in racial discrimination. Chinese individuals with Identification Cards merely need to show their faces to pass. In contrast, Tibetans face restrictions despite possessing all requisite legal documents. Only Chinese individuals without Identification Cards are instructed to register. Meanwhile, we Tibetans, with all legal documentation in order, are denied passage. Look! The Chinese are permitted to pass without impediment. They encounter no issues. What does this convey? Does it not demonstrate a lack of racial equality? Is this not unmistakable racial discrimination?”
Yet another video shows her directly asking a police officer about the directive mandating Tibetans [from Tibetan areas outside Tibet Autonomous Region] to obtain permits to travel to Lhasa. She argues that such a rule constitutes evident discrimination against Tibetans.
An important issue she raises in one of her videos is the existing discrepancy between the operation of travel agencies in China and those in the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR). She asserts that while travel agencies in China could function autonomously, those in TAR are monopolised by one or two entities, primarily the Lhasa Communications Industry Group Company. This monopoly is facilitated, in part, through collaboration with the Border Management Office.
The Border Management Office, instead of focusing on its designated responsibilities, misuses its power to assist the monopolisation of the Lhasa Transportation Industry Group Company, which is evident in its practices, where only vehicles of the Lhasa Transportation Industry Group are permitted.
“This unjust practice restricts the freedom of other agencies, leaving approximately 300 drivers from non-monopolised agencies unemployed, as their cars are denied permits. Furthermore, the agency with the monopoly maintains a limited fleet, resulting in exorbitant car fares ranging from 2500 to 3000 yuan.”
Tsering Tso is originally from Trika (Ch: Guide) County in Tsolho (Ch: Hainan) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture but works and lives in Yushu City. She operates the Tibet World Tours and Travel, specialising in organising tours in various regions, including Lhasa City, Ngari, and other parts of Tibet, as well as destinations in other parts of the world.
This is the second time we have received information about her detention. Previously, in November 2020, Tsering Tso was apprehended in Siling (Ch: Xining), the capital of Qinghai Province, on charges related to disrupting “social stability”. She was subsequently transported to Trika (Ch: Guide) County in Tsolho (Ch: Hainan) and detained for ten days, along with a fine of 1000 Chinese yuan. Throughout her detention, she was provided only steamed bread and water, leaving her in a state of starvation. Additionally, she faced constant threats, with her 80-year-old father also being subjected to intimidation during this period.
In China, Public Security Bureau (PSB) officers frequently conduct administrative detention practices characterised by a vague legal framework that grants extensive discretionary powers. Administrative detention practices often include the extensive use of torture and ill-treatment, and expecting any supervision of such misconduct is impractical, as high-ranking officials in the upper echelons tend to incentivise the suppression of dissent and criticism. However, the malpractices of administrative detention directly contradict the promises outlined in Article 37 of the Chinese Constitution, which explicitly safeguards the liberty of citizens, stating, “The personal freedom of citizens of the People’s Republic of China shall not be violated.
No citizen shall be arrested unless with the approval or by the decision of a people’s procuratorate or by the decision of a people’s court, and arrests must be made by a public security organ.
Unlawful detention, or the unlawful deprivation or restriction of a citizen’s personal freedom by other means, is prohibited; the unlawful search of a citizen’s person is prohibited.”
In 2017, Tsering Tso advocated for the issuance of travel permits for Yushu residents legally. Subsequently, the Public Security Bureau dispatched people to physically assault her. Following the incident, an attempt was made to downplay the perpetrators as ordinary individuals under the influence of alcohol engaging in unruly behaviour. In response to this, Tsering Tso shared authentic documents online to counter the denial of justice. Given her prior experiences of enduring similarly severe and oppressive circumstances, and facing a recurrence of such incidents, she emphasised the imperative of a fair and just resolution. Consequently, her post addressing these concerns was made unavailable for public viewing.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Online
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, Minority rights defender, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Jan 30, 2024
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Dec 10, 2023
- Event Description
Three Hong Kong pro-democracy activists were arrested on Sunday, just before voting began in a “patriots only” district election that has marginalised formerly popular opposition figures in the city amid a national security clampdown.
The pro-China government has been seeking to boost turnout, as some observers see large numbers spurning the polls, in contrast to the last council elections in 2019, during Hong Kong’s mass pro-democracy protests, which drew a record 71% turnout and a landslide victory for the democratic camp.
Police arrested three members of the “League of Social Democrats” in the Central business district, the group said. It had planned to protest against the “birdcage election” that it said lacked any democratic scope, given vetting requirements by authorities that have effectively barred all democrats from running.
“Hong Kong people’s right to vote and to be elected seems to be absent,” the group said in a statement.
Police did not immediately offer grounds for the arrests. The city’s constitution guarantees freedom of assembly.
Regulations introduced in July slashed the directly elected district council seats by nearly 80% from four years ago.
All candidates must now undergo national security background checks and secure nominations from pro-government committees. At least three pro-democracy groups, including moderates, and even some pro-Beijing figures failed to secure enough nominations.
‘Hard to talk about democracy’
The changes further narrow electoral freedoms in the former colony that Britain returned to Chinese rule in 1997. The crackdown under a 2020 China-imposed national security law has led to the arrests of former district councillors and the disbandment of major opposition parties.
“It is the last piece of the puzzle for us to implement the principles of patriots governing Hong Kong,” Hong Kong leader John Lee said while casting his ballot with his wife, claiming that the previous poll in 2019 had been used to sabotage governance and endanger national security.
Security was tight around many polling stations with over ten thousand police deployed to maintain order.
While some Western governments say the China-imposed national security law has been used to crack down on dissent, China says it has brought stability to the financial hub after the protracted pro-democracy protests of 2019.
For weeks the major pro-Beijing and pro-government parties have been out in force, campaigning and festooning streets with posters and flyers in a bid to bolster turnout. On Saturday night, a harbourfront carnival featuring fireworks and patriotic pop singers made last-minute appeals for people to vote.
Some were not convinced.
“The broad political spectrum of voices that we saw four years has all gone,” said Tang, a 27-year-old who said she would boycott the vote, asking to be identified only by her family name.
Turnout was about 11.6% at 12.30pm, down from 31% at the same time in the previous election.
“It’s very hard to talk about democracy or democratisation anymore in today’s Hong Kong,” said Kenneth Chan, a political scientist at Hong Kong’s Baptist University and a former pro-democracy lawmaker.
“What they’re doing now is the installation of the so-called patriots-only governance structure.”
- Impact of Event
- 3
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Jan 2, 2024
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Nov 22, 2023
- Event Description
On 22 November 2023, human rights defender Yin Xu’an left prison after completing a 4.5 year prison sentence. He was escorted back to his home in Daye City in Hubei Province. CCTV cameras have been installed behind and in front of his home. Security officers have also been been stationed around his home.
Independent human rights monitors have reported that the human rights defender’s family has not been able to contact him in the days since his return home, and that he must request permission from the authorities if he wants to leave his home, even when seeking medical treatment.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Surveillance
- Rights Concerned
- Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to privacy
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Jan 2, 2024
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Nov 24, 2023
- Event Description
On 24 November 2023, the Shandong Provincial High Court announced its decision to uphold the first-instance verdict and sentence against human rights defender Ding Jiaxi. In April 2023, the Linshu County Court in Shandong province found Ding Jiaxi guilty of “subversion of State power” and sentenced him to 12 years in prison.
The High Court did not hold any hearings during the appeal process, and barred the human rights defender’s defence lawyers from entering the courthouse when the decision was announced. The court also prohibited the lawyers from providing Ding Jiaxi’s family with the text of the appeal verdict on the basis of a “confidentiality agreement” that the lawyers were forced to sign.
On 21 November 2023, after having been informed of the date of the appeal decision announcement, the human rights defender’s two lawyers went to meet him at the Linshu Detention Centre but were told that the Shandong Provincial High Court had instructed the detention centre not to allow the lawyers to meet Ding Jiaxi. The lawyers then telephoned the High Court judge in charge of the case and were informed that the judge would need to consult with his/her superiors. After waiting for some time and still receiving no response from the judge, the lawyers eventually left the detention centre in the late afternoon.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Denial Fair Trial, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Right to fair trial, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Lawyer, Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Jan 2, 2024
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Oct 23, 2023
- Event Description
Two Tibetan women, known for helping the poor and needy in their village were detained on 23 October after sending voice messages in chat groups on the social media application WeChat, encouraging everyone to practise virtuous actions.
Tsomo and Nyidon, are devout Buddhists from a village in Karchen Township (སྐར་ཆེན་ཤང་།), Sershul County ( སེར་ཤུལ་རྫོང་།) in the Tibetan region of Kham. Before their arrests, the pair regularly volunteered to serve the poorest in their community.
Following their arrest, the pair were taken to a detention centre in the same county. Since then, there have been no further details about their condition.
According to a source spoken to by Tibet Watch, “Currently there is heavy restriction on activities related to religion” in Tibet.
The source added that in Karchen Township alone, many villagers have been summoned to their local police station and subjected to interrogations about their activities of promoting Buddhist virtues.
On 20 December 2021, the ruling Chinese Communist Party announced a new regulation aimed at controlling religion in society: Measures on the Administration of Internet Religious Information Services, of which Article 17 stipulates that individuals and organisations without authorised government licence are "not allowed to organise and carry out religious activities on the internet."
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Online, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Dec 20, 2023
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Nov 26, 2023
- Event Description
Authorities in Hong Kong have arrested a man who went to board a flight out of the city, charging him with "sedition" under colonial-era laws for wearing a T-shirt with a banned protest slogan printed on it, after questioning a lone protester holding up a blank sheet of paper at the weekend.
Acting on a tip-off, national security police arrested Chu Kai-poon, 26, as he approached his boarding gate, charging him with "committing one or more acts with seditious intent," "possession of seditious publications" and "possessing other people's ID cards."
According to a government statement, somebody reported a man at the airport to police for wearing a shirt emblazoned with the banned 2019 protest slogan, “Free Hong Kong, Revolution Now!” and “Independence for Hong Kong,” as well as a “Free Hong Kong” flag, according to several media reports.
The arrest is the latest in a string of “sedition” cases in Hong Kong, which carry a maximum penalty of two years’ imprisonment, and are used alongside a draconian national security law to target peaceful criticism of the authorities.
In July 2021, a court jailed motorcyclist Tong Ying-kit for nine years for “terrorism” and “secession” under the National Security Law, after he flew the “Free Hong Kong” slogan from his bike during a street protest.
"Police received a report that a man was allegedly wearing a shirt with seditious wordings at the Hong Kong International Airport," the Nov. 29 government statement said.
"Police officers sped to the scene and further seized some flags and clothing with seditious wording, as well as an identity card relating to another person from his personal belongings."
Lone protester
Chu's arrest came after police questioned a lone protester on Sunday after he stood on the street outside the Sogo Department Store in Causeway Bay holding up a sheet of white paper, marking the anniversary of the 2022 "white paper" movement.
The man stood there for some 30 minutes before he was approached by police, during which time some passersby were overheard asking him what he was doing, the independent InMediaHK news website reported.
Police then turned up and searched the man, checking his ID and asking if he was alone.
"What do you mean by this demonstration?" they asked him, according to bystanders interviewed in the report.
"Don't you know that a blank sheet of paper could easily incite others?" they asked.
Police later confirmed the incident to InMediaHK and said the 21-year-old man, surnamed Chan, had been allowed to leave with a warning.
'High-pressure environment'
Taiwan-based Hong Kong activist Fu Tong said the crackdown on public dissent is still making his home city "a high-pressure environment" for any form of peaceful activism.
"People dare not have anything to do with protest in the current high-pressure environment of Hong Kong," Fu said. "It's inspiring that there are still people willing to stand up."
"Those of us outside the Great Firewall sometimes feel that we're fighting in vain, and it's a form of mutual comfort and support to see that there are still people in Hong Kong who persist," he said. "It encourages us to keep up the fight."
U.S.-based political commentator Hu Ping said a lone protest – like that of the Beijing “Bridge Man” in 2022 – has a profound kind of symbolic power.
"The fact that a man in black held up a blank sheet of paper on the anniversary of the White Paper Movement carries deep political meaning," Hu said. "[It] expresses an overall sense of dissatisfaction and protest."
"Some people are still willing to stand up ... despite the high level of political pressure under the Chinese Communist Party's introduction of the National Security Law in Hong Kong," he said.
Zhuang Jiaying, associate professor of political science at the National University of Singapore, said the white paper incident showed how widespread such sentiments are, despite huge government attempts to stamp out any form of protest.
"The White Paper Revolution took place under the Chinese Communist Party's high-pressure, zero-COVID environment," Zhuang said. "While the [authorities] were able to suppress it very quickly and completely, they can't entirely eradicate sporadic protests."
"Even Beijing has no way to prevent such things, so I don't think it's surprising that such incidents happen from time to time in Hong Kong," he said.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Intimidation and Threats, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Dec 20, 2023
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Sep 27, 2023
- Event Description
Film director and dissident artist Guo Zhenming, known for his work commemorating the 1989 Tiananmen massacre, has been placed under a travel ban after being invited to a screening of his latest film in Singapore.
Authorities in the southwestern province of Yunnan, where Guo is currently based, cut the corner from his passport in May, and refused to accept an application for a new passport from him, he told Radio Free Asia in a recent interview.
Guo traveled to Beijing last month in a bid to apply again from there, but his application was rejected due to a "restriction" placed on him by authorities in Yunnan's Lijiang city, he was told.
Last December, authorities in nearby Dali placed Guo under 15 days' administrative detention for "picking quarrels and stirring up trouble," a charge frequently used to target peaceful critics of the ruling Chinese Communist Party, after he made some comments about the "white paper" movement.
The incident is likely one reason for the travel ban, Guo said.
Another was an online signature campaign he signed supporting women's rights in the wake of the scandal of the woman found chained by the neck in the eastern province of Jiangsu.
"The first thing was the woman in chains ... I and [fellow artist] Yan Zhengxue launched a campaign at home and overseas in April and May last year ... calling for the protection of women's rights, which made a big impact at the time," Guo said.
"Then, the white paper movement happened while I was in Dali, and I made some comments in WeChat Moments," he said. "On Dec. 4, 2022, I was arrested by the Dali municipal police, who held me in administrative detention for 15 days in a separate cell."
Obstruction
Former 1989 activist Ji Feng said Guo's support for his sick friend and dissident sculptor Yan Zhengxue had also angered the authorities.
"When I went to visit with Yan Zhengxue, the main fundraiser was Guo," Ji said.
"I was picked up by the Guizhou police on Sept. 25, and he was placed under the travel ban on Sept. 27," he said.
"I was the one who had him travel from Yunnan to Beijing to visit Yan Zhengxue," he said.
Guo said he has faced various forms of obstruction from government departments ever since his detention, however.
"After I got out, the Dali municipal police department refused to show me the administrative penalty notice or the administrative detention certificate," Guo said. "They said it was a state secret. "
"What I later got was a detention certificate issued to me by the detention center, proving that I had been released," he said.
He said officials at the Gucheng district branch of the Lijiang police department, where he lives, then proceeded to clip the corner of his passport, invalidating it.
Guo, who hails from the central province of Hunan, but who has lived in Beijing and Yunnan for much of his adult life, recently had his film "Tedious Days and Nights" accepted by the Singapore International Film Festival.
"I was going to attend the world premiere [of my film] at the ... Singapore International Film Festival on Dec. 4, so I was eager to apply for a passport so I could leave the country," he said.
"But the Lijiang municipal police department refuses to accept my passport application, saying that I am suspected of being a threat to national political security," he said. "I'm banned from leaving the country."
'Filth, irreverence and melancholy'
An officer who answered the phone at the Exit-Entry Administration Bureau of the Lijiang municipal police department declined to discuss Guo's case when contacted by Radio Free Asia for comment on Nov. 14.
"We don't know," the officer said. Asked which department was in charge of Guo's case, the officer said: "I don't know that either."
Repeated calls to the Entry-Exit Detachment and Supervisory Branch of the Gucheng district police department rang unanswered during office hours on Nov. 14.
"Tedious Days and Nights" tells the story of poet Zeng Dekuang, who returns to the former industrial town of Coal Dam after 30 years of wandering to find the place in disrepair "much like the promise of his youth that has dimmed in middle age," according to the publicity material on the festival website.
"Rather than resist time’s decay, Zeng and his old friends drift into it with abandon and return to their basest of impulses, sometimes with comedic failure, but mostly in drunkenness," the synopsis reads.
"In Tedious Days and Nights, the Tiananmen Square massacre continues to haunt a lost generation of Chinese artists," it says.
"As the men frolic about ruins, this documentary enacts a passive resistance equivalent to the tang ping (lying flat) movement of Chinese youths today ... with equal parts filth, irreverence and melancholy."
The entry in the Singapore International Film Festival Guide for the Dec. 4 screening of the film advertises "Q&A with film-maker," an event that Guo will now be unable to attend.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment, Restrictions on Movement, Travel Restriction
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of movement, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Artist
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Dec 19, 2023
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Nov 4, 2023
- Event Description
Rights lawyer Tang Jitian is incommunicado, believed detained in a hotel in the northeastern province of Jilin following his release from two years of incommunicado detention in January, people familiar with his case told Radio Free Asia.
"He sent a message on WeChat Moments around Nov. 4 that his daughter's grandmother had passed away," U.S.-based rights activist Xiang Li told RFA Mandarin. "This was the last public message he sent [and it] showed that he was in Jilin at the time."
"Shortly after he posted the message, he was incommunicado and I haven't managed to get in touch with him in more than two weeks," Xiang said.
A person familiar with the case who declined to be named for fear of reprisals said Tang had been detained en route to his mother-in-law's funeral on Nov. 6, and is currently being held by state security police at a hotel in Yanbian city.
Tang has a round-the-clock detail of state security police sleeping in the same room and eating all meals with him, they said.
He was taken into custody again because someone "disclosed information about Tang" on social media, the person said.
Xiang said the daring flight of ethnic Korean dissident Kwon Pyong by jet ski from the eastern province of Shandong might have heightened tensions around Tang, too, although the two men aren’t associated with each other.
"Maybe state security police in Jilin were made nervous by that escape, which caused an international sensation," Xiang said. "Tang Jitian is a human rights lawyer and dissident whom they regard as very important."
When he was released after more than a year of police detention on Jan. 14, 2023, Tang showed up in his birthplace in Jilin instead of his home in Beijing, an increasingly common practice for recently released political prisoners.
"I'll try to keep doing what I can keep doing, but ... I can't say any more right now," Tang told RFA at the time, saying it was "inconvenient" to speak, a phrase often employed by people targeted for official surveillance.
Tang's license to practice as a lawyer was revoked in 2010 after he campaigned for direct elections within the state-run Lawyers' Association, and represented practitioners of the banned Falun Gong spiritual movement.
He has been barred from leaving China to visit his daughter in Japan, who is on life support in a Tokyo hospital after contracting meningitis.
"If he is incommunicado, that must mean he has been forcibly disappeared, and that the state security police must have detained him," Xiang said.
Sedatives overdose
Meanwhile the teenaged son of detained rights lawyer Yu Wensheng has been sent to hospital after being left alone in the family home following his parents' detention in April.
Yu Zhenyang was taken to hospital after taking an overdose of sedative medication, fellow lawyer Liang Xiaojun told RFA Mandarin.
"When I got there, he didn't say anything to me, just sat there on the hospital bed," Liang said. "There were nurses and policemen there beside him."
"The policeman told me he had taken some sedatives and then started to feel unwell while on a bus in Mentougou," he said. "He told the driver he felt unwell and the driver called the police, and they sent him to the hospital."
Yu Zhenyang was treated and was recovering, Liang said.
"His mental state was quite good – he was drinking water, and he was on a drop – he looked okay," he said. "Maybe it was sleeping pills and he took a little too many."
Fellow rights attorney Wang Yu, who has been keeping an eye on Yu Zhenyang since he was left alone, said the overdose took place on the young man's 19th birthday, which he spent alone.
"They said he turned 19 on [Nov. 18]," Wang said. "He was alone and in a very sad mood."
"He went out to eat alone and took nine tablets in one go," she said. "He started to feel unwell on the bus home."
She called on the Chinese authorities to release Yu Wensheng and his wife on bail pending trial to allow them to take care of Yu Zhenyang.
Canada-based family friend Zhao Zhongyuan said Yu Zhenyang has had a tough time since both parents – father Yu Wensheng and mother Xu Yan – were detained on suspicion of "picking quarrels and stirring up trouble" in April, en route to meet with European Union diplomats in Beijing.
Xu has reportedly been charged with "incitement to subvert state power."
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Abduction/Kidnapping
- Rights Concerned
- Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Lawyer
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Dec 19, 2023
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Oct 27, 2023
- Event Description
Ji Xiaolong was sentenced on Friday, October 27 to four years and six months in prison by a Shanghai court for picking quarrels and provoking trouble. He disclosed the truth about Shanghai’s lockdown during last year’s COVID-19 pandemic. He demanded the Chinese government relax the excessive lockdown measures and for those responsible to be held accountable for their policy making.
“All the news I received today has not been good, sentenced to four and a half years, it will take more than three years to get out of prison. (They) have not given him a haircut yet, I do not know what these officials are plotting,” Ji Xiaolong’s sister said in response.
In 2018, Ji criticized China’s “vaccine scandal.” Amidst public outrage, many victims’ families demanded accountability and protection of rights. Ji Xiaolong initiated the “Toilet Revolution,” subsequently he was arrested by the police and was sentenced to three and a half years in prison for the crime of picking quarrels and provoking trouble. He was released in February 2022. In the following months from April to June, Shanghai implemented stringent lockdown measures due to the outbreak of COVID-19, which resulted in the endangerment of people’s livelihoods. Ji spoke out on the internet, asking the Shanghai government to sympathize with the people, relax their excessive control, and stop campaign-style covid prevention measures.
In August 2022, Ji was reprimanded when he issued a real-name petition to Li Qiang, the party secretary of the Shanghai Municipal Committee at the time, and now China’s Premier, demanding accountability for the city’s closure. He was taken away from his home by the Shanghai police on August 31, and was criminally detained by the Pudong New Area Police, where he was held without timely and effective care for his serious dental condition. His case was once returned for supplementary investigation, but in the end he was charged in March of this year.
Ji Xiaolong is currently being held at the Pudong New Area Detention Center in Shanghai, where he will serve his sentence until February 28, 2027.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Enactment of repressive legislation and policies, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- #COVID-19, Freedom of expression Online, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Dec 19, 2023
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Nov 17, 2023
- Event Description
Nanjing dissident journalist Sun Lin, who used the pen name Jie Mu, has died following a raid by state security police on his home last week, Radio Free Asia has learned.
"On Nov. 17, police reportedly entered his home, and neighbors later heard loud noises," the overseas-based Chinese Human Rights Defenders network said via its X account. "At 2:44 p.m. he was sent to hospital; dead at 5:45 [p.m.]."
"At the hospital, Sun Lin's family requested to see his body, but the state security police refused," the group said.
"Medical staff at the hospital said his clothes were torn and he had suffered head injuries, indicating he was beaten to death," it said.
Overseas-based dissident Sun Liyong, who isn't related to Sun Lin, said the suspected beating took place at around noon on Nov. 17.
"A group of state security officers from Nanjing's Xuanwu district broke into Sun Lin's home," he said. "Then the neighbors heard sounds of a struggle from inside."
He said police have since tried to claim they were defending themselves after being attacked by Sun.
"Sun Lin is nearly 70 years old, so how would he be able to beat up a group of young men?" he said.
Open letter
A group of Sun's friends and fellow activists, including Huang Jinqiu, Wu Lihong, Zou Wei and Zan Aizong have signed an open letter calling on the Nanjing municipal government to conduct an independent investigation into Sun's death as soon as possible, the Chinese-language rights website Weiquanwang reported.
Sun's friend Fu Tao said he believes "from the information we have so far, it seems like his death wasn't normal."
Sun was sent to Jiangsu Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine at 2:44 p.m., and the hospital pronounced him dead at 5:45 p.m.," Weiquanwang said, adding that Sun had recently undergone a full medical checkup three days earlier, and had been in "normal" health.
A friend of Sun's who gave only the surname Lu told RFA Mandarin: "They [state security police] wanted to enter his home, but [Sun] refused them entry, so they forced their way in."
Lu said he believes police beat Sun to death to stop him from speaking out.
"If they want to control you, they will use any means," Lu said. "They often kill people and cut off all contact with the outside world to prevent any kind of public backlash."
Sun’s friend and fellow activist Zou Wei held up a blank sheet of A4 paper to commemorate his death in front of the Memorial to the Fallen Soldiers of the National Revolutionary Army on Xixi Road in Hangzhou on Monday.
Weiquanwang said Sun's remains are currently in the hands of the Nanjing state security police, and have been removed from the hospital.
State security police have placed Sun's daughter Sun Yijia under tight restrictions, and have visited his ex-wife He Fang to warn her against "causing trouble," it said.
Repeated calls to He Fang and Sun Yijia rang unanswered on Tuesday.
Reporting on rights violations
In a profile on its website, the Chinese Human Rights Defenders describes Sun as "independent journalist who has reported on human rights violations and the corruption of Chinese officials."
He was convicted of “inciting subversion of state power” on Dec. 25, 2018, and served a four-year jail term in connection with his social media posts, and for shouting "Down with the Communist Party" at a party meeting in Nanjing.
He had also served an earlier four-year jail term in 2008 for "gathering a crowd to disrupt public order" along with his then wife He Fang, after he refused to stop reporting on forced evictions at a Nanjing factory.
"Born in Nanjing on Dec. 24, 1955, Sun Lin forged a reputation from the outset of his journalism career for exercising free speech that attracted the attention of authorities," the profile said.
In August 1998, he began working with a television station in Nanjing, which dismissed him for speaking too openly about “politically sensitive” subjects, prompting him to launch his own video channel in September of the same year, which the authorities later shut down, it said.
Sun had also been the editor of the Nanjing version of Business Times Today and edited the Metropolis newspaper which he founded in 2000. After authorities forced Metropolis to close, Sun started to report for Boxun.
"He continued to report on social justice issues despite growing pressure and harassment by officials, culminating in his prison sentence in 2008," it said.
New book
A friend of Sun's who asked to remain anonymous said that just before his death, the authorities had paid a call on a fellow activist in the central city of Wuhan who had just received a copy of a book written by Sun.
"Ten days ago, the Nanjing state security police and the Wuhan state security police went to pay a call on [Wuhan rights activist Xiao Yuqing]," the friend said. "Sun Lin had written a book, and sent a copy to [Xiao]."
"The day after it arrived, the police showed up – he hadn't even had time to open it up and take a look," the friend said. "They took the book away."
"Sun had been chatting with Xiao Yuqing the day before [Sun died]. [Xiao] had just gotten out of hospital, and was planning a trip to Nanjing," they said.
"I know some of the rights activists in Nanjing who were taken down to the local police station after receiving the news of Sun Lin's death on the group chat," the friend said.
"Why would they cover up the news of Sun Lin's death? It's not going to work," they said.
When contacted by RFA Mandarin, Xiao said he has been banned from talking to the media or posting online, and declined to give an interview.
Xiao isn't the only dissident to have been contacted and told to keep quiet.
A Hubei-based online activist who gave only the surname Mo said he had received a call from state security police warning him not to travel anywhere.
"They said they would come round within 10 minutes if I were to buy a rail ticket anywhere," Mo said. "Henan-based rights activist Fang Yan was told by the state security police not to go to Nanjing."
"It's getting harder and harder for us to exist," Mo said.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Death, Raid, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to life
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Dec 14, 2023
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Oct 17, 2023
- Event Description
Hong Kong police have arrested a former pro-democracy member of the city's District Council and prison welfare activist -- amid calls for a boycott of forthcoming district elections, which are open to "patriots only."
Derek Chu, a 46-year-old former directly elected councilor who resigned in 2021 before being forced to take an oath of loyalty to the Hong Kong and Chinese governments, was arrested in Shatin on Tuesday on suspicion of breaching the city's mandatory pension law, police told the paper.
His arrest comes as the government moves ahead with an "election" process that will slash the number of directly elected seats on the District Council by 80%, while ensuring that almost nobody in the city's once-vibrant opposition camp will stand for election again, the result of ongoing arrests of pro-democracy figures and rule changes requiring political vetting.
"At about 12 noon, Derek Chu was taken to an office at Manulife Plaza in Kwun Tong by the police for evidence collection," the report said. "He was later taken to a food store in W Plaza in Mong Kok and Fuk Keung Industrial Building in Tai Kok Tsui for investigation."
Those locations are linked to Chu's "Migratory Bird" platform to support prisoners, which raised money via the As One online shopping platform – part of the "yellow economic circle of pro-democracy businesses" – to support his prison work.
He is currently being held by the Sham Shui Po Crime Division pending further investigation, after his home was also searched and documents confiscated, the paper reported.
Chu was a member of the last directly elected District Council, which saw a landslide victory for pro-democracy candidates amid record turnout that was widely seen as a ringing public endorsement of the 2019 protest movement.
He resigned his seat along with many like-minded colleagues amid an ongoing crackdown on dissent under a national security law imposed on the city by Beijing from July 2020.
'Patriots' only
The government later changed the Legislative Council electoral rules to ensure only "patriots" loyal to Beijing could stand as candidates or hold any kind of public office, prompting record-low turnout of 30.2% in Legislative Council elections in December 2021 compared with more than 70% in the last District Council poll.
Officials then rewrote the District Council poll rules in May, citing a "disastrous" result in the 2019 election, sparking calls from overseas activists for a boycott of the forthcoming poll on Dec. 10.
"Abandon illusions, boycott this fake election," read an Oct. 16 statement on Facebook signed by dozens of former pro-democracy councilors.
"We, the last district councilors to be elected by the citizens of Hong Kong, solemnly declare that we will not recognize these so-called elections run by the Communist regime of Hong Kong, and call on all citizens of Hong Kong to boycott the election and the councilors it produces," the statement said.
It said candidates wishing to take part have to run a complex gamut of vetting from support for nomination to a slew of official recommendation letters to political background checks, "all of which runs counter to the democratic spirit," warning that anyone who makes it to the list of candidates is "purely a permitted cheerleader for the regime."
It said the government also looks set to use the "election" as an opportunity to engage in "the political brainwashing of minors."
"This so-called election will actually take place under military totalitarian rule, and can have no fairness or legitimacy," the councilors wrote.
Australia-based former pro-democracy lawmaker Ted Hui, who signed the statement, said the forthcoming poll is a "huge step backwards for democracy" in Hong Kong.
"Most of the seats will be controlled by the government," Hui said. "We believe that it would be best for citizens to totally refuse to take part, to boycott [the election]."
'Huge step backwards'
Some parties in the democratic camp have said they will field candidates, though it remains to be seen if their bid for candidacy will be accepted.
The Democratic Party has said it hopes to field six candidates, and the Association of Democracy and People's Livelihood wants to field two.
But Hui said this could send a dangerous signal about complicity with the authorities, who have told opposition parties to give up any hope of “Western-style democracy” in the city.
"One or two [pro-democracy candidates] might pass the test and get nominated, but this will do great harm, because it shows the people of Hong Kong that they agree with this huge step backwards for democracy," he said.
Former district councilor Sam Yip, who also signed the statement, said it was naive of pro-democracy parties to imagine it was worth contesting such elections.
"It helps to whitewash these elections, which are illegal, unfair and inconsistent with the whole concept of democracy," Yip said. "Their actions are actually ruining democracy."
'A screening process'
Secretary for Home and Youth Affairs Alice Mak, asked if the government is expecting turnout to fall in this year's poll, said it wasn't the most important thing.
"We should not just look at the turnout in District Council elections, [which can be] affected by many factors, such as the weather, including whether it rains that day, whether there is a typhoon in the summer, and whether the weather will be too cold," Mak said.
"The most important thing is how to find patriots who sincerely serve the community and citizens through the electoral system," she said.
Former Hong Kong Island Eastern District councilor Derek Ngai, who also resigned to avoid taking his oath, said democrats faced with the oath of loyalty requirement feared being required to pay back two years of salary if their oaths were rejected.
"If we hadn't resigned, we could have wound up getting disqualified, which ... could mean serious consequences like being asked to pay back your salary," Ngai told Radio Free Asia on Wednesday.
He said the new election rules will slash the proportion of directly elected seats on the council from 100% to just 20%, with a much more grueling set of vetting processes and bureaucratic hoops for prospective candidates to jump through than in the past.
"We expected the Hong Kong government to take back control of the council, but they have set a lot of hurdles on the remaining 20% [of directly elected] seats."
"It doesn't feel like an election so much as a screening process packaged as an election," Ngai said.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention
- Rights Concerned
- Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Nov 26, 2023
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Oct 18, 2023
- Event Description
A court in Hong Kong on Wednesday handed down a four-year jail term for “rioting” to a protester who was shot in the chest by police during the 2019 protest movement.
Tsang Chi-kin, who was 18 when he was shot by an officer on Oct. 1, 2019, during protests on the 70th anniversary of Chinese Communist Party rule, was given a 40-month jail sentence for "rioting" and a seven-month sentence for "assaulting a police officer."
Tsang, now 22, was also handed an 11-month sentence for "perverting the course of justice," but also received a 35% sentence deduction for expressing remorse, and for actively assisting the police in their investigations, Deputy District Judge Ada Yim told the district court.
Multiple media reports and social media accounts posted video showing protesters flailing at armed riot police with batons and sticks during clashes in the New Territories town of Tsuen Wan.
The officer is shown in the video pointing a handgun at Tsang, a secondary school student at the time, before a shot rings out and the boy slumps to the ground.
Social media posts from the scene on Tsuen Wan's Hau Tei Square said Tsang shouted out: "My chest hurts a lot," adding his full name and identity card number before being taken away by ambulance.
The shooting sparked widespread condemnation of the police and their handling of the months-long protest movement, in which predominantly young people thronged the streets and occupied the city's legislature and airport in a bid to end the erosion of their promised freedoms under Chinese rule.
Sought asylum
Tsang went into hiding for two years after a failed bid to seek asylum at the U.S. Consulate in Hong Kong. He told journalists that his rejected attempt had plunged him "into hell," prompting him to hide from the authorities.
He later pleaded guilty to all charges, citing depression and health problems from the gunshot injury, but Judge Yim said this wasn't taken as a mitigating factor.
"Tsang Chi-kin came well-prepared with a homemade shield and a metal baton," Yim told the sentencing hearing. "He and other demonstrators pursued a lone police officer and relied on the strength of their numbers to use violence, which was of a vile nature."
Tsang, who skipped bail following his initial arrest, told the court that he was "extremely confused" by the prevailing political atmosphere in 2019, and had made "wrong decisions" that he later came to regret.
He also cited his "active cooperation" and testimony as a witness for the prosecution.
However, Yim said the protesters' actions were premeditated, and that demonstrators in the area had thrown petrol bombs, bricks and committed arson, risking injury to police and passers-by.
She said the sentence had to act as a deterrent, and show the court's determination to safeguard public order.
Silent protest
As Tsang received his sentence, the city's police force was out on the streets and on university campuses trying to recruit new officers, sparking a silent protest from a student at a university in Shatin.
Police recruiters faced off on the campus of Hang Seng University with a student who held up a placard scrawled with the words: "Where were you on July 21, 2019?" in a reference to a delayed police response to mob attacks on protesters and train passengers at Yuen Long MTR station.
The city’s police force, which quashed a critical report from an international panel of experts on its handling of the 2019 protests, has struggled in recent years to find fresh recruits.
Despite being allocated huge amounts of fresh funding in the wake of the 2019 protest movement, the force has been struggling to fill its additional vacancies, thousands of which have been filled by allowing officers to work past the usual retirement age of 55.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender, Student
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Nov 24, 2023
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Oct 17, 2023
- Event Description
Former political prisoner beaten for posting video of government staff refusing license registration
Former Tibetan political prisoner and language rights activist Tashi Wangchuk was detained and beaten by Chinese police personnel on 17 October after he posted a video of government staff refusing his request for business license registration.
Tashi Wangchuk opened a car wash shop on 17 October in Yushu City, and upon the local police’s instruction, went to the Yushu City People's Government to apply for a license for his new business. His request was refused, which he filmed and later posted as status on his WeChat account.
He was then arrested by the Urban Management and Law Enforcement Bureau ( 城管执法大队 ) and handed over to the Yushu City Public Security Bureau ( PSB ), where he was kept under detention for three days and subjected to interrogation. The head of Yushu PSB and the Vice Mayor, Zhi Husai ( 冶胡赛 ), brutally beat him, and Tashi’s shop was also forcibly shut down.
He was told that he had committed a crime against the state by posting the video on his WeChat. " But I can’t accept it because it’s my right and freedom of speech. I don’t know why they [the police] again put such a black-hat on my head ( meaning falsely accusing someone of wrongdoing ).”
Earning a livelihood remains increasingly difficult for former political prisoners who are also deprived of their political rights. Even after their release from prison, they are subjected to constant surveillance and harassment by security officials.
Tashi Wangchuk is a herder-turned-shopkeeper who came to international prominence in late 2015 after appearing in the New York Times’ article and documentary about his solo advocacy to file a lawsuit against local authorities after local Tibetan classes were shut down. Even after serving a five-year sentence, he still continues advocating for the Tibetan language at government offices and monitoring schools that are replacing Tibetan textbooks in favor of Chinese. A month ago, he was attacked by a group of unidentified, masked men after he posted a video of himself near a Tibetan school.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Online, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Minority rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Nov 24, 2023
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Oct 12, 2023
- Event Description
A mainland Chinese student was imprisoned in Hong Kong for six months for “sedition” charges. Authorities recently released her on October 12th, when the Hong Kong government deported her to mainland China.
SEDITION 23-year-old Zeng Yuxuan was originally a PhD student studying law at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. Zeng Yuxuan is the first mainland Chinese student to be imprisoned in Hong Kong over a sedition charge.
On January 1st this year, Zeng was accused of displaying a sketch of ‘The July 1 stabbing Incident’ suspect Leung Kin-fai outside the Sogo department store in Causeway Bay, Hong Kong. Police charged her with ‘committing acts with seditious intent’ for placing candles and flowers on the ground in mourning.
ARRESTED AGAIN After being granted bail, Zeng Yuxuan was arrested again on the eve of this year’s “June 4th.” She intended to unveil a giant banner featuring the “Pillar of Shame.” However, before the event, she was arrested and charged with “attempting to do an act with seditious intent.” The West Kowloon Magistrates’ Court sentenced her to six months.
PILLAR OF SHAME The “Pillar of Shame” depicts several twisted and tragic figures, symbolizing the casualties of the 1989 Tiananmen Square bloody crackdown. This copper statue was removed in 2021. Traditionally, the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements in China would send people yearly to clean the “Pillar of Shame” on the eve of the June 4th massacre. The leadership of the alliance was arrested in 2021 as well.
Ms. Tonyee Chow Hang-tung, a jailed Hong Kong pro-democracy activist and former leader of the Alliance said, “When the court says that displaying the Pillar of Shame is a crime, it is nailing itself on the pillar of shame.”
ZENG YUXUAN’S ACTIVISM Zeng Yuxuan once expressed her wish to “make a little change” for Hong Kong, claiming that “it’s our duty” to participate in the protests. She also held up white papers at Victoria Park in Hong Kong, in response to the “White Paper Movement/A4 Revolution” launched in Mainland China in opposition to the COVID-19 lockdowns.
On October 12, Zeng Yuxuan was released after serving her sentence, and the Hong Kong government deported her to China declaring her “persona non grata.”
HONG KONG WATCH The London-based human rights organization “Hong Kong Watch” expressed deep concern about Ms. Zeng’s circumstances upon her arrival in mainland China.
Hong Kong Watch’s statement indicates that the expulsion of Zeng Yuxuan reflects Beijing’s increasing control over Hong Kong. With Hong Kong’s judicial independence steadily declining, Hong Kong authorities are seen as following Beijing’s demands to execute their political agenda, with little regard for the rule of law. The rule of law and judicial independence in Hong Kong are deteriorating.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment, Deportation
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of movement, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender, Student
- Perpetrator-State
- Government
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Related Events
- China: defender sentenced in Hong Kong
- Date added
- Nov 24, 2023
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Oct 25, 2023
- Event Description
Li Yuhan, the Chinese human rights lawyer who won the 2020 Franco-German Prize for Human Rights and the Rule of Law, has been sentenced to six and a half years in prison. Detained six years ago, she was charged with “picking quarrels and provoking trouble.”
Li, who was tried in 2021, was sentenced on Oct. 25 in the First Courtroom of Heping District Court in the Liaoning Province city of Shenyang. She will receive credit for her time in detention and has filed to appeal the sentence.
She represented Chinese rights lawyer Wang Yu during the "709 Crackdown" in 2015, when China launched a sweeping crackdown on more than 300 lawyers and human rights defenders.
The ailing Li Yuhan, 74, has been detained at the Shenyang No. 1 Detention Center since her arrest on Oct. 9, 2017. Authorities added a third charge against her, fraud in 2018, and canceled her trial repeatedly without explanation.
Human rights officials from Germany, France, the European Union, the United States, the United Kingdom and other countries had hoped to observe the trial but were unable to as authorities packed the room with selected spectators.
Li Yuhan's younger brother, Li Yongsheng, told VOA Mandarin, "In this so-called open trial, except for me, a family member, everyone else was kept away by the government. The Heping District Court treated this ordinary criminal case like that of a formidable enemy. They surrounded the court with iron fences and deployed many undercover police and auxiliary police."
Wang, Li’s onetime client, told VOA Mandarin that Shenyang Heping District Court violated international norms against illegal detention and went against China's Criminal Procedure Law, which mandates issuance of a verdict within five years.
Paul Mooney, an American human rights advocate and former Reuters journalist, said, "The sole 'crime' of lawyer Li Yuhan is her courage in handling highly sensitive cases related to religious freedom, including Falun Gong and house churches, and her defense of the distinguished human rights lawyer Wang Yu.
“Detaining a human rights lawyer like Li Yuhan arbitrarily for over six years without a verdict not only violates Chinese law but also underscores the Chinese Communist Party's lack of confidence and a concerning trend of increasing political repression."
Li's son, Ma Wenting, who lives in Germany, told VOA Mandarin, "She has coronary heart disease and arrhythmia. She has undergone coronary artery bypass grafting and stent surgery. … My mother suffered multiple heart attacks in prison. Our family applied for medical parole three times but were all rejected."
Teng Biao, a prominent human rights lawyer in China who has lived in the U.S. since 2014, said in a phone interview on Oct. 25, "Li Yuhan is over 70 years old and seriously ill and has been detained for more than six years. The refusal of her medical parole is not only a violation of legal procedures but also a violation of humanity."
Li Yongsheng told VOA Mandarin that his sister had questioned the Shenyang Heping District Court's jurisdiction since the beginning of the trial, as she did not have a registered address in the district, and she wasn’t arrested there.
"This is an illegal trial. In addition, the testimony and evidence from the prosecutor's office cannot prove my sister is guilty at all," he said. "The defense lawyer He Wei's defense is very good. It is a pity that the power of judgment lies in the hands of the authorities, and the court still pronounced my sister guilty. We will have to continue to appeal and complain that the authorities violated the law."
Teng said, "The heart of the Li Yuhan case lies in the blatant disregard for the law and proper procedures by the authorities. Her arrest and charge of 'picking quarrels and provoking trouble' are clearly retaliatory actions against her human rights activities. The primary and direct motive for this retaliation is her involvement in the case of Wang Yu, the first lawyer arrested in the Chinese Communist Party's 709 crackdown. Additionally, Li Yuhan has a long history of petitioning and human rights work. This clearly indicates that the authorities are targeting her."
Ma told VOA Mandarin, "Although the sentence of six years and six months is relatively severe, compared with the previous indefinite extended detention, our family can see more hope. ... I hope my seriously ill mother can be released from prison as soon as possible and receive medical treatment. I also hope the prison will guarantee my mother's basic human rights and the right to see a doctor."
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Denial Fair Trial, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Right to fair trial, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Lawyer, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Related Events
- China: prominent WHRD and lawyer stands trial after 4-year pre-trial detention among irregularities (Update)
- Date added
- Nov 24, 2023
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Oct 29, 2023
- Event Description
Hui Muslim poet Cui Haoxin, formerly a vocal critic of Beijing's treatment of Uyghurs and Hui Muslims, has been severely beaten by an unidentified man after lying low for nearly three years, according to an associate and an account of the attack posted to his personal blog.
The reports emerged after Cui, who lives in Shandong and goes by the pen name An Ran, disappeared from social media for nearly three years after being warned off speaking out publicly or talking to journalists – on pain of a prison sentence, Radio Free Asia has learned.
Cui was attacked by the man at around 4.00 p.m. local time on Oct. 29 after he went downstairs to pick up a parcel near the gates of his residential compound, a person familiar with the matter who asked not to be named for fear of reprisals told RFA Mandarin.
"This man, whom An Ran had never seen before, was waiting for him on a motorbike near the shelves in his residential community," the person said.
"He didn't say anything but shoved An Ran to one side and started shuffling through all of the packages ... then he asked if he could move over [so An Ran could look for his package], and the guy immediately started yelling and cursing at him," they said.
According to Cui's blog post, the man then knocked him to the ground and started beating him.
"He was hitting so fast and so hard that I couldn't fight back – I just tried to block the blows," he said. "The punches hit home, and now my temples, eyes and the back of my head are swollen and painful."
Cui, 44, tried to get up after his attacker fell over, but the man started beating him again "knocking me to the ground, and not stopping until he was tired," he wrote, adding that his eyesight is now "significantly reduced."
Critical posts
The attack came nearly three years after Cui was held in criminal detention by police in January 2020 for "picking quarrels and stirring up trouble" after he made posts to Twitter criticizing China’s treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang.
Cui dropped off the radar of the overseas media and international activists after that, and made no more posts to his former social media accounts.
A friend of his told Radio Free Asia on Nov. 1 that he was actually released on "bail, pending trial" on Feb. 21, 2020, and warned off posting anything to social media or talking to foreign journalists.
"An Ran's father came to take him home, and from that point on, they lived in a situation where they were continually followed, warned and intimidated by the police," she said.
"The state security police warned his family that he would be sent to prison if he gave interviews to foreign journalists," the friend said. "That would have left An Ran's parents without anyone to take care of them, so An Ran said nothing for three years, not even a comment or a picture."
"He was depressed and almost at the point of mental collapse when he got out [from detention]," the friend said.
‘Big prison’
U.S.-based activist Sulaiman Gu said the blog post is the first news anyone has had from Cui in three years.
"An Ran really did disappear completely over the past three years," he said. "Nobody knew what had happened to him."
"All I know is that he had been warned many times and held for short periods of time prior to his detention [in 2021], and tricked into going for 'red' education in Jinggangshan," Gu said.
"He was in great danger at that time, but then he was released into the big prison," he said, referring to the tight surveillance and restrictions that are frequently imposed by Chinese police on former political prisoners long after their release from detention or prison.
"At least he's not in the small prison," Gu said.
Prior to his detention Cui was an outspoken critic of China's mass incarceration of Uyghurs and other Muslims in the northwestern region of Xinjiang, where authorities have placed as many as 1.8 million people accused of harboring “strong religious views” and “politically incorrect” ideas in a network of internment camps since April 2017.
He had also been detained and questioned by state security police in 2018 over critical tweets, and warned not to use overseas social media or to become a "tool" of hostile foreign forces.
In April 2018, Cui was sent on a week-long ideological "re-education" course in eastern China and was briefly detained in connection with his poetry and other writings that reference Xinjiang.
In one article published at the time, Cui describes Xinjiang as having left a "planet-sized impression" on him.
"Xinjiang, that massive presence that defies expression, left a planet-sized impression on me that is ineradicable," Cui wrote in an article that also referenced the Syrian conflict and the Arab Spring.
"This is a land of poetry and song ... when I headed out west to the Central Asian city of Kashgar, no sooner had I arrived than I made straight for the tomb of an ancient poet, and raised my hands in prayer for him beside the dusty tomb swathed in green silk."
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Minority rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Unknown
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Unknown
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Nov 19, 2023
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Sep 22, 2023
- Event Description
A Chinese journalist who popularised the country’s stalled #MeToo movement and a labour activist were due to face trial Friday, with supporters voicing concerns for their health after two years in detention.
Sophia Huang Xueqin and Wang Jianbing were arrested on 19 September 2021, under the broad charge of “inciting subversion of state power” — but their trial in the southern city of Guangzhou was only announced this week, according to their supporters.
Calls to the court where they were expected to appear went unanswered.
The case shows how “the Chinese government has to a large extent eliminated the space for civil society activism”, Yaqiu Wang, China research director at Freedom House, told AFP.
“Authorities have arrested and silenced so many people, by this point, people can be thrown in jail for any perceived infraction of what is permitted, and the space for what is permitted is constantly shrinking.”
Authorities have not given details on Huang and Wang’s arrests.
The two were involved in running a weekly gathering in Guangzhou, a member of a group of supporters told AFP.
With “the whole of civil society fragmented, this was a way to reunite and reconnect, to foster a new network in Guangzhou”, they told AFP.
Police subsequently cracked down on the group, questioning over 70 people and detaining some over the course of several days, they said.
“There was so much PTSD after this attack (on the group)… Some activists had to leave Guangzhou, and (the community) is just not able to join together or connect anymore,” they added.
Huang and Wang’s trial is being held behind closed doors, and it is not known when their sentence will be announced.
Health concerns Huang wrote on social media about her experience of workplace sexual harassment as a young journalist at a Chinese news agency, in the wake of the global #MeToo movement.
She had been arrested before, after returning from reporting on Hong Kong‘s enormous pro-democracy protests in 2019.
Supporters said that her health had deteriorated significantly in detention at that time.
In February, the group said she had stopped menstruating and had experienced dramatic weight loss, as well as bad back pain.
“Her self-appointed lawyer was forced to withdraw from the case and replaced by government-appointed lawyer(s), who has not communicated with Huang’s family and friends,” a statement said.
The group member told AFP they had no further updates on either Huang or Wang’s health.
Both activists have been cut off from outside information, they said, with the detention facility refusing to pass on requested books, and granting no access to families or friends.
The families of the pair had been visited by police again this week and told not to come to Guangzhou for the trial, they said.
On Thursday, 32 NGOs released a statement demanding the pair’s release.
“These baseless charges are motivated purely by the Chinese authorities’ relentless determination to crush critical voices,” said Sarah Brooks, Amnesty International’s Deputy Regional Director for China, in a Thursday statement.
“But activists in China refuse to be silenced despite the serious risks of raising their voices to address so-called ‘sensitive’ issues.”
The member of the supporters’ group who spoke to AFP said the pair had understood the risks.
“You want to make social change, you commit to social justice, you commit to the outcome,” they said.
“As a very close friend of theirs, I know they don’t regret what they’re doing.”
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Denial Fair Trial, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Access to justice, Right to fair trial, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Labour rights defender, Media Worker, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Related Events
- China: HRDs held incommunicado
- Date added
- Oct 6, 2023
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Sep 12, 2023
- Event Description
Zeng Yuxuan, a doctoral student from mainland China found in possession of posters depicting the "Pillar of Shame" sculpture commemorating the Tiananmen massacre, was recently handed a six-month jail term under colonial-era sedition laws.
Zeng's Sept. 12 sentencing came after she was convicted of conspiring with U.S.-based democracy activist Zhou Fengsuo to "commit acts with seditious intent" ahead of the June 4 massacre anniversary, and has sent shockwaves through the growing community of mainland Chinese who have made Hong Kong their home.
Zeng is the first mainland Chinese person to be convicted of sedition under an ongoing crackdown on public dissent that has seen senior journalists, pro-democracy media magnate Jimmy Lai and 47 former lawmakers and democracy activists charged with offenses from "collusion with a foreign power" to "subversion."
Since the 2019 protest movement, police have made more than 1,000 arrests under a draconian national security law, with thousands of protest movement supporters also targeted under colonial-era public order and sedition laws.
Like many defendants keen to avoid months or even years of pretrial detention with no bail, Zeng pleaded guilty to "attempting to commit or preparing to commit one or more acts with seditious intent."
Before her arrest, Zeng had taken part in the "white paper" protests against the stringent restrictions of the zero-COVID policy in November 2022.
But the action that prompted her prosecution by the Hong Kong authorities was her public commemoration of the death of Leung Kin-fai, who committed suicide after non-fatally stabbing a police officer outside the Sogo Department Store on July 1, 2021 in an attack described as "terrorism" by police at the time.
Not the only one
Zeng isn't the only person to be prosecuted for supporting Leung in public.
On Sept. 11, four former University of Hong Kong students pleaded guilty to "incitement to wound with intent" after they publicly praised Leung's action, according to Hong Kong court reporting service The Witness. They had earlier been accused of "glorifying terrorism," but the terrorism-related charges were dropped.
Kinson Cheung, Charles Kwok, Chris Todorovski and Anthony Yung, who are aged between 21 and 22, were arrested in 2021 after they took part in a student union meeting that passed a motion of sympathy for Leung, a move that was denounced in the pro-China press and by then leader Carrie Lam.
Zeng was released on bail following her January arrest, but then rearrested on June 1 after she was found carrying the "Pillar of Shame" posters.
In an interview recorded before her second arrest, Zeng told Radio Free Asia that she was inspired by her first glimpse of the 2019 protests, which came when her law lecturer at a mainland Chinese university used a VPN to circumvent the Great Firewall of government censorship and show the class live footage of protesters occupying Hong Kong's Legislative Council chamber on July 1, 2019.
She later applied to study in Hong Kong, and started keeping up with political developments there, as well as doing some in-depth reading on overseas websites about the 1989 Tiananmen massacre that ended weeks of student-led democracy protests in Beijing and other major cities.
"The outcome was tragic, but there was something quite glorious about the fact that this has now entered into the collective memory of our generation, of several generations -- it's a shared memory," Zeng said.
Zeng arrived in Hong Kong as Peng Lifa was staging his explosive banner protest on Beijing's Sitong Bridge, ahead of the party congress.
Zeng eagerly embraced the "white paper" movement that followed, she said, adding that she felt a "duty" to protest.
"It feels like most people in mainland China don’t actually care about [politics or social justice]," she said. "But I still think it's my duty — it's everyone's duty."
Fearless at her trial
Mainlanders turned out in Hong Kong's Central business district, the working class district of Mong Kok and on the campus of the Chinese University of Hong Kong to hold up blank sheets of A4 in solidarity with "white paper" protesters in mainland Chinese cities.
Yet many had their ID cards photographed by police, leading to fears that their participation could lead to repercussions for loved ones back home.
By New Year's Day 2023, Zeng had been arrested for taking part in a public commemoration of Leung Kin-fai, and the police in China were already in touch with her parents.
"My feeling is that my parents and I are individuals, and independent of each other," Zeng said. "If they target my parents, then the responsibility falls on them, not on my parents."
A fellow Hong Kong-based mainlander who gave only the nickname Sandy for fear of reprisals, said Zeng had seemed fearless at her trial, appearing in a sweatshirt with a Winnie-the-Pooh motif, in an apparent sideswipe at ruling Chinese Communist Party leader Xi Jinping, who is said to resemble the fictional bear.
"A lot of our friends and classmates in mainland China lack the courage to stand up, but they are grateful to those who do," Sandy said. "It's also heartbreaking, because she didn't have to do this."
Another mainlander who once met Zeng as a student in Hong Kong said Zeng's actions had tested the government's vaguely defined "red lines" under the national security crackdown, and that she admires her bravery.
She believes Zeng's sentence was handed down to act as a warning to other mainlanders in Hong Kong who might sympathize with the pro-democracy movement.
"[It's now clear that] the national security law and the [attempted] police assassination attempt are off-limits," the woman, who gave only the nickname Lily for fear of reprisals, said, adding that the space inside the government’s "red lines" appears to be narrowing all the time.
"It's pretty scary whether you're a Hong Konger or a mainlander," Lily said. "I didn't think it would give rise to so many criminal charges."
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender, Student
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Oct 5, 2023
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Sep 3, 2023
- Event Description
Chinese rights attorney Lu Siwei has been repatriated to China after being arrested in Laos en route to join his family in the United States, in another example of transnational law enforcement by Beijing, rights activists said on Thursday, citing Lu's lawyer.
A senior official in Laos' Ministry of Public Security in charge of the case told Lu's Laos-based lawyer in a phone call on Thursday that his client was sent back to China last week along with dozens of other Chinese nationals, Bob Fu, president of the U.S.-based Christian rights group ChinaAid told Radio Free Asia.
The news -- which was also posted to X by Tokyo-based human rights activist Patrick Poon -- emerges amid growing international criticism of China's "long-arm" law enforcement and pursuit of dissidents overseas.
"Sadly, Chinese human rights lawyer #LuSiwei was deported back to China, according to his lawyer in Laos," Poon wrote, adding: "We should continue to put pressure on China, calling for his release."
According to an official notification dated Sept. 11 issued by the Chinese Embassy in Laos to the Lao Ministry of Public Security, Lu was "approved for criminal detention" by police in the southwestern Chinese province of Sichuan on Sept. 3, on suspicion of "illegally crossing a border."
The document, a copy of which was circulating on social media in recent days but which has now been proven likely genuine, informed the Lao authorities that the Ministry of Public Security of the People's Republic of China "requires that the suspect Lu Siwei be transferred to China, to be brought to justice as soon as possible."
It suggests that Lu was already in China when activists in Tokyo, including Poon, were demonstrating for his release outside the Lao Embassy in Tokyo on Wednesday.
Torture concerns
Fu said he was "shocked and disappointed" at the move, which he described as a violation of international law.
"The communist government in Laos has grossly ignored its legal obligations under international human rights [treaties] and violated international law under the Convention against Torture," Fu said.
"By deporting one of the most persuasive and well-known human rights lawyers of all time, Lu Siwei, it has set a terrible precedent," he said. "Every drop of his blood he sheds will be on the hands of the Laos and Chinese Communist regimes."
Lu, a prominent rights advocate who lost his law license after speaking out about the cases of 12 Hong Kong activists detained by the Chinese coast guard after the 2019 protest movement, was arrested in Vientiane in late July as he boarded a train for Thailand en route to the United States, where he planned to join his family.
Lu had been under surveillance in China since his attorney’s license was revoked in 2021, with a camera installed at the door of his home. He had also been barred from leaving China.
Lu's wife Zhang Chunxiao told Radio Free Asia in an interview on Tuesday that she fears for her husband's safety and well-being.
"The thing I feared was suddenly right there in front of me," she said, commenting on being told that the police document seen on social media was genuine. "Before that, it just had a vague existence [in my mind], but then I saw all at once, saw clearly that this was real."
She said Lu will be sent to prison once back in China, and "probably tortured," and the couple's daughter may not see her father again for eight, possibly 10 years.
Last month, it was confirmed that free-speech activist Qiao Xinxin, who was reported missing in Vientiane amid reports of a cross-border arrest by Chinese police, is being held in a detention center in the central Chinese province of Hunan, according to overseas activists familiar with the matter.
Qiao, whose birth name is Yang Zewei, went missing, believed detained on or around May 31 in Vientiane, after launching an online campaign to end internet censorship in China known as the BanGFW Movement, a reference to the Great Firewall, according to fellow activists.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Deportation, Judicial Harassment, Transnational repression
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of movement, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Lawyer, Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Related Events
- Lao PDR: Chinese lawyer arrested by the police
- Date added
- Oct 2, 2023
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Aug 31, 2023
- Event Description
A Chinese court on Thursday handed down a four-and-a-half-year jail term to an outspoken economics professor who had estimated the high personnel costs of the Chinese government, finding him guilty of “incitement to subvert state power,” according to rights website.
The Guiyang Intermediate People's Court handed down the sentence to former Guizhou University professor Yang Shaozheng in a trial behind closed doors on July 29, a post on the Weiquanwang rights website said.
"Yang Shaozheng expressed dissatisfaction with the judgment in court and filed an appeal," the group said. "The reason for the appeal was that this was an illegal trial."
Yang's appeal argued that members of the Chinese Communist Party had presided over the case from start to finish, including the investigation, the prosecution and the trial itself.
"The actions he was charged with fell under freedom of speech and expression, and to criminalize a citizen for exercising those rights was a violation of the constitutional right to freedom of expression," the report paraphrased Yang's appeal as saying.
A key member of Yang's defense team, Zhang Lei, declined to comment when contacted by Radio Free Asia, indicating that he was under a lot of pressure from the authorities, while repeated calls to another member of his defense team rang unanswered on Thursday.
Cost to Chinese taxpayers
Yang, 53, lost his job at Guizhou University’s Institute of Economics in November 2017, on the orders of someone "higher up" the government hierarchy, and was subsequently investigated by police amid a purge of outspoken academics and the adoption of President Xi Jinping's personal brand of ideology across higher education.
Hunan-based dissident Chen Siming said an article in which Yang calculated that party and government personnel cost the Chinese taxpayer an estimated 20 trillion yuan (US$2.75 trillion) annually was likely the trigger for his arrest.
"These questions [he was asking] hit home," Chen said in an interview last month. "He was later expelled from Guizhou University, and then secretly arrested. During this period, lawyers and family members weren't allowed to meet with him."
Yang spent some time on the run in 2019 after being shackled to a chair and interrogated by state security police for eight hours, around the 30th anniversary of the 1989 Tiananmen massacre.
Just before that stint in detention, Yang had criticized a new wave of ideological training being launched in China's colleges and universities.
He was arrested in secret in May 2021 and placed under incommunicado detention for six months on suspicion of "incitement to subvert state power," before being formally arrested and prosecuted. He is currently being held in the Guiyang No. 1 Detention Center.
His lawyers filed an administrative complaint with the Guizhou provincial state prosecutor on March 3, alleging that state security police were trying to force a "confession" from Yang through torture, which caused him to lose consciousness several times and lose some 25 kilograms (55 pounds) in weight.
The complaint said the abuse took place during the six months he was held under "residential surveillance at a designated location," a type of incommunicado detention frequently used to target critics of the ruling Chinese Communist Party in "national security" cases.
A Guizhou-based lecturer who gave only the surname Yu said Yang, whom she counts as a friend, is a "rare" person in today's China.
"I think Yang Shaozheng knows very well what he was bringing down on his own head when he spoke out like that, but he did it anyway," Yu told Radio Free Asia in a recent interview. "He is a politically brave person, which is a rare thing in our society."
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Denial Fair Trial, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Online, Right to fair trial, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Academic
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Sep 14, 2023
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Aug 22, 2023
- Event Description
Chinese political commentator Zhou Yuanzhi, 62, was detained again on 22 August 2023 under undisclosed accusations, only 16 months after his release following a four-year long detention on trumped-up charges. His recent arrest is reportedly related to his comments on the authorities’ handling of recent flooding in Hebei province, in the east of the country, and the detention of another political commentator critical of the regime, Qin Yongmin.
“Zhou Yuanzhi was only serving the public interest by commenting on the country’s political issues. He should never have been detained. We urge the international community to build up pressure on the Chinese authorities to secure Zhou’s release alongside all other journalists and press freedom defenders detained in the country." Cédric Alviani RSF Asia-Pacific Bureau Director
For decades, Zhou has been commenting on corruption and pressing social issues under several pen names in overseas Chinese-language media outlets, including The Epoch Times, a american-registered media outlet close to persecuted religious movement Falun Gong.
Zhou was detained from November 2017 to May 2022 after being convicted of “unlawful assembly”, “defamation”, and “picking quarrels and provoking trouble”, blurry charges which are frequently used as a weapon against journalists. He was also briefly detained in May 2008 during the crackdown on civil society in the leadup to the Beijing Summer Olympics.
Since Chinese leader Xi Jinping took power in 2012, he has been conducting a large-scale crusade against journalism, as revealed in RSF’s report published in December 2021 The Great Leap Backwards of Journalism in China, which details Beijing’s efforts to control information and media within and outside its borders.
China ranks 179th out of 180 in the 2023 RSF World Press Freedom Index and is the world's largest captor of journalists and press freedom defenders with at least 115 detained.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Online, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Sep 13, 2023
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Aug 22, 2023
- Event Description
Chinese government censors have shut down key LGBTQ+ social media accounts in a further crackdown on sexual minorities.
Public accounts for the Beijing Lala Salon, Wandouhuang, Transtory, Outstanding Partners, Ace and the Flying Cat Brotherhood were shuttered on the eve of Chinese Valentine's Day on Aug. 22, veteran activist Li Tingting said.
"Such accounts have been targeted once before two or three years ago," said Li, who is better known in feminist circles as Li Maizi. "The government departments in charge of internet management have always targeted accounts linked to sexual minorities, which aren't encouraged by the Chinese government."
She said not all of the accounts were linked to LGBTQ+ groups – some were more broadly feminist.
The move comes after Chinese officials removed an LGBTQ+ anthem titled "Rainbow" by Taiwanese pop star A-Mei from her setlist from a concert earlier this month in Beijing, while security guards forced fans turning up for the gig to remove clothing and other paraphernalia bearing the rainbow symbol before going in, according to media reports.
Sherry Zhang, who goes by the stage name A-Mei, wrote the song for all of her lesbian, gay, bisexual, transexual and questioning friends, and it is frequently heard at Pride events in Taiwan. Her fans among the LGBTQ+ community often turn up and wave rainbow flags or wear rainbow clothing in a show of solidarity, confident that the song will make an appearance.
Li, who was among five Chinese feminists detained ahead of International Women's Day in 2016 for planning a campaign against sexual harassment on public transport, added: "The accounts targeted included the Beijing queer women's center Lala Salon, Wandouhuang, which is a feminist platform."
Advocacy and Promotion
She said the Flying Cat Brotherhood was a gay men's group, while censors had also targeted the transgender account Transtory and Ace, a group representing asexuals.
The Wandouhuang artists' group was set up by Toni, Mengxia and Xiao Lufei, who all graduated from the Maryland Institute of Art in 2019, according to a bio that was still visible online on Wednesday.
Beijing Lala Salon was set up in November 2004 as a non-government organization offering social activities for lesbians, to advocate for LGBTQ+ rights and to promote lesbian culture.
Chinese government censors have shut down key LGBTQ+ social media accounts in a further crackdown on sexual minorities.
Public accounts for the Beijing Lala Salon, Wandouhuang, Transtory, Outstanding Partners, Ace and the Flying Cat Brotherhood were shuttered on the eve of Chinese Valentine's Day on Aug. 22, veteran activist Li Tingting said.
"Such accounts have been targeted once before two or three years ago," said Li, who is better known in feminist circles as Li Maizi. "The government departments in charge of internet management have always targeted accounts linked to sexual minorities, which aren't encouraged by the Chinese government."
She said not all of the accounts were linked to LGBTQ+ groups – some were more broadly feminist.
The move comes after Chinese officials removed an LGBTQ+ anthem titled "Rainbow" by Taiwanese pop star A-Mei from her setlist from a concert earlier this month in Beijing, while security guards forced fans turning up for the gig to remove clothing and other paraphernalia bearing the rainbow symbol before going in, according to media reports.
Sherry Zhang, who goes by the stage name A-Mei, wrote the song for all of her lesbian, gay, bisexual, transexual and questioning friends, and it is frequently heard at Pride events in Taiwan. Her fans among the LGBTQ+ community often turn up and wave rainbow flags or wear rainbow clothing in a show of solidarity, confident that the song will make an appearance.
Li, who was among five Chinese feminists detained ahead of International Women's Day in 2016 for planning a campaign against sexual harassment on public transport, added: "The accounts targeted included the Beijing queer women's center Lala Salon, Wandouhuang, which is a feminist platform."
Advocacy and Promotion
She said the Flying Cat Brotherhood was a gay men's group, while censors had also targeted the transgender account Transtory and Ace, a group representing asexuals.
The Wandouhuang artists' group was set up by Toni, Mengxia and Xiao Lufei, who all graduated from the Maryland Institute of Art in 2019, according to a bio that was still visible online on Wednesday.
Beijing Lala Salon was set up in November 2004 as a non-government organization offering social activities for lesbians, to advocate for LGBTQ+ rights and to promote lesbian culture.
- Impact of Event
- 6
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment, Censorship, Online Attack and Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of association, Internet freedom, Freedom of expression Online
- HRD
- Artist, Community-based HRD, NGO, SOGI rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Government
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Sep 11, 2023
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Aug 19, 2023
- Event Description
The language advocate and former political prisoner Tashi Wangchuk was attacked on Saturday 19 August by a group of unidentified, masked men.
Free Tibet’s research partner Tibet Watch has established that Tashi Wangchuk travelled to Darlak County in eastern Tibet on the evening of 19 August with the aim of raising awareness about the disappearance of the Tibetan language from schools in favour of Chinese. He filmed a video near to Darlak County Nationality Middle School, which he posted on the Chinese social media platform Douyin before travelling to a hotel where he was hoping to stay.
At around 8pm, Tashi Wangchuk’s hotel room door was forced open and he was beaten and kicked by a group of men wearing masks for around 10 minutes. He believes he was followed to his hotel from the school.
Tashi Wangchuk begged the group to stop attacking him and called to the hotel owner to contact the police. Police arrived at his hotel room at around 9pm and took him to the police station for questioning, where Tashi Wangchuk stayed until around 11:30pm. During this meeting, police forced Tashi Wangchuk to erase photos and videos he had taken earlier that day from his phone.
After being rejected from the hotel he was staying and several other hotels, he instead went to Darlak County Hospital, where he asked the doctor to check his head. The doctor responded that the CT scanner was broken. Tashi Wangchuk spent the night on a stool on the first floor of the hospital, where he composed a detailed account of the day’s events, including his beating and what he referred to as “crime by gangs and illegal acts by government officials who break the law and cover for each other.”
Tashi Wangchuk, is from Kyegudo in Yulshul (Chinese: Yushu) Prefecture eastern Tibet. He came to international prominence after speaking to the New York Times in 2015 about his efforts to file a lawsuit against local authorities after local Tibetan classes were shut down. He also expressed fear for the future of Tibet’s language and culture. Tashi Wangchuk insisted on being named and identifiable in the New York Times’ article and video documentary, which were released in November 2015.
In January 2016, Tashi Wangchuk was arrested, held in a secret location and tortured. After spending two years in pre-trial detention, he was found guilty of “inciting separatism” and sentenced to five years in prison. For the duration of his detention and imprisonment, Tibet groups launched a global campaign, demanding that Tashi Wangchuk be released.
Following his release from prison in January 2021, Tashi Wangchuk has continued to advocate for authorities in Tibet to respect the Constitution of the People’s Republic of China, which provides for the teaching of what it calls “minority” languages, including Tibetan.
In January 2022, Tashi Wangchuk approached local government offices in Jyekundo to call for the preservation of the Tibetan language. This led to him being summoned for an interrogation session at the Public Security Bureau of Yushu. He has also travelled to other schools in occupied Tibet and collected textbooks showing the emphasis on Chinese-language instruction over Tibetan.
While Tashi Wangchuk carries out his peaceful language advocacy, authorities across occupied Tibet have imposed policies to marginalise or even eliminate the Tibetan language from the public sphere. This includes closing down Tibetan language schools and the Chinese government’s residential boarding schools policy, in which almost one million Tibetan children between the ages of four and 18 have been placed in boarding schools and pre-schools. In this environment, children have limited access to their families and are placed in a teaching environment that promotes the Chinese language and Chinese Communist Party-approved history over Tibetans’ own language and history. The policy has been criticised by the United Nations Committee on Economic Social and Cultural Rights, which in March 2023 urged China to abolish the residential school system.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment, Violence (physical), Wounds and Injuries
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Online, Right to health, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, Minority rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Corporation Corporation (others), Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Related Events
- China: China Jails Tibetan Language Activist For Five Years on __�Separatism___ Charges, China: Tibetan defender faces censorship, surveillance
- Date added
- Sep 8, 2023
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Apr 19, 2023
- Event Description
Chinese authorities should immediately release Lü Hua, founder and publisher of the independent news website Hubei Xinshidianwang (Hubei New Perspective Site), and respect media organizations’ right to report freely, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Tuesday.
On April 19, police arrested Lü in the city of Huanggang, in central Hubei province, according to reports in late July and mid-August by the Chinese-language human rights news website Weiquanwang and state-owned provincial newspaper Hubei Daily.
The Hubei Daily said that Lü and another suspect were arrested for allegedly extorting advertisers, their equipment was seized, and their bank accounts frozen. It said their case went to court on May 26 with the approval of the Huanggang City Procuratorate, or public prosecutor. The trial had not started as of Tuesday, August 22.
“Authorities in China’s Hubei province should ensure that publisher Lü Hua and all other members of the press can cover topics of public interest without fear that they will be arrested and face years in prison,” said Iris Hsu, CPJ’s China representative. “Arresting a journalist for reporting on alleged government wrongdoing is shameful, and Lü should be released at once.”
Hubei Xinshidianwang regularly reports on social issues. In early April, the outlet published an investigation, which was covered by other domestic media outlets, about a local official in eastern Hubei who allegedly used public money to build herself a luxurious bedroom in a government office building. The story has since been removed from the outlet’s website, which has not been updated since Lü’s arrest.
If convicted of extortion, Lü could face up to three years in prison; if the court rules that the journalist committed a “more serious” form of extortion, he could face up to 10 years, according to China’s Criminal Law.
CPJ’s calls to Hubei Xinshidianwang and messages to the Huanggang Public Security Bureau, the local police force, did not receive any replies.
At least 43 journalists were imprisoned in China at the time of CPJ’s December 1, 2022, prison census.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Online, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary, Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Sep 6, 2023
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Aug 23, 2023
- Event Description
Free Tibet has seen new videos, in which Gonmo Kyi, sister of imprisoned Tibetan businessman Dorjee Tashi, is seen lying on the floor of a hospital.
The videos, received by Tibet Watch on 25 August, show the appeal letter Gonmo took to Lhasa People’s Court on 23 August asking for a retrial of Dorjee Tashi’s case. Police personnel reacted with force, stopped her, dragged and beat her in front of the court. She was taken to Lhasa People’s Hospital afterwards but was refused admission, even as she lay vomiting on the cold floor.
This is the second time this month Gonmo has been beaten for seeking justice for her brother’s unjust verdict. Earlier this month, she went to Drapchi prison, where her brother is being held, hoping for a meeting. But her pleading was rejected and she was instead beaten, leaving her with injuries to her arms.
The recent police violence has left her in urgent need of medical treatment. Without any response from the hospital, however, she has now been taken to her home.
Dorjee Tashi has been in prison since his arrest in July 2008 and was sentenced to life imprisonment for “loan fraud”, a charge he and his family contested through a series of protests outside courts. While in detention he has been subjected to torture.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to health, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Related Events
- China: sister of Tibetan political prisoner apprehended, her whereabouts unknown (Update), China: sister of Tibetan political prisoner arrested, beaten (Update), China: sister of Tibetan political prisoner obstructed as she resumes protest (Update), China: Tibetan WHRD, her husband arrested once again
- Date added
- Sep 6, 2023
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Aug 8, 2023
- Event Description
Hong Kong police on Tuesday took the parents of U.S.-based democracy activist Anna Kwok for questioning, in the latest in a series of moves targeting the relatives of eight prominent overseas activists wanted under a draconian national security law, according to a London-based rights group.
"Today, the Hong Kong national security police detained the parents of US-based pro-democracy activist Anna Kwok ... for questioning over whether they had any contact with, or had sent money to, their daughter," Hong Kong Watch said in a statement on its website, citing local media reports.
Kwok, 26, is the executive director of the U.S.-based political lobby group, the Hong Kong Democracy Council, and is applying for political asylum in the United States.
She was among eight exiled activists listed as wanted by Hong Kong’s national security police, and is accused of "colluding with foreign forces" under the national security law, which bans criticism of the authorities.
Hong Kong leader John Lee has vowed to pursue the eight activists for the rest of their lives.
Kwok, who has a bounty of H.K.$1 million on her head, hadn't commented on her X account by 1000 GMT on Tuesday.
Her parents' questioning comes after similar police action against the family members of the other seven activists on a "wanted" list announced in early July, along with bounties on the head of each activist.
The moves come as the ruling Chinese Communist Party takes more direct control over national security policy in Hong Kong, which was once the domain of China's cabinet, the State Council.
Adopting PRC tactics
So far, police have targeted the relatives of former pro-democracy lawmakers Nathan Law and Dennis Kwok, U.S.-based businessman Elmer Yuen and U.K.-based veteran labor activist Christopher Mung, also known as Mung Siu-tat. Australia-based former lawmaker Ted Hui and U.K.-based activist Finn Lau are also on the wanted list.
“This is yet another outrageous escalation since the issuing of arrest warrants and bounties against the eight activists over a month ago," Hong Kong Watch policy and advocacy director Sam Goodman said in a statement. “It is increasingly clear the Hong Kong government is adopting the tactics of the security apparatus in mainland China which targets family members to silence criticism overseas."
“We emphasize that the Hong Kong National Security Law has no jurisdiction abroad, and governments must protect the rights and freedoms of activists in exile," he said.
The group called on the international community to treat China's claims that the national security law is applicable to anyone, anywhere in the world, as illegal.
"Hong Kong Watch calls for the protection of anyone who is threatened by the National Security Law abroad," it said.
Last week, police took away Elmer Yuen's ex-wife Yuen Stephanie Downs and their daughter Yuen Mi-shu and son Yuen Mi-man, the Ming Pao newspaper reported, while government broadcaster Radio Television Hong Kong cited police sources as saying Yuen's ex-wife, son and daughter had been hauled in for questioning.
Earlier this month, national security police raided the home of trade unionist Mung Siu-tat's brother, taking away him, his wife and son for questioning -- also on suspicion of "assisting fugitives to continue to engage in acts that endanger national security."
Police also took away the parents, brother and sister-in-law of exiled former pro-democracy lawmaker Dennis Kwok and questioned them on suspicion of the same offense, a few days after similar treatment was meted out to Nathan Law’s parents and brother.
No arrests were made, and all of the activists' family members were released after questioning.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats
- Rights Concerned
- Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Family of HRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Aug 22, 2023
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Aug 10, 2023
- Event Description
Hong Kong national security police on Thursday arrested 10 people for "collusion with foreign forces" and "inciting riot" over a now-defunct fund set up to help those targeted for involvement in the 2019 protest movement.
"The National Security Department of the Hong Kong Police Force today ... arrested four men and six women, aged between 26 and 43, in various districts for suspected 'conspiracy to collude with a foreign country or with external elements to endanger national security,' ... and inciting riot," the police said in a statement on the government's website.
"The arrested persons were suspected of conspiracy to collude with the 612 Humanitarian Relief Fund to receive donations from various overseas organizations to support people who have fled overseas or organizations which called for sanctions against Hong Kong," the statement said.
The arrests come after the arrests of Cardinal Joseph Zen and other trustees of the now-disbanded Fund prompted an international outcry in May 2022.
Police searched the arrestees' homes and offices with court warrants, seizing documents and electronic communication devices, it said, adding that the 10 are being held "for further enquiries."
"The possibility of further arrests is not ruled out," it said, warning the general public "not to defy" the national security law.
Hong Kong police typically don't name arrestees, but Reuters identified one of the 10 as pro-democracy activist Bobo Yip, who was photographed waving at journalists as she was taken away.
The London-based rights group Hong Kong Watch said the arrests were a "new low" in an ongoing crackdown on dissent under the national security law, which was imposed on the city by Beijing in the wake of the 2019 protests.
"Today’s arrests mark a new low in the deterioration of Hong Kong’s rights and freedoms," the group's research and policy advisor Anouk Wear said in a statement.
"It was already an overly broad and political interpretation of the law, including the National Security Law, to arrest and fine the trustees and secretary of the 612 Humanitarian Relief Fund last year," Wear said.
In May 2022, police arrested five former trustees of the fund – retired Catholic bishop and Cardinal Joseph Zen, ex-lawmakers Margaret Ng and Cyd Ho, Cantopop singer Denise Ho and cultural studies scholar Hui Po-keung – on suspicion of "conspiring to collude with foreign forces."
While they were never charged with the offense, the five were later found guilty of failing to register the fund – which offered financial, legal and psychological help to people arrested during the 2019 protest movement – and were each fined H.K.$4,000.
"The arrest of the 612 Humanitarian Relief Fund’s staff for alleged collusion and rioting is an absurd criminalization of providing legal and humanitarian aid," Wear said.
"This is an attempt by the Hong Kong government to rewrite history and frame all association with the protest movement as criminal, which is deeply damaging to rule of law and civil society."
Zen, whose passport had been confiscated following his arrest as a condition of his bail, was allowed to retrieve it to attend the funeral of Pope Benedict XVI in January, handing it back again on his return.
Zen was among six Hong Kongers nominated for the 2023 Nobel Peace Prize in February.
- Impact of Event
- 10
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of association, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Aug 22, 2023
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Jul 7, 2023
- Event Description
Free-speech activist Qiao Xinxin, who was reported missing in Vientiane in June amid reports of his arrest by Chinese police, is being held in a detention center in the central Chinese province of Hunan, according to overseas activists familiar with the matter.
Qiao, whose birth name is Yang Zewei, went missing, believed detained on or around May 31 in Vientiane, after launching an online campaign to end internet censorship in China, known as the BanGFW Movement, a reference to the Great Firewall, according to fellow activists.
Now, his family have been informed that he is being held in a juvenile detention center in Hunan's Hengyang city in another example of China’s cross-border law enforcement activities, Netherlands-based activist Lin Shengliang told Radio Free Asia.
"They issued legal documentation at 3.10 p.m. on July 7, saying where he was being held," Lin said. "But [his family] were unwilling to share the specific charge with me, perhaps because they felt it wasn't a good idea to speak out – they have a lot of fear and doubt."
Lin said it was unclear whether Qiao would get a visit from his family members, however.
"His parents want to go visit, but I told them the authorities wouldn't allow that," he said. "They may find a lawyer who could go and meet with him at the detention center."
200 Chinese police in Vientiane
Qiao had lived in Laos for several years before launching the BanGFW Movement, yet was believed to have been detained by Chinese police in Vientiane.
Canada-based Li Jianfeng, a former Chinese judge, told Radio Free Asia earlier this month that 200 Chinese police officers were billeted in a Vientiane hotel, amid growing concerns that rights lawyer Lu Siwei will also be repatriated to China after being detained by immigration police.
Lu's disappearance sparked international criticism amid ongoing concerns around the Chinese Communist Party's "long-arm" law enforcement operations, which have included running secret police "service stations" in dozens of countries, according to the Spain-based rights group Safeguard Defenders.
Lin said Qiao had clearly met with the same fate.
"This was 100% a cross-border arrest," he said. "Unfortunately it didn't receive enough attention from the international community to help."
"I think that [the international outcry over Lu Siwei] could have a helpful effect," Lin said.
U.S.-based rights lawyer Wang Qingpeng said Qiao's anti-censorship campaign was brave, and highly representative of public opinion in China.
"The Chinese won't have a safe, free and democratic place to live until more people stand up against tyranny," she said. "Like most ordinary people, [Qiao] really detests the Great Firewall, and had hoped to bring it down, so that the whole world would pay attention, and the Chinese people would know the truth."
"But anyone who tells the truth faces greater risks, whether at home or abroad, and particularly in Southeast Asian countries," Wang said.
Greater risks in Southeast Asia
Gambling tycoon She Zhijiang, whose casinos have been linked with massive human trafficking and online scam operations in the region, was arrested by Thai police in August 2022 and faces repatriation to China despite being a naturalized citizen of Cambodia.
In November 2022, police in Bangkok Police detained an exiled Chinese dissident l after he staged a lone street protest against Chinese leader Xi Jinping inspired by the Oct. 13 "bridge man" protest in Beijing.
Veteran rights activist Li Nanfei, who has been stranded in Thailand for several years despite being a United Nations-registered refugee, was arrested after holding up a placard on a Bangkok street that read: "His Majesty President Xi, put an end to dictatorship in China! Give the people back their freedom!"
Earlier in the same month, Adiyaa, an ethnic Mongolian Chinese national who fled the country after his involvement in 2020 protests over a ban on Mongolian-medium teaching in schools, reported being held by Chinese state security police in Bangkok.
In 2019, Thai police detained two Chinese refugees – Jia Huajiang and Liu Xuehong – who had earlier helped jailed rights website founder Huang Qi before fleeing the country.
Thailand has sent refugees from China back home in the past.
And in July 2018, authorities in the southwestern Chinese city of Chongqing jailed rights activist Dong Guangping and political cartoonist Jiang Yefei after they were sent home from Thailand as they were awaiting resettlement as political refugees, prompting an international outcry.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Deportation
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Online, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Blogger/ Social Media Activist, Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Aug 14, 2023
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Jul 22, 2023
- Event Description
Government-funded broadcaster RTHK will suspend a LGBTQ-related radio programme next month after 17 years, the host of the programme has said on its official Facebook page.
We Are Family was launched in 2006 to promote diversity and integration, according to the broadcaster’s website and was the first show of its kind. It remains the city’s only LGBTQ radio show.
Brian Leung, a host for the programme and an advocate for LGBT rights, said that he was informed by the head of the Chinese programme service in early July that We Are Family would be suspended from August owing to “programme rescheduling”.
Aired on Saturdays at midnight, the award-winning show covers topics from trans rights, to the culture of drag queens, and the life and stories of the LGBTQ community, with special guests.
In response to HKFP, an RTHK spokesperson said on Monday that they do not comment on internal matters: “RTHK reviews programming strategies from time to time to ensure providing quality programmes and information for the public in compliance with the public purposes and mission set out in the Charter of RTHK.”
Numerous fans commented on Facebook expressing disappointment over RTHK’s decision: “I was in the first year of secondary when the programme was aired for the first time. Equal rights for the LGBT community had not been widely promoted at that time. But thanks to We Are Family, people from our family started to speak up…” one commenter said.
Veteran broadcaster Leung said that he would not host any programmes in the near future: “[T]here is no need for self-deception.”
“At a time when Hong Kong saw drastic changes, many things are just a matter of time, and we had mentally prepared ourselves for what may come.”
In an episode broadcast on July 5, Leung said he was invited in 2006 by RTHK to re-join the company to host the new show. “I thought the programme would only last three months. In the end, it has been airing for 17 years.
‘Propaganda mouthpiece’ Hong Kong has plummeted in international press freedom indices since the onset of the security law. Watchdogs cite the arrest of journalists, raids on newsrooms and the closure of around 10 media outlets including Apple Daily, Stand News and Citizen News. Over 1,000 journalists have lost their jobs, whilst many emigrated. Meanwhile, the city’s government-funded broadcaster RTHK has adopted new editorial guidelines, purged its archives and axed news and satirical shows.
In 2022, Chief Executive John Lee has said press freedom was “in the pocket” of Hongkongers but “nobody is above the law.” Lee, whose administration is mulling a “fake news” law, has told the press to “tell a good Hong Kong story.”
In August 2021, RTHK started to partner with China Media Group – the holding group for CCTV and China National Radio – to air more programmes to “nurture a stronger sense of patriotism” among viewers, a move condemned by the city’s journalists association as changing the city’s public broadcaster into “a propaganda mouthpiece”.
The government proposed last week that programmes about national education, national identity, and the “correct understanding” of the security law be exempt from an impartiality clause requiring “even-handedness” when opposing points of view are presented.
Chinese authorities have targeted the LGBTQ community in recent years, with university societies and pride events discontinued. The Beijing LGBT Center, one of China’s leading organisations offering support for the queer population, announced in May that it would halt its operations.
Whilst same-sex sexual activity was legalised in 1991, Hong Kong has no laws to protect the LGBTQ community from discrimination in employment, the provision of goods and services, or from hate speech. Equal marriage remains illegal, although a 2023 survey showed that 60 per cent of Hongkongers support it. Despite repeated government appeals, courts have granted those who married – or who entered civil partnerships – abroad some recognition in terms of tax, spousal visas and public housing.
As well as opposing progress towards equality in court, the government has also funded groups with homophobic views and those which advocate “gay conversion.”
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- LGBTQ+/ Non-Binary, Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Media freedom, Freedom of expression Offline, SOGI rights
- HRD
- Media Worker, SOGI rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Government
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Aug 10, 2023
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Jun 20, 2023
- Event Description
On 20 June 2023, the trial against woman human rights defender Li Qiaochu began at the Linyi Municipal Intermediate People’s Court in the Shandong province. The trial was not open to the public.
One of the woman human rights defender’s two lawyers refused to submit to a body check, which she deemed to be unlawful, at the entrance to the courthouse and was thus denied entry. Her other lawyer entered the courtroom, but the judge denied his legitimate requests to summon defence witnesses, to gain access to evidence held by the prosecution, and to seek the recusal of officials with perceived conflicts of interest in the case. As a result of his inability to perform his duty as the defence counsel, the lawyer asked Li Qiaochu to dismiss him and exited the courtroom in protest.
Afterwards, the court informed the woman human rights defender’s family that the right of the two lawyers to represent Li Qiaochu had been revoked and the lawyers are no longer allowed to meet her. The trial is now suspended pending the appointment of new defence lawyers for Li Qiaochu.
Li Qiaochu continues to suffer from serious symptoms of depression and auditory hallucinations.
- Impact of Event
- 3
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- Denial Fair Trial, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Access to justice, Right to fair trial
- HRD
- Lawyer, Pro-democracy defender, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Aug 4, 2023
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Jul 11, 2023
- Event Description
Hong Kong briefly took in three family members of exiled democracy activist Nathan Law for questioning on Tuesday, a week after authorities issued a bounty on him and seven others accused of breaching the city’s national security law.
Police officers from the national security department brought in Law’s parents and elder brother without formally arresting them, a police source confirmed to AFP, adding that Law’s flat was searched.
The trio were taken in so that police could “learn whether they have provided financial support for Law and whether they are Law’s agents in Hong Kong”, the source said.
“Law’s family members were allowed to leave after giving statements to police.”
Authorities last week offered rewards of HK$1 million for information leading to the arrest of eight prominent democracy activists now based abroad, accusing them of subversion, foreign collusion and other crimes.
City leader John Lee today repeated his call to the public to stay away from the wanted activists and to treat them like “rats in the street”.
“Police have received some information and will continue to gather intelligence, and enforce the law strictly and relentlessly,” Lee told reporters.
AFP has contacted Law for comment.
The move today came days after Hong Kong arrested five men for supporting the wanted activists.
Ads by Kiosked Law, who was granted asylum in Britain in 2021, had previously said in response to the bounties that Hong Kong abused the concept of national security to suppress dissident voices.
After fleeing Hong Kong, Law said in 2020 that he had cut ties with his family and that he was not in contact with them.
The US, the UK and Australia – places where the eight wanted activists reside – have issued statements criticising the bounties.
Beijing imposed a sweeping national security law on Hong Kong in 2020 following months of huge and sometimes violent pro-democracy protests in the finance hub.
Police have arrested 260 people under the national security law so far, with 79 of them convicted or awaiting sentencing in Hong Kong.
- Impact of Event
- 3
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats
- Rights Concerned
- Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Family of HRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Jul 17, 2023
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Jul 3, 2023
- Event Description
All Chinese social media accounts of popular media outlet Health Insight were suspended on 3 July 2023 on the pretext of "violating public account management regulations", one month after it reported on the profit-oriented management practices within big hospitals and the escalating prescription drug prices. As Health Insight ’s operation model is based on direct distribution of news on internet platforms, this ban is equivalent to a forced shutdown.
The suspension follows the launch in March by the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC), an entity personally supervised by Chinese leader Xi Jinping, of a campaign aimed at “regulating the chaos of self-publishing media," a term encompassing accounts that share information on social media platforms.
“By forcibly shutting down a popular source of health news, the Chinese regime once again demonstrates its fear of having its policy failures publicly exposed. We urge the international community to build up pressure for the regime to end its policy of systemic censorship, and release all journalists and press freedom defenders currently detained in the country.
Cédric Alviani RSF East Bureau Director Founded in 2018 and censored several times, Health Insight was particularly influential during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic. In 2022, it was praised as an example of innovative media by a committee of Chinese media researchers and professionals.
Since Chinese leader Xi Jinping took power in 2012, he has been conducting a large-scale crusade against journalism as revealed in RSF’s report The Great Leap Backwards of Journalism in China, which details Beijing’s efforts to control information and media within and outside its borders.
China ranks 179th out of 180 in the 2023 RSF World Press Freedom Index and is the world's largest captor of journalists and press freedom defenders with at least 112 detained.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment, Online Attack and Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Internet freedom, Media freedom, Freedom of expression Online
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-State
- Government
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Jul 17, 2023
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Jun 9, 2023
- Event Description
We are deeply concerned about the recent interception of Chinese human rights lawyer Li Heping and his family, who were prevented from leaving the country by border police at Chengdu's Tianfu International Airport on June 9th.
They were subjected to travel restrictions on the grounds that their departure might endanger national security. These restrictions amount to a violation of their right to freedom of movement and raise questions about the legality of such measures.
Li Heping started his human rights work as a lawyer in 2002. He has represented many politically sensitive cases including religious leaders, environmental and community activists as well as campaigned against the use of torture. Li Heping was arrested as part of the ‘709 crackdown’ on 10 July 2015. He spent nearly 22 months in pre-trial detention, including 'residential surveillance in a designated location' after which he was convicted in a secret trial to three years imprisonment and a four-year probationary suspension. Mr Li was released from prison on 10 May 2017. Since his release, Mr Li and his family have remained subject to close control and surveillance by state authorities.
We are deeply concerned that Li Heping's wife and 13-year-old daughter, who were traveling with , also faced travel restrictions and were unable to leave the country. This not only affects their personal freedom but disrupts their education. Li Heping's 23-year-old son has also experienced delays in his studies as a result.
International human rights law protects the right to freedom of movement. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), Article 13, grants that "everyone has the right to leave any country, including his own, and to return to his country." The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), Article 12, similarly establishes that "everyone shall be free to leave any country, including his own." The Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), Article 10, entreats states to "respect the right of the child and his or her parents to leave any country." Although China did not ratify the ICCPR, it has signed ICCPR and ratified the CRC, thereby assuming legal responsibilities under international law to protect freedom of movement and it must not act against the purpose of the ICCPR. International human rights norms provide clear guidance relating to China's obligation to safeguard freedom of movement.
The excessive use and misuse of exit bans in China, as demonstrated in the case of Li Heping and his family and other recent cases of Jiang Tianyong, Guo Feixiong, violate the right to freedom of movement enshrined in international human rights law. Many exit bans are imposed without legal justification, lack transparency in their application, deny recipients due process, and frequently target individuals based on their family, ethnicity, or profession. These exit bans are often used to coerce, punish, and suppress individuals, with no clear legal basis or arguable connection to endangering "national security, public order, public health, or the rights and freedoms of others." The Siracusa Principles define legitimate national security interest as aiming to protecting the territorial integrity of the nation against the threat of force, such restrictions are neither necessary nor proportionate under international human rights standards.
Freedom of movement restrictions must be legal and specific enough for people to follow. Undefined limitations are illegal. Restrictions must be reasonable and directly related to the protected interest. The UN Human Rights Committee General Comment 27, Article 12 states that freedom of movement restrictions must be lawful, necessary, and proportionate. Specific, personalized, and least intrusive are also needed.
We urge the relevant authorities in China to immediately lift the travel restrictions imposed on Li Heping and members of his family, allowing them to exercise their right to freedom of movement. Furthermore, we call upon the Chinese government to ensure the safety and well-being of Li Heping and his family and refrain from any further actions that may violate their rights or expose them to harm.
The international community must closely monitor the situation of Li Heping and his family and call on China to adhere to its international obligations and respect their rights to freedom of movement. All individuals should be able to exercise their rights without fear of reprisals or arbitrary on restrictions.
- Impact of Event
- 3
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment, Restrictions on Movement, Travel Restriction
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of movement, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Family of HRD, Lawyer, Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Related Events
- China: HRDs prevented from leaving home on International Human Rights Day, China: pro-democracy lawyer among those put under close surveillance
- Date added
- Jul 16, 2023
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Jun 14, 2023
- Event Description
The police officers of Changping, Beijing, worked with the government to hire unidentified individuals to harass human rights lawyer Wang Quanzhang and his family before forcefully entering and pressuring them to leave. Hired to Harass
On the evening of the 14th, while Wang Quanzhang was taking out the trash downstairs, three unnamed individuals were already stationed outside his door. Wang Quanzhang repeatedly asked for their identities, but they replied that they were merely citizens. Two of them blocked the doorway.
Faked injury
After his wife, Li Wenzu, opened the door, a man falsely claimed that his foot was caught in the door and accused Wang Quanzhang of attacking him. Immediately, he pretended to fall and lay at the entrance of Wang Quanzhang’s residence. Responses from social media
Wang Quanzhang uploaded portions of the interaction on social media. Lawyer Bao Longjun said, “They must have such thick skin…” Human rights lawyer Chen Jiangang said, “It’s clear that these individuals know that what they are doing is illegal and unethical, but the Communist Party gave them a task, and they are willing to do it anyway. It was the same case when hundreds of people surrounded Chen Guangcheng. In China, the most terrifying and evil are not the Chinese Communist Party, but these ignorant people who can’t distinguish right from wrong and blindly obey evil.” Illegally trespassing
A police officer with the last name Liu from the Songyuan police station in Changping District, Beijing, showed up at the house. He reportedly heard claims that Wang Quanzhang and Li Wenzu “illegally trespassed someone else’s residence.” Wang conversed with the officer outside through the door’s surveillance camera. The officer requested verification of his legal identity and lease information, and for the physical person, the legal identity, and the renter’s information to all match up. Wang assured them that everything was legal and requested for the police to present any evidence of suspicion, stating that otherwise it would be considered a “presumption of guilt.” Forceful entry
The police officer from Changping District (Badge number: 054725) did not present any legal documents and forcefully entered Wang Quanzhang’s legally rented residence. Li Wenzu requested that he show his police identification document and follow proper procedures. The police officer aggressively declared, “I’m wearing a police uniform so I can come in. Wearing a police uniform means I do not need to display my work identification. It is my right.”
Wang Quanzhang exclaimed, “I am a lawful tenant with tenant rights. What kind of society is this? What kind of country is this? What kind of world is this?” Continuing harassment
Since April, Wang Quanzhang’s entire family, including their underage son Wang Guangwei, has been facing repeated harassment and pressure from the Beijing authorities. Authorities force them to move. They rent a new place only to move shortly after. In some instances, police pressured landlords behind the scenes, coercing them to evict the family. In this particular case, Wang Quanzhang’s landlord personally recorded a video and presented the “Housing Lease Agreement” to demonstrate that the tenancy was voluntary for both parties. 48 hours to comply
Currently, Wang Quanzhang is renting a house in the third district of Changshengyuan in Changping, Beijing, which belongs to a friend who is currently in the United States. Wang Quanzhang provided the lease agreement and a video from the landlord, but the police insisted that it didn’t prove legal occupancy. They demanded the presence of the landlord or a relative with their ID card, the Hukou (household registration) booklet, and a property ownership certificate to the house to prove residency. The Changping police threatened to forcibly evict them if the above requirements were not met within 48 hours. Fabricating charges
After entering the rented premises, the police started taking photos everywhere, attempting to create some sort of incriminating evidence. Among them, they said a faucet on the floor was a doorknob, perhaps hoping to use it as evidence of “illegal intrusion into someone else’s property.” A netizen responded to the situation on social media, “What are they trying to do? What kind of charges are they trying to fabricate?” Operation from superiors
Dissident Yang Zili contacted the Songyuan police station, where a police officer with the last name Wang (Badge number: 066575) stated, “The operation is instructed by higher-ups.” Yang Zili conducted an online search and found that the deputy chief of the station is named Wang Bingqi. Yang Zili commented, “Regarding Wang Quanzhang’s family since the landlord did not evict them, the police are resorting to engaging upfront with hooligan-like behavior.” After the incident
Wang Quanzhang reflected on the absurd interaction with Beijing police, “When the landlord cut off our water and electricity, we called the police. But they dismissed it as a ‘civil dispute’ and left without taking any action. When the landlord smashed glass to remove the door, the police said, ‘Removing your door and breaking your glass is not a problem,’ and left without doing anything. When the landlord threatened and evicted us in the middle of the night and refused to refund our rent, the police considered it a civil dispute and left without intervening. But now, when the landlord signed a contract and recorded a video stating he rented the house to us, the police claim that we illegally invaded someone’s residence and (the officers) refused to leave.” The next morning
On the morning of June 15, authorities covered the peephole camera and cut off the electricity. People were stationed downstairs near the entrance. Li Wenzu expressed in a video, “The electricity meter in our apartment 502 is no longer showing up.” However, the power was restored after about an hour. Threatened to leave Beijing
The Beijing authorities planned to drive them out of Beijing one by one in an attempt to minimize their interaction with the outside world and their diplomatic influence. Facing the pressure of forced eviction from the authorities in Beijing, lawyer Wang Quanzhang stated that they only seek to live peacefully in Beijing, but it seems that they will continue to encounter new challenges in the future. Multiple cases
The plight of lawyer Wang Quanzhang is not an isolated case. ChinaAid Association has continuously exposed the forced eviction and persecution of many Christian families across China.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment, Intimidation and Threats, Surveillance
- Rights Concerned
- Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to housing, Right to privacy
- HRD
- Family of HRD, Lawyer, Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Related Events
- China: Jailing of Chinese Rights Lawyer Wang Quanzhang Sparks Public Outcry, China: lawyers, family members forced to evict from their houses
- Date added
- Jul 16, 2023
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Jun 7, 2023
- Event Description
Police in China are keeping up their harassment of prominent rights lawyers, putting pressure on recently evicted Wang Quanzhang and his family, slapping a travel ban on Li Heping and his family, while denying rights attorney Xie Yang a phone call with his sick father.
And a court in the central city of Changsha recently denied detained rights lawyer Xie Yang a video meeting with his ailing 90-year-old father, who is terminally ill with COVID-19.
"The lawyer asked angrily whether the judges of the Changsha Intermediate People's Court were raised by their parents," the China Rights Lawyers Twitter account said of the June 7 hearing.
Xie's U.S.-based ex-wife Chen Guiqiu told Radio Free Asia in a recent interview that her father-in-law Xie Huicheng had been in hospital with a high fever for days at the time of the request.
"Xie Yang is a very filial son, and the old man really wanted to see him before he dies," Chen said. "The court just came up with various excuses to refuse."
Xie is currently being held in the Changsha No. 1 Detention Center, awaiting trial for "incitement to subvert state power," and recently told his visiting attorney that he has been tortured while in detention.
Chen said the court's decision not to allow him to video call his dying father could be a form of retaliation, or a way to silence Xie.
U.S.-based rights lawyer Wu Shaoping said that while there was no good legal reason to deny such a request, the ruling Chinese Communist Party is the ultimate arbiter of its citizens' rights, not the law.
"There was no reason to reject a humanitarian request of this kind," Wu said. "They use [such requests] as a way of controlling suspects [to elicit a 'confession']."
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Lawyer, Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Related Events
- China: prominent lawyer arrested once again
- Date added
- Jul 16, 2023
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Jul 12, 2023
- Event Description
On June 12, 2023, Mongolian herders from eastern Southern Mongolia’s Zaruud Banner gathered to block the road near their grazing land in protest of the local government’s land grab. Hired to advance the expropriation, a Chinese driver by the surname of Lu plowed into the protestors with a large bulldozer, crashing herders’ motorcycles, and injuring at least two.
According to protestors on the scene, the Zaruud Banner Breeding Farm Ar-Hundelen Branch appropriated a large swath of grazing land and sold it to a Chinese business—all with the authorization of the Zaruud Banner government.
A written statement from the local community notes that “Without our prior and informed consent, the breeding farm sold our land to a Chinese business at a price of 2,000,000 yuan (approximately 280,000 USD),” and that “the Chinese buyer is now bringing truckloads of cows and other animals to the land, attempting to graze them in disregard of our protest.”
“This happened before the eyes of government officials who are ganging up with violent Chinese invaders,” said an angry herder in a WeChat discussion group, in reference to the bulldozer attack. “The lives of Mongolians are worthless here.”
In a public statement, the Zaruud Banner Public Security Bureau confirmed the case while downplaying the violence as a “dispute that escalated to a conflict between a herder and the bulldozer driver, Mr. Lu, and the accountant Ms. Lu, resulting in an injury to the herder Mr. Wu.”
The next day, another attack took place in eastern Southern Mongolia’s Evenk Banner. A Chinese land-grabber struck a Mongolian herder with a vehicle while the herder defended his grazing land alongside other herders. The injured herder fell unconscious at the scene, but the state of his current health remains unknown.
“Violence by the Chinese toward Mongolians has happened two days in a row,” a Mongolian herder said in a WeChat discussion group. “Now even our lives are not guaranteed, let alone our land.”
Despite draconian censorship and aggressive surveillance of the Internet and social media, Southern Mongolians are managing to express their discontent over WeChat, China’s most popular social media platform. Sparked by these violent incidents, discussions among angry Southern Mongolians have gone far beyond the land-grab episodes and are touching on sensitive, foundational issues, including those of colonialism and national freedom.
“This is the cost we are paying for being colonized by the Chinese,” a Southern Mongolian said in a WeChat discussion.
“Yes, but nothing lasts forever,” another replied. “The days of this colonial regime are numbered. We Mongolians must stay patient, resilient and hopeful.”
In the same chat, another Southern Mongolian asked members to “Imagine if we have our own government and own country like the independent country of Mongolia. This type of violence would never happen, and even if it happens, the perpetrators will be brought to justice immediately.”
Yet another member said that “The squares [code name for Chinese settlers] are the most violent and brutal invaders in human history. They took away all of our rights, plundered our natural resources both under and above the ground; now they are taking away our land and lives.”
“This is no different from the Russian invasion of Ukraine,” said another. “The nature of the two is the same: the strong enslave the weak.”
The perhaps even more politically charged question of whether “Southern Mongolians are slaves to the Chinese” sparked heated debates in a number of WeChat groups. Some excerpts:
“We must admit that we are enslaved by the Chinese. This is the reality. This is our status.”
“I disagree. We are not slaves. We are proud Mongolians. Calling ourselves slaves won’t help improve the situation anyway.”
“Our situation is equally serious, if not more so, than that of Xinjiang and Tibet.”
“Remember, land appropriation is just a small part of the systematic destruction of Southern Mongolia; our language and culture are being wiped out by the Chinese now.”
As Chinese policies in Southern Mongolia grow increasingly oppressive, widespread discontent among Southern Mongolians has led to two major uprisings since 2011.
In May 2011, a region-wide uprising was precipitated by the brutal killing of a Mongolian herder, Mr. Mergen, by a Chinese truck driver. These protests prompted Chinese authorities to launch an extensive crackdown on all forms of resistance across the region.
In September 2020, an even a larger uprising transpired in Southern Mongolia, in opposition of China’s new language policy, which Mongolians widely consider “cultural genocide.” An overwhelming majority of Southern Mongolians joined the protests in some fashion, and an estimated 8,000-10,000 protesters were arrested, detained, imprisoned and placed under house arrest.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Violence (physical), Wounds and Injuries
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Land rights defender, Minority rights defender
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Corporation Agricultural business
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Jul 7, 2023
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- May 19, 2023
- Event Description
According to information released by independent human rights monitors in late May 2023, woman human rights defender He Fangmei, who is in detention awaiting the verdict in her trial, wrote a letter to her older sister on 19 May 2023 authorising her to take care of her three young children. Two of her daughters, who are around seven and two years old, are believed to be kept at a psychiatric hospital in Xinxiang, Henan province, while her older son has been placed in foster care with a rural family.
However, when the family contacted the psychiatric hospital, the hospital refused to let the family visit the two girls, stating that access must be approved by the local police in Huixian county. When the family contacted the police, they referred the family to the local government. When the family contacted the local government, officials said they were “not aware” of the case.
The family has also been informed that the prosecutors have recommended a sentence of between five and seven years for the woman human rights defender. Her trial took place in Huixian in March 2022.
- Impact of Event
- 4
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Family of HRD, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Government, Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Jun 29, 2023
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Jun 4, 2023
- Event Description
Hong Kong police have deployed en masse at key sites on the 34th anniversary of the Tiananmen crackdown, apprehending several people in Causeway Bay, including Tsui Hong-kwong, who was among the organisers of the Tiananmen vigils, unionist Leo Tang and chairperson of pro-democracy group the League of Social Democrats (LSD), Chan Po-ying.
At around 5pm on Sunday, veteran activist Wong, popularly known as Grandma Wong, was apprehended by police in Causeway Bay, near where the city’s Tiananmen vigils were once held.
Three other people were escorted away by police soon after, also in Hong Kong Island’s shopping district.
LSD chair Chan was taken away in a police vehicle after being stopped in the area. She was holding a yellow flower. The party later told reporters that Chan had been released from Wan Chai Police Station at 9.15pm, adding that police had said they would need to conduct further investigations and Chan had been released without bail terms.
Journalist Mak Yin-ting, former chair of the Hong Kong Journalists Association, was taken away by the police after being stopped on Great George Street.
Leo Tang, a former vice-chairperson of the pro-democracy coalition of unions the Hong Kong Confederation of Trade Unions, was taken away by the police. Tang was wearing a black t-shirt printed with the Wen Wei Po headline from its 1989 report about the Tiananmen crackdown.
Former member of the the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China, Tsui Hong-kwong was placed in a police vehicle after carrying an electronic candle on the street in Causeway Bay. Tang later posted to Facebook to say he had been taken to Wan Chai Police Station to assist with police investigations.
A man wearing a black Tiananmen crackdown remembrance t-shirt was escorted into a police van at around 7.20pm. Police told HKFP he would be held for questioning.
Outside Victoria Park, a man who was sitting on a bench holding a candle was taken by police officers to a police van.
Near the water fountain in Victoria Park, a woman in a black t-shirt was taken away by police, who held her hands and legs while she was escorted to a police vehicle. She yelled “I want to go home” and “will every June 4 be like this?” Before being apprehended, she sat on the ground. Officers told her that if she did not cooperate, she would be arrested for obstructing police.
A person who gave their name as Chan, who had witnessed the woman being taken away, told HKFP that police surrounded her after she displayed a photo of a candle on her phone and requested to conduct a stop and search. The woman tried to leave but was stopped by a group of officers.
Also near the Victoria Park fountain, a middle-aged man with a hearing aid and an electronic candle which shone red at its tip was taken to a police vehicle.
Earlier on Sunday, a number of passers-by were stopped and checked under a green canopy tent set up by police on Great George Street, near to Exit E of the Causeway Bay MTR station, the closest exit to Victoria Park.
It was not only people who were apprehended. A Porsche with a licence plate “US 8964,” the date of the Tiananmen crackdown, was seen driving through Causeway Bay on Sunday evening before being impounded. The owner of the car said in a public Facebook group that the officers cited his car’s embossed license plate and brake as reasons to impound the vehicle.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Intimidation and Threats
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Media Worker, NGO staff, Pro-democracy defender, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Jun 14, 2023
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Jun 8, 2023
- Event Description
A court in the northern Chinese province of Shaanxi has jailed prominent rights lawyer Chang Weiping for three-and-a-half years after he attended a gathering of dissidents in the southeastern city of Xiamen in December 2019.
The Feng County People’s Court handed down the sentence to Chang – whose lawyers say he has suffered torture in incommunicado detention – after finding him guilty of “incitement to subvert state power” at a secret trial.
The sentence came eight weeks after authorities in Shandong province handed down a 14-year sentence to prominent dissident Xu Zhiyong and a 12-year term to rights lawyer Ding Jiaxi, who also attended the Xiamen gathering, on the same charges, prompting an international outcry.
Subversion charges are frequently used by the ruling Chinese Communist Party to target peaceful critics of the regime.
Chang’s wife Chen Zijuan dismissed the case against her husband as “absurd.”
“His sentence of three-and-a-half years ... may appear more lenient than those of Xu Zhiyong and Ding Jiaxi, but the whole case against him was ridiculous from start to finish,” Chen said.
“Even a day in prison would have been too much.”
De facto travel ban Before his trial, Chang had been held for a long time under “residential surveillance at a designated location,” which rights groups say is associated with a higher risk of torture and mistreatment in detention.
Lawyers representing Chang, Xu and Ding have all reported that they were tortured during their time in pretrial detention.
“He has been locked up in the detention center for a very long time already, and I’m very concerned about his health,” Chen said, adding that her husband has also been sentenced to two-and-a-half years’ “deprivation of political rights,” which she said was a de facto travel ban.
“The point of the so-called deprivation of political rights is to stop him from leaving the country,” she said.
“Judging from past practice ... even if political prisoners are released after serving their sentences ... they are unlikely to have true freedom but be under surveillance, and they won’t have the freedom to leave the country,” Chen said.
She added that Chang is still considering whether or not to appeal, according to his lawyer.
Rights attorney Liu Shihui said any appeal would just be a question of “going through the motions,” however.
“Everyone knows that the sentence is never changed in these sorts of cases involving prisoners of conscience,” Liu said. “It’s a form of political persecution.”
“They have delayed this case for more than three years before pronouncing sentence ... and everyone knows that life in those detention centers is hell on earth, and a year seems like a whole lifetime,” he said.
‘No legal basis at all’ U.S.-based rights activist and legal scholar Teng Biao said Chang had gotten off relatively lightly compared with Xu and Ding, whom the authorities seem to regard as the main “culprits’ behind the Xiamen dinner gathering.
“They probably think Xu Zhiyong and Ding Jiaxi were the ringleaders in the Xiamen case, but from a legal point of view, neither Xu, Ding nor Chang or anyone else [accused] in this case have committed any crime,” Teng said.
“Arresting them and sending them to prison for subversion of state power is pure political persecution and a gross violation of their civil rights and freedoms, and has no legal basis at all, regardless of how lenient the sentence may be,” he said.
Chang, who was only allowed to meet with a lawyer after nearly a year in detention, was strapped immobile into a “tiger chair” torture device for six days straight, and deprived of food and sleep, his lawyer said in September 2021.
Ding’s lawyers say he was restrained in a “tiger chair” between April 1 and April 8, 2020, and interrogated for 21 hours a day, subjected to sleep deprivation and limited food and water.
Xu has told his lawyer that he was subjected to similar treatment in the “tiger chair” while detained in Shandong’s Yantai city.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Denial Fair Trial, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Right to fair trial, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Lawyer, Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Related Events
- China: lawyer tried amongst blatant violations, family members and supporters prevented from attending (Update)
- Date added
- Jun 14, 2023
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Jun 3, 2023
- Event Description
Eight people were detained near Hong Kong’s Victoria Park on Saturday 3 June for what police described as “displaying protest items loaded with seditious wordings, chanting and committing unlawful acts”.
Two of those detained have since been released, but the four arrested for “seditious intention and disorderly conduct” could face up to two years in prison.
Those arrested include two people who had held aloft pieces of paper saying, “personal commemoration, hunger strike for 8964 3.4 seconds” (referencing the year, date and anniversary of the crackdown) and holding flowers. Another arrested, an artist, had reportedly chanted, “Don’t forget June 4! Hong Kong people, don’t be afraid of them!”
Every year on 4 June since 1990, up to hundreds of thousands of people joined a candlelight vigil in Hong Kong’s Victoria Park to remember those killed during the Tiananmen crackdown. They called on the Chinese authorities to reveal the truth about what happened and take accountability for the fatalities. The vigil was banned in 2020 and 2021, ostensibly on Covid-19 grounds.
Last year authorities closed parts of Victoria Park citing potential “illegal activities”. This year it was “unavailable” due to the hosting of an outdoor market organized by pro-Beijing groups, including those sponsored by the Chief Executive and former and current members of China’s National People’s Congress.
The organizer of the past vigils, the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China, was forced to disband in September 2021 after coming under increasing pressure since the enactment of Hong Kong’s national security law in June 2020. Several of its senior figures, including human rights lawyer Chow Hang-tung, have been prosecuted under “inciting subversion” charges for their peaceful activism.
The Alliance is one of numerous prominent civil society organizations or political groups forced to close after being targeted by the Hong Kong police on national security grounds.
Every year the vigil in Hong Kong featured a recorded message from the Tiananmen Mothers, family members of those killed, who are still seeking a full government account of the deaths, lawful compensation and investigation of criminal responsibility.
Hundreds – possibly thousands – of people were killed in and around Beijing’s Tiananmen Square on 4 June 1989 when Chinese troops opened fire on students and workers who had been peacefully calling for political and economic reforms as well as an end to corruption. Tens of thousands were arrested across China in the suppression that followed. Many were charged with counter-revolutionary crimes and served very long prison sentences following unfair trials.
Regularly since 1989, activists in mainland China have been detained and charged with “subversion” or “picking quarrels” if they commemorate those who were killed, call for the release of prisoners or criticize government actions during the Tiananmen crackdown.
- Impact of Event
- 8
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Artist, Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Jun 6, 2023
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- May 15, 2023
- Event Description
CHRD is alarmed at the forced closure of the Beijing LGBT Center under pressure from the Chinese government. Shutting down China’s longest established LGBTIQ+ organization signals yet another worsening turn in the Chinese state’s years-long campaign against civil society. We urge the Chinese government to take seriously its human rights obligations under international law to eliminate discrimination against LGBTIQ+ individuals and protect NGOs working to promote LGBTIQ+ rights in China.
On May 15, Beijing LGBT Center sent out a WeChat post announcing that “We very unfortunately are informing everyone that due to an inability to resist [pressure], Beijing LGBT Center is ceasing operations today.”
Members of the Center told Deutsche Welle that they were frequently questioned and harassed by the police, or asked to euphemistically “drink tea” with them. At the same time, on multiple occasions authorities tried to dissuade the Center from ceasing operations for fear of the international repercussions. This put the Beijing LGBT Center in a difficult position where they found it impossible to do their work but also were forced by authorities to maintain the appearance of being in operation until now.
Members of the LGBTIQ+ community have faced growing restrictions on their rights and advocacy in recent years. CHRD has learned from a Chinese civil society expert that another NGO, EnGender, ceased operations in May due to an increasingly difficult operating environment. In November 2021, LGBT Rights Advocacy China, an NGO with operations nationwide, was forced to shut down due to government pressure. On July 6, 2021, nearly 20 WeChat accounts of university students’ LGBT and gender studies groups were suddenly closed down.
Beijing LGBT Center, founded in 2008, provided much of the research and data for understanding the social obstacles and stigma against LGBTIQ+ people in China. For example, in 2016, it produced the largest survey ever done on sexual and gender diversity issues in China, Being LGBT in China – A National Survey on Social Attitudes towards Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity and Gender Expression, which was co-authored by Beijing University Sociology Department with support from the UN Development Programme. In 2017, also in collaboration with Beijing University Sociology Department and with support from the Dutch embassy, it produced the 2017 Chinese Transgender Population General Survey. In 2018, Beijing LGBT Center created a national hotline for suicide prevention for transgender people. A member from the Center also conducted a survey that found that transgender people faced domestic violence after telling their parents about their transgender status.
Beijing LGBT Center aspired to serve as a safe space for people in the LGBTIQ+ community in Beijing and around the country. The organization frequently hosted events speaking out on LGBTIQ+ issues. It provided resources to members in the community, such as offering health care counselling on resisting being pressured into “conversion therapy,” which is still prevalent in China. In 2020, it held a workshop at Beijing Normal University for 100 graduate students majoring in psychological counselling to help them better understand the needs of the LGBTIQ+ community.
Disregard for China’s International Human Rights Obligations
The intensified pressure on Beijing LGBT Center leading to its closure occurred just two days before this year’s International Day against Homophobia, Biphobia and Transphobia on May 17. The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk marked the day by noting that “[t]he human rights of all LGBTIQ+ people, as equal members of the human family, must be respected,” but that “…in many countries LGBTIQ+ people are facing unacceptable pushbacks to their rights.” To this end, the UN Human Rights Office (OHCHR) launched a new thematic campaign on solidarity within its Free & Equal campaign, which aims to engage with “the public and policymakers to advance social acceptance and positive changes in laws and policies.”
Chinese government harassment of LGBT NGOs goes against UN independent experts’ recent recommendations to the state to combat discrimination against LGBTIQ+ persons. In March 2023, the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR) released its findings in the latest review of China’s treaty obligations, urging the government to:
“(a)dopt comprehensive anti-discrimination legislative, political and administrative measures prohibiting direct, indirect and multiple discrimination, including explicitly prohibiting discrimination and criminalizing harassment, hate speech and hate crimes against lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex persons in accordance with article 2 (2) of the Covenant…; [and] (i)ntensify its efforts to combat discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex persons, including by conducting public awareness-raising campaigns.”
During the current review by the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, independent experts on the Committee asked about “how the State party responded to the need for protection of… lesbian, bisexual and transgender women and intersex persons, and other groups facing multiple forms of discrimination.” An official on the Chinese government delegation responded by saying that the Chinese Constitution does not discriminate against LBGTIQ+ people, and it views them as “ordinary people,” thus there are no special legal protections for LGBTIQ+ citizens.
Our “asks”
In light of these alarming developments, which are detrimental to combating discrimination against the LGBTIQ+ community in China, CHRD strongly urges the Chinese government to immediately end its campaign of harassment and intimidation against LGBTIQ+ rights NGOs and heed the calls of UN experts to take specific measure to combat discrimination against this community. The government should cooperate with UN bodies, particularly the UN Independent Expert on sexual orientation and gender identity to protect LGBTIQ+ rights and increase social inclusion.
CHRD recommends that the OHCHR incorporate the issue of the shrinking advocacy space for LGBTIQ+ rights in China into its Free & Equal campaign. The Chinese government should be highlighted as a country moving backwards on LGBTIQ+ rights. The High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk should speak out and raise serious concerns about the recent closure of Beijing LGBT Center in communications with the Chinese government and in public messaging on LGBTIQ+ rights globally.
The UN Independent Expert on sexual orientation and gender identity should publicly condemn the closure of the Beijing LGBT Center and the other alarming developments, and urge the Chinese government to enact strategies, policies, and laws to advance LGBTIQ+ rights.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of association, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, SOGI rights
- HRD
- NGO, SOGI rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Government
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- May 29, 2023
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- May 21, 2023
- Event Description
Chinese authorities have notified the family of veteran rights lawyer Yu Wensheng and his wife Xu Yan of their formal arrest on suspicion of "picking quarrels and stirring up trouble," a charge frequently used to target peaceful critics of the Communist Party, friends of the couple told Radio Free Asia.
Yu and Xu were detained last month en route to a meeting with European Union officials in Beijing, prompting calls for their release from Brussels.
U.S.-based rights lawyer Wang Qingpeng said there are now fears that Yu and Xu may be tortured in order to elicit a "confession," given the amount of international attention generated by their arrests.
"The authorities will be concerned about how this case looks ... and about international attention," Wang said. "A lot of lawyers have been warned off representing Yu Wensheng and his wife."
"Many lawyers have been tortured already, including Xie Yang, Wang Quanzhang, Chang Weiping and Zhou Shifeng," he said. "We have reason to believe that Yu Wensheng and Xu Yan could also be tortured, so as to avoid further outside attention and attempts at rescue."
"There could be further [and more serious charges] to come, for example, 'incitement to subvert state power,' which is impossible to predict right now," Wang said.
Chinese courts almost never acquit political prisoners, and the charge Yu and Xu currently face generally leads to jail terms of up to five years.
Lawyers warned
A friend of the couple who asked to remain anonymous said Yu's brother received notification of his formal arrest on May 21.
"According to what I have learned, Yu Wensheng has put up a great deal of resistance to the authorities since his detention," the friend said. "His brother has also said [their detention] is unacceptable."
Police informed Yu's brother of the change of status on Sunday, but had refused to give the family anything in writing, the brother said.
"His brother tried to get a photo of the notification of arrest, but the police stopped him," they said. "Now Yu Wensheng's family need to find a lawyer to help him, but a lot of lawyers have been warned off doing this by the authorities."
They said police had also told the family not to try to find their own lawyer to represent the couple.
Another person familiar with the case, who gave only the surname Shi, confirmed the friend's account.
"They wouldn't let their [18-year-old] kid instruct a lawyer, and the police were also telling people that Yu Wensheng didn't want a lawyer, and that Xu Yan had already hired two lawyers," Shi said.
"Then the police visited the law firms [that might potentially represent Yu and Xu] and put pressure on them -- the Beijing municipal judicial affairs bureau also stepped up the pressure, threatening the law firms that they would fail their annual license review," he said.
"I don't know whether they actually revoked any licenses or not -- we won't know until early June," Shi said.
Son alone
A friend of the couple who gave only the surname Qin said he is worried about their situation, and also about their son, who is living alone in the family home under strict police surveillance, with no contact with the outside world.
"It has destroyed this family, and their kid is still so young with nobody around to take care of them -- it's wrong to arrest both husband and wife together," Qin said.
The European Union lodged a protest with China after police detained veteran rights lawyer Yu Wensheng and his activist wife Xu Yan ahead of a meeting with its diplomats during a scheduled EU-China human rights dialogue on April 13.
“We have already been taken away,” Yu tweeted shortly before falling silent on April 13, while the EU delegation to China tweeted on April 14: “@yuwensheng9 and @xuyan709 detained by CN authorities on their way to EU Delegation.”
“We demand their immediate, unconditional release. We have lodged a protest with MFA against this unacceptable treatment,” the tweet from the EU’s embassy in China said, referring to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Access to justice, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Lawyer, Pro-democracy defender, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary, Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- May 25, 2023
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Apr 24, 2023
- Event Description
The family of Dong Yuyu, a famous journalist in China, has decided to inform international human rights organizations that he has been indicted on charges of espionage. Dong had been arrested in February 2021 while he was having what the authorities characterized as an “unauthorized” lunch with a Japanese diplomat at the Novotel Xin Qiao hotel in Beijing. He was later formally arrested, and indicted for espionage on March 2023.
Following warning from the authorities, relatives had decided not to divulge news about its detention, but now believe that Dong’s situation is so precarious that it may be better to speak out and seek the help of international human rights groups and media.
Speaking on conditions of anonymity, one of Dong’s colleagues told Bitter Winter that “the idea that he can be a spy is just ridiculous. The charges have been invented by those who did not like his articles.” Dong was the deputy director of the editorial pages of the “Guangming Daily,” a newspaper whose owner is the Chinese Communist Party, and which is supervised by the Party’s propaganda department. Dong has been one of the most popular journalists of the “Guangming Daily” for more than thirty years.
Dong was also a scholar of international law and Japanese issues. He had been a Nieman Fellow at Harvard University from 2006 to 2007, a visiting scholar at Keio University in Japan in 2010, and a visiting professor at the Graduate School of Public Policy at Hokkaido University in 2014.
Although in no way disloyal to the CCP, Dong advocated a reformist and moderate approach in line with Deng Xiaoping’s “reform and opening up,” including on issues of state control of religions. While Xi Jinping has purged from Chinese media the Maoist “left,” he is now also purging the Dengist “right”—all this while extolling the merits of both Mao and Deng.
This is a typical Communist approach, and one also aimed at reminding journalists that no criticism of Xi Jinping or critical comparison with previous leaders is allowed. Trumped-up charges await those even vaguely suspected of dissent.
The China allegations are aimed at Dong Yuyu, a well-known liberal commentator and editor at Guangming Daily, one of the five major Communist Party-affiliated newspapers in the country. Historically, according to his family, the newspaper served intellectuals, artists, teachers and others with a higher education, and for many years it was more liberal than others. Mr. Dong has long expressed support for liberal reforms in China, particularly in creating a legal system based on the rule of law. He participated in the 1989 Tiananmen student protests and was punished, sent to endure hard labor in a steel factory for a year, but kept his job at the newspaper. He eventually rose to become deputy head of the editorial department.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Online, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary, Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- May 24, 2023
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Apr 26, 2023
- Event Description
Concerns are mounting for a Taiwan-based book publisher believed to have been detained in China, in a case that has echoed the disappearances in 2015 of five Hong Kong booksellers.
Li Yanhe, also known by the pen-name Fucha, reportedly travelled to Shanghai last month to visit relatives but has been uncontactable since Thursday. His alleged detention was first reported by Bei Ling, a Chinese writer and activist, who said on Facebook that he had been told by various sources that Li had been arrested by authorities in Shanghai.
Taiwan’s government has said it is monitoring the situation. Last week, a mainland affairs council spokesperson, Jan Jyh-horng, said Li was “safe” but declined to give further details, citing calls for privacy from his family. Taiwan’s premier, Chen Chien-jen, said the government was providing care and assistance to Li’s family.
Bei later took down his Facebook post reportedly upon request of Li’s family, but the alleged detention has sparked concern in Taiwan and in east Asian academic and dissident circles. Under the rule of China’s leader, Xi Jinping, crackdowns on dissenters, human rights groups, and critics have intensified.
Gusa is known for publishing books that are critical of the Chinese Communist party (CCP) or are politically sensitive, including about the Tiananmen Square massacre, human rights abuses of Uyghurs in Xinjiang, and corruption within the CCP.
Li was born in China but relocated to Taiwan in 2009, where he established Gusa Publishing. Colleagues at Gusa have said Li had since obtained citizenship of the Republic of China (Taiwan’s formal name), and was seeking to renounce his Chinese citizenship within the requisite three months under Taiwan law. Taiwan media also cited government officials as saying Li was being treated as a Taiwan national.
The case has drawn comparisons to the detention of five booksellers connected to Hong Kong’s Causeway Bay Books, a seller of numerous critical, political and gossipy titles that had been banned by the CCP. In late 2015, the five were “disappeared” from various locations in Hong Kong, mainland China and Thailand, re-emerging later in Chinese detention.
One, Gui Minhai, remains in detention, and in 2020 was sentenced to 10 years on charges of “illegally providing intelligence overseas”. Another, Lam Wing-kee, skipped bail in Hong Kong in 2016, later fleeing to Taiwan where he has since re-established the bookstore in Taipei.
Lam told the Guardian on Monday that Chinese authorities would be treating Li as a Chinese national, whether or not he had renounced his citizenship to obtain Taiwanese citizenship.
“From the point of view of mainland China, they think you’re from where you were born,” Lam said. “Li published some books in Taiwan that violated the laws of his own country. This is a more serious situation … Publishing these books is a risk. And it is an important warning to other Taiwanese publishers.”
Supporters including the Gusa publishing house, where Li is editor-in-chief, PEN America, and dozens of writers, academics and activists have all voiced concerns for his safety.
“Li is not the first publisher to be detained by China, which is also the world’s largest jailer of journalists,” said the TFCC on Monday, calling on Beijing to respect media freedom and release “all unjustly imprisoned media workers”.
On Saturday, a group of more than 40 Asia-focused writers, media workers and academics joined Gusa Publishing on a statement calling for his release. It said Li had not had access to lawyers or family members and communication was restricted, according to a report by Taiwan’s CNA.
“In Taiwan, freedom of speech and publication, and academic freedom are like the air we breathe. They are part of daily life for every reader, every author, every translator and every editor,” said the statement.
“Under Fu Cha’s leadership as editor-in-chief, Gusa’s books have been very popular with Chinese-language readers around the world for their diversity and the inspiration they provide. We believe Fu Cha has not committed any crime in utilising these freedoms.”
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Suspected state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- May 24, 2023
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- May 18, 2023
- Event Description
A court in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou on Thursday jailed veteran dissident Wang Aizhong for three years after he retweeted foreign media reports on Chinese social media platforms.
The Tianhe District People's Court handed down the jail term after finding Wang guilty of "picking quarrels and stirring up troubles," a charge frequently used to target peaceful critics of the ruling Chinese Communist Party.
The court found that Wang had "used social media platforms to quote and repost false reports in the foreign media about China's political system."
Wang, 46, also stood accused of "adding false information that seriously damaged China's image" and of causing "serious public disorder," it said.
Police threw a security cordon around the court building, with plainclothes and uniformed officers patrolling nearby streets, and took Wang's wife Wang Henan to attend the trial, escorted by state security police, she told Radio Free Asia.
"One man and two women from the state security police sent a special car to meet me downstairs from our apartment and take me to the court," Wang Henan said. "The two women watched me the whole time."
She described the sentence handed to her husband as "a joke."
"It's an absolute joke, and we totally refuse to accept it," she said. "His lawyers have argued all along that Aizhong is innocent, because nothing that he said added up to a crime."
‘A way of keeping me quiet’
Wang Henan said she was prevented from attending the pretrial conference with her husband and his defense team, despite not having seen him in two years.
"They don't want me to know too much about the process and content of the trial," she said. "It's a way of keeping me quiet and stopping me from posting something publicly."
"They also want to torture me psychologically because I love Aizhong, and I haven't seen him for two years," Wang Henan said.
Outside the courtroom, police were stationed on nearby sidewalks in a bid to prevent Wang's supporters from showing up for him.
"There are plainclothes police officers dotted along more than one kilometer from the court gates, all the way to the subway entrance," a Guangzhou resident who requested anonymity for fear of reprisals told Radio Free Asia.
"I'm guessing there are about 70-80 of them in total, and seven or eight of them are currently surrounding me," he said. "One of them asked to see my ID ... then I was told to leave immediately or I would be taken to the police station."
Fellow rights activist Liang Yiming said Wang's online comments had always been very moderate, and that had only been exercising his constitutional right to freedom of speech.
"Take the pandemic in Wuhan," Liang said. "Wang Aizhong once called on them to disclose the number of deaths, but the authorities felt that this would cause panic."
"They don't like people to be so proactive, but we as citizens have the right to question them, or why would we pay our taxes and fund a government that just does whatever it wants," he said.
Guangzhou protests
The length of Wang's sentence likely means he will be released in May 2024, after time already served is deducted from the sentence. The family has indicated that it supports him in appealing the sentence.
Wang was initially detained at his home in Guangdong's provincial capital, Guangzhou in May 2021, and his apartment searched by police, who confiscated reading materials and computer devices.
He had been a key activist during protests in Guangzhou in January 2013 that were sparked by the rewriting of a New Year's Day Southern Media Group editorial calling for constitutional government.
Activists, journalists, and academics faced off with the authorities for several days after the Southern Weekend newspaper was forced to change a New Year editorial calling for political reform into a tribute praising the Chinese Communist Party.
The protest was one of the first overt calls by members of the public for political freedom since large-scale pro-democracy demonstrations were crushed in a military crackdown in Beijing's Tiananmen Square in 1989.
He was later detained in 2014 on suspicion of the same charge, shortly before the 25th anniversary of the June 4, 1989, Tiananmen massacre.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Denial Fair Trial, Intimidation and Threats, Judicial Harassment, Surveillance
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Online, Right to fair trial, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Family of HRD, Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary, Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- May 23, 2023
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- May 16, 2023
- Event Description
Footage has emerged showing Gonmo Kyi being forced into a car by security personnel in Lhasa.
Gonmo Kyi is the sister of the detained Tibetan businessman Dorjee Tashi and has carried out a series of protests calling for him to be given a fair trial.
Tibet Watch received the videos on 16 May. In one, Gonmo Kyi, is on the ground and surrounded by police. While she is struggling, it sounds like she is saying: “It doesn’t matter that I am falling down! I don’t want to go! Just arrest me!”
The next shows the security personnel holding Gonmo Kyi and forcing her into the back seats of a white vehicle while she says: “You can kill me here.”
There is currently no further information on Gonmo Kyi’s location and wellbeing.
Over the past five months, Gonmo Kyi has carried out a series of protests outside Tibet Higher People’s Court in Lhasa. She has been detained numerous times and during recent protests the police have obstructed her from public view by surrounding her and covering her with black fabric or barriers.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- Abduction/Kidnapping
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to Protest
- HRD
- WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Related Events
- China: sister of Tibetan political prisoner arrested, beaten (Update), China: sister of Tibetan political prisoner obstructed as she resumes protest (Update), China: Tibetan family threatened for protesting their relative imprisonment
- Date added
- May 23, 2023
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- May 6, 2023
- Event Description
Authorities in the southern city of Shenzhen shut down an art exhibit that described young people in China as the "last generation," a reference to a viral video from the 2022 Shanghai lockdown, in which a young man tells police officers threatening him that he won't be having kids.
Beijing artist Li Wei was served a "notice of closure" by the venue hosting his work "Manifesto," which consists of the words "We Are The Last Generation, Thank You." in English and Chinese, according to information posted to Twitter by "Mr. Li is not your Teacher."
The work had been part of a contemporary art exhibit in Shenzhen's Nanshan district to mark the anniversary of the 1919 May Fourth Movement of patriotic young Chinese, according to the account, which typically posts reports that would be quickly censored within the Great Firewall of Chinese internet censorship.
“On May 6, the Shenzhen Yanhan Highland 404 Space, which hosted the exhibition, announced that it would be closed for maintenance," the tweet said, adding that the exhibit had been open for just four days.
The move comes as President Xi Jinping has been struggling to counter a growing culture of passive resistance among young people, who face dwindling job prospects, a failing economy and scant desire to marry or have children.
Local officials have announced schemes to relocate unemployed urban youth to rural areas to work in agriculture, potential signs of a planned mobilization that was last tried during the political turmoil of the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976).
Social justice theme
Li Wei’s work typically carries a strong social justice theme, said an arts administrator who gave only the surname Li who met him more than 10 years ago.
"He uses his works to speak out at social and artistic events," she said. "He used his installation ‘A Cake’ to speak out in 2010, when the Beijing Art District was demolished” by the authorities.
Censors backed by the Communist Party have been deleting references to a viral video that spawned the "last generation" meme, which emerged as a form of protest over ongoing lockdowns, mass incarcerations and compulsory testing under the three-year zero-COVID policy, which ended in December.
In the viral video, PPE-clad police officials turn up outside a young man's apartment and try to force them to go to an isolation camp even though he had recently tested negative for coronavirus.
"We're negative. You have no right to take us away," the man says, before a police officer steps forward wagging a finger and says: "You know that we will punish you, right? And when that happens, it will have a bad effect on your family for three generations."
"We're the last generation. Thank you." the man replies in the video which began circulating on Chinese social media platforms in May 2022, garnering huge numbers of views and comments.
Some joked online that the era from 1966 onwards was all about the innocence of revolution and justified rebellion, while the 1989 pro-democracy movement felt it was their "duty" to protest.
‘Saying no to four things’
According to online comments, the youth of today are shutting up shop before their lives have properly begun, by referring to themselves as the "last generation," or "the People Who Say No to Four Things": finding a mate, marriage, mortgage and raising kids.
Former Nanjing teacher Gu Fang said local businesses are closing down in large numbers, while foreign investors are fleeing, leaving few opportunities for fresh graduates as unemployment runs at 20% for that age group.
"Their outlook is grim in terms of basic material security," Gu said. "Yet the phrase 'we are the last generation' also shows psychological distress."
"[Li Wei's] artwork expresses dissatisfaction and anger, wondering whether modern life is even worth living," he said.
To try to counter that pessimism, Xi praised young people who had "gone down to the villages and fields" as part of the "rural revitalization" campaign in a letter to students of the China Agricultural University to mark May Fourth.
Similar phrasing was used by late supreme leader Mao Zedong to initiate the mass mobilization of educated urban youth to the countryside during the Cultural Revolution.
"Chinese youth in the new era should embrace this spirit," Xi wrote, in a reply to an earlier letter from the students saying they would be "seeking out hardship" by volunteering for rural manual labor.
His comments came after he gave a speech on "rural revitalization" on Dec. 24, 2022, calling for "orderly guidance" of college graduates, skilled businesspeople, migrant workers and enterprises to "return to their hometowns," with young people being "the most dynamic force" behind his plan, according to state media.
‘Familiar ring’
Wu Chien-chung, associate professor at the National Taiwan Ocean University, said the wording of Xi's letter had a "familiar ring."
"They have used this method of having young people write letters to Xi before," he said. "The Chinese Communist Party's propaganda system is constantly adapting."
"They have recruited a group of young people to act as props to glamorize the Communist Party and act like a united front," he said, adding that Chinese agents in Taiwan had used a similar tactic by getting young Taiwanese people to write to Xi last year.
He said Xi's letter comes after Vice President Wang Qishan warned people to "expect hardship."
"The whole of China and the entire world know that China's economic growth has fallen sharply," Wu said, adding that authorities in the southern province of Guangdong have already launched a scheme to send 300,000 urban youth to rural areas.
"A lot of people thought it was a scam," Wu said. "Even mainland Chinese websites and Little Pinks [government supporters] thought it was cognitive warfare or fake news."
"Only when the government confirmed that it was a nationwide policy direction did they realize it was an overt conspiracy by the Communist Party ... to try to solve youth unemployment and other issues," he said.
PR campaign
Public perception of the scheme hasn't been helped by the appearance of scantily clad social media influencers posing as rural laborers on Chinese social media in recent months, Wu added.
”Here we go again with those so-called rural volunteers fit to make you blush," Weibo user Gray_Production_Circle wrote in July 2022 above a video clip of a glamorous young woman posing on a tractor. "Leave the poor old guy alone!"
A story on the Yiping News Network showed a group of scantily clad young women sitting at a farmyard table, describing the "rural volunteer" phenomenon as a new trend for Chinese social media influencers.
"Many rural villages have become places for Internet celebrities and beautiful women to check in and 'show off their skills,"’ the story said.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment, Censorship
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline
- HRD
- Artist
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- May 15, 2023
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Apr 26, 2023
- Event Description
On 3 May, Gonpo Kyi shared a video decrying the unjust verdict against her brother Dorje Tashi. Kyi says in the video, “Both the masses and leaders must abide by the law of the country. Here, however, the leaders do not follow the law and are not punished while the masses are subjected to punitive measures. The court did not respond to my petitions calling for its judges to be held accountable and penalised for not following the rule of law. Instead, the petitions were snatched from our hands and thrown into the dustbin. If common people like us did such a thing, we would have been accused of breaching various laws and subjected to numerous punitive measures.”
This comes within a week after her detention in police custody for staging a relentless series of protests against the Chinese judicial authorities, specifically the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) Higher People’s Court, which passed the verdict on Dorje Tashi. On 26 April, Gonpo Kyi and her spouse were apprehended by the Public Security Bureau (PSB) officers in Lhasa and were released the following night on 27 April, reported exile Tibetan sources. During their detention, they were reportedly subjected to physical abuse, rigorous questioning and warned not to engage in such activities in the future. Instead Gonpo Kyi responded, “I will continue to protest until they kill me.”
Unfazed by police beatings and intimidation, Gonpo Kyi staged a protest in front of the TAR Higher People’s Court on 23 and 24 April. She demanded a fair and just trial for her brother Dorje Tashi, whose case was marred with allegations of false conviction and judicial irregularities. Notwithstanding the peaceful nature of the demonstration, the authorities attempted to suppress her voice by covering her protest with long black sheets.
Earlier on 20 March, Kyi stood outside the TAR Higher People’s Court wearing a white shirt on which was written a slogan in Mandarin Chinese: “The allegations made by the Tibet Autonomous Region Higher People’s Court against Dorje Tashi are false!” In her hand, she held a copy of the verdict against Dorje Tashi. Her protest was short-lived when the Lhasa PSB officers arbitrarily detained her overnight and subjected her to beatings and interrogation.
A day later, on 21 March, a video clip surfaced on social media showing the police beating up Gonpo Kyi in front of the police station.
Following this, on 26 March, Kyi returned to the site of the protest to call for the verdict against her brother to be overturned and for her brother to meet his family members.
On 31 March, Dorje Tseten, brother of Dorje Tashi, was summoned to the Lhasa PSB office, where he was informed that regardless of the numerous discussions about the wrongful conviction of Dorje Tashi, there was no possibility of overturning the verdict. Furthermore, Dorje Tseten was threatened with harsh punitive measures if he or anyone else continued to protest against the verdict.
Gonpo Kyi recorded a video just prior to the protest of 20 March, which later circulated widely on the internet. In the video, she says, “I have spoken about this issue and introduced myself numerous times. It is now common knowledge. I am the sister of Dorje Tashi, the owner of Yak Hotel. In 2008, both of my siblings were arrested. Dorje Tsetan was sentenced to six years in prison, as indicated by the verdict document. My other sibling has been in prison for fifteen years now. The verdict was made 15 years ago by Norbu Dhondup, a judge from the TAR- Higher People’s Court, along with Penpa Lhamo and Pasang. At the same time, a Chinese couple, He Xingyou and his wife, were convicted of mortgage fraud worth 53 million yuan and sentenced to only 15 years in prison and released after serving just ten years. But my brother Dorje Tashi, who has been falsely accused of the same crime, remains behind bars despite repaying his total loans.”
It’s been 15 years since Dorje Tashi has been unjustly imprisoned for life for false loan fraud charges. Despite numerous appeals for a just trial and case revision, he remains behind bars. His family is not allowed to meet with him or to appeal to higher authorities about his case.
Both Gonpo Kyi and Dorje Tseten have resorted to peaceful protests in front of the TAR Higher People’s Court and carried out protests in the form of open letters and video messages to expose the names of those responsible for the unfair trial.
The Chinese authorities’ repeated detention and intimidation of Gonpo Kyi, a peaceful protester demanding justice for her brother Dorje Tashi, clearly violates her fundamental right to protest and expression. Such actions are not only contrary to the law, but they also show a blatant disregard for fundamental human rights.
TCHRD calls on the Chinese authorities to respect the fundamental rights of Gonpo Kyi and all Tibetans. We condemn the cowardly and unlawful acts of the Lhasa PSB authorities for intimidating and threatening Dorje Tseten and his family members for merely exercising their basic human rights and demanding justice for Dorje Tashi, who is in prison for a crime he did not commit. We demand that the authorities cease their harassment of Gonpo Kyi and address her grievances, as a responsible government must. It has been proven through expert legal analyses that Dorje Tashi was unjustly imprisoned and disproportionately sentenced in a politically motivated verdict.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, Family of HRD, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Related Events
- China: sister of Tibetan political prisoner arrested, beaten (Update), China: sister of Tibetan political prisoner obstructed as she resumes protest (Update), China: Tibetan family threatened for protesting their relative imprisonment
- Date added
- May 15, 2023
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- May 11, 2023
- Event Description
China sentenced lawyer and prominent rights activist Guo Feixiong to a prison term of eight years on Thursday, with diplomats from several countries saying they were barred from the trial in the southern city of Guangzhou.
The sentence follows terms of more than a decade in jail each handed to two prominent rights lawyers, Ding Jiaxi and Xu Zhiyong in April, amid China's clampdown on dissent since President Xi Jinping came to power in 2012.
While rights groups say hundreds of lawyers and activists have been detained in recent years, China says it respects the rule of law and individual rights and rejects criticism of its human rights record.
Guo, 58, has drawn international attention for campaigns against issues such as graft and censorship, and his accusations of mistreatment by Chinese authorities during more than a decade behind bars on previous charges.
His latest detention, in 2022, came a year after he was stopped from leaving the country to visit his dying wife in the United States, sparking further outcry.
After a three-hour trial Guo, whose real name is Yang Maodong, was found guilty of defaming China's political system and inciting subversion of state power, his brother said in a statement, adding that Guo would appeal against the judgment.
Thursday's statement was confirmed by Guo's lawyer.
Diplomats from several countries said they were prevented from attending the trial.
"Today, U.S. diplomats were blocked from attending the court proceedings of Guo Feixiong," the U.S. embassy in China said on its Twitter account. "We continue to call for Mr. Guo's speedy release so he may be reunited with his family."
Diplomats from Britain, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, and the Netherlands were also turned away and told by a court clerk that foreign visitors needed approval from higher authorities, four diplomats told Reuters on condition of anonymity.
The Guangzhou Intermediate People's Court and China's foreign ministry did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
In early 2021, Guo was stopped by officials at the airport in the commercial hub of Shanghai as he sought to visit his ailing wife in the United States.
His public pleas to be allowed to leave were rebuffed and his wife died of cancer about a year later. Two days after that, Guo was arrested by Guangzhou police and has been held in detention since, according to rights groups.
Guo was subjected to "years of mistreatment, imprisonment, routine harassment and surveillance, and denied foreign travel for his peaceful advocacy on behalf of the Chinese people," the U.S. state department has said earlier.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Denial Fair Trial, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to fair trial, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Lawyer, Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Related Events
- China: pro-democracy defender formally arrest after 1 month incommunicado, China: pro-democracy defender indicted on subversion charges (Update)
- Date added
- May 14, 2023
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- May 1, 2023
- Event Description
Beijing authorities have refused to accept Wuhan-based citizen journalist Fang Bin for relocation after he was bundled onto a high-speed train for the capital shortly after his release from a three-year jail term on Sunday.
Fang was sentenced to three years' imprisonment at a secret trial on orders from Beijing after filming from hospitals and funeral homes early in the COVID-19 pandemic, Radio Free Asia reported last week.
After his release, he was turned around and sent right back again by Beijing police as the authorities stepped up "stability maintenance" measures aimed at getting rid of other politically sensitive figures who have made their homes in the capital.
The Wuhan authorities had believed they were relocating Fang to live with his son, but his son was himself under huge political pressure from the authorities not to have Fang Bin live with him, according to a person familiar with the matter.
"His son was apparently under pressure, and that made his father unwilling to stay in Beijing, so the son took Fang Bin out to eat, bought him some clothes, then Beijing police bought Fang Bin a high-speed train ticket and sent him back to Wuhan on the train that same evening," said the person, who asked to remain anonymous.
Fang was scheduled to arrive in Wuchang, one of the cities in the Wuhan conurbation, at around 9.00 a.m. on Monday, where he was reportedly met by relatives, according to another person who asked not to be named for fear of reprisals.
However, repeated attempts to contact him were unsuccessful on Monday.
"The police told Fang Bin that he's not allowed to give any interviews or post videos online," the person said.
"He went to the traditional Chinese clothing store that he used to run in Hankou North this afternoon, but found that everything in it had been taken away," the person said. "I heard that Fang Bin lost a tooth in prison, but I don't know exactly how."
His release comes amid reports that Fang's sister is unwilling to have him living with her, according to someone familiar with the matter who gave only the surname Liu.
"Fang Bin's sister is likely under pressure [from the authorities], and doesn't want Fang Bin living with her," Liu said. "He will stay with his sister [Monday] night, then will find somewhere else to live in Wuhan later."
"But the Wuhan police don't want Fang Bin to stay in Wuhan either," Liu added.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment, Restrictions on Movement
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of movement, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Community-based HRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- May 7, 2023
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Apr 14, 2023
- Event Description
Authorities in the central Chinese province of Hubei have detained an investigative journalist known for exposing official corruption on charges of "selling counterfeit medicines."
Shangguan Yunkai was taken away by local police, hooded and handcuffed, from a teahouse in Hubei's Ezhou city, and is currently under criminal detention after police found a skin cream imported from Taiwan in his possession, his son Shangguan Keke told Radio Free Asia on Wednesday.
"This ointment is made in Taiwan, and is available on a number of e-commerce platforms in China, and ... isn't a medicine in the true sense – it's more of a wellbeing product that is ... only for external use," Shangguan Keke said.
"All he did was put up an advertisement so people could contact him [to buy it]," he said.
Shangguan Keke said his father was detained following an apparent sting operation.
"On April 13 and 14, people from two addresses near the Ezhou municipal police department contacted my dad and said they wanted to buy the ointment," he said. "When they had done so, my dad was arrested."
Shangguan Yunkai is currently being held at a police-run detention center, where officers are refusing to allow a lawyer hired by his family to meet with him.
"The reception staff at the detention center told me that there was a note on the detention center system saying that Shangguan Yunkai wasn't to be allowed to meet with any lawyers," Shangguan Keke said.
"After we filed a complaint with the local state prosecutor, both our family and our lawyer received various kinds of threats," he said.
He said he was contacted and warned "not to kick up a big fuss" around the case, and warned that he would be held responsible for "online words and deeds."
Reporter who investigated graft
57-year-old Shangguan Yunkai, a former journalist at state-run paper the Rule of Law Daily, was detained after writing books, blog posts and social media posts taking aim at official corruption.
Some of his investigations had led to investigations and the punishment of hundreds of local officials and members of criminal organizations.
Lawyer Li Qinglilang, who has been following the case, said his detention was likely a form of political retaliation for his reporting.
"He's an investigative reporter, and his work has prompted the downfall of hundreds of corrupt officials," Li said.
"Selling [ointment and ointment-infused] plasters is very common in China," he said. "I am guessing that his detention is due to selective and retaliatory law enforcement."
"They use a formula that entails strict laws, widespread violation and selective enforcement," he said, adding that the "counterfeit medicines" charge is a way of avoiding a more political charge like "picking quarrels and stirring up trouble," and defusing public reaction to Shangguan's case.
The charges carry similar maximum sentences of up to three years' imprisonment.
In February 2022, Shangguan wrote an article revealing that Wang Bokun, who had been promoted to deputy director of the Huanggang Municipal People's Congress, had transferred benefits to his private household during his tenure as Luotian County Communist Party Secretary, prompting Wang's dismissal.
He also exposed violations of party discipline and law by Zhang Jingping, Huanggang People's Court judge and executive deputy mayor of Ezhou's Huangzhou district.
Shangguan Yunkai also ran a number of WeChat groups collecting clues and evidence against officials in smaller, prefecture-level cities in the region.
His detention came as official figures showed that more than 770,000 complaints of corruption were received by the Chinese Communist Party's disciplinary arm in the first quarter of 2023, with 111,000 leading to punishments for officials, including nine at the provincial and ministerial level in the space of just 21 days.
Jiangsu-based current affairs commentator Zhang Jianping said anti-corruption operations, spearheaded by the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, have been ongoing since supreme party leader Xi Jinping took power in 2012.
- Impact of Event
- 3
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Denial Fair Trial, Intimidation and Threats
- Rights Concerned
- Right to fair trial, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Family of HRD, Lawyer, Media Worker
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- May 3, 2023
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Apr 3, 2023
- Event Description
A former student leader of the 1989 protest movement at Hangzhou University has stood trial in the eastern province of Zhejiang for “picking quarrels and stirring up trouble,” a charge frequently used to target peaceful critics of the ruling Chinese Communist Party, after he refused food and drink in detention to commemorate the Tiananmen massacre.
Xu Guang appeared in poor health and was extremely weak as he stood trial by video link at the Xihu District People’s Court on April 3, following months of hunger striking and intermittent force-feeding while in a police-run detention center, fellow activist Li Qing told Radio Free Asia on Wednesday.
He told the court that he had refused food and drink in detention to remind the world to “never forget June 4th,” the date of the 1989 Tiananmen massacre that put an end to weeks of student-led protest in Beijing and other major Chinese cities.
“He was very weak,” Li said. “It wasn’t that cold ... but he was wearing a padded jacket, so I think he must be pretty thin – his face looked very thin.”
Li said the authorities had removed his nutritional IV drip, and that Xu had asked for it to be brought back before he would address the court.
“I need the nutrient drip if I’m to have the strength to speak,” Xu said, after which his doctor told the judge that he should be able to speak with no problem.
“I can’t talk with the nutrient drip,” Xu insisted, speaking slowly but clearly after it was wheeled over and put in again, according to Li.
Later, he told the court: “I had just one aim in pursuing this hunger strike, which was to remind the world not to forget June 4th.”
Public mourning for victims or discussion of the events of spring and summer 1989 are banned, and references to June 4, 1989, blocked, filtered or deleted by the Great Firewall of government internet censorship.
Tank-shaped ice cream
Beauty influencer Austin Li, part of a generation of younger Chinese people who consequently know little of the massacre, had his June 3, 2022, livestream interrupted after he displayed a tank-shaped ice cream dessert, prompting censors to pull the plug immediately.
Li said he was particularly moved by Xu’s closing statement.
“He said: ‘I love this country, and I love the Chinese people. I want the verdict on the 1989 protests to be overturned,’” Li said.
Xu friend and fellow activist Zou Wei said the prosecution had based its case on comments made by Xu on overseas social media platforms.
“The long arm of the Chinese Communist Party now extends overseas,” Zou said. “Xu Guang’s video comments on Facebook, Twitter and Telegram are being used as a basis for conviction.”
The prosecution requested a jail term of less than five years, sources told Radio Free Asia.
Xu, 54, had been approached by officers from the Xihu district police department and warned to keep a low profile during the 33rd anniversary of the 1989 Tiananmen massacre on June 4, 2022.
He was later detained after he held up a placard outside his local police station calling for the official verdict on the 1989 protest movement to be overturned.
‘Never publicly accounted for its actions’
Xu previously served a five-year jail term after trying to formally register the China Democracy Party as a political party in 1998, and has repeatedly called on the party leadership to overturn the official verdict of “counterrevolutionary rebellion” on the 1989 protests.
The New York-based Human Rights in China describes the June 3-4, 1989, massacre as a government-backed military crackdown that ended large-scale, peaceful protests in Beijing and other cities during that year.
But the government described the protests as “counterrevolutionary riots,” a term they later replaced with “political disturbances” which they say were suppressed by “decisive measures.”
“The Chinese government has never publicly accounted for its actions with an independent and open investigation, brought to justice those responsible for the killing of unarmed civilians, or compensated the survivors or families of those killed,” the group says on its website.
“In fact, it has never made public even the names and the number of people killed or wounded during the crackdown, or of those executed or imprisoned afterwards in connection with the protests,” it said.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- May 3, 2023
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Mar 15, 2023
- Event Description
Authorities in the eastern Chinese province of Zhejiang have slapped a travel ban on veteran democracy activist Zhu Yufu, as he prepared to travel to Japan to visit his terminally ill sister.
In his first interview with the media in five years, Zhu, 71, told Radio Free Asia that he had applied for, and gotten, a visa for Japan to visit his sister Zhu Yanmin in Sasebo, who is dying of cancer.
“My sister’s lung cancer is at an advanced stage, and she has already had surgery on both lungs,” he said. “All four of her cancer treatment plans have failed, and now her white blood cells are nearly zero, which is very dangerous.”
“That’s why I want to go and visit her now – the trip is for humanitarian reasons,” Zhu said.
Zhu, who was among a group of activists who applied for official permission to set up the now-banned China Democracy Party in 1998, has previously served time in jail for “incitement to subvert state power.”
He served a second jail term from 2012 for “subversion of state power” after he posted a political poem online titled “It’s Time,” calling on people to stand up for their freedom.
He has been under house arrest and close surveillance since his release from prison, and has spent the last two years navigating the bureaucracy necessary to get himself to Japan to visit his sister despite the restrictions of the ruling Chinese Communist Party’s zero-COVID policy, which ended last December.
In mid-March, however, he got a visit from state security police in his home in the eastern city of Hangzhou, who confiscated his passport and shattered his dream of meeting with his ailing sister one last time.
“They said if I left the country, I would become a focal point for other people,” Zhu said. “Nobody is being allowed to leave the country now.”
Zhu said he had retorted that the state security police didn’t want to lose the funding that came attached to his case under China’s draconian “stability maintenance” system, which seeks to nip potential political and social unrest in the bud by targeting activists seen as likely instigators.
“I haven’t opposed the Communist Party for more than 10 years,” Zhu said. “I haven’t given any interviews or written any articles.”
“All I have done is keep on trying to visit my sister.”
‘Top surveillance target’
Zhu said he has long been regarded as the No. 1 threat to social stability by authorities in his home province of Zhejiang.
“I’m the top surveillance target in Zhejiang,” he said. “I’m not allowed to leave Hangzhou, nor say or write anything.”
“There are several surveillance cameras downstairs in this building that were installed just to watch me,” he said. “They call me if I cross the Qiantang River [to leave town], and they come to my door every week to take photos.”
Zhu said he plans to ignore such restrictions now that he has been prevented from seeing his sister.
“I’m not going to comply from now on,” he said. “I’m going to do what I want to do.”
Fellow Hangzhou dissident Zou Wei called on the authorities to let Zhu leave for compassionate reasons.
“This is a form of political persecution,” Zou told Radio Free Asia.
“I hope the authorities will approve Zhu Yufu’s overseas trip to visit a terminally ill relative as soon as possible, on humanitarian grounds,” he said.
In 2013, Zhu was subjected to abusive treatment in jail after his relatives traveled to the United States to garner more support for his release.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment, Restrictions on Movement, Travel Restriction
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of movement
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Related Events
- China: Ailing Chinese Democracy Activist Probed For 'Subversion' Over Art Auction, China: eight pro-democracy defenders interrogated, detained for joining a liberal meeting
- Date added
- May 3, 2023
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Apr 17, 2023
- Event Description
One of the most prominent democracy activists in Hong Kong over recent years, Joshua Wong, was sentenced today to three months in prison over an information breach involving a police officer, according to a post on Wong’s Facebook account.
The 26-year-old rose to prominence in 2014, when, as a bespectacled teenager, he emerged as a leader of student-led democracy protests in which roads in the heart of the financial centre were blocked for 79 days.
In today’s ruling, he was sentenced for breaching a court ban on disclosing personal information about a police officer who opened fire at a protest in 2019, according to the post.
Wong attended the hearing but did not speak, a witness in the court said.
The court did not immediately publish a written judgement, delivering only an oral sentencing today. Wong’s lawyer was not immediately available for comment.
Wong galvanised international support for the former British colony’s pro-democracy movement, meeting politicians from the US, Europe and elsewhere, and drawing the wrath of Beijing, which says he is a “black hand” of foreign forces.
Wong was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize in 2018 for his role in the 2014 protests, known as the Umbrella movement because of the umbrellas protesters wielded to protect themselves from water cannon and tear gas.
Wong is one of 47 pro-democracy figures who have been charged with conspiracy to commit subversion, under a national security law imposed by Beijing in 2020, for participating in an unofficial primary election that year.
Western governments have criticised the law as a tool to crush dissent but Chinese and Hong Kong authorities say it has brought stability the semi-autonomous financial hub after months of sometimes violent protests in 2019.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender, Youth
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Related Events
- China: 47 pro-democracy defenders in Hong Kong charged with subversion, face life imprisonment (Update)
- Date added
- May 2, 2023
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Apr 26, 2023
- Event Description
Years after the infamous crackdown on human rights lawyers and activists, landlords persecuted their pro-democracy tenants. One landlord shut off the gas and electricity for Beijing lawyer Wang Quanzhang’s home. Meanwhile, lawyer Li Heping was forcibly evicted. 709 Crackdown
On July 9, 2015, the Ministry of Public Security of China launched a large-scale arrest and crackdown on lawyers and human rights defenders. Over 300 rights activists were arrested overnight, known as the “709 Case.” More than 7 years have passed, and the suppression against human rights lawyers has not been eliminated. Wang Quanzhang
Lawyer Wang Quanzhang was sentenced to 4 years and 6 months in prison in 2019. On the morning of April 26, he and his wife, Li Wenzu, were forced to move out of their rented home in Beijing after their landlord cut off their electricity. Forced to leave
Wang disclosed the situation on Twitter. According to him, the landlord, last name Li, led an electrician from the power supply company to cut off the power to their rented house and forced them to move. On the 27th, while Li Wenzu was cooking, she realized the landlord also shut off their gas. Renewing the lease
Three months ago, the regular lease expired and turned into a cancelable lease. After Li Wenzu announced her candidacy for the National People’s Congress, the landlord suddenly changed her mind and said she would not rent to them anymore. Some back-and-forth communication ensued, and she was willing to renew the lease again. Change of mind
In April, the authorities stepped up on the surveillance of Wang Quanzhang, and the landlord changed her mind again. On April 20, they were suddenly given notice to move out in a week. Otherwise, the water, electricity, and gas would be cut off. On the 25th, the landlord first asked the residential property management to help cut off the power, but they refused. The landlord then asked workers from the power supply company to help. Illegal eviction
Wang Quanzhang tweeted that the eviction violated the “Housing Leasing Regulation of Beijing. He especially stressed the new article which came into effect last year: “(the lessor) shall not resort to power cuts, water cuts, heat supply cuts, and other such methods and shall not use threats of violence to force the lessee to change or terminate the lease contract.” Power outage
Li Wenzu said in a Twitter video that the landlord removed the electricity meter and caused a power outage, leaving Wang’s house in darkness. The couple relied on candles and rechargeable lamps to maintain the light. “I never thought that in today’s civilized society, in Beijing, we would still live this kind of life using lit candles,” she said helplessly. The real culprit
Wang Quanzhang revealed that there was no actual conflict between them and the landlord; it was just a simple landlord-tenant relationship. There is someone who instigated behind the scenes, and the landlord helped the evildoer. “Wherever we move,” he said, “we face the problem of being forced to move out, and everyone can see who is the instigator behind the scenes.” Li Heping evicted
Wang Qiaoling, the wife of Beijing human rights lawyer Li Heping, has a similar experience of being forced to relocate. She tweeted on April 26 that they were forced to leave Shunyi, Beijing. “We would like to live and work in peace and contentment, but there are always people who are unwilling and unhappy.” Li’s statement
Lawyer Li Heping released a statement on the 25th:
After July 9, 2015, we were forced to move out of our residence seven times by the police. This recent time, in order to force us to move out of the district we are currently living in, the chief of the police station called a meeting of the real estate agent, demanding that the real estate agent not rent a place to my family, and not let us live in it even after signing the contract. My current residence was signed through a real estate agent. They threatened to revoke the agent’s business license and forced the agent to come to the house several times to force us to move out. They keep cornering us; they’re going to force us all the way to the moon! German Foreign Minister’s visit
The Foreign Minister of Germany came to visit China earlier in April. During his visit, plainclothes officers blocked the front doors of Wang Quanzhang, Li Heping, Wang Yu, Bao Longjun, and others. Yu Wensheng
Human rights lawyer Yu Wensheng and his wife, Xu Yan, were intercepted on their way to the German embassy after receiving an invitation to visit. The couple were both charged with “picking quarrels and provoking trouble” without having committed any illegal acts. Authorities then forced the couple to relocate. Arrested
They had just found a house and settled down when police arrested the couple on April 14. Their son was kept under surveillance at home.
- Impact of Event
- 4
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to housing
- HRD
- Family of HRD, Lawyer
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Related Events
- China: HRDs prevented from leaving home on International Human Rights Day, China: human rights lawyer Wang Quanzhang released after 4,5 years in jail, is sent away from home for allegedly quarantine, China: Imprisoned Lawyer Wang Quanzhang’s Six-year-old Son Once Again Forced Out of School , China: Jailing of Chinese Rights Lawyer Wang Quanzhang Sparks Public Outcry, China: pro-democracy activist sentenced to 7.5 years for subversion, China: pro-democracy lawyer among those put under close surveillance, China: Rights Lawyer Li Heping Fails to Arrive Home After Suspended Sentence, China: Wife of Chinese rights lawyer under house arrest
- Date added
- May 2, 2023
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Apr 13, 2023
- Event Description
A prominent Chinese human rights lawyer and his wife have been arrested while traveling to the European Union embassy in Beijing, the EU said on Friday.
Yu Wensheng and his wife, Xu Yan, were detained on Thursday and whisked away in a police car to a police station “for going to an embassy,” Xu said in a video posted on her Twitter account.
In one of the clips, not accessible in China where Twitter is banned, Xu explained how they were forced into the car by “various people.”
The EU delegation in China said it lodged a complaint with China’s foreign ministry “against this unacceptable treatment.”
“We demand their immediate, unconditional release,” the EU embassy tweeted.
Yu was sentenced in 2020 to four years in prison for “inciting subversion of state power” and was released in March 2022.
Yu has a track record of high-profile human rights cases including the defense of Falun Gong practitioners, a banned religious group since 1999.
He represented people arrested in 2015 during the so-called 709-crackdown that saw Chinese authorities conduct a series of coordinated mass arrests across the country targeting human rights lawyers and activists.
The EU delegation also demanded the release of lawyers Wang Quanzhang, Wang Yu, and Bao Longjun, who are “under house arrest.”
Wang Yu was arrested in 2015 with over 300 human rights lawyers and activists during the 709-crackdown and was released on bail a year later. She has remained under the strict supervision of authorities ever since.
Wang Quanzhang remained in jail for five years until 2020 after being accused of “subversion against the state,” a charge commonly used against activists and dissidents.
Earlier this week, lawyers and activists Xu Zhiyong and Ding Jiaxi were sentenced to more than 10 years in prison after being found guilty of “subverting state power.”
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Family of HRD, Lawyer
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Related Events
- China: detained human rights lawyer secretely convicted to four-year jail term , China: HRDs prevented from leaving home on International Human Rights Day, China: pro-democracy lawyer among those put under close surveillance, China: pro-democracy lawyer, wife placed under house arrest
- Date added
- May 2, 2023
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Apr 24, 2023
- Event Description
Gonmo Kyi has continued her protests against the ongoing imprisonment of her brother, the businessman Dorjee Tashi.
Dorjee Tashi has already spent more than 15 years in prison but his family, including his elder sister, Gonmo Kyi, have maintained that he was never given a fair trial.
The latest protest took place on Monday 24 April in front of Tibet Higher People’s Court in Lhasa.
In videos received by Tibet Watch on 25 April, Gonmo Kyi can be seen holding up a sign as police try to hide her from view by surrounding her with black material.
In the background of one video, Dorjee Tseten, brother of Dorjee Tashi and Gonmo Kyi, can be heard saying: “Today, my sister is forcibly covered into this black cloth, because she refuses to leave and keeps protesting in front of the court.”
This is followed by two more videos, in which Dorjee Tseten says:
“She [Gonmo Kyi] protests for a fair trial for her brother’s case but the court opposed his fair trial. Some Chinese security personnel concealed her with black cloth”, and:
Hello everyone, just take a look, this is Dorjee Tashi’s sister Gonmo Kyi. She keeps calling for fair trial for her brother, but Tibet Higher People’s Court not only defined the fair trial but also covered her with black cloth and detained her.”
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to Protest
- HRD
- WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Related Events
- China: sister of Tibetan political prisoner arrested, beaten (Update), China: Tibetan family threatened for protesting their relative imprisonment
- Date added
- May 2, 2023
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Mar 20, 2023
- Event Description
Gonpo Kyi, the sister of Tibetan political prisoner Dorjee Tashi, has been arrested while protesting for her brother’s release.
Sources report that, on 20 March 2023, Lhasa police forcibly removed Gonpo Kyi from outside the Tibet Higher People’s Court and detained her for a night at Lhasa Beijing Middle Road Police Station. During this time, she was beaten and sustained an injury to her right arm.
The day following her arrest, her elder brother, Dorjee Tseten, visited the police station where she was being held and demanded that she be taken to a hospital. Following a visit to the hospital, she was released from police custody.
In a video seen by Tibet Watch, Gonpo Kyi shows the injury to her arm, as well as the protest slogans written on her shirt and some posters. These slogans read: “Tibet Higher People’s Court perverts the law, Dorjee Tashi is innocent,” alongside a call for Dorjee Tashi’s case to be reviewed. She also shows the police station where she was detained.
Gonpo Kyi and Dorjee Tseten have tirelessly protested their brother’s imprisonment, and called for his release. In a second video seen by Tibet Watch, Gonpo Kyi showed documents of the court’s verdict. She compares her brother’s case to that of two Han Chinese businessmen convicted of loan fraud, who were released after 10 years in prison.
Dorjee Tashi has been in prison for over 15 years for similar loan fraud charges. However, his family disputes the legitimacy of these charges, claiming that the money he borrowed was paid back on time.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Violence (physical), Wounds and Injuries
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- May 2, 2023
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Feb 10, 2023
- Event Description
Reporters Without Borders (RSF) calls for the release of Chinese anti-censorship blogger Ruan Xiaohuan, better known in his country by the pseudonym “Program Think”, who was sentenced in February to a seven years prison sentence.
In the end of March, the wife of Ruan Xiaohuan, a blogger better known by the pseudonym “Program Think”, revealed that her husband was sentenced on 10 February by Shanghai No. 2 Intermediate Court to seven years in prison for "inciting subversion of state power". For twelve years, his personal blog gave advice on how to circumvent China’s Great Firewall of internet censorship, and exposed the regime's malpractices, including corruption. Ruan’s wife, despite the regime's pressure, made a difficult decision of making husband's case public, hoping the media exposure and public attention could help him.
In February, “Program Think”, 46, reappeared in trial for the first time since his forced disappearance in May 2021. He was convicted of having "written more than 100 seditious and defamatory articles''. In addition to the harsh prison sentence, he was also deprived of his political rights for two years, while 20,000 renminbi (2,671 euros) worth of his property was confiscated.
Ruan’s wife noticed that after nearly two years in secret detention, her husband's weight had halved and most of his hair had turned white. In early March, one of his lawyers was denied a prison visit, and notified that two state-assigned legal representatives had instead been appointed by the court.
Mapping of corruption within the party
Launched in 2009, “Program Think” originally published technical advice on cybersecurity on his blog. In time, he started to translate foreign news, compiling data, and producing investigative and political content. In 2016, the blogger published a mapping of the connections and hidden wealth of high-ranking Chinese Communist Party members on Github, exposing the high level of corruption within the regime.
Since Chinese leader Xi Jinping took power in 2012, he began a crusade against journalism as revealed in RSF’s report The Great Leap Backwards of Journalism in China, which details Beijing’s efforts to control information and media within and outside its borders.
China ranks 175th out of 180 in the 2022 RSF World Press Freedom Index and is the world's largest captor of journalists with at least 115 detained.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Online, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Blogger/ Social Media Activist
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Related Events
- China: leading pro-democracy blogger detained
- Date added
- May 1, 2023
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Apr 10, 2023
- Event Description
Reporters Without Borders (RSF) calls for the release of Chinese political commentator Xu Zhiyong, who was sentenced to 14 years in prison for “subversion” after three years in detention during which he was submitted to torture.
On 10 April, prominent Chinese political commentator Xu Zhiyong, 50, was sentenced to 14 years in prison for "subversion of state power" by the Linshu County Court of Shandong Province. He was arrested in Guangzhou on 15 February 2020 after having published an opinion piece critical of general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party Xi Jinping and his handling of the Covid-19 crisis.
Xu was sentenced along with civil rights activist Ding Jiaxi, who received 12 years prison term, after a closed-door trial which took place in June 2022. Both have reportedly been deprived of water, food and sleep, and subjected to prolonged interrogations on the "tiger chair", a notorious instrument of torture used by the Chinese police, during detention. Xu’s fiancée, rights activist Li Qiaochu, was herself detained in February 2021 on suspicion of “inciting subversion” after posting information about Xu and Ding’s treatment in custody.
Relentless fight for a free and fair China
Xu Zhiyong, the founder of the New Citizens' Movement -an informal network of activists advocating for governance reforms and denouncing corruption- was previously jailed for 4 years in 2014 on charge of "gathering a crowd to disturb order in a public place".
Except for Xu, at least nine Chinese journalists or press freedom defenders have been arrested for their coverage or comments on handling of Covid-19 pandemic in China, four of which are still detained, including journalist Zhang Zhan, and political commentators Guo Quan, Fang Bin and Ren Zhiqiang.
China ranks 175th out of 180 in the 2022 RSF World Press Freedom Index and is the world's largest captor of journalists.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- #COVID-19, Freedom of expression Online, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- May 1, 2023
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Mar 31, 2023
- Event Description
On 31 March 2023, the Nanning Municipal Intermediate Court in Guangxi province convicted human rights lawyer Qin Yongpei of “inciting subversion to State power” and sentenced him to five years in prison, to be followed by three years of “deprivation of political rights”. The human rights defender said he would appeal.
According to the verdict, the court’s decision was based on the human rights defender’s online speech on Twitter and on the Chinese social media platform Sina Weibo criticising government wrongdoing and corruption, the interviews he gave to overseas media outlets, and his role in establishing a support group for disbarred human rights lawyers. The court said these acts amount to disinformation and libel against the government, the judiciary, and the Chinese Communist Party, and thus constitute “incitement to subversion of State power” under article 105(2) of the Criminal Law.
The human rights defender has been in detention since late October 2019 and was tried on 31 December 2021. In September 2022, the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention ruled that Qin Yongpei’s detention is arbitrary because his fair trial rights were not guaranteed and that the charge of “inciting subversion of State power” is so ill-defined that it fails to meet the principle of legal certainty. The Working Group also ruled that the human rights defender’s arrest and detention were in retaliation against his exercise of his human rights, including the rights to defend human rights, freedom of expression, and freedom of association. The Working Group called for his release and for the Chinese government to amend its Criminal Law, including article 105, to align it with China’s human rights obligations under international law.
Front Line Defenders strongly condemns today’s verdict against Qin Yongpei as it believes it is solely in retaliation against his peaceful and legitimate human rights work. We call on the relevant authorities in China to promptly quash the conviction and sentence against Qin Yongpei and immediately release him.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Denial Fair Trial, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Online, Right to fair trial, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Lawyer, Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- May 1, 2023
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Apr 10, 2023
- Event Description
Chinese authorities should immediately quash the lengthy sentences on baseless charges handed down to two of China’s most prominent human rights lawyers and activists, Human Rights Watch said today. On April 10, 2023, a court in Shandong province sentenced Xu Zhiyong to 14 years in prison and Ding Jiaxi to 12 years after convicting each for the crime of “subversion of state power.” Their trials were conducted behind closed doors and riddled with procedural problems and allegations of mistreatment.
“The cruelly farcical convictions and sentences meted out to Xu Zhiyong and Ding Jiaxi show President Xi Jinping’s unstinting hostility towards peaceful activism,” said Yaqiu Wang, senior China researcher at Human Rights Watch. “Governments around the world should join in calling on the Chinese authorities to release the two lawyers immediately and unconditionally.”
The authorities detained Ding, 55, in December 2019, after he and Xu participated in a gathering in Fujian province where a group of rights lawyers and activists discussed human rights and China’s political future. In February 2020, the police apprehended Xu in Guangzhou, where he had gone into hiding. Li Qiaochu, Xu’s partner and a Beijing-based women’s rights and labor activist, has been detained since February 2021 on suspicion of “inciting subversion of state power” and is awaiting trial.
Xu, 50, a former lecturer at the Beijing University of Post and Telecommunications, was a cofounder of the now-banned legal aid center Open Constitution Initiative and the New Citizens’ Movement, a nongovernmental group advocating for civil rights, government transparency, and education equality. Ding, a former commercial lawyer, played key roles in both groups.
For their activism, Ding was imprisoned from 2013 to 2016 and Xu served four years in prison, from 2014 to 2018.
Xu was a 2020 recipient of PEN America’s PEN/Barbey Freedom to Write Award. In 2023, the United States Department of State awarded Ding the Global Human Rights Defender Award.
“Beijing’s treatment of the country’s best-known human rights defenders should be a reality check for foreign leaders rushing to return to business as usual with Beijing,” Wang said. “The international community needs to stand by those who are paying the highest price by fighting for the rights of everyone in China.”
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Denial Fair Trial, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Right to fair trial, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Related Events
- China: China detains activists in year-end crackdown
- Date added
- May 1, 2023
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Mar 5, 2023
- Event Description
Wang Zang and Wang Li previously lived at Beijing’s Songzhuang artists’ village, and had been targeted with repeated forced evictions for showing online support for the 2014 Occupy Central pro-democracy movement in Hong Kong.
Wang Li had several episodes of mental illness as a result of the evictions, including a spell in a psychiatric hospital and reported suicidal thoughts, friends told RFA at the time.
Beijing-based housing rights activist Ni Yulan said Wang Li has been left providing and caring for four children while Wang Zang is in prison.
“The fact that they resorted to threats to get Wang Li to delete video showing her current situation shows that they are the culpable ones,” Ni said.
“What is their ulterior motive here?”
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats, Restrictions on Movement, Surveillance
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of movement, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to privacy
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Government, Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Related Events
- China: human rights lawyer Wang Quanzhang released after 4,5 years in jail, is sent away from home for allegedly quarantine, China: Imprisoned Lawyer Wang Quanzhang’s Six-year-old Son Once Again Forced Out of School , China: Jailing of Chinese Rights Lawyer Wang Quanzhang Sparks Public Outcry
- Date added
- Mar 19, 2023
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Mar 3, 2023
- Event Description
A women's labor organization in Hong Kong canceled a march last weekend to mark International Women’s Day amid threats from police that they would arrest key activists.
The move comes despite the lifting of bans on public gatherings in Hong Kong and criticism by a United Nations rights expert about curbs on civil society and rights activism under a draconian security law.
"We have regretfully decided to cancel the Women's Day rally and demonstration that were scheduled for tomorrow," the Hong Kong Women Workers’ Association said in a brief statement on its Facebook account on Saturday, without giving a reason for the change. "Apologies for this!"
The League of Social Democrats, a pro-democracy political party led by veteran rights activists that would have taken part in the event, said police had claimed that "violent elements" had been planning to join the rally.
"We are sure the reasons behind the decision are patently obvious to the public," the group said in a statement on its Facebook page, adding: "Two days before the march, four LSD members were warned by the National Security Police that they must not join the march, or else they will be arrested."
League Chairperson Chan Po-ying said she and three other members were hauled in by national security police on March 3 and warned that they would be arrested if they took part in the event.
"They called last Friday ... and sent a car to take me to the police station," Chan told Radio Free Asia. "They got straight to the point and told us that we couldn't take part in the demonstration, without giving the reason."
"They just said that we are well-known figures ... When I asked what would happen if I insisted on going, he told me very clearly that I would be arrested," she said. "He wouldn't answer my questions ... just told me not to go."
Chan said it's possible that the authorities are trying to avoid any public protest or dissent during the annual session of China's rubber-stamp parliament, the National People's Congress in Beijing.
‘Deeply infuriated’
The League of Social Democrats said on Facebook that it was "deeply infuriated that our joining of a legal protest was met with intimidation and obstruction by the National Security Police," it said.
"Under such pressure, we decided not to attend. Yet we still hoped the march would go ahead, and the flags of gender equality and the rights of women from the grassroots would fly high on the streets."
It said Hong Kongers' freedom of expression and right to protest were now in "shreds."
Human rights experts at the United Nations seemed to agree, issuing a report that was highly critical of human rights protections in Hong Kong following a review of economic, social and cultural rights in Geneva last month.
"The Committee is concerned about reports of arrests, detentions and trials without due process of civil society actors, journalists, human rights defenders, lawyers working on human rights, disbarment of such lawyers, and others working to defend economic, social and cultural rights," the United Nations Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights said in concluding comments following the review process.
It called for a review of a draconian national security law imposed on Hong Kong by the ruling Chinese Communist Party from July 1, 2020, and for a national security hotline taking tip-offs from informers about breaches of the law – which criminalizes criticism of the authorities – to be abolished.
"The Committee ... concerned that the national security hotline is used extensively and might have detrimental effects on the work and expression of civil society, trade unions, teachers and other actors, including those mentioned above, working on human rights," it said.
‘Mobs in black’
Hong Kong Chief Executive and former police chief John Lee said the organizers of public events have a legal responsibility to ensure it doesn't break the law.
"Anyone who is not confident, is incompetent, or is worried about whether they can do this should not organize public activities, because they have to bear the legal responsibility," he warned.
"We have felt the pain caused to Hong Kong by mobs in black to Hong Kong," Lee said, in a reference to the 2019 protest movement that won broad popular support at the time for its calls for fully democratic elections and better official accountability.
Former pro-democracy lawmaker Ted Hui, who fled into exile amid the citywide crackdown that followed the 2019 protests, said police now appear unwilling to allow any kind of political activity in public.
"My analysis is that the police want to ban demonstrations, and they're not going to give them any opportunity," Hui said. "The police didn't reject the application for the demonstration, so next time they go to the United Nations or face [criticism from] Western countries, they can say they approved it, but that the group canceled it."
"Threatening to arrest people unless they refrain from taking part in a demonstration is very indicative [of the authorities' attitude] and a blatant violation of the Basic Law," he said.
Current affairs commentator Sang Pu said Beijing is continuing to manipulate civil society and political participation in Hong Kong, citing the recent cancellation of the Democratic Party's spring fundraiser by the venue, which said it had an issue with its gas supply.
"This is the Chinese Communist Party ... fully implementing the model it uses [to control] the Chinese people in Hong Kong," Sang said.
"It's very similar to the methods they used to suppress lawyers caught up in the July 9, 2015 crackdown [on rights attorneys, public interest law firms and rights activists]," he said.
He said claims by the Hong Kong government that the city is getting back to normal were misleading, and that normalcy can't happen with the national security law still in place.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Labour rights defender, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Mar 19, 2023
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Mar 8, 2023
- Event Description
State security police surrounded the home of rights activist Li Wenzu and her rights lawyer husband Wang Quanzhang on International Women’s Day, as a U.S.-based rights group hit out at the country's intimidation and harassment of dissidents.
“They sent people to start blocking our door, and not allowing us to go out, from about 5 a.m.,” Wang said from the couple’s home in Beijing’s Shunyi district on Thursday. “They used open umbrellas and shone their flashlights at our security cameras to stop themselves being captured.”
“Our camera shot some blurry footage of them, and found out later that they’d stuck some kind of medicinal plaster over the lens,” he said.
But the harassment didn't stop there, said Wang, a prominent target of a nationwide police operation that detained hundreds of rights lawyers, law firm staff and activists starting on July 9, 2015, and who later sued the authorities over his treatment in detention.
“At around 7:30 a.m., they started knocking on the door,” he said, adding that when he had opened the door to speak with them, they said they were there due to “special circumstances,” as it was International Women’s Day.
“There were around 20 of them, front and back, with several of their vehicles parked outside the door,” said Wang, who also found that the tires of his car were flat on the same day.
“This happened on Human Rights Day last year too, so I’m even more sure that someone is doing this stuff deliberately,” he said. “Other lawyers [in my chat group] told me they had also found their tires punctured.”
Passport application denied
The harassment of Wang and his family comes as the ruling Chinese Communist Party steps up “stability maintenance” measures during the annual meeting of the National People’s Congress in Beijing.
But fellow rights activist Wang Qiaoling said she believes the harassment could be linked to the fact that Li, who won the Franco-German Prize for Human Rights and the Rule of Law in 2019, had planned to file an administrative review against her denied application for a passport, to mark International Women's Day.
“We were planning to go to the Beijing municipal government to submit an application for an administrative review [of that decision], which is actually a pretty common legal procedure,” Wang Qiaoling said. “I don’t understand why they had to go to such lengths [to stop it].”
As the state security police stood guard over Wang and Li, a report from the U.S.-based think tank Freedom House showed that China remains at the bottom of its global survey of freedoms, one of the few countries to have been described as "Not free" for five consecutive decades.
“China ranks near the absolute bottom in terms of overall political rights and civil liberties,” according to the “Freedom in the World 2023” report, which described the country as unmatched in its ability to deploy technology in the service of a surveillance state. “Those who criticized the party received severe penalties.”
It said no country could match the scale and sophistication of the Chinese surveillance state.
“Residents’ activities are invasively monitored by public security cameras, urban grid managers, and automated systems that detect suspicious and banned behavior, including innocuous expressions of ethnic and religious identity,” the report said.
“Those identified as dissidents can face consequences including forced disappearance and torture,” it said. “Protesters continued to encounter pervasive surveillance, abusive interrogations, and intimidation at the hands of authorities.”
Zhou Fengsuo, executive director of the U.S.-based rights group Human Rights in China, said there is still plenty of resistance to abuses of power by the government, citing the white paper movement of November 2022 that prompted a swift retreat from the rolling lockdowns, mass quarantine and compulsory testing of supreme leader Xi Jinping’s zero-COVID policy.
“On the one hand, the Chinese Communist Party stepped up controls and concentrated its power, and its darkness reached a peak,” Zhou said.
“But on the other hand, there was also unprecedented resistance to trouble the waters, particularly in the second half of the year,” he said. “Eventually, that culminated in the white paper movement of late November.”
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- Restrictions on Movement, Surveillance
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of movement, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to privacy
- HRD
- Lawyer, Pro-democracy defender, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Related Events
- China: human rights lawyer Wang Quanzhang released after 4,5 years in jail, is sent away from home for allegedly quarantine, China: Imprisoned Lawyer Wang Quanzhang’s Six-year-old Son Once Again Forced Out of School , China: Jailing of Chinese Rights Lawyer Wang Quanzhang Sparks Public Outcry
- Date added
- Mar 19, 2023
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Mar 4, 2023
- Event Description
On 4 March 2023, a Hong Kong government-designated national security judge at the West Kowloon Magistrates’ Court convicted woman human rights defender Chow Hang-tung and two other leaders of the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China (the Hong Kong Alliance) for refusing to comply with the Hong Kong police’s request in August 2021 demanding disclosure of extensive information about its funding, activities, Board members, executives, and staff.
Sentencing is scheduled on 11 March 2023. The woman human rights defender and the two other Alliance leaders face up to six months in jail and a HKD100,000 fine (approximately EUR 11,919). Chow Hang-tung is also being prosecuted for “inciting subversion of State power” under the National Security Law in a separate case.
The police’s request for information was based on what it claimed were “reasonable grounds” for believing the Alliance was a “foreign agent”, and was issued under the Implementation Rules for Article 43 of the National Security Law in Hong Kong, which grant expansive investigative powers to the police. However, during the trial, the prosecution concealed the identity of the foreign organisation for which it accused the Alliance of acting as a “foreign agent”, and a key police officer who testified also refused to answer questions regarding the identity of the foreign organisation. The judge also sided with the prosecution’s and the police’s argument that disclosure of such information would damage “the public interest” and “jeopardise on-going investigations” into other individuals and organisations.
Chow Hang-tung (鄒幸彤) is a barrister and woman human rights defender in Hong Kong. At the time of her arrest on 8 September 2021 for refusing to provide data to the police, she was one of the vice-chairs of the Hong Kong Alliance. On 24 September 2021, as a result of the prosecution of the Alliance’s leaders and high risks of further prosecution, members of the Alliance voted to dissolve the organisation. On 26 October 2021, while the liquidation process for the Alliance was still on-going, then Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam issued an order for the Alliance be removed from the Companies Register on the basis that "the operation of the Alliance which seeks to end the Chinese Communist Party's leadership amounts to seeking to overthrow" the political system of the People's Republic of China and subverting state power.”
In his ruling, the national security judge also affirmed that the National Security Law itself as well as the decisions and actions of the National Security Committee, a new body created under the National Security Law, cannot be challenged in local court. The National S ecurity Committee, chaired by Hong Kong’s chief executive and supervised by the central Chinese government in Beijing, was responsible for developing the Implementation Rules for Article 43 of the National Security Law.
UN human rights experts have repeatedly raised concerns that the National Security Law and its Implementation Rules for Article 43 pose serious risks to the right to defend human rights and to freedom of expression, freedom of association, privacy, and a fair trial.
In September 2021, UN Special Procedures mandate-holders wrote to the Chinese and Hong Kong authorities about the detention of Chow Hang-tung. The experts said that detention and arrests of human rights defenders “form part of a broader operation to impose undue restrictions on the freedom of expression and peaceful assembly of pro-democracy movements in Hong Kong” and that such “a criminalisation of the exercise of human rights with reference to national security is incompatible with international human rights law.”
In July 2022, the UN Human Rights Committee, in its concluding observations on the implementation by the Hong Kong government of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), expressed concerns about the arbitrary arrests and detention of human rights defenders under the National Security Law and sedition law, calling for the suspension of enforcement of these laws and for their reform or repeal. The Committee stated that “Article 43(6) of the National Security Law and Schedule 6 of the Implementation Rules, which facilitate arbitrary intrusion into privacy for the purpose of public security or national security, are not compatible with article 17 of the Covenant.”
In February 2023, the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights also criticised the use of the National Security Law to target human rights defenders in Hong Kong, and was concerned that the law “has de facto abolished the independence of the judiciary.” It has called for a review of the Law to bring it into line with international human rights standards.
Front Line Defenders believes the arrest and subsequent prosecution of Chow Hang-tung and other Alliance members under the National Security Law are reprisals against their legitimate and peaceful human rights work. Both the substantive and procedural inconsistencies with international human rights standards seen in this case illustrate the intention and capacity of the Hong Kong authorities to use the National Security Law and its Implementation Rules to punish and intimidate human rights defenders and organisations and deter them from communicating or collaborating with or receiving support from international partners, other governments, and UN human rights mechanisms.
Front Line Defenders calls on the Hong Kong authorities to quash the conviction against Chow Hang-tung and the other Alliance leaders, release them immediately, and drop the other criminal charges against them. It reiterates its call on the central Chinese government to repeal the National Security Law and its Implementation Rules in Hong Kong.
- Impact of Event
- 3
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community), Woman
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Right to work
- HRD
- Lawyer, Pro-democracy defender, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Mar 19, 2023
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Mar 9, 2023
- Event Description
Hong Kong national security police have arrested an activist over suspected foreign collusion, with reports identifying her as the wife of detained former lawmaker Lee Cheuk-yan.
Elizabeth Tang was apprehended outside Stanley Prison at around noon on Thursday, media outlets including iCable and Sing Tao reported.
She was arrested after visiting Lee in jail, iCable said. Tang is understood to have moved to the UK in 2021.
Police confirmed on Thursday night that a 65-year-old woman had been arrested for “suspected collusion with a foreign country or with external elements to endanger national security.”
Tang was chief executive of the pro-democracy Hong Kong Confederation of Trade Unions (HKCTU) until 2011, according to her LinkedIn page. The group was among the dozens that disbanded in the wake of the national security law imposed by Beijing in June 2020.
She is currently the general secretary of the International Domestic Workers Federation, a global organisation advocating for the rights of domestic workers with affiliates in 68 countries, according to the group’s website.
HKFP has reached out to the police for comment. Ex-lawmaker husband
Her husband Lee, a former leader of the Tiananmen vigil organiser the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China, is currently detained under the national security law. He and two other ex-leaders, Chow Hang-tung and Albert Ho, and the group itself, stand accused of incitement to subversion.
The case was transferred to the High Court in September, where the highest penalty for incitement to subversion is 10 years’ imprisonment.
Lee was denied bail in December, when a judge ruled there were insufficient grounds for believing that he would not continue to commit acts endangering national security if bail was granted.
In June 2020, Beijing inserted national security legislation directly into Hong Kong’s mini-constitution – bypassing the local legislature – following a year of pro-democracy protests and unrest. It criminalised subversion, secession, collusion with foreign forces and terrorist acts, which were broadly defined to include disruption to transport and other infrastructure. The move gave police sweeping new powers, alarming democrats, civil society groups and trade partners, as such laws have been used broadly to silence and punish dissidents in China. However, the authorities say it has restored stability and peace to the city. ‘Getting off scot-free’
Tang was the target of reports by Beijing-controlled local media outlet Ta Kung Pao in September 2021, when the newspaper accused her of receiving funding from foreign organisations as a board member of labour rights advocacy group Asia Monitor Resource Centre.
Ta Kung Pao added that the centre operated “under” HKCTU, which pro-Beijing supporters have long accused of having close ties with overseas organisations.
After Ta Kung Pao’s report, the centre said it was “independent of any local or international organisations” and said it would cease operations in Hong Kong amid pressure that had “intensified significantly.”
The Asia Monitor Resource Centre conducts advocacy work across the continent. Its website still lists its Hong Kong address.
In November 2021, pro-Beijing supporters petitioned outside the police headquarters, asking why Tang was allowed to “get off scot-free” after Lee had already been “brought to justice.”
Tang’s reported arrest comes days after Chief Executive John Lee met with director of the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office Xia Baolong in Beijing. Lee said Xia told the leader that the Hong Kong government must “nip in the bud” any acts that endanger national security.
“We will definitely crack down on any [forces] trying to undermine national security or breach the peace of Hong Kong society, or [hurt] Hong Kong’s overall interests – and hold them legally responsible under the law,” Lee, who was in the nation’s capital to attend the start of the National People’s Congress session, said on Monday.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Mar 18, 2023
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Mar 1, 2023
- Event Description
A human rights lawyer who represented Ai Weiwei against the Chinese government has "disappeared" after trying to board a train to the southern province of Guangdong, according to rights activists.
Liu Xiaoyuan was stopped by police on March 1 as he tried to travel to Zhuhai city from Ganzhou in the eastern province of Jiangxi, the Weiquanwang rights website reported.
"I was stopped by police from the Ganzhou West Railway Station public security station in Jiangxi province, en route to Zhuhai," Liu wrote in a WeChat post before going incommunicado.
"I asked for a written record [of this interaction], but they refused."
The incident comes as China has stepped up detentions of dissidents and religious figures ahead of the annual session of its rubber-stamp parliament, the National People's Congress.
Liu, a former member of the now-shuttered public interest law firm Beijing Fengrui, went incommunicado on the eve of the annual session in Beijing, a time when the authorities typically target critics of the ruling Chinese Communist Party.
The lawyer previously represented Ai Weiwei when the globally renowned artist was detained in 2011. Ai once called him “the best lawyer in China”.
Other clients have included journalists and activists accused of subverting the Chinese Communist Party.
Stopped by rail police
Before going missing, Liu wrote that he had been stopped by rail police while attempting to travel.
The Civil Rights and Livelihood Watch website also reported concerns about Liu's whereabouts, tweeting a message from the lawyer on the day of his "disappearance."
"My ID card showed up as invalid when I went through the [automatic security] gates, and it wouldn't let me through with just a train ticket," Liu said in comments posted by the group to Twitter.
"Then four railway policemen surrounded me and wouldn't let me go, and the duty supervisor even wanted to confiscate my ID card," he wrote.
"[They said] they were assisting the state security police in my hometown of Suichuan county with their investigation," Liu said.
A fellow rights lawyer who asked to remain anonymous confirmed the rights groups' accounts.
"Liu [told me] last night that he didn't eat, because he was waiting for them to give him an explanation," the lawyer said. "I haven't been able to contact him since [Wednesday] afternoon."
"His mobile phone is switched on, but nobody is picking up," he said.
He said Liu has been repeatedly harassed and persecuted by the government since he was targeted in a 2015 nationwide police operation that saw hundreds of lawyers, law firm staff and rights activists detained, hauled in for questioning and even jailed for subversion.
Stripped of license
Authorities in Beijing stripped Liu of his license to practice as a lawyer in October 2019 after he published a photo of himself selling insecticide as a street vendor - an image that could be considered “a kind of art…[and] a complaint against the abuse of power” by authorities who had forced the shutdown of his law firm he told RFA at the time.
An employee who answered the phone at the Ganzhou municipal railway police department declined to comment when contacted by Radio Free Asia on Thursday about Liu’s disappearance.
Meanwhile, veteran journalist Gao Yu has been taken to the eastern province of Shandong under police escort, while police in the southwestern province of Guizhou have placed more than a dozen members of the banned Guizhou Human Rights Forum under detention or house arrest, activists told Radio Free Asia.
Prominent dissidents Zha Jianguo and Ji Feng are both under house arrest or close surveillance, as is rights activist Li Wei, who posted that he was "going out to walk around and shop, with personal carers alongside," in an apparent reference to state security police minders.
Guizhou rights activists Chen Xi, Li Renke, Liao Shuangyuan, and Shen Youlian have all been placed under close surveillance, while a local Protestant church member said Guizhou pastor Yang Hua is currently under travel restrictions that will likely end in mid-March, after the National People's Congress closes.
- Impact of Event
- 5
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Restrictions on Movement, Surveillance
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of movement, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Lawyer, Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Mar 6, 2023
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Feb 10, 2023
- Event Description
Authorities in Xinjiang's regional capital Urumqi have detained an outspoken ethnic Kazakh musician, weeks after a Kazakhstan-based rights group warned that she was at risk of being hauled off to a psychiatric facility.
State security police in Urumqi's Shayibak district took Zhanargul Zhumatai, 47, away from her mother's house on Feb. 10, after she received a request for a "media interview" from someone claiming to be an Associated Press correspondent, according to the Kazahstan-based rights group Atajurt.
"State security police from the Shayibak branch of the Urumqi police department detained Zhanargul at 5.40 p.m. on Feb. 10," Atajurt spokesperson Nurbek told Radio Free Asia. "She is gone."
While Zhanargul's whereabouts are currently unclear, critics of the ruling Chinese Communist Party have repeatedly reported being held in psychiatric facilities despite having no diagnosis of mental illness.
A few days before she was detained, Zhanargul made a recording of a phone call with local state security police, who wanted to arrange a time to visit her at home.
"I don't want you people in my home," she says on the recording. "I need to tell you straight, Officer Xu, I don't want anyone from the residential office, particularly not the neighborhood committee or the political and legal affairs commission, in my home either."
"I don't want any of this. All I want is to be left in peace," she says.
But the police paid no heed to her request.
"The Xinjiang police called to threaten her at around 5.00 p.m. Urumqi time on Feb. 10, then they sent two ethnic Kazakh [officers] round," Atajurt founder Serikzhan Bilash said.
"They went to her mother's house and took Zhanargul Zhumatai away by force," he said.
Calls to the phone number given out by the purported AP journalist who contacted her on Feb. 8 resulted in a message saying the number was "temporarily unavailable" on Monday.
Land compensation
Her detention comes after she told Radio Free Asia in a Jan. 6 interview that she has been targeted by the authorities ever since she spoke out against government appropriation of ethnic Kazakh herding communities' land to make way for highways and hydropower stations around Urumqi.
Zhanargul spoke out after some herding communities received low compensation or none at all for the loss of their grazing lands, with some of the compensation money believed embezzled by local government officials.
"I wrote in a letter that the Urumqi county government has been suppressing herding communities and violating management regulations for national grasslands including resettlement subsidies that herding communities should get," she said in the interview with RFA Mandarin on Jan. 6.
"Urumqi officials sent me to a concentration camp, for so-called re-education ... because I refused to apologize," she said, adding that she was initially detained at the Urumqi No.3 Detention Center in 2017, before being transferred to one of the mass incarceration camps across Xinjiang which the ruling Chinese Communist Party says are for "re-education" and "vocational training."
She was put under huge pressure in the camp to write a confession detailing her "extremist" thoughts based on religious material on her cell phone, but continued to insist on her innocence.
In the interview, Zhanargul described being made to sing revolutionary songs about the "motherland" and the Communist Party, as well as study the government's guidelines on religious "extremism," which include a number of behaviors that are required or commonly regarded as desirable for Muslims, such as reading the Quran, or wearing head-coverings or beards.
She also said she was injected with unknown substances by medical staff during her time in the camp.
"I nearly fainted, had diarrhea and felt nauseous afterwards," she said. "While they were injecting me, they laughed at my screams and asked if it hurt. I couldn't lift my arm for a couple of weeks after they injected me."
Zhanargul said she lost nearly half her body weight during her stay, developed a number of health problems, and was denied permission to communicate with her family.
"When I went in there, I weighed 86 kilos, and I was a very strong woman," she said. "By the time I got out in May 2019, I was a skeleton who weighed around 50 kilos. I almost died."
Camps 'still there'
Serikzhan Bilash said little has changed in Xinjiang since Zhanargul's incarceration in the camp.
"The inhumane genocidal policies haven't changed; they're still being implemented in Xinjiang," he said. "The Xinjiang concentration camps are still there."
He said that while the Chinese government had released some ethnic Kazahs and allowed them to be reunited with their relatives in Kazakhstan, those who remain inside China remain "under huge pressure."
He said in a Jan. 6 interview that Zhanargul was "extremely brave," as she had been one of the first camp detainees to speak out about her experiences while still in China.
"She is still in Xinjiang, so the state security police could make her disappear, fake her suicide, or put her in a psychiatric hospital at any time," he warned at the time.
Zhanargul's detention came after U.S. lawmakers called on Washington to do more to enforce recent laws passed by U.S. lawmakers addressing the forced labor of the predominantly Muslim Uyghur minority group, who have made up the majority of detainees in the camps.
The government has detained large numbers of Uyghurs, Kazakhs and other ethnic minorities simply for posting religious videos not approved by officials, or for possessing Qurans, prayer mats and traditional clothing, all of which have been described as evidence of "extremism" by Chinese police in recent years.
Sources estimate that Chinese authorities in Xinjiang have detained hundreds of ethnic Kazakhs in recent years, freezing their bank accounts and assets pending "investigation," also for “extremist” behavior that includes normal Islamic practices.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Online, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Minority rights defender, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Feb 27, 2023
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Feb 16, 2023
- Event Description
Chinese police have detained at least five activists who supported recent mass protests in two major cities against the slashing of retirees’ medical insurance benefits earlier this month, Radio Free Asia has learned.
Among those detained was veteran rights activist Zhang Hai, who was picked up by authorities in the southern city of Shenzhen, a resident of Wuhan who gave only the surname Zhang said.
"One of five people detained in connection with the silver protests was Zhang Hai – I heard he was detained in Shenzhen," the woman said. "There was also a 23-year-old man who was detained for singing The Internationale with some older people."
The detentions come after thousands of people took to the streets of two Chinese cities – Wuhan and Dalian – on Feb. 15 in a second mass protest over major cuts to their medical benefits.
Protesters were shown in social media video clips singing the communist anthem "The Internationale" as well as China's national anthem.
"There was also a taxi driver called Shu Li, who was detained around Feb. 20," Zhang said. "He was detained for going to support [the protests]."
Shu was handed a 10-day administrative jail sentence, which can be handed out for up to 15 days to people the police see as troublemakers. However, many detainees aren't released but held under criminal charges when the administrative sentence is complete.
Zhang said Wuhan-based rights activist A Meng was detained in Shanghai and brought back to Wuhan after he supported the protests, while fellow activist Bai Yun had also been detained.
She said the five she named were only the cases she knew about.
"There are probably many more than that, who have been counted," Zhang said.
Clamping down
Zhang Hai's arrest came after he reposted video clips of the protests in Wuhan, along with media reports and comments to his Twitter account.
Zhang Hai, who lives in Shenzhen, became an outspoken critic of the ruling Chinese Communist Party since the pandemic prompted a city-wide lockdown in Wuhan and killed his father.
In June 2022, the authorities placed restrictions on his bank cards, with many transactions blocked, he told Radio Free Asia at the time.
Zhang was recently asked to submit additional proof of ID in recent transactions via his account at the Bank of China Nantou branch in the southern city of Shenzhen, where he currently lives.
Similar restrictions have been placed on several of his bank cards since the beginning of this year, he told RFA, while online banking transactions often fail to go through, he said.
"He didn't only speak out for his father, but also stood up for the rights of other bereaved families," Zhang said. "He became a voice for all vulnerable groups."
Silver protests
Another Wuhan resident who asked to remain anonymous for fear of reprisals, said police in her local area have also been investigating people who took part in the so-called silver protests.
"There was one person who gave interviews to a lot of reporters in Wuhan over the past three years," she said. "They started following him on Feb. 15, and he was snatched away by some [identified] people on Feb. 16."
"He was locked up in the police station for several hours – there is a state of red terror here in Wuhan right now," she said.
The silver protests began on Feb. 8 outside the municipal government in Wuhan, with retirees warning more action would follow in the absence of a response from officials.
An official account on social media described protesters on Feb. 16 as having been "bewitched by rumors" and warned people not to believe "rumors" that medical insurance reforms will leave pensioners worse off.
The protests came after warnings from the central government in Beijing that it won’t be bailing out cash-strapped local governments, whose coffers have been drained by three years of President Xi Jinping’s zero-COVID policy, which ended in December.
People in China frequently challenge those in power, despite nationwide measures aimed at nipping popular protest in the bud, the U.S.-based think tank Freedom House reported in November 2022.
Despite pervasive surveillance, a "grid" system of law enforcement at the neighborhood level and targeted "stability maintenance" system aimed at controlling critics of the government before they take action, the group identified hundreds of incidents of public protest between June and September 2022 alone.
- Impact of Event
- 5
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Community-based HRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Feb 27, 2023
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Feb 15, 2023
- Event Description
Thousands of people took to the streets of two Chinese cities – Wuhan and Dalian – on Wednesday in an ongoing protest over major cuts to their medical benefits, according to local residents and video footage posted to social media.
Video clips uploaded to social media showed crowds singing the communist anthem "The Internationale" under a traffic overpass in Zhongshan Park and along Jiefang Avenue in the central city of Wuhan.
Similar scenes unfolded in the People’s Square in the northeastern port city of Dalian, according to the Twitter account "Mr. Li is not your teacher" using the handle @whyyoutouzhele.
Other clips showed a crowd of older people facing off with ranks of uniformed police officers three or four deep who linked arms and started shoving the crowd slowly to make it pull back.
In one clip, an elderly man is seen lying on the ground with his head and legs propped up while people boo and shout at the police.
The protests were a continuation of an earlier rally outside municipal government headquarters in Wuhan on Feb. 8 against the slashing of medical payouts under an insurance scheme offered to retired employees of state-owned enterprises.
Zero-COVID policy drains coffers
They come after warnings from the central government in Beijing that it won’t be bailing out cash-strapped local governments, whose coffers have been drained by three years of President Xi Jinping’s zero-COVID policy, which ended in December.
Wuhan-based rights activist Zhang Hai said the demonstration there had gone ahead on Wednesday after a smaller protest outside government headquarters last week had failed to elicit a response from officials, and had taken place despite tight security measures.
"The government has been warning people not to go to Zhongshan Park or Shouyi Road since yesterday evening," Zhang told Radio Free Asia. "A lot of residential communities were under lockdown this morning, but a lot of people still turned out nonetheless."
"They are planning to march over by the Yangtze River Bridge after this rally," he said.
Zhang said police had responded by shutting down subway stations and cell phone masts serving the area.
"At the same time [as shutting subway stations], they have shut off the mobile phone signal, and they are making the crowd disperse," he said. "People at the scene say they have detained quite a few people already."
A person shooting footage of the crowd at the park gate said police were trying to get everyone to go inside Zhongshan Park.
"There were policemen everywhere and plainclothes [state security police] standing at the gate of the park," the person comments.
Detained at home
Wuhan resident Zhang Qiang said many other people had been detained in their homes to prevent them from protesting in the first place.
"A lot of people have been confined to their homes by stability maintenance," Zhang Qiang said. "I have been roped in too."
"The police are out in force around Zhongshan Park and Jiefang Avenue," he said.
A protester who gave only the surname Zhou said the cuts to medical benefits affect everyone, not just retired workers.
"People who are paying out 400 yuan a month are getting nothing back from the government now," he said. "So they can't buy their medication."
"They used to get more than 100 yuan a month [as a cash benefit] that they could use to buy medicines [over the counter], but now they're insisting we go to a hospital clinic -- they won't give us money to buy them from the pharmacy any more," Zhou said.
Wuhan businessman Ma Yongnian said he was in a similar situation.
"There are tens of thousands of people blocking the streets," Ma said, adding that similar changes were rolled out in the southern city of Guangzhou recently, but were withdrawn following major public opposition.
"Guangzhou withdrew this policy, but Wuhan is insisting on it," Ma said.
He said hospital visits require a higher co-pay than pharmacies, putting medicines beyond the reach of many retirees.
"I'm affected by this too ... I can only claim 50% of fees in the top three hospitals, and there's an excess of 700 yuan before reimbursements even start," Ma said.
‘Rise up! Rise up!’
Meanwhile, a person filming outside municipal government headquarters in Dalian said the large crowd in People's Square was there to "present their demands" to the authorities.
"They're all older men and women," the person comments on the video clip posted to Twitter by user @Pancho66196600, adding "There are quite a few police here too," as the crowd starts singing the “March of the Volunteers,” China's national anthem.
"Rise up! Rise up!" they sing, before the anthem fades on the winter air, and "The Internationale" takes its place, as some protesters heckle officials making their way into the government offices through the front gates.
According to screenshots and photos posted by "Mr. Li" on Twitter, the protests went ahead in Wuhan despite reports that the authorities had tried to attract older people with a slew of community events for "grandparents," and unconfirmed reports that universities had been closed for just one day on Feb. 15.
Public transportation companies had also issued warnings to employees of a "major demonstration," according to a screenshot posted by the account.
In Dalian, protesters on People's Square also chanted the name of the city's mayor, the account said.
People in China frequently challenge those in power, despite nationwide measures aimed at nipping popular protest in the bud, the U.S.-based think tank Freedom House reported in November 2022.
Despite pervasive surveillance, a "grid" system of law enforcement at the neighborhood level and targeted "stability maintenance" system aimed at controlling critics of the government before they take action, the group identified hundreds of incidents of public protest between June and September 2022 alone.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Community-based HRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Feb 18, 2023
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Feb 8, 2023
- Event Description
Ailing rights activist Huang Qi, who is serving a 12-year jail term in the southwestern Chinese province of Sichuan for "leaking state secrets," has once more been denied a visit from his lawyer, Radio Free Asia has learned.
Huang's lawyer turned up at Sichuan's Bazhong Prison on Wednesday in a bid to visit his client, but was turned away by the authorities, Huang's mother Pu Wenqing told friends via the WeChat messaging app on Wednesday evening.
Huang, now in his late fifties, has been identified by Paris-based press freedom group Reporters Without Borders (RSF) as one of 10 citizen journalists in danger of dying in detention.
He has repeatedly denied the charges against him and has refused to "confess," making him vulnerable to mistreatment and deprivation of rights and privileges in prison.
Later, Bazhong municipal police officers followed up with a visit to the lawyer at his hotel, Pu wrote in comments seen by a person in Chengdu who declined to reveal their identity for fear of reprisals.
"The reason was that the last time a lawyer had visited [Huang], they took photos inside the prison and posted them online," the person told Radio Free Asia on Thursday.
"The lawyer checked into a hotel in Bazhong city on the night of Feb. 7, and four police officers from the local police station turned up there and harassed them," the person said.
An employee who answered the phone at the Bazhong Prison on Thursday hung up the phone as soon as they heard the name Huang Qi.
Further calls to the same number rang unanswered during office hours.
Calls to Pu's number also rang unanswered on Thursday.
Another friend of Huang's who asked to remain anonymous said Pu is currently under close surveillance, surrounded by officials and unable to leave her home.
"Huang Qi's lawyer has never met with her, and ... petitioners [fellow rights activists] have also been unable to visit her," the friend said.
Pu, who is in her late eighties, said she was told by her doctor in June 2022 that her lung cancer was spreading to her liver, and called on the ruling Chinese Communist Party to allow her to visit her son in prison before she dies.
She said at the time she was living under surveillance by the state security police, who insisted on escorting her to every medical appointment.
The last time she was able to speak with Huang via video call was Nov. 24, 2022, according to the overseas-based Chinese Human Rights Defenders network's Twitter account. A Jan. 28, 2022 meeting was abruptly cut off two minutes in, after she tried to discuss Huang's defense lawyers with him.
‘Leaking state secrets’
A court in the southwestern province of Sichuan handed down a 12-year jail term to Huang, a veteran rights activist and founder of the Tianwang rights website, on July 29, 2019.
Huang was sentenced by the Mianyang Intermediate People's Court, after it found him guilty of "leaking state secrets overseas."
Huang's lawyers and Pu have said all along that the case against Huang was a miscarriage of justice, even allowing for the traditionally harsh treatment of dissidents in China.
Chen Tianmao, a former police officer accused alongside Huang, has said the authorities in Sichuan's Mianyang city "faked" documents to use against Huang, as well as torturing Chen, Huang and a third defendant Yang Xiuqiong in a bid to force a "confession" out of them.
Chinese Human Rights Defenders tweeted on Nov. 24 that Huang had also submitted a number of official complaints over his case to the Supreme People's Court and the Supreme People's Procuratorate via the prison.
Huang's Tianwang website had a strong track record of highlighting petitions and complaints against official wrongdoing, and injustices meted out to the most vulnerable in society, including forced evictees, parents of children who died in the devastating 2008 Sichuan earthquake, and other peaceful critics of the ruling Chinese Communist Party.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Denial Fair Trial, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Right to fair trial
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Related Events
- China: Ailing Activist Huang Qi Tried in Secret in China's Sichuan, China: Citizen-journalist arrested over criticising police action
- Date added
- Feb 12, 2023
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Feb 9, 2023
- Event Description
Chinese authorities are stepping up security measures ahead of next month’s annual parliamentary and advisory sessions in Beijing, detaining dozens of people coming to the capital with grievances and forcing them to go back home, Radio Free Asia has learned.
The moves come ahead of the country's rubber-stamp parliament, the National People's Congress.
More than 30 petitioners from Shanghai were detained en route to Beijing by train in recent days, a petitioner who gave only the surname Zhou for fear of reprisals said. "They have just started stability maintenance," Zhou said. "They now need to know the whereabouts of every petitioner."
"Anyone who goes to Beijing gets brought back – they brought back 30 to 40 people in the space of a week, because the Beijing and Tianjin police intercepted the train when it reached Beijing," Zhou said. "They handed them straight over to the Shanghai representative office in Beijing."
China's army of petitioners, who flood the ruling Chinese Communist Party's official complaints departments daily, frequently report being held in unofficial "black jails," beaten, or otherwise harassed if they persist in a complaint beyond its initial rejection at the local level.
They are often escorted home forcibly by "interceptors" sent by their local governments to prevent negative reports from reaching the ears of higher authorities, where they face surveillance, violent treatment and possible detention on criminal charges, particularly during major political events or on dates linked to the pro-democracy movement.
The situation was also confirmed by a Beijing resident who gave only the surname Tang.
"They've started coming in from every locality and detaining people [from their jurisdictions]," Tang said. "They've already arrived from Jilin, Shenyang, Liaoning, while the ones from Ningxia started detaining people on the first and second day of Lunar New Year."
Political machinery
The ruling Chinese Communist Party's advisory body, the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference kicks off its annual session this year on March 4, closely followed by the National People's Congress, where party leader Xi Jinping will likely be nodded through for a third term as president after abolishing term limits in 2018.
Tang, who rents out rooms to petitioners in Beijing, said police had come to her home to warn her not to do so ahead of the parliamentary sessions.
"The police came round five days ago and told me not to rent rooms to petitioners, or my ability to make a living could be affected," she said. "More than a dozen people were taken away [on Thursday]."
"I had told 14 people they could stay with me, but they can't now."
Tang said the measures were part of nationwide "stability maintenance" measures aimed at nipping any possible mass gatherings or protests of those with grievances against the government in the bud.
A petitioner who gave only the surname Zhang from the central city of Wuhan said petitioners are often classified as "key" individuals by police and targeted for stability maintenance, based on how much of a threat they could pose to public order.
They then impose restrictions on them, preventing them from going to Beijing, Zhang said.
"I made a trip to [the central province of] Henan the day before yesterday," he said. "I had been planning to continue north [to Beijing] but five individuals from my local police station contacted me by phone and asked me what I was up to in Henan."
"They had very clear knowledge of my whereabouts and what I was doing."
A petitioner surnamed Li said he and several others were taken away by police recently and had their retinas and voiceprints recorded on a police database.
"We were taken in specially so they could take our retina prints and our voiceprints," Li said. "This means there's no escaping [the authorities], wherever you go."
"If you walk down the street, [nationwide facial recognition network] SkyNet can see where you're going, and they can use your voiceprint [to recognize you making a call] to control you," he said.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats, Restrictions on Movement, Travel Restriction
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of movement, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Feb 12, 2023
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Feb 2, 2023
- Event Description
Family members of the renowned Tibetan businessman Dorjee Tashi have been cautioned by police against protesting his innocence after calling for his release last week. They are nevertheless awaiting a response from the local court.
Last week, family members including Dorjee Tashi’s elder sister, Gonpo Kyi, staged protests outside Tibet Higher People’s Court in Lhasa. They held a written banner stating: ‘the charge and judgement of Tibet’s Higher People’s Court of Tibetan Autonomous Region against Dorjee Tashi is false and unfair.’
A source told Tibet Watch that, after one protest, security personnel outside the court took Gonpo Kyi away to a police station somewhere in Lhasa. When her brother Dorjee Tsetan later came to take her home, police threatened to arrest the pair if they continued to protest. Undeterred by this, they carried out another demonstration the following day.
On Saturday, Tibet Watch received an update that Dorjee Tseten and Gonpo Kyi had agreed to temporarily cease their protests after court authorities promised to respond in a week.
The source added that the pair are “determined to protest if authorities failed to resolve or delay the case.”
Gonpo Kyi had previously staged a sit-in protest about her brother’s continued detention in front of the same court last June. Dorjee Tseten wrote an open letter arguing that his younger brother had been framed by powerful leaders.
Dorjee Tashi was detained on 10 July 2008 and subsequently charged with loan fraud. He was sentenced to life imprisonment and has already spent more than 14 years in prison, despite the Beijing-based Zheng Xin Law Firm stating that Dorjee Tashi’s loan fraud conviction was false. His lawyers claim that he had in fact committed the lesser crime of capital misappropriation in the Qin Sangyuan company, where he was the biggest investor.
According to the source, the last virtual meeting that Dorjee Tashi’s family was able to have with him was in December 2021. No physical visit or meeting has been permitted since 2019.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Community-based HRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Feb 12, 2023
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Feb 6, 2023
- Event Description
The trial of 47 of Hong Kong's most prominent pro-democracy figures begins Monday, in the largest prosecution under a national security law that has crushed dissent in the city.
The proceedings are expected to last more than four months, and the defendants face up to life imprisonment if convicted.
Those on trial represent a cross-section of Hong Kong's opposition -- including legal scholar Benny Tai, former lawmakers Claudia Mo, Au Nok-hin and Leung Kwok-hung, and democracy activists Joshua Wong and Lester Shum.
They are charged with "conspiracy to commit subversion" for organising an unofficial primary election.
According to authorities, they were trying to topple Hong Kong's government, while the defendants say they are being prosecuted for practising normal opposition politics.
Their stated aim was to win a majority in the city's partially elected legislature, which would allow them to veto budgets and potentially force the resignation of Hong Kong's leader.
That vote was ultimately scrapped and Beijing installed a new political system that strictly vets who can stand for office.
The 47 were charged en masse under the national security law that China imposed in 2020, after huge and often violent pro-democracy protests.
Beijing says the law was needed to curb unrest, but critics say the crackdown on the opposition has eviscerated the city's autonomy and political freedoms.
- Fair or farce? -
Dennis Kwok, a former opposition lawmaker who now lives in the United States, described the trial as "a complete farce".
"Subversion is a crime that used to require someone who threatened to use violence... to overturn the regime," Kwok told AFP.
"It doesn't include people who simply run for office and pledge to use their public office to force the government to respond to the demands of the people they represent."
Prosecutors and government supporters see the unofficial primary differently.
"I would assume if your intent is to bring down the government, then that must be unlawful," said Ronny Tong, a veteran lawyer.
- A city transformed -
While Hong Kong has never been a democracy, it enjoyed far more freedoms than mainland China.
The national security law has transformed the city's political landscape as well as its common law legal traditions, refashioning Hong Kong's courts to more closely resemble the mainland's.
The law also empowered China's security apparatus to operate openly in the city.
Judges who sit on national security cases are handpicked by the city's leader and there has not yet been a trial in front of a jury.
Most of the defendants in this case -- 34 out of 47 -- have been jailed for almost two years. The few granted bail have to abide by strict conditions, including speech restrictions.
Legal and political analysts are watching the trial closely.
Eric Lai, at Georgetown University's Center for Asian Law, said Hong Kongers will be paying attention to "how the prosecution defines an ordinary civil society event as a criminal act".
Sixteen of the 47 have pleaded not guilty.
At least three will testify against their peers as prosecution witnesses, the court has been told.
- Impact of Event
- 47
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- Enactment of repressive legislation and policies, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of association, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security, Right to political participation
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender, Student, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Feb 7, 2023
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Jan 14, 2023
- Event Description
On January 14, the contents of Ji Xiaolong’s indictment letter, a well-known Shanghai human rights activist, were revealed. According to the recent disclosure, the official judiciary arrested Mr. Ji during the COVID lockdown for criticizing the country’s leaders. Authorities recently resumed his case for supplementary investigation.
COVID in China
On the afternoon of January 11, 2023, Ji Xiaolong’s lawyer met with him at the Pudong Detention Center in Shanghai. According to the information released by Mr. Ji Xiaolong Concern Group, the lawyer told Ji about the situation of COVID in China, saying that the country has been fully reopened and many people have been infected. Ji Xiaolong noted that he was once infected in the detention center. At that time, he had pain all over his body and came down with a fever, but the detention center did not provide him with medications for treatment.
Refused treatment
Sources disclosed that the detention center did not arrange for Ji Xiaolong to visit the dentist. The month Ji Xiaolong was arrested, the dentist gave a medical opinion and suggested periodontitis treatment; otherwise, he would not be able to receive dental implants in the future.
Potential charges
Ji Xiaolong read the prosecution’s opinion document to his lawyer. The main content has two aspects: one of them being Ji speaking out for relevant protests during the lockdown, and the official said he’s suspected of fabricating rumors. The other was the authorities stating that Ji Xiaolong was suspected of insulting the country’s leader. The specific details will only be revealed after the lawyer reads the document. Ji Xiaolong’s case was returned for supplementary investigation on January 5, and the lawyers will not be able to review the case until February 5.
Further investigation
In terms of procedure, Ji’s case has reached the prosecution stage in the People’s Procuratorate but has been returned for supplementary investigation. According to the relevant provisions of Chinese law, if, within one month, the prosecutor believes that the evidence of the case is insufficient, it does not meet the requirements for prosecution, the court will decide not to prosecute. In the case of the second supplementary investigation, if the prosecutor still believes that the evidence is insufficient and does not meet the requirements for prosecution, it may make a decision not to prosecute.
His work during zero-Covid
During the complete lockdown of Shanghai in April, Ji Xiaolong posted a letter on Weibo, WeChat, and Twitter on April 2, “Immediately stop the campaign-style disease prevention, relieve difficulties and send relief ——Shanghai Citizens’ Petition for the People.” It has been widely distributed and received widespread attention. He also sent a letter to Li Qiang, the Party Secretary of the Shanghai Municipal Committee at the time, who later joined and is now a member of China’s most powerful committee. Ji raised the question of accountability for the excessive COVID prevention policy in the early stage in Shanghai.
His efforts all fall within the category of freedom of speech stipulated in the Constitution of the People’s Republic of China and are based on the most foundational humanitarian considerations.
After that, he organized volunteers in Shanghai to solve the difficulties and resolve the worries of citizens, aided migrant workers who had nowhere to live and offered legal assistance to citizens who were in severe economic difficulties due to covid lockdown.
Detained
For these reasons, Mr. Ji was summoned and detained by the Shanghai police many times and was taken away from his home by the police on August 31, 2022; on September 2 of the same year, he was formally placed under criminal detention by the police again; The People’s Procuratorate approved the arrest on suspicion of “picking quarrels and provoking troubles,” and he was detained in Shanghai Pudong Detention Center.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Denial Fair Trial, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- #COVID-19, Right to fair trial, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Jan 27, 2023
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Dec 26, 2022
- Event Description
Reporters Without Borders (RSF) urges for the release of Hong Kong journalist Tang Cheuk-yu, who was sentenced on 22 December 2022 to 15 months for possession of alleged “offensive weapons” while covering news for Taiwan’s Public Television Service.
On 22 December 2022, freelance journalist Tang Cheuk-yu, was sentenced to 15 months for “possession of offensive weapons in a public place,” during one of Hong Kong protests. Tang was first arrested on 18 November 2019 for “unauthorised assembly” and carrying a multipurpose knife and a laser pen while filming the siege of Hong Kong Polytechnic University for Taiwan’s Public Television Service (PTS). The court acknowledged that Tang worked as a journalist at the time of the arrest.
“Carrying tools like a multipurpose knife isn’t unusual for reporters while in the field, and sentencing a journalist for possession of so-called ‘offensive weapons’ is clearly an attempt to punish him for doing his work,” says RSF East Asia bureau head, Cédric Alviani, who urges the Hong Kong government to “release Tang Cheuk-yu alongside all other journalists and press freedom defenders detained in the territory.”
Over the past two years, the Hong Kong government has been leading an unprecedented campaign against press freedom which included the prosecution of at least 23 journalists and press freedom defenders, 11 of whom are currently detained, and the forced shutdown of major independent media outlets including Apple Daily, while the climate of fear led at least five smaller media outlets to cease operations.
Hong Kong, once a bastion of press freedom, has plummeted from 80th place in 2021 to 148th place in the 2022 RSF World Press Freedom Index, marking the index’s sharpest drop of the year. China itself ranks 175th of the 180 countries and territories evaluated.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Jan 15, 2023
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Dec 30, 2022
- Event Description
Reporters Without Borders (RSF) urges for the release of Chinese political commentator Ou Biaofeng, already detained for two years and who was sentenced on 30 December 2022 to three years and six months in prison for “subversion”.
“As a political commentator, Ou Biaofeng published fact-based essays that allowed the Chinese public to access information on regime's human rights abuses despite heavy censorship. Regime should release him as well as all other press freedom defenders detained in China.
On 30 December 2022, after two years in detention, Chinese political commentator and blogger Ou Biaofeng, 42, was sentenced by a court in the city of Zhuzhou City in Hunan Province (southern China) to three years and six months for “inciting subversion of state power”. Ou was also deprived of his political rights for three years and had 70,000 renminbi (almost 10,000 euros) confiscated, on the pretext that they were an “illegal income” earned from a series of articles critical of the Chinese government published in Apple Daily, Ming Pao and on the website of the civil society organisation Human Rights Campaign in China.
On 3 December 2020, Ou was placed in administrative detention for 15 days for “picking quarrels and provoking trouble” and was two weeks later transferred to one of China’s “black prisons,” under the regime of “Residential Surveillance at a Designated Location” (RSDL) in which detainees are deprived of legal representation and unable to communicate with the outside world. On 22 July 2021, Ou was then formally arrested on the charge of “inciting subversion of state power” and moved to the No. 1 Zhuzhou Municipal Detention Center.
Since Chinese leader Xi Jinping took power in 2012, he began a crusade against journalism as shown in RSF’s report The Great Leap Backwards of Journalism in China, which details Beijing’s efforts to control information and media within and outside its borders.
China ranks 175th out of 180 in the 2022 RSF World Press Freedom Index and is the world's largest captor of journalists with at least 111 detained.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Online, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Blogger/ Social Media Activist, Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Jan 15, 2023
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Dec 5, 2022
- Event Description
Concern is growing over the fate of four Tibetan women detained by China for protesting strict COVID lockdowns in Sichuan, with no word given yet by authorities concerning their whereabouts, according to Tibetan sources.
Zamkar, Kelsang Dolma, Dechen and Delha — all in their 20s and residents of Dardo (Kangding, in Chinese) county in the Kardze (Ganzi) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture —were arrested on December 5 and are now being held somewhere in Kardze, sources told RFA.
“Their exact location is still unknown, but we have heard that they are being given political re-education sessions by the Chinese government,” a source living in the region said, speaking on condition of anonymity for security reasons.
The women were taken into custody in their hometown after returning from Sichuan’s provincial capital Chengdu, where they had participated in anti-lockdown protests, RFA’s source said.
“They had also written a letter to their employer, complaining they hadn’t been paid while the lockdown was in force.
“Only one of them reported to the police when they were summoned for questioning, but the rest were taken from their homes and brought to the police station by force,” he added.
Also speaking to RFA, a Tibetan living in exile said the four women had worked at a Chinese-owned restaurant in Chengdu before their arrest. “But the Chinese authorities have refused to provide any information to their relatives regarding their arrest or current whereabouts,” the source said, citing contacts in the region.
Political prisoner’s sister also held
Chinese authorities in Tibet’s capital Lhasa have meanwhile arrested the sister of a Tibetan businessman now serving a life sentence on what rights groups and supporters call politically motivated charges of loan fraud, a Tibetan advocacy group said on Wednesday,
Gonpo Kyi, also called Gontey, was taken into custody on Dec. 19 shortly after staging a peaceful protest in front of the Higher People’s Court in Tibet’s regional capital Lhasa, the Washington-based International Campaign for Tibet, or ICT, said in a statement.
Elder sister of businessman Dorjee Tashi, jailed since 2010, Kyi had also staged a sit-in in June in front of the People’s Court calling for her brother’s release. Tashi had first been charged with secession, a charge frequently used by authorities to silence Tibetans promoting Tibetan national identity or criticizing Chinese rule in Tibet, ICT said.
ICT research analyst Tenzin Norgay told RFA it was no surprise that Kyi was detained only minutes after she began her latest protest.
"As we all know, Dorjee Tashi was unjustly sentenced to life imprisonment and framed by the Chinese government," he said.
“Dorjee Tashi has spent almost 14 years in Drapchi prison and his health condition is unknown. His family members initially discretely appealed for his release from prison, but there was no outcome, so in the past few years we have seen his family members openly calling for his release in front of the court.”
Formerly an independent nation, Tibet was invaded and incorporated into China by force more than 70 years ago. Chinese authorities maintain a tight grip on the region, restricting Tibetans’ political activities and peaceful expression of cultural and religious identity.
- Impact of Event
- 4
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Abduction/Kidnapping
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, WHRD, Youth
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Dec 30, 2022
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Dec 20, 2022
- Event Description
Authorities in the eastern Chinese province of Nanjing have jailed a prominent democracy activist for a further four years on subversion charges after he criticized the government's handling of the pandemic as it emerged in Wuhan, Radio Free Asia has learned.
The Nanjing Intermediate People's Court handed the four-year jail term to former Nanjing Normal University lecturer Guo Quan for "incitement to subvert state power" on Dec. 20, after he had been held for nearly three years in pretrial detention.
Guo stood trial on the charges on Sept. 9, 2021, where he was accused of seeking to "divide the people from the ruling party" and negate the existing political system by advocating multi-party democracy, on the basis of less than 20 articles criticizing the CCP's COVID-19 response, social injustice, and official corruption.
Guo, 54, who has also served as a judge, addressed the court for nearly two hours, presenting a systematic legal defense of the articles.
He was initially detained by Nanjing police on Jan. 31, 2020 and held at the Nanjing No. 2 Detention Center on charges that were unknown at the time.
Guo had previously served a 10-year jail term from 2009 on the same charge after he set up the China New People's Party in 2007 in a bid to campaign for multi-party democracy in China, an idea that has been banned by Beijing.
Guo's lawyer Chang Boyang said his client had likely gotten a harsher sentence because it was his second conviction for subversion.
"Back during the pandemic in Wuhan three years ago ... he expressed his opinions on the attempts to cover up the extent of the outbreak on WeChat," Chang told Radio Free Asia on Wednesday.
"The charges against him really didn't stand up, but he was handed this four-year jail term mainly because of his earlier sentence, as repeat offenders are dealt with more severely," he said.
'There is nothing we can do'
Guo's octogenarian mother Gu Xiao that she was unable to attend the sentencing hearing for health reasons.
"I didn't attend because I'm not in good health," Gu said.
She said two of Guo's defense lawyers, Chang Boyang and Shi Weijiang, had planned to go but had been unable to due to testing positive for COVID-19.
"The lawyer called me afterwards and told me he had been sentenced to four years," Gu said.
She said there was nothing to be done about it.
"If they want to pin another crime on him, what can we do? There is nothing we can do. Can we talk back or protest against it?"
Gu, who said she has never agreed with Guo's political activism, dismissed Guo's plan to appeal the sentence.
"It's not going to happen," she said. "Appealing is 100 percent pointless. I have hired more than a dozen lawyers for him [over the years] but it hasn't done any good."
"He's already served three years, so I just have to wait one more year," Gu said. "I just hope I can stay alive that long."
She added: "I was a very good person and I have lived a good life, a very ordinary and low-key life, but this son of mine has turned my old age into a living hell. Even if he comes back [from prison], he won't have a job, and I will have to support him instead of the other way around."
Sending a warning
U.S.-based commentator Hu Ping said Guo had managed to make a difference to the democracy movement in China, despite the consequences he now faces.
"He practices freedom of speech and association, and won't give in even under huge pressure," Hu said. "He has definitely made a contribution to the Chinese democracy movement, and his case has attracted international attention."
Hu said Guo was likely jailed at this time to send a warning to anyone who took part in recent "blank paper" protests against COVID-19 curbs in the wake of a fatal lockdown fire in Xinjiang's regional capital Urumqi.
"We have lost contact with a lot of people [since the protests] and their whereabouts are still unknown," Hu said of fellow democracy activists in China.
"They're bringing out the older cases and pronouncing these judgments with great fanfare, because they want to threaten and intimidate the public, to shock them," he said.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Online, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Academic, Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Dec 30, 2022
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Dec 4, 2022
- Event Description
Police in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou are denying the mother of a rights activist detained after an anti-lockdown protest permission to meet with her daughter.
Yang Zijing, who uses the social media handle "Dim Sum," was taken away on Dec. 4 by plainclothes police from her home in Guangzhou on suspicion of "picking quarrels and stirring up trouble," a charge frequently used to target critics of the government, the Hubei-based Civil Rights and Livelihood Watch website reported on Dec. 14.
Yang was detained after getting home from a Dec. 4 protest on Guangzhou's Haizhu Square, and her friends warned not to post details of the arrest to social media, the website said.
The Beijing Road police station confirmed on Dec. 7 she was being held under criminal detention, despite the fact that she had neither held up a sheet of paper, nor made any kind of public speech in Haizhu Square.
Yang's mother Gao Xiusheng flew to Guangzhou as soon as she heard the news, she told Radio Free Asia in a recent interview.
"When I arrived in Guangzhou at 10.00 p.m. that evening, I went straight to the police station, who told me the officer in charge of the case wasn't there," Gao said. "They told me she was in criminal detention but didn't tell me why."
"I asked them to explain why they had brought Dim Sum in, but they said I wasn't allowed to have that information, just to know that she had been detained," she said.
"I went back to the police station with my lawyer the next day, but they told me that they couldn't let me meet with her, and the lawyer couldn't either," Gao said.
Makes no sense
She said it made no sense that people who protested for an end to the zero-COVID policy should be locked up now that it had been lifted.
"Dim Sum was just going along with everyone else," Gao said. "Maybe the means weren't right, but her intentions were good."
"Now, everyone else is allowed to move around freely, but Dim Sum is still locked up," she said.
Uncertainties remain over Yang's exact location.
While a police detention notice claimed she was being held in the Yuexiu District Detention Center, the civil rights website said she was still in Beijing Road police station as of Dec. 12.
Gao said she is concerned for Yang's well-being in police detention.
"I'm most worried about her health, because of the [current COVID-19] outbreak," she said. "I tried to deliver some clothes, but the police officer told me they can't take them, because prisoners aren't allowed to wear their own clothes."
'White paper' protests
Gao's lawyer recently tested positive for COVID-19, and is currently in self-isolation, making it impossible to proceed any further with their attempts to get a meeting with Yang, she said.
"She is a good kid who has always been obedient and never did anything illegal," Gao said. "I had no idea it was so serious at first; I just thought it would be a question of bringing her back home."
"I've been here more than 10 days, and I'm not even allowed to see her ... I've never experienced anything like this before," she said. "All I want is for her to get out as soon as possible, even if we're told we can't talk to anyone about it, and go back home."
Three other Guangzhou-based protesters were detained around the same time for their role in "white paper" demonstrations, in which protesters held up blank sheets of paper in a mute protest at the lack of freedom of speech around ruling Chinese Communist Party leader Xi Jinping's zero-COVID policy.
The authorities relaxed most restrictions under the policy within days of the protests, which were sparked by public anger over a fatal lockdown fire in Xinjiang's regional capital Urumqi, and included calls for Xi to step down and call elections.
Chinese human rights lawyers have been scrambling to assist the friends and families of people arrested during a wave of anti-lockdown protests at the end of November, many of whom have little experience being treated as dissidents by Chinese authorities.
While the legal volunteers have reported large numbers of enquiries in the aftermath of the protests, lawyer Wang Shengsheng said the authorities have been contacting the dozens of attorneys who signed up and putting pressure on them to withdraw their services.
The Communist Party, faced with the biggest challenge to its rule in decades, views the "white paper" protests as the work of "foreign forces" infiltrating China, a notion that has been met with widespread derision among protesters and social media users.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Administrative Harassment, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, Family of HRD, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Dec 30, 2022
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Nov 29, 2022
- Event Description
Chinese police are engaging in systematic reprisals against protestors who took to the streets across China to call for an end to inhumane “zero-COVID” lockdowns, mourn victims of the November 24 apartment fire in Urumqi, and demand political change.
“The outpouring of grief and empathy have united Han Chinese and Uyghurs. People have woken up to the reality that no one under Xi Jinping’s rule can escape the extraordinarily harsh and inhumane measures, which have had fatal consequences, and for which victims of the Urumqi fire paid the price with their lives,” said Renee Xia, CHRD Executive Director.
“We just witnessed one of the most significant protest movements in China since 1989, but now many of these brave protestors are at grave risk of being disappeared and tortured. The Chinese government is likely to put many of them in secret detention facilities and deny their due process rights,” said William Nee, CHRD’s Research and Advocacy Coordinator.
We at CHRD are seriously concerned that detained protestors are at high risk of being forcibly disappeared and subjected to torture and deprivation of due process rights. This is in light of the Chinese government’s track record of rights abuses of detained or jailed critics who have previously expressed dissent over Xi Jinping’s COVID polices and his increasingly dictatorial governance.
“The international community – heads of governments, international organizations, and private sectors and civil society leaders —must speak out now, loud and clear, to condemn the unfolding crackdown on demonstrators exercising their freedom of expression and peaceful assembly guaranteed under international human rights law and the Chinese Constitution,” said Ramona Li, CHRD Senior Researcher and Advocate.
People across China showed up in historic numbers in the streets and on college campuses to mourn victims of the Urumqi fire on November 24 and vent outrage over strict COVID lockdown measures. They demanded lifesaving measures that would require easing the daily suffering that the government has inflicted on them in the name of pandemic control. The protests in some cities quickly turned into demonstrations against the escalating repression under Xi Jinping’s one-man dictatorial rule. Protestors demanded Xi and the Chinese Communist Party step down and voiced their desires for democracy, human rights, and rule of law. Police harassed and intimidated demonstrators, dragging scores into vehicles.
Authorities are also cranking up censorship online and deploying large numbers of security guards to cordon off roadways, conducting door-to-door inspections, searching cellphones for protest-related content in the streets, and arresting people who continue to protest.
When spontaneous protests erupted in Urumqi on November 25, demonstrators expressed demands for ending the lockdowns and aired frustration over disregard for lives and food shortages. As mourners and protestors poured into Shanghai’s Urumqi Road on the following day, speeches and chants connected the fatal consequences of “zero-COVID” lockdown to the Chinese political system. Protestors chanted “Communist Party: Step Down!” “Xi Jinping: Step Down!” Other cities followed suit.
On November 27, a crowd in Beijing gathered under the Sitong Bridge and chanted the demands on the banners hung from the bridge by a lone protester, Peng Lifa, who was detained and forced into disappearance, less than a month prior: “We want food, not COVID tests / Freedom, not lockdowns / Dignity, not lies / Reform, not Cultural Revolution / Elections ballots, not a ruler / To be citizens, not slaves.”
These demands were echoed in protests against not just local authorities for specific issues but Xi’s dictatorship in many other cities, with protestors also chanting, “Give me liberty, or death!” in what has come to be known as the baizhi geming (The White Paper Revolution).
At the time of this statement’s release, there have been many online-circulated video/audio clippings, photos and text messages of police dragging people away, forcing them into vehicles, or making arrests at homes. Participants, bystanders, and journalists shared some information about police rounding up protesters.
Shanghai resident Chen Jialin (陈佳林), was taken away near the subway station, on her way home from protests at Urumqi Road. She was talking to a journalist on her cellphone when a policeman from the city’s Railway and Transportation PSB detained her. As of November 29, at around 10pm, she was detained at Shanghai No. 2 Detention Center. A protester was filmed as police wrestled him away while he cried, “Let me speak just once! Why not allowed?…” in Shenzhen on November 29. Details about this detainee are unavailable. A protester named Li Kangmeng (李康梦) has gone missing near Nanjingxi Road, Shanghai, on November 30, and is feared to have been detained.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention
- Rights Concerned
- #COVID-19, Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Community-based HRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Dec 16, 2022
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Nov 28, 2022
- Event Description
Chinese police are engaging in systematic reprisals against protestors who took to the streets across China to call for an end to inhumane “zero-COVID” lockdowns, mourn victims of the November 24 apartment fire in Urumqi, and demand political change.
“The outpouring of grief and empathy have united Han Chinese and Uyghurs. People have woken up to the reality that no one under Xi Jinping’s rule can escape the extraordinarily harsh and inhumane measures, which have had fatal consequences, and for which victims of the Urumqi fire paid the price with their lives,” said Renee Xia, CHRD Executive Director.
“We just witnessed one of the most significant protest movements in China since 1989, but now many of these brave protestors are at grave risk of being disappeared and tortured. The Chinese government is likely to put many of them in secret detention facilities and deny their due process rights,” said William Nee, CHRD’s Research and Advocacy Coordinator.
We at CHRD are seriously concerned that detained protestors are at high risk of being forcibly disappeared and subjected to torture and deprivation of due process rights. This is in light of the Chinese government’s track record of rights abuses of detained or jailed critics who have previously expressed dissent over Xi Jinping’s COVID polices and his increasingly dictatorial governance.
“The international community – heads of governments, international organizations, and private sectors and civil society leaders —must speak out now, loud and clear, to condemn the unfolding crackdown on demonstrators exercising their freedom of expression and peaceful assembly guaranteed under international human rights law and the Chinese Constitution,” said Ramona Li, CHRD Senior Researcher and Advocate.
People across China showed up in historic numbers in the streets and on college campuses to mourn victims of the Urumqi fire on November 24 and vent outrage over strict COVID lockdown measures. They demanded lifesaving measures that would require easing the daily suffering that the government has inflicted on them in the name of pandemic control. The protests in some cities quickly turned into demonstrations against the escalating repression under Xi Jinping’s one-man dictatorial rule. Protestors demanded Xi and the Chinese Communist Party step down and voiced their desires for democracy, human rights, and rule of law. Police harassed and intimidated demonstrators, dragging scores into vehicles.
Authorities are also cranking up censorship online and deploying large numbers of security guards to cordon off roadways, conducting door-to-door inspections, searching cellphones for protest-related content in the streets, and arresting people who continue to protest.
When spontaneous protests erupted in Urumqi on November 25, demonstrators expressed demands for ending the lockdowns and aired frustration over disregard for lives and food shortages. As mourners and protestors poured into Shanghai’s Urumqi Road on the following day, speeches and chants connected the fatal consequences of “zero-COVID” lockdown to the Chinese political system. Protestors chanted “Communist Party: Step Down!” “Xi Jinping: Step Down!” Other cities followed suit.
On November 27, a crowd in Beijing gathered under the Sitong Bridge and chanted the demands on the banners hung from the bridge by a lone protester, Peng Lifa, who was detained and forced into disappearance, less than a month prior: “We want food, not COVID tests / Freedom, not lockdowns / Dignity, not lies / Reform, not Cultural Revolution / Elections ballots, not a ruler / To be citizens, not slaves.”
These demands were echoed in protests against not just local authorities for specific issues but Xi’s dictatorship in many other cities, with protestors also chanting, “Give me liberty, or death!” in what has come to be known as the baizhi geming (The White Paper Revolution).
At the time of this statement’s release, there have been many online-circulated video/audio clippings, photos and text messages of police dragging people away, forcing them into vehicles, or making arrests at homes. Participants, bystanders, and journalists shared some information about police rounding up protesters.
A person with the WeChat account name of Linrimbaud (林怼怼) [RX1] has gone missing in Shanghai since the late night of November 28 or early morning of November 29. Police knocked on the door, demanded to search mobile devices, while Lin was on the phone talking to a journalist. On Twitter, activist Wang Qingpeng shared that Jing Xueqin (景雪琴), using the name Li Xiaoxiao (李笑笑) was taken away by police in Wuhan, at around 11:30pm on November 28 for participating in protests. Ms. Jing was able to send a last text message to friends that she was detained at the Changfeng Station in Jiaokou District in Wuhan. On November 28, around 4:00pm, a man named Li Mu (李牧) was reportedly detained in the Jinshui District, Zhengzhoul, Henan province, for posting protest messages in the streets, according to a netizen group that collects and releases information on a Telegram Channel. The Channel posted the messages that Wang Chenghao (王晨皓), likely a student protester, and his girlfriend went missing on November 28, in Shanghai.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention
- Rights Concerned
- #COVID-19, Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Community-based HRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Dec 16, 2022
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Dec 11, 2022
- Event Description
Chinese authorities have arrested an artist who painted a portrait of the "Bridge Man" protester Peng Lifa and posted it on Twitter, his wife and a rights group said, in the latest example of restrictions on free expression in the country in the wake of nationwide protests against harsh anti-virus measures.
The rights website Weiquanwang said it learned on Sunday that painter Xiao Liang, based in Nanchang, in the eastern province of Jiangxi, was recently arrested. His detention was confirmed to Radio Free Asia by his wife on Monday.
Peng was dubbed the “Bridge Man” after he hung a protest banner from a Beijing overpass in October calling on President Xi Jinping to step down, as well as for “food, not PCR tests, freedom, not lockdowns, reforms, not the Cultural Revolution.”
Images of the banner went viral and sparked sympathetic protests and social media support around the world, and Peng was almost immediately detained by police.
"We heard that Xiao was initially held by the authorities under administrative detention for "picking quarrels and stirring up trouble," before being transferred to criminal detention," the Weiquanwang report said.
The last tweet to appear on his account, @xiaolong999, was a photograph of the portrait, dated Oct. 15.
"I happened to be out with friends when he was taken away and didn't get the news until [later]," said his wife, who gave only her surname Yan. "They have asked me to cooperate with their investigation. The police told me he painted somebody [politically] sensitive and circumvented the [Great Fire]wall."
"I told them he doesn't have many friends and spends most of his time at home," she said. "I was [at the police station] for a few hours, and they wouldn't let him come home with me."
Self-taught artist
Yan said she is concerned about her 63-year-old husband's health.
"He has high blood sugar, high blood pressure, and high blood lipids, and he has a very serious intervertebral disc herniation," she said. "The police told me that he is fine and that the doctor [in the detention center] can deal with it."
Yan said she is unsure whether to hire a rights attorney, or whether it would risk "angering the police," leading to a worse outcome for Xiao.
"He taught himself to draw and paint. He loves to paint and draw, and paints all kinds of people: men, women, young and old, Chinese and foreign celebrities," she said. "The starting point for his painting of this person [Peng Lifa] was that they were the protagonist of the Sitong Bridge incident in Beijing."
Xiao's detention came after authorities in the eastern province of Zhejiang detained dissident Wu Jingsheng after he reposted the slogans displayed on Peng's banners on the Sitong traffic flyover in Beijing's Haidian district, days before the ruling Chinese Communist Party convened its five-yearly party congress.
Struck a chord
Retired Shanghai University lecturer Gu Guoping told Radio Free Asia in a recent interview that Peng's banners had struck a chord with many in China.
"[His protest] was representative of the innermost thoughts, hopes and wishes of the majority of people on the lowest rungs of mainland Chinese society," Gu said. "[Peng and his supporters] had the courage to stand up and make this appeal on behalf of everyone."
"This is hugely important ... the Communist Party cannot be allowed to destroy our human rights in this way," he said. "Those rights are enshrined in our constitution, and yet they say one thing and do another."
Gu called on the international community to keep track of China's record on implementing international human rights laws and treaties, and try to help victims of rights abuses.
Authorities in the southwestern province of Guizhou also detained several members of the Guizhou Human Rights Forum, including Shen Youlian, Liao Shuangyuan, Huang Yanming, Li Renke, and Zeng Ning.
The activists were taken away by Guiyang state security police on enforced "vacations" ahead of Human Rights Day on Dec. 10, a dissident who asked to remain anonymous told Radio Free Asia.
"All of the members of the organization were taken out of town by police from several different police stations in Guiyang city and held under house arrest," the dissident said, adding that they were held for "two to three days" before being allowed back home.
Two prominent Guizhou activists, Chen Xi and Mi Chongbiao, remain under close surveillance following their release from prison, they said.
"The police sent people to watch their homes constantly, and none of their friends or co-workers are allowed to visit them: they are basically isolated," the dissident said.
Dissident poet and wife sentenced
Meanwhile, dissident poet Wang Zang and his wife Wang Liqin were jailed by a court in the southwestern Chinese province of Yunnan after it found them guilty of "incitement to subvert state power" in connection with his public support for the Hong Kong pro-democracy movement, Weiquanwang reported.
Wang Zang was handed a four-year jail term by the Chuxiong Prefecture Intermediate People's Court, while his wife Wang Li was jailed for two years. Both have said they were unhappy with the verdict and sentencing, and have vowed to appeal, Weiquanwang reported on Dec. 11.
It said the trial, which took place in December 2021, had focused on Wang Zang's social media posts as evidence for the charges, including his poetry and performance art. He was detained by Beijing police in November 2014 after posting a photo of himself with an umbrella in support of the Hong Kong pro-democracy movement.
He has also taken part in activities commemorating the death of Mao-era dissident Lin Zhao, the June 4, 1989, Tiananmen massacre and actively supported Uyghurs and Tibetans persecuted by the government, the report said.
The charges against Wang Li appear to stem from her speaking out about her husband's arrest via social media and interviews she gave to foreign journalists, the New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) has said.
The wife of prominent human rights lawyer Ding Jiaxi said there are concerns over the well-being of her husband and fellow activist Xu Zhiyong, who haven't been allowed visits from lawyers or family members while in pretrial detention.
"Lawyers haven't been allowed in to meet with Xu Zhiyong or Ding Jiaxi for several months now, and I haven't heard anything from [Xu's wife] Li Qiaochu," Ding's overseas-ased wife Luo Shengchun told Radio Free Asia in a recent interview. "There has been no trial or sentence, yet there's no reason for the delay."
"Not holding a trial is in violation of Chinese law, which tells us that the Communist Party doesn't abide by its own laws."
Luo said the human rights situation in China is only getting worse. "There has been no let-up in the suppression of human rights defenders,” Luo said. “It's still going on."
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Online, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Artist
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Dec 16, 2022
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Dec 6, 2022
- Event Description
State security police across China have been questioning lawyers who volunteered to help people arrested during recent anti-lockdown protests, with some withdrawing from the scheme due to political pressure from the authorities, Radio Free Asia has learned.
Chinese human rights lawyers have been scrambling to assist the friends and families of people arrested during a wave of anti-lockdown protests at the end of November, many of whom have little experience being treated as dissidents by Chinese authorities.
Lawyer Wang Shengsheng, who compiled and published a list of dozens of attorneys offering to volunteer to help people detained for protesting China’s “zero-COVID” restrictions or mourning the victims of a Nov. 24 lockdown fire in Xinjiang's regional capital, Urumqi, said state security police had starting investigating her after she started helping detained protesters.
Wang, who hails from the central city of Zhengzhou but works for a law firm based in the southern city of Guangzhou, said the city's justice bureau had turned up at her law firm and taken away all of the files linked to previous cases she has represented.
"They sent people from the judicial bureau's [Communist Party] committee," she told RFA on Tuesday. "They were checking whether my records were in order, for example, we need to sign a contract when taking a new case, and issue a receipt when we receive our fees."
"They're trying to find some [error] they can pick up on, also whether or not I have taken any politically sensitive cases," Wang said. "They are deliberately trying to catch me making a mistake.”
"The reason behind it was the fact that I offered pro bono legal advice ... I don't know why they think that was such a bad thing to do that they need to put pressure on me via my law firm," she said, adding that the state security police had also contacted her.
"The Zhengzhou state security police came looking for me, because I'm in Zhengzhou right now," Wang said.
The ruling Chinese Communist Party, faced with the biggest challenge to its rule in decades, is saying that the "white paper" protests were the work of "foreign forces" infiltrating China, a notion that has been met with widespread derision among protesters and social media users.
Wang told RFA in November that some lawyers had declined to take part in the volunteer network, believing they would risk losing their license to practice law by participating, as happened to many attorneys who spoke up in favor of human rights, or helped political dissidents and other marginalized groups considered a stability risk by authorities.
She said that since then, several other attorneys who offered their services have been contacted by state security police or justice bureau officials where they live.
"The justice bureau officials and the state police have been contacting them," Wang said. "For example, Lin Baocheng was contacted by the state security police in Xiamen and Lu Siwei had the state security police come to find him in Chengdu."
"I don't understand what our actions have to do with the police," she said.
Wang said she has now been prevented from logging onto the volunteer lawyers' group on the social media and messaging platform WeChat.
"My WeChat account has been restricted, so I can't send messages in the group, or make any changes to the list [of volunteer lawyers]," she said. "No one can post messages in the WeChat circle."
The volunteer legal team has received more than 30 inquiries so far, she said.
"The authorities should understand how helpless the protesters felt ... and their frustration, and treat them with compassion," Wang said. "Why do those in power not trust their own people?"
Meanwhile, veteran rights lawyer Yu Wensheng said he didn't take part in the volunteer legal team for fear of political reprisals, although he was cheered to see the lawyers standing up for protesters.
Jiangsu's Xuzhou Intermediate People's Court handed a four-year jail term to Yu on subversion charges in June 2020 after nearly three years in pretrial detention, finding him guilty of "incitement to subvert state power" in a secret trial.
The sentence was widely seen by fellow lawyers as a form of political retaliation for Yu's outspokenness following a nationwide operation targeting rights lawyers and law firms that began on July 9, 2015, and his call for fully democratic presidential elections in China.
"After I got out of jail, I found that human rights lawyers had been decimated, almost wiped out by the government," Yu told RFA on Monday. "Now, some lawyers are finally standing up [to the authorities]. This is a good thing."
"But we should also be wary of another July 2015 [nationwide operation targeting rights lawyers], which would be very bad, and is entirely possible," he warned.
Yu, whose license to practice law was revoked in January 2018, still has traumatic memories of his time in incommunicado detention under "Residential Surveillance at a Designated Location," describing much of his incarceration as "unbearable to look back on."
He said he would like to leave the country, but fears it may not be possible.
"My desire to leave China is particularly great now, because I really can’t bear the current situation, and I am very pessimistic about its future direction,” Yu said.
"A lot of very capable and professional human rights lawyers have basically had their licenses revoked, and the ones who remain are too afraid to stand up to the government when it comes to representing cases," he said.
"It sometimes feels as if there's not a lot of difference between life in prison and life outside," Yu told RFA.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- Online Attack and Harassment, Raid
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Online, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to privacy, Right to work
- HRD
- Lawyer, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Dec 16, 2022
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Nov 30, 2022
- Event Description
Protests in China against Xi Jinping’s stringent zero-Covid policy are on the rise and it has now spread to several cities. Chinese authorities have moved quickly to suppress demonstrations deploying police forces at key protest sites and tightening online censorship.
In a twitter post, several men in hazmat suits were seen stopping Chinese human rights lawyer Yu Wensheng, and his wife Xu Yan when they tried to go downstairs to throw out garbage. Both were later put under house arrest. Xu Yan in the twitter post also claimed that the men in hazmat suits did not tell them their names and titles.
In another video, both Yu and a man in hazmat suit were seen lying on the ground, and the reason for that remains unknown.
Soon after been put under house arrest,
Yu Wensheng posted a video on twitter and said, “Xu Yan and I are now locked up at home. Their behavior is not only a crime against us personally, but a crime against the entire Chinese people and the people of the world. We firmly oppose their zero-Covid policy.”
He also issued a letter and urged world leaders to press the Chinese government to end its repressive zero-Covid policy.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- Restrictions on Movement, Surveillance
- Rights Concerned
- #COVID-19, Freedom of movement, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Family of HRD, Lawyer, Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Related Events
- China: HRDs prevented from leaving home on International Human Rights Day, China: pro-democracy lawyer among those put under close surveillance
- Date added
- Dec 16, 2022
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Oct 4, 2022
- Event Description
The period of trial of Guangxi human rights lawyer Qin Yongpei’s case on the “inciting subversion of state power” has been extended several times. Qin Yongpei has been detained for more than three years without a court hearing or being released on bail.
On October 4, the Nanning Intermediate People’s Court of Guangxi extended the period of trial again in Qin Yongpei’s case. According to Chinese law, “If there are special circumstances that require an extension, with the approval of the Supreme People’s Court, an extension of two months can be permitted.” In another situation, an extension of three months can be permitted. The case of Qin Yongpei was granted a three-month extension of the period of trial under the Supreme People’s Court’s Extension for No. 339’s period of trial.
“It’s been three whole years! This case is still repeatedly postponed in the name of the country, in the name of the regime, in the name of politics, but in reality, it is a case for the officials’ self-serving ends and a form of retaliation and framing!” Qin Yongpei’s wife, Deng Xiaoyun said.
Qin Yongpei was subjected to enforced disappearance and torture in retaliation for exposing officials’ fraudulent practices and fighting for justice for those who are marginalized.
A few years ago, a domestic violence dispute occurred in Guangxi. Hu Kai, a policeman from the Qixing Public Security Bureau who was in charge of handling the case, was accused of favoring one side of the party involved. The wife of the accused reported the case, but the police refused to accept it. Not only did Chou Zuhe, director of the Public Security Bureau in Guilin City, Guangxi, not punish Hu Kai, but he was also even promoted to the head of the security bureau’s other branch. Qin Yongpei decided to report the two officers after familiarizing himself with the case and uploaded the relevant materials to the Internet. Not long after, the police asked him to delete the materials and even threatened to arrest him.
“Qin Yongpei’s comments and the act of reporting are active responses to General Secretary Xi’s anti-corruption campaign; to maintain the credibility of the government, but was retaliated with fabricated charges. The relevant correction and monitoring mechanism is null and void! *The Mountains Are High and the Emperor Is Far Away, who can I reason with?” Deng Xiaoyun said.
Editor’s note: *Alludes to the lack of constraints on the local officials’ corruption because the central authorities are metaphorically far away from the rest of the people.
Deng Xiaoyun continued, “General Secretary Xi said that anything that concerns the people is not a trivial matter! If someone is in a position of power, one should fulfill one’s duties; therefore, the behavior of the corrupted officials is what truly undermines the government’s credibility and is an attempt to subvert the state’s power. Qin Yongpei’s remarks and acts of reporting are all active responses to General Secretary Xi’s anti-corruption campaign.”
In October 2019, Qin Yongpei was taken away by Nanning City’s police and was formally arrested two months later on suspicion of inciting subversion of state power. The court indictment document stated that since 2014, Qin Yongpei has published many remarks on Chinese social media Weibo and Twitter, and accepted interviews with foreign media, maliciously slandering national leaders, attacking the state power and the socialist system, distorting facts, and defaming the judiciary organs for judicial corruption and case officers for violating the law, and smearing the current judicial system.
The indictment letter also says: “The China Post-Lawyers Club, which was established after Qin Yongpei’s license was revoked, is an illegal organization and an outright challenge to the Chinese judiciary’s public authority.”
The “China Post-Lawyers Club” was founded in late September 2019 in Nanning City with a membership of about 30 legal professionals to provide legal counsel to major corporations as well as legal assistance to Chinese citizens and was established to continue the cause of repressed legal professionals.
Qin Yongpei was arrested by the Nanning Public Security Bureau, Guangxi, in October 2019 on the charge of inciting subversion of state power. Deng Xiaoyun expressed, “How could such a good person be charged with such a crime? I feel extremely puzzled.”
Qin Yongpei applied for release on bail pending further investigation but did not receive any notice from the judiciary department. The law clearly stipulates that “a written response shall be given within three days.”
Qin Yongpei and Hunan lawyer Xie Yang both were honored with the “China Human Rights Lawyers Award” jointly sponsored and presented by ChinaAid and Humanitarian China this year.
The UN recently released a letter sent to the Chinese government in February of this year, which also followed up on a number of cases of persecution of human rights defenders mentioned in last April’s letter, including Gao Zhisheng, Li Qiaochu, Xu Zhiyong, Ding Jiaxi, Chang Weiping, and Qin Yongpei.
The letter was sent to the Chinese government in December 2020, published by UN special procedures, concerning “the detention, arrest, and charging of human rights defender and lawyer Qin Yongpei and the alleged arbitrary detention and enforced disappearance of human rights defender and lawyer Chang Weiping in residential surveillance at a designated location.” The full text of the letter in English can be found here.
The Chinese authorities’ abuse of this vaguely defined charge to arbitrarily arrest human rights lawyers and defenders such as Qin Yongpei is a clear indication of the Chinese authorities’ distorted judicial system.
The Chinese government should immediately release human rights defenders and lawyers who have been arbitrarily detained for their human rights work and allow them to reunite with their families during the Christmas and New Year festivities.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Denial Fair Trial, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Right to fair trial, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Lawyer
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Dec 5, 2022
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Nov 20, 2022
- Event Description
Authorities in the southwestern Chinese region of Guangxi have jailed a prominent critic of the ruling Communist Party for four-and-a-half years after he spoke out about a woman found chained in an outbuilding in Jiangsu earlier this year, RFA has learned.
The Guigang Municipal People's Court on Nov. 20 handed down a four-year, six-month jail term to Lu Huihuang -- who has previously also called for democratic reforms -- after finding him guilty of "incitement to subvert state power," the rights group Weiquanwang reported.
"[Lu] refused to accept the judgment and has expressed his intention to appeal," the report said, describing Lu as a "freelance and online writer, a dissident citizen, rights activist and political prisoner."
He was taken away from his home in Nanning city by police from Guigang on Feb. 18, 2022 "for calling on the ruling Chinese Communist Party to thoroughly investigate the case of the chained woman in Xuzhou," the site reported.
Lu is currently being held in the Guigang Detention Center in Batang township, Guigang, it said.
Guangxi resident Nong Dingcai said Lu's friends had been informed of his sentence, and of his intention to appeal, by the detention center.
"The detention center called some of his friends in China, saying that Lu Huihuang had been sentenced to four-and a half years," Nong told RFA.
"The charge was 'incitement to subvert state power.' He has requested an appeal."
Nong said not all of the information about Lu's case has been released, and his family members are under close surveillance.
Authorities have yet to release any official information about Lu's case. In China, the crime of "incitement to subvert state power" is considered confidential and related trials are held in secret.
Suggesting democratic reforms
According to Weiquanwang, Lu has written a number of essays and open letters to the Communist Party leadership since 2013, proffering suggestions on democratic reforms to China's political system.
"[The articles] suggested that the Communist Party carry out democratic and constitutional reforms as soon as possible, and found resonance with people online," it said, adding that the articles were extensively forwarded and read via groups on the QQ and WeChat social media platforms, as well as being published on overseas websites like Beijing Spring and China Labor Watch.
It said Lin had previously served a two-and-a-half year jail term in Guangdong's Conghua Prison, during which he was tortured with electric shocks, kept in manacles and forced to sleep on the floor for long periods of time because he refused to plead guilty or make a "confession."
Fellow dissident Lin Shengliang said Lu's criticism of the case of the chained woman was likely just an excuse for the authorities to re-detain him.
"It's thought that Lu Huihuang's secret detention was linked to the case of the chained woman, because he published too many posts about it on his group chats," Lin told RFA. "But given the harshness of the sentence, there were probably other baseless accusations too."
He said supporters who had tried to visit Lu's parents had also been detained.
"Given that his parents are under security measures, a lot of people who went to visit them were immediately taken away by local police and village officials," Lin said.
He said Lu has been unable to hire an independent lawyer, because his family are being "cooperative" with the authorities, which generally means agreeing to have him represented by a government-appointed lawyer.
"Lu Huihuang actually asked a prison guard to get a message to me asking me to help him find an attorney, but the local state security police didn't allow us to mail the instruction letter to Lu Huihuang so he could sign it," Lin said.
"We don't know what is happening with him, how legal the investigation, prosecution or trial were, nor whether he was tortured."
New era of authoritarian rule
Lin said the authorities have entered a new era of authoritarian rule.
"Under the new authoritarianism, the government uses a powerful state machine to crush dissidents," he said. "As the social and political environment continues to deteriorate, the crime of inciting subversion of state power will be more widely and freely used by China’s powerful agencies."
In December 2021, authorities in Guangxi handed down a three-year jail term to outspoken rights lawyer Chen Jiahong for "subversion," amid fears for his safety in detention. Chen had been a prominent critic of the government.
On China's tightly controlled internet, Chen was known for inscribing the slogan "Set up an assassination detail, liquidate this evil bureaucracy and promote democracy" in Chinese calligraphy and posting it to social media.
Fellow Guangxi lawyer Qin Yongpei was detained in early November 2021 by the Nanning municipal police department during a raid on his Baijuying legal consultancy company, after speaking out many times about misconduct and injustices perpetrated by police and local judicial officials.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Online, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Nov 28, 2022
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Nov 27, 2022
- Event Description
Protesters pushed to the brink by China's strict COVID measures in Shanghai called for the removal of the country's all-powerful leader and clashed with police Sunday as crowds took to the streets in several cities in an astounding challenge to the government.
Police forcibly cleared the demonstrators in China's financial capital who called for Xi Jinping's resignation and the end of the Chinese Communist Party's rule — but hours later people rallied again in the same spot, and social media reports indicated protests also spread to at least seven other cities, including the capital of Beijing, and dozens of university campuses.
Largescale protests are exceedingly rare in China, where public expressions of dissent are routinely stifled — but a direct rebuke of Xi, the country’s most powerful leader in decades, is extraordinary.
Three years after the virus first emerged, China is the only major country still trying to stop transmission of COVID-19 — a “zero COVID” policy that regularly sees millions of people confined to their homes for weeks at a time and requires near-constant testing. The measures were originally widely accepted for minimizing deaths while other countries suffered devastating waves of infections, but that consensus has begun to fray in recent weeks.
Then on Friday, 10 people died in a fire in an apartment building, and many believe their rescue was delayed because of excessive lockdown measures. That sparked a weekend of protests, as the Chinese public’s ability to tolerate the harsh measures has apparently reached breaking point.
Hundreds of demonstrators gathered late Saturday in Shanghai, which experienced a devastating lockdown in the spring in which people struggled to secure groceries and medicines and were forcefully taken into centralized quarantine.
On a street named for the city in China's far west where the fire happened, one group of protesters brought candles, flowers and signs honoring those who died in the blaze. Another, according to a protester who insisted on anonymity, was more active, shouting slogans and singing the national anthem.
In a video of the protest seen by The Associated Press, chants sounded loud and clear: “Xi Jinping! Step down! CCP! Step down!” Xi, arguably China’s most dominant leader since Mao Zedong, was recently named to another term as head of the ruling Chinese Communist Party, and some expect him to try to stay in power for life.
The protester and another, who gave only his last name, Zhao, confirmed the chants. Both insisted on having their identities shielded because they fear arrest or retribution.
The atmosphere of the protest encouraged people to speak about topics considered taboo, including the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre in which the ruling Communist Party had ordered troops to fire on pro-democracy student demonstrators, the unnamed protester said. Some also called for an official apology for the deaths in the fire in Urumqi in the Xinjiang region. One member of the Uyghur ethnic group that is native to Xinjiang and has been the target of a sweeping security crackdown shared his experiences of discrimination and police violence.
“Everyone thinks that Chinese people are afraid to come out and protest, that they don’t have any courage,” said the protester, who said it was his first time demonstrating. “Actually in my heart, I also thought this way. But then when I went there, I found that the environment was such that everyone was very brave.”
Initially peaceful, the scene turned violent in the early hours of Sunday. Hundreds of police surrounded the protesters and broke up the first more active group before they came for the second as they tried to move people off the main street. The protester said that he saw multiple people being taken away, forced by police into vans, but could not identify them.
The protester named Zhao said one of his friends was beaten by police and two were pepper sprayed. He said police stomped his feet as he tried to stop them from taking his friend away. He lost his shoes in the process and left the protest barefoot.
Zhao said protesters yelled slogans, including one that has become a frequent rallying cry: “(We) do not want PCR (tests), but want freedom.”
On Sunday afternoon, crowds returned to the same spot and again railed against PCR tests. People stood and filmed as police started shoving at people.
A crowdsourced list on social media showed that there were also demonstrations at 50 universities. Videos posted on social media that said they were filmed in Nanjing in the east, Guangzhou in the south, Beijing in the north and at least five other cities showed protesters tussling with police in white protective suits or dismantling barricades used to seal off neighborhoods. The Associated Press could not independently verify all the protests.
In Beijing, students at the nation's top college, Tsinghua University, held a demonstration Sunday afternoon in front of one of the school's cafeterias. Three young women stood there initially with a simple message of condolence for the victims of the Urumqi apartment fire, according to a witness, who refused to be named out of fear of retribution, and images of the protest the AP has seen.
Students shouted, “freedom of speech” and sang The Internationale, the socialist anthem. The deputy Communist Party secretary of the school arrived at the protest, promising to hold a schoolwide discussion.
Meanwhile, two cities in China’s northwest, where residents have been confined to their homes for up to four months, eased some antivirus controls Sunday after public protests Friday.
Meanwhile, Urumqi, where the fire occurred, as well as the smaller city of Korla were preparing to reopen markets and other businesses in areas deemed at low risk of virus transmission and to restart bus, train and airline service, state media reported.
One protester, who goes by the name Chuanchuan (川川) online, was forced into a police vehicle, with a dozen other protesters, guarded by 3-5 police officers in Shanghai, near Huaihaizhong Road on November 27. She managed to send out a few messages in WeChat groups from her phone before she could no longer be contacted. A protester named Jin Jiawei (金嘉伟) was seen detained by police at Urumqi Road in Shanghai in the evening on November 27; they have not been heard from since their detention. A man, dressed in black, wearing dark-color gloves, short curly hair, who appeared to witnesses to be an ethnic Uyghur (name unknown), was seen being taken away by police at Wangping Road, Chengdu, the site of a protest on November 27, at around 10:00 pm, who has since gone missing. Also in Chengdu, near Wangping Road, on November 27, at approximately 9:00pm, about 50 people at the scene of a protest were said to have been detained and taken to the Longquanyi police station. Friends of some of the detained said they still could not reach them more than 30 hours later. A person named Huang Tai (黃昊) who was apparently at the protests on Urumqi Road in Shanghai was taken away on November 26, whose whereabouts remain unknown, according to information posted on the Telegram Channel. The Channel also posted that demonstrators Xiu Di (修迪) and Wang Daiyue (王黛玥) were detained and put on a bus in Shanghai on November 27. They were said to have been taken to Xujiahui Police Station and they have been missing since. On November 27, around 10pm, at the demonstration on Urumqi Road, Shanghai, Qin Cao (秦超), resident of Anhui province, was taken away by police. His whereabouts remain unknown.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- #COVID-19, Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Community-based HRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Nov 28, 2022
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Oct 26, 2022
- Event Description
Around 200 residents of Tibet’s capital Lhasa were detained in the wake of massive protests in the city last week against COVID lockdowns that left many restricted to their homes without adequate food or medical care, RFA has learned.
The Oct. 26 protest included both Han Chinese and Tibetans living in the city, and was Lhasa’s largest since a 2008 uprising, later crushed by Chinese security forces by Tibetans calling for greater freedoms under Chinese rule.
Chinese authorities have now detained around 200 Lhasa residents in the wake of last week’s protest, RFA learned from Tibetan sources speaking on condition of anonymity to protect their safety.
“Though many of these detainees are of Chinese origin, there are also a number of Tibetans coming from other parts of Tibet and from Chengdu,” one RFA source said, referring to the capital city of western China’s Sichuan province.
“They are currently being held inside buildings owned by development companies inside the Tibet Autonomous Region,” or TAR, the source added.
Also speaking to RFA, a second person said that it has been difficult so far for outside sources to identify the Tibetans currently being held. “But the main allegations against them appear to be that they took a lead role in organizing the protests. Most of them appear to be working-class residents of the city.”
“One of my friends is among those who were detained, and I have no information about what conditions are like for them now or even if they have adequate food,” the source said.
Most of the Han Chinese detained in the protest were later freed and allowed to return home, and though Tibetan detainees were told they would be freed by Oct. 29, there is no evidence that any have been released, he added.
China’s lockdown in Lhasa began in early August as COVID numbers there and throughout China began to climb. Lhasa residents have said on social media that the lockdown order came without leaving them time to prepare, with many left short of food or cut off from medical care.
As of Thursday, 18,667 Tibetans in the TAR have tested positive for COVID according to official Chinese records.
Formerly an independent nation, Tibet was invaded and incorporated into China by force more than 70 years ago. Chinese authorities maintain a tight grip on the region, restricting Tibetans’ political activities and peaceful expression of cultural and religious identity.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention
- Rights Concerned
- #COVID-19, Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Community-based HRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Nov 6, 2022
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Oct 16, 2022
- Event Description
Authorities in the eastern Chinese province of Zhejiang have detained a dissident who openly supported the Oct. 13 "Bridge Man" anti-Xi Jinping banner protest ahead of the 20th party congress in Beijing, the rights website Weiquanwang reported.
"Dissident Wu Jingsheng has been arrested by Qujiang district police in his hometown of Quzhou city," the website said.
"Wu Jingsheng was called in to drink tea after he retweeted information about the heroic Sitong Bridge protest by Peng Lifa in WeChat groups and on Facebook," the website said, using a phrase referring to a summons from China's feared state security police.
"He was sent home in the early hours of the next day and posted the following on Facebook," it said. "He hasn't updated his Facebook page since."
In the Oct. 16 post, Wu repeated the slogans painted on two banners by Peng Lifa, who was detained after hanging them from the Sitong traffic flyover in Beijing's Haidian district, days before the ruling Chinese Communist Party convened its five-yearly party congress.
"I am posting Peng Lifa's slogans here," Wu wrote, in a reference to the banners, which read "Remove the traitor-dictator Xi Jinping!"
“Freedom, not lockdowns”
Video and photos of Peng's banners were quickly posted to social media, only to be deleted. A post linked from the account called for strikes and class boycotts to remove Xi.
"Food, not PCR tests. Freedom, not lockdowns. Reforms, not the Cultural Revolution. Elections not leaders," read the second, adding: "Dignity, not lies. Citizens, not slaves."
Wu said he was interrogated over his forwarding of social media posts about the protests on WeChat by district police chief Yang Fan, while his phone was scanned by police for photos and contacts.
"They also wanted the name of the circumvention software I used [to access Facebook]," he wrote. Like other overseas social media platforms, Facebook is blocked by China's Great Firewall of internet censorship, and users in mainland China need circumvention tools to access it.
"They asked me why I reposted those things," Wu wrote. "I told them I greatly admired Peng Lifa's righteous deeds."
Wu, who has been described in unconfirmed social media posts as a former university lecturer who lost his job for his pro-democracy views and started driving a pedicab to make a living, said he had refused to hand over access to his Facebook account when Yang asked him, citing his right to privacy.
“At risk of torture”
Han Yutao, a Chinese student studying in the U.S. whose family was threatened by local police after he made a video supporting the "Bridge Man" protest, said Wu is likely now at risk of state-backed violence and trumped-up charges.
"Wu Jingsheng is now incommunicado, which means he could be at risk of torture and ill-treatment, as well as fabricated charges," Han told RFA.
He said he could understand why Wu took the risk of showing public interest in the "Bridge Man" incident.
"It's pretty unbearable for anyone with a conscience to live in today's China," Han told RFA, citing the mass incarceration of millions of Uyghurs and other ethnic groups in camps, the discovery of a woman held in chains in the eastern province of Jiangsu, and the privations suffered by many under Xi Jinping's zero-COVID policy.
"Peng Lifa's righteous deeds can be said to have encouraged a lot of people,” Han said. “His heroic act was true selflessness. He gave up the life he had to spark hope for a lot of Chinese people."
Han said the treatment meted out to Wu was unlikely to be more lenient than the authorities' treatment of Peng.
"He could be facing the same kind of [situation] as Peng Lifa," Han said. "Wu ... could be tortured and subjected to various kinds of psychological pressure, and his family won't escape political scrutiny."
Police in Beijing contacted Han's family after he expressed support online for Peng, contacting his brother and parents and putting pressure on them to persuade him not to be a "traitor," and to distance themselves from him.
"My family ... will now definitely never pass a political evaluation, and won't be able to hold any government job in China," Han said.
"This could also have a huge impact on their daily lives, if [COVID-19 tracking] codes get linked to social credit in future," he said, in a reference to the use of the Health Code COVID-19 app to hinder the movements of protesters and government critics when the authorities wish to silence them.
Xing Jian, a dissident from the central province of Henan now based in New Zealand, said Wu did nothing wrong by reposting the "Bridge Man" content.
"Wu Jingsheng's support of the Sitong Bridge protester Peng Lifa in online communities is protected by law," Xing told RFA. "The arrest of Wu Jingsheng is all about currying favor now that Xi Jinping was given a new term in office by the 20th party congress."
"Mainland China has entered an era of imperial rule, and the power of the ruler trumps everything else," he said.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Online, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Oct 30, 2022
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Oct 22, 2022
- Event Description
Four members of the defunct, pro-democracy, student-activist group, Student Politicism, were sentenced to up to three years in jail or detention Saturday under Hong Kong's national security law.
The activists had pleaded guilty in court in July for a joint count of conspiracy to incite subversion in acts between October 2020 and June 2021.
Group founder Wong Yat Chin was jailed for 36 months and group secretary Chan Chi-sum, was jailed for 34 months, while two spokeswomen for the group were also sentenced. Jessica Chu Wai-ying, 19, received a 30-month prison sentence, while Alice Wong Yuen-lam, 20, was ordered to serve up to three years at a vocational development training center.
Student Politicism was founded in May 2020 and advocated for pressing Hong Kong's “struggle” against the authorities. The group used street booths as a key method to garner support.
But after Beijing imposed the national security law in Hong Kong, activists and civil society groups rapidly began to close, either out of fear of repercussions from enforcement of the security law or because its members already had been charged.
Activists Wong and Chan, both 21 years old, were first arrested for ‘inciting subversion’ on September 20, 2021, and they have remained in custody since then. The following day, Student Politicism was dissolved.
Court allegations
Prosecutors alleged that when the group was active, it attempted to sustain the popular but banned anti-government slogan “Liberate Hong Kong, Revolution of Our Times,” and said the activists called for support of the 12 youths who were arrested by the Chinese coastguard while trying to flee Hong Kong in a speedboat in Taiwan. The group also was accused of encouraging citizens not to download a government COVID-19 contact tracing app.
District court judge Kwok Wai-kin — who is one of the hand-picked judges to rule over national security cases — handed down the sentences. In his judgement, Kwok noted that because members of the group made few public statements and didn’t use much social media, their punishment warranted a lighter sentence.
The judge had been comparing the case of Ma Chun-man, nicknamed "Captain America," who was sentenced last year to nearly six years in prison for promoting Hong Kong independence.
Conspiracy to incite subversion is punishable by up to seven years in prison in Hong Kong’s district courts.
Chilling effect
Michael Mo, a former Hong Kong district councilor who is currently in Britain, said Judge Kwok set a “disturbing precedent” with the sentencing.
“He reinforced that posting political messages on social media would incite more people than on the streets, and mere posting of political views on social could make the nature of the so-called subversion severe, as defined by the National Security Law. It simply tells everyone in Hong Kong to voice no dissent against the regime on social media, or one would just be treated like the four students in this case.
"The fact that all defendants were remanded for over a year for a ‘speech crime’ before trial makes the chilling effect more chilling,” Mo noted.
At the start of 2021, things were different for Wong Yat Chin. He was one of the last remaining well-known activists in Hong Kong that hadn’t been charged by authorities following a massive crackdown on pro-democracy activists and the media.
The signs were growing, though, that he eventually would face charges. Wong had been arrested a couple of times in 2020 for unlawful assembly before he was warned about his activism by national security authorities.
Wong told VOA in January 2021 that authorities in mainland China also visited his family and warned them about his dissent.
Intensifying crackdown
Then in June, Wong was arrested by authorities in Hong Kong’s Victoria Park when he mourned the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown in Beijing. The annual event in Hong Kong lasted for more than 30 years before authorities banned the mass gathering, citing the pandemic.
Kacey Wong, a visual artist, and activist from Hong Kong, who last year relocated to Taiwan, said the national security law is intended to spread fear among the younger generation of Hong Kong.
“I think the sentencing is totally unfair, which we can clearly see how the law has transformed into a weapon against the youth, to intimidate and to spread fear among them. The court message is that if you dare to revolt against us, we will lock you up indefinitely, [and] disregard what you have actually done,” Wong told VOA.
Following the widespread anti-government protests three years ago, Beijing enacted the national security law in Hong Kong to prevent political dissent in the city, allowing authorities to use the law to target dissidents. The legislation prohibits acts deemed as secession, subversion, foreign collusion, and terrorism, which carries a maximum punishment of life in prison.
As it stands, at least 130 people have been charged under the law, with dozens still in pretrial custody. More than 20 others have been sentenced to prison.
- Impact of Event
- 4
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Enactment of repressive legislation and policies, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender, Student, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Oct 23, 2022
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Aug 14, 2022
- Event Description
Chinese authorities have arrested a Tibetan man for posting online videos of harsh COVID-19 lockdown measures being carried out in Lhasa to contain the spread of the disease, RFA has learned.
Gontse, a teacher of the Tibetan language, was arrested on Aug. 14 at his home in Khyungchu county in Sichuan’s Ngaba (in Chinese Aba) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Tibetan sources living in exile told RFA.
“No information is available on his current whereabouts or where he is being detained,” one source said, citing contacts in Khyungchu and speaking on condition of anonymity for security reasons.
“Gontse works as a teacher,” another source in exile said, also declining to be named in order to protect his contacts in Khyungchu.
“And though the Chinese authorities gave no explanation for his arrest to his family and friends, the reason is that he shared videos and other images of the Chinese government’s inhumane treatment of people in Lhasa during the lockdown.
“All of Gontse’s social media accounts have been deleted now,” the source added.
Chinese state media have reported 111 more cases of COVID-19 infection as of Sept. 25, with 60,597 people still held in quarantine in conditions described as harsh by sources inside the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR).
Meanwhile, 786 people have been prosecuted by authorities for violating COVID lockdown directives in the TAR since the current outbreak was first reported on Aug. 8, official sources say.
Harsh conditions in quarantine
Speaking to RFA, Pema Gyal — a researcher at London-based Tibet Watch — said that in the name of containing the further spread of the disease, Chinese authorities in Tibet have been arresting Tibetans “with the deliberate aim of silencing them.”
In a Sept. 26 statement, Tibet’s Dharamsala, India-based exile government the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) described the harsh conditions reported by Tibetans held without adequate food, water or medical care in China’s quarantine camps.
“A Lhasa resident recently compared Lhasa’s current situation to the worst days of Shanghai’s two-month lockdown when people were left to starve,” CTA said.
Camp managers routinely placed infected persons with others still uninfected, resulting in a further spread of the virus “at every level of society, from police to volunteers,” CTA added.
Also speaking to RFA, CTA spokesperson Tenzin Lekshey said that Tibet’s exile government has responded effectively to India’s own COVID-19 outbreaks during the last two years “with the help of healthcare workers and has learned how to mitigate the crisis.
“So we are ready to offer our assistance, whether with healthcare workers or other medical facilities, if the Chinese government ever requests them,” Lekshey said.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- #COVID-19, Freedom of expression Online, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Minority rights defender, Public Servant
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Oct 23, 2022
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Oct 12, 2022
- Event Description
Chinese authorities have stepped up surveillance and harassment of government critics as part of a crackdown on dissent ahead of the Communist party’s upcoming 20th congress, its key political gathering.
Since mid-September, numerous activists and petitioners seeking to lobby the government have been detained or put under house arrest across China, while many human rights lawyers have been intimidated, harassed and followed by agents. They say authorities, wary that their criticisms of the government could lead to social discontent and threaten the regime, are pulling out all the stops to silence them ahead of the twice-in-decade event, set to start on Sunday.
Xi Jinping is expected to gain an unprecedented third term as a party leader at the congress, sparking the highest level of security to keep any potential disruption in check.
“Every morning, the police would call me to check my plan for the day. They order me not to go anywhere, see anyone or say anything to them,” said one lawyer who was disbarred and had his law firm closed for defending politically sensitive cases. “The message is clear: ‘We are watching your every move.’”
The lawyer, who requested anonymity for fear of reprisals, said Chinese social media platforms block all his posts and even when he skirts the firewall to post on Twitter, local police summon him and issue warnings on posting politically sensitive content.
On Wednesday, lawyer Yu Wensheng, who has spent four years in jail, was barred from going out by security staff at his housing compound. He said police warned him against going to foreign embassies, talking to journalists, or posting on Twitter ahead of the congress. “I guess they’re trying to scare us,” he said, insisting he would not back down.
Another rights lawyer, Wang Quanzhang, who was jailed on subversion charges for defending activists, said authorities had stepped up surveillance on his family in recent days. This week, more agents were deployed to watch and follow his family when they go out and police warned him against airing his opinions, he said. “I guess the surveillance will escalate in the next few days,” he said.
Veteran lawyer Li Heping also received the same treatment. His wife, Wang Qiaoling, said that since mid-September, plainclothes policemen had been guarding their housing compound and police cars follow them whenever they go out. “It is an intimidation strategy to frighten us,” she said. Lawyer Xie Yanyi said security cameras around his home had all been upgraded in recent days while police cars guard his compound. Lawyer Jiang Tianyong remains under tight surveillance in his home town in rural Henan with little means of communication with the outside world.
Prominent writer Gao Yu who is in fragile health, cannot be reached. Veteran activist Hu Ju said on his WeChat account on Thursday that he has been forced to leave Beijing for around 10 days and fears that the stringent Covid measures may delay his return to tend to his sick mother.
A number of petitioners across China who had planned to bring their grievances to Beijing have been forcibly taken from their homes and detained. Police detained many staying near Beijing and forcibly sent them back to their home towns for detention. One petitioner told Radio Free Asia that police set up checkpoints at railway stations and on roads to block them from entering Beijing. Once found, they would be sent back to their home towns, where they would be detained.
Minsheng Guancha (or Civil Rights & Livelihood Watch), a website that reports human rights violations in China, has documented dozens of cases of activists and petitioners being confined to their homes, forcibly repatriated and detained ahead of the party congress. Many have been detained for up to 15 days on the vaguely defined charge of “picking quarrels and provoking trouble”.
The Chinese authorities have long used blanket charges such as “provoking trouble” to target those seen as a thorn in the side of the government.
Just two weeks before the congress, the Ministry of Public Security announced that its “100-day” crime busting operation, which started in June, had resulted in 1.43 million people being arrested.
The head of the operation, Qiu Baoli, said the campaign, implemented with a “heavy fist”, laid a “solid foundation” for safeguarding the political meeting.
Observers say the crackdown on dissidents and activists would have fallen under this campaign because they are often accused of “picking quarrels and provoking trouble” for protesting.
But even such an extensive operation did not manage to completely eliminate voices of dissent. On Thursday, a rare protest in Beijing against the Communist party and its policies stoked political tensions just three days before the congress which will re-anoint Xi as the party leader for the next decade.
Photos and videos emerged on social media show two banners hanging from an overpass of a major thoroughfare in the northwest corner of the Chinese capital. Plumes of smoke could be seen billowing from the bridge. “We want food, not PCR tests. We want freedom, not lockdowns. We want respect, not lies. We want reform, not a cultural revolution. We want a vote, not a leader. We want to be citizens, not slaves,” reads one. A second banner called for a boycott of schools and strikes and the removal of Xi.
Although images and keywords related to the protest were censored by internet police, many people made oblique remarks referring to the incident on Chinese social media platforms. “It is strange when the word ‘brave’ has become a sensitive keyword,” said one on WeChat. On Twitter, which is unaccessible from China unless one skirts the firewall, the images and videos went viral and drew a large amount of supportive comments. It appeared to have also energised the exiled Chinese dissident community, with some holding an online seminar analysing the significance of the protest .
Meanwhile, internet censors have also pulled out all the stops to police cyberspace, barring many politically sensitive words and phrases, including nicknames of Xi, descriptions of the stormy weather, and even the bear head emoji – as Xi has been compared to the cartoon character Winnie the Pooh – according to Radio Free Asia.
Local authorities have been under extreme pressure to ensure a stable and positive environment in China for the meeting, but have been challenged by widespread outbreaks and growing frustration with the zero-Covid measures. Across China, some people who left Beijing for the Golden Week holiday have reported they have been blocked from returning.
Alerts sent by the mandatory healthcode app informed users they “may have a time and space relationship with the epidemic risk” and must delay their return until risks were ruled out or they had spent seven days in a “low risk” area. About 90% of the country is currently designated medium or high risk, according to China’s government.
Even the air is controlled. On Friday, Hebei province’s iron and steel industry was ordered to halve its output for a week. No reason was given for the order, but China’s government has often limited polluting industries around the time of major events to ensure clear blue skies.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Restrictions on Movement, Surveillance
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of movement, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to privacy
- HRD
- Lawyer, Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Oct 23, 2022
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Oct 7, 2022
- Event Description
Responding to the prison sentence of two years and eight months handed to Hong Kong online radio DJ and political commentator Edmund Wan, better known as “Giggs”, after his conviction for sedition and money laundering, Amnesty International’s China Campaigner Gwen Lee said:
“With this reprehensible jailing of a DJ who dared to speak his mind and finance young protestors’ education, the Hong Kong authorities appear to be expanding the range of tools they use to target people whose views and actions they object to.
“In addition to becoming the latest government critic imprisoned on a colonial-era ‘sedition’ charge, Edmund Wan has also been convicted of money laundering despite the prosecution providing scant evidence against him.
“Activists in Hong Kong no longer only fear the draconian National Security Law; increasingly, they are also being targeted with a range of other charges that can be abused to punish them.
“Deprived of a jury and facing a curtailed legal aid system – within a judicial system increasingly tilting against the accused in ‘national security’ cases – Edmund Wan’s ability to defend himself has been severely compromised – just as it is for Hong Kong’s many other activists.
“Wan was an outspoken critic of the government on his radio shows and helped set up an education fund for youths who had fled Hong Kong for Taiwan. Today he has been sentenced in connection with both these things.
“Given the Hong Kong government’s zero-tolerance approach to dissent since 2019, it is difficult to believe that his imprisonment is anything other than politically motivated. The authorities must release Edmund Wan and drop all charges against him unless they demonstrate sufficient credible and admissible evidence that he has committed a criminal offence.”
Background
Edmund Wan, or “Giggs”, was today sentenced to two years and eight months on charges of seditious intention and money laundering.
Prior to his arrest, Wan was the host of four shows on an independent online radio station in Hong Kong. He was often critical of the Hong Kong and Chinese central authorities.
In February 2020, he started a fundraiser for sponsoring the education of a group of Hong Kong youths who had fled for Taiwan as the Hong Kong government arrested tens of thousands of young people who took part in the city’s 2019 mass protests.
On 21 November 2020, Wan was arrested under the Hong Kong National Security Law. On 8 February 2021, Wan was instead officially charged with four counts of “acts with a seditious intention” under colonial era sedition laws. He was then charged on 10 May 2021 with an additional five counts of money-laundering and one count of “conspiring to commit an act with a seditious intention”. The “seditious intention” charges concerned his criticism of the Hong Kong Chief Executive and the Chinese Communist Party on his online radio shows and posts. He has been detained for over 18 months.
In May 2022, the prosecution reached a plea deal with Wan, under which six of the 10 charges he was facing would not be prosecuted now, but kept on file if he pleaded guilty to the remaining charges and agreed to the prosecution’s application to confiscate the proceeds of his crowdfunding project.
Since 2020, the Hong Kong government has been using colonial-era sedition charges to stamp out dissent. People charged with sedition have faced some of the same draconian measures as those targeted under the National Security Law, which came into force on 30 June 2020.
In July this year, the United Nations Human Rights Committee expressed concern about the Hong Kong government’s use of colonial-era sedition charges to target people for exercising their right to freedom of expression. It called for the repeal of sedition offences and to end their use to suppress criticism or dissent.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Oct 21, 2022
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Sep 19, 2022
- Event Description
The head of Hong Kong's journalists' union has been charged with obstructing a police officer in the course of their duty, amid an ongoing crackdown on critics of the government under the national security law.
"I just received a call from the police asking me to go to the Mong Kok Police Station today for them to formally file a case against me," Ronson Chan, chairman of the Hong Kong Journalists' Association (HKJA) announced via his Facebook page on Monday.
Chan arrived at the police station at 3.30 p.m. local time and left after half an hour, after being formally charged with "obstructing official duties."
He will appear at West Kowloon Magistrates' Court on Sept. 22.
Chan, former deputy assignment editor at now-defunct pro-democracy news outlet Stand News, was re-elected as HKJA chairman in June.
He has frequently spoken out against ever-diminishing press freedom in the city.
He had been planning to study journalism on a scholarship at the Reuters Institute at Oxford University, and had been scheduled to leave Hong Kong at the end of September.
It is unclear whether Chan will now be allowed to leave to take up the scholarship as planned.
Chan told reporters outside the police station he would be seeking legal advice on the matter.
"I need to seek legal advice on how to do that," he said. "[The police] also asked me if I would leave the country at the last minute."
"I told him I was planning to spend six months [overseas] and he said he would inform the court," Chan said. "It was odd that he asked my out of the blue like that, as I was waiting for them to process my bail."
Measure of declining press freedom
Chan said his arrest, which was criticized by the city's Foreign Correspondents' Club at the time, was indicative of the current state of press freedom in the city.
"I have heard a lot of things since my arrest, but I have not been able to verify them, so I won't mention them now," Chan said. "It would be ridiculous if I were unable to go to the U.K. because of this."
"I think it's plain to see the environment Hong Kong journalists are working in from this incident."
The FCC said at the time of Chan's arrest that it "supports journalists’ right to cover stories without fear of harassment or arrest."
The statement won a rebuke from China's foreign ministry, which said it constituted "interference with the rule of law" in Hong Kong, and that there was no such thing as absolute press freedom.
The HKJA said Chan was arrested after officers claimed he failed to comply with an ID check while at a venue as part of a journalistic assignment.
"Just as Ronson Chan was about to show his ID to one of the female police officers, another plainclothes officer stepped forward and yelled at him to 'cooperate'," the HKJA said in a statement at the time.
"Chan asked the policeman to show his warrant card and asked the officer to confirm his full name and department, as he could only see the surname Tan," the statement said.
"But the officer immediately issued a warning, and, within a few minutes, had Chan in handcuffs under arrest, en route back to Mong Kok police station."
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline
- HRD
- Labour rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Sep 24, 2022
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Sep 21, 2022
- Event Description
Authorities in the Chinese capital have issued a ban on low-altitude flights and drones over the city ahead of a five-yearly congress of the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) next month.
The CCP will hold its 20th National Congress from Oct. 16, amid a mounting wave of censorship and curbs on the freedom of dissidents, petitioners and rights activists around the country.
Light and ultra-light aircraft, gliders, delta wings, hot air balloons, airships, para-gliders, drones, model aircraft and free and tethered balloons are banned from Beijing's skies through Oct. 31, the municipal police department said in a notice dated Sept. 15.
"It is prohibited for units, organizations or individuals to fly low, slow or small aircraft such as drones ... for any purpose," the statement said.
"Violations will be ... punished by police according to [current laws]," it said, reminding the city's residents that flying lanterns are already banned.
Meanwhile, outspoken critics of the government have been informed they are to leave Beijing under police escort in the next few days, with similar measures reported in Tianjin, Hunan and Jiangxi provinces.
"I'm traveling right now," Beijing-based commentator and former 1989 student protester Ji Feng told RFA on Wednesday. "[Officials] from my hometown are here with me."
"My friends are all being taken away from their homes [on enforced 'vacation'] at the moment," he said. "Some left earlier than me ... I'm coming back at the end of October."
"I'll be allowed home as soon as the congress is over." Daily forcible disappearances
Ji estimated that thousands of other activists around China are also being ordered to leave town ahead of the event.
Shenzhen-based dissident Lin Zhengliang said the security measures appear stricter than in previous years ahead of similar politically sensitive events.
"This is unprecedented," Lin said. "The current controls on dissidents at designated locations is kind of crazy."
"Dissidents are being forcibly disappeared every day, including those who are taken out of town on 'vacation'," Lin said. "They also hold people on criminal detention and release them on bail pending trial, extended the control period beyond the 20th National Congress."
"Even in Jiujiang city, Jiangxi province, which is far from the political center, Beijing, there are many dissidents who have gone missing and have finally been confirmed as in detention," Lin said.
Authorities in the capital have already begun expelling petitioners -- ordinary Chinese who pursue complaints about official wrongdoing through the "letters and visits" system -- from Beijing.
"My landlord suddenly told me I had to [go back to my hometown]," a petitioner currently living in Beijing's Daxing district who gave only the surname Li told RFA.
"They are driving us away to maintain stability because the 20th National Congress is about to start," she said.
Migrant workers are also being targeted, she said.
"My husband started working at the garbage dump here in Daxing yesterday, and just two days later, he was fired," Li said. "[The policy of] 'registering' the floating population means that you're not allowed to stay in Beijing."
"You are not allowed to work here, and you are not allowed to live here," she said.
'Stability maintenance'
A resident surnamed Wang, who lives on the outskirts of Beijing, said state security police have been conducting mass raids on migrant populations in the area.
"The state security police are detaining people every day, and holding them in various places," Wang said. "Yesterday, they forcibly held down and dragged away someone from Yancheng, Jiangsu province."
"Anyone with petitioning materials on them will be forced to leave Beijing, as if they were escorting prisoners," she said.
Authorities in one local community in the southwestern province of Sichuan are tightening "stability maintenance" measures by appointing local heads of household security supervisors for every 10 households, reports said.
Each supervisor under the Neijiang Chang'an community neighborhood committee will be responsible for anyone deemed a risk to social stability in their group of 10 households.
A dissident who gave only the surnamed Tan from the central province of Hunan said additional stability measures were put in place in his hometown of Zhuzhou city from Wednesday.
"Yes, full controls are in place starting today," Tan told RFA. "A local friend of mine said he has been taken out of town."
Petitioners in the northern port city of Tianjin said the authorities have set up three levels of checkpoints to catch petitioners trying to get into Beijing that way.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Restrictions on Movement
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of movement, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Sep 24, 2022
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Sep 12, 2022
- Event Description
More than 600 mostly young Uyghurs from a village in Ghulja were detained by authorities in Xinjiang on Monday after they ignored a strict COVID-19 lockdown and staged a peaceful street protest against a lack of food that has led to starvation and deaths, a local police officer said.
The detention figure was much higher than China’s official number issued the same day on an official police website stating that only two people who violated the lockdown restrictions in Ghulja (in Chinese, Yining) city were sentenced to five days of detention.
Ghulja, a city of roughly a half-million mainly Uyghurs and other Turkic minorities in Ili (Yili) Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture in the northern part of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR), has been under lockdown since early August, prompted by outbreaks of COVID-19.
Video posted by Uyghurs on Chinese social media last week showed that strict policies were denying them medical care and preventing them from getting food, leading to starvation in some cases. RFA could not independently verify the videos
The lockdowns, along with mandatory testing, are part of China's “zero-COVID” approach to preventing the further spread of the highly contagious respiratory virus, but they have triggered exorbitant commodity prices, significant food shortages, and a lack of health care, especially for those living below the poverty line.
In response to the zero-COVID policy, the residents of Ghulja’s Karadong village walked en masse out of their homes and took to the streets.
“We came out because of the deaths, otherwise we would have remained silent,” a Uyghur protester said in a soundbite of a social media post on Monday. “Look at these people who took to the streets! We, the people of Karadong village of Ghulja city, took to the streets! They [the authorities] did not send any aid here; therefore, people took to the streets when they couldn’t endure it.”
The villagers demonstrated despite warnings that aired on state-run Xinjiang TV warning citizens that authorities would punish them as “separatists” if they "spread rumors" about the wave of COVID-19 infection in the area.
“Those who use the novel coronavirus pneumonia epidemic to create and spread rumors to split the country, harm the unity of the country, or incite the overthrow of the state regime and the socialist system, fall under Article 103, Section 2, and Article 105, Section 2 of the Criminal Law and will be prosecuted for the crime of inciting to split the country and to overthrow the state regime,” the announcement said.
When asked by RFA about the number of protesters arrested, an officer at the Karadong Town 2 Police Station said 617 people from Karadong village had been detained. He also said officers from his station arrested 182 people in the neighborhood for which they are responsible.
“Most of them are misguided youths — 17, 18, 19 [years old] or even younger,” he said. “Some of them I have spoken to. They all said they did wrong and acknowledged the [Chinese Communist] Party’s and the government’s benevolence. During the interrogations, they all expressed remorse.”
The officer said officials are helping impoverished families during the lockdown implemented since early August
“Village and township cadres are visiting and distributing flour, oil and meat,” he said. “Economically well-off families in the village are also helping the poor.”
An officer at the Ghulja Yengihayat Police Station contacted by RFA said he did not know how many people involved in the protest were arrested
“Those handling the case know this. We don't know. They haven’t informed us yet,” he said.
An officer at the Ghulja City Police Command Center declined to provide information about the protesters over the phone.
“Please ask the relevant offices,” he said. “We cannot provide information about this. There is data published by the police department about this, look it up online.”
But when RFA pointed out to him that there was a difference between the information posted online and what the officer from the Karadong Town 2 Police Station said, he replied: “I don't know how many cases have been filed in this case. The prosecutors know that.”
'Terrible things are transpiring'
Many Uyghurs have posted short videos of the starvation they are experiencing on China’s Douyin video-hosting service, though some of them, including some Han Chinese, complained that censors were deleting their videos.
A warning in the Uyghur language telling residents not to post any information about the COVID lockdown on social media appeared on Douyin on Monday.
“Starting today until Sept. 18, nobody is allowed to share any news, any graphic with news written on it, or images of desperate expressions or videos on social media, especially in separate chat rooms because our country will hold its National Congress on October 18,” the message said. “We’re all fully aware of it. That is why we must strictly abide by this.”
The Chinese government wants to prevent large-scale COVID outbreaks in Xinjiang and other parts of China in the run-up to the 20th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party, when the party’s national policy goals for the next five years will be set and its top leadership elected.
Meanwhile, Uyghur residents have complained that their residential management offices are charging exorbitant fees to deliver for food donated from outside the area, while Uyghurs from outside Ghulja say housing manager have refused to accept food they wanted to donate to help those in the city environs who need it.
Members of Uyghur organizations abroad demonstrated peacefully over the weekend to protest the starvation of Ghulja in front of Chinese embassies and consulates around the world, in the United States, Canada, Belgium, the Netherlands, France, Australia and Turkey.
Adrian Zenz, a researcher at the Washington, D.C.-based Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation and expert on the Xinjiang region, tweeted Monday, “terrible things are transpiring from Uyghur regions, including severe and potentially life-threatening conditions caused by lockdowns.”
“My heart very much goes out to the Uyghur community at this time, praying for strength in the face of what appear to be depictions of utter desperation and even death amid a ruthless COVID lockdown,” he tweeted. “Years of oppression have left Uyghurs in the region utterly helpless.”
As many as a dozen people in Ghulja country have died from starvation or lack of access to medicine since the coronavirus lockdown was imposed by Chinese authorities, RFA reported on Sept. 9, citing information from residents and local officials.
At the end of August, the United Nations’ human rights chief issued a report on Xinjiang, saying that China’s arbitrary detention and repression of Uyghurs and other Turkic minorities in the region “may constitute international crimes, in particular crimes against humanity.”
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Community-based HRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Sep 18, 2022
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Aug 30, 2022
- Event Description
The ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has announced it will hold its 20th National Congress on Oct. 16, amid a mounting wave of censorship and curbs on the freedom of dissident voices around the country.
A Beijing-based petitioner surnamed Ma said police had already started rounding up petitioners, ordinary people who pursue complaints against local government wrongdoing through China's "letters and visits" system, despite frequent detention and harassment from "interceptors" sent from their hometowns to stop them.
"The Beijing police started rounding up petitioners more than 10 days ago — they've all been taken back to where they came from," she said. "People came from Heilongjiang more than 10 days ago to detain people, and we got into a fight with officers from the police station."
"There were 60 households in the building, and they were going door-to-door, checking on people," Ma said. "I was detained too ... people from our hometowns are being permitted to come to Beijing for law enforcement."
"The village where I live was a total mess on Aug. 30, too, with everyone very nervous."
Ma said hotels have been told not to let anyone from out of town stay longer than a week at a time.
"Before the pandemic, it was 15 days, but now it's been shortened to seven days," she said.
A Liaoning petitioner surnamed Zhang said that, once they get home, petitioners face house arrest or even detention by local police and government officials.
"No petitioners are being allowed to go to Beijing right now," Zhang said. "They are basically targeting petitioners from [all over China] in Beijing."
"If you go to the State Bureau of Letters and Visits, you will be intercepted by police from your local area, and put in quarantine as if you have COVID-19," Zhang said.
Warnings to keep quiet
State security police have also been calling and summoning dissidents and rights activists to warn them to keep quiet and not to give interviews to overseas media, sources told RFA.
"The police just had one thing to say to me, that I'm not to speak out, write anything or give interviews to foreign journalists in the run-up to the 20th National Congress," an independent scholar told RFA on condition of anonymity.
"This is what they told me repeatedly," they said. "What can we do, the way things are in this country right now?"
Liaoning petitioner and rights activist Jiang Jiawen said he was under round-the-clock surveillance by local authorities in a hospital in Dandong city near the border with North Korea.
"Since I came back to Dandong to go to hospital, there have been two of them living in the same room as me," Jiang told RFA. "I'm in a single bed, and they're in double beds, in a hotel room that has been specially designed to hold me."
"There is steel fencing, and none of the other rooms have that," he said, adding that police made him sign a guarantee that he wouldn't travel to Beijing to petition before the party congress, and the authorities would feed and house him, as well as paying for his medical treatment.
There were some reports on social media suggesting that current COVID-19 restrictions in areas around Beijing, including Tianjin, Shijiazhuang and Baoding, were about controlling local populations ahead of the party congress.
"I'm in a residential compound in the Chang'an district of Shijiazhuang," WeChat account Sun Yuanping said in a video filmed on Aug. 31. "We've been doing PCR tests every day for the past seven days straight, and there have been ... no positive test results or confirmed cases for the past three days."
But the authorities still hadn't lowered the area to "low risk" under the zero-COVID policy, the user said.
'Widespread opposition and resentment'
The 20th National Congress will see CCP leader Xi Jinping seek an unprecedented third term in office, following constitutional amendments in March 2018 removal presidential term limits.
Political commentator Chen Pokong said the idea has scant genuine support in party ranks.
"Xi Jinping has been in power for 10 years, and .... foreign affairs are in a mess, while at home, there are complaints being raised everywhere," Chen wrote in a recent commentary for RFA Mandarin. "Not since Mao Zedong's death has a CCP leader faced such widespread opposition and resentment."
Chen said many privately oppose the ravages of Xi's zero-COVID policy on the economy, with rolling urban lockdowns and people forced to stand in line in all weathers for a COVID-19 test that will simply allow them to carry on with their daily lives.
"If you go the way of North Korea, then it will be hard for the people to breathe ... whereas if you stepped down they would heave a sigh of relief," Chen wrote.
But former CCP Central Party School magazine editor Deng Yuwen said it was highly unlikely that anyone would mount a serious opposition to Xi's third term from within party ranks.
"Xi Jinping has basically secured [his third term], but there will probably be some finer adjustments when it comes to the balance of power ... in the 48 days between now and the congress," Deng told RFA.
Xi, who holds the titles of CCP general secretary, chairman of the Central Military Commission and President, is expected to retain the first two titles at the 20th National Congress, which governs party matters, while his third term as president will need to be confirmed at the National People's Congress (NPC) in March 2023.
But political commentator Gao Wenqian said Xi could still see his star wane even if he gets his third term.
"The Xi faction won't have the same advantages they had at the 19th party congress ... with major mistakes and setbacks like the start of the pandemic, economic collapse, and the Russian war in Ukraine all making people angry," Gao said.
"Xi will have to negotiate with opposing factions within the party, and he will be forced to make concessions, which is a fatal weakness for a [Chinese] politician," he said.
- Impact of Event
- 4
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats, Restrictions on Movement, Surveillance , Travel Restriction
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of movement, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Sep 5, 2022
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Sep 2, 2022
- Event Description
Shanghai police have detained a prominent rights activist who called on a local official to resign over the citywide COVID-19 lockdown in April.
Ji Xiaolong has been incommunicado, believed detained by the Shanghai state security police, for 24 hours, sources told RFA on Friday.
Ji, 46, lives in an expatriate district of Pudong district, and has around 33,000 followers on Twitter, which is banned in China.
His detention came after he began writing petitions to Shanghai ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) secretary Li Qiang, calling on him to resign for "blindly following orders from the central government [in Beijing]" when implementing weeks of grueling lockdown in the city earlier this year.
In the petition, Ji wrote that he was fine with being jailed for opposing government policies in an era of widespread internet censorship and surveillance of ordinary people.
He was already under residential surveillance at his home, and police had prevented him from going back to his hometown in Jiangsu's Shazhou county to visit his elderly parents, he wrote.
An activist surnamed Liu from the central province of Hubei said the fact that critics of the government get arrested in China was unsurprising.
"This has become in the norm, in this abnormal country," said Liu, who served a five-year jail term for "incitement to subvert state power" for supporting vulnerable groups.
Liu said he is himself currently under residential surveillance in the run-up to the CCP's 20th National Congress on Oct. 16.
A commentator from the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou, who gave only the surname Guo, said he admired Ji, although feared he wouldn't have the courage to act similarly.
"Too many Chinese people have been brainwashed, and the democratic needs more people to wake up," Guo said. "Then some people have to take the lead if we are eventually to achieve freedom and democracy."
In 2019, he was handed a three-and-a-half year jail term after he scrawled "Down with the Communist Party" in a public toilet in Shanghai, and wrote his own satirical graffiti about indefinite rule by CCP leader Xi Jinping.
He had earlier called on rights activists and democracy campaigners to respond to Xi's call for a "toilet revolution" by penning political slogans on the walls of toilets in universities and hospitals that could be seen by thousands.
Ji freely admitted at his trial to having scrawled the message, and other "sensitive phrases," on the wall of a public toilet in the city.
Some of his graffiti also referred to constitutional changes nodded through in March 2018 by China's rubber-stamp parliament, the National People's Congress, enabling Xi to seek a third term in office at the forthcoming 20th party congress on Oct. 16.Stimulus measures
Ji's renewed detention came as premier Li Keqiang announced a slew of economic stimulus measures to kickstart China's economy following several months of rolling lockdowns, restrictions on freedom of movement and mass, compulsory testing under Xi's zero-COVID policy.
Li's announcement came amid citywide lockdowns in Chengdu and Shenzhen, and ongoing COVID-19 outbreaks in the central province of Henan.
A Chengdu resident who gave only the surname Ren said the measures have had a big impact.
"To put it bluntly, not that many people have died from COVID-19; it's the epidemic prevention and control measures that are killing people," Ren said.
"I have to go out, so I have to do a PCR test every day ... but the shops are basically all closed, so I can't spend any money. There aren't many people out on the street, and the buses seem to have stopped and there's no plane travel."
"Each family can only send one person out for a reason, like buying groceries or getting a test, and you need some kind of exit permit," said Ren, who lives in Chengdu's Qingyang district.
Current affairs commentator Si Ling said the authorities seem worried about achieving their economic targets for the year. But he said he doesn't expect the measures to do much good.
"They are about to hold the 20th party congress, but winter is coming, and the number of cases in China keeps increasing, so the current policies being launched by the Chinese government are more than offset by its ongoing epidemic prevention and control measures under the zero-COVID policy," Si told RFA.
"There is a systemic, downside risk in various places, with problems continuing at financial institutions, and declining foreign and domestic investment," he said. "This slew of problems isn't conducive to economic recovery."
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- #COVID-19, Freedom of expression Online, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Sep 5, 2022
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Jul 21, 2022
- Event Description
On 21 July 2022, during a meeting with human rights defender Wang Jianbing in detention, the human rights defender’s lawyer was informed that the Guangzhou procuratorate has sent the case back to the police for a second and final round of supplementary investigation.
Under article 175 of China’s Criminal Procedural Law, a procuratorate may send a case back to the police for supplementary investigation no more than twice. Each supplementary investigation must be concluded within a month. After the conclusion of supplementary investigation, a procuratorate must make a decision on whether to prosecute a case or not within a month, and the deadline may be extended by another 15 days if a case is deemed “major or complicated”. It may decide to not prosecute a case if it deems the evidence provided by the police insufficient to meet the requirements of prosecution.
This development takes place 334 days since Wang Jianbing was detained as a reprisal for his peaceful and legitimate exercise of his rights to freedom of assembly and association.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Denial Fair Trial, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Right to fair trial, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Labour rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Related Events
- China: HRDs held incommunicado
- Date added
- Aug 28, 2022
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Aug 9, 2022
- Event Description
Chinese authorities should immediately release and drop all charges against journalist Mao Huibin and allow the press to report on social issues freely, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Monday.
At 10 a.m. on August 9, police arrested Mao at his home in the city of Hengshui, according to the journalist’s wife, Wang Huidi, who spoke to CPJ by phone and news reports. Mao is a freelance journalist who contributes health and society news to independent blogs Nutritionist Huihui and Huihui World on the Chinese social media WeChat, according to those sources.
On July 17, Mao posted an article on Huihui World questioning the whereabouts of the victims of a June 2022 attack in the northeastern city of Tangshan, in which a group of men assaulted four women who rejected their sexual advances at a barbeque restaurant. On July 18, he posted a video of the assault on Nutritionist Huihui.
Since June, journalists going to Tangshan to cover the aftermath of the brutal attack have encountered obstruction by local authorities, including harassment and detention by Tangshan police, as CPJ has documented.
Mao was charged with the crime of “picking quarrels and provoking trouble” by the Tangshan police, who traveled to the city of Hengshui to arrest Mao, and is being detained in Tangshan City No. 1 Detention Center, according to Wang and news reports. If convicted, Mao faces up to 5 years in prison, according to the criminal code.
“Police in Tangshan must release Mao Huibin immediately and drop all charges against him,” said CPJ President Jodie Ginsberg, in New York. “Journalists have the right to report on news stories that are important to the Chinese public.”
Wang said Mao’s only connection with the city of Tangshan was the articles he published about the Tangshan attacks. Wang told CPJ she drove six hours on the night of August 11 from Hengshui to the Tangshan city public security bureau to inquire about her husband’s whereabouts and was told by police that she had no right to know.
“Police told me not to put any information about my husband’s arrest on the internet, saying that it will affect the case, my husband, me, and my children. I think they are threatening me,” Wang told CPJ. “As a journalist, Mao knew how to fact check and verify his sources. He also has the right to publish what he believes to be true. Authorities have no right to arrest him over some trumped-up charges.”
CPJ called the Tangshan public security bureau, but no one answered.
According to CPJ’s most recent prison census, at least 50 journalists were imprisoned in China as of December 1, 2021, making it the world’s worst jailer of journalists for the third year in a row.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Online, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Aug 22, 2022
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Apr 16, 2022
- Event Description
In mid-April 2022, woman human rights defender and journalist Huang Xueqin’s close friend and lawyer Wan Miaomiao was shown a letter, dated 16 April 2022 and supposedly signed by the human rights defender, indicating that Huang Xueqin has dismissed her as her defence lawyer.
Wan Miaomiao was hired by Huang Xueqin’s family in late March 2022. The woman human rights defender herself affixed her signature on her family’s letter appointing Wan Miaomiao to be her defence lawyer on 2 April 2022. Wan Miaomiao also represented Huang Xueqin in 2019 when she was detained in Guangzhou.
On 22 April 2022, Wan Miaomiao made an online appointment to meet Huang Xueqin at a Guangzhou detention centre in order to verify the authenticity of the dismissal letter. However, the detention centre told the lawyer that she could not see Huang Xueqin due to COVID-19 reasons. Wan Miaomiao also asked the Guangzhou Municipal Procuratorate to arrange for her to review the case files. Despite satisfying all COVID-19-related requirements at the Procuratorate, she was told she could not review the case files because her appointment by Huang Xueqin’s immediate family has been deemed invalid.
The authenticity of the dismissal letter has been questioned and there are concerns that the dismissal was not voluntary and likely made under duress.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Denial Fair Trial, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Access to justice, Right to fair trial, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to privacy
- HRD
- Media Worker, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Related Events
- China: long-term WHRD arrested on catch-all charges
- Date added
- Aug 22, 2022
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Jul 8, 2022
- Event Description
On 8 July 2022, the Guangzhou Municipal Procuratorate decided to indict and prosecute human rights defender Yang Maodong, who is known by his pen name Guo Feixiong, for “inciting subversion of State power”. The case has now been transferred to the Guangzhou Municipal Intermediate Court, which may decide to accept the indictment and prepare for a trial or send the case back to the procuratorate for supplementary investigation.
On 5 August 2022, the human rights defender’s two lawyers conducted a video call with him. The defender is being accused of inciting subversion by authoring articles which were posted online, setting up a website focusing on constitutional democracy where his own and others’ pro-democracy writings are posted, and giving an interview to the US-based media outlet Radio Free Asia on 27 January 2021 when he was barred from flying to the US to see his dying wife.
According the defender’s family, the prosecutors consider Guo Feixiong’s offences to be “major crimes” under article 105 of the Criminal Law. If convicted, the defender faces a minimum of five years in prison. In a letter to the Chinese government in April 2021, UN human rights experts have criticised the vagueness of the term “major crimes” in article 105, which allows the judiciary to hand down long and harsh sentences.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Online, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Aug 14, 2022
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Jul 25, 2022
- Event Description
The case of Chinese human rights lawyer Chang Weiping, who was charged with “inciting subversion of state power” for attending a gathering, was heard in secret on Tuesday. His wife, Dr. Chen Zijuan, and his child were stopped by at least 18 police officers on their way to the court in Feng County, Baoji City, Shaanxi Province, on Monday evening. A number of human rights activists were taken away by police when they attempted to travel to Feng County to join in solidarity with Chang Weiping’s case.
On July 25, Dr. Chen Zijuan, the wife of lawyer Chang Weiping, posted a video on her Twitter account saying that she was going to attend Chang Weiping’s court hearing in Feng County. She was, however, stopped by police officers on the Feng County highway. As seen in the video, several police officers stopped Chen’s car, and one police officer spoke with Chen; the officer refused to show his officer identification card and tried to prevent her from recording the video. 18 public security authorities and police officers, not including those in the car, forcibly stopped Chen and her child at a highway intersection on the grounds of COVID prevention measures. Her car was surrounded by public security and police vehicles, as well as “unknown” vehicles, and people in white hazmat suits knocked on her car window.
She was advised by the police to return, claiming that she was from a medium-risk area of the outbreak, but she was from a low-risk area in Shenzhen, Guangdong. She had already gathered relevant information and undergone COVID testing before her trip and only needed to test two more times within three days upon her arrival. However, the police had set up strict monitoring of her trip in advance and prevented her from entering Feng County under the guise of COVID prevention measures. Feng County is a small and remote, mountainous town where Chang Weiping was detained.
The police in Feng County conducted a selective inspection of Chen Zijuan’s car. Chen said, “In fact, it was to inspect me, because after inspecting me, other vehicles were not checked.” The police blocked her car and refused to let her go to Feng County, and the mother and son were stuck in the car overnight.
“I’m still blocked at the Feng County highway exit; I just want to sit in on my husband’s trial and figure out why he’s accused of subverting state power. Is that a problem? I never thought I would not even be able to enter Feng County!” Chen Zijuan said.
Lin Qilei, a human rights lawyer whose lawyer’s license was revoked, commented, “In order to prevent family members from attending the trial of the case, this police officer blatantly violated the legal rights and interests of citizens; in violation of laws and regulations!”
On the same day, police took away Tian Qiuli from Baoji City by her hair at a hotel in Feng County because she stood in solidarity with Chang. He Jiawei, a pro-democracy activist from Zhuzhou, Hunan Province, planned to go to the court to show solidarity with Chang Weiping but was threatened and kept at home by state security police. Deng Fuquan, a human rights activist in Sichuan, was taken away by the police from the place where he has his household registration. Lawyer Li Dawei traveled to Feng County, Shaanxi Province, to show his support for Chang Weiping’s trial, but was found and taken away overnight by state security officers from his hometown of Tianshui, Gansu Province.
In early December 2019, Chang Weiping participated in a gathering in Xiamen with Dr. Xu Zhiyong, one of the founders of the Chinese civil society movement, lawyer Ding Jiaxi, and others, where they discussed current affairs and the future of China and shared their experiences in promoting civil society.
On December 26 of the same year, the authorities arrested those involved in the gathering. More than 20 dissidents and lawyers were forcibly disappeared, summoned, or detained, and some were even charged on suspicion of “inciting subversion of state power” (in some cases, subversion of state power) and “picking quarrels and provoking trouble.” Most of them were released on bail, but Dr. Xu Zhiyong and lawyer Ding Jiaxi were formally arrested. Authorities placed Chang Weiping in Residential Surveillance at a Designated Location (RSDL) and tortured him. They officially arrested him in April 2021.
Mary Lawlor, the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders, noted on July 9: “Since the so-called 709 crackdown began on 9 July 2015, the profession of human rights lawyer has been effectively criminalized in China.”
Because authorities coerced Chang Weiping’s defense attorney, Zhao, to sign a confidentiality agreement, he was also obstructed in the process of handling the case. He is not at liberty to disclose information about the case, and details of the trial remain unknown. The only thing that is clear is that Chang Weiping’s lawyer denied the prosecution’s accusations, believing himself to be not guilty.
According to Chinese practice on case verdicts, once a suspect has been formally arrested and prosecuted by the procuratorate, the suspect is rarely acquitted by the court; even more so in cases of political nature against pro-democracy activists because the Chinese judiciary does not have any independence. If the court acquits a suspect, doesn’t that mean that the Public Security Bureau and the Procuratorate have arrested the wrong person? The arrogance of power under the CCP system and the bureaucratic system that unites the three departments of the Public Security Bureau, the Procuratorate, and the Law will determine the fate of “political prisoners.” Since the case was wrongfully handled, the case will continue in the wrong direction.
At this time, it is unknown how Feng County’s court will sentence lawyer Chang Weiping.
While the trial of Chang Weiping was in progress, Dr. Chen Zijuan said, “The trial has begun, and my child and I are still blocked at the highway exit.”
Once authorities in Feng County determined that Dr. Chen missed her husband’s trial, the police released her. On the morning of the 26th, Chen gave a moving speech addressed to her husband at a highway intersection in Feng County with a bouquet of flowers in her hand:
“Today is your Good Friday; but at the same time, I think it is also your day of glory. I’m sorry that I could not be there with you in person, despite traveling more than 2,000 kilometers to witness the moment with you. But they wouldn’t allow it and blocked me on the highway for more than 10 hours ...... No matter how they sentence you, it is an unjust trial. Today’s trial wasn’t yours; instead, it was their crime scene. The kids and I will always support you and we will wait for the day you return.”
There were several police cars parked behind her as she delivered her speech. Chen’s speech in the video was widely retweeted on Twitter, with more than 4,000 people liking it in support of her, and it was even transferred to social media inside the Chinese firewall, where it received a lot of solidarity from netizens.
Following the French Embassy, the Swiss Embassy in Beijing issued a statement: “Closely following Human Rights Lawyer # ChangWeiping’s closed-door trial today.”
The German Ambassador in Beijing expressed on Twitter: “A sad day for #humanrights in #China. Today, lawyer #ChangWeiping, last year’s winner of the German-French Human Rights Prize, faces a closed-door trial for ‘subverting state power’……We stand by his wife, family, friends and colleagues in calling on Chinese authorities to set him free.”
In a tweet, the British Embassy in Beijing commented, “#ChangWeiping, arrested in 2020 after raising issues of torture and #humanrights in China (including his own mistreatment) is today scheduled for trial behind closed doors. The UK calls for the release of all those currently detained for promoting fundamental rights and freedoms.”
But the U.S. side has remained unusually quiet.
Lawyer Chang Weiping has long shown concern and put his efforts into rights issues regarding the Chinese house church and those who faced discrimination over HIV and sexual orientation. In 2019, Chang Weiping participated in the “Xiamen Gathering” convened by human rights activists. His attendance led to him being placed under residential surveillance at a designated location (RSDL) for 12 days by the public security bureau in Baoji City, Shaanxi Province in January 2020. During his enforced disappearance he was tortured. The following year, Chang Weiping self-recorded a video clip, revealing that during the period he lost his freedom, he was subjected to torture; he was locked onto a “tiger chair” 24 hours a day for 10 days.
The tiger chair is a kind of torture that may lead to death: The public authorities tie the suspect to a long bench. The upper body and hands are tied behind the back. The legs are stretched out on the surface of the bench, attached to the wooden frame. Prisoners are tied right above the knees with ropes, and bricks are placed in the seam between the calves and the bench or under the heels. Their feet are lifted upward, causing great pain for the tortured prisoner by pulling the ligaments of the legs’ joints, which can easily lead to muscle tears or bruising.
On October 22, 2020, Chang was placed under residential surveillance on suspicion of “inciting subversion;” On April 7, 2021, he was arrested on suspicion of subversion of state power, and during a meeting with his lawyer, he revealed that he had been severely tortured while under residential surveillance. His case has been postponed several times without any reason. He is currently detained at Feng County Detention Center in Baoji City, Shaanxi Province.
- Impact of Event
- 6
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community), Woman
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment, Denial Fair Trial, Intimidation and Threats, Judicial Harassment, Restrictions on Movement
- Rights Concerned
- #COVID-19, Freedom of movement, Right to fair trial, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to work
- HRD
- Family of HRD, Lawyer, Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary, Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Related Events
- China: prominent lawyer arrested, held incommunicado
- Date added
- Jul 31, 2022
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Jul 11, 2022
- Event Description
Yuan Shanshan, the wife of Beijing human rights lawyer Xie Yanyi, recently disclosed that her six-year-old child has reached school age and was refused admission because their house is a rental and they do not have a Beijing hukou (household registration). Immediately after she disclosed the fact online, authorities manipulated her phone. They blocked her personal WeChat account, and she cannot answer phone calls.
On the 11th, Yuan Shanshan disclosed on her personal Twitter account that Xie Yanyi and her third child, Xie Xinai, have reached school age. They followed the requirements of the Miyun District Education Commission in Beijing, where they live. After a tedious preparation process, they obtained the approval letter to study in Miyun District, Beijing. However, they were rejected when they applied to the nearest school in the city, and their request was delayed until the end of the application period and hence missed the opportunity to enroll.
After the incident, Yuan Shanshan filed an information disclosure application with the Miyun District Education Commission in Beijing, requesting to disclose the legal basis for refusing her child’s enrollment. The official pretext is that “without the city’s household registration, school-age children without housing in the city cannot enroll in the urban district.” Yuan Shanshan questioned that the provisions formulated by the education department had no legal basis and demanded that the Miyun District Education Commission must analyze the legal basis for such provisions.
The Miyun District Education Commission and Director Yang Fujun did not respond to Yuan Shanshan’s admission consultation. Yuan Shanshan also did not receive an acknowledging receipt from the Education Commission, and Zheng Lihua, the head of the elementary education department, informed that her children could not go to school in the urban district.
When the negotiation failed, Yuan Shanshan brought her daughter to the Miyun District Education Committee and protested with a placard that read, “Educational discrimination, I want to go to school.”
Yuan Shanshan asked netizens to call the Beijing Miyun District Education Commission to protect her daughter Xie Xinai’s right to attend school and urged the Beijing Miyun District Education Commission to formulate legal provisions.
On July 12, Yuan Shanshan found out that her personal cell phone was controlled, she could no longer answer calls, and her WeChat account was blocked. “I just want my children to attend school, and it is a bit of a waste of national resources for the relevant authorities to go to war over this,” she said.
Lawyer Xie Yanyi from Hebei, a well-known human rights lawyer, lost his freedom in an operation arresting lawyers on July 9, 2015. He and Yuan Shanshan’s third child, Xie Xinai, was born while Chinese authorities secretly imprisoned Xie Yanyi. Yuan Shanshan’s pregnancy and the wives of several other human rights lawyers left an impactful impression during their wide appeal for the freedom of Yuan’s husband. Xie Xinai is now 6 years old and will be of school age in 2022. Due to China’s outdated household registration system, even if they live in Beijing for an extended period, their household registration is still in their “hometown” and cannot be transferred to Beijing. Non-Beijing household registration makes it difficult for children to enroll in schools in Beijing.
Compulsory education in China originally had no conditions. The government education department has the responsibility to ensure that school-age children are enrolled. Local education departments should not abuse their power to arbitrarily deprive or restrict children’s right to education. At present, it is uncertain whether Yuan Shanshan’s right to fight for her daughter’s education will be realized.
“It’s been seven years since 709 (crackdown), and the only thing that hasn’t changed is the defending of rights,” Yuan Shanshan said.
- Impact of Event
- 3
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community), Woman
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment, Censorship, Online Attack and Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Internet freedom, Freedom of expression Online, Right to education, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to privacy
- HRD
- Family of HRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Government
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Related Events
- China: human rights lawyer arrested while investigating the sudden death of a detained petitioner
- Date added
- Jul 31, 2022
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Jul 10, 2022
- Event Description
Several people protesting in the Chinese city of Zhengzhou over the freezing of deposits by some rural-based banks said they were injured on Sunday when heavy-handed security personnel dispersed the crowd.
The banks froze millions of dollars’ worth of deposits in April, telling customers they were upgrading their internal systems. The banks have not issued any communication on the matter since, depositors said.
None of the banks has responded to emails and telephone calls seeking comment.
Chinese media have reported that the frozen deposits could be worth up to $1.5 billion and authorities are investigating the three banks.
About 1,000 people gathered outside the Zhengzhou branch of China's central bank on Sunday to demand action.
Videos and photographs on social media showed depositors waving banners and throwing plastic bottles at approaching security guards who then roughly dragged some of the protesters away.
"I feel so aggrieved I can't even explain it to you," one protester, surnamed Zhang, 40, told Reuters.
Zhang said he had been hoping to retrieve about 170,000 yuan ($25,000) deposited with one of the banks, the Zhecheng Huanghuai Community Bank.
Zhang said he had suffered injuries to his foot and thumb and was taken away by four unidentified security personnel at around midday. Security personnel outnumbered protesters by around three to one, he said.
"They did not say they would beat us if we refused to leave. They just used the loudspeaker to say that we were breaking the law by petitioning. That's ridiculous. It's the banks that are breaking the law."
Reuters was not immediately able to reach police for comment.
The banks, which include the Yuzhou Xinminsheng Village Bank and the Shangcai Huimin Country Bank, are under investigation by the authorities for illegal fundraising, the state-run Global Times reported.
More than 1,000 depositors from across the country had planned to gather in Zhengzhou last month to try to withdraw their money but were unable to when their COVID-19 health codes, which determine if one can travel, switched to a "no travel" status.
Five officials were subsequently punished for misusing the health code system.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Violence (physical), Wounds and Injuries
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Community-based HRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Jul 17, 2022
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Jun 5, 2022
- Event Description
Chinese authorities this month sentenced a university student to three years in prison for contacting Tibetan exiles, the latest in a series of arbitrary arrests of Tibetan intellectuals, artists and other community leaders, activists told RFA.
Nyima, from Shelian Township in Kardze (Ganzi in Chinese) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture in Sichuan province, was arrested unexpectedly in January this year on charges of spying.
He was a student at Sichuan’s Gehoe National University, concentrating his studies on Tibetan culture.
Fluent in Tibetan, Chinese and English, Nyima had always been around tourists and visitors, sharing Tibet’s unique language and culture prior to his arrest in January.
“[He] was sentenced on June 5 to three years in prison for allegedly disseminating state secrets, but the Chinese authorities have shared no details of what kind of state secrets Nyima has exposed,” a Tibetan source living inside Tibet told RFA.
“He could be seen sharing Tibet’s history and authentic Tibetan culture with the tourists, so I think that may be the reason for his arrest. His family has no idea where he is imprisoned at the moment,” said the source, who requested anonymity for security reasons.
Nyima’s arrest is very similar to the arrests of other influential Tibetans, Pema Gyal, a researcher at the London–based Tibet Watch advocacy group told RFA’s Tibetan Service.
“There have been a growing number of cases of arrests of Tibetan intellectuals inside Tibet by the Chinese government, and we have learned that in case of Nyima, he was arrested for communicating with the outside exile community, and also for his commitment to preserve Tibetan language and culture,” Pema Gyal said.
Language rights have become a particular focus for Tibetan efforts to assert national identity in recent years, with informally organized language courses typically deemed “illegal associations” and teachers subject to detention and arrest, sources say.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Minority rights defender, Student
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Jul 4, 2022
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Jun 12, 2022
- Event Description
Chinese authorities sentenced a young Tibetan language activist arrested in October 2021 to four years and five months in prison, although his friends and family members remain in the dark about where he was taken, a source in Tibet told RFA on Monday.
Thupten Lodoe, also known by his pen name Sabuche, is in his 30s and hails from Seshul county (in Chinese Shiqu), part of the Garze (Ganzi) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture in Sichuan province.
“He was actually arrested in October of last year and 2021 [and] convicted of ‘separatist acts and creating disorder in society’ on June 13 or 14,” said a friend of his in Tibet, who declined to be identified for safety reasons. “We don’t know where he is imprisoned at the moment.”
Lodoe was reportedly taken to Sichuan’s capital Chengdu following his arrest, according to an earlier RFA report.
Lodoe’s arrest comes as part of a larger crackdown by the Chinese government on Tibetan writers, intellectuals and cultural leaders who are arbitrarily imprisoned in undisclosed locations, usually for long periods. In most cases, authorities do not provide information about their charges and sentencing details to their families.
Fluent in Chinese, English and Tibetan, Lodoe is known to have studied at a school established by the Panchen Lama, a Tibetan spiritual leader. After his graduation, Lodoe taught in a school in his town.
The Chinese government previously offered Lodoe 10,000 yuan (U.S. $1,500) for a job, which he turned down to advocate for the preservation of the Tibetan language, sources told RFA earlier.
“Lodoe was sentenced to four years and five months in prison for allegedly writing about the real situation of Tibetans inside Tibet under the Chinese government and sharing them on social media,” said his friend.
Chinese police had warned Lodoe once before to stop writing such articles, but he kept doing so, he added.
Lodoe also translated many works from Chinese and English into Tibetan for which the Chinese government considered him a threat, which was another reason for his arrest, the Tibetan said.
Now, the Chinese government has erased Lodoe’s social media posts and blocked his accounts, he said.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Minority Rights, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, Minority rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Jul 3, 2022
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Jun 12, 2022
- Event Description
On June 12, reporter Zhang Weihan was detained and mistreated by police in Tangshan, in the Hebei province, while reporting on an assault at a local restaurant. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) condemns the journalists’ detainment and urges authorities to immediately cease the censorship of local media in China.
Zhang, a reporter for state-run broadcaster Guizhou Radio, was at a local barbeque restaurant in the north-eastern city of Tangshan to conduct interviews about an assault incident on June 10, for the program Common People Watch.
CCTV footage outside the restaurant showed a group of men attacking four women after they rejected the men’s advances. Two women were admitted to hospital, and two others sustained injuries. The incident has reignited debates over gendered violence in China, as the local police have been accused of improperly investigating the assault.
In a video, Zhang said that police initially arrived at the restaurant due to an unrelated report of a man publicly urinating. However, after confiscating his identification card and searching his phone chat history, officers instead detained Zhang.
Zhang was held at Airport Road police station for eight hours and was eventually released at 9pm after being searched twice. Whilst detained, a police officer yelled at Zhang, held his neck with his elbow, pushed his head to the ground and forced him to kneel while he was searched.
When Zhang showed his press card, an officer reportedly called him “unqualified and ignorant.” Zhang said that he never received any explanation or documentation for his detainment.
Journalists arriving at Tangshan railway station to report on the recent attack, and the following public backlash, have also been interrogated and instructed not to leave their hotels or places of residence whilst in the city due to Covid-19 protocols. “It’s worth discussing whether it’s a normal disease prevention measure or an excuse to block outsiders, such as journalists, from entering the city,” said Zhang.
Additionally, on June 16, the Hebei provincial state prosecutor, internet regulator, state-run journalists’ association and radio, film and television bureau adopted a national campaign targeting “fake news, fake media and fake reporters”. Local journalists believe that the campaign is a likely attempt to limit independent reportage of the restaurant attack and to control public expression.
According to the former editor of the Southern Metropolis Daily newspaper, Cheng Yizhong, authorities will typically instruct local news organisations not to independently report on events and only publicise government-approved information, after an incident such as the restaurant attack in Tangshan.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Vilification, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security, Right to protect reputation
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Jul 3, 2022
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Jun 22, 2022
- Event Description
The Observatory has been informed by the Network of Chinese Human Rights Defenders (CHRD) about the acts of torture and ill-treatment while in detention against Xu Zhiyong and Ding Jiaxi, as well as about the closed-door trials against them. Mr. Zhiyong and Mr. Jiaxi are two human rights lawyers and prominent members of the New Citizens Movement, a civil society movement focused on promoting the implementation of civil and human rights embedded in China’s Constitution, Chinese laws, and regulations.
On June 22 and 24, 2022, respectively, Mr. Xu Zhiyong and Mr. Ding Jiaxi were subjected to closed-door trials at the Linshu County Court on the trump-up charge of “subversion of state power” (Article 105, Section 2 of the 1997 revision of China’s Penal Code). Relatives and diplomats were strictly prohibited from attending both trials. The two defendants’ lawyers were forced to sign non-disclosure agreements prohibiting them to share information about the trial to any source, including the media. The Court did not issue a verdict in either case, and announced verdicts would be issued at “a later date”, without providing further details. The indictments against Mr. Xu Zhiyong and Mr. Ding Jiaxi accused them of forming the “Citizens Movement”, creating a Telegram group chat, and organising a private meeting together with academics, activists, and other human rights lawyers in Xiamen, Fujian Province, to discuss the situation of the rule of law and human rights in China.
On December 26, 2019, Ding Jiaxi was taken away by police officers from Yantai City Public Security Bureau in Shandong Province as part of a large-scale crackdown targeting human rights lawyers and citizen activists – labelled the “1226 crackdown”. The authorities placed Mr. Ding Jiaxi under Residential Surveillance at a Designated Location (RSDL), a form of arbitrary detention and enforced disappearance, for six months without being able to contact his family nor access to lawyers. Mr. Ding Jiaxi was held incommunicado, without his family being unaware of his whereabouts and condition. During this period, he was subjected to various forms of torture and other ill-treatment, including prolonged sleep deprivation, exposure to loud noises, and repeated interrogation while being tied to an iron “tiger-chair” [1]. Furthermore, he was not allowed to have showers, brush his teeth, or change his clothes for days at a time, as well as food and water deprived.
On February 15, 2020, Xu Zhiyong was arbitrarily arrested by police officers from Beijing Municipal Police Security Bureau. Without any legal notification to his family, Mr. Xu Zhiyong was placed under RSDL, initially in Beijing and then in Yantai, Shandong Province, where Mr. Ding Jiaxi was being detained. Mr. Xu Zhiyong was denied access to his family and lawyers for four months, during which he was subjected to torture and ill-treatment. On February 4, 2020, before being arrested, Xu Zhiyong wrote an open letter calling for President Xi Jinping to resign, citing his mis-handling of various crises, including the Hong Kong protests and the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in Wuhan. Mr. Ding Jiaxi and Mr. Xu Zhiyong have been arbitrarily detained for nearly two years, which constitutes an abuse of due process, in violation of China’s Criminal Procedural Law. They should have been tried within three months after their transfer to the court. Both human rights lawyers were formally arrested on June 19, 2020.
The Observatory expresses its grave concern over the high risk of torture and ill-treatment Mr. Ding Jiaxi and Mr. Xu Zhiyong are facing while in detention and urges the Chinese authorities to immediately and unconditionally release them and to put and end to the judicial harassment and unfair trial that they are facing. The Observatory expresses further concern over the systematic use of RSDL in the country and urges China’s authorities to put an immediate end to it.
The Observatory strongly condemns the alleged acts of torture and ill-treatment to which Mr. Ding Jiaxi and Mr. Xu Zhiyong were subjected while in detention and urges the authorities to carry out an immediate and thorough investigation into these allegations and to bring to justice those responsible.
The Observatory strongly condemns the closed-door trial of Mr. Xu Zhiyong and Mr. Ding Jiaxi, and urges the authorities to immediately release them, to put an end to the judicial harassment against them, and to guarantee that their right to due process will be upheld during the remainder of their trials.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Denial Fair Trial, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Right to fair trial, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Lawyer, Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Related Events
- China: China detains activists in year-end crackdown, China: former academic and pro-democracy defender detained
- Date added
- Jul 2, 2022
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Jun 4, 2022
- Event Description
Responding to the arrests of at least two people and around a dozen people being taken away in the last two days for attempting to commemorate the 33rd anniversary of the Tiananmen crackdown, Amnesty International’s Deputy Regional Director Hana Young said:
“The use of spurious charges of ‘sedition’ and ‘unauthorized assembly’ to arrest people attempting to peacefully commemorate the Tiananmen crackdown in Hong Kong is an attack on the right to freedom of expression and an insult to the memory of those who lost their lives on 4 June 1989.
“The harassment and indiscriminate targeting by the Hong Kong Police of people for peacefully honouring the memory of victims of the Tiananmen crackdown lays bare the dismal state of human rights in the city.
“The creativity and determination of those who came out to commemorate the Tiananmen crackdown, despite the threat of arrest and harassment, shows that the truth can never be completely silenced by repressive governments. Hongkongers continue to stand up for their rights and for the rights of those in mainland China.
“The Hong Kong authorities must end their politically motivated campaign to silence people daring to hold China to account over the horrific events of June Fourth.
“All those arrested merely for exercising their human rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly must be immediately and unconditionally released.”
Background
At least 12 people were taken away in the vicinity of Victoria Park in Hong Kong today for peacefully commemorating the Tiananmen Square crackdown. Others were harassed by the police for carrying flowers, handing out pieces of white paper, holding a toy tank or turning on the flashlights on their phones.
One man was arrested for suspected “unauthorized assembly” and on 3 June, an artist was arrested under “sedition” charges after he staged a street performance.
Every year on 4 June since 1990, up to hundreds of thousands of people joined a candlelight vigil in Hong Kong’s Victoria Park to remember those killed during the Tiananmen crackdown. They called on the Chinese authorities to reveal the truth about what happened and take accountability for the fatalities. The vigil has been banned for the past two years, ostensibly on Covid-19 grounds. This year authorities closed parts of Victoria part citing potential “illegal activities” and heavy police force patrolled the area.
The organizer of the vigil, the Hong Kong Alliance, was forced to disband in September 2021 after coming under increasing pressure since the enactment of Hong Kong’s national security law in June 2020. Several of its senior figures are currently in jail.
The Alliance is one of several prominent civil society organizations forced to close since last year after being targeted by the Hong Kong police on national security grounds.
Every year the vigil in Hong Kong featured a recorded message from the Tiananmen Mothers, family members of those killed, who are still seeking a full government account of the deaths, lawful compensation and investigation of criminal responsibility. Frequently harassed and prevented from mourning, this week key members of the group report they are being prevented from receiving international phone calls.
Hundreds – possibly thousands – of people were killed in and around Beijing’s Tiananmen Square on 4 June 1989 when Chinese troops opened fire on students and workers who had been peacefully calling for political and economic reforms as well as an end to corruption. Tens of thousands were arrested across China in the suppression that followed. Many were charged with counter-revolutionary crimes and served very long prison sentences following unfair trials. Regularly since 1989, activists in mainland China have been detained and charged with “subversion” or “picking quarrels” if they commemorated those who were killed, called for the release of prisoners, or criticised government actions during the Tiananmen crackdown.
This year, Amnesty International and other groups have organized a series of global candlelight vigils and other events commemorating the victims of the Tiananmen crackdown, in solidarity with the Tiananmen mothers and with Hong Kong amid increased repression in the city.
Events are taking place this week in more than 20 cities including Bangkok, San Francisco, Washington DC, Seoul, Taipei, Ulaanbaatar, Sydney, Oslo, Paris, Amsterdam and London.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Jun 11, 2022
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Jun 3, 2022
- Event Description
Authorities in China have ordered dozens of pro-democracy activists and dissidents into house arrest or other forms of restriction ahead of the 33rd anniversary of the Tiananmen massacre on June 4.
Dissident political commentator Zha Jianguo and veteran journalist Gao Yu are under house arrest at their Beijing homes, while rights lawyer Pu Zhiqiang and his wife have been taken on a forced "vacation" out of town.
Security is tighter than usual for this year's anniversary of the bloody crackdown that ended weeks of student-led peaceful protests on Tiananmen Square, as the authorities tighten their grip ahead of the 20th congress of the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) later this year.
"The police have set guard detail and a car [outside my home] to watch me," Gao told RFA on Friday. "If I want to go anywhere, they have to take me in their car."
"Also, my landline and mobile phone are no longer acceptable international calls, including calls from Hong Kong," she said.
Dissident commentator Zha Jianguo, who was among the founding members of the long-banned China Democracy Party (CDP), said he is in a similar situation.
"They're stationed [outside]," Zha told RFA. "They do this every year from June 1 to June 5."
"I went out on the morning of June 1 and saw them setting out stools and sitting themselves down outside our home," he said. "The district police department said they would be sending some people round today as well."
"As far as I know, about seven, eight, maybe 10 people are under house arrest like this in Beijing," he said.
Zha said police have also warned him not to speak about the anniversary in media interviews.
"They called me yesterday and said I wasn't to discuss June 4 with anyone, not in posts, nor in media interviews," he said. "I told them, it's been 33 years since June 4, and you're still doing this?"
Sources said fellow Beijing-based dissidents Hu Shigen, He Depu, massacre survivor Qi Zhiyong and others were also under some form of restriction.Noticeably tighter security
You Weijie, spokesperson for the Tiananmen Mothers victims group that campaigns for compensation, redress and transparency of information around the massacre, said she couldn't talk when contacted by RFA on Friday.
"It's not convenient for me to talk to you right now," You said, her response suggesting that the authorities were monitoring her communications.
Asked if she had been banned from giving media interviews, You replied: "Yes, yes."
She said she and the other Tiananmen Mothers members were being escorted to Wan'an Cemetery on Saturday to make offerings for those who died in the crackdown.
"I'll go tomorrow; the car has been arranged. It'll be the same families going," she said.
Zhou Xiang, a dissident scholar in the central province of Hunan, said security was particularly tight this year.
"Several people in Zhuzhou city have been contacted [by police]. He Jiawei was the first, and they have taken away his mobile phone," Zhou said. "I also got a call. They told me not to speak out, not to upload photos or text [relating to June 4, 1989], etc."
"As far as I know, maybe seven or eight people received these warnings in Zhuzhou city."
Dissidents in the southwestern megacity of Chongqing reported similar treatment.
Democracy advocate Xu Wanping, who served 23 years in jail for trying to set up an opposition party, said he is being taken out of town by police.
"They made a point of contacting me and emphasizing that I wasn't to speak out on anything today or tomorrow," he said.
"They're taking me out of town for a couple of days; I've just gotten ready to leave."
Hong Kong park closure
Asked if police were present as he spoke, Xu laughed and replied: "I wish you a healthy Dragon Boat Festival."
He said many others in Chongqing were also being escorted away from their homes.
According to Zhou, the moves are part of a nationwide coordinated effort by police to prevent any form of public commemoration of the June 4, 1989 bloodshed, whether through in-person meetings or online.
He said the level of security was "unprecedented" for a June 4 anniversary, and was likely linked to political jitters ahead of the 20th Party Congress later this year.
Meanwhile, authorities in Hong Kong, where a once-annual candlelight vigil for massacre victims is being banned for the third year running, announced the partial closure of Victoria Park, the venue where it once took place.
"In view of the police's observation that some people are using different channels to incite the participation of unauthorized assemblies in the Victoria Park and its vicinity which may involve the use of the venue for illegal activities, the Leisure and Cultural Services Department (LCSD) [is closing] part of the Victoria Park ... until 12.30 a.m. on June 5, in order to prevent any unauthorized assemblies in the Park," an LCSD spokesperson said in a statement on Thursday.
The closed area will include the soccer pitches where the vigils once took place, it said.
Police senior superintendent Liauw Ka-kei warned the public not to "test" the force's willingness to enforce the law on June 4.
He warned that solo candlelight vigils will be treated in the same way as gatherings, and that anyone wearing black clothing or carrying candles would be regarded as suspect.
He cited recent court precedents as establishing that people could be guilty of "illegal assembly" even if they weren't present at the scene, if it could be shown that they had in some way promoted such assemblies.
"If the purpose of the person's appearance at the scene makes it seem that he is inciting others to participate in an illegal assembly, the police will definitely search for evidence, and the specific law enforcement action will be determined depending on the situation," Liauw warned.
He said the police hadn't received any application for a public gathering on June 4 this year.
Former League of Social Democrats chairman Avery Ng said the police claim that they could tell the intentions of anyone turning up at Victoria Park on Saturday was questionable.
"This is very strange behavior on the part of the Hong Kong police," Ng told RFA. "They seem to know what everyone is thinking and what they are planning."
"If you join a crowd in Causeway Bay taking a lot of photos when a celebrity is visiting, that's OK, but if you are alone or in pairs, in black clothing, then you could be thinking about the students who died on June 4, 1989, so that's not OK," he said.
"By making statements like these, the police are absolutely trying to create an atmosphere of fear around the words June 4, which are very sensitive and must not be uttered," Ng said. "This city is now ruled by man, and we can't tell what's legal and what's not."
"You won't get a definite answer out of the police or the government," he said.
- Impact of Event
- 16
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community), Woman
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats, Restrictions on Movement, Surveillance
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of movement, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to privacy
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Jun 4, 2022
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- May 24, 2022
- Event Description
A court in Hong Kong on Tuesday jailed democracy activist and former law professor Benny Tai for 10 months for "illegally" promoting a strategic voting scheme for the 2016 Legislative Council (LegCo) elections.
Tai, 57, was handed the sentence after pleading guilty to illegally incurring H.K.$253,000 in election expenses by placing six newspaper ads to promote scheme, which aimed to win a majority for pro-democracy parties in LegCo.
District Court judge Anthony Kwok said the sentence had been reduced by five months due to the guilty plea and by two months because of delays in prosecuting the case.
Kwok said the strategic voting scheme had affected the "fairness" of the election, although it was later postponed by the government and held under rules preventing any opposition candidates from standing at all.
Tai and 26 other activists and former pro-democracy lawmakers are also awaiting trial under the national security law for subversion for their role in an unofficial democratic primary held in the run-up to the main poll.
Onlookers shouted out "Hang in there!" and "Jesus loves you!" from the public gallery after the sentence was read out.The sentencing came as retired Catholic bishop and Cardinal Joseph Zen and five co-defendants pleaded not guilty to 'collusion with foreign forces' in connection with their trusteeship of the 612 Humanitarian Relief Fund, which offered financial, legal and psychological help to people arrested during the 2019 protest movement.
Zen's co-defendants, former pro-democracy lawmaker and barrister Margaret Ng, scholar Hui Po-keung, jailed former lawmaker Cyd Ho, Cantopop star Denise Ho and former fund secretary Sze Shing-wai, also pleaded not guilty to the same charge at West Kowloon Court on Tuesday.
At the hearing attended by the German consul Johannes Harms and other foreign diplomats, the six also pleaded not guilty to another charge of "failure to apply for registration or exemption from registration of a society within the specified time limit."
Their trial has been scheduled for Sept. 19, and all defendants barring Cyd Ho were released on bail after the national security police confiscated their passports.
The prosecution said it would call 17 witnesses, and present 10 boxes of documents and eight hours of video clips as evidence.
Onlookers called out in support of Zen and the others, calling him Peace Cardinal, and exhorting them to "take care," and offering Christian blessings.
Meanwhile, the Law Society said it would investigate the defense team for alleged "professional misconduct," prompting fears that the pro-China body will target defense attorneys in a similar manner to official lawyers' associations in mainland China.
The Catholic Diocese of Hong Kong said Tuesday said it will no longer hold masses for those who died in the 1989 Tiananmen massacre, citing fears of prosecution under the national security law.
Masses were held at seven churches last year to the June 4, 1989 anniversary.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Right to liberty and security, Right to political participation
- HRD
- Academic, Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Related Events
- China: academic and pro-democracy advocate fired by the University of Hong Kong, China: Hong Kong Law Professor Reported to Police For 'Sedition'
- Date added
- May 28, 2022
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- May 23, 2022
- Event Description
Chinese censors have deleted a social media post from a university professor who hit out at the blanket surveillance deployed against Chinese citizens as part of the zero-COVID policy.
The post from Tsinghua University law professor Lao Dongyan, who has long been a vocal critic of mass surveillance and facial recognition under the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP), was deleted from Weibo on Monday.
Undeterred, Lao posted further comments on Wednesday, calling on the highest judicial authorities in China to pay attention to the personal privacy risks posed by big data surveillance, and for laws to limit its scope.
Lao's initial post took issue with the widespread deployment of big data surveillance as part of the Beijing municipal government's attempts to deliver on CCP leader Xi Jinping's zero-COVID policy.
Lao said government promises that citizens' data "won't be used for purposes other than disease control and prevention" weren't enough, and that legislation was needed, otherwise victims of big data leaks or theft would have no channel for redress.
"I'm human, not a zoo animal," Lao wrote on Monday. "If you want to live in captivity, that's your choice, but I don't."
"There should be some dignity to a human life, which should be more than just existence."Limiting freedom
On Wednesday, Lao expressed concern in two fresh posts that technologies like facial recognition, voiceprint recognition, and even emotional recognition infringe on citizens' privacy, and called for legislation to limit their use.
In Beijing, a link had now been made between public transportation ticketing systems and the traffic light health code app that is mandatory for access to any public place under the zero-COVID policy.
She said the linkage gave the authorities instant access to individuals' identities, whereabouts and social connections, and that the health code app could be used indefinitely to limit citizens' freedom of movement.
She also warned that the move had greatly increased the risk of people's personal data being abused or leaked.
Lao tagged the Supreme People's Court and the highest-level state prosecutor, among other official accounts, in her post.
Tsinghua sociologist Li Zhen, who has campaigned for privacy in the face of big data, said such surveillance eventually gets used as a political tool to exert social control in China.
"Now, PCR-testing has been normalized in Beijing, with testing stations every mile, just like bus stops," Li told RFA. "The whole thing is controlled by the government, so it's totally about political control."
"This has totally destroyed the past 30 or 40 years of legal progress in China," he said. "We have moved forward, only to regress, because of technology."
Farmers targeted
The controls on people's movements aren't just limited to urban areas, either. Farmers in some areas now need to get a pass before they can work their own land.
"It's hard for me to imagine, as a farmer," Zhang Jianping told RFA. "When I was a kid in the Mao Zedong era, they would crack down on capitalism if we grew a cash crop on our private land."
"Fast forward several decades, and there are still restrictions on farmers wanting to work the land," he said. "I can't understand such disease control and prevention measures."
Beijing-based commentator Ji Feng agreed.
"Since the pandemic, our every action has been subject to government monitoring," Ji said. "The aim is simple: to bring everyone under government control."
"They are using the pandemic as a testing ground in the mass management of the population, the prevention of mass incidents [like protests], and the elimination of dissatisfaction and even resistance," he said.
U.S.-based legal scholar Teng Biao said it's entirely possible for the CCP to eliminate any public dissent through the use of high-tech surveillance.
"The high-tech system they have in China has exceeded the imaginations of political dystopia authors," Teng told RFA. "They can control every corner [of the country] and everyone in it."
"China is using the pandemic as a pretext to control the flow of information and the actions of its citizens, including the use of technologies mentioned by Lao Dongyan: voiceprint recognition; facial recognition and other biometric techniques," he said.
"This isn't just an infringement of people's right to privacy: the consequences will be far more serious than that, because people with different views [to the CCP line] will be unable to act and see no hope [for the future]," Teng said.
Teng said he is concerned for Lao's safety in the wake of her posts, and called on the international community to keep a close eye on her situation.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- Censorship
- Rights Concerned
- Internet freedom, Freedom of expression Online
- HRD
- Academic, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- May 28, 2022
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- May 20, 2022
- Event Description
Christian human rights lawyer Wang Shengsheng traveled from Zhengzhou to Wuhan to attend a trial. Zhengzhou is not classified as a medium or high COVID risk city, but authorities still forced her to quarantine in Wuhan Railway Station for 21 hours.
In her opinion, the forced quarantine was utterly unreasonable, and it did not stand on any legal grounds. She tried various means to protect her rights. Wang reasoned with the COVID prevention staff, asked other lawyers for help, and posted her situation on social media. All of her efforts were in vain.
Wang exposed all the details on May 20 in an article she posted on her WeChat public account. She mentioned that government officials asked her to delete her articles and videos. WeChat deleted her article one day after it was published.
It was not the first time that Wang had traveled to Wuhan Railway Station from Zhengzhou East Railway Station. She rode the high-speed train to Wuhan on May 14. At the exit of Wuhan Railway Station, COVID prevention staff checked her itinerary and Wuhan’s policy about the Zhengzhou area. They told her it was fine for travelers from that area. They asked her to do a COVID test and allowed her to exit the railway station. She traveled back to Zhengzhou successfully the same day. However, she experienced a completely different situation when she traveled along the same route less than a week later.
Lawyer Wang Shengsheng’s health code was green (clear). There was no warning for her to travel to places on her itinerary. Her COVID test results were consistently negative for a few days in a row. She stayed in a low-risk zone for the past thirty days, but Wuhan marked the entire Zhengzhou Jinshui District and Zhengzhou Erqi District as high-risk zones. As a result, authorities made her register at the COVID prevention center in Wuhan Railway Station and quarantined her immediately for ten days. Even if she just needs to transfer to another train in Wuhan, she still must finish the quarantine first before she can get on another train.
Wang scolded Wuhan’s terrible COVID prevention policy. Her criticism irritated the staff. They confiscated her ID and openly challenged her: “I have the authority to deal with your ID before your information is registered.” Then a police officer came in and warned her that travelers must cooperate with the quarantine policy, or else they may be detained.
She immediately notified her client and the judge that she could not show up in court. Then she requested to go back to Zhengzhou because her two children were at home. She promised to get back home in the evening, but they denied her. She was told that Wuhan used to allow travelers to go back immediately, but the current policy no longer allowed it.
Authorities notified the COVID prevention staff in charge of the court’s area to take her to the quarantine site. She decided to stay at the railway station the whole night. Other travelers suggested that she post a video on douyin.com (the Chinese version of TikTok). She did not have an account, so she opened WeChat Channels and posted a video to share her situation and emotion with her friends. She also called the government hotline numerous times, but none of them allowed her to travel back home. They said that her situation has been escalated to higher-level authorities, but she did not receive any response until 1 AM.
A friend brought Wang a quilt and comforters. Her client was worried, so they called the government hotline several times. Wang Shengsheng wanted to sleep but was interrupted by the train several times.
The situation changed on the morning of May 18. COVID prevention staff bargained to take her the court and back if she stops posting on social media. Wang agreed.
Her incident drew a lot of attention on the internet. Authorities contacted her law firm when she just arrived home. Wang received phone calls from the Cyberspace Administration of Wuhan and the Wuhan Justice Bureau, requesting her to delete the online content. They said they would deal with other Weibo accounts after she removes her content. She promised to do something after she rested. Wang did not delete her videos, knowing the accounts that shared her content would be reported or removed.
She criticized and reflected on China’s covid prevention policy at the end of her article. She said:
We live in a society dominated by abused power. The Wuhan government won my respect because they did not force me to delete my content, but instead tried to convince me to delete my content. In addition, Wuhan's quarantine, all free of charge, is a civilized, non-discriminatory arrangement made by Wuhan to reach its prevention goals. They won respect for themselves. This characteristic also exists in many of my friends from Wuhan. They are smart, flexible, kind-hearted, decent, hardworking, and bold. But I am not sure about the negative effects of this incident. Will it make the Wuhan government more cooperative?
If the COVID prevention policy is not changed, the COVID prevention practice will not change, and the various madness to achieve the goals will not cease. The goals are critical to keeping government officials’ position and the huge profit behind covid prevention is also a significant driving force.
When I talked with the COVID prevention staff, none of them thought the China-style COVID prevention practice would ever end. They do not know what they will do if COVID prevention ends. They all think China is different and will keep enforcing its policies.
Of course, it is up to higher officials’ decisions.
I cannot see the far future either. Now that COVID prevention is part of daily life, when will the government produce laws about it? After all, we are all promoting the growth or death of civilization through our interaction.”
Wang Shengsheng is a renowned Christian Human Rights lawyer. Over the years, she has been promoting China’s human rights and rule of law through her frontline work. Because of that, she has been terminated by her previous employer and the Chinese government does not allow her to work for another law firm. Her legal license was once revoked. Her husband Chen Yixuan is also a renowned Christian human rights lawyer. He worked on multiple, sensitive cases. When faced with persecution, she said:
I try my best to uphold kindness, and dignity and seek rule of law, human rights, and justice. I believe in Jesus Christ. So many bold people who reject injustice are arrested, threatened, and have their personal liberty deprived. I will not stop paying attention and expressing my feelings. If I lose my personal liberty, I will fight until the end.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment, Censorship, Intimidation and Threats, Restrictions on Movement
- Rights Concerned
- #COVID-19, Freedom of movement, Internet freedom, Freedom of expression Online, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to work
- HRD
- Lawyer, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- May 28, 2022
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- May 23, 2022
- Event Description
Hong Kong authorities must immediately and unconditionally release Eric Wu Ka-Fai, a reporter for independent news site HK Golden, and stop jailing members of the press for reporting the news, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Monday.
On Monday, May 23, Hong Kong’s West Kowloon Magistrates’ Court sentenced Wu to one month in prison for behaving in a disorderly manner in a public place under the city’s public order ordinance for questioning police during a HK Golden live broadcast as he was covering a pro-democracy student event in central Hong Kong in April 2021, according to news reports.
“Hong Kong authorities should be embarrassed for jailing journalist Eric Wu Ka-Fai merely for asking tough questions of the police, as he had every right to do,” said Steven Butler, CPJ’s Asia coordinator, in Washington in D.C. “Hong Kong authorities continue to claim that press freedom prevails in the Chinese-ruled city, but cases like Wu’s prove otherwise.”
According to reports, Wu, who also reports under the name Gwanfolo, was detained on September 29, 2021 and released on bail the next day on charges of behaving in a disorderly manner in a public place, willfully obstructing a police officer on duty, and refusing to obey an order of a police officer. The charges stemmed from his questioning of police during his HK Golden livestream on April 15, 2021, of a pro-democracy street booth erected by student group Student Politicism. On Monday, the judge acquitted Wu of the latter two charges, the reports said.
In video of Wu’s April 15 livestream, police officers can be seen blocking Wu as he tries to film them questioning the student group. Wu raises his voice and asks the officers whether they intend to hit the crowd when an officer pulls out a stick, later revealed to be a selfie stick, from a bag. The officer says, “police don’t hit people,” and Wu confronts him, saying, “Police don’t hit people? Wasn’t Frankly Chu King Wai [who was jailed for hitting a bystander during Hong Kong protests in 2014] a police officer? Weren’t the seven officers [convicted of assaulting pro-democracy activist Ken Tsang in 2014] police?” Wu also cites cases of alleged police theft and sexual misconduct in the livestream.
According to the reports, the judge said Wu’s recounting of alleged police misconduct in a public place constituted a disorderly conduct offense because it could have incited collective hatred toward police at the scene resulting in violence.
CPJ emailed the Hong Kong police force and the Hong Kong department of justice as well as its prosecution division for comment but did not immediately receive any replies.
CPJ’s 2021 prison census found that China remained the world’s worst jailer of journalists for the third year in a row. It was the first time that journalists in Hong Kong appeared on CPJ’s census.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Enactment of repressive legislation and policies, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Online, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- May 28, 2022
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- May 11, 2022
- Event Description
Responding to the arrests under Hong Kong’s national security law of four trustees of the defunct 612 Humanitarian Relief Fund, Amnesty International’s Asia-Pacific Regional Director Erwin van der Borght said:
“Even by Hong Kong’s recent standards of worsening repression, these arrests represent a shocking escalation. Some of the city’s most respected pro-democracy figures, whose activism has always been entirely peaceful, are now potentially facing years in jail. There could be few more poignant examples of the utter disintegration of human rights in Hong Kong.
“The targeting of these four activists, among them a 90-year-old cardinal, for enabling legal and humanitarian support for protesters lays bare the Hong Kong government’s callous disregard for the basic rights of its citizens.
“By attempting to criminalize the provision of legal, economic and medical aid to those in need, the authorities are undermining the rights to fair trial and other human rights of all people in Hong Kong.
“The trustees’ so-called crime of ‘collusion with foreign forces’ once again highlights how the vagueness of Hong Kong’s national security law can be weaponised to make politically motivated, or simply malicious, arrests.
“The Hong Kong government must stop pursuing criminal charges against members of the 612 Humanitarian Relief Fund and others who are being targeted simply for peacefully exercising their rights to freedom of expression, association or assembly.”
Background
Cardinal Joseph Zen (90), barrister Margaret Ng (74) and singer Denise Ho (45) were arrested on Wednesday, accused of “collusion with foreign forces” under Hong Kong’s national security law. Scholar Hui Po-keung was arrested at Hong Kong airport on Tuesday while attempting to leave Hong Kong, while a fifth trustee, Cyd Ho (67), is already detained for other offences. All except Ho were released on bail on Wednesday.
The five were trustees for the defunct 612 Humanitarian Relief Fund, which provided financial support for legal assistance to people prosecuted for their participation in the 2019 mass protests.
The fund ceased activities in September 2021 after it became known that it was subject of an investigation by the Hong Kong police’s National Security Department
The fund’s name “612” stems from the date 12 June 2019, when the police used unnecessary and excessive force against largely peaceful protesters who demonstrated against the later-retracted extradition bill.
- Impact of Event
- 3
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Enactment of repressive legislation and policies, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Lawyer, Pro-democracy defender, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- May 17, 2022
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Apr 7, 2022
- Event Description
A Tibetan activist traveling to promote language rights in Tibetan areas of western China has been denied shelter, RFA has learned, after authorities ordered hotel operators in the region to turn him away.
Tashi Wangchuk, a former political prisoner aged around 35, had been traveling in China’s Qinghai province since April 6, a Tibetan living in the area told RFA’s Tibetan Service in an exclusive interview earlier this week.
“On his way from Yulshul to Siling, he had stopped by various Tibetan schools in Golog, Rebgong and Malho to advocate for the use of Tibetan language in Tibetan schools,” RFA’s source said, speaking on condition of anonymity for security reasons.
“But he was denied accommodation and dismissed from hotels in Rebgong [In Chinese, Tongren] and Malho [Huangnan]. We don’t have any information about his present whereabouts, and it’s dangerous to talk about this,” he added.
Wangchuk was later confirmed by RFA to be staying at his brother's home in Siling, where officials are requiring anyone traveling to the area to enter a 15-day quarantine for COVID-19. Sources said authorities continue to monitor his movements.
A resident of Qinghai’s Yulshul (Yushu) municipality, Wangchuk was released on Jan. 28, 2021, after completing a prison term for “inciting separatism” and is now subject to near-constant monitoring by authorities.
While traveling, Wangchuk had posted photos and videos of his visits to Tibetan schools in Darlag (Dali) county in the Golog (Guoluo) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture and in Rebgong, where Chinese authorities have clamped down on the use of the Tibetan language in teaching, RFA’s source said.
“However, only 30 minutes after checking into a hotel in Rebgong on April 7, the hotel told him to leave after they were instructed by county police not to let him stay, and his attempts to find a hotel on April 8 and 9 also failed after police told the hotels not to give him accommodation.”
When Wangchuk went to a police station in the Malho prefecture to complain, he was denied entry to the station and told no one there could talk to him, the source said. “And later he even went to Rebgong county’s Commission for Discipline Inspection to file an appeal, but it was closed.”
“After April 10, all the details that he posted on his Weibo social media account were deleted by the Chinese authorities, so it’s difficult to learn anything now about his well-being,” he added.
Also speaking to RFA, Pema Gyal — a researcher at London-based Tibet Watch — said that former political prisoners in Tibet are kept on Chinese government black lists and often have trouble finding jobs or accommodation in hotels.
“We are, of course, very concerned about Tashi Wangchuk at the moment,” Gyal said.
While China claims to uphold the rights of all minorities to access a bilingual education, Tibetan-language schools have been forced to shut down, and school-age children in Tibet regularly receive instruction only in Mandarin Chinese.
Similar policies have been deployed against ethnic Mongolians in China’s Inner Mongolia and Muslim Uyghurs in northwestern China’s region of Xinjiang.
Formerly an independent nation, Tibet was invaded and incorporated into China by force more than 70 years ago.
Language rights have become a particular focus for Tibetan efforts to assert national identity in recent years, with informally organized language courses in the monasteries and towns deemed “illegal associations” and teachers subject to detention and arrest, sources say.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Censorship, Online Attack and Harassment, Surveillance
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of movement, Internet freedom, Freedom of expression Online, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, Minority rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- May 4, 2022
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Apr 8, 2022
- Event Description
The trial of Wang Aizhong, a social media activist who highlighted vulnerable communities, was set to take place on April 12 at the Guangzhou Tianhe District Court on the charge of “picking quarrels and provoking trouble,” but the trial was canceled four days before the scheduled date. The court refused to provide Wang’s lawyer with any rationale for the sudden cancelation, including refusing to confirm whether it was COVID-related.
The police have told Wang Aizhong’s wife that he was detained because of his social media posts and for giving foreign media interviews. While in detention, Wang has lost 10kg due to poor nutrition and he has been prevented from purchasing extra food or toiletries from the commissary.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Denial Fair Trial, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Online, Right to fair trial
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- May 4, 2022
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Apr 7, 2022
- Event Description
Xing Wangli, a rights activist in the central Chinese province of Henan, has been put on trial behind closed doors on charges of "defamation" after he supported human rights attorney Jiang Tianyong, who remains under house arrest following his release from prison.
Xing, who is currently being held at Henan's Xi County Detention Center, stood trial by video link at the Xi County People's Court on April 7 on charges of "defamation" after he posted an open letter accusing a local propaganda official of corruption and intimidation.
The court building was closed for business on Thursday, with a large police presence on the streets outside.
More than a dozen fellow activists went to support Xing, but they were prevented from approaching the building by court police, who deleted photos of the scene from their mobile phones.
Xing has been denied permission to meet with his lawyer, who didn't receive a copy of the indictment until March 21, the U.S.-based rights group, the Dui Hua Foundation said in a statement on its website.
The authorities cited disease prevention restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic, it said.
Blunt-force head injuries
Xing's wife Xu Jincui was at the court to observe the trial, which was closed to journalists or members of the public.
"The prosecution accused Xing Wangli of continuing to speak out about the unusual deaths of two petitioners in Xi county: Diao Yanfang and Feng Guohui," Xu told RFA. "[They] claimed that Xing Wangli instigated his son to participate in rights protection activities."
"But more importantly, Xing Wangli said that the serious injuries he suffered were directly linked to three well-known local officials," she said.
Xing suffered serious head injuries in 2016 while being held at Xi County Detention Center. He later said they were the result of an attack with a blunt weapon.
He has repeatedly requested an official probe into the incident via the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP)'s Central Commission for Discipline Inspection.
Xing's son Xing Jian, who now lives in New Zealand, said the authorities have claimed that the injuries were the result of a fall during a botched suicide attempt, and he said the video presented by the prosecution as evidence had likely been tampered with.
He said he believes the current prosecution was sparked by his father's attempt to visit Jiang Tianyong.
"After my father was arrested, my mother was illegally detained many times by the local stability maintenance personnel," Xing Jiang said. "During this period, these stability maintenance personnel also told my mother many times not to interact with [Jiang] in future, otherwise there will be endless trouble for her."
"The authorities believe that lawyer Jiang Tianyong tried to subvert state power, saying that he is anti-party and anti-state, but I don't think a regular lawyer could do that," he said.
'Picking quarrels and stirring up trouble'
He said an unidentified driver had scraped Xing's lawyer's car in the court parking lot on Thursday.
"[That kind of] psychological pressure would affect his performance in court," Xing Jian said.
Xing was originally detained on suspicion of "picking quarrels and stirring up trouble" in May 2021 after he tried to visit Jiang, who remains under house arrest, in April 2021.
He was formally arrested in June 2021, but for "defamation," and indicted by the county prosecutor in January 2022.
While defamation cases in China have previously been private prosecution cases, new guidelines issued in 2013 paved the way for it to be brought as a criminal charge against people accused of "spreading disinformation or false accusations online can constitute criminal acts.
If a post deemed to contain disinformation or false accusations accrues more than 5,000 views or 500 reposts, then it is considered a "serious circumstance," according to the U.S.-based rights group, the Duihua Foundation.
Jiang was "released" from prison in February 2019 at the end of a two-year jail term for "incitement to subvert state power," a charge often used to imprison peaceful critics of the government.
He was allowed to return to his parents' home in Luoyang, but remains under close surveillance and heavy restrictions.
Jiang's U.S.-based wife Jin Bianling has repeatedly expressed concern for her husband's health after he was tortured by cellmates during his time in detention.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Denial Fair Trial, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Online, Right to fair trial, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Apr 14, 2022
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Apr 11, 2022
- Event Description
Hong Kong veteran journalist Allan Au was arrested by national security police on Monday morning, local media reported. A source close to the matter confirmed the arrest with HKFP.
iCable, Now News, and Sing Tao cited sources saying that Au was arrested for allegedly conspiring to publish seditious materials, under colonial-era anti-sedition legislation. The former two outlets reported that Au’s arrest was linked with the Stand News case.
The 54-year-old journalist, who worked as a senior producer at TVB News and a radio host on RTHK, was also a columnist for outlets including Stand News and Ming Pao. Au was fired from RTHK in June last year amid a government-directed editorial overhaul.
As a Chinese University professional consultant at the School of Journalism, he specialised in “media censorship and self-censorship,” according to the university’s website. He also amassed a host of journalism awards since 1997.
When asked for a reaction by reporters following an event on Monday morning, Hong Kong leadership hopeful John Lee said that the Basic Law protects freedom of press and speech: “There has not been a change in its wording.”
Lee said that, as long as people are staying within “the legal framework,” their freedoms will be “sufficiently guaranteed.”
The police said in a statement published on Monday afternoon that officers from the national security department arrested a 54-year-old male in Kwai Chung on Monday for alleged “conspiracy to publish seditious publication.” The arrestee was not named in the statement. Stand News case
Stand News, an independent digital media outlet with a pro-democracy slant, folded in December last year after seven people linked to the outlet were arrested.
Two people – the platform’s former editor-in-chief Chung Pui-kuen and former acting chief editor Patrick Lam – were charged under the colonial-era legislation, and both have been denied bail since the end of December last year.
Chung and Lam were set to appear in court on Wednesday as the court was scheduled to handle the prosecution’s application to transfer the case to the District Court.
The anti-sedition legislation, which was last amended in the 1970s when Hong Kong was still under British colonial rule, falls under the city’s Crimes Ordinance. It is separate from the Beijing-imposed national security law, and outlaws incitement to violence, disaffection and other offences against the authorities.
HKFP has reached out to the police for comment.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Online, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Academic, Media Worker
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Apr 13, 2022
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Mar 31, 2022
- Event Description
Responding to the arrests of six people in Hong Kong this morning on “sedition” charges after they “caused nuisance” during court hearings, Amnesty International’s Asia-Pacific Regional Director Erwin van der Borght said:
“These ludicrous ‘sedition’ charges against six Hongkongers – apparently because they clapped during court hearings – mark yet another new low for human rights in the city.
“The Hong Kong authorities’ grotesquely disproportionate response to a small and peaceful act of defiance shows how they will stop at nothing to root out even the faintest murmurings of dissent.
“These arrests also provide further evidence that Hong Kong’s national security police, who have virtually unchecked investigation powers granted by the city’s national security law, are increasingly involved in handling cases unrelated to national security.
“The Hong Kong police must stop abusing overly broad sedition charges to silence peaceful expression. There is no context in which the act of clapping should be considered a crime.”
Background
Hong Kong national security police today arrested six people on suspicion of “causing nuisance” during different court hearings between December 2021 and January 2022. They are facing charges of “sedition” which carry a two-year prison sentence.
In the hearing of activist Chow Hang-tung on 4 January 2022, several members of the audience were asked to leave the court after they clapped during her speech supporting of victims of the 1989 Tiananmen crackdown in Beijing.
Leo Tang King-Wah, one of those arrested, is the former vice-chair of the disbanded Hong Kong Confederation of Trade Unions (HKCTU). On 31 March 2022, police took him and two other former members of the HKCTU for interrogation after the HKCTU allegedly failed to hand in information demanded by the national security police.
Since 2020, the Hong Kong government has weaponized colonial-era sedition laws to prosecute political activists, journalists and authors.
In July 2021, five speech therapists were arrested and later charged for conspiring to publish “seditious materials” after publishing a series of children’s books.
In December 2021, executives and board members of the defunct media outlet Stand News were arrested for “seditious publications”.
In March 2022, political activist Tam Tak-chi was convicted under sedition charges for peacefully exercising his right to freedom of expression.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Administrative Harassment, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Labour rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Apr 13, 2022
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Mar 8, 2022
- Event Description
Recently, Li Yu, a human rights activist, suffered a severe and constant cough due to complications from asthma. Local national security officers surveil her and took Li Yu to small clinics to treat her with shots and medication. Her symptoms did not improve. Li Yu wanted to go to a hospital, but they rejected her request. She posted a video, asking for help and calling on people to follow her situation.
In the video, Li Yu held her ID, saying, “Hello all, my name is Li Yu. I am an advocate and a single mom. I was imprisoned twice on a charge of provoking trouble and picking quarrels for six years total. My son is 8 years old.”
Then, Li Yu coughed harshly.
I was kidnapped by the local government in Dadong village, Fangshan district, Beijing in November 2021 because I raised my voice for Zhang Zhan. I was forced into the two-week quarantine on the excuse of COVID-19. On December 29, I was kidnapped by the local government again in Dadong village, Fangshan district, Beijing city because I spoke up for Li Tiantian. I was forcibly quarantined for 21 days on the excuse of COVID-19. The quarantine was over on January 20, 2022.
Today, authorities installed a surveillance camera at my home in my hometown. They also used a rented home to watch me in my house, and they don’t let me leave. If I want to go out, I should get permission from superiors and apply, and I can’t leave without their permission.
I met with my son, who I have not seen for many years, during the Winter Olympics and the National Two Sessions. The meeting was only 10 minutes. I was forced to give up all my social apps including my Twitter account because I spoke up for the chained woman on Twitter. In addition, all my tweets were deleted through different tech approaches, and I was barred from staying in contact with others. On March 8, I was forced to travel.
After I returned to a medium-risk area, I was required to quarantine at home for 14 days in Zaozhuang. I had a COVID test every other day because of my cough, but I didn’t receive any medical treatment. The stay-home quarantine was over on March 24. I had a constant cough because of complications from asthma, and I was not given money for medical treatment. I don’t know why my hometown, Zaozhuang, put me in quarantine again and again. Now, I am not allowed to go anywhere because of the pandemic. I have been banned from visiting Beijing for 3 months, and they have not given me an answer to my appeals. I want to live, I want to survive, I want to live a normal life, I want to see my son, I want my custody back. Please follow my case.
Li Yu is a human rights activist residing in Zaozhuang, Shandong. In 2008, she started to protect her rights because her home and farm were destroyed. Afterward, she was detained twice by Chinese authorities for attending events commemorating Tiananmen Square Massacre, and her imprisonment totaled 6 years. She gave birth to a child before the second conviction, they stripped Li Yu of parent custodial rights. Her child was sent to an orphanage.
Li Yu, escorted by multiple government personnel, visited her son for the first time in three years. Her son will turn 9 years old soon. They allowed Li Yu to see her son for over 10 minutes.
On March 8, 2022, International Women’s Day, Li Yu wore a mask with the image of the chained lady and a chair on her neck, calling on the government to investigate the case. She recorded it and uploaded it to social media.
Afterward, Zaozhuang national security officers threatened and surveilled Li Yu. National security officers demanded that Li Yu stay at home for three months. They warned her not to post anything on WeChat or social media.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats, Restrictions on Movement, Surveillance
- Rights Concerned
- #COVID-19, Freedom of movement, Freedom of expression Online, Right to health, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Apr 3, 2022
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Feb 28, 2022
- Event Description
On 28 February 2022, the Linyi Municipal Procuratorate, in Shandong province, formally indicted woman human rights defender Li Qiaochu for “inciting subversion of State power” under Article 105(2) of the Criminal Law.
In the indictment sent to the Linyi Municipal Intermediate People’s Court, the prosecutors accuse Li Qiaochu of “being deeply influenced by the subversive thoughts” of her partner and human rights defender Xu Zhiyong and for helping him to set up a blog to publish writings that “propagate thoughts that subvert State power and overturn the socialist system”. The indictment provides no further description of these writings nor does it explain precisely how they would subvert State power. “Incitement to subversion of State power” is punishable by imprisonment of five years or less. However, if a defendant is deemed to be a “ringleader” or whose offence constitutes “major crimes—concepts that are not defined by the Criminal Law—they could be sentenced to more than five years in prison.
In a letter to the Chinese government in April 2021, UN Special Procedures have criticised the vague and broad provisions of China’s Criminal Law, including article 105(2), and believe they fail to meet the principle of legal certainty. The UN experts also raised concerns about Li Qiaochu’s detention, stating that the charge against her appears to be related to the legitimate exercise of her right to promote and defend human rights, and of her right to freedom of expression and association.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Denial Fair Trial, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Right to fair trial, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Related Events
- China: detained WHRD faces police conflict of interest (Update), China: detained WHRD faces prolonged harassment (Update), China: WHRD detained again after receiving award on behalf of her boyfriend (Update) , China: WHRD went missing few hours after his partner's detention
- Date added
- Mar 20, 2022
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Feb 13, 2022
- Event Description
A university student has been detained in central Tibet. Chinese authorities in Riwoche County arrested Choedon (ཆོས་སྒྲོན།) on 13 February and she has not been seen since.
Choedon hails from the village of Yamda (ཡམ་མདའ་སྡེ་བ།) in Riwoche County (རི་བོ་ཆེ།), which is under the administration of the prefecture-level city of Chamdo (ཆབ་མདོ་གྲོང་ཁྱེར།). Chamdo is part of the area governed as the Tibet Autonomous Region.
Although authorities have not disclosed the official reason for her arrest, Choedon’s family believes that it was connected to her teaching the Tibetan language to children in Yamda during the school holidays. Choedon currently studies at Southwest Minzu University in Chengdu.
The source stated: “Choedon was arrested by the Chinese authorities but she has not committed any wrongdoing nor does she have any criminal record. Her family suspects that she was probably arrested for teaching the Tibetan language to children in her village during their winter vacation. Her family is concerned about her safety as it has been more than five days since her arrest and disappearance but there is no clue about where she is being held or her condition".
The source added that Choedon " used to teach Tibetan children in her village during vacation time and she is active in the preservation and teaching the Tibetan language"
Choedon’s arrest comes amid sweeping new language policies from the Chinese government in Tibet. On 1 September 2021, the Chinese government replaced all school textbooks in Tibet with Chinese language teaching materials while the Chinese language has been established as the official medium of instruction in schools at every level from kindergarten to high school.
Chinese authorities have also cut off a number of alternative ways for Tibetan children to learn their mother tongue. Authorities have forcefully shut down Tibetan language schools and private schools where the Tibetan languages was being taught and forbidden Tibetan parent from organising online coaching classes for their children during their summer and winter holidays, a key restriction since most parents prefer to give tuition on Tibetan language and Buddhism during this time. Monasteries are also being forced to teach Buddhism in Chinese language
The Chinese government has set a goal that by 2025, 85% of those living under Chinese Communist Party rule will speak the national language (“Putonghua” or “common tongue”). This forms part of a wider effort to promote Chinese nationalism to people of different nationalities living under CCP rule, including Tibetans. Research last year by the Tibet Action Institute found that 800,000-900,000 Tibetan children have been separated from their families and placed into boarding schools, where they face political indoctrination.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, Minority rights defender, Student, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Mar 14, 2022
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Mar 7, 2022
- Event Description
Authorities in Hong Kong have revoked bail for former healthcare union chief and democracy activist Winnie Yu, putting her back behind bars on International Women's Day.
Yu, 34, had been out on bail awaiting trial for "subversion" under a draconian national security law imposed on the city by the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) from July 1, 2020.
She is among 47 defendants charged with the same offense in connection with an unofficial democratic primary election in the summer of 2020 that was deemed to be an attempt to overthrow or undermine government power because it aimed to maximize the number of pro-democracy members of the city's Legislative Council (LegCo).
Soon after the primary, the government announced that LegCo elections slated for September would be postponed to December 2021, and rewrote electoral rules to ensure that only candidates loyal to the government and the CCP would be allowed to stand.
The Hong Kong national security police issued a statement on March 7 saying that a 34-year-old woman had her bail revoked "on suspicion of violating her bail conditions."
Media reports later identified the woman as Yu, a nurse and founder of the now-disbanded healthcare union, the Hospital Authority Employees Alliance, for public sector healthcare workers.
Yu was arrested after reporting as required to her local police station, the reports said.
She had been granted bail by the High Court on July 28, 2021 on condition that she refrain from "directly or indirectly making, distributing or reproducing in any way any remarks or related acts that violate the national security law or that amount to crimes of national security under Hong Kong law."
Yu was also proscribed from "directly or indirectly organizing, arranging or participating in public or private elections of any level in any way, except by voting, contacting foreign officials, parliamentarians or members of parliament at any level and other persons serving the above in any way, directly or indirectly, and leaving Hong Kong."
Yu's bail was revoked because of posts she made to social media criticizing the government's handling of the current wave of COVID-19 in the city, which has left nearly 3,000 people dead and hospitals overwhelmed.
The national security law judge at the bail hearing found that Yu had violated the conditions of her bail, and couldn't be sure she wouldn't do so again.
As Yu left the court, she called out to her supporters in the public gallery: "Take care of my cat for me!"
Her jailing came as top Chinese lawmaker Li Zhanshu praised the electoral changes that followed the democratic primary, saying they ensured the city is being "administered by patriots."
"The new system provides fundamental political and institutional safeguards for good governance of Hong Kong," Li told the annual session of China's rubber-stamp parliament, the National People's Congress (NPC).
Meanwhile, Hong Kong politician Tam Yiu-chung, who sits on the NPC standing committee, said Li's comments suggested that further electoral changes could be in the pipeline.
"There’s no mention of any concrete details," Tam said in comments reported by government broadcaster RTHK. "I believe maybe something is still being studied. If the NPC standing committee needs to enact laws, we’ll do it."
"These are matters for the central government to decide," he said.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- #COVID-19, Freedom of expression Online, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Labour rights defender, Pro-democracy defender, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Mar 14, 2022
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Mar 3, 2022
- Event Description
CHRD condemns the detention of a Chinese citizen who has attempted to engage in peaceful assembly to reflect his views on foreign policy issues, namely the military conflict in Ukraine. CHRD also condemns the Chinese government’s widespread use of censorship on social media regarding the conflict in Ukraine, particularly as most of the reported censorship incidents have tended to silence anti-war views.
On March 3, police from Shaoyang, Hunan province took away and administratively detained activist Peng Peiyu on the charge of “disturbing public order.”
On March 2, Peng planned to go to the Russian embassy in Beijing to conduct an anti-war demonstration, but was detained upon reaching Changsha, the provincial capital of Hunan. Before being administratively detained, Peng was able to phone a friend, saying that police had told him that they might take other measures against him—presumably meaning criminal detention followed by arrest.
On March 1, Peng Peiyu had published an online post titled “A Citizen’s Call to Launch an Anti-War Demonstration.”
In the statement, Peng expressed his views about “Russia’s barbaric invasion of Ukraine and dictator Putin’s anti-humanistic and brazen threat to use nuclear weapons” as well as his expressing “…regret to the entire world for the way in which the Chinese internet has praised dictator Putin’s anti-humanistic behavior”.
The detention is not the only of its kind in China. A pro-peace demonstrator in Hangzhou staged a one-person protest and was immediately taken away by the police.
“Peng Peiyu and other Chinese citizens have the right to engage in peaceful assembly and to express their views on foreign policy. Peng should be immediately and unconditionally released”, said William Nee, CHRD’s Research and Advocacy Coordinator.
Censorship in Overdrive
In addition to the detention of Peng Peiyu, the Chinese government has gone into overdrive with online censorship about the conflict, often favoring censoring views the criticize Russian aggression or that seek peace.
At times these censorship instructions have been explicit , as an internal memo at Beijing News told its employees to “ (d)o not post anything unfavorable to Russia or pro-Western.”
As a commentary in Rights Defense Network noted, “reading through many WeChat posts from the mainland, from the beginning, it wasn’t hard to find a lot of pro-Russia and anti-war views being expressed, but starting from February 27, many anti-war articles mysterious disappeared. As long as its anti-war, it will garner the label from internet administrators of “being against the relevant laws and regulations” thus censoring it, and even an article discussing China-Russia border issues was prohibited from sharing in WeChat”.
There has been censorship from the affected countries of the conflict that could limit the ability of the Chinese public and policymakers from having a more nuanced understanding of the situation. For example, WeChat took down a detailed first-person account posted on February 26 of an anti-war demonstration that took place in the Russian city of St. Petersburg. An example of alleged WeChat censorship was posted online by a Chinese man in Ukraine. His account had been restricted for a day for allegedly violating WeChat’s Acceptable Use Policy.
Censors deleted anti-war statements, such as a statement by five prominent scholars that expressed support to the Ukrainian people in defending their country and called for an end to the war. The statement noted that “(a)s citizens of a country that has suffered from ravages, broken families, starving people, and been compelled to give up part of its national territory….we recall that these kinds of sufferings and humiliations forged our own historical consciousness, and we share the pain of the Ukrainian people as if it were own”. A joint statement from more than 130 alumni of prestigious universities in Beijing that condemned the war was censored.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Administrative Harassment, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Online, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Blogger/ Social Media Activist
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Mar 14, 2022
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Feb 18, 2022
- Event Description
On February 18, human rights lawyer Lu Siwei exposed on social media that the apartment complex management office sent workers to install a surveillance camera pointed at his door.
When Lu asked them why they wanted to monitor him, they said it was an order from the residential community office. He reminded them it’s illegal to do so, then one of them argued that this is to improve community security. Mr. Lu responded with the following three points:
-
They commit the crime of “illegal use of espionage equipment” if they install any surveillance camera without following legal procedures
-
If they want to look for trouble, I will fight for my rights vigorously
-
I urge the apartment complex management office to remove the surveillance camera within 48 hours, otherwise, there will be Mr. Lu Siwei is a renowned human rights lawyer in Sichuan. He has provided legal aid to many human rights victims over the years, specializing in areas like freedom of speech, forced disappearance, arbitrary detention, torture, and forced demolition. He criticizes social injustice and speaks up for the sufferings of vulnerable groups. He defended Mr. Zhang Junyong for his June 4th Wine Bottle Case. He also defended human rights lawyer Chen Jiahong, who was charged with “inciting subversion of state power”. Because of his work, he was oppressed and punished by the Sichuan Province legal system and its lawyers’ association. In June 2020, human rights lawyer Yu Wensheng was sentenced to 4 years by Xuzhou Intermediate Court under the charge of “inciting subversion of state power”. Mr. Lu was his defense lawyer in the second trial. In August 2020, 12 Hong Kong activists were detained in the Yantian Detention Center. Mr. Lu visited them and provided legal support. He was the defense lawyer of one of the detainees Mr. Qiao Yingyu. In mid-October 2020, Mr. Lu traveled to Chu Xiong (Yunnan Province) to work as Mr. Wang Zang’s lawyer and visit his children. Mr. Wang was charged with “inciting subversion of state power”.
Mr. Lu’s work caused the officials to retaliate. On January 4, 2021, the Sichuan Provincial Department of Justice sent him a notice to suspend his lawyer’s license and impose a fine, under the excuse of “violating professional conduct and posting comments with negative social impacts online.” He made a statement after he received the notice:
Obviously, this is their retaliation against me because I delegated the case of 12 Hong Kong activists, and accepted interviews to talk about the case. It is illegal for the Sichuan Provincial Department of Justice to suspend my license without even opening a case. It’s clearly an abuse of power. I will request a public hearing session and debate with them.
A public hearing was held on January 13, 2021. Mr. Lu lost his freedom at the entrance as he was surrounded by more than 10 people. 3 or 4 people dragged him into the building. His lawyers Cheng Hai and Xie Yanyi were not allowed to get in to attend the hearing. Plain-clothed police officers gathered at the entrance. More than 10 police cars were parked there. Human rights lawyers Wang Yu and Ren Quanniu were brutally treated when they took pictures.
On January 15, 2021, Mr. Lu received the notice of “administrative punishment decision” from the Sichuan Provincial Department of Justice, and his lawyer’s license was suspended.
-
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Surveillance
- Rights Concerned
- Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to privacy
- HRD
- Lawyer
- Perpetrator-State
- Suspected state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Related Events
- China: Human rights lawyer Lu Siwei receives notification from Chengdu All China Lawyers Association’s Disciplinary Committee, China: human rights lawyer receives disciplinary sanction for defending a fellow lawyer, China: lawyers had licence revoked for expressing support for Hong Kong activists, China: suspended lawyer is barred from leaving the country (Update)
- Date added
- Mar 7, 2022
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Feb 23, 2022
- Event Description
Jiang Tianyong, a prominent human rights lawyer in mainland China, has been in his hometown of Henan for nearly three years after his release. He is still under strict surveillance and illegal house arrest by the Chinese authorities.
Jiang Tianyong’s wife, Jin Bianling, tweeted on February 23:
At 3:00 pm Beijing time on February 23, people from the village committee of Jiang Tianyong’s hometown took [Jiang’s] parents to the village headquarters, stating that the Municipal Political and Legal Affairs Commission requested a meeting with them. Zhang Jiawen, domestic security police of Xinyang City, Zhang (full name unknown) from the Municipal Political and Legal Affairs Commission, Sun Zhanghong of the Luoshan County’s Public Security Bureau, Secretary Huang and Wan (full name unknown) of Lingshan Town were already there. It is said that if Jiang Tianyong wants to work locally or in Zhengzhou (Henan), they can arrange it; if he stays locally, the surveillance will continue as usual, and he will continue to be monitored like he always has; he is prohibited from going to Beijing or leaving the country. It is so unreasonable. Jiang’s parents left in anger.
Jiang Tianyong is over 51 years old, a native of Luoshan county, Henan province. He is a Christian and a human rights lawyer who was based in Beijing. He has participated in the Chen Guangcheng case, the Gao Zhisheng case, and many other cases to defend human rights. Due to his active participation in those cases, he has been under constant surveillance.
He was secretly arrested by Changsha police in November 2016 for assisting the “709 lawyers” and the families defending their rights. On December 1, 2016, Changsha police charged Jiang Tianyong with “inciting subversion of state power.” He was placed under residential surveillance at a designated location on November 21, 2017, by Changsha police. The Changsha Intermediate People’s Court then sentenced him to 2 years in prison, deprived of political rights for three years; his sentence was set till February 28, 2019.
In prison, Jiang Tianyong was forced to take medicine for a long time, which caused his memory to decline and his body to gain weight and become weak.
He has finished his sentence, yet Jiang Tianyong was placed under semi-house arrest in Xinyang, Henan province. The authorities built a shed near his house and sent people to follow and monitor Jiang Tianyong every day in turn. There are more than a dozen surveillance cameras around Jiang Tianyong’s house, and those entering and leaving his house must register and be checked. As soon as Jiang Tianyong leaves his parents’ house, the person on duty to monitor him will follow him closely and harass him.
ChinaAid has been following and reporting the violation of lawyer Jiang Tianyong’s rights for a long time. We will continue to pay close attention and pray for him as always.
- Impact of Event
- 3
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats, Restrictions on Movement, Travel Restriction
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of movement, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Family of HRD, Lawyer
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Mar 7, 2022
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Feb 27, 2022
- Event Description
Artist Mr. Zhang Yu is a Christian of Chengdu Early Rain Covenant Church. On the morning of February 27, he received a text message from his older brother. Prior to that, Youyang Police Station called his elder brother to inquire about Zhang Yu’s whereabouts. Mr. Zhang suspected it was because he voiced his concern in public over the chained woman in Feng county (in Xuzhou). He said ”I expected this to happen. The government’s retaliation has begun.”
The “chained woman” became a popular story in China of a woman who was subject to sex trafficking. As reported by NPR, the case has captured the attention of the public, attracting fierce backlash and investigation.
Mr. Zhang posted on social media that he waited for the government’s investigations group to reach him. He made the following four comments:
I will not disappear voluntarily I will not travel to other provinces soon I will not confess unless I am forced by external forces I will update my WeChat Moments at least twice a day, one in the morning and one in the afternoon. If I do not post an update, it means something happened to me.
At around 10 p.m., Dali police called and asked him to go to the police station. He said the officers did not treat him poorly. They just wanted to see him in person and “remind” him to think about his comments about the chained woman in Feng county. Then they allowed him to leave. He updated his WeChat Moments to let his friends know he was safe.
Zhang Yu is a Christian of Early Rain Covenant Church. He graduated from Sichuan Fine Arts Institute, actively involved in photography, painting, performance art, and multimedia art. He also writes poetry and articles.
One week ago, he was invited to attend the “Renew China” online prayer meeting organized by Christians. The live-streamed prayer meeting focused on the chained woman case in Xuzhou. He talked about his opinions and concerns and presented supporting materials to discover the truth.
Recently, Yagu village (in Zilijia township, Fugong county, Nujiang Lisu Autonomous Prefecture) drew a lot of attention. Mr. Zhang Yu has shot a lot of women portraits in Fugong county. Some of the pictures were taken in Zilijia township. Based on his knowledge about the region, he publicly challenged Xuzhou (Jiangsu province) officials on their investigation results of the chained woman case. Xuzhou government claimed the chained woman is “Xiaohua Mei,” a girl from Zilijia township who was abducted and went missing many years ago. According to Zhang, the Xuzhou local government claimed the chained woman as the missing girl “Xiaohua Mei” because the region is so remote that nobody would ever know enough to argue against it. Mr. Zhang also posted content about the geography and culture of the region on social media, indirectly uncovering the Xuzhou officials’ plot.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Artist
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Mar 7, 2022
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Mar 2, 2022
- Event Description
A pro-democracy Hong Kong radio DJ was convicted of seditious speech on Wednesday under a British colonial-era law that authorities have embraced as China flattens dissent in the business hub.
Tam Tak-chi, 49, is among a growing number of activists charged with sedition, a previously little-used law that prosecutors have dusted off in the wake of massive and sometimes violent pro-democracy protests in 2019.
Tam's trial was the first since Hong Kong's 1997 handover in which a sedition defendant fought his case by pleading not guilty and went through a full trial.
Two previous recent prosecutions were wrapped up after guilty pleas.
As a result, Tam's conviction is a legal watershed because it sets precedents for a host of upcoming sedition prosecutions as China remolds Hong Kong in its own authoritarian image.
Better known by his moniker "Fast Beat," Tak hosted a popular online talk show that backed democracy and was highly critical of the government, often using colorful language.
He was a regular presence at protests and often set up street booths to deliver political speeches.
Prosecutors focused on the street booths, with Tam convicted on seven counts of "uttering seditious words" as well as other charges such as disorderly conduct and disobeying a police officer.
Authorities said Tam incited hatred against the authorities by chanting the popular protest slogan "Liberate Hong Kong, Revolution of Our Times" 171 times, cursing the police force some 120 times, and repeatedly shouting "Down with the Communist Party.”
"The attack on the Communist Party is only part of the seditious words uttered by the accused," district judge Stanley Chan said in his verdict.
"Looking at what he (Tam) said, it's far beyond criticizing and theorizing," he added.
Sedition is separate from the sweeping national security law that Beijing imposed on Hong Kong in 2020.
But the courts treat it with the same severity and there are plans to make sedition one of a number of new national security crimes later this year, meaning it will soon carry a much longer jail term.
Tam was arrested in September 2020 and denied bail, as happens in most national security cases.
His trial began in July 2021 but was delayed for a landmark High Court ruling in which judges declared the popular protest slogan "Liberate Hong Kong" was secessionist and therefore illegal under the new security law.
That ruling legally crystallized the reality that certain views and slogans are now forbidden in Hong Kong under the security law.
In Hong Kong, sedition is broadly defined as any words that generate "hatred, contempt or disaffection" towards the government or "encourage disaffection" among residents.
It carries up to two years in jail for a first offense.
First penned by colonial ruler Britain in 1938, it was long criticized as an anti-free speech law, including by many of the pro-Beijing local newspapers now praising its use.
By the time of the 1997 handover, it had not been used for decades but remained on the books.
On the same day Tam was convicted, police charged two men aged 17 and 19 with "uttering seditious words" in a separate case concerning a campus protest in 2020.
In recent months, sedition charges have been brought against pro-democracy unionists who produced euphemistic children's books about a village of sheep defending itself from wolves; journalists from now-shuttered pro-democracy news outlets; and a former pop star turned democracy activist.
In January, a man was jailed for eight months and a woman 13-and-a-half months after pleading guilty in two separate cases over seditious leaflets.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Online, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Artist
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Mar 6, 2022
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Feb 4, 2022
- Event Description
Authorities in Hong Kong arrested a veteran rights activist known for carrying coffins at protests for "subversion," after he announced he would protest outside the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP)'s Central Liaison Office in the city on the first day of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics on Friday.
Koo Sze Yiu, 75, was arrested under a draconian national security law imposed on Hong Kong by the CCP, on suspicion of "incitement to subvert state power," a charge that carried a maximum penalty of life imprisonment.
He was arrested by national security police at 6.00 a.m., and is being held at Cheung Sha Wan police station for questioning, local media reported.
Police also brought in four fellow activists for questioning in connection with Koo's case, including veteran activist Lui Yuk-lin.
Koo was a colorful and regular feature of the regular and peaceful mass protests that once took place regularly in Hong Kong, before a city-wide crackdown on "illegal" public assembly in the wake of the 2019 protest movement.
Koo, who has stage four colorectal cancer, has been arrested and jailed several times already since the 1997 handover of Hong Kong, including for "desecrating the national flag" in July 2020.
Meanwhile, more than 10 police vehicles and dozens of uniformed and plainclothes officers were deployed outside Beijing's liaison office, with roadblocks on the approaches to the building on Des Voeux Road West and Connaught Road West.
Many bore armbands delineating them as "Special Police," including fire department and immigration officers.
Koo's arrest came after he issued a news release on Thursday announcing his plan to protest outside the Central Liaison Office on Friday, "raising and sending off a coffin to celebrate the Winter Olympics ... and the national security law."
League of Social Democrats (LSD) spokesman Dickson Chau said he had no idea the arrest would take place.
"[This shows that] they don't just expect Hong Kong to take the same strict COVID-19 prevention measures as the rest of China; they also want zero leniency when it comes to dissidents," Chau told RFA.
"This is a higher-level of stability maintenance and a higher-level alert," he said.
He said the next six months would likely see no let-up.
"We have Xi Jinping seeking a third term and the 25th anniversary of Hong Kong's return to China," he said. "Dissenting voices will definitely be eliminated."
Opinion pollster Chung Kim-wah said a political boycott of the Olympics over the CCP's rights record in Xinjiang, Tibet and Hong Kong, as well as its growing military threats against the democratic island of Taiwan, had made the Olympics a "much more sensitive international issue."
"Beijing is in an embarrassing situation with this Winter Olympics, because so many countries are staging political boycotts," Chung told RFA. "I think the Hong Kong government is working right along with those concerns in Beijing, and so they won't tolerate any negative voices on the subject."
"[That's why] they are taking decisive action against Koo, as a deterrent, to act as a clear warning to people not to try anything in the next couple of weeks," he said.
Meanwhile, hundreds of Hong Kong protesters and rights campaigners took to the streets of central London on Thursday night to call for sanctions against Chinese and Hong Kong officials responsible for rights abuses in Hong Kong, including the city's leader, Carrie Lam.
Shouting "Shame on China! Free Tibet! Free East Turkestan! Free Hong Kong!" the protesters staged an "alternative" Olympics opening ceremony at Picadilly Circus, some of them dressed as Winnie the Pooh, in a satirical dig at Xi Jinping, while others brought effigies of tanks and the Olympic five rings, and others played out a sketch in which International Olympics Committee president Thomas Bach presented a gold medal to Xi for "human rights violations."
Ruling Conservative Party member Nusrat Ghani, who has been sanctioned by Beijing for speaking out against the mass incarceration of Uyghurs in Xinjiang, warned that the CCP will use the Winter Olympics to "whitewash evil deeds", and called on the international community to take notice of the repression suffered by Hong Kong, the persecution of Tibetans, and the genocide of Uyghurs.
"No one can deny what is happening against the Uyghur people. The crime of all crimes: genocide," she said. "No to the genocide Olympic Games!"
MP Lord Alton told the rally, to cheers: "We have to sanction those who have committed these crimes, whether in Xinjiang or Hong Kong. I have Carrie Lam on my list. Sanction Carrie Lam!"
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Enactment of repressive legislation and policies, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Feb 27, 2022
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Jan 12, 2022
- Event Description
Lawyers for Lawyers has learned that Chinese lawyers Xie Yang, Wang Yu and Song Yusheng have been detained, disbarred or harassed in January 2022. In a statement we express concern about the recents acts of harassment against the lawyers.
Beijing-based lawyer Song Yusheng was summoned to a disbarment hearing in Beijing on 11 January 2022. Song Yusheng defended human rights lawyer Yu Wensheng in 2018, and was until recently engaged in the defence of (some of the) 12 Hong Kong citizens that were arrested at sea whilst trying to flee to Taiwan after their involvement in protests against the National Security Law in Hong Kong. According to news reports, he faces disciplinary action for his speech in defence of his client(s). Mr. Song is the fifth lawyer who faces disciplinary sanctions after involvement with the case of the 12 Hong Kong citizens.
Beijing lawyer Wang Yu, a victim of the ‘709-crackdown’ has not only lost her license to practice law in November 2020, she is also forbidden from applying for a passport and traveling overseas. After her disbarment she continued handling legal cases and giving legal advice as a “citizen agent”. It has been reported she was publicly assaulted outside a court house on 13 January 2022 because of a case she was handling in Suzhou. The police have reportedly failed to make a report or to seek out surveillance camera footage of the assault. This comes after Wang Yu went missing for a week in March 2021 after being given an International Women’s Day Award by the United States government.
Furthermore, according to the information received, human rights lawyer Xie Yang was detained by national security police on 11 January 2022 for “inciting subversion of state power” and “picking quarrels and provoking trouble”, often used as catch-all charges to detain lawyers and human rights activists in China. According to his wife, who lives in the United States, his phone was operational but calls were forwarded to voicemail. Xie Yang was first detained in Changsha No. 1 Detention Centre, but his current whereabouts could not be determined with certainty. Xie Yang had been detained previously after being targeted during the ‘709-crackdown’ and lost his license to practice law in 2020.
Lawyers for Lawyers stresses that the right to practice law independently, and free from judicial harassment, is an essential component in upholding the rule of law. Lawyers play a fundamental role in ensuring the protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms. In accordance with the United Nations Basic Principles on the Role of Lawyers, governments must ensure that lawyers are able to perform all their professional functions without intimidation, hindrance, harassment, or improper interference (Principle 16). In addition, lawyers must not be identified with their clients or their clients’ causes as a result of discharging their functions (Principle 18).
Lawyers for Lawyers urges the government of the People’s Republic of China:
Immediately and unconditionally repeal the decisions to revoke the licenses of Song Yusheng, Wang Yu and Xie Yang; Ensure that proper investigations will be carried out into the physical assault against Wang Yu; Release Xie Yang and drop all charges against him unless credible evidence is presented in proceedings that respect fair trial guarantees and put an end to all acts of harassment against him, including at the judicial level; Ensure that disciplinary proceedings against lawyers shall not be taken in response to their legitimate activities as lawyers and, when such proceedings are taken, that they shall be brought before an impartial body which is independent of the executive power, with possibility to appeal to an independent body; Guarantee in all circumstances that all lawyers in China, including human rights lawyers, are able to carry out their legitimate professional duties without fear of reprisals and free of restrictions.
- Impact of Event
- 3
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Administrative Harassment, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security, Right to work
- HRD
- Lawyer, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary, Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Related Events
- China: China Slaps Prominent Human Rights Lawyer With Effective Travel Ban, China: human rights lawyer, her husband held incommunicado ahead of award ceremony
- Date added
- Feb 1, 2022
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Jan 12, 2022
- Event Description
On 12 January 2022, the Guangzhou Municipal Public Security Bureau in Guangdong province sent a notice to the family of human rights defender and 2015 Front Line Defender Award laureate Guo Feixiong (aka Yang Maodong), informing them that the human rights defender has been formally arrested on suspicion of “inciting subversion of State power” under Article 105(2) of China’s Criminal Law. According to the arrest notice, he is currently being detained at the Guangzhou Municipal No. 1 Detention Centre.
Guo Feixiong is a well-known human rights defender in China, who has previously spent 11 years in detention due to his human rights work. The human rights defender has been missing since 5 December 2021, after sending a text message to close friends saying he was under police custody. The formal arrest by the Guangzhou police came less than two days after the human rights defender’s wife, Zhang Qing, died after a year-long battle with cancer on 10 January 2022, in Maryland, United States. The authorities imposed an exit ban on Guo Feixiong in January 2021 and barred him from boarding a flight at the Shanghai airport to the United States to care for his wife Zhang Qing. It is unclear whether the human rights defender has been informed of his wife’s death while in police custody.
Under article 105(2) of China’s Criminal Law, those who incite “others by spreading rumors or slanders or any other means to subvert the State power or overthrow the socialist system” are subject to “fixed-term imprisonment of not more than five years, criminal detention, public surveillance or deprivation of political rights”.
In April 2021, UN human rights experts jointly wrote to the Chinese government to reiterate their “alarm at the continued use of national security provisions of the Criminal Code that have been used to restrict the rights to freedom of expression, of association, and of peaceful assembly.” They were particularly concerned about the ill-defined terms of Article 105, the length of imprisonment stipulated in it as well as other national security-related provisions included in China’s Criminal Law. In a joint report published in December 2021, Front Line Defenders and partner organisations drew attention to the Chinese government’s frequent use of travel ban to punish human rights defenders and their family members.
Front Line Defenders condemns the Chinese government’s inhumane and unlawful refusal to respect Guo Feixiong’s right to freedom of movement for over 12 months, thus denying him an opportunity to see his dying wife. His formal arrest adds to the repeated violations against him over the last 16 years, including two prison sentences amounting to 11 years. Front Line Defenders urges the relevant authorities in China to immediately release Guo Feixiong, to drop the charges against him, and to facilitate his safe travel to the United States as soon as possible in order to attend his late wife’s affairs and comfort his two grieving children.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Jan 31, 2022
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Jan 11, 2022
- Event Description
The famous Chinese human rights lawyer Xie Yang is missing after he was taken away by security forces last Tuesday, according to his wife, the university professor of Chemistry Chen Guiqiu, on social networks.
In the last known case, the lawyer had been defending a pregnant teacher, Li Tiantian, in a rural area of Hunan province (southern China), forcibly transferred to a psychiatric center, according to the Red of Human Rights Lawyers (Weiquanwang) on his blog. A few days later, he himself was arrested.
“Xie Yang was detained by state security on January 11 and his whereabouts are unknown. His phone is operational but calls are transferred to voicemail all the time,” Chen said on his Twitter account. “Local state security offices have warned Xie’s family not to talk to the media.”
The 49-year-old lawyer from Changsha, the capital of Hunan, is known for his defense of dissidents and other defendants in politically sensitive cases. Among others, he has represented people involved in the New Citizen civil movement, which in the first decade of the century tried to promote transparency in Chinese government. One of his favorite phrases is “don’t let silence become a habit”.
In July 2015, he was one of those arrested in a major raid on some 200 human rights lawyers across China, which would be dubbed “709″ after the date it began.
During his detention, first six months incommunicado in a secret location and then a year and a half in a detention center, he reported to his lawyers that he had been subjected to torture, which he described in detail. In 2017, he was tried for crimes of disorderly conduct and subversion against the state, two charges that are frequently used in China against dissidents. At trial he pleaded guilty and retracted his allegations of torture. But the court did not impose any sentence on him, allowing him to keep his license to practice when he returned home. Something that the vast majority of those arrested in the 709 raid, subjected to the scrutiny of the authorities even today, have never managed to recover.
It was later learned that he was forced to withdraw those complaints as a condition for his release.
In 2020, his license to practice was finally withdrawn, amid a climate of tightening control of civil society and surveillance of dissidents. The Hunan provincial government’s Justice Department said at the time that his permit had been revoked for multiple episodes of “contempt of court” – his attempts to defend his clients – and for comments on social media that were deemed either defamatory or misleading. endangered national security.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Lawyer
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Related Events
- China: detained rights lawyer mistreated in prison, China: lawyers of detained defender held for a day, China: Trial of rights lawyer Xie Yang begins in Changsha
- Date added
- Jan 19, 2022
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Dec 20, 2021
- Event Description
Authorities in northwestern China’s Qinghai province arrested a Tibetan college graduate last year for speaking against Chinese policies mandating the teaching of Chinese language in Tibetan areas, RFA has learned.
Loten, 23, was taken into custody on Dec. 20 in Matoe (in Chinese, Maduo) county in the Golog (Guoluo) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture after objecting on social media to the replacement of Tibetan-language textbooks in local schools, a source in Tibet said.
“He said that China’s policy will eventually disconnect young Tibetans from their own language in the future,” RFA’s source said, speaking on condition of anonymity for security reasons.
Loten is now being held at an unknown location in Qinghai’s provincial capital Xining, the source said. “His family was only informed of his arrest over the phone and hasn’t been allowed to see him yet. They were told that Loten is now being given political education,” he added.
Beginning on Sept. 21, 2021, the Tibetan language has been sidelined as the medium of instruction in Tibetan schools in Qinghai, with more focus given now to classes in written Chinese language and basic Chinese speaking skills, RFA’s source said.
“Many Tibetan parents are concerned about these changes and the policies being implemented by the Chinese government, but they have no way to do anything about them,” he said.
Qinghai authorities had earlier detained two Tibetan students identified as Gyuldrak and Yangrik, both 19, in Golog’s Darlag (Dari) county in August for opposing plans to use the Chinese language as the only medium of instruction in Tibetan schools, sources told RFA in earlier reports.
The policy had already aroused widespread opposition among Tibetans in neighboring Sichuan, where Tibetan private schools have been closed and children sent to government schools amid parents’ concerns for their children’s connection to their native language and national culture, sources said.
"It has been evident in recent years that the Chinese government has no plans to ease up on its hardline policies and tight control inside Tibet," said Namgyal Choedup, representative in The Office of Tibet in Washington, D.C., speaking to RFA.
"Tibetans are firm in their conviction to protect their Tibetan identity, but the Chinese government's Sinicization of the Tibetan language and religion poses threats to the survival of Tibetan Buddhist culture and values in Tibet."
"We have spoken urgently to the U.S. government and U.S. officials from time to time about these deteriorating situations inside Tibet. The policies implemented inside Tibet by the Chinese government do more harm than benefit in reality for the Tibetans," Choedup said.
Chinese Communist Party efforts to supplant local language education with teaching in Chinese have raised anger not only among Tibetans, but also in the Turkic-language-speaking Uyghur community of Xinjiang and in northern China’s Inner Mongolia.
Plans to end the use of the Mongolian language in ethnic Mongolian schools sparked weeks of class boycotts, street protests, and a region-wide crackdown by riot squads and state security police in the fall of 2020, in a process described by ethnic Mongolians as “cultural genocide.”
Formerly an independent nation, Tibet was invaded and incorporated into China by force 70 years ago.
Language rights have become a particular focus for Tibetan efforts to assert national identity in recent years, with informally organized language courses in the monasteries and towns deemed “illegal associations” and teachers subject to detention and arrest, sources say.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Online, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, Minority rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Jan 13, 2022
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Dec 14, 2021
- Event Description
Authorities in the southwestern Chinese region of Guangxi have handed down a three-year jail term to an outspoken rights lawyer for "subversion," amid fears for his safety in detention.
The Yulin Intermediate People's Court handed down the sentence to Chen Jiahong on Tuesday after finding him guilty of "incitement to subvert state power."
Chen's ex-wife Luo Fen said Chen, a prominent critic of the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP), wasn't present at the sentencing hearing, but was connected by video link from the detention center.
"Chen Jianhong wasn't in court, not in person," Luo told RFA on Tuesday. "He listened to the hearing via video link from the detention center."
She said there are concerns for his safety.
"Chen Jiahong revealed that he had been subjected to beatings by gang members in detention," Luo said.
Chen's former defense attorney Lu Siwei said Chen's outspokenness likely attracted the wrath of the authorities.
"He's kind of a big mouth," Lu said. "In terms of freedom of speech, you should be able to say anything, but lawyers also need to use logic."
"He has a very intense way of speaking and expresses himself through sarcasm, but none of that adds up to a crime," he said.
On China's tightly controlled internet, Chen is known for inscribing the slogan "Set up an assassination detail, liquidate this evil bureaucracy and promote democracy" in Chinese calligraphy and posting it to social media.
"I think the most import factor here was that calligraphy ... I think the police are using it as evidence of criminal behavior," Lu said, adding that no attorney had been present to represent Chen during Tuesday's hearing.
"Lawyers can deal with emerging situations as they arise in court, and they can keep the family members informed," he said. "But the most important thing is for the attorney to meet with and guide the client, and ask if the client wants to appeal."
"Defense lawyers should generally always be present in court, to avoid creating procedural problems," Lu said.
He said Chen had likely cut a deal with the national security police, given the relative leniency of his sentence.
"You plead guilty, and don't engage with them, and they find a way to give you a lighter sentence," he said.
Chen came to prominence in 2015, as police staged a nationwide operation targeting around 300 rights lawyers, law firms and activists.
He was later surrounded by armed police during a standoff relating to the death of Guangxi villager Luo Jibiao, and had his license to practice taken away.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Online, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Lawyer, Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Related Events
- China: human rights lawyer tried for subversion after over a year of pre-trial detention
- Date added
- Jan 12, 2022
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Jan 4, 2022
- Event Description
A Hong Kong barrister was sentenced to 15 months in jail on Tuesday for using social media to incite people to attend a banned vigil remembering the 1989 Tiananmen crackdown.
Authorities last year, for the second time in a row, banned the city's annual June 4th memorial for the mainland Chinese student protesters who were killed in the violence. Police cited COVID-19 concerns, while critics argued it was part of a wider campaign to suppress memories of the event.
Chow Hang-tung, 36, who represented herself in court, was accused of incitement in connection with two articles published on Facebook and in a local newspaper, ahead of the 2021 commemoration.
In the newspaper article, the title of which said Hong Kong people "persevere in telling the truth," she concluded by writing, "At 8 p.m., I hope to see your candlelights," without specifying where.
In her defense, Chow had argued that the article called for candles to be lit anywhere -- not specifically at the vigil. She added that her detention restricted her freedom of speech.
But magistrate Amy Chan said in her judgment that Chow's acts were "calculated and planned, and that she was determined to attract as much public attention as possible, to exert influence and to leave a deep impression on other people."
Chow is already serving a 12-month sentence after she was found guilty last year with seven other activists, including media tycoon Jimmy Lai, for similar charges of attending and inciting others to join the unauthorized vigil in 2020.
The magistrate said 10 months of the new jail sentence would be served following her current term, totaling 22 months of imprisonment. Chan said the defendant had attempted to "divert attention and deny the facts" in her testimony.
Before being convicted, Chow read out testimonies from families of victims killed 32 years ago. She was stopped short by the magistrate, who said the court did not allow expressions of political views.
"The court needs to hear the voices the regime wants to bury with this case," Chow had said before being interrupted.
Hong Kong officials have been waging an aggressive campaign to stifle the memory of Tiananmen since Beijing imposed a national security law on the city in 2020.
The Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements, the group that led the vigils, disbanded last year after its leaders were arrested. Authorities froze 2.2 million Hong Kong dollars ($282,000) worth of assets following a raid of its June 4th exhibition. The group's leaders, including Chow, have also been charged with incitement to subvert the state under the sweeping security law.
Following the group's breakup, three Hong Kong universities removed memorials to the Tiananmen crackdown, including the iconic "Pillar of Shame" that had stood at the University of Hong Kong for 24 years. The disappearance of the statues, which universities said "posed legal and safety risks," sparked a barrage of global criticism.
Chow's sentencing also comes amid closures of independent news organizations in the international financial hub.
Citizen News, an online outlet, abruptly announced its decision to shut down on Monday and was to cease operations on Tuesday. This followed arrests of senior editors at another pro-democracy news organization, Stand News. Chris Yeung, chief writer of Citizen News, cited the worsening media environment and unknown "legal boundaries."
"We are completely unable to see clearly the lines of law enforcement and we are worried that we will breach the law," he told reporters.
Responding to the shutdown, Hong Kong chief executive Carrie Lam dismissed concerns over the erosion of press freedom and said decisions to close are unrelated.
"I strongly refute any allegations that this is related to the implementation of the national security law," she told reporters at her weekly news conference.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Online, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Lawyer, Pro-democracy defender, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Related Events
- China: Hong Kong WHRD and lawyer arrested ahead of Tienanmen commemoration, China: prominent WHRD re-arrested after bail revoked (Update)
- Date added
- Jan 12, 2022
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Dec 9, 2021
- Event Description
Authorities in China targeted dissidents, rights lawyers and activists and their families with house arrest, round-the-clock surveillance and restrictions on their children's school attendance on Human Rights Day, RFA has learned.
Rights activist Li Wenzu and rights lawyer husband Wang Quanzhang said they were placed under house arrest on Dec. 9, with unidentified security guards refusing to let them leave to take their child to school.
"I'm leaving for the school run," Wang tells them in a video clip posted to Li's Twitter account. "It's OK. We'll take the kid to school for you," comes the reply.
Li said she had asked the people stopping them from leaving to identify themselves, but met with no clear answer.
"Would you please show your ID? In what capacity are you here right now?" Li is heard asking one guard in another clip. "Is this really necessary?" comes the reply. "It's not as if we've only just met."
Fellow activist Xu Yan and her rights lawyer husband Yu Wensheng said around nine people were outside the door of their apartment at 6.00 a.m. on Thursday, and they were unable to get out at all.
"They're not letting me open the door," Xu told RFA. "I can't get it open no matter how hard I push."
"They pushed back pretty hard a couple of times, and my ribs are still hurting," she said.
Xu said she suspects the restrictions will end after Human Rights Day on Friday, but that the people outside her home had declined to confirm this.
She said police had come out after she dialed the emergency number, taken one look at the guards outside her home, and left again.
"It feels pretty helpless to have your freedom restricted like this, as well as being a violation of human rights and the law," Xu told RFA. "It's also very harmful to kids to let them see things like this; I feel horrible about that."
Rights lawyer Xie Yanyi said he and his wife Yuan Shanshan are under surveillance, adding that he was followed by unidentified personnel on Dec. 9 when he took his daughter to the supermarket.
'It's like this every year'
"It's like this every year," independent journalist Gao Yu said in a tweet on Dec. 9. "I wonder if the people doing this are deliberately trying to destroy the image of the [ruling] Chinese Communist Party (CCP)."
"Tomorrow is Human Rights Day, so today the police will come in their police cars and tell me that they'll be there until Dec. 11," Gao wrote.
Gao tried to answer a call from RFA on Friday, but apparently was unable to hear the caller, repeating "Hello? Hello?"
Rights activist Wang Qiaoling said she and her rights lawyer husband Li Heping were also being told to stay home.
"When my husband tried to take the dog out this morning, a state security police officer guarding our home told him to stay home today," Wang said, expressing surprise that she'd been able to receive a call from overseas at all.
"It's a particularly sensitive day," she said, adding that the same thing happens every year at this time.
The restrictions on activists come as U.S. President Joe Biden holds a Summit for Democracy online running Dec. 9-10, in a move that has been slammed by Beijing.
Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin accused the U.S. of trying to “weaponize democracy, by openly convening this so-called Summit for Democracy to incite division and confrontation for geopolitical gains."
Veteran democracy activist Wei Jingsheng said the summit makes Beijing uneasy, because it will likely form the basis for an alliance to resist authoritarian rule.
"This democracy summit being held by the administration is actually a bid to form an alliance against authoritarian countries ... who naturally haven't been invited," Wei told RFA. "It will be a democratic alliance, so it's a very important thing."
"Naturally the Chinese government is very upset."
Authoritarian resurgence
Wei warned of a "resurgence" of authoritarian styles of governance around the world.
"Global authoritarianism and coercive governance are seeing a resurgence," Wei said. "After trending higher and higher since World War II, democracy seems to have been on the wane lately, which is harmful to humanity everywhere."
"This summit at this juncture should be helpful to help it bounce back," he said.
New York-based political commentator Wang Juntao agreed, saying the summit wasn't just about sending messages.
"It's not just a propaganda war; there will also be some practical measures taken to combat authoritarian regimes," Wang told RFA.
"They will promote Magnitsky-type legislation, asking democratic countries to collaborate, so as to sanction and block corrupt and rights-abusing officials everywhere."
"They will freeze their accounts and not let them into democratic countries," he said.
- Impact of Event
- 9
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- Restrictions on Movement, Surveillance
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of movement, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Family of HRD, Lawyer, Media Worker, Pro-democracy defender, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Jan 12, 2022
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Dec 10, 2021
- Event Description
A prominent Chinese rights attorney is missing, believed detained, after he planned to attend an event linked to Human Rights Day at the EU representative office in Beijing on Dec. 10, RFA has learned.
Tang Jitian has been incommunicado since texting friends a couple of hours before the event was due to start that it was "not safe" to attend, U.S.-based legal scholar Teng Biao said.
Repeated calls to Tang's phone rang unanswered on Dec. 16.
"I think it's definitely more serious," Teng said. "We have heard nothing from Tang Jitian since Dec. 10, so it looks like an enforced disappearance."
He said the situation of Chinese dissident and former legal advocate Guo Feixiong, also known as Yang Maodong, appeared to be similar.
Guo has been incommunicado since writing an open letter to Chinese premier Li Keqiang, asking him to lift a travel ban and allow him to visit his critically ill wife Zhang Qing in the United States, Teng said.
"They have both played a prominent role in rights activism in China, and they are almost certainly in the custody of certain departments," he said.
Tang's friend Zhao Zhongyuan said the lawyer was at the point of physical and mental collapse when he disappeared, after being prevented from traveling to Japan to visit his 24-year-old daughter Kiki, who was in a coma due to complications from tuberculosis.
"His health had reached the point of collapse, because he had been persecuted for a long time," Zhao said. "He couldn't work, couldn't leave the country and was homeless, forced to stay a couple of days with one friend, and a couple of days with another."
"He had no medical insurance to seek treatment even if he was sick," he said.
Tang's daughter Qiqi is currently in a state of brain death after developing meningitis as a complication of the tuberculosis, but remains on life support in hospital, Zhao said.
"If they switched off the life support, she would be gone," he said. "She worked hard at her language class in Japan and passed the N1 language exam."
"She lived very frugally, and when she got sick, she self-medicated, so treatment was delayed," Zhao said. "By the time she went to hospital she was already in a coma."
"It was extremely cruel of the [ruling] Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to not let him go to visit his daughter," he said.
Tang was stopped by border guards at Fuzhou Airport in May 2021 as he tried to board a flight to Japan, on the grounds that his leaving would "endanger national security and interests."
Tang's friend Zhao Zhongyuan, a U.S.-based traditional Chinese medicine doctor, said he is being forcibly deprived of sleep, as well as beatings.
"They won't let him sleep at all, and they are hanging him up and beating him, very similar to [the way he was treated] 10 years ago," Zhao told RFA on Tuesday. "Judging from the photo, it looks similar to the torture he suffered [in 2014]."
"And his state of health is a whole lot worse than it was 10 years ago," he said.
RFA was unable to verify Zhao's report independently.
Zhao has previously said Tang was already at the point of physical and mental collapse when he disappeared, which came after he was prevented from traveling to Japan to visit his 24-year-old daughter Qiqi, who is in a coma due to complications from tuberculosis.
"[The authorities] have said that if there is ongoing attention on his case, they will send him back to his birth city [of Jilin]," Zhao said. "A source told me that I should stop speaking out for him."
"They said his family have put their faith in the [ruling] Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the government," he said. "But the less I speak out, and the more I cover this up, the less likely Tang Jitian is to get out eventually."
Tang was stopped by border guards at Fuzhou Airport in May 2021 as he tried to board a flight to Japan, on the grounds that his leaving would "endanger national security and interests."
Tang's travel ban began after he lost his lawyer's license in 2010 for defending practitioners of the banned Falun Gong spiritual movement.
He was among a group four Chinese rights lawyers tortured by police after being detained in March 2014 during a protest outside a detention center in Jiansanjiang in northeast China demanding information about Falun Gong members believed to be incarcerated there.
In 2017, he was turned back by border guards at the Lo Wu border crossing after he tried to travel to Hong Kong to seek medical treatment for leukemia diagnosed after his release from detention. He was told at the time that his leaving the country could pose a "threat to national security."
U.S.-based legal scholar Teng Biao hit out at the use of travel bans to silence prominent dissidents and activists.
"If you don't do as you're told, or you do some kind of human rights or political work, they will confiscate your passport and prevent you from leaving the country," Teng told RFA.
"Tang's daughter is critically ill in Japan, and he should be allowed to visit her, purely on humanitarian grounds," he said. "But the Chinese government has no concept of humanitarian considerations."
"They are doing this as a form of punishment; a way to get back at human rights lawyers," Teng said.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Abduction/Kidnapping, Restrictions on Movement, Torture, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of movement, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to health, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Lawyer, Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Suspected state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Jan 12, 2022
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Dec 29, 2021
- Event Description
Hong Kong pro-democracy media outlet Stand News has shut down after national security police raided its office and arrested seven people associated with the publication on Wednesday. It's yet another blow to diminishing press freedoms in the city. The independent news website announced on its Facebook page that it has ceased operations and dismissed all employees, effective immediately. The statement said that Stand News will immediately stop updating its website and social media accounts, which will be removed within days. That announcement comes after police arrested several current and former senior staff members associated with the publication, including pop star Denise Ho.
At a news conference Wednesday afternoon, Steve Li Kwai-wah, senior superintendent of the Hong Kong police's National Security Department, said that the arrests were connected to multiple "seditious" articles published by the outlet between July 2020 and November 2021. Li also said that police raided the news outlet's office in the city's Kwun Tong area, and froze about 61 million Hong Kong dollars ($7.8 million) worth of assets from the company. Some 200 police officers were involved in the newsroom raid, where they seized journalistic materials, according to a government statement earlier Wednesday. The arrests included Ho and Margaret Ng, a former pro-democracy lawmaker and prominent barristerr — both former members of the news outlet's board of directors. Also arrested were former Stand News chief editor Chung Pui-kuen and acting chief editor Patrick Lam, according to the Hong Kong Journalists Association (HKJA). While an initial government notice released Wednesday referenced a "conspiracy to publish seditious publications" — allegations that stem from a colonial-era crimes ordinance — the police involved with the Stand News case are national security officers. A turbulent year for the press The arrests come at the end of a turbulent year for press freedoms in Hong Kong, which dubs itself "Asia's World City" and once prided itself on being the region's preeminent international media hub. The city's once vibrant media landscape has withered since Beijing imposed a sweeping National Security Law on the city in 2020, which led to the shuttering of the fiercely outspoken pro-democracy outlet Apple Daily earlier this year.
"The Hong Kong Journalists Association is deeply concerned that the police have repeatedly arrested senior members of the media and searched the offices of news organizations containing large quantities of journalistic materials within a year," the HKJA said in a statement Wednesday, adding that it urged the government to "to protect press freedom in accordance with the Basic Law," the city's de facto constitution since 1997. Ronson Chan Ron-sing, the deputy assignment editor of Stand News and the chairman of HKJA, was also "taken away by the police," according to the association. Stand News had posted a video of police arriving at Chan's home for a raid earlier on Wednesday morning. Chan later told local media in Hong Kong that he had not been arrested. Ho, the Cantonese pop star and prominent pro-democracy activist, was arrested at her home at 6 a.m. Wednesday, according to her assistant, who asked not to be named. Police spent over two hours at the singer's home and seized phones and computers as well as her ID card and passport, her assistant told CNN Business. At the Stand News office on Wednesday, police gathered about 30 boxes of "evidence," a press officer for the police at the site told CNN Business. Hong Kong authorities defended Wednesday's arrests as necessary to prevent "bad apples" from falsely representing themselves as media. "Anybody who attempts to make use of media work as a tool to pursue their political purpose or other interest contravenes the law, particularly offenses that endanger national security," Hong Kong Chief Secretary John Lee said when asked by reporters about the arrests at an unrelated press event. "They are the evil elements that damage press freedom. Professional media workers should recognize that these are the bad apples who are abusing their position simply by wearing a false coat of media worker," Lee added. 'The stakes are high' The HKJA has continued to speak out in defense of press freedom, despite facing criticism from Hong Kong officials and Chinese state media. The latest police actions came hours after the HKJA hosted its annual dinner on Tuesday, which had been delayed for more than a year due to coronavirus restrictions. "We know that the stakes are high, but press freedom has been the backbone of Hong Kong's success," Chan said in a speech at the dinner. "Hong Kong will always need the truth as well as journalists. No matter how difficult the road ahead will be, the association will strive to never fail."
Founded after student-led demonstrations in Hong Kong in 2014, Stand News rose to prominence during the city's pro-democracy protests in 2019 with its breaking news coverage and critical editorials and opinion pieces. It was considered to be among the city's most outspoken outlets, often publishing hard-hitting reports — even after the enactment of the National Security Law. It is the second independent media outlet targeted by national security officers, after Apple Daily, which was shut down in June after hundreds of police officers raided its office, arrested executives and froze its assets under national security charges. The raids on Stand News also come one day after jailed Apple Daily founder Jimmy Lai was hit with a charge of conspiracy to print, publish and distribute seditious publications, the same charge as what authorities are now accusing the Stand News affiliates of. Lai was sentenced to 13 months in prison this month for inciting and participating in the city's annual candlelight vigil to commemorate the Tiananmen Square crackdown last year. Authorities had declared that assembly illegal, owing to coronavirus restrictions. Lai was already serving time in prison for other charges. A 'shockwave through Hong Kong' Speaking at the HKJA's annual dinner Tuesday, Chan described the arrest of Lai and his colleagues and the subsequent shuttering of the Apple Daily as a "shockwave throughout Hong Kong" which "had a big impact on news workers who are still struggling in the frontline every day." Chan also acknowledged the increasing difficulty for the HKJA to fill the positions at its executive committee, due to concerns about their personal safety and career prospects. "In fact, the position of vice-chairperson is still vacant and will remain so until November. It shows that many colleagues perceive that becoming an HKJA executive committee member could make one's life precarious," Chan said. In a statement Wednesday, the Foreign Correspondents' Club in Hong Kong said it was "deeply concerned" over the arrests associated with Stand News. "These actions are a further blow to press freedom in Hong Kong and will continue to chill the media environment in the city following a difficult year for the city's news outlets," it said. The National Security Law, which was drafted in Beijing and promulgated in Hong Kong last year, criminalized acts of secession, subversion, terrorism, and collusion with foreign forces to endanger national security — with a maximum sentence of life imprisonment for all four. Since the law's enactment, the city's pro-democracy camp has been virtually wiped out, with prominent figures either in jail or in exile overseas. A series of civil groups have disbanded, and more recently, several universities have removed statues promoting democracy or commemorating the Tiananmen Square massacre overnight, sparking concerns about freedoms on campuses. The Hong Kong government has repeatedly denied criticism that the law has stifled freedoms, claiming instead that it has restored order in the city after the 2019 protest movement.
- Impact of Event
- 8
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community), Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Administrative Harassment, Judicial Harassment, Raid
- Rights Concerned
- Media freedom, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to access to funding, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Family of HRD, Media Worker, Pro-democracy defender, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary, Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Jan 10, 2022
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Nov 4, 2021
- Event Description
An influential LGBT advocacy group in China that has spearheaded many of the legal cases pushing for greater rights is halting its work amid growing restrictions on social activism.
LGBT Rights Advocacy China announced it was ceasing all activities and shutting down its social media accounts in an announcement on social media Thursday.
“We are deeply regretful to tell everyone, Queer Advocacy Online will stop all of our work indefinitely,” the group said on WeChat, using the name of its social media account. It closed its accounts on WeChat and Weibo, two widely used platforms in China.
A member confirmed that all the group’s activities have been shut down. The member, who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because of safety concerns, declined to say why. Group founder Peng Yanzi did not respond to a request for comment.
LGBT Rights Advocacy China did work across the country, pushing for the rights of gay people and raising awareness about the community. It advocated for same-sex marriage and fought workplace discrimination by helping individuals sue their former employers.
While there are many other groups focused on helping LGBT individuals, LGBT Rights Advocacy is one of a handful who focused on changing law and policy.
The Ministry of Civil Affairs announced Friday that they have dealt with 3,300 illegal social organizations, according to the official Xinhua News Agency. The ministry also shut down some 200 illegal websites and individual social media accounts that were not registered with any government entity.
It is unclear if the group was shut down as part of the government campaign. The ministry did not immediately respond to a faxed request for comment.
The group mentioned they were in trouble a few months ago, said a 30-year-old LGBT activist who knows the group’s founders and who spoke on condition of anonymity. Lawyers who helped the group with cases had also stopped their work then.
LGBT Rights Advocacy China was co-founded by Peng and another activist named AQiang in 2013, and focused their efforts on securing legal rights for LGBT individuals through strategic lawsuits.
One of their most high profile cases came early on in 2014, when Peng himself went undercover to a facility that claimed it could “treat” homosexuality with electroshock therapy. He sued the company and won.
The group often brought landmark cases to the court, challenging the law to make space for non-traditional families, and often helped start public discussions on those issues.
In April last year, they helped a lesbian sue for custody rights for her children, after her partner took them and stopped communicating with her. She had given birth to one of the two children. Under Chinese law, she could claim she was the birth mother of one child, but wanted to fight for the right to see the other as well. Her case is still lingering in court.
The group also helped a young woman sue textbook publishers for writing that homosexuality was a disorder in a high profile case that gained national prominence and was reported on by state media. She lost the case in February, after years of litigation.
“In the entire community, they gave us a lot of hope and guidance, giving everyone the confidence to go out there and do something” said a 34-year-old man, who sued his former employer in 2018 for discrimination and won with the help of the group. He declined to be named out of fear of retribution, citing the current environment.
Homosexuality is not a crime in China, and in bigger cities, there’s a vibrant social scene where LGBT individuals can socialize without much fear or discrimination. However, restrictions on advocacy groups and online censorship have grown.
In July, WeChat shut down dozens of accounts run by university students and non-profit groups on LGBT topics.
One LGBT blogger, who also declined to be named out of fear of retribution, said it’s getting increasingly difficult to run an LGBT group in current circumstances, noting that WeChat and other social media platforms are deleting related content.
Shanghai Pride canceled its annual event in 2020 and said it would no longer hold it without explanation after 11 years of operation.
Another well-known group, True Self, which often held events to teach families how to accept their LGBT children, would tell people to not mention the word “gay” in publicizing their events, said the man who had previously sued his employer for discrimination. “The space for acceptance for sexual minorities is less and less, it’s not like before.”
Pandemic restrictions also played a role in cutting down on the number of events the groups would hold, he added.
For now, groups are struggling to operate within the constraints.
“The future may bring more uncertainties, we await the day when we can lift the clouds and see the daylight,” LGBT Rights Advocacy China said in their post.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment, Intimidation and Threats
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of association, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to work
- HRD
- NGO, SOGI rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Government
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Dec 9, 2021
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Nov 10, 2021
- Event Description
Tibetan villagers and Chinese officials clashed this month over the failure of authorities to pay compensation for land taken for a construction project, with at least one scuffle breaking out at the worksite, local sources said.
No injuries were reported in the brawl on Nov. 10 in Domda village in the Yushul (in Chinese, Yushu) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture in Qinghai, historically a part of northeastern Tibet’s Amdo region, a Tibetan living in the area told RFA this week.
“No one was allowed to record any videos or take photos of the commotion, and no one was hurt,” RFA’s source said, speaking on condition of anonymity. “However, this land issue has become very critical now, and all construction work has been halted for the time being.”
To promote local development, Chinese officials earlier this year seized a large parcel of land from Domda residents, and though authorities promised to pay compensation to the villagers whose land was taken, no money has yet been paid, the source said.
“So some local Tibetans from the village went to the construction site last week to halt the work until they are compensated for their land,” the source said, adding that villagers were threatened when they pressed their claims, leading to the clash.
China has worked for years to move large numbers of nomadic herders and other Tibetans from their ancestral lands without their consent, said Zamlha Tenpa Gyaltsen, a researcher at the Tibet Policy Institute in the Dharamsala, India.
“The Chinese government tries to justify these policies as efforts to rapidly lift the living standards of rural Tibetans and protect the environment. However, these policies have raised a lot of suspicions,” Gyaltsen said.
Tensions have risen in the Domda area, a region known for its scenic beauty and good supplies of water and electricity, since work began four years ago to demolish nomad housing and replace it with housing built for Chinese migrants and tourists, sources told RFA in earlier reports.
In August, Chinese police stopped a group of Tibetans traveling on the road to Domda, pushing one who objected to a random search into a river, where he later died, and shooting another who attempted to intervene, sources said.
Formerly an independent nation, Tibet was invaded and incorporated into China by force 70 years ago.
Chinese authorities maintain a tight grip on the region, restricting Tibetans’ political activities and peaceful expression of cultural and religious identity and subjecting Tibetans to persecution, torture, imprisonment and extrajudicial killings.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Land rights, Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Community-based HRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Nov 19, 2021
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Nov 9, 2021
- Event Description
Responding to the sentencing of Hong Kong activist Ma Chun-man, also known as “Captain America 2.0”, to five years and nine months in prison for “inciting subversion” under the national security law, Amnesty International’s Deputy Secretary General Kyle Ward said:
“In the warped political landscape of post-national security law Hong Kong, peacefully expressing a political stance and trying to get support from others is interpreted as ‘inciting subversion’ and punishable by years in jail.
“It is outrageous that Ma Chun-man has been sentenced to more than five years in prison simply for chanting slogans and sharing his political views online. The Hong Kong government must stop criminalizing mere acts of expression without any demonstrated connection to the use of force or imminent violence.
“This conviction and sentencing clearly shows that restrictions on the right to freedom of expression in Hong Kong are dangerously disproportionate. The two verdicts handed down in national security law cases have not paid due regard to the human rights safeguards the Hong Kong authorities claim exist in the law.
“The Hong Kong government must stop endlessly expanding its definition of ‘endangering national security’ as a means of locking up people who express views it doesn’t like.”
Background
Ma Chun-man, who has also been dubbed “Captain America 2.0” for carrying a superhero shield at protests, was today sentenced to five years and nine months in prison for “inciting subversion of state power” under the national security law (NSL) enacted in Hong Kong in June 2020.
The sentence relates to him chanting slogans, holding up placards and giving media interviews at a series of protests last year.
In convicting him, the judge said it was not relevant whether or not his acts had been peaceful. Meanwhile, human rights safeguards in domestic and international law were barely discussed during his trial.
International standards clearly state that governments cannot cite national security grounds to restrict legitimate expression, which includes peacefully discussing and supporting independence movements. Even where national security may be used to limit human rights, it must be done through clear laws and in a way that is specific, necessary and proportionate to a demonstrated threat.
The Hong Kong authorities’ sweeping definition of “national security”, which follows that of mainland China, has been used arbitrarily as a pretext to restrict the human rights to freedom of expression, peaceful assembly, association, fair trial and liberty, as well as to repress dissent and political opposition.
Between 1 July 2020 and October 2021, police arrested or ordered the arrest of at least 154 people in relation to the NSL. As of October 2021, at least 82 people have been formally charged, of whom 59 are presently in pretrial detention.
An Amnesty International research briefing released earlier this year found that the NSL has decimated Hong Kong’s freedoms and created a landscape increasingly devoid of human rights protections.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Enactment of repressive legislation and policies, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Offline, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Nov 15, 2021
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Oct 26, 2021
- Event Description
On 26 October 2021, Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam ordered that the Hong Kong Alliance be removed from the Companies Register on the basis that "the operation of the Alliance which seeks to end the Chinese Communist Party's leadership amounts to seeking to overthrow" the political system of the People's Republic of China and subverting state power. The Alliance's five operational goals were: freeing pro-democracy activists; rehabilitating the 1989 pro-democracy movement; holding perpetrators accountable for the 1989 Tiananmen massacre; ending one-party dictatorship; and building a democratic China.
On 24 September 2021, members of the Alliance had already voted to dissolve the organisation and the liquidation process has been on-going. A former leader of the Alliance who is in charge of liquidation said the Chief Executive's order is difficult to understand, regrettable, and unnecessary, stating further that the Alliance disagrees with and does not accept the government's conclusion that the Alliance's goals and its operations endangered national security, public safety and public order.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment, Vilification
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of association, Offline, Right to protect reputation, Right to work
- HRD
- NGO, Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Government
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Nov 8, 2021
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Nov 1, 2021
- Event Description
Fourteen activists who planned to participate in the Beijing provincial assembly election have withdrawn four days ahead of the November 5 vote, saying their personal safety is at risk.
Many of the activists are related to people arrested in a July 9, 2015, purge. Authorities arrested more than 300 lawyers and activists in what has become known as the 709 Crackdown.
The 14 activists declared their candidacies on Oct. 15 only to issue a joint statement on Nov. 1 saying that out of consideration of freedom and personal safety, all 14 decided to withdraw from the race.
Wang Qiaoling, whose husband, lawyer Li Heping was arrested in the 709 crackdown, sent the statement via Twitter. It stated that 10 of the candidates had been placed under strict government supervision since declaring. Some were taken to the police station to “drink tea,” a tactic used by Chinese secret police to intimidate dissidents. Some were constrained to their neighborhoods.
The provincial assembly focuses on street-level functions, such as establishing local policies and approving local budgets and expenses.
According to the statement, the Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau set up a special case team and “[the candidates] will know the result in two months.”
To become a formal candidate, a hopeful must pass a political screening process. According to an article in China Daily by the state-owned Xinhua News Agency, a citizen “must first register and win confirmation of his or her qualifications for lawmaker candidacy. Then receive a nomination as ‘deputy candidate’ by political parties, social organizations, or 10 or more voters in one constituency.”
The article also said, “There is no such a thing as an ‘independent candidate,’ as it's not recognized by law.”
Wang Qiaoling told VOA Mandarin that “it’s not convenient” for her to say anything beyond the statement.
When asked whether she’s under pressure to refrain from making further comments, she answered “definitely yes.”
VOA Mandarin contacted one of the candidates, Ye Jinghuan, who replied to say because authorities are monitoring her phone, she takes calls only from close relatives.
VOA Mandarin contacted her sister, Ye Jingchun, who is also a rights activist. She said the 14 candidates had no choice but to withdraw.
“There is also pressure from their relatives and friends,” she told VOA Mandarin. “The authorities usually talk to those around you to put pressure on you, making it hard to bear the mental burden.”
Ye Jingchun, who participated in the 2011 and 2016 Beijing provincial assembly elections as an independent candidate, said this time there’s even more pressure from the authorities.
She said in 2011 and 2016, independent candidates would receive police attention only for their campaign activities. “But this year, everyone is placed under surveillance. They are no longer free to take a call from outside of the country. ... Some were forced to ‘travel,’ some were forced to stay home. I think it will last until Nov. 5, the election day,” she told VOA Mandarin. Authorities employ forced chaperoned travel to send dissidents away from events of domestic or international importance.
Ye Jingcho endorsed the high-profile announcement the 14 candidates used to declare their candidacies and then withdraw. “So, when you quit, people understand why,” she said.
Local elections will be held in the Beijing municipal area on Nov. 5 to select about 5,000 district People’s Congress representatives and more than 11,000 township People’s Congress representatives.
Chinese President Xi Jinping said at a central conference focused on work related to people's congresses held on Oct. 13-14 that "Democracy, a shared value of humanity, is a key tenet unswervingly upheld by the CPC and the Chinese people.”
The local level elections are the only ones in China that use a direct election system, where candidates who win a majority of votes will be elected as local representatives.
"We all know the chances of being elected are very small,” Ye said, “but even if I didn’t win, my neighbors, my friends get to know a little bit more about the meaning of voting, so I have no complaints or regrets.”
- Impact of Event
- 14
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats, Restrictions on Movement, Surveillance
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of association, Freedom of movement, Offline, Right to political participation
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Nov 5, 2021
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Nov 23, 2021
- Event Description
Hong Kong student activist Tony Chung was sentenced to three years and seven months in prison on Tuesday after pleading guilty to secession and money laundering charges under the city’s national security law.
Chung, 20, is the youngest person to be convicted under Hong Kong’s national security legislation since China’s imposition of the measure last year.
He pleaded guilty to one count of secession and one count of money laundering as part of a plea bargain. Under those terms, authorities dropped a second money laundering count as well as a sedition count.
Upon pleading guilty on Nov. 3, Chung said, “I have no shame in my heart,” local media reported.
On Tuesday, his plea bargain got him a 25% reduction of his sentence, meaning Chung will serve 40 months for secession and 18 months for money laundering concurrently, with only three months of the latter sentence served separately.
Political scientist Joseph Cheng, who is formerly of Hong Kong but now lives in New Zealand, says he believes the 43-month sentence is too severe.
“I certainly believe that the sentence is overly harsh. There appears to be an intention to create a deterrence effect. Advocacy for independence even in the absence of concrete action will attract severe penalties,” Cheng told VOA via email.
Activist Chung is the former convener of youth activist group Studentlocalism, a pro-independence student organization that was founded in 2016. During his national security trial, prosecutors said Chung had made social media posts calling for people to join protests and get rid of Chinese colonial rule.
Authorities arrested the activist in October 2020 outside the U.S. Embassy in Hong Kong. He was the first political figure to face charges under the security law.
Weeks before he was detained, Chung, then 19, spoke to VOA, outlining his fears that Hong Kong authorities would soon arrest him. Last December, the youth activist received a four-month jail term after being sentenced under Hong Kong’s Basic Law, for insulting China’s national flag during anti-government protests in 2019. The Basic Law is the city's default legal system.
Joseph Cheng said speaking out in Hong Kong has become too dangerous.
“Already people do not want to speak out. Journalists have difficulty finding people to comment on sensitive topics; however, there are many activists in exile, and they will continue to articulate their views. In Hong Kong, people remain silent but the anger is there,” he added.
Finn Lau, a Hong Kong activist in exile in Britain, told VOA that Tony Chung’s sentencing would only spur Hong Kong activists.
“His sentencing would drive Hong Kong activists in exile, especially myself, to go the extra mile to counter the Chinese Communist Party’s influence around the globe. It would not deter Hong Kongers.”
“Since the pro-democracy voices in Hong Kong, including newspapers, have been stifled, it is inevitable that the genuine opinion of Hong Kongers has to be channelled through overseas Hong Kongers,” he said.
Britain returned control of Hong Kong to China in 1997 under the Sino-British Joint Declaration, under which the city would enjoy a “high degree of autonomy” for 50 years. But activists in the city have complained that China has long encroached on those freedoms. China maintains Hong Kong is an inalienable part of the country and that calls for independence have no legal basis.
After 2019’s anti-government protests, Beijing implemented the national security law on Hong Kong, prohibiting secession, subversion, terrorism and collusion with foreign forces, and its details can be widely interpreted.
Since then, dozens of opposition activists and lawmakers have been arrested and are awaiting trial, while others have fled overseas. Slogans have been banned, while pro-democracy books have been removed from libraries and schools. In June, pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily closed its doors after 26 years of journalism with its founder Jimmy Lai in jail. At least 50 civil society groups have also disbanded since the security law came into force.
Chung is the third person to be sentenced under the security law for secession.
Activist Leon Tong Ying-Kit, 24, was the first person sentenced under the law. In July, he received a nine-year sentence following his conviction for terrorism and secession.
Activist Ma Chun-man, nicknamed “Captain America 2.0,” was sentenced to nearly six years in prison for inciting secession.
Both defendants had pleaded not guilty.
Eric Yan-ho Lai, a law and political analyst and fellow at Georgetown University Law Center in Washington, said that Chung’s sentence was significantly lower after a guilty plea, and could influence the pleas of future defendants facing trial under the security measure.
"The sentence imposed on Tony Chung would give an example to the following national security law defendants to consider whether to plead guilty or not, as the length of sentence is lighter than Ma and Tong who didn't plead guilty.”
Lai added that defendants are already feeling the pressure to plead guilty because of the costs of legal representation.
“The change of the surrounding environment, including the new legal aid system that defendants can no longer choose their own legal representation if they apply legal aid, so, also create a combined effect of pressuring defendants to consider pleading guilty or defending their words and deeds in the courtroom.”
The law analyst questioned whether the crackdown on younger opposition voices benefits Hong Kong in the long term.
“The governments shall ask themselves whether criminalizing the young people with draconian laws can really win back the public trust towards the court or the governments,” he added.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Enactment of repressive legislation and policies, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of association, Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender, Student
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Related Events
- China: another student arrested, charged in Hong Kong
- Date added
- Nov 5, 2021
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Oct 31, 2021
- Event Description
Mainland Chinese authorities have deregistered a third human rights lawyer involved in the defence of Hong Kong fugitives caught by the national coastguard while trying to flee to Taiwan last year.
Lin Qilei revealed on Sunday that the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Justice had written to him saying it had decided to revoke his licence.
The lawyer was hired by the family of university student Kok Tsz-lun, one of 12 Hongkongers arrested and jailed by mainland authorities after trying to flee prosecution in August 2020 over their roles in anti-government protests the year before.
According to the letter, the bureau said the decision to revoke Lin’s licence was due to his inability to secure a job at another firm after the one he headed, Beijing Rui Kai, was deregistered by the authorities for six months.
It said Lin could apply to review the decision within 60 days or launch a legal bid at Tongzhou District People’s Court within six months.
Lin tweeted he was scornful of the authorities’ suggestions and noted he had previously been ignored by the Tongzhou court after attempting to appeal against the move to deregister his law firm.
“The court neither received [my] submission nor responded,” he said. “I have preliminarily lost my confidence in law.”
There was nothing he could do, Lin said, when “even laws could not stop shameless acts”.
Two other lawyers, Lu Siwei and Ren Quanniu, who represented family’s of the fugitives, also lost their licences.
Both said they were subjected to an unprecedented level of pressure throughout the four months they were involved with the Hong Kong defendants, including being urged to quit the case, told to refrain from speaking to the media and even had the premises of their law firms searched.
The authorities previously accused Ren, based in Henan province, of breaching lawyers’ regulations in a 2018 case in which he represented a follower of Falun Gong, a spiritual group banned on the mainland as it was deemed a “cult organisation”.
Lu, meanwhile, was accused of “repeatedly making inappropriate remarks on the internet” for a long period of time and in May was barred on national security grounds from leaving the country to attend an American fellowship programme.
In December last year, mainland authorities returned two young suspects who were among the 12 to Hong Kong without charge, with a Shenzhen court jailing the remaining 10 for between seven months and three years following a closed-door trial.
Eight of those were sent back to Hong Kong in March, while two others are still serving their sentences on the mainland.
Nine of the 10 fugitives who were sent back to Hong Kong were charged with an additional count of perverting the course of public justice for trying to flee, on top of the charges they already faced in connection to their roles in the civil unrest.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Right to work
- HRD
- Lawyer
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Nov 3, 2021
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Oct 25, 2021
- Event Description
Amnesty International will close its two offices in Hong Kong by the end of the year, the organization announced today.
The local ‘section’ office will cease operations on 31 October while the regional office – which is part of Amnesty’s global International Secretariat – is due to close by the end of 2021. Regional operations will be moved to the organization’s other offices in the Asia-Pacific.
“This decision, made with a heavy heart, has been driven by Hong Kong’s national security law, which has made it effectively impossible for human rights organizations in Hong Kong to work freely and without fear of serious reprisals from the government,” said Anjhula Mya Singh Bais, chair of Amnesty’s International Board.
“Hong Kong has long been an ideal regional base for international civil society organizations, but the recent targeting of local human rights and trade union groups signals an intensification of the authorities’ campaign to rid the city of all dissenting voices. It is increasingly difficult for us to keep operating in such an unstable environment.”
There are two Amnesty International offices based in Hong Kong: a local membership section focused on human rights education in the city; and a regional office which carries out research, advocacy and campaigning work on East and Southeast Asia and the Pacific. All of the regional office’s work will continue from new locations.
“We are deeply indebted to Amnesty members and staff who over the last 40 years have worked tirelessly to protect human rights in and from Hong Kong. From successfully pushing for the full abolition of the death penalty in Hong Kong in 1993, to exposing evidence of excessive use of force by police during the 2019 mass protests, Amnesty in Hong Kong has shone a light on human rights violations in the darkest of days,” said Agnes Callamard, Secretary General of Amnesty International.
“In the wider region, our research and campaigning has tackled subjects including freedom of expression in North Korea, conscientious objection to military service in South Korea, the right to housing in Mongolia, Japan’s wartime atrocities against “comfort women”, and the crackdown on human rights lawyers in China.
“Moreover, Amnesty International Hong Kong’s education programmes – from classroom talks to a documentary film festival – have enhanced awareness of human rights not only in the city’s schools but among the general public as well. No one and no power can demolish that legacy.”
The national security law, imposed by the Chinese central government, was enacted on 30 June 2020. It targets alleged acts of “secession”, “subversion of state power”, “terrorist activities” and “collusion with foreign or external forces to endanger national security”.
Its sweeping and vaguely worded definition of “national security”, which follows that of the Beijing authorities, has been used arbitrarily as a pretext to restrict the human rights to freedom of expression, peaceful assembly and association, as well as to repress dissent and political opposition.
Amnesty documented the rapid deterioration of human rights in Hong Kong one year after the enactment of the national security law in a June 2021 briefing.
“The environment of repression and perpetual uncertainty created by the national security law makes it impossible to know what activities might lead to criminal sanctions. The law has repeatedly been used to target people who have upset the authorities for any number of reasons – from singing political songs to discussing human rights issues in the classroom,” said Anjhula Mya Singh Bais.
“The pattern of raids, arrests and prosecutions against perceived opponents has highlighted how the vagueness of the law can be manipulated to build a case against whomsoever the authorities choose.”
A government crackdown targeting activists, opposition politicians and independent media has recently expanded to include civil society organizations. At least 35 groups have disbanded since the law was enacted, including some of the city’s largest unions and activist groups.
“There are difficult days ahead for human rights in Hong Kong, but Amnesty International will continue to stand with the people of Hong Kong. We will fight for their rights to be respected and we will be vigilant in our scrutiny of those who abuse them,” said Agnes Callamard.
“While leaving the city that we have called home for decades is devastating, we do so proud of our achievements over that time, and confident that the strength of Amnesty’s 10 million-plus supporters worldwide will enable us to continue our work together to end human rights abuses everywhere.”
Background
Amnesty International is a global human rights movement of 10 million people, with operations in more than 70 countries. The organization holds governments around the world accountable to equal standards under international law.
Amnesty’s local Hong Kong section works principally on building awareness of human rights issues in the city and is funded primarily by individual donations from the Hong Kong public.
The Hong Kong regional office – which has a sister location in Bangkok – conducts research, campaigning and advocacy work across the region including on mainland China, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea, North Korea, Mongolia, Myanmar, Thailand, Viet Nam, Cambodia, Laos, Indonesia, Philippines, Brunei, Singapore, Timor-Leste, Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea and the Pacific islands.
The overwhelming majority of Amnesty’s income comes from individuals the world over. These personal and unaffiliated donations allow the organization to maintain full independence from any and all governments, political ideologies, economic interests or religions. Amnesty neither seeks nor accepts any funds for human rights research from governments or political parties.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Enactment of repressive legislation and policies
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of association, Offline, Online, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- NGO
- Perpetrator-State
- Government
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Oct 29, 2021
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Oct 20, 2021
- Event Description
After four years in detention, human rights lawyer Li Yuhan stood trial in the northeastern Chinese province of Liaoning on Wednesday for "fraud," and "picking quarrels and stirring up trouble," a charge often used to target peaceful critics of the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
Li, 60, who had previously defended high-profile rights attorney Wang Yu amid a nationwide crackdown on rights lawyers, stood trial at the Heping District People's Court in Shenyang, where an ambulance was parked, amid concerns over Li's poor health.
Wang, who showed up to support Li with fellow rights lawyer Xie Yang, said police had denied access to diplomats from six countries, who asked to observe the proceedings.
"There were diplomats from six countries including the United Kingdom, France, Germany, the United States, the Netherlands, and Switzerland," Wang told RFA from the scene. "Some were diplomats from consulates in Shenyang, and some were diplomats from Beijing."
"They asked to observe, but the court said there were no available seats, so there weren't allowed in."
She added: "They are very concerned about this case. I also think that ... the abuse of lawyer Li Yuhan has been inhumane."
Wang said guards had thrown a security cordon some 50 meters from the front gates, and didn't allow her or Xie Yang to pass.
"We saw a lot of lawyers and litigants from other cases trying to get through to submit materials or meet with a judge, but they weren't allowed in either," she said. "Court business was totally suspended."
"We took a few photos from outside the security cordon, then we got driven away by the security guards, state security police and court police," she said.
One of Li Yuhan's two defense lawyers was able to attend the trial. Her other defense lawyer can no longer represent her because his own law firm's operating license was arbitrarily invalidated in January 2021 and he has been unable to secure employment at another law firm. Human rights lawyer Wang Yu, who arrived in Shenyang the day before, attempted to submit credentials to represent Li Yuhan but was rejected by the presiding judge.
Retaliation
Earlier this year, the European Bar Association wrote to CCP general secretary Xi Jinping, expressing concerns over Li Yuhan's poor health and situation in detention.
Wang said the charges against Li are retaliatory.
"What the picking quarrels and stirring up trouble charge refers to is that Li Yuhan had made many complaints [about the Heping district police department]," Wang said. "The fraud charge was in retaliation for Li Yuhan representing me during the July 9, 2015 crackdown."
Wang said the authorities have also violated Li's human rights by holding her in detention for more than four years, and delaying an earlier trial slated for April 2018.
"This is a total violation of her human rights," she said. "The detention center has been putting pressure on Li to plead guilty, and the police and court have also used various methods including threats, bargaining and abuse."
Lu Tingge, a lawyer from the northern province of Hebei, agreed.
"Her lawyer told the authorities about her poor health and applied for medical parole, but they never approved it," Lu said. "If [her age and poor health] had been taken into consideration, the trial would have been held long ago."
Li has been visited by her defense attorney in the Shenyang No. 1 Detention Center, and found to be in poor health. She has been hospitalized twice and given a number of medications, but applications for medical parole were denied.
She initially went missing on Oct. 9, 2017, and has been "at risk of torture and other ill-treatment" in the police-run detention center, London-based Amnesty International said at the time.
Fellow activists said her detention came after she was particularly courageous in the wake of a nationwide police operation targeting rights lawyers, legal firms, and rights activists since July 2015.
Wang Yu was the first of a group of lawyers at the Beijing Fengrui law firm to be detained on the night of July 9-10, 2015, kicking off a nationwide police operation that detained or questioned more than 300 lawyers and their associates.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- Denial Fair Trial, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Right to fair trial, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Lawyer, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Related Events
- China: human rights lawyer revoked the licence
- Date added
- Oct 21, 2021
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Oct 7, 2021
- Event Description
On October 7, Luo, who previously served as the deputy editor-in-chief of Beijing-based economic magazine Caijing, was summoned by a public security bureau in Sanya, a city in China’s Hainan Province, and later placed under detention.
According to the police notice, Luo was accused of ‘defaming heroes and martyrs’ because he referred to Chinese soldiers depicted in a recently released war propaganda film, “The Battle at Lake Changjin,” as ignorant. The comments were posted to Weibo, China’s Twitter-like platform, on October 6.
Luo came under fire for his remarks, with several state media outlets criticising Luo for ‘casting a smear on deceased war heroes’. On October 7, Luo apologised for the comments, describing them erroneous and acknowledging that they may have been offensive. His Weibo account has since been suspended. China has a history of quashing dissent by coercing journalists to publicly confess or apologise for actions against the state.
Luo, 40, has previously worked with China Business Herald and The Beijing News, and currently runs a legal consultancy firm. In 2013, he was awarded the Integrity Award by the non-governmental organisation Transparency International in recognition of his “courage to expose corruption.”
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Censorship, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Internet freedom, Online, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Blogger/ Social Media Activist
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Oct 21, 2021
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Oct 19, 2021
- Event Description
A court in Hong Kong on Tuesday handed down jail terms of nearly five years to five students in connection with the siege by riot police of the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) in November 2019.
Lau Chun-yuk, Ko Chi-pan, Chan Lik-sik and Hui Yi-chuen, aged 20 to 23, were sentenced to four years and nine months' imprisonment by the District Court, which jailed Foo Hoi-ching for four years and eleven months, government broadcaster RTHK reported on Tuesday.
The court found them guilty of rioting and breaching a face mask ban in place at the time, while Foo and Hui were also convicted of possess offensive weapons or items that could be used in such a way.
Deputy district judge Kathie Cheung said she had handed down the heavy sentences as a deterrent, because the students had engaged in violence against law enforcement officers, RTHK said.
The students had been wearing the black clothing of the 2019 protest movement, including gear to protect them against the tear gas, pepper spray, rubber bullets and police beatings that characterized that year's protests.
Cheung said this showed they had intended to join in, and likened the scene to a "battlefield."
CUHK students put up an organized defense when police tried to enter the CUHK campus, setting up makeshift barricades with furniture, trash cans and umbrellas, and throwing Molotov cocktails and other projectiles at police, as police rained tear gas and other "non-lethal" munitions down on them, leaving the entire campus wreathed with CS gas.
'Pillar of Shame'
Riot police went on to lay siege to the Polytechnic University, meeting with similar levels of resistance, later in the month.
Meanwhile, the row over the University of Hong Kong (HKU)'s plan to remove the "Pillar of Shame" sculpture commemorating the victims of the 1989 Tiananmen massacre has intensified with the withdrawal of Chicago-based law firm Mayer Brown from its representation of the university after an international outcry.
The firm had written to the now-disbanded Tiananmen vigil organizers, the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China, requesting the sculpture's removal by 5.00 p.m. on Oct. 13, sparking the anger of its creator Jens Galschiøt, who said he has hired a lawyer to protect his property, which was only on loan to the Alliance.
Following Mayer Brown's withdrawal, former Hong Kong leader Leung Chun-ying took to his Facebook account on Oct. 18 to denounce the firm as having been "infiltrated by foreign foreign powers" and calling on all "Chinese" clients to withdraw their business. It was unclear whether he meant people of Chinese descent or citizens of the People's Republic of China.
Leung, now a high-ranking official in a ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) political advisory body, said the firm had abandoned HKU and bowed to political pressure coming from the U.S., and called for an investigation by the Hong Kong Law Society.
Political denunciations by Chinese officials and CCP-backed media have often preceded investigations by the authorities in Hong Kong, where the imposition of a draconian national security law by Beijing from July 1, 2020 has ushered in a citywide crackdown on public dissent and democratic political opposition.
Mayer Brown has declined to comment further since announcing its withdrawal as HKU's representative on Oct. 15.
Ethical conflicts
Danish sculptor Jens Galschiøt welcomed Mayer Brown's withdrawal, which came after more than 20 groups wrote an open letter protesting its involvement, and said Leung's diatribe was "completely crazy," and had pushed the incident to a whole new level.
He said it was important to keep alive the memory of the June 1989 massacre by the People's Liberation Army that ended weeks of student-led protests, hunger-strikes and calls for democracy and the rule of law, and for the world to continue to pay tribute to those who died.
Benedict Rogers, founder of the U.K.-based rights group Hong Kong Watch, which signed the letter, said the campaign had been successful, and said Leung's call for a boycott of Mayer Brown showed how companies that do business with China are increasingly being forced to face up to ethical conflicts.
Zhou Fengsuo, a former 1989 student leader and founder of the U.S.-based rights group Humanitarian China, which also signed, said China is now openly trying to manipulate foreign companies and change the rules of doing business internationally.
"The CCP has made a deliberate choice to stand in opposition to the international community," Zhou told RFA. "It's actually a kind of decoupling."
"International companies, including lawyers, have a tendency to cave in to Beijing for profit, but now that this kind of confrontation is getting more and more direct, they may be forced to make a choice in the end," he said.
"These law firms that sit on the fence need to be more vigilant about the risks of doing business in China," Zhou said. "U.S. companies need to pick a side; they can't be on both."
- Impact of Event
- 5
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Offline, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender, Student
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Oct 20, 2021
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Oct 16, 2021
- Event Description
Seven Hong Kong democracy campaigners, including former lawmakers, were sentenced on Saturday to up to 12 months in jail for their role in a protest last year against a sweeping national security law imposed by China.
The seven had pleaded guilty to charges that included organising the unauthorised assembly on July 1, 2020, when thousands of protesters took to the streets. Police, who had banned the demonstration citinbg coronavirus restrictions, fired tear gas and water cannon to disperse them.
The activists included Figo Chan, a former convenor of the now-disbanded Civil Human Rights Front (CHRF); Tsang Kin-shing and Tang Sai-lai of the League of Social Democrats; former district councillor Andy Chui; and former legislators Wu Chi-wai, Eddie Chu and Leung Kwok-hung.
Chan was jailed for 12 months, while the others were given sentences from six to ten months.
"The nature of incitement was serious," said the judge, Douglas Yau, noting that it created the risk of violence.
Beijing imposed a national security law on June 30 last year as a response to widespread anti-government protests in 2019 that roiled the city. The law, drawn up by China, sets out to punish subversion, secession, terrorism and collusion with foreign forces.
The protest took place the next day - the first full day under the new law, though civil society groups had held deminstrations on July 1 for years to champion various issues, including democratic rights.
Hong Kong returned to Chinese rule in 1997 with the promise its wide-ranging freedoms and high degree of autonomy would be preserved. Beijing and Hong Kong authorities have repeatedly denied curbing human rights and freedoms.
"We could only choose civil disobedience… a peaceful, rational and non-violent way to express our demand against the national security law," Figo Chan said in mitigation.
"In order to uphold the belief of civil disobedience, I decided to plead guilty, admitting that I violated the "evil public order law"."
At least 370 people were arrested that day for illegal assembly and other offences, with ten involving violations of the security law, according to police.
Tong Ying-kit, the first person convicted under the national security law, was sentenced in July to nine years in prison for terrorist activities and inciting secession.
He was accused of driving his motorcycle that day into riot police while carrying a flag with the now-banned protest slogan "Liberate Hong Kong. Revolution of our times".
According to the Security Bureau, more than 150 people have been arrested under the national security law. Among them, 100 people have been formally charged.
- Impact of Event
- 7
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Offline, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Oct 18, 2021
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Oct 3, 2021
- Event Description
Hong Kong's largest independent trade union disbanded on Sunday, further stoking concerns over the space for civil society groups as a national security law and the sweeping powers it gives the police stifle dissent in the global financial center.
Founded in 1990, the 145,000 member Hong Kong Confederation of Trade Unions (HKCTU) voted to disband, bringing an end to the organization as authorities exert greater control on groups and unions in the business hub.
While anti-government protests in 2019 generated a new wave of labor activism in Hong Kong and triggered a 35% jump in registered trade unions, groups have been scrambling to disband since Beijing imposed the security law last year.
Fears of falling foul of the law and facing terms of up to life in jail have seen at least 29 trade unions disband since the start of this year, according to a tally by Reuters.
HKCTU vice-president Leo Tang said members of the group had received threats to their personal safety, without elaborating.
Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam has denied that the government is carrying out a crackdown on civil society, and authorities say all law enforcement actions have been based on evidence and have nothing to do with the political beliefs of those arrested.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of association, Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to work
- HRD
- Labour rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Suspected state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Oct 5, 2021
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Sep 29, 2021
- Event Description
National security police in Hong Kong have frozen the assets of a group that organized vigils for Tiananmen massacre victims, as the city's public broadcaster was warned on Wednesday that its reporting must 'safeguard national interests.'
"This morning, the liquidator of the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China, Mr. Cheng Yiu-cheong, received a notice from the national security police notifying him that all of the Alliance's assets, including those of the June 4th Memorial Hall, were frozen," the Alliance said in a post on its Facebook page on Wednesday.
National security police officers took Cheng Yiu-chang to the June 4th Memorial Hall and handed him the letter of notification, the group said.
"Cheng expressed surprise and disagreement with the [move]," it said, adding that Cheng planned to go to the national security police headquarters to request the assets be unfrozen pending the dissolution of the group.
The Alliance voted to disband at an extraordinary general meeting on Sept. 25, following an investigation by Hong Kong's national security police under a law imposed on the city by the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) from July 1, 2020.
The Alliance stands accused of acting as the agent of a foreign power, with leaders Chow Hang-tung, Albert Ho, and Lee Cheuk-yan arrested on suspicion of "incitement to subvert state power," and the group's assets frozen under the national security law.
At a special general meeting held at the June 4th Memorial Hall under heavy police watch in Mong Kok district, members voted 41-4 to disband after 32 years of supporting victims of the Tiananmen killings, demanding accountability, and advocating for an end to one-party rule.
The national security law ushered in an ongoing and citywide crackdown on all forms of public dissent and political opposition, with election rules changed to ensure only pro-CCP candidates can run and with the government insisting that further legislation on espionage is needed to continue the crackdown on what Beijing insists was an attempt by hostile foreign powers to foment a "color revolution" in Hong Kong.
Journalists warned
Government broadcaster RTHK on Wednesday issued a new set of guidelines to its staff, warning them that their work must always serve China's national interests, on pain of disciplinary action.
Journalists have also been warned to be careful what they say on social media, "to protect the station's integrity and reputation," RTHK reported on its English-language news page.
The rules mean that opposition or critical voices are likely to be unwelcome on RTHK programs.
“Under no circumstances should our programs provide a platform to encourage, incite, promote, glorify, endorse, or sympathize with any act or activity endangering national security or otherwise contain any contents which are contrary to the interests of national security," the station quoted the guidelines as saying.
RTHK programs must not provoke or deepen hatred, discrimination, or hostility towards the central government or the Hong Kong government, the rules say.
Staff must also avoid any contact with foreign governments or political organizations, and should take at face value Beijing's territorial claim on the democratic island of Taiwan, which has never been ruled by the CCP, nor formed part of the People's Republic of China.
In an apparent reference to reporting linked to the 2019 protest movement, staff must make sure they don't sympathize with, justify or glamorize "criminal acts."
'Inciting secession'
The warnings came as a former protester stood trial under the national security law in Hong Kong's District Court, for "inciting secession."
Ma Chun-man, known by his nickname Captain America 2.0, is accused of inciting others to commit secession by shouting "Hong Kong independence is the only solution," and "Free Hong Kong, revolution now!" at protests and in shopping malls between August and November 2020.
Motorcyclist Tong Ying-kit was jailed for nine years in July for "inciting secession" and "terrorism" after he flew a flag with the "Free Hong Kong, revolution now!" slogan while riding his bike at a protest against the national security law on July 1, 2020, the day it took effect.
National security police have also charged seven other people including a 16-year-old with "conspiracy to incite the commission by other persons of the offence of subversion."
The group, aged 16-25, are members of the pro-independence group Returning Valiant, and were arrested in July on suspicion of terrorism and amid allegations of a bomb plot.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment, Enactment of repressive legislation and policies, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Right to access to funding, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to work
- HRD
- NGO, Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Sep 30, 2021
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Sep 26, 2021
- Event Description
Authorities in the southern Chinese province of Guangdong have applied to arrest a human rights lawyer after holding him under residential surveillance for six months, his friend told RFA.
Rights lawyer Zhou Xiaoyun, who formerly worked as a senior editor at the cutting-edge Southern Metropolis Daily newspaper in Guangzhou, was initially detained by police in the northeastern province of Liaoning around six months ago on suspicion of "picking quarrels and stirring up trouble," a charge frequently used to target peaceful critics of the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
He was held incommunicado under RSDL, residential surveillance at a designated location, but now that the six-month limit has been reached, police have applied to the state prosecutor's office for approval of his arrest, a friend of Zhou's who gave only the surname Lu said.
Police in Guangdong's Panshan county submitted the arrest application to the local procuratorate on Sept. 26, Lu said.
He said Zhou was being victimized by the Liaoning police.
"They sent the case to the Panshan county procuratorate on the 26th, to apply for his arrest," Lu said. "It's not clear which leader is in charge, but it is being handled, at least on the face of things, by the Panshan county police, and in actuality by the Panjin municipal police department."
Zhou had met with his lawyer twice during the past week, as well as receiving a visit from his sister, he said.
A veteran lawyer who gave only the surname Zhang said Zhou will remain in detention after his time in "residential surveillance at a designated location (RSDL)" expires if the application is approved.
"This is what used to be called criminal detention, and it requires the approval of the procuratorate for a formal arrest," Zhang said. "This is a critical juncture, because if the procuratorate approves the arrest, it means at the very least that they believe Zhou committed a crime which should be investigated and which deserves a prison sentence."
"[That means they think] he should remain in detention," he said.
Repeated calls to the Panjin municipal police department and to the Panshan country procuratorate rang unanswered during office hours on Tuesday.
Re-educating the media
The CCP is in the process of "re-educating" its already tightly controlled state media, requiring hundreds of thousands of journalists to sit an exam on the political thought of general secretary Xi Jinping to qualify for a new generation of official press cards.
The process started with a 2014 requirement for journalists to study Marxism, and followed up by Xi in 2016, when he warned during visits to state media organizations that state media are part of the CCP family.
All media operating in China must safeguard the authority of the Communist Party central committee, and adhere to "the correct direction" in forming public opinion, Xi said at the time.
Meanwhile, Xu Yan, wife of jailed human rights attorney Yu Wensheng said he has yet to receive adequate medical and dental treatment in Nanjing Prison, where he is serving a four-year sentence after being convicted of "incitement to subvert state power" by a court in the eastern province of Jiangsu.
Family members have long suspected that Yu has been tortured and ill-treated while in custody, as he only has limited use of his right hand, and is unable to write, brush his teeth, or harvest crops as part of prison labor.
He was named as a finalist for the Martin Ennals Award honoring human rights defenders earlier this year.
The Martin Ennals Foundation called him "one of the best-known and most intrepid human rights activists" in China, acknowledging that Yu has been subjected to arbitrary detention, a secret trial, and the removal of his license to practice law.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Denial Fair Trial, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Right to fair trial, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Lawyer
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Sep 29, 2021
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Sep 20, 2021
- Event Description
Hong Kong police on Monday arrested three members of the Student Politicism group on subversion charges under a draconian national security law imposed on the city by the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP), accusing its members of trying to bring down the regime.
Among the arrestees were convenor Wong Yat-chin and secretary general Chan Chi-sum, the group said in a brief statement on its Facebook page.
The Hong Kong Baptist University student union editorial board named the third arrestee as Jessica Chu, a former spokesperson for Student Politicism who is no longer a member of the group, according to a screenshot posted to Twitter by Agence France-Presse correspondent Xinqi Su.
Police confirmed they had arrested three suspects aged between 18 and 20 for carrying out "subversive acts" including warning people not to use the government's LeaveHomeSafe COVID-19 tracking app, and "inciting hatred of the government" via street booths.
Wong was shown in media footage posted by the Oriental Daily news website, being led away in handcuffs from the group's headquarters in Kwai Chung district, and being taken away in an unmarked grey people carrier.
National security police raided the premises, seizing boxes of goods intended for prison inmates, including chocolates, sanitary products, and crackers, Hong Kong-based translator KTse852 said via their Twitter account.
Senior police superintendent Steve Li told reporters that the group had been imposing its political beliefs on others, and inciting them to overthrow the governments of Hong Kong and mainland China.
Li said the group's goal in sending goods to inmates was to enlist them to aid these efforts, and accused him of exhorting followers to "practice martial arts for when the revolution comes."
"That ... is clearly resistance aimed at the Hong Kong authorities and the CCP government," Li said, accusing the group of intensifying its political activism with street booths in Mong Kok.
The national security law, which has ushered in a city-wide crackdown on peaceful protest and political opposition since it took effect on July 1, 2020, criminalizes contact with and funding from overseas politicians and foundations, public criticism of the Hong Kong and Chinese authorities, as well as opposition activism, which is deemed a bid to overthrow the existing political order.
Forty-seven former democratic lawmakers and activists are currently awaiting trial on "subversion" charges under the national security law after taking part in a democratic primary in 2020 that was designed to maximize the number of LegCo seats won by the opposition.
The targeting of Student Politicism comes after prisoner support group Wall-fare announced it would disband after secretary for security and former police chief Chris Tang accused "certain groups" of endangering national security" in prisons by writing to inmates and "soliciting followers" with gifts of chocolates, hairpins, and other items, making them "hate the government."
It was the latest in a line of civil society groups to disband following public denunciation by officials or by CCP-backed media.
- Impact of Event
- 3
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Enactment of repressive legislation and policies, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Offline, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender, Student
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Sep 24, 2021
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Sep 19, 2021
- Event Description
Feminist journalist Sophia Huang and fellow activist Wang Jianbing are incommunicado, believed detained, ahead of Huang's planned departure to study overseas, the Chinese rights group Weiquanwang reported on Tuesday.
Huang had planned to leave China via Hong Kong on Sept. 20 for the U.K., where she planned to take a master's degree in development with a prestigious Chevening Scholarship, the Weiquanwang report said.
Wang, who is a labor and healthcare rights activist, had planned to see her off on her journey, it said.
"According to people familiar with the matter, Wang Jianbing may have been detained under investigation for incitement to subvert state power, mainly due to the daily gatherings of friends at his home," Weiquanwang said, adding that both activists had been incommunicado since Sept. 19.
Repeated calls and messages to Huang's cell phone went unanswered on Tuesday.
Sources told RFA the pair had likely been detained by police in their home district of Haizhu.
An officer who answered the phone at the Haizhu district police department in Guangzhou declined to confirm the report.
"Who? I've never heard of those people," the officer said. "If you believe they are being dealt with, then the relatives need to wait for notification."
"The case officers will only contact [the family]."
Veteran political journalist Gao Yu said Huang's detention may be short-lived, and only intended to prevent her from leaving for the U.K.
"The kind of persecution that his happening now is worse than at any other time ... even when they were going after the 'rightists' they didn't just arrest people on a whim," she said.
"It's unbelievable right now ... they regard these young journalists and non-government organizations as the enemy," she said. "The methods they are using are persecutory and despicable, and without any basis in law."
U.S.-based legal scholar Teng Biao said "disappearances" are increasingly being used by the CCP to suppress any form of dissent or rights activism.
"They keep lowering the threshold for the kinds of people they will persecute," Teng said. "There is now no longer room for activities that may have been tolerated in the past."
Survey of harassment, assaults
Before being targeted by the authorities in 2019, Huang had been an outspoken member of the country's #MeToo movement, and had carried out a survey of sexual harassment and assault cases among Chinese women working in journalism.
Huang was present at a million-strong protest in Hong Kong on June 9, 2019 against plans to allow extradition to mainland China, and was detained for "picking quarrels and stirring up trouble" in October 2019, before being released on bail in January 2020, a status that often involves ongoing surveillance and restrictions on a person's activities.
Her travel documents were also confiscated after her return, preventing her from beginning a law degree in Hong Kong the fall of 2019.
Huang had previously assisted in the investigation and reporting of a number of high-profile sexual harassment allegations against professors at Peking University, Wuhan University of Technology, Henan University and Sun Yat-sen University in Guangzhou.
Wang started to work in rural development after graduating in 2005, before joining the Guangzhou Gongmin NGO in 2014 and director and coordinator for youth work.
In 2018, he started advocacy and legal support work on behalf of workers with occupational diseases, and was a vocal supporter of China's #MeToo movement.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- Abduction/Kidnapping, Travel Restriction
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of movement, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Labour rights defender, Media Worker, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Suspected state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Sep 24, 2021
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Sep 21, 2021
- Event Description
A Hong Kong group that once campaigned for China's embattled human rights lawyers announced on Tuesday it would disband after being investigated by national security police under a city-wide crackdown on public dissent and peaceful opposition.
The China Human Rights Lawyers Concern Group (CHRLCG) said in a statement on its website that it had received a letter of enquiry from the Hong Kong Police dated Aug. 25, 2021.
"The CHRLCG has decided to dissolve in September 2021 and has already activated the voluntary liquidation procedure," the statement said.
"Directors of the CHRLCG are going to resign from their directorships soon."
The group is the latest in string of civil society groups to disband following investigation by national security police.
The pro-democracy Confederation of Trade Unions (CTU) will vote on Oct. 3 on whether to disband after being denounced in the Beijing-backed media, a typical precursor to investigation under the national security law.
The denunciations usually focus on accusations that a given activist group or non-government organization has done something that could be in breach of the law imposed on Hong Kong by the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) from July 1, 2020.
Several organizations, including protest march organizers the Civil Human Rights Front, the Professional Teachers' Union, and Wall-fare, a prison support group for those in custody because of the 2019 protest movement, have disbanded following similar articles, or after being criticized by Hong Kong's leaders.
And the Hospital Authority Employees Alliance said it had recently received a letter from the Registry of Trade Unions alleging that its funds were used for "political purposes."
Three are denied bail
The CHRLCG's decision to disband came as three activists linked to the Hong Kong activist group Student Politicism were denied bail on Tuesday following their arrest on subversion charges under a draconian national security law.
West Kowloon Court principal magistrate Don So rejected bail applications from lawyers acting for group convenor Wong Yat-chin, 20, and former members Chan Chi-sum, 20 and Jessica Chu, 18.
The trio embraced each other and cried in court when they heard bail had been denied, with the case adjourned until November following a request from the prosecution.
Judge So said he didn't believe the defendants would refrain from further actions "endangering national security" if they were released, meaning that the trio will now spend the Mid-Autumn Festival in jail instead of with their families.
Wong and Chan said they would reapply every eight days, while Chu waived her right to further bail hearings.
Their supporters also hugged each other, or wiped away tears when the decision was announced, while others chanted "release political prisoners!" and "Inhumane!"
Wong said in a message posted to social media by his lawyer that his fate was perhaps the result of the times Hongkongers are now living through.
"I hope we can all live bravely and openly, so we can face this together," Wong said. "[Let's] face fear, challenge fear, and conquer fear."
He also told people to "take care of themselves" and enjoy the Mid-Autumn Festival.
According to the indictment, Wong, Chan, and Chu conspired with others in Hong Kong to "organize, plan, implement or participate in acts of force, or the threat to use force, or other illegal means to subvert state power, namely, to overthrow or undermine the current political system of the People's Republic of China ... and overthrow the central government or the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government."
Their alleged actions dated from Oct. 25, 2020 to June 16, 2021, it said.
'Subversive acts'
Police had early alleged the trio had carried out "subversive acts" including warning people not to use the government's LeaveHomeSafe COVID-19 tracking app, and "inciting hatred of the government" via street booths.
Meanwhile, the host of an English-language talk show for government broadcaster RTHK was reportedly pulled from the show following an episode focusing on the ongoing crackdown on civil society groups under the national security law.
"Backchat" co-host Hugh Chiverton confirmed to Stand News on Tuesday that he was still at the station, but hasn't been heard on air since the civil society episode, which hasn't yet been uploaded to the archive section of the RTHK website.
The episode had featured former City University politics lecturer and pro-democracy activist Joseph Cheng.
Chiverton referred all queries about the show to RTHK's communications team, who told the Hong Kong Free Press (HKFP) that it wouldn't comment on "internal editorial matters of individual programmes."
"RTHK reviews the programme content from time to time to ensure compliance with RTHK Charter, the Producers' Guidelines and the Communications Authority's Codes of Practice," it said in a statement posted to Twitter by HKFP.
Chiverton and Koh had earlier interviewed Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam about the national security crackdown, during which Lam warned Koh that she was "treading on dangerous lines" after the host asked her about the government's failure to communicate with protesters during the 2019 anti-extradition movement.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment, Intimidation and Threats
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of association, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to work
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Sep 24, 2021
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Sep 15, 2021
- Event Description
Hong Kong’s national security chief recently accused the Hong Kong Journalists Association (HKJA), an affiliate of the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), of having political preferences and receiving foreign funding. The IFJ expresses grave concern over the official’s remarks and urges the Hong Kong authorities to respect HKJA members’ freedom of association.
Speaking with reporters on September 15, Secretary for Security Chris Tang Ping-keung accused the HKJA of having biased political views and thus favouring pro-democracy news organisations such as Apple Daily and Stand News. He also claimed that the HKJA may have received funds provided by foreign political groups, without providing evidence.
Tang urged the HKJA to disclose its membership list and financial status in order to “prove its innocence” and “assuage public concerns.”
In response, HKJA Chairman Ronson Chan saidthe HKJA does not receive funding from overseas groups and has submitted its financial statements annually to the Labour Department, which oversees trade unions, according to Hong Kong’s law.
The group also said it cannot disclose the personal data of its members without their consent. “Any suggestion to make our membership and their employers public in order to ‘assuage doubts’ would appear to incite a breach of the Ordinance,” the HKJA said in a statement, referring to the Personal Data (Privacy) Ordinance.
In addition, during an interview with local newspaper Ta Kung Pao on September 14, Tang stated that the HKJA is “relying on a large number of student members.” He said the group’s executive committee has been controlled by members of specific media outlets over the years. The situation “makes people question the representativeness of the HKJA” as a journalist trade union, Tang said.
The HKJA said there is no truth to Tang’s comments; as of September 15, the HKJA has 486 members, 56 of whom are students majoring in journalism. This number translates to approximately 11 per cent. A list of HKJA executive committee members is also available on the HKJA website, it added.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment, Intimidation and Threats, Vilification
- Rights Concerned
- Media freedom, Online, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to protect reputation, Right to work
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-State
- Government
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Sep 24, 2021
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Sep 17, 2021
- Event Description
Hong Kong newspapers backed by the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) stepped up their denunciations of independent trade unions in the city on Friday, amid an ever-widening crackdown on civil society under the national security law.
The Beijing-backed Wen Wei Po and Ta Kung Pao newspapers on Friday reported that Hong Kong's pro-democracy Confederation of Trade Unions (CTU) would be the next civil society group to disband following denunciations by CCP media.
"Our information indicates that the CTU will soon disband," the report said. "The executive committee met on Sept. 16 to pass the resolution, but it still needs to be formally approved at a general meeting on Oct. 3."
The report accused the CTU of prompting a "tsunami" of new union registrations during the 2019 protest movement, and of "promoting anti-Chinese sentiment and unrest."
"They have deviated utterly from the purpose of a trade union under the law, steal from industry, and divide society," the paper said, naming veteran labor activist Lee Cheuk-ying, who is currently serving a 14-month jail term for his role in the 2019 protest movement.
It also singled out Winnie Yu, the founder and chairwoman of the Hospital Authority Employees Alliance, a labor union representing Hospital Authority staff.
Political denunciations in CCP-backed media are increasingly being used to target civil society groups and NGOs in Hong Kong.
The denunciations usually focus on accusations that a given organization has done something that could be in breach of a draconian national security law imposed on Hong Kong by the CCP from July 1, 2020.
Several groups disband
Several organizations, including protest march organizers the Civil Human Rights Front, the Professional Teachers' Union, and Wall-fare, a prison support group for those in custody because of the 2019 protest movement, have disbanded following similar articles, or after being criticized by Hong Kong's leaders.
The Hospital Authority Employees Alliance said it had recently received a letter from the Registry of Trade Unions alleging that its funds were used for "political purposes."
The group's questioning of the effectiveness of Chinese-made COVID-19 jabs and the government's LeaveHomeSafe app, and its setting up of street booths were also listed as matters requiring explanation, government broadcaster RTHK reported.
"Our alliance's legal status and the past activities we organized, including the strike to fight for reasonable rights, should be protected by international covenants and the Basic Law," it quoted acting chairman David Chan as saying.
He declined to comment when asked if the alliance has any plans to disband, RTHK reported.
Meanwhile, another labor NGO, the Asia Monitor Resource Centre, said an article published in the CCP-backed Ta Kung Pao newspaper was inaccurate.
"For decades, we [have been] a civil society organization independent of any local or international organizations," it said. "We are not a subsidiary unit of any of the organizations as wrongly described in the Ta Kung Pao article."
The group said it plans to shut down its Hong Kong operations by the end of September and relocate elsewhere in the region.
"The pressure on our operation has intensified significantly," the group said in a statement on its website. "Therefore, we feel that we are left with no choice but to cease operating in Hong Kong by the end of September."
Pattern becoming clear
Chung Kim-wah, deputy chief executive of the Hong Kong Public Opinion Research Institute (PORI), said the pattern of denunciation leading to investigation by the authorities is becoming increasingly clear in Hong Kong.
"We have seen so many similar occurrences, in which the Ta Kung Pao or the Wen Wei Po post articles listing [alleged] crimes, sometimes photos, and even stalking some people," Chung told RFA.
"Maybe the first thing the secretary for security does when he gets to work in the morning is look at the Wen Wei Po or Ta Kung Pao to see which groups they are targeting, and make a list," he said.
"It looks as if the [pro-CCP] media are running Hong Kong now."
Set up in 1990, the CTU sprang from the work of the Hong Kong Christian Industrial Committee (HKCIC), a church-backed grassroots labor group active during the 1970s and 1980s.
A coalition of independent and politically unaffiliated union organizations, its membership consisted largely of white-collar unions organizing the civil service and professional or service employees in the public and subvented sectors, including the now-disbanded Professional Teachers' Union (PTU) and the Hong Kong Social Workers General Union.
Both former leaders Lau Chin-shek, a founding member of the Democratic Party, and Lee Cheuk-yan went on to be elected to the city's Legislative Council (LegCo).
The CTU was involved in a number of mass protest movements, including the July 1, 2003 march to oppose national security legislation, which was eventually imposed on the city by the CCP on July 1, 2020.
It was also instrumental in founding Hong Kong's Labour Party in 2005.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community), Woman
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats, Vilification
- Rights Concerned
- Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to protect reputation
- HRD
- Labour rights defender, WHRD
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Sep 20, 2021
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Sep 10, 2021
- Event Description
Hong Kong's national security police have ordered the organizers of a now-banned candlelight vigil for the victims of the June 4, 1989 Tiananmen massacre to delete all of their online posts, the group said via its Facebook page on Thursday.
The Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China said it would comply with a national security police demand to remove all content from its website and social media accounts under a draconian national security law imposed on Hong Kong by the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) from July 1, 2020.
"[We] received a letter from the police commissioner on Sept. 10 saying ... that implementation rules provide for the removal of specified messages from electronic platforms within seven days of receipt of notification," the Alliance said in a Facebook post on Thursday.
"[We] will remove all posts from our website, Facebook, and other specified electronic platforms by 10.00 pm tonight," it said.
The organization has been charged alongside three of its former leaders -- Lee Cheuk-yan, 64, Albert Ho, 69, and Chow Hang-tung, 36 -- with "incitement to subvert state power" under the national security law.
Chow was arrested on Sept. 8 and denied bail, while Lee and Ho are already serving jail terms linked to their activism.
Four other Alliance members, Tang Ngok-kwan, 53, Simon Leung, 36, Chan To-wai, 57, and Tsui Hon-kwong, 72, have been charged with "failure to comply with a notice to provide information."
The group refused to provide detailed information on its members, activities, and funding sources to national security police, arguing that it isn't an agent of a foreign government, and therefore isn't bound by that part of the national security law.
"By arresting vigil organizers, Beijing and Hong Kong authorities are telling the world they’re not only afraid of the most peaceful protests, but also of their own brutal past," Human Rights Watch (HRW) China director Sophie Richardson said in a statement posted on the HRW website and signed by dozens of rights groups.
"They should end this political persecution and immediately drop the charges and release the vigil organizers," she said.
Call for targeted sanctions
The statement, signed by the U.S.-based Hong Kong Democracy Council, the Christian rights group ChinaAid, Humanitarian China and the U.K.-based Hong Kong Watch, among others, called on concerned governments to impose "coordinated, targeted sanctions, including travel bans and asset freezes," on Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam, police chief Raymond Siu, secretary for security Chris Tang, and other officials linked to the operation targeting the Alliance.
"Hong Kong and mainland authorities should not be able to ban commemorations, shutter museums, and jail peaceful critics without paying a price," Citizen Power founder and veteran dissident Jianli Yang said.
"Governments appalled by the rapidly deteriorating human rights situation in Hong Kong should make their opposition felt," Yang said.
The takedown order came as seven pro-democracy District Council members were stripped of their seats after their oaths were judged insufficient to prove their loyalty to Hong Kong and China.
Clarisse Yeung, Leung Pak-kin, Wei Siu-lik, So Yat-hang, Chan Wing-tai, Lai Tsz-yan, and Michael Pang were stripped of their council seats on Sept. 15, five days after they pledged allegiance at a ceremony for Hong Kong Island councilors.
"As the oath administrator had questions about the validity of the oaths taken by ... seven District Council members, letters were issued to the ... members concerned on Sept. 10 to require them to provide additional information," the government said in a statement announcing the disqualifications.
"After considering the written replies ... and all relevant information, the oath administrator ... determined that the oaths taken by seven District Council members were invalid," it said.
The councilors were removed from office with immediate effect.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment, Enactment of repressive legislation and policies, Judicial Harassment, Online Attack and Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of association, Internet freedom, Online
- HRD
- NGO, Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Sep 17, 2021
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Aug 13, 2021
- Event Description
On 13 August 2021, the Linyi Municipal Procuratorate confirmed that the Linyi Municipal Public Security Bureau has sent the case against woman human rights defender Li Qiaochu for review by the prosecution. Under Chinese law, the procuratorate must make a decision on whether to prosecute the case within a month, and it may extend the deadline for another 15 days if the case is deemed “major” or “complicated”. It may also return the case back to the police for supplementary investigation.
On 27 August 2021, Li Qiaochu's lawyer was allowed to meet her. The woman human rights defender said she is suffering from severe auditory hallucinations, and is taking medication to treat the condition. However, she said there are side effects as she has gained weight and experienced amenorrhea for two months.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- Denial Fair Trial, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Right to fair trial, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Sep 14, 2021
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Sep 6, 2021
- Event Description
On 8 September 2021, the deputy chief of the Gaoxin branch of the Baoji Municipal Public Security Bureau informed human rights lawyer Chang Weiping's family that the police have sent the case against the human rights defender for review by the prosecution on 6 September 2021. Under Chinese law, the procuratorate must make a decision on whether to prosecute the case within a month, and it may extend the deadline for another 15 days if the case is deemed “major” or “complicated”. It may also return the case back to the police for supplementary investigation.
Upon hearing the news, Chang Weiping's family telephoned the Feng County Detention Centre, where the human rights defender is detained, and asked the centre to arrange a meeting between him and his lawyer. However, the detention centre said meetings with detainees cannot be arranged due to COVID-19.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Denial Fair Trial, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Right to fair trial, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Lawyer
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Related Events
- China: prominent lawyer arrested, held incommunicado
- Date added
- Sep 14, 2021
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Sep 7, 2021
- Event Description
CHRD condemns the ongoing persecution against the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of the Patriotic Democratic Movement of China (“the Hong Kong Alliance”), and in particular, the arrest on Thursday of chairman Lee Cheuk-yan, vice-chairs Chow Hang-tung and Albert Ho on the charge of “inciting subversion”, which could carry a maximum sentence of ten years in prison.
The three are scheduled to appear at court in West Kowloon at 9:30am on Friday.
Their arrest stems from the Hong Kong Alliance’s decision not to cooperate with a police request made on August 25 to provide detailed information related to their interaction or material support from several foreign groups and unspecified “foreign or Taiwan political parties and other groups with a political purpose, including at their Hong Kong branches” dating back to 2014. The police charged them under Article 43(5) of the National Security Law (NSL), alleging that the Hong Kong Alliance and its members were “foreign agents”.
Committee member Tsui Hon-kwong was also arrested on Thursday, and on Wednesday, Hong Kong Alliance committee members Simon Leung, Tang Ngok-kwan and Chan To-wai were also arrested due to their non-compliance.
On Thursday, the Hong Kong police also shut down the Tiananmen Massacre Museum, which was run by the Hong Kong Alliance. Police dismantled the displays and hauled away historic photos and exhibits about the Tiananmen Massacre.
“The Hong Kong Alliance had always upheld the vision for a China that was ruled democratically, where the rule of law mattered, and where human rights were genuinely respected. The Central Government and their local allies are simply using the National Security Law to crush that democratic vision and ensure that there is no significant opposition to the increasingly dictatorial rule of Xi Jinping as head of the Chinese Communist Party”, said William Nee, CHRD’s Research and Advocacy Coordinator.
“Despite the fact that Article 39 of the NSL is clear that the law can only be applied to acts committed after it came into effect, and despite the fact that Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam told the UN that the NSL would not be used retroactively, the police are now on a retroactive fishing expedition looking for anything going back to 2014. This makes a complete mockery out of Carrie Lam’s promises and shows that the procedural safeguards supposedly built into the NSL aren’t worth the paper they are printed on. The Hong Kong Alliance is courageous for refusing to comply with requests that are so blatantly against international and Hong Kong law,” Nee added.
“If the the claims that provisions under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights will be respected in Hong Kong under the NSL are to be taken seriously, then the international community must take actions to ensure that all members of the Hong Kong Alliance are immediately and unconditionally released”.
Background
Every year since 1989, the Hong Kong Alliance has organized an annual Tiananmen Vigil in Hong Kong, to commemorate the hundreds, if not thousands, killed by the People’s Liberation Army in Beijing and other cities in 1989. The vigil was usually attended by which 100,000 to 200,000 people and served as a focal point of Hong Kong’s civil society.
In recent days, several state-run media reports made detailed allegations against the Hong Kong Alliance. And Xinhua, the official outlet of the Central Government, carried a statement by the Office for Safeguarding National Security of the Central People’s Government in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region that supported the Hong Kong police’s actions against what it deemed an “anti-China” organization.
- Impact of Event
- 7
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Administrative Harassment, Enactment of repressive legislation and policies, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of association, Offline, Right to liberty and security, Right to work
- HRD
- Lawyer, NGO staff, Pro-democracy defender, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Related Events
- China: Hong Kong WHRD and lawyer arrested ahead of Tienanmen commemoration, China: pro-democracy group labelled as foreign agent harassed
- Date added
- Sep 12, 2021
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Aug 26, 2021
- Event Description
Police in the southwestern Chinese region of Guangxi have detained a left-wing sociology researcher from the University of Hong Kong (HKU) on suspicion of "subversion."
Fang Ran, a HKU doctoral student who studies labor movements, was detained by state security police in Guangxi's Nanning city on Aug. 26, 2021 on suspicion of "incitement to subvert state power." according to an unconfirmed social media post.
The message, apparently from Fang's father, said he was "shocked" at his son's detention, saying Fang Ran is a loyal member of the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
"To my mind, Fang Ran is the kind of ambitious young person who can aid the party's cause, definitely not a criminal seeking to harm it," the post said.
Fang is currently being held incommunicado under "residential surveillance at a designated location (RSDL)" under the guard of Nanning state security police, meaning that he will be denied visits from lawyers or family on grounds that the case involves matters of national security.
According to his profile page on the HKU sociology department website, Fang Ran is a full-time PhD student who received his bachelor’s degree in sociology from Tsinghua University, and who has worked as an intern at a non-government organization and social media focusing on labor issues in China.
His research interests include labor relations, and labor organization as well as labor movements, the profile page said.
"His current research focuses on the analysis and comparison of various approaches of labor empowerment in mainland China," it said.
Classic Marxist analyses
While at Tsinghua, Fang was among the founding members of a group called the Modern Capitalism Research Association, which tended to favor classic Marxist analyses of labor issues.
Fang had also interviewed pneumoconiosis sufferers from the central province of Hunan after hundreds of former workers petitioned the authorities in Shenzhen over workplace-related diseases.
An employee who answered the phone at HKU on Sept. 1 said the university is aware of Fang's detention.
"[We are] in the process of finding out more about the situation," the employee said. "The university will provide assistance to Fang and his family when necessary."
While many commentators have noted an apparent shift towards political practises and ideological tropes that echo the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976) under late supreme leader Mao Zedong in recent years, it appears that CCP leader Xi Jinping is unwilling to allow actual Maoists free rein under his rule.
Leftists, including dozens of young labor activists who tried to set up an independent labor union at the Jasic Technology factory in Shenzhen in 2018, have been detained, placed under house arrest, and silenced as part of the CCP's "stability maintenance" regime.
A human rights lawyer who gave only the pseudonym Chen said any form of organized labor is intolerable to the CCP.
"Organized action is the thing they fear the most," Chen said. "Once the workers get organized, they will be much stronger, and a threat to CCP rule."
"In the 1920s, the CCP itself was involved in organizing workers and peasants against the [then ruling] Kuomintang and to fight for their rights," he said. "So they fear that someone else will use the same methods against them."
Tough on labor activism
Beijing-based rights activist Hu Jia agreed.
"Even if you are a student still in school or a fresh graduate, they will consider you to be anti-government if you get involved in labor movements or use your knowledge to help people," Hu said. "[It means you are] challenging the existing system."
A Hong Kong-based graduate student who gave only the pseudonym Mary said she had been checked by Chinese police when she crossed the border into mainland China to do fieldwork.
"We all know that there is a red line, but we don't know exactly where it is," Mary said. "This means that we are fearful of going to mainland China at all, whether it's for academic research or for some other reason."
"That doesn't mean we won't keep doing it, though," she said. "Of course, there will always be students or scholars who set their own red lines [in the hope of staying safe]."
Fang's detention comes after authorities in the eastern province of Shandong detained large numbers of Maoist activists around the country, ahead of the CCP centenary celebrations on July 1.
Police in Shandong's Jining city ran a nationwide operation targeting leftwingers in a bid to "maintain stability" ahead of the politically sensitive anniversary, Taiwan's Central News Agency (CNA) quoted sources as saying at the time.
The operation, which began on May 12, was largely carried out in secret, with no information given to detainees' families after going incommunicado.
Among them was Maoist dissident Ma Houzhi, 77, who was released from a 10-year jail term in 2019 for defying a ban on the registration of new political parties under the CCP.
The report came after the CCP canceled a conference of prominent Maoist ideologists slated for May 16, the anniversary of the start of the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976).
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Enactment of repressive legislation and policies, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Academic freedom, Offline, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Academic, Labour rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Sep 6, 2021
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Aug 31, 2021
- Event Description
Hong Kong police on Tuesday arrested a journalist outside Prince Edward MTR station, as many in and outside the city marked the second anniversary of attacks on train passengers by riot police at the height of the 2019 protest movement.
The journalist for the news website Egg Egg Club, was arrested for "disorderly conduct in a public place" after shouting insults at police officers.
The man had been standing outside an exit from the subway station, when he was told by police officers at the scene to step back into the press area, the Hong Kong Standard newspaper reported.
Police also questioned a number of people who wanted to leave flowers and other offerings outside the exit as a mark of respect for anyone who may have died in the incident, the paper said.
Hong Kong residents have repeatedly left flowers outside the subway station to commemorate one or more people whom many believed died when riot police attacked unarmed train passengers on a train and on the subway platforms.
Authorities in Hong Kong have repeatedly hit out at 'malicious rumors' that someone died when riot police stormed the Prince Edward MTR station on Aug. 31, but the selective release of stills from surveillance footage from cameras inside the station has done little to assuage public mistrust in the official narrative.
Zhang Xiaoming, who heads China's Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office (HKMAO), has warned that people who express the belief that anyone died in the incident could be breaking a draconian national security law imposed on the city by the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) from July 1, 2020 as a response to a wave of mass, popular protests over the erosion of Hong Kong's promised freedoms.
Meanwhile, Hongkongers in exile spoke out more freely about the anniversary.
"Never forget how the Hong Kong police terrorized and assaulted citizens two years ago," former lawmaker Nathan Law, now in exile in the United Kingdom, said via Twitter on Tuesday.
"Full-geared special force rushed to the station and attacked passengers indiscriminately," Law said. "Many were severely injured, yet no officers are held accountable."
Rewriting history
Wong Mau-chun, who was named as mysteriously missing, believed killed, in early rumors about the attacks, and who later turned up in the U.K., said people should resist the government's attempts to make people forget about the events of Aug. 31, 2019.
Wong, also known as Jim Wong, faces eight charges including rioting, should he return to Hong Kong, and has applied for political asylum in the U.K.
"I think everyone has a duty to find out the truth and never to forget what happened," he told RFA. "[The authorities] are constantly trying to revise the details and rewrite history."
"It's now been two years ... and the biggest issue we face now is forgetfulness," Wong said.
"People in Hong Kong may think that nothing is going to happen, because there aren't any more protests now, and everyone is in jail," he said. "But a lot of people are still suffering because of what happened ... we are talking about people's lives."
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Enactment of repressive legislation and policies, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Offline, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Sep 6, 2021
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Sep 1, 2021
- Event Description
Pro-democracy Cantopop star Denise Ho had a forthcoming concert canceled at the last minute by the venue on Friday, amid a city-wide crackdown on public dissent and political opposition under a draconian national security law imposed by Beijing.
"We regret to announce that the Hong Kong Arts Centre (HKAC) has informed us about the abrupt cancellation of our approved booking for Denise Ho’s performance "Hocc Shouson Live 2021" at the Shouson Theatre," Ho's official Twitter account said on Wednesday.
Ho, an outspoken supporter of Hong Kong's 2019 protest movement, was to have performed there over four nights from Sept. 8-12.
A letter from the HKAC informing Ho of the decision cited a clause allowing performances to be canceled if "public order or public safety would be endangered during the course of the performance," according to a screenshot of the letter posted to Ho's Twitter account.
Ho later commented on her Facebook page: "Thanks, everyone, I'm OK, holding up. In a city where they can't even allow a concert to go ahead, I will have to sing out, and sing louder."
She said a single concert would be livestreamed on Sept. 12 instead.
The cancelation came after the Hong Kong Arts Development Council warned in March that the city's formerly vibrant arts sector would soon face far greater scrutiny under the national security law, which forbids public criticism of the city’s government or the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
It warned that artists, exhibits, or projects using its funding must comply with Hong Kong law, including the national security law, which took effect on July 1, 2020.
A spokesman for the Hong Kong Democratic Party described the decision to pull the plug on Ho's gigs as "inexplicable."
"If no further explanations are forthcoming, then it is tantamount to unreasonable censorship of a performance," Chan Po-ming said.
He said that tickets to the shows had sold out and yet the performances had been canceled with less than one week's notice.
"This violates the spirit of the contract," Chan said, calling on the HKAC to give a detailed account of its reasoning as soon as possible.
Civic groups harassed
Meanwhile, Hong Kong police wrote to two civic groups requiring them to supply details of their members, activities, and sources of funding under the national security law, according to local media reports.
"RTHK understands that the 612 Humanitarian Relief Fund and the Alliance for True Democracy have been asked to provide information before a deadline," the government broadcaster reported on Wednesday.
It cited sources as saying the request was made under a court warrant in accordance to the national security law, adding that the information sought include details on donors and recipients, its crowdfunding campaign, and how the money was used by the organizations.
Police confirmed in a statement that the 612 Humanitarian Relief Fund is being investigated, but gave no further details.
The move came one day after the fund -- which offers assistance and legal support to protesters arrested during the 2019 protest movement -- said it would stop accepting new funding applications, and announced plans to wind down its operations "in an orderly manner."
Hong Kong is undergoing an unprecedented emigration wave in the wake of the national security law, which has landed dozens of former lawmakers and opposition activists behind bars awaiting trial for "subversion" after they took part in a democratic primary to select the best candidates in elections to the Legislative Council (LegCo).
'Patriotic education'
The government has also used the law to mandate patriotic education in the city's schools, abolishing Liberal Studies, a critical thinking program blamed by the CCP for inspiring several waves of mass popular protest over eroding freedoms in recent years.
There are concerns over falling student enrolments as parents take their children out of schools before leaving the city for good, as well as a drain of qualified teachers.
The city's education bureau has already issued teaching certificates to more than 1,500 unqualified teachers to plug the shortfall in schools.
A former Chinese-language teacher who gave only the name Alan said he brought forward his plans to leave the city to April 2021 after the arrests of the pro-democracy politicians for subversion.
"I used to play news clips from the [now-shuttered] i-Cable China news team ... so we could discuss some of the issues affecting China's development," Alan said.
"But since last year, it has become increasingly clear that such teaching methods and materials can no longer be used," he said.
"Parents or students could say that you are biased."
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment, Enactment of repressive legislation and policies
- Rights Concerned
- Offline, Right to work
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender, WHRD
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Sep 6, 2021
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Aug 16, 2021
- Event Description
Police in western China’s Sichuan province on Monday arrested a Tibetan man who had refused to take part in a propaganda meeting organized by local authorities to praise the ruling Chinese Communist Party and instruct Tibetan residents in government objectives, according to sources in Tibet.
Sherab Dorje, age 19 and a resident of Trotsik township in the Ngaba (in Chinese, Aba) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, was taken into custody near his home and led away in handcuffs, a local resident told RFA’s Tibetan Service.
“A few police officers recently arrived in Trotsik to enforce the Communist Party’s political education campaign for young Tibetans to ensure they don’t rebel against the government’s policies,” RFA’s source said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
“Sherab Dorje didn’t attend the meeting, so he was arrested later near his house and put in handcuffs,” the source said, adding, “He’s still being held in custody.”
Dorje, a graduate of the Machu County Middle School in Gansu province's Kanlho (Gannan) prefecture, may also have come to the attention of police by joining with students in submitting a petition opposing county government orders to give classroom instruction only in Chinese when schools reopen at the end of this year’s summer vacation, sources said.
Language rights have become a particular focus for Tibetan efforts to assert national identity in recent years, with Tibetan schools including kindergartens and elementary schools now teaching almost entirely in Chinese.
Informally organized language courses in the monasteries and towns are typically deemed “illegal associations” and teachers are subject to detention and arrest, sources say.
Politically sensitive discussions
Police in Trotsik also arrested a senior monk at a local monastery last month on suspicion of holding politically sensitive discussions on the popular WeChat social media platform, sources told RFA in an earlier report.
Konmey, a 45-year-old monk in charge of discipline at Ngaba’s Trotsik monastery, was taken into custody on July 20, a source in Ngaba told RFA.
“He had performed prayers on his WeChat group, but he only talked about the number of prayers he had accumulated,” RFA’s source said, speaking on condition of anonymity. “He said nothing at all about political issues.”
Communications clampdowns in Tibet and Tibetan areas of western China have made it difficult to learn the details of protests, arrests, or other information considered politically sensitive by Chinese authorities, sources have told RFA.
Formerly an independent nation, Tibet was invaded and incorporated into China by force 70 years ago.
Chinese authorities maintain a tight grip on the region, restricting Tibetans’ political activities and peaceful expression of cultural and religious identity, and subjecting Tibetans to persecution, torture, imprisonment, and extrajudicial killings.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention
- Rights Concerned
- Offline, Right to liberty and security, Right to self-determination
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, Youth
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Sep 3, 2021
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Sep 1, 2021
- Event Description
Seven Hong Kong pro-democracy activists were sentenced Wednesday to lengthy jail sentences for taking part in an unauthorized protest in 2019.
The activists include such figures as former legislators Cyd Ho, Yeung Sum, Albert Ho and Leung Kwok-hung, known as “Long Hair,” and Raphael Wong, Figo Chan and Avery Ng of the League of Social Democrats party.
All seven men were present when District Court Judge Amanda Woodcock sentenced them for taking part in a massive demonstration in October 2019 at the height of anti-government protests triggered by a controversial extradition bill that evolved into a greater demand for greater freedoms for the financial hub.
Judge Woodcock said that while Hong Kong’s mini-constitution, known as the Basic Law, guarantees freedom of assembly and demonstration, “these rights are not absolute and are subject to restrictions ruled constitutional.”
The sentences ranged from 11 to 16 months. All the defendants except for Wong are already serving jail time on other illegal assembly charges.
The 2019 demonstrations prompted Beijing to approve a sweeping national security law for Hong Kong last year under which anyone believed to be carrying out terrorism, separatism, subversion of state power or collusion with foreign forces could be tried and face life in prison if convicted.
Hong Kong authorities have increasingly clamped down on the city’s pro-democracy forces since the law took effect last year.
- Impact of Event
- 7
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Offline, Right to liberty and security, Right to political participation, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Related Events
- China: 8 pro-democracy defenders arrested in Hong Kong
- Date added
- Sep 2, 2021
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Aug 24, 2021
- Event Description
Hong Kong's national security police have written to the organizers of a now-banned candlelight vigil for the victims of the June 4, 1989 massacre in Beijing, asking them to reveal details of the group's previous contacts with overseas-based organizations.
Chow Hang-tung, vice chair of the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China, said the group's members have been given two weeks to comply with the request, made under Article 43 of a national security law imposed on the city by the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) from July 1, 2020.
A video clip shared to social media showed national security police delivering a letter to Chow at her home, which she signed for.
Chow said the police letter had described the Alliance as an "agent" of foreign organizations, which she denied.
"Just by pinning this label of foreign agent on us, they can then require us to hand over all of this information," Chow told RFA on Wednesday.
"This is an extremely unfair accusation, and a completely false one," Chow said. "How can the Alliance be a foreign agent? We are an organization formed spontaneously by the people of Hong Kong."
"[They are] using this tactic to intimidate civil society groups," she said. But she denied the Alliance had already made plans to disband, saying the issue was still unresolved.
Chow was mentioned in the letter alongside former Democratic Party lawmaker Emily Lau and Alliance co-founders Albert Ho and Lee Cheuk-yan, who are currently in prison on different charges.
"The national security department of the Hong Kong Police Force wrote to the Aliiance on Aug. 25, saying it was suspected of being a foreign agent," the letter, which was shared with RFA by Chow, said.
"The Alliance is hereby required under Article 43 of the National Security Law to provide detailed information about the activities of its personnel in Hong Kong since its establishment," the letter said.
Deadline for submission
It called for full records and contact details for overseas organizations to be submitted to police by Sept. 7, 2021.
"Failure to supply police with the requested information, unless you can prove that you have tried comply with the request to the best of your ability, or that you were prevented from doing so due to reasons beyond your control, will result in a fine of H.K.$100,000 and a prison sentence of six months if convicted," the letter warned.
Among the organizations listed in the request were the Washington-based National Endowment for Democracy, the National Democratic Institute, the International Republican Institute, the Solidarity Center, and the Center for International Private Enterprise.
Also listed were the Canada-based Federation for a Democratic China, the U.S.-based New School for Democracy, founded by former 1989 student leader Wang Dan, and the Chinese Human Rights Lawyers Concern Group.
According to a person familiar with the internal operations of the Alliance, the group has been in touch with pro-democracy activists and dissidents in mainland China for many years.
Others may be targeted
Joseph Cheng, a former politics professor at Hong Kong's City University, said other groups could also be targeted, including the Chinese Human Rights Lawyers Concern Group, which has spoken out for the mainland Chinese legal profession since the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) began a crackdown in July 2015.
"They are now targeting some of the more prominent activists, both within the Hong Kong pro-democracy movement and overseas, as well as the pro-democracy movement in mainland China," Cheng said. "The relevant departments in mainland China likely already have a lot of material on them already."
"The current sweep for documents and records is likely aimed at arresting them and bringing charges, or using the material to go after pro-democracy activists overseas," he said.
Zhang Xianling, a co-founder of the Tiananmen Mothers group representing the victims of the 1989 Tiananmen massacre, said she had nothing to fear.
"Even if they eradicate an organization [like the Alliance] or stop it from meeting, they won't necessarily be able to cover everything up," Zhang said. "The traces will still be there in the historical record."
"A lie is still a lie, even after 100 years have gone by."
Hong Kong justice secretary Teresa Cheng declined to comment when contacted by RFA on Wednesday, saying she wouldn't comment on an ongoing investigation.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment, Intimidation and Threats, Vilification
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of association, Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to political participation, Right to protect reputation
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Aug 26, 2021
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Aug 18, 2021
- Event Description
A relief fund set up to pay bail for those arrested in the 2019 protest movement has announced it will shut down amid a city-wide crackdown on public dissent and political opposition under a national security law imposed by the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
The 612 Humanitarian Relief Fund said in a statement on its Facebook page that it would cease operations despite strong public donations.
But its banking arrangements were conducted through another group, the Alliance for True Democracy, which is the latest of several civil organizations to wind down since the national security law took effect on July 1, 2020.
"We have been notified by the directors of the Alliance that they intend to wind up in the near future. This means the Fund will no longer have a bank account it can use, and therefore cannot continue to operate," it said.
"We thank the members of the public who have been giving us their unfailing support by their donations and encouragement [as well as] those who have come to us for help in their predicament and their families for the trust they placed in us," it said.Forced to halt operations
It said it would destroy all personal data linked to donors and beneficiaries.
The Fund had also provided beneficiaries with emergency financial and legal support.
The Aug. 18 announcement came after secretary for security Chris Tang declined to confirm whether or not the 612 Fund is currently under police investigation.
But he said groups that disband could still face investigation.
"Even if these organizations dissolve of their own accord, any crimes they committed won't not be written off," Tang told reporters after the Fund's announcement.
"However, the harm to society would be somewhat reduced if they disband of their own accord," he said.
Tang warned that any organization that promotes violence or has "unusual" financial transactions with foreign organizations will be pursued by police, under the national security law.
Fund trustee and former lawmaker Margaret Ng told a news conference that the Fund had stopped taking any new cases immediately following the announcement.
"The Fund has been forced to cease operations before it was able to complete its mission," Ng said. "I feel deep regret about that, but it was a miracle of historic proportions that the people of Hong Kong were able to create it and bring it this far."
"The 612 Fund is no more," she said. "There are still countless forms of private support, both large and small, but it's not the same."
More arrests expected
Ng said she hadn't heard any news of a police investigation into the Fund's membership, activities or finances so far.
"We can't be too scared or worried about that," Ng said. "All we can do is be very careful not to break the law."
"We must take care every step of the way, and have the banks check our accounts carefully," she said.
At the time of closure, the Fund still had 1,200 live cases on its books, including a 2019 protester identified only as Mr. S.
"Since the protest movement and political upheavals in Hong Kong, there has been no help from the current system," he told reporters. "Young people and people caught up in the political turmoil can only be sure of getting help from civil society groups."
He said police are continuing to investigate cases linked to the 2019 protest movement, and that it is hard to estimate how many more arrests could follow.
More than 100 opposition politicians, activists and protesters have been arrested so far on charges under the national security law, including allegations of secession, subversion and terrorist activities, with more than 10,000 arrested under pre-existing laws for their part in the protest movement.
"They are continuing to prosecute people involved in the movement, so the eventual number is still unknown," Mr. S said. "I think it's sad for the people involved in those future cases."
"They will no longer have access to such solid support from a civil society organization," he said.
However, he said a volunteer-run support hotline would continue to provide advice to those targeted in the ongoing crackdown.
Meanwhile, a Hong Kong court on Thursday ruled that public order charges of the kind frequently used to target participants in the 2019 pro-democracy protest movement can be extended to people who weren't present at the scene.
The city's Court of Appeal found that anyone who encouraged or promoted an "unlawful assembly or riot" could be held liable under the Public Order Ordinance, even if they weren't physically present, under the legal notion of "joint enterprise."
"If there is sufficient evidence to establish their liability... they are no longer innocent people exercising their freedom of expression," the court said.
"They have crossed the permissible line and become a perpetrator to an unlawful assembly or riot and should be held liable as such," judges Jeremy Poon, Andrew Macrae, and Anthea Pang found.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats
- Rights Concerned
- Right to access to funding, Right to work
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Government
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Aug 23, 2021
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Aug 15, 2021
- Event Description
Hong Kong's Civil Human Rights Front (CHRF), which once organized annual mass rallies on July 1 marking the 1997 handover of the city to Beijing, announced it would disband at the weekend following repeated denunciations by media backed by the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
The front, which was never registered as an organization, served as a communication platform for civil society groups to promote human rights and democratic freedom in Hong Kong, according to its Facebook page.
Its job was mostly to organize large-scale, peaceful protest marches to ensure that citizens' voices were heard, it said.
"Regrettably, for more than a year now, the government has consistently rejected our applications to hold marches, using the pandemic as a pretext to suppress the rights of our members," the group said in an Aug. 15 post to its Facebook page.
"With no members participating, the secretariat has been unable to remain operational ... and we have no choice but to declare herewith that we are disbanding," it said.
CHRF convenor Figo Chan was handed an 18-month jail term in May for his role in an unauthorized gathering in 2019. The group said will donate its current assets of H.K.$1.6 million to appropriate organizations.
The announcement came after the CHRF held its AGM, and the decision among member groups was unanimous, the post said.
"We would like to thank the people of Hong Kong for walking side by side with the Front for many years," it said, citing mass rallies of one and two million people in protest over government plans to extradite alleged criminal suspects to mainland China in 2019.
It also cited marches held during the 2014 pro-democracy movement, or Umbrella movement, and marches against CCP-backed infrastructure projects in Hong Kong.
Threat of investigation
The move came after Hong Kong police chief Raymond Siu warned that the group could be investigated under a draconian national security law imposed on the city by the CCP from July 1, 2020.
According to the CCP-backed Ta Kung Pao, Siu said the CHR had never registered as an organization.
Police responded to the CHRF's disbanding by saying the investigation into the group's activities would go ahead regardless.
In April 2021, police ordered the group to submit information on its members, activities, and funding sources, but the group didn't do so by the date specified.
Hu Xijin, editor of the CCP-backed Global Times newspaper, said via his WeChat account that the decision to disband was in itself likely a bid to evade investigation and destroy evidence that could be used in the investigation.
And Ip Kwok-him, who represents Hong Kong China's rubber-stamp parliament, the National People's Congress (NPC), said the group's dissolution meant that "large-scale anti-China demonstrations to stir up troubles in Hong Kong haver become history."
But he said more specific protests might be tolerated.
“As long as the activities are not aimed at opposing China and disrupting Hong Kong, but are expressing a demand, they are protected by the Basic Law and we respect that,” Ip told government broadcaster RTHK.
The group's web page was unavailable on Monday.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment, Intimidation and Threats, Vilification
- Rights Concerned
- Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to protect reputation
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Government
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Aug 18, 2021
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Aug 10, 2021
- Event Description
Hong Kong's largest teachers' union announced it would disband on Tuesday following a growing number of attacks from pro-Beijing newspapers, among dozens of civil society groups to do so since the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) imposed a draconian national security law on the city from July 1, 2020.
The Professional Teachers' Union (HKPTU) said it would begin the process of dissolving with immediate effect, in a statement on its official website.
"After much deliberation and thorough investigation ... the Executive Committee unanimously resolved to dissolve HKPTU," union president Fung Wai-wah said in a letter to members.
"The HKPTU's 48-year history has reached the last chapter, and the last full-stop," the letter said. "This is a tragic and deplorable situation, certainly, but looking back over our long years of struggle and development, we should have no regrets."
"We sincerely plead for your understanding and acceptance of what was a no-choice, unwanted and difficult decision," Fung wrote.
"It is deplorable that radical changes to to our sociopolitical environment have left us wondering about our futures," the letter said.
The union said it would lay off 200 staff and sell off its assets, beginning immediately.
State media attack
Founded in 1973 by former teacher and lawmaker Szeto Wah, the union began protecting teachers' rights and providing services for them out of a tiny office in Yau Ma Tei, Kowloon.
The move came after the PTU was described by CCP mouthpiece the People's Daily and state news agency Xinhua as "a malignant tumor" in need of eradicating from Hong Kong.
The union's attempts to deflect criticism of its international ties -- deemed "collusion with foreign powers" under the national security law -- met with further scathing responses from both outlets, accusing the PTU of engaging in anti-China and anti-Hong Kong activities.
Organizations accused of such collusion -- including the now-defunct Apple Daily newspaper -- can have their assets frozen under the national security law, rendering them unable to make further payments to staff.
Ivan Choy, senior politics lecturer at the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK), said the demise of the PTU would have a wide impact.
"I believe this is going to have a huge impact on other civil society organizations," Choy told RFA. "If the PTU has no way to hang in there, others are going to find it harder still."
"I am concerned that this will be the start of a domino effect, and that we will see many more organizations disband after this," he said.
'Hong Kong is no more'
A teacher and veteran PTU member who gave only his surname Cheung said he had never thought he would see the end of the union.
"I never thought the PTU would just die," Cheung said. "Everyone expected the Apple Daily's demise, but not such an important group as the PTU, but if they call us a malignant tumor, what can we do?"
"Hong Kong is no more," he said.
The PTU's dissolution comes after around 250 elected, district-level politicians in Hong Kong resigned and dozens of civil society groups disbanded amid an ongoing crackdown on public criticism of the authorities.
Election hopefuls are now required to pass a multi-layered vetting process that includes winning the approval of the national security police before they can even be allowed to run for public office.
More than 120 arrests have been made so far under the law, while incumbent public office-holders will be required to swear an oath of loyalty to Hong Kong and to the CCP.
Among them were 47 former opposition lawmakers and democracy activists, who are now awaiting trial for "subversion" after they took part in a democratic primary in the summer of 2020, in a bid to boost their representation in the city's Legislative Council (LegCo).
Most other former opposition politicians and activists have fled overseas.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Vilification
- Rights Concerned
- Labour rights, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to protect reputation, Right to work
- HRD
- Labour rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Government
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Aug 14, 2021
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Jul 27, 2021
- Event Description
On 23 July 2021, Dr Chen Zijuan, human rights defender Chang Weiping's wife, and their young son, accompanied by a family-appointed lawyer and several friends, travelled to the Feng County Detention Centre, where the human rights defender is detained, to seek a meeting with him and to deposit money so he could purchase food and other daily items. Feng County is in a remote mountainous area in Baoji city, Shaanxi province, more than 1900km from the southern coastal city of Shenzhen where Dr Chen Zijuan and her son live. When they arrived at the detention centre and requested to deposit money for Chang Weiping, a police officer told them Chang Weiping's account has already exceeded the maximum limit of 1000 Yuan and that a detainee is not allowed to spend more than 150 Yuan per month. When the human rights defender's lawyer contested this and asked the officer to provide the legal basis for these monetary and spending limits, the police officer was not able to answer and walked away. When the lawyer and the family asked the security guards to allow them to wait inside the detention centre's reception area, the guards said their leaders instructed them not to open the doors to visitors.
The human rights defender's lawyer and wife also went to the Shaanxi Provincial Department of Public Security's Letters and Visits Office to submit complaints against the Baoji Municipal Public Security Bureau's handling of the Chang Weiping's case, including its refusal to facilitate access to legal counsel, as well as to follow-up on Dr Chen Zijuan's previously lodged complaints against the Bureau submitted in April 2021. An official at the Letters and Visits Office told them that their previous complaints were already transferred to the Baoji Public Security Bureau who replied in late April. When Dr Chen Zijuan said she had never received any replies, the official told her to talk directly to the Baoji Public Security Bureau.
The lawyer and family then went to the Shaanxi Provincial Procuratorate to submit complaints against the Baoji police. After making multiple phone calls to superiors, the receptionist told them that Chang Weiping's case is "very special and sensitive" and that her superiors told her that the Procuratorate will not intervene.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Right to food
- HRD
- Lawyer
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Related Events
- China: prominent lawyer arrested, held incommunicado
- Date added
- Aug 8, 2021
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Jul 20, 2021
- Event Description
On 20 July 2021, the families of human rights defenders Cheng Yuan, Liu Dazhi and Wu Gejianxiong received a phone call from a person claiming to have been released from the detention centre, who shared a cell with the human rights defenders. This person said Liu Dazhi and Wu Gejianxiong have been convicted and sentenced to two and three years imprisonment respectively, but the sentence against Cheng Yuan remains unknown. In order to verify this information, family members called one of the human rights defenders' government-assigned lawyers, who told them that the human rights defenders were sentenced in the morning of 20 July 2021 and confirmed the same sentences for Liu Dazhi and Wu Gejianxiong, but refused to disclose the sentence Cheng Yuan received or provide the text of the verdict.
On 27 July 2021, Wu Gejianxiong's father Wu Youshui, himself a practicing lawyer, travelled to Changsha in an attempt to submit his credentials to be his son's legal counsel during the appeal process. When he arrived at the Hunan Provincial Department of State Security's detention centre, officials there told him that court approval is required for him to see his son. He then went to the Changsha Intermediate People's Court to submit his credentials, but court security officers told him they have been instructed not to allow him to enter the courthouse. After Wu Youshui left his credentials at the court's documents delivery desk, he stepped outside for a cigarette, but the court security officers immediately locked the front door and he was not able to go back in.
On 28 July 2021, Wu Youshui went to the law firm which employs the two lawyers assigned by the government to represent Wu Gejianxiong, to request a copy of the verdict. However, the lawyers refused to see him.
- Impact of Event
- 3
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Denial Fair Trial, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Right to fair trial, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Aug 8, 2021
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Aug 5, 2021
- Event Description
On 5 August 2021, Ding Jiaxi's lawyer was informed that the prosecutors in Linyi city, Shandong province, have decided to indict the human rights defender. The case has been transferred to the Linyi Municipal Intermediate People's Court.
Earlier on 14 July 2021, the lawyer traveled to Linyi city and was allowed to review the case files, but was not allowed to copy or take photos of them as the case "involved state secrets". On 15 July 2021, the lawyer was allowed talk to Ding Jiaxi via a video link for more than two hours. The human rights defender said that since his last meeting with the lawyer and upon his complaints, the detention center has slightly improved its hygiene supplies and extended the yard time. The lawyer also met with the Linyi prosecutors in charge of the case and submitted a written request for dropping the prosecution on the basis that the human rights defender's actions not only were not criminal, but were actually in line with the Chinese Constitution and contributed to efforts to ensure social equality, government transparency and accountability, and the protection of vulnerable groups.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Denial Fair Trial, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Right to fair trial, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Related Events
- China: eight pro-democracy defenders interrogated, detained for joining a liberal meeting
- Date added
- Aug 8, 2021
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Jul 29, 2021
- Event Description
On July 29, a court in Feidong county in Anhui province in eastern China sentenced Zhou, a reporter for the Chinese-language human rights news website Weiquanwang, to three years and six months in prison on charges of “picking quarrels and provoking trouble” citing his reporting on human rights in articles and Twitter posts, according to his employer, the U.S. Congress-funded broadcaster Radio Free Asia, and a person familiar with the case who spoke to CPJ on the condition of anonymity. According to those reports, the court cited as evidence the fact that he was paid for his reporting, describing it as “foreign funding.”
Zhou was arrested on those same charges on March 12, 2020, by police in Hefei city in Anhui province, and has been detained since then, according to those reports and CPJ research.
“If China is truly proud of its much-criticized human rights record, as it has repeatedly claimed, it should allow journalists like Zhou Weilin to freely report the news,” said Steven Butler, CPJ’s Asia program coordinator in Washington, D.C. “Chinese authorities should immediately release Zhou Weilin and stop trying to prevent journalists, domestic and foreign, from doing their jobs.”
In response to an emailed request for comment from CPJ, Weiquanwang shared an op-ed by the outlet’s commentator Deng Zixing calling for Zhou to be released “immediately and unconditionally.” “Detaining anyone in retaliation for exercising their rights is a violation of the standards of universal human rights,” Zixing wrote.
The Anhui department of justice did not reply to an email from CPJ requesting comment.
Zhou frequently tweeted about labor issues and disability rights, according to CPJ’s review of his Twitter page. According to Radio Free Asia and Weiquanwang, Zhou had previously been arrested and detained five different times between 2011 and 2013 on charges of “fabricating facts to disrupt public order” and “gathering crowds to disrupt public order.”
He was sentenced to one year and six months in prison in February 2014 for “gathering crowds to disrupt public order” for protesting and reporting on the detention of human rights activist Zhang Lin’s daughter Zhang Anni, those reports said. Zhou was released in February 2015 after serving the full sentence, according to the reports.
According to CPJ’s most recent prison census, at least 47 journalists were imprisoned in China as of December 1, 2020, including Zhou, making it the worst jailer of journalists worldwide for the second year in a row.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Enactment of repressive legislation and policies, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Online, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Blogger/ Social Media Activist, Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Related Events
- China: PWD and pro-democracy blogger faces unfair trial
- Date added
- Aug 8, 2021
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Aug 2, 2021
- Event Description
A well-known Hong Kong pop singer and pro-democracy proponent was arrested Monday for performing songs at a political rally three years ago.
Hong Kong’s anti-corruption commission said Anthony Wong urged attendees at the rally to vote for pro-democracy candidate Au Nok-hin.
Au, who won, was also charged for promoting the show and saying Wong would perform. He has been in jail since March on other charges.
The anti-corruption commission said that providing refreshments and entertainment at a political rally was "corrupt conduct and a serious offense."
Wong, 59, was later released on bail. There has been no comment from him.
Wong has been a popular singer since the 1980s when he was one half of the Tat Ming Pair. He later went solo.
He backed the 2019 pro-democracy protesters, as well as the 2014 so-called Umbrella Revolution against what many saw as restrictive changes by the Chinese Communist Party in the way Hong Kong held elections.
After his support, Wong was banned from performing in China, and his music was deleted from streaming services.
Wong and Au were expected to appear in court on Thursday.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Offline, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Artist, Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Government
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Aug 3, 2021
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Jul 26, 2021
- Event Description
The Hong Kong police force’s national security unit searched a journalist’s home on July 26 and confiscated her travel documents, mobile phone and computer following the reporter recording a person attacking a police officer with a knife in Causeway Bay on July 1. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and its affiliate the Hong Kong Journalists Association (HKJA) demand the police to explain why the reporter’s home was searched and travel documents confiscated.
The 56-year-old reporter for Secret China, a Chinese-language American media outlet, was asked to give a statement at Wan Chai police station as a witness on July 1 when the attack occurred. HKJA arranged for a lawyer to accompany the reporter to the police station and police said they would inform HKJA if they required further information from her. July 1 also marked the 24th anniversary of Hong Kong’s handover from Britain.
According to HKJA, on July 26, police did not notify the association and visited the reporter’s temporary residence to seek an additional statement. The reporter was accompanied by a friend when she gave the statement. Following the statement, police used a warrant to search the reporter’s home, confiscating her travel documents to prevent her from leaving Hong Kong and seizing equipment without a lawyer present. When HKJA became aware of this, the association arranged for a lawyer to be present on July 27, and she gave a statement “under caution” to the police.
The Hong Kong Free Press noted, “Implementation Rules for Article 43 of the national security law provides that police may only with a warrant confiscate travel documents belonging to a person under investigation over suspected violations of the security law.” A report written by the Centre for Law and Democracy supported by the IFJ highlights further broad and intrusive powers given to the national security unit under the National Security Law, limiting the right to privacy and freedom of expression.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- Enactment of repressive legislation and policies, Raid, Travel Restriction
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of movement, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to privacy, Right to property
- HRD
- Media Worker, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Aug 1, 2021
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Jul 27, 2021
- Event Description
An anti-government protester in Hong Kong was found guilty Tuesday of terrorism and secession in a landmark ruling involving the first verdict delivered under the territory’s new national security law.
Leon Tong Ying-kit, 24, had pleaded not guilty to all charges in relation to an anti-government street protest last year. Tong had been accused of driving his motorcycle into police officers while carrying a flag with the phrase, “Liberate Hong Kong, Revolution of Our Times.”
Due to the security law charges, a three-judge panel was specially selected to preside over the case without a jury. After a mammoth 15-day trial, the panel returned with a guilty verdict.
Much of the case focused on how the slogan would be interpreted by the High Court panel. The now-banned phrase was a popular rallying call during Hong Kong’s 2019 anti-government demonstrations.
One of the judges, Esther Toh, said the defendant was aware of the meaning of the phrase the flag carried and ruled the slogan had a “natural and reasonable effect” of inciting others to commit secession, according to a report by the South China Morning Post newspaper.
Tong, a former waiter, has been refused bail since his arrest last year. He will be sentenced at a later date, but could face up to life imprisonment. His lawyers said no decision has been made as to whether they will appeal, according to local reports.
Eric Yan-ho Lai, a political and law analyst, told VOA in a phone interview that the ruling was “disappointing” because the judges had disregarded potential meanings of the slogan that were not secessionist.
“It’s a cherry-picking tactic by the judges, tried to pick one of many of the meanings to justify [the notion] Tong’s act is intimidating others for his own political agenda. It seems a very technical and formal approach to see this case,” he said.
The analyst, who is a Hong Kong Law Fellow at Georgetown University, added that international standards were not met in the case.
“Free expressions are not inciting imminent violence, should not be considered as a crime and should not be punished in Tong’s case,” he said.
Yan added that the verdict, which is seen as a departure from Hong Kong’s common law, sets a dangerous tone for future security law cases.
“If Tong received a much heavier sentence than other non-NSL [national security law] cases, say rioting or possession explosion articles … it would cause a strong impact of the common law in Hong Kong, when such acts could cause disproportionate sentencing, even to life in jail without the scrutiny of a jury trial,” he said.
July 1, 2020, marked the first full day of Hong Kong’s newly implemented national security law enacted by Beijing the night before. Thousands protested in the streets, though, opposing the law and the government. Hundreds were arrested, with at least 10 under the new security law, including Tong.
The legislation outlines four key prohibitions – secession, subversion, terrorism and foreign collusion – and carries a maximum sentence of life imprisonment. Critics say the law has reduced Hong Kong’s unique autonomy promised when it was handed back to China from Britain in 1997 under a “one country, two systems” agreement.
Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam said the legislation would only target a minority of people. But nearly 13 months since the law became active, 100 people have been arrested and at least 60 charged, including media mogul Jimmy Lai and high-profile activist Joshua Wong.
On July 21, another former editor for a pro-democracy newspaper was arrested.
Apple Daily, founded in 1995 by Lai, was shut down after several of its executives were arrested for alleged violations of the security law. Hong Kong authorities then froze the company’s financial access, leaving the media outlet unable to pay its staff and vendors, forcing it to close. Western critics have depicted the media outlet’s closure as a blow to press freedom.
Last week, five members of Hong Kong’s Speech Therapists General Union were arrested for allegedly “conspiring to publish seditious materials” in connection with authoring children’s books. Authorities claim the books, which revolve around sheep, incite hatred toward the government. Two of the members have since been denied bail.
A Hong Kong-based lawyer who has represented defendants under national security law charges spoke to VOA about the arrests but requested anonymity for her protection.
“The question still is, these children’s books about sheep, [do they] bring into hatred or contempt or incite disaffection against the government of Hong Kong? Can it be treated just as criticism? How is it any different from a newspaper column?”“From a point of view as governance, the Hong Kong government wants to break up civil society groups and unions, and that is one way of targeting them,” the lawyer said.
Pro-democracy activist, Hang Tung Chow, the vice chairperson of the Hong Kong Alliance political group, was recently arrested for allegedly inciting illegal assembly. Just hours before, Chow told VOA she believes the government is targeting civil society groups such as hers.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Enactment of repressive legislation and policies, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Offline, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender, Youth
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Jul 28, 2021
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Jul 14, 2021
- Event Description
Authorities in the southwestern province of Sichuan have formally arrested a prominent rights activist on suspicion of "picking quarrels and stirring up trouble," a charge often used to target peaceful critics of the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP), RFA has learned.
Xie Junfeng was detained last month after allegedly leaving his place of residence in violation of bail restrictions, his ex-wife Zou Haixia told RFA.
Police had recently told her the case against him was also based on comments he had made online, however.
"The police hinted when they called [before] that the 'picking quarrels, stirring up trouble' charge wasn't just based on his daily activities, but also on some of the comments he made online," Zou told RFA on Thursday.
"According to my understanding, the authorities have been questioning a lot of petitioners since Xie Junbiao was detained, trying to find out stuff about him," she said.
Xie, who has campaigned for the rights of the most vulnerable in society, as well as being a vocal public supporter of jailed Sichuan dissident Huang Qi, is currently being held in the police-run Shuangliu District Detention Center in Sichuan's provincial capital, Chengdu.
His frequent interviews with foreign media organizations, including RFA, have also made him a thorn in the authorities' side, observers have said.
The authorities approved his formal arrest on July 14, and sent a formal notification to his father's home, Zou said.
"They warned me before that they were keeping track [of everything Zou did] and that the bill would be presented when the time came," she said. "They also warned me that I could be charged with the same crime for my comments online."
Second dissident prosecuted
Meanwhile, authorities in Chengdu's Pidu district have moved ahead with the prosecution of veteran dissident Chen Yunfei, who was detained by police four months ago on the same charge as Xie.
Chen is currently being held at the Pidu District Detention Center, awaiting trial for "picking quarrels and stirring up trouble" after he wrote an online article based on visits to Sichuan schools during the past two years.
He was detained on March 25, 2021, and formally arrested on April 30, 2021.
Chen has already served a four-year jail term on the same charge beginning in March 2015, after he organized and took part in a memorial service calling for justice for the victims of the 1989 Tiananmen massacre during the grave-sweeping festival of Qing Ming.
He was held incommunicado with no access to family or lawyers for six months, according to the overseas-based Chinese Human Rights Defenders (CHRD) network.
He complained to his lawyer in January 2017 of having been held in restraints on two separate occasions for "refusing to properly greet officers at the detention center," the group said on its website.
Chen's close friend Zeng Rongkang said the allegations relating to Chen's research about schools in the province were simply a pretext to justify a political prosecution.
"This is all just for show, because [his actions] in no way constitute provocation in law, and no harm has come to the country," Zeng said. "This charge is being used up and down the country for pinning on people."
"I expect he will be sentenced again, but maybe not very harshly," he said.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Enactment of repressive legislation and policies, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Offline, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Jul 19, 2021
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Jul 6, 2021
- Event Description
The Chinese social media platform WeChat has deleted dozens of accounts belonging to LGBTQ+ groups at universities in recent days, social media posts have revealed.
Screenshots of notices sent to the holders of the deleted accounts said they had broken laws and regulations governing online content, amid concerns that the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is now targeting gay content and activism.
Many of the accounts were deleted at around the same time on Tuesday evening, Reuters quoted one of the account-holders as saying.
Some of the accounts had disappeared by Wednesday, while others carried notices that they had been suspended due to regulatory violations.
Others were renamed "Unnamed Official Account."
An online post titled "Tonight, we are all unnamed official accounts" listed some of the affected groups, which included ColorsWorld at Peking University, Purple at Tsinghua University and RUC Sex and Gender Research Group at Renmin University.
Similar groups at Shanghai's Fudan University, Wuhan University, and Nanjing University also had their accounts shut down.
The move by censors comes after the cancelation of Shanghai's decade-old Pride event in 2020. The organizers, ShanghaiPRIDE, gave no reason for the decision, but local activists said the group had likely come under political pressure from the authorities.
The organization had previously been legally permitted to run the event by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
But ShanghaiPRIDE had also been involved in ongoing civil society activities in support of the LGBTQ community in China, including running seminars for the parents of LGBTQ people.
Activists said at the time that the cancellation of Shanghai Pride likely meant all LGBTQ+ groups would be affected.
The organizers of a planned LGBTQ+ conference in the northern city of Xian were forced to cancel in 2017 after official pressure.
Crackdowns by government censors
Government censors have since carried out a number of crackdowns on LGBTQ representation on social media, in books, comics, TV, and film.
In 2020, education authorities in Jinan, provincial capital of Shandong province, called for the "strengthening of political and ideological education" for students of foreign-invested schools, at both primary and secondary level.
The guidance was to include the view of homosexuality as "corrupt behavior imported from the West [that is] inconsistent with core socialist values."
Activists said the crackdown stemmed in part from a conservative attitude to sexuality under the indefinite rule of CCP general secretary Xi Jinping, and partly from a fear that civil organizations are a threat to party rule.
Homosexuality was decriminalized in China in 1997, and removed from official psychiatric diagnostic manuals in 2001.
More and more highly educated urban Chinese have begun coming out in recent years, and while some find acceptance among their peers, social attitudes still strongly favor heterosexual marriage and children.
How many Chinese identify as LGBTQ+ is unknown. The country’s health and family planning ministry has estimated that there are between five and 10 million gay men in China, but activists say the actual number is far higher.
LGBTQ activists say there have been a growing number of anti-discrimination lawsuits filed by the community in China since around 2010, as well as some rare though unsuccessful bids to register same-sex marriages.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Censorship, Online Attack and Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of association, Internet freedom, Online, Right to healthy and safe environment, SOGI rights
- HRD
- SOGI rights defender, Student
- Perpetrator-State
- Government
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Jul 19, 2021
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Jan 28, 2021
- Event Description
Authorities in the northern Chinese province of Hebei have detained activist and writer Pang Jian on suspicion of "splitting the country."
Pang, 30, who writes under the pen-name Gao Yang, was detained by police in Hebei's Gaobeidian city in January at his home in Pangcheng village.
His detention came after he reported on forced demolitions and evictions in rural areas around Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei, his father Pang Jingxian told RFA in a recent interview.
"They have been doing coronavirus testing around here lately, and he went to line up [to get tested]," Pang Jingxian said. "Somehow, I'm not sure exactly how, the police detained him while he was there."
"Then the police came and searched our home, looking through Pang Jian's stuff," he said. "They took it all away, and we didn't hear anything for a while."
Later, police sent a notice of detention and a notice of formal arrest to Pang Jingxian, and were dated Jan. 15 and Jan. 28 respectively, Pang's father said.
"After they notified me, I went to visit him a few times, but we haven't heard anything since then," he said.
According to the notice of detention, Pang Jian was criminally detained on suspicion of "inciting secession" at 11.00 a.m. on Jan. 15, 2021.
Both notices gave his place of detention as Gaobeidian Detention Center.
Documenting Catholic churches
But Pang's family have not been able to contact him there, Pang Jingxian told RFA.
"We can't get a hold of him now, and we haven't found a lawyer," he said.
Pang is also a Catholic church member, and had written about Hebei's extensive Catholic church community and unique culture, according to his U.S.-based friend Ryan Shi.
"He took photos of almost all of the Catholic churches in Hebei, as well as local customs and architectural features," Shi told RFA.
Pang had also featured in Hong Kong media talking about Hebei's underground Catholic community.
His U.S.-based friend Cai Quan said she had believed he was either detained or in an accident after his phone went offline some time in March.
"Maybe he is in some kind of illegal detention," Cai said.
An employee who answered the phone at the Gaobeidian Detention Center on July 3 said Pang is still being held there on suspicion of "inciting secession."
Asked about Pang's health and wellbeing, the employee said it was "very good," with no mental health issues.
The employee said Pang isn't allowed visits due to the coronavirus.
"They can't visit right now," the employee said. "One reason is that the case isn't yet closed, and the other is the coronavirus situation, so no visits are allowed."
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Online, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Artist, Community-based HRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Jul 19, 2021
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Jul 1, 2021
- Event Description
One year after China imposed a draconian national security law on Hong Kong, police locked down Victoria Park, a former site of mass protest rallies and marches, and cordoned off downtown streets, while supporters of the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) hung flags along the streets and sang revolutionary songs.
Dozens of police in Causeway Bay surrounded and arrested veteran protester Alexandra Wong, a frequent participant in the 2019 protest movement, for waving a British flag, photos posted to social media showed.
A young boy was also chased by officers through the Fashion Walk mall before being dragged aboard a police vehicle, photos posted to Twitter on the 24th anniversary of the 1997 handover to Chinese rule showed.
Bystanders said he had apparently been targeted for carrying a bag that was yellow, the color used by the pro-democracy movement and two mass protest movements since 2014.
Police also arrested three activists from the group Student Politicism in Mong Kok at around 5.00 p.m. local time, on suspicion of "distributing seditious publications," according to a police statement and social media reports.
And barrister Chow Hang-tung, who heads a group that once organized an annual candlelight vigil marking the June 4, 1989 Tiananmen massacre, was rearrested on suspicion of "inciting others to participate in an unauthorized assembly" under public order laws.
Hundreds of police took to the streets of Causeway Bay, arresting 19 people on suspicion of offenses that included "disorderly conduct," failing to heed police warnings, and "desecrating the national flag."
They also handed out 19 fixed penalties for breaches of a ban on gatherings linked to coronavirus restrictions.
Two women who were fined said they had only been in a group of two, when the maximum number allowed is four.
"We don't know how this happened. They pulled us to one side and said we had violated the gathering restriction order," a woman surnamed Ng told RFA. "There were just the two of us, nobody else."
"I don't know what the Hong Kong government is turning into."
Her friend, surnamed Lee, said she had been hit with a H.K.$5,000 fine "for no reason."
"We just came out to go shopping," she said. "I work hard as a cleaner and they just fine me H.K.$5,000 for no reason."
Protesters turn out in small groups
Despite a police ban on what had been an annual mass protest march on July 1, people turned out in small groups to chant slogans and wave flags and protest banners, police said in a statement on their Facebook page.
Later in the evening, a man allegedly stabbed a police officer in the district at around 10.00 p.m., the police said.
"The officer sustained injuries to the left side of his back and was sent to hospital for treatment, while the assailant was subdued on the spot," the statement said.
Rights groups hit out at the rapid deterioration of human rights protections since the national security law was imposed on Hong Kong by China's National People's Congress (NPC) standing committee.
Chinese and Hong Kong officials have said the law was needed to deal with an attempt by foreign powers to foment a "color revolution" in Hong Kong, a reference to the 2019 protest movement that began as mass, peaceful opposition to plans to allow extradition to mainland China.
But its sweeping provisions allowed China's feared state security police to set up a headquarters in Hong Kong, granted sweeping powers to police to search private property and require the deletion of public content, and criminalized criticism of the city government and the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
Dozens awaiting trial
Dozens of opposition lawmakers are awaiting trial for subversion for taking part in a democratic primary, while at least seven journalists have been arrested for "colluding with a foreign power" in connection with opinion pieces in the Apple Daily newspaper, which was forced to close after its assets were frozen in a raid by national security police on June 17.
"Since the law has gone into effect, [the] authorities have used it to drastically curtail freedom of expression and other human rights far beyond what international human rights law permits," the Chinese Human Rights Defenders (CHRD) network said in a joint statement with other rights groups.
"The Hong Kong government has accused the [Apple Daily] of publishing approximately 100 videos or articles that are suspected of violating the National Security Law while refusing to specify which videos and articles," it said.
Apple Daily founder Jimmy Lai is currently serving a 14-month sentence for participating in pro-democracy protests in August 2019 while awaiting trial for "colluding with a foreign power" under the national security law.
"Shutting down the city’s most popular Chinese language newspaper and detaining its staff is the most obvious and emblematic violation of the right to freedom of expression in Hong Kong today," CHRD said in the statement, that was signed by Safeguard Defenders and Humanitarian China, among other groups.
It also cited the government's assertion of editorial control over public broadcaster RTHK, where a number of prominent journalists have been fired or sanctioned for producing content critical of the authorities.
The groups also cited constraints on academic freedom at Hong Kong's universities, with events canceled, debates modified, and lecturers reported by student informants over potential violations of the law.
Targeting the opposition
Eric Lai, research fellow at the University of Georgetown law school, said it was clear that the government is using the law to target the political opposition, with the majority of arrests under the law being of opposition politicians.
He said the refusal to release national security suspects on bail had interfered with the presumption of innocence that was previously a feature of Hong Kong's common law jurisdiction.
"We can't see any sign that they are presuming innocence, because a large proportion of defendants aren't being released on bail," he said.
"They have also changed the trial system by abolishing jury trials [in national security cases]," Lai told RFA. "The point of a jury trial ... is to make the trial more fair and open, but they are taking the opposite approach."
- Impact of Event
- 24
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community), Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Enactment of repressive legislation and policies, Judicial Harassment, Restrictions on Movement
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Offline, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender, Student, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Jul 19, 2021
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Jun 30, 2021
- Event Description
On 30 June 2021, Hong Kong woman human rights defender and lawyer Chow Hang-tung was re- arrested after the police revoked her bail, under which she was released from an earlier arrest on 4 June 2021. On 2 July 2021, the West Kowloon Magistrates’ Court denied her bail. The woman human rights defender’s arrest came on the eve of the 24th anniversary of Hong Kong’s transfer to Chinese rule and the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China. Chow Hang-tung ( 鄒幸彤 ) is a barrister and woman human rights defender in Hong Kong. She has advocated for the protection and promotion of labour rights, as well as for the rights of persecuted human rights defenders in mainland China. She is one of the current vice-chairs of the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China (the Hong Kong Alliance), a grassroots advocacy group established in 1989 in Hong Kong to campaign for the release of Chinese political prisoners, democratic reforms in China, and accountability for the extrajudicial killings and other violations by the Chinese authorities during the lethal crackdown on pro- democracy protests in June 1989. As a barrister in Hong Kong, she has also provided legal assistance to peaceful activists and protesters targeted by police and judicial actions for their involvement in pro-democracy activities. Chow Hang-tung is now facing the charge of “inciting others to knowingly participate in unauthorised assemblies” in relations to events on both 4 June and 1 July 2021. The woman human rights defender is being remanded in custody until the next court hearing, which is scheduled to take place on 30 July 2021. The court will review her bail on 9 July 2021. The woman human rights defender and over two dozens activists, including those affiliated with the Hong Kong Alliance, have already been facing prosecution for participating in the peaceful candlelight vigil on 4 June 2020 marking the 1989 massacre of civilians and protesters in Beijing. Many of these activists are also being prosecuted, with some already convicted, in relation to their peaceful role in other pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong in 2019 and 2020.
In a public post on Facebook earlier in the day on 30 June 2021, Chow Hang-tung suggested she was being surveilled and followed. Later that evening, police took the woman human rights defender into custody near her law office with the charge of “inciting others to participate in unauthorised assembly”. She was initially detained at the New Territories South Regional Police Headquarters and was later transferred to the Tsuen Wan Police Station. Chow Hang-tung was able to meet her lawyers on the morning of 1 July 2021. On 28 June 2021, the Hong Kong police announced its decision to ban, for the second consecutive year, a planned pro-democracy assembly due to be held on 1 July, citing COVID-19-related restrictions on public gatherings. Chow Hang-tung provided legal assistance to the organisers to appeal the ban. On 29 June 2021, the body responsible for reviewing police objections to public gatherings upheld the ban.
In the early morning of 4 June 2021, police arrested Chow Hang-tung as she left her office and accused her of “publicising and promoting unauthorised assembly”. This was in connection to the banned candlelight vigil which the Hong Kong Alliance had hoped to organise later that evening in Victoria Park, which was surrounded by a heavy police presence. She was released on bail afteraround 33 hours in detention. In the weeks following her release, Chinese government-ownedmedia outlets in Hong Kong published articles attacking Chow Hang-tung for her legal aid work and advocacy. Since the People’s Republic of China resumed control of Hong Kong on 1 July 1997, pro- democracy protests have been an annual tradition to mark the anniversary in the city. The Hong Kong Alliance organised many peaceful protests on 1 July since 1997. Since 1989, the Hong Kong Alliance also organised the annual candlelight vigil on 4 June to mark the 1989 massacre of civilians and pro-democracy protesters in China, until the Hong Kong police banned it in 2020 and 2021. Chow Hang-tung’s case is the latest indicator of a rapidly shrinking civic space and expanding government campaign of politically motivated and rights-abusing arrests and prosecution of human rights defenders and pro-democracy figures in Hong Kong. This trend has accelerated since the unilateral impositon of a draconian “national security law” a year ago. According to human rights monitors, as of 9 June 2021, at least 10,340 individuals have been arrested, 2,676 prosecuted, and 1,504 are on trial for protest-related offences. According to Hong Kong police figures compiled by reporters, at least 113 individuals have been arrested for alleged violations of Hong Kong’s national security law, and 61 of them have been formally charged, as of 23 June 2021.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Offline, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Lawyer, Pro-democracy defender, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Jul 17, 2021
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Jun 12, 2021
- Event Description
Chinese police detained prominent rights lawyer Xie Yanyi at the weekend, as he was investigating the sudden death of disabled petitioner Guo Hongwei in a prison in the northeastern province of Jilin.
Xie was carrying out research at the home of Guo's parents in Jilin's Siping city on Saturday when dozens of police burst in and detained him, he told RFA on Monday.
"Dozens of policemen broke into the apartment and grabbed me, taking me away to Ping'an police station," Xie said. "Then they confiscated my luggage, bag and phone, rifling through my things at will."
Xie told them they didn't have a warrant, and no legal basis for conducting a search, but they took away a large number of documents linked to Guo's trial, appeal, and subsequent complaints filed by his family, who regard his death as suspicious.
"They took away the case materials linked to Guo Hongwei's cases illegally; they just stole them, all of the files, all of the evidence," he said. "They also tried to lie to me, saying they hadn't done this."
Xie was forcibly escorted aboard a high-speed train and brought back to Beijing, where he is based, he said.
He said he was investigating Guo's family's concerns about their son's death because there was a lack of transparency on the part of the authorities.
"[One possibility is that] Guo Hongwei suffered some kind of direct harm [leading to his death]," Xie said. "Another is that he was refused necessary medical treatment for something."
"And then there is a third possibility, that he died unexpectedly due to some kind of medical condition," he said. "None of these can be ruled out."
Xie called on the authorities to share the full details surrounding Guo's death.
"It's the responsibility of every citizen to demand the truth, otherwise what happened to Guo Hongwei could happen to any of us," he said.
Cover-up suspected
Guo's father Guo Yinqi said the repeated refusal of the authorities to release any information about his son's death suggests they are covering something up.
"Why did they kidnap the lawyer and confiscate all of our evidence?" Guo Yinqi said. "Guo Hongwei's body is still in the funeral home, in cold storage."
Guo died on April 9 after surgery after undergoing two operations for cerebral hemorrhage on April 4 and 5.
His death came as he was serving a 13-year jail term in Jilin's Gongzhuling Prison, where he was transferred after his family complained that he was being tortured at Songyuan Prison.
The family was prevented from taking photos of his body when they went to identify it, and doubts remain around the refusal of prison authorities to order medical parole for Guo despite his systolic blood pressure readings of around 260 consistently during the last two years of his life.
While there was no indication of external, physical attacks on Guo's body, the family has called for a full investigation into his death to establish responsibility, including the release of medical imaging from the time of the surgery and surveillance camera footage.
The family has said Guo was tortured and held in solitary confinement in a tiny cell with no light or toilet facility during much of his time at Songyuan Ningjiang Prison in Jilin.
In May 2020, prison guard Lu Jiaxun locked him in a cell filled with peracetic acid, causing him choke, they said, yet the guard only received a small deduction from his bonus as punishment.
Guo Yinqi filed a complaint to the Jilin provincial prison administration bureau at the time of that incident, but has yet to receive a response.
Guo was transferred to Gongzhuling Prison on Nov. 26, 2020 where he was held incommunicado, with authorities citing pandemic restrictions as the reason for the ban on visits. However, phone calls weren't permitted either.
When he was finally admitted to the Jilin Guowen Hospital in early April, police told one of the surgeons operating on him that the previously healthy Guo had been in a similar condition for more than two months. He was already in a coma at the time of admission.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention
- Rights Concerned
- Right to liberty and security, Right to work
- HRD
- Lawyer
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Jun 22, 2021
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- May 9, 2021
- Event Description
Authorities in China have detained the anonymous author of the Program-Think politics blog, who evaded government surveillance for around 12 years, subjecting him to brutal interrogations in a bid to gain a "confession," RFA has learned.
"Program-Think's family is asking for help," a comment posted to his blog dated May 24 said.
"Last week, he went on a business trip to a big city in East China, and lost contact with us the next day," the comment said. "There were no unusual messages before he lost contact."
"It has been almost a week now. At first, I was not sure if something happened, or if there was an accident, I didn't call the police," the comment said.
"Last night, the police gave us an official response [to our missing persons report], saying that they were processing his case, but ... without giving any information on the progress of their investigation," it said.
Twitter account @GFWfrog cited a source inside the state security police on June 14 as saying that Program-Think was detained by Shanghai police in early May, and that his last post on May 9 had been a scheduled posting.
"He is currently undergoing brutal interrogations to ensure a conviction," the account tweeted, adding that the case would be "a gift to the CCP on its centenary."
A person familiar with the matter who gave only his surname, Xu, told RFA that the anonymous blogger was now in police custody.
"Recently, through my own credible sources, I learned that they have detained Program-Think, and are putting him through harsh interrogation," Xu said.
"I can't accept the persecution of a person of such conscience and outstanding ability ... so I have to make this information public despite the risks," he said.
Exposing hidden wealth
Xu said Program-Think was likely detained for exposing the hidden wealth of high-ranking members of the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP), and his political theorizing and anti-brainwashing campaigns, conducted via his blog on the overseas-based Blogger.com platform.
Xu said he had himself been transformed from an uncritical supporter of the CCP to a person with doubts, and then to someone who longs for freedom and democracy, after reading Program-Think's blog.
The blogger had continued an in-depth analysis of CCP leaders' wealth following the publication of the Panama Papers in 2016, Xu said.
"I think Program-Think had a bigger impact than anyone on the Chinese internet," Xu said. "Particularly his posts laying out very complete evidence to refute [government] propaganda."
"He would convert Little Pinks [CCP supporters]. He is a hero, and totally irreplaceable," Xu said.
A legendary figure
Zhou Fengsuo, of the U.S.-based NGO Humanitarian China, agreed.
"Program-Think is a legendary figure; an anonymous Chinese rebel," Zhou told RFA. "He had advanced anti-censorship technology."
"A lot of people learned how to circumvent the Great Firewall [of government censorship] through his blog," he said. "He posed a huge threat to the CCP's totalitarian rule."
"I am very worried about him, as we haven't heard from him in a very long time, and it is very likely that he has been detained," Zhou said.
Repeated attempts to contact Program-Think's family members were unsuccessful.
Program-Think was nominated for best Chinese blog in the 2013 Deutsche Welle International Best of Blogs awards, or BOBs.
The author told the station at the time that he had never set out to write political content to begin with, but just wanted to share his years of experience in programming.
But the blog gradually become popular with people wanting ways to get around government censorship, and later branched out into information security tips and political analysis, the station reported at the time of the blog's nomination.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Denial Fair Trial
- Rights Concerned
- Online, Right to fair trial, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Blogger/ Social Media Activist, Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Jun 22, 2021
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Jun 17, 2021
- Event Description
Hong Kong’s media freedom faced another setback Thursday morning when over 500 police officers raided the city’s last pro-democracy newspaper for the second time in a year and made arrests under the national security law.
Five Apple Daily executives were arrested over alleged foreign collusion, including editor-in-chief Ryan Law, chief executive Cheung Kim-hung, chief operating officer Royston Chow, associate publisher Chan Pui-man and Apple Daily Digital platform director Cheung Chi-wai.
Company assets were also frozen, reportedly around $HK18m ($2.3 million). Next Digital Limited, the parent company of Apple Daily, suspended trading. Some journalists at the paper told VOA they worked from home.
Hong Kong’s national security unit says it has evidence that over 30 Apple Daily articles “played a crucial part” in calling for sanctions on Hong Kong and mainland China.
Next Media Union, which represents Apple Daily journalists, condemned the arrests.
“By merely suggesting some past news articles have breached [the national security law], they can treat editorial staff as criminals, journalistic work as crimes and [the] newsroom as a crime scene," the union statement said. "This is a blatant violation of freedom of press in the name of national security.”
But Eunice Yung, a barrister and pro-Beijing politician, disagreed, telling VOA those arrested were using Apple Daily’s platform as a “mouthpiece” to damage Hong Kong and China.
“It’s nothing about the freedom of press. For anyone, no matter [if it's] a person in charge of an organization or even the press, are ... under the umbrella of the national security law," she said. "There is no exemption for anyone in Hong Kong.”
Yung said there’s a difference between being critical of the law and breaking it.
“I think if you are asking foreign countries to sanction officials, this is another story,” Yung added.
Following anti-government protests in 2019, Beijing sought stability for Hong Kong, partially via a national security law that prohibits acts deemed as subversion, secession or foreign collusion.
Since its passage, the broadly worded law, which international rights groups have described as a tool for suppression, has been used to arrest and jail dozens of activists and outspoken critics, including Apple Daily founder Jimmy Lai.
At a press conference, Hong Kong Secretary for Security John Lee said those arrested were using journalism as a tool to endanger national security.
“The suspects have been arrested on strong evidence that they’re conspiring to endanger national security. The action is taken against criminals,” he said, warning the public and media to cut ties with the Apple Daily executives.
Mark Simon, a former Next Digital executive who is now the representative for its major shareholder, responded to Lee’s comments.
“No society is free when a man like that [Secretary Lee] is in power,” Simon told VOA, adding he was “in awe” of Apple Daily journalists who remained working while the police raid was taking place.
Hong Kong journalism lecturer Sharron Fast was cited in local reports as saying Lee’s comments were “ominous.”
Apple Daily founder Lai, 73, a pro-democracy advocate and media tycoon, is serving multiple jail sentences following his role in anti-government protests in 2019 and is awaiting trial in a separate case that carries a life sentence.
Last August, dozens of blue-shirted police officers raided the news publisher as Lai was arrested at his home under the national security law on charges of foreign collusion. Some reports have said the charges relate to Lai’s requests for sanctions against Hong Kong and China.
Footage of Thursday's raid showed dozens of officers at the Next Digital office in the Tseung Kwan O district seizing journalists’ materials. The Hong Kong government said a warrant was issued allowing this to happen.
Former Democratic Party leader Emily Lau said it’s a blow to press freedom if media outlets can be raided this way, exposing journalists' sources in the process.
"If it can happen to Apple Daily, it can happen to other news organizations," Lau, a former journalist, told VOA. "This is a very, very worrying thing and is a big blow to press freedom and freedom of expression.”
Authorities added that some published reports dated to 2019, before the security law came into effect. Chinese officials previously said the law wasn’t to be applied retroactively.
“Up to now, it’s very unclear” whether past acts would be taken into account, Lau said. But Holden Chow, a pro-Beijing lawmaker, told VOA that previous acts could be cited in court as “evidence,” and that this practice could apply to other ordinary criminal offenses.
Apple Daily was defiant Thursday, vowing in a letter to readers published on its website that it was “standing firm.”
“In an era where the regime can draw arbitrary red lines, the staff of Apple Daily will remain in their positions and report the truth for Hong Kong people in a legal, reasonable and fair manner,” the letter read.
The paper also announced it was printing 500,000 copies of Friday’s edition.
One senior Apple Daily journalist identified only as “Lee” to protect his identity told VOA earlier this month that there was a feeling of inevitability that the publisher would eventually be forced to close. He said Law, the now-detained editor-in-chief, had told the staff to keep working if this kind of situation arose.
Speaking Thursday, Lee said one of his bosses informed their team to work from home and to log out of all email accounts.
Describing the atmosphere among employees, Lee said the raid made him feel “angry” but didn’t deter their day.
“Perhaps [when] all of us had experienced the last raid in August last year, we somewhat got used to arbitrary actions taken by the Hong Kong police and [we] work as usual now,” he told VOA.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Censorship, Enactment of repressive legislation and policies, Judicial Harassment, Raid
- Rights Concerned
- Media freedom, Offline, Right to property
- HRD
- Media Worker, Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Jun 22, 2021
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Jun 4, 2021
- Event Description
Police in Hong Kong on Friday arrested the head of a rights group that organized candlelight vigils commemorating the 1989 Tiananmen massacre for three decades, for "publicizing" the now-banned event.
Chow Hang-tung, who heads the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China, was one of two people arrested for calling on others to join a banned vigil for the victims of the 1989 crackdown, when People's Liberation Army (PLA) troops mowed down mostly unarmed civilians with machine guns and tanks, ending weeks of peaceful protest on Tiananmen Square.
A 20-year-old food delivery worker was also arrested.
The pair were accused of publicizing the vigil, which has been banned by the authorities for two years running, on social media, detective senior superintendent Terry Law told reporters, but declined to give specific details.
Chow's arrest came after she told RFA she personally planned to go to Victoria Park on Friday and light a candle to remember those who died in 1989.
"I think lighting candles in Victoria Park shows that we haven't given up," she added.
While Victoria Park remained empty of mourners and protesters, police gathered instead in large numbers on the park's soccer pitches on Friday, throwing several layers of security around the area.
Local media said up to 7,000 officers were being deployed in case anyone tried to defy the ban.
Some people left flowers and candles at the feet of the Goddess of Democracy statue on the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) campus, while artists laid white mourning flowers in a road in the Causeway Bay shopping district to mark the 32nd anniversary of the massacre.
Police have warned that anyone dressed in black, or anyone seen chanting slogans or lighting candles could be seen as breaking the ban.
Support for allies grows
Former pollster Robert Chung said the numbers of police were "overwhelming and unnecessary."
"It is more likely to spark a backlash and push people away from any sense of patriotism," Chung said.
Chung Kim-wah of the Hong Kong Public Opinion Research Institute (PORI) said Chow's arrest suggested the authorities are beginning to act in a more arbitrary manner.
CUHK student activist Yuen Tak-chi said he would mark the massacre anniversary this year despite boycotting it in previous years because he believed Hong Kong's political struggles to be distinct from those of mainland China.
But he said that, since the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) imposed a draconian national security law on Hong Kong from July 1, 2020, the city's concerns are now closely aligned with the mainland Chinese democracy movement.
"We used to despise the June 4th vigil at Victoria Park. We thought it was pointless," Yuen said. "How could [the official verdict on the 1989 protests] ever be overturned?"
"But this form of resistance we despised in the past has now become a red line under the national security law," Yuen said.
He said the sacrifices made by mainland Chinese rights lawyers, some of whom lost their licenses for speaking out on behalf of the 12 Hong Kong activists detained and later jailed in Shenzhen, had made many in Hong Kong realize that they are all on the same side in the struggle against authoritarian government.
"To mourn the victims of June 4 is to show support and respect for our allies, [China's] human rights lawyers," he said.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Offline, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Lawyer, Pro-democracy defender, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Jun 5, 2021
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- May 28, 2021
- Event Description
A Chinese human rights activist was reportedly lured from his home and detained by police on Friday, in a sign of a more severe environment for political dissidents in the run-up to the centenary of the founding of the Communist Party.
Wang Aizhong received a phone call on Friday from someone who claimed his car had been damaged, Chinese human rights blog Weiquanwang reported. When he left home to check on the vehicle, police took him away.
Up to nine police officers then presented a warrant to Wang’s wife and searched his home. They confiscated 29 books, two computers and a cell phone. Wang’s wife was later summoned to the local police station, where she was questioned about her husband’s contacts and remarks. Police reportedly warned her against speaking out.
A few weeks ago, public security officers prevented Wang from attending a dinner on May 5 with a group of entrepreneurs in Guangdong province. Police broke up the meal gathering and interrogated the attendees until the early hours of the following morning.
Wang is known for his involvement in the “Southern Street Movement,” a democracy reform movement originating in Guangdong. In May 2014, he was subjected to four weeks of administrative detention in the provincial capital city of Guangzhou on suspicion of “disorderly behavior.”
The activist has more than 39,000 followers on Twitter, which is officially banned in China, where the authorities frequently monitor dissidents’ accounts.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment, Raid
- Rights Concerned
- Offline, Right to liberty and security, Right to property
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Jun 5, 2021
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- May 29, 2021
- Event Description
Authorities in the southwestern province of Sichuan are holding prominent rights activist Huang Xiaomin under criminal detention for "picking quarrels and stirring up trouble," a charge frequently used to target peaceful critics of the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
Huang was detained on May 29 by police in his hometown, the provincial capital Chengdu, his friends said.
"I heard from a friend he called using the police phone that he had been detained, and that this time he was looking at a sentence of more than three years in prison," a friend of Huang's who gave only a surname Li told RFA on Wednesday.
"What he did for them to detain him isn't clear yet," Li said. "We don't understand it."
Li said Huang had been writing about vulnerable groups of people fighting for their rights on Mala -- an online forum on Sichuan-related matters.
Huang is a former teacher at a bingtuan CCP party school near Kashgar, in the northwestern Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR).
He took part in the student-led pro-democracy movement that ended in the massacre of unarmed civilians by the People's Liberation Army (PLA) on June 4, 1989.
In 2019, the Jinniu District People's Court in Chengdu handed down a two-and-a-half year jail term Huang for supporting a call for direct elections to choose the leader of the CCP.
Huang pleaded guilty to "picking quarrels and stirring up trouble," a charged based on interviews given by Huang to foreign media organizations including RFA, in which he allegedly "attacked the government."
He was earlier sentenced in 2010 by Sichuan's Leshan County People's Court to two years and six months in jail for "gathering a crowd to disrupt social order" for taking part in a street protest outside a court in February 2009.
Another friend of Huang's, Feng Gang, said his most recent detention was likely linked to his advocacy work for disadvantaged groups in Chengdu.
"He helped local human rights defenders and posted details of their cases online, especially to overseas websites, including Twitter and Facebook," Feng told RFA. "He also exposed local corruption and ... criticised the political and legal system."
He received a visit from local police after he gave an interview to RFA in November 2020 about CCP leader Xi Jinping's claim to have eliminated poverty in China.
"Huang has been a thorn in the sides of the local police in Chengdu," Feng said. "He has been detained around the 32nd anniversary of the June 4 crackdown, and ahead of the CCP centenary [on July 1], as part of the local stability maintenance plan."
Huang is also a member of the Independent Chinese PEN Association and one of the conveners of the Sichuan Pan-Blue Alliance, which is politically aligned with Taiwan's opposition Kuomintang (KMT).
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Enactment of repressive legislation and policies, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Offline, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Media Worker, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Jun 5, 2021
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- May 31, 2021
- Event Description
A popular blogger in China was sentenced to eight months in prison on Monday for "defaming martyrs" after he suggested that the number of Chinese soldiers killed during last year's border clash with India was higher than the official count.
In February, well over six months after the clashes, the Chinese military said four of its soldiers were killed in a skirmish with Indian troops in the disputed Galwan Valley.
Qiu Ziming posted on China's Twitter-like social media platform Weibo saying that the actual death toll on the Chinese side might have been higher.
He also said that the commanding officer survived "because he was the highest-ranking officer there" — a remark that outraged Chinese officials.
Indian and Chinese soldiers clashed with iron rods, sticks, and stones last June in what was the deadliest clash between China and India in more than four decades.
New Delhi said Chinese troops had intruded into its side of the territory, triggering tensions. China had denied the transgression and accused Indian troops of provocative behavior. Timeline of Qiu's case
Qiu was arrested on February 20, a day after his Weibo post. He was subsequently charged under a new provision of China's criminal law that bans the "defamation of martyrs and heroes."
The 38-year old was also ordered to publicly apologize through national media outlets within 10 days.
"I feel extremely ashamed of myself, and I'm very sorry," he was quoted as saying by the state-run newspaper The Global Times.
A court in the eastern city of Nanjing on Monday ruled that Qiu had "infringed on the reputation and honor of heroes and martyrs ... and confessed to his crimes." China's new provision
Qiu is the first person to be jailed under the new provision which came into effect in March.
In 2018, China's national legislature passed a law making "defamation of martyrs and heroes" a civil offense.
This was made a criminal offense in February and police have since arrested at least six bloggers for allegedly defaming the dead soldiers in online comments of Qiu's post.
The crackdown highlights the political sensitivity of the border clash in China.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Enactment of repressive legislation and policies, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Online, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Blogger/ Social Media Activist
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Jun 5, 2021
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- May 30, 2021
- Event Description
Hong Kong police have arrested an elderly democracy activist as she made a solo demonstration over China's deadly Tiananmen crackdown in a vivid illustration of the zero protest tolerance now wielded by authorities in the financial hub.
Alexandra Wong, 65, was detained on Sunday on suspicion of taking part in an unlawful assembly as she walked towards Beijing's Liaison Office in Hong Kong.
Wong -- known locally as "Grandma Wong" -- was a regular fixture of the huge democracy protests that swept Hong Kong in 2019.
She could often be seen waving a Union Jack flag, a symbol of her dissatisfaction with Beijing's rule since the city was handed to China by former colonial power Britain in 1997.
Protest is now all but outlawed in Hong Kong.
Authorities have used both the threat of the coronavirus and security concerns to ban demonstrations.
A vigil planned for this Friday -- the 32nd anniversary of Beijing's 1989 crackdown on democracy protests in Tiananmen Square -- has been denied permission for the second year in a row.
Authorities have cited the coronavirus, although Hong Kong is currently celebrating no local transmission cases of unknown origin for the last month.
Activists had also sought permission for a small Tiananmen-themed march on Sunday to the Liaison Office, which represents the central government in the city, but it was also denied permission.
Wong turned up anyway that afternoon holding as sign that read "32, June 4, Tiananmen's lament" and a yellow umbrella -- the latter a symbol of Hong Kong's democracy movement.
The South China Morning Post said the pensioner started chanting slogans in a park before heading towards the Liaison Office by herself, while being followed and filmed by police.
She was stopped twice.
"I'm only by myself, just an old lady here. Why stop me?" the Post quoted Wong as telling officers.
Soon afterwards she was arrested.
Police confirmed a 65-year-old woman surnamed Wong had been arrested for "knowingly participating in an unauthorized assembly and attempting to incite others to join an unauthorized assembly."
Hong Kong's democracy movement has been crushed by a broad crackdown on dissent over the last year, including the imposition of a sweeping security law that criminalizes much dissent.
In the middle of the 2019 protests Wong disappeared for more than a year.
She resurfaced saying she had been detained by mainland authorities during a trip to Shenzhen, a neighboring city where she lived at the time.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Enactment of repressive legislation and policies, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Offline, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Jun 5, 2021
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Jun 2, 2021
- Event Description
On 2 June 2021, border control authorities at the Fuzhou airport prevented Beijing-based human rights lawyer Tang Jitian from boarding a flight to Japan to see his ill daughter. The authorities told the human rights defender that the Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau has imposed an exit ban on him because his travel abroad “may endanger national security”. Tang Jitian (唐吉田) is a Chinese human rights lawyer who has taken on human rights casesacross a range of areas, including land rights, freedom of religion, freedom of expression and freedom of association. As a result of his persistent activism, his license to practise law was revoked in 2010. The human rights defender continued his human rights work since his disbarment and has been subjected to beatings, torture, surveillance, travel restrictions, and arbitrary detentions on multiple occasions. In November 2017, he tried to enter Hong Kong from Shenzhen to seek medical treatment, but the mainland border control authorities told him he was not allowed to leave because he “may endanger national security”. Tang Jitian’s 25-year-old daughter, who has been studying in Japan, fell ill in April 2021 with tuberculosis and has since been hospitalised in an intensive care unit. She is said to be in serious condition due to multiple complications triggered by tuberculosis.After his daughter was hospitalised, Tang Jitian obtained a visa to travel to Japan and contacted public security officers in Beijing to seek the lifting of his exit ban. However, the officers he contacted said they were discussing the matter with their superiors and failed to give him a definitive answer despite repeated follow-up. On 1 June 2021, the human rights defender flew from Beijing to Fuzhou. On the morning of 2 June 2021, he checked in his luggage and obtained his boarding pass at the Fuzhou airport for his flight to Japan, but was stopped and turned back at the border control area. The border control officers told the human rights defender that he was prohibited from leaving the country on the basis of article 12(5) of the Exit and Entry Administration Law, which grants the authorities the power to impose exit bans on Chinese citizens if they “endanger national security”. The officers did not provide any legal documents or any detailed explanation as to why and how his departure would endanger national security. They also initially refused to disclose the officials who ordered the exit ban. After Tang Jitian insisted on knowing who issued the order, the officers said it was the Beijing Public Security Bureau, but refused to disclose the names of the officials who made the decision.Chinese authorities have a history of imposing arbitrary restrictions on freedom of movement,including both domestic and international travel bans, as well as forced temporary relocation during politically sensitive periods, in order to target human rights defenders. These restrictions based on such ill-defined concepts as “endangering national security” are inconsistent with the Chinese Constitution, which prohibits unlawful deprivation or restriction of citizens’ freedom of the person,and are also incompatible with international human rights standards protecting the right to freedom of movement.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment, Restrictions on Movement, Travel Restriction
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of movement
- HRD
- Lawyer
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Jun 5, 2021
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- May 21, 2021
- Event Description
On 21 May 2021, the Linyi Municipal Procuratorate informed Ding Jiaxi's legal counsel that it has sent his case back to the Linyi Municipal Public Security Bureau for a second round of supplementary investigation. Under the Criminal Procedure Law, only two rounds of supplementary investigation are permitted. Once the supplementary investigation has concluded and the case is sent back to the Procuratorate, the Procuratorate must then decide whether or not to prosecute within a month. The Procuratorate may extend this deadline by another 15 days if a case is deemed "major or complicated" or if the sentence might exceed one year of imprisonment.
Earlier on 19 May 2021, Ding Jiaxi was allowed another video call with his legal counsel. Ding Jiaxi told his lawyer that detainees are permitted to partake in outdoor activities for less than 30 minutes a day and that their masks are changed only once every three weeks. Due to the low quality of dental hygiene provided by the detention centre, the condition of the human rights defender's teeth is deteriorating. Ding Jiaxi also said his eyesight has deteriorated, and he has still not been given any paper or pen to write with by authorities.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Denial Fair Trial, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Right to fair trial, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Lawyer, Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Related Events
- China: eight pro-democracy defenders interrogated, detained for joining a liberal meeting
- Date added
- Jun 1, 2021
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- May 8, 2021
- Event Description
On 8 May 2021, immigration officers at the Shanghai Pudong Airport stopped human rights lawyer Lu Siwei from boarding his flight to the United States, where he is due to participate in a fellowship programme. The officers informed the human rights defender that an exit ban had been imposed against him on "national security" grounds.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment, Restrictions on Movement, Travel Restriction
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of movement
- HRD
- Lawyer
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- May 14, 2021
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- May 6, 2021
- Event Description
Prominent Hong Kong pro-democracy activist Joshua Wong has been sentenced to 10 additional months in prison for taking part in an unauthorized assembly last year to commemorate the 1989 crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrators in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square.
The 24-year-old Wong is already serving a 13-and-a-half-month sentence for organizing an unauthorized protest in 2019. He was sentenced Thursday along with fellow activists Lester Shum, Jannelle Leung and Tiffany Yeun, who received sentences of between four and six months.
Wong was also among 47 activists charged under Hong Kong’s sweeping national security law for taking part in unofficial primary elections last July to pick candidates to run in legislative elections. They were then postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic.
China has banned any public observance of the June 4, 1989 crackdown, when Chinese military tanks and troops raided Tiananmen Square to break up weeks of student-led protests. But Hong Kong traditionally held large vigils to mark the event under its Basic Law, which granted the city certain freedoms not allowed on the mainland, including the right to assembly.
Last year's event was banned for the first time, with police citing the pandemic and security fears following huge and often violent pro-democracy protests that engulfed the financial hub in the last half of 2019.
Hong Kong authorities have increasingly clamped down on the city’s pro-democracy forces since Beijing imposed the new national security law last June in response to the 2019 demonstrations.
Under the law, anyone in Hong Kong believed to be carrying out terrorism, separatism, subversion of state power or collusion with foreign forces could be tried and face life in prison if convicted.
- Impact of Event
- 4
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Offline, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Related Events
- China: at least six pro-democracy activists charged in Hong Kong for joining Tienanmen square commemoration
- Date added
- May 14, 2021
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Apr 23, 2021
- Event Description
It has been confirmed that the Linyi Municipal Procuratorate in Shandong province approved the formal arrest of woman human rights defender Li Qiaochu on 14 March 2021 for "inciting subversion of State power". She is currently detained at the Linyi Municipal Detention Centre. Her partner and fellow human rights defender Xu Zhiyong is also facing the same charge, and his case is also being overseen by the Linyi Municipal Public Security Bureau.
The Linyi Municipal Public Security Bureau denied two requests made in February and March by Li Qiaochu's lawyer to visit the woman human rights defender, and also rejected the lawyer's bail applications.
In defence of her partner Xu Zhiyong's rights, Li Qiaochu previously challenged the actions of the Linyi Municipal Public Security Bureau by filing an administrative review in August 2020, initiating an administrative lawsuit in October 2020, and filing a formal complaint against Li Dengquan, the head of the Linyi Public Security Bureau in early February 2021, days before she was taken into custody.
In light of these complaints made by Li Qiaochu against the Linyi police prior to her detention, her lawyer argued that the Linyi police have a conflict of interest in the case that could undermine their ability to fairly handle the investigations. Subsequently, the lawyer submitted a formal request on 14 April 2021, for Li Dengquan and all other police officers at the Linyi Public Security Bureau to recuse themselves from this case, in line with articles 29 and 31 of the Criminal Procedure Law. Article 29 requires adjudicators, procurators and investigators to recuse themselves from a case if they have, among other factors, "an interest in the case" or have "another relationship with a party in the case that might affect the just handling of the case." The lawyer also contested the legitimacy of the Linyi police's jurisdiction and authority to investigate Li Qiaochu, who is a resident of Beijing and was still under provisional release pending investigation by the Beijing public security bureau at the time of her detention in February 2021.
On 19 April 2021, the Linyi Municipal Procuratorate rejected the lawyer's request for recusal on the basis that the reasons provided do not meet the conditions for recusal as stipulated in the Criminal Procedure Law. The procuratorate did not provide further, more detailed legal reasoning for the decision. On 23 April 2021, the woman human rights defender's lawyer requested the Linyi procuratorate to review its decision on the recusal request.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Denial Fair Trial, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Right to fair trial, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- May 5, 2021
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Apr 7, 2021
- Event Description
In October 2020, woman human rights defender Liu Yanli was transferred to the Hankou Prison in the city of Wuhan in Hubei province to serve her four-year sentence, since which the prison authorities have not allowed her family to visit her. Liu Yanli's requests to phone her family have also been denied since the transfer.
In March 2021, a prison security official delivered a letter to Liu Yanli's family from her. In the letter, the woman human rights defender wrote that following the transfers to the prison, she had spent a month in quarantine, after which she spent a further month undergoing vocational training. Subsequently, she became a labourer at a prison factory and has been assigned to work as a porter. She wrote that she is exhausted from the physical exertion, and that her hair has gone grey. Her family are concerned for her physical and psychological health and well being.
On the morning of 7 April 2021, the lawyer retained by Liu Yanli's family met her at the Hankou Prison. The prison guards restricted them from speaking about anything other than her appeal, prohibiting them from discussing the prison conditions. In the afternoon, the Jingmen Municipal Intermediate Court held a hearing to review Liu Yanli's second appeal of her conviction. The defender's older sister, older brother and the family lawyer attended, but the court did not allow Liu Yanli to be present. No other observers were allowed to attend the hearing, which lasted 1.5 hours. The court is yet to announce its decision in the case.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Denial Fair Trial, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Right to fair trial, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary, Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- May 5, 2021
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Apr 23, 2021
- Event Description
During the weekend of 23 April 2021, a judge informed the family of human rights defenders Cai Wei and Chen Mei that their trial, originally scheduled to start on 26 April 2021, had been postponed a second time until after the Labour Day holiday in May. The court did not provide a new date.
On 21 January 2021, lawyers assigned by the authorities to represent human rights defenders Cai Wei and Chen Mei informed their families that the Beijing Chaoyang District Court has postponed the deadline for holding a trial to 29 April 2021, citing the pandemic as a reason. The previous deadline for holding the trial of the two human rights defenders was 29 January 2021.
The families of the human rights defenders have questioned the validity of the pandemic as a reason for postponement. According to the official website of the Beijing judiciary, at least eight public trials are scheduled to take place at the Chaoyang District Court between 25 January and 2 February 2021, and many more public trials in other courts in Beijing between 22 January and 22 February 2021.
On 22 September 2020, a lawyer assigned by the Chinese Government to represent human rights defender Chen Mei informed Chen's mother that he and fellow human rights defender Cai Wei have been indicted and their case has been sent for trial to the Chaoyang District Court in Beijing.
Since their detention in April 2020, Chen Mei and Cai Wei have not been allowed access to the legal counsel chosen by their families. Instead, the Government claimed that both defenders have "voluntarily" sought and received legal representation through the State legal aid programme.
Chen Mei's family have submitted a complaint to the Chaoyang District Judicial Bureau against the law firm to which Chen Mei's two Government-assigned lawyers belong, contending that they have violated laws and regulations governing the conduct of lawyers by representing clients who do not need legal aid and whose families have expressly rejected their representation.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Denial Fair Trial, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Right to fair trial, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Blogger/ Social Media Activist
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- May 5, 2021
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Apr 13, 2021
- Event Description
Beijing has shut down several feminist social media platforms, a sign that China is renewing its crackdown on what it considers radical women’s groups.
About 10 feminist forums were closed on Douban, China’s popular social networking platform that allows group discussions of books, music, movies and social topics such as feminism.
Douban said the now-banned forums promoted “extreme” and “radical” political views and ideology.
The blocked forums embrace the concept of 6B4T, an online movement that originated in South Korea. The concept “is driven by the idea of women becoming more empowered by shunning activities seen as centered upon or designed to benefit men,” according to Jane Li, a China tech reporter on Quartz.
The Douban ban earlier this month sparked heated debate among netizens in China, soon after the government released preliminary figures suggesting 2020 was, like 2019, a year with a declining birthrate.
On Weibo, the Chinese social media platform akin to Twitter, one post said, “Well done! The intention of these forums is to tear up Chinese society through extreme feminism.” Another said, “6B4T is not radical. It’s nothing more than a claim that women do not have to enter into a heterosexual relationship.”
The “6B” refers to not having sex with men; not having romantic relationships; not marrying; not having children; not buying products that show a prejudice against, aversion to or dislike of women; and offering to stand by other single women, according to Li. The “4T” stands for “ditching rigid beauty standards [literally 'taking off corsets']; rejecting the obsession with Japanese manga and anime (known as otaku culture) for their hypersexual depictions of women; breaking away from religion; and not partaking in fan culture around male or female celebrities.”
In Korean, each of the items begins with either “bi,” which means no or not, and “tal,” which means to escape from something.
The South Korean movement "advocates that women separate themselves from the influence of male-centered political culture, and then form a full range of female culture and female power," according to the website WhatsonWeibo.
In the past, China has allowed more online discussion of gender than other political topics. Yet, Lu Pin, a prominent Chinese feminist in New York, told VOA Mandarin that with the current crackdown, there are virtually no social media platforms that are friendly to feminist groups in China.
“These online platforms are aware of the government’s preference, so they tend to restrict feminist movements,” she told VOA.
This is not the first targeting of women’s groups. Online feminists attracted Beijing’s attention on March 7, the day before International Women’s Day, when five feminist activists were arrested for demonstrating against sexual harassment on public transit.
At the time, Feng Yuan, a women’s rights activist, told TheGuardian.com: “What the activists want is exactly what state policy on women says: that women should be equal.”
Chinese netizens criticized the arrests, which drew international attention from the likes of then-presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.
The women, who became known as the Feminist Five, were released after more than a month in detention.
The current crackdown came about because increasing numbers of women are embracing feminist ideas, according to Zhang, a student from prestigious Peking University, who asked that her full name not be used for fear of attracting official attention.
“I think China has always been a patriarchal society. So, there can be a feminist movement, but it needs to be within that framework of patriarchal society,” she said.
Lu Pin, the New York feminist, agreed, saying the feminist movement has spotlighted a structural problem in Chinese society that causes inequalities between men and women, and those who benefit from the current system are offended by that explanation.
Shuttering online feminist discussions meshes with Beijing’s interests, she said.
“Of course, the government does not want criticism on the structure of its society,” she told VOA. “So, from this standpoint of view, the government will inevitably stand against the feminist movement. They want women to maintain their traditional family roles because that benefits the stability of the CCP rule.”
The crackdown comes just two months after China’s Ministry of Public Security released preliminary population numbers revealing that the number of new birth registrations in 2020 was 10.035 million, compared with 11.8 million in 2019, a year that had the lowest recorded birthrate since 1949, when the People’s Republic of China was founded.
With a rapidly growing elderly population and a cohort of young couples who cannot afford the luxury of children, China is facing a demographic crisis with economic overtones.
The government has long undercut efforts by activists to create safe space for women and raise issues of gender discrimination and domestic violence.
Despite these pressures working against gender equality, Chinese American author and activist Leta Hong Fincher said a popular broad-based feminist movement poses the greatest challenge to China’s governing regime today.
In her new book Betraying Big Brother, The Feminist Awakening in China, she said the Feminist Five gave life to a grassroots mobilization not seen since the 1989 pro-democracy movement that culminated with the deadly quashing of protests in Tiananmen Square.
Shen Hsiu-hua, an associate professor of sociology at National Tsing-Hua University in Taiwan, told VOA Mandarin that popular movements are Beijing’s greatest fear.
“Being able to mobilize people is a taboo for the Chinese Communist Party. In China, only the government can mobilize people, so any cause that results in gathering is seen as a threat to its ruling,” she said. “That’s why the government wants to nip it in the bud.”
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Censorship, Online Attack and Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Internet freedom, Online, Right to healthy and safe environment, Women's rights
- HRD
- WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Government
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- May 4, 2021
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Apr 30, 2021
- Event Description
Authorities at a second Hong Kong university have cut ties with the student union, saying that it had become a “platform for political propaganda” following its involvement in recent protest movements.
“The Hong Kong University Students’ Union (HKUSU) has become increasingly politicized in recent years, utilizing the University campus as a platform for its political propaganda,” the University of Hong Kong said in a statement on Friday.
“It has repeatedly made inflammatory and potentially unlawful public statements and unfounded allegations against the University,” it said.
“The university strongly condemns HKUSU’s radical acts and remarks,” the statement said.
It said the university would stop collecting membership fees on behalf of HKUSU and would “enforce its management rights” over the facilities currently used by the union.
“The University may also take further actions, if necessary,” it said, citing the need to protect “national security.”
A draconian national security law imposed on Hong Kong by the ruling Chinese Communist Party from July 1, 2020, has targeted dozens of pro-democracy politicians and activists for “subversion” after they organized a primary election in a bid to win more seats in the city’s legislature.
The law bans words and deeds deemed subversive or secessionist, or any activities linked to overseas groups, as “collusion with foreign powers,” including public criticism of the Hong Kong government and the Chinese Communist Party.
Students oppose appointments
The HKU announcement comes after the union strongly opposed the appointment of two mainland Chinese scholars as vice presidents, saying that they would help to assert Chinese Communist Party control over the city’s oldest university.
Max Shen, who has previously been listed as a member of a Chinese Communist Party committee at Beijing’s Tsinghua University, and his former Tsinghua colleague Gong Peng started their jobs as vice presidents of research and academic development respectively from January 2021.
The severing of ties with the union comes after an article in the Chinese Communist Party’s official newspaper, the People’s Daily, denounced HKUSU for smearing the government’s attempts to win public support for the national security law.
It called for “strong medicine to remove the malignant tumor in the ivory tower.”
Labour Party chairman and former HKUSU president Steven Kwok said the university’s action against the union appeared to have been triggered by the People’s Daily article.
“I think their actions were instigated by [authorities in] mainland China,” Kwok told Radio Free Asia. “It’s all part of the current political situation and carrying out Beijing’s wishes.”
The Chinese University of Hong Kong severed ties with its student union Syzygia on Feb. 26, banning the union from using university facilities or staff and accusing it of failing to clarify “potentially unlawful statements and false allegations.”
‘Getting rid of anything risky’
Current affairs commentator Johnny Lau said universities have been tripping over themselves to demonstrate loyalty to the Chinese Communist Party since the national security law took effect.
“They are minimizing their risk by getting rid of anything risky,” Lau said. “This is an active form of adaptation to the politicization process being instigated by mainland China.”
He said the recent moves by the University of Hong Kong and the Chinese University of Hong Kong show the ever-widening damage to freedom of speech and academic freedom in Hong Kong.
“The university management are the ones damaging HKU’s rankings and reputation, not the students,” Lau said, referring to the University of Hong Kong.
Former student activist Joshua Wong — currently serving a prison sentence on public order charges linked to the 2019 protest movement — pleaded guilty in a Hong Kong court on Friday to “taking part in an illegal assembly” in connection with a vigil commemorating the victims of the 1989 Tiananmen massacre in Victoria Park last year.
Wong, together with pro-democracy district councilors Lester Shum, Tiffany Yuen, and Jannelle Leung, pleaded guilty to the charges, with sentencing expected on May 6.
Wong, Shum, and Yuen also face “subversion” charges under the national security law after they took part in the democratic primary for the canceled Legislative Council election in 2020. All three were returned to custody following the hearing.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment, Vilification
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of association, Offline, Right to protect reputation
- HRD
- Student
- Perpetrator-State
- Government
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- May 4, 2021
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Apr 16, 2021
- Event Description
Several longtime pro-democracy advocates on Friday learned their fate for organizing one of Hong Kong's largest-ever street protests during the height of anti-government demonstrations.
Nine pro-democracy activists, including media mogul Jimmy Lai, 73, and former lawmakers Lee Cheuk-yan, 64, Leung Kwok-hung, 65, Cyd Ho, 66, and Au Nok-hin, 33, were jailed after being found guilty this month of involvement in an August 2019 march that attracted hundreds of thousands of protesters.
District Judge Amanda Woodcock of Hong Kong's West Kowloon Magistrates Court also suspended sentencing for four other activists because of their age and accomplishments, according to The Associated Press.
Lai, who was additionally charged under the national security law on Friday for the second time and now faces six charges total, received 14 months in jail, as did activist Lee Cheuk-yan, after they had both pleaded guilty of organizing and participating in the rally on August 19, 2019, and of participating in another illegal assembly less than two weeks later.
Not surprised
Former Legislative Council lawmaker Lee Cheuk-yan had expected Friday's outcome. When speaking with VOA in March about Beijing's electoral reforms for Hong Kong, he admitted that he, with four outstanding trials for illegal assembly looming over him, was likely to face jail.
"I think is important not to lose hope and always to do something to 'light a candle in darkness' so people can see the hope and see a lot of people doing different things in the society that show we are holding on to our values," he said. "It is important we hold on.
"If I go to the jail, I think it will be a good time to reflect on my life experience," he told VOA in an audio call.
Ho and Au received eight and 10 months behind bars, respectively, while Leung received the stiffest sentence, 18 months. Au and Leung were already in custody in relation to other cases.
The four remaining activists — "father of democracy" Martin Lee, 82, Margaret Ng, 73, Albert Ho, 69, and Leung Yiu-chung, 67 — received suspended sentences.
Former Democratic Party lawmaker Emily Lau, who was at the court for the sentencing, told VOA that it was a "very, very bad day for Hong Kong."
"So many people who have fought for democracy and human rights and rule of law for so many years have been given such heavy jail sentences for engaging in peaceful and nonviolent protests," she said. "It's very, very sad. But we know everybody, including judges and the government, are under a lot of pressure from Beijing, and they really want to teach Hong Kong people a lesson."
Lau said the length of sentences didn't come as a surprise, as they were notably longer than they had been for activists charged with illegal assembly.
"We know times have changed," said Lau. "Beijing is breathing down on us very heavily, and everybody feels the pressure."
Under the "one country, two systems" agreement signed by Britain and China in 1997 after the city was transferred back to Chinese rule, Beijing promised that Hong Kong would retain a "high degree of autonomy" until 2047.
A controversial extradition bill sparked Hong Kong's monthslong anti-government protests in 2019 that often turned violent. In response, Beijing implemented the national security law for Hong Kong, prohibiting secession, subversion, terrorism and collusion with foreign forces.
Dozens jailed
Since the security legislation came into force, dozens of activists have been jailed while others are awaiting trial or have fled the city. To limit the election of pro-democracy opposition, China's national legislature recently approved a major electoral overhaul for Hong Kong's political system, expanding the number of pro-Beijing voices on Hong Kong's Legislative Council.
Veteran political analyst Joseph Cheng believes the crackdown is meant to "eliminate" the pro-democracy movement.
"These arrests and court cases plus the changes, the so-called 'perfection of the electoral laws,' actually means there is no room for the operation for a pro-democracy movement, meaning there is no tolerance in Hong Kong," he said.
Cheng admitted the scrutiny could spell the end for the veteran activists, but there are now hopes for a younger generation to take the lead.
"You may say the older generation of activists, they probably will no longer be active given their age and given the tremendously difficult situation in the two, three years ahead," Cheng told VOA. "In this way, it is the end of their participation among the first generation like Martin Lee, Lee Cheuk-yan and so on. We certainly pin our hopes on the younger generation."
But for Hong Kong's younger activists, the risks are greater than ever. Yat-Chin Wong, 19, organizer of pro-democracy political group StudentPoliticism, told VOA that "now even just a few words [and you] may be arrested."
"The current red line is erratic, and there is no good way to avoid risks," he said.
Wong, who spent his childhood in China before moving to Hong Kong while in primary school, told VOA in January that national security officers had warned him about his activism in the city, while mainland Chinese authorities had questioned his relatives in Sichuan province.
- Impact of Event
- 9
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Offline, Right to liberty and security, Right to political participation
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Apr 25, 2021
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Apr 9, 2021
- Event Description
The family of jailed rights activist Guo Hongwei, who died on April 9 after surgery while serving a 13-year jail term in the northeastern Chinese province of Jilin, say there are many unanswered questions around his illness and death.
"We are not convinced," Guo's father Guo Yinqi told RFA on Tuesday. "He mustn't be cremated until the cause of death is known."
"There needs to be due process and [the cause of death] must be identified."
Guo Yinqi said the family had wanted to take pictures of Guo Hongwei's body when they went to identify it.
"We wanted to take pictures of him ... after his death, but a number of prison guards were there, and they wouldn't let us," he said.
Guo Yinqi said the family had doubts around the refusal of prison authorities to order medical parole for Guo despite his systolic blood pressure readings of around 260 consistently during the last two years.
"He was persecuted [to death]," Guo Yinqi said. "Not allowing a critically ill patient with systolic blood pressure of 260 out on medical parole is the same as killing them."
Guo Yinqi said Guo Hongwei had been transferred to Gongzhuling Prison after the family reported that he was being tortured at Songyuan Prison near Jilin's Siwei city.
"We weren't allowed to see him after the transfer to Gongzhuling Prison, and we couldn't have phone calls with him either," Guo Yinqi said. "And after being transferred to Gongzhuling Prison, he will not be allowed to meet. , And phone calls are not allowed. We wanted to take pictures when we were in the funeral after death. Several prison guards were there and were not allowed to take pictures."
Guo Hongwei died on April 9 after undergoing two operations for cerebral hemorrhage on April 4 and 5.
Guo Yinqi said that, while there was no indication of external, physical attacks on his son's body, the family wanted a full investigation into his death to establish responsibility.
"We have suspicions, because the issue that killed him was in his brain, and they won't release his [remains] to us, nor the scans [of his brain]," he said.
"They say this has to be dealt with in a 'unified' manner, and so it can't be handed over the family," Guo Yinqi said.
Autopsy demand Rights lawyer Xie Yanyi said he plans to assist the family in demanding an autopsy and inquest into Guo Hongwei's death.
"Further investigation is needed, as well as the issue of the autopsy, and gaining access to video surveillance footage and medical records," Xie told RFA.
"Prisons have obligations to cooperate under the Criminal Procedure Law and the Prisons Law," he said. "Guo Hongwei should have been granted medical parole for his own protection once his health had deteriorated to that point."
The family has said Guo was torture and held in solitary confinement in a tiny cell with no light or toilet facility during much of his time at Songyuan Ningjiang Prison in Jilin.
In May 2020, prison guard Lu Jiaxun locked him in a cell filled with peracetic acid, causing him choke, they said, yet the guard only received a small deduction from his bonus as punishment.
Guo Yinqi filed a complaint to the Jilin provincial prison administration bureau at the time of that incident, but has yet to receive a response.
Guo was transferred to Gongzhuling Prison on Nov. 26, where he was held incommunicado, with authorities citing pandemic restrictions as the reason for the ban on visits. However, phone calls weren't permitted either.
When he was finally admitted to the Jilin Guowen Hospital in early April, police told one of the surgeons operating on him that he had been in a similar condition for more than two months. He was already in a coma at the time of admission, they told RFA.
Guo Hongwei's mother Xiao Yunling said Guo had once been a strong and well-built man of 1.73 meters who had never been troubled by illness.
Whatever treatment was meted out to him in prison left him unable to walk and with life-threatening hypertension.
"Rest easy, son. Mom will avenge you," Xiao said. "Why did they frame my son? I won't be able to rest another day until I find out."
"Why did he have a cerebral hemorrhage? This happened all of a sudden in April," she said. "Why was he so skinny? Why didn't they give my son more food?"
Botched surgery Fellow rights activist Wang Jing said hospitals often botch operations on political prisoners, using them as teaching cases for inexperienced surgeons.
"I was almost killed during my medical appraisal and outpatient consultation. I was admitted to hospital, and four people on that ward died one after the other," Wang said.
One of them was a detained member of the banned Falun Gong spiritual movement, Wang said. "One was a Falun Gong practitioner who had a fracture in his arm, and he lost the use of his arm entirely after the operation."
"The government hates political prisoners," Wang said. "It's much easier for them to take their lives through medical malpractice; we are just like meat on a chopping board."
Guo lost his job at the Songdianhe Power Plant and was jailed for five years after he reported Xu Wengui, an official at the local state prosecutor's office, for embezzling state funds.
He served a five-year jail term, and continued his human rights activism and petitioning activities on his release.
He was already unable to walk by the time of his second jail term, begun in 2016, for "extortion" and "picking quarrels and stirring up trouble," after he pursued rights cases and petitions, and expressed public support for the 2014 pro-democracy movement in Hong Kong.
His mother has served a six-year jail term, while his sister Guo Hongying is still serving a five-and-a-half year jail term, both on similar charges that include "picking quarrels and stirring up trouble," a charge frequently used to target peaceful critics of the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
"Three members of our family have been sent to jail for trying to protect state assets," Guo Yinqi said. "Marriages have broken up and the family has been destroyed."
"The prosecution services and law enforcement in Jilin province are all in it together; they all protect each other, and they ganged up on our family," he said. "Lawyers are too afraid to take our case because they could lose their livelihoods."
Guo Hongwei's defense attorney Huang Hanzhong told RFA that the family had instead been held up as a disgrace by CCP-controlled media, for allegedly "extorting" money from local government.
"This case was a total fabrication, a travesty of justice," Huang said. "This so-called 300,000 yuan they were supposed to have extorted, and all they got out of it was a severely hypertensive patient who couldn't even walk."
"How is he supposed to have extorted money from more than 5,000 police officers? It's a joke."
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Death
- Rights Concerned
- Right to health, Right to life
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Apr 25, 2021
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Apr 22, 2021
- Event Description
Gangkye Drubpa Kyab, a writer and former political prisoner also called Gangme Thak, was arrested in Sertha on March 23, Jigme said, adding, “Kyab had not committed any crime, and the Chinese government has not shown any valid reason for his arrest.”
Political activist Gangbu Yudrum was taken into custody on March 22, with no reason given for his arrest, Jigme said.
Yudrum had previously served a three-year prison term beginning in 2008 for his role in a protest in which he raised the banned Tibetan national flag and called for the return to Tibet of exiled Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama.
He was arrested again in 2012 and released in 2014, receiving a warm welcome from people in his village, who hailed him as a “Tibetan fighter for the truth.” Upon his release, he wrote and distributed copies of a letter to local Tibetans urging them to work to free Tibet from Beijing’s rule.
Two of the six recently detained Tibetans have not yet been identified, and the whereabouts of all six are still unknown, Jigme said.
Formerly an independent nation, Tibet was invaded and incorporated into China by force 70 years ago, and the Dalai Lama and thousands of his followers later fled into exile in India and other countries around the world following a failed 1959 national uprising against China’s rule.
Chinese authorities maintain a tight grip on the region, restricting Tibetans’ political activities and peaceful expression of cultural and religious identity, and subjecting Tibetans to persecution, torture, imprisonment, and extrajudicial killings.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention
- Rights Concerned
- Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Apr 25, 2021
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Apr 2, 2021
- Event Description
Chinese police in Sichuan’s Kardze Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture have arrested six Tibetans considered prominent in their communities in recent weeks, with the reasons for their arrests unknown, a Tibetan living in exile said Wednesday.
Writer and environmental activist Sey Nam was taken into custody on April 2 in Kardze’s (in Chinese, Ganzi’s) Serthar (Seda) county, Golok Jigme, a former political prisoner now living in Switzerland, told RFA’s Tibetan Service, citing local contacts.
“Due to tightened restrictions on communications in the area, my source doesn’t know the reason for his arrest,” Jigme said.
Also arrested on April 2, Tibetan activist and former political prisoner Tsering Dolma had been detained at least twice before in 2008 and 2012 after she took part in protests against Chinese policies and rule in Tibetan areas.
“I think this was the third or fourth time she was arrested,” Jigme said.
Formerly an independent nation, Tibet was invaded and incorporated into China by force 70 years ago, and the Dalai Lama and thousands of his followers later fled into exile in India and other countries around the world following a failed 1959 national uprising against China’s rule.
Chinese authorities maintain a tight grip on the region, restricting Tibetans’ political activities and peaceful expression of cultural and religious identity, and subjecting Tibetans to persecution, torture, imprisonment, and extrajudicial killings.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention
- Rights Concerned
- Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Environmental rights defender, Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Apr 25, 2021
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Apr 22, 2021
- Event Description
Bao Choy Yuk Ling, a freelance producer with Radio Television Hong Kong (RTHK), was convicted on April 22 of “making false statements” to obtain government data for her investigative report. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) strongly condemns Hong Kong authorities’ use of legal action to target members of the press.
Choy was charged with two counts of “knowingly making a false statement” to obtain car license plate records from the government’s database. The 37-year-old was fined HKD $6,000 (USD $773) on April 22 for the offenses to which she pleaded not guilty.
The data was used for an episode of RTHK’s documentary programme, Hong Kong Conncetion, that exposes the Hong Kong police’s delayed response to a mob attack on pro-democracy protesters and civilians in Yuen Long, Hong Kong on July 21, 2019.
The prosecution of Choy has shocked Hong Kong media, as it had been a common practice for journalists to obtain government data when reporting.
The court, however, determined on April 22 that Choy had used the data for her report instead of the “traffic and transport related purposes” justification that Choy provided to authorities for permission to access the data and was therefore punishable.
The Hong Kong Journalist Association (HKJA) and seven other media groups and trade unions have issued a joint statement to express their indignation. The statement also warned that legal attack on freedom of the press sends a chilling effect in Hong Kong’s media.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Online
- HRD
- Media Worker, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Related Events
- China: documentary filmmaker arrested
- Date added
- Apr 23, 2021
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Apr 7, 2021
- Event Description
On 16 April 2021, detained human rights lawyer Chang Weiping's family received a written notice from the Baoji Municipal Public Security Bureau to say that the human rights defender was formally arrested on 7 April 2021 on the charge of "subversion of State power". Prior to the formal arrest, Chang Weiping was detained under "residential surveillance in a designated location" (RSDL) for the lesser charge of "inciting subversion of State power". Under China's Criminal Law, those convicted of "subverting State power" may face a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.
Under the Criminal Procedure Law, the Baoji public security authorities must complete their investigation within two months and then make a decision whether to recommend prosecution or drop the case. With the approval of a higher-level procuratorate, this investigative period is extendable by up to five months if certain broadly defined conditions are met, such as if the case is deemed to be "particularly serious and complicated".
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Lawyer
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Related Events
- China: prominent lawyer arrested, held incommunicado
- Date added
- Apr 23, 2021
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Mar 25, 2021
- Event Description
A court in the central Chinese province of Henan has handed down a 14-month jail term to performance artist and online influencer Chen Shaotian after he posted a number of critical comments about life under the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) on Twitter.
Chen was sentenced to one year and two months' imprisonment by the Fugou County People's Court in Henan, which found him guilty of "picking quarrels and stirring up trouble," a charge frequently used to target critics of the regime.
Chen's sentence, which was issued on March 25, was based on more than 50 posts he made to Twitter that were deemed to be "hype about major sensitive events in China" and "political attacks."
One video still visible on Twitter shows him astride a moped, speeding down a road wearing a face-mask blazoned with the words "evil" and "understand," and yelling: "Understand this! Our evil government is far worse than any virus, for f*ck's sake!"
Chen's tweets had "attacked China's political system, insulted employees of the state, caused serious damage to China's national image and endangered its national interests," as well as "creating serious disorder in a public place," the court judgment said.
Dissident activist Ji Feng said Chen isn't a dissident in the strict sense, as he doesn't advocate any political or philosophical alternative to CCP rule.
"He lacks a systematic politics, and he has no deeply held position," Ji said. "It's all about dissatisfaction with the current reality."
He said Chen's jailing would likely have a chilling effect on people who feel the same way.
"There are many, many people like him, and eventually, they will probably be too scared to speak out any more," he said.
Hebei-based lawyer Pan Shaomin said Chen had become an online celebrity precisely because his posts exuded a general and profound sense of dissatisfaction.
"The social topics he cares about were very popular with the general public," Ji said. "He cursed the way things are in a funny way, and made people laugh and feel happier."
"That was how he became a celebrity, but that phenomenon is going to cause fear in certain quarters," he said.
Chen, originally a long-haul truck-driver, first started cursing out the government after travel bans and rural roadblocks at the start of the pandemic left him unable to do his job.
He was banned from social media platforms including WeChat and Douyin after his videos on the death of whistleblowing Wuhan doctor Li Wenliang went viral.
"What [Chen] was doing was anathema to the authorities, who shut down his China-based social media accounts," Pan said.
In December 2020, authorities in the Beijing district of Haidian jailed Li Guibao, who was known online as Fat Pig Full Circle Lao Li, to one year's imprisonment for "picking quarrels and stirring up trouble" after he criticized the authorities handling of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Li was detained two days after posting a 7,000-word article on April 9, 2020, in which he mostly talked about government's handling of the pandemic.
He was tried on Dec. 3, 2020 and sentenced on Dec. 24, 2020.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Enactment of repressive legislation and policies, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Online, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Artist
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Apr 6, 2021
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Apr 1, 2021
- Event Description
Seven of Hong Kong’s prominent pro-democracy activists were found guilty Thursday of organizing and participating in an unlawful assembly during the 2019 anti-government demonstrations.
The activists include media tycoon Jimmy Lai, the founder of the pro-democracy newspaper Apple Day, and 82-year-old barrister Martin Lee, one of the founders of the opposition Democratic Party. Also convicted Thursday were lawyer Albert Ho, barrister Margaret Ng, labor rights activist Lee Cheuk-yan and former legislators Cyd Ho and Leung Kwok-hung.
Two other defendants had already pleaded guilty. The seven face up to five years in prison.
The seven were arrested last year for taking part in a protest on Aug. 18, 2019, that drew more than 1 million people, one of the largest that engulfed Hong Kong that year which involved violent clashes between protesters and police. The protests were triggered by a controversial extradition bill that evolved into a greater demand for greater freedoms for the financial hub, which had been granted an unusual amount of freedom when Britain handed over control in 1997.
The demonstrations spurred Beijing to impose a series of measures aimed at quashing Hong Kong’s pro-democracy movement, including a new national security under which anyone suspected of carrying out terrorism, separatism, subversion of state power or collusion with foreign forces could be tried and face life in prison.
China’s national legislature approved a set of changes to Hong Kong’s electoral process to ensure only pro-Beijing loyalists can serve in the city’s legislature.
- Impact of Event
- 7
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Offline, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Related Events
- China: Arrest of pro-democracy activists in Hong Kong is fresh attempt to crush dissent
- Date added
- Apr 2, 2021
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Feb 25, 2021
- Event Description
The Chinese government must immediately release labor organizer, delivery worker, Chen Guojiang (陈国江), who was detained on February 25 in Beijing. Chen, a popular social media activist, had frequently posted about the precarious working conditions of frontline delivery workers in Chinese cities and had recently called for delivery workers to boycott companies that allegedly withheld some bonus money for workers who could not meet high demand targets during the Chinese New Year period.
A few other workers are said to be detained as well, but no detailed information is available at this point.
Chen Guojiang, also known as “Xiong Yan” and “Chen Tianhe”, is a former restaurant owner who became a motorbike delivery worker in 2019 after his restaurant business went under. Chen was appalled at the working conditions in the sector, and he became one of the founders of a WeChat group called “Alliance for Delivery Workers on Motorbikes in the Land of Lawlessness” (外送江湖骑士联盟) *, which was dedicated to connecting, organizing, and providing rights defense to delivery workers. Chen frequently spoke out on Weibo about the precarious labor conditions of delivery workers and made videos, in an effort to garner support from the general public.
Some supporters in China attribute Chen’s detention to the fact that his WeChat group has attracted over 10,000 followers, and he had become a de facto union-like leader for China’s roughly 7-10 million delivery workers, who played an essential role in providing essential services, especially during the COVID-19 lockdowns. According to Radio Free Asia, members from Chen’s WeChat group had planned to stage a strike in solidarity with Chen on March 8, but police took preemptive actions that the plan did not come to fruition.
Chen is believed to be detained at the Beijing City Chaoyang Detention Center. Chen’s father, Chen Wanhua, put out an open letter expressing concerns for his son, saying he still had no information about the police’s accusation against his son and he had not yet received a detention notice, which should be sent to family members within 24 hours of detention according to the Criminal Procedure Law. Chen’s sister, however, called the Chaoyang detention center, and the police claimed that they had mailed out the detention notice. Chen’s father, as a farmer making only 600 RMB per month, also hoped to raise 50,000 RMB for lawyers’ fees.
In recent years, China’s “platform economy”, including food delivery services, has taken on new importance to both the Chinese public and the Communist Party leadership. During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, when many restaurants were closed and cities were on lockdown, food delivery orders surged, and delivery workers became indispensable to the basic functioning of Chinese society. Delivery workers have been widely lauded on social media for their heroism in performing tasks that epitomized the “essential worker.” This week, the Chinese President Xi Jinping underlined the importance of the platform economy, including the need for the government to “…fill shortcomings, strengthen weaknesses, create an innovative environment, solve outstanding contradictions and problems, and promote the healthy and sustainable development of the platform economy”. Media outlets have also run in depth articles exploring the extraordinary pressures on delivery workers.
Despite this newfound social and political attention, China’s gig workers have few labor rights protections, and workplace problems are common, with at least seven strikes or protests by delivery workers since January 2020, according to China Labour Bulletin’s Strike Map. Workers have frequently complained of problems including long hours, uncertain pay scale, employer surveillance, and arbitrary deduction of wages or dismissals.
CHRD urges the Chinese government to immediately and unconditionally release Chen Guojiang. Pending his release, Chen should be allowed to see a lawyer of his choice and should be allowed contact with family members. The Chinese government should also ensure protection of freedom of association, expression, communicate, and the right to organize to protect their labor rights. The Chinese government should also immediately sign and ratify the International Labour Organization fundamental conventions: Convention 87 (Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention) and Convention 98 (Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention).
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Denial Fair Trial
- Rights Concerned
- Online, Right to fair trial, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Labour rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Mar 28, 2021
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Mar 5, 2021
- Event Description
On 8 March 2021, the Linyi Municipal Procuratorate in Shandong province informed Ding Jiaxi's lawyer that it has sent the human rights defender's case back to the Linyi Municipal Public Security Bureau for supplementary investigation. Under the Criminal Procedure Law, the public security bureau must complete supplementary investigation within a month, and only two rounds of supplementary investigation are permitted.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Denial Fair Trial, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Right to fair trial, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Lawyer, Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Related Events
- China: eight pro-democracy defenders interrogated, detained for joining a liberal meeting
- Date added
- Mar 28, 2021
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Feb 26, 2021
- Event Description
On March 8, following 10 days detention because of his tweet on Twitter, Luo Zhiming sent a text message to a close friend expressing concerns that he might become “missing” again. Returning home from his recent 10-day detention, Mr. Luo found that Chinese Communist Party agents had confiscated his computer, cell phone, and other possessions. As Mr. Luo, a construction worker, followed topics such as human rights, democracy, and freedom of religion and belief, he actively posted on Twitter and Facebook. Bazhong City State Security Branch officers had arrested Mr. Liu, an immigrant worker originally from Sichuan, for tweeting and commenting on posts that oppose the CCP's dogma. After CCP authorities released Mr. Luo from detention, State security officers in Tongjiang County had also tightened surveillance on him.One insider disclosed that CCP authorities may have held Mr. Luo under criminal detention while he abruptly became missing. Local state security officers regarded Mr. Luo’s speaking up during the "Two Sessions" as provoking the authorities. Consequently, they may have needed to make him a typical case or make an example out of him in Bazhong.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Surveillance
- Rights Concerned
- Online, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Blogger/ Social Media Activist
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Mar 16, 2021
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Mar 7, 2021
- Event Description
Chinese human rights lawyer Wang Yu, one of 14 women from around the world honored by the U.S. as an International Woman of Courage (IWOC), did not appear for the on-line award ceremony Monday and has been out of touch for two days, raising concerns, said Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
"She has represented cases involving abused children, ethnic minorities, women, and religious adherents, and her work has brought government pressure on her through today," Blinken said at IWOC award ceremony.
"We have not been in regular communication over the past two days. We’re concerned because we know that she wanted to attend today’s ceremony. We’ll be following up and, if necessary, speaking out on her case," he added.
An activist close to Wang said she had tweeted plans to leave the southern city of Guangzhou on Saturday, but was held up for a COVID-19 check. Around noon on Sunday, however, she and her husband, Bao Longjun, were apprehended and taken away by police from Tianjin. Their whereabout is not known yet.
The friend confirmed that Wang knew about the State Department ceremony and wanted to attend.
The State Department had earlier noted on its website that Wang had been "one of the country’s most prominent human rights lawyers until her arrest and imprisonment following China’s nationwide persecution of lawyers and rights advocates during the [July 2015] crackdown" on human rights lawyers that saw hundreds rounded up and many later jailed or stripped of their licenses to practice.
"She had taken on multiple politically sensitive cases, representing activists, scholars, Falun Gong practitioners, farmers, and petitioners in cases involving a wide array of issues, including women’s and children’s rights, and the rights to religion, freedom of expression, assembly, and association," it said.
"She is now under an exit ban and has been harassed, threatened, searched, and physically assaulted by police since she began to take on rights abuse cases in 2011."
Despite ongoing harassment from the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP), Wang has continued to use her Twitter account to speak out on behalf of fellow attorneys and rights activists targeted by the authorities for their rights advocacy.
In late February, she retweeted a post from Xu Yan, wife of jailed rights lawyer Yu Wensheng, saying that her husband has yet to receive treatment for loss of function in his right hand and for the loss of teeth while in jail.
"The court ... did not consider the four complaints [about Yu's treatment in jail] and went right ahead and ruled to uphold the original judgement," Xu wrote in the tweet.
"The Jiangsu Higher People's Court wouldn't allow the defense attorney to review the case files."
'Exceptional courage, leadership'
The IWOC award recognizes women from around the world who have demonstrated "exceptional courage and leadership in advocating for peace, justice, human rights, gender equality, and women’s empowerment," often at great personal cost.
"These women made an extraordinary choice: to persist. To demand justice," First Lady Jill Biden told the awards ceremony, which was livestreamed on YouTube on Monday.
"To believe that, despite the obstacles and fear that they faced, that there is a future worth fighting for," Biden said.
Wang and her legal activist husband Bao Longjun were detained in a massive nationwide crackdown on rights lawyers and activists in July 2015.
Their son Bao Zhuoxuan, also known by his nickname Bao Mengmeng, was just 16 when his passport was confiscated in the wake of his parents' arrest on the night of July 9, 2015 at the start of a nationwide police operation targeting the legal profession that became know as the "709 crackdown."
He had planned to complete his high school education overseas.
The teenager later tried to escape across the border from the southwestern Chinese province of Yunnan into northern Myanmar with a couple of fellow activists posing as tourists, but was caught and the activists who tried to help him detained.
He eventually arrived in Australia to complete his studies in January 2018.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- Abduction/Kidnapping
- Rights Concerned
- Online, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Lawyer, Pro-democracy defender, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Suspected state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Mar 12, 2021
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Feb 19, 2021
- Event Description
A rights activist in the southern Chinese province of Guangdong has called off her bid to stand in local elections for the next village chief after intimidation from the authorities, she told RFA.
Tian Ruidi, who has been active in helping residents of Shangdong village near Guangdong's Huizhou city defend their land rights, said she is now staying away from home amid a slew of threats and repeated interrogations by local police.
Her husband Tian Xinhua told RFA: "The village secretary asked her to withdraw from the election."
"People came from the police station and the city government, and told people not to vote for my wife," he said. "My wife refused [to withdraw], and now she is in hiding."
Local rights activist Chen Tian confirmed Tian's story.
"A lady whose surname is Tian is now being threatened by [government-backed thugs]," Chen said. "The local police station wants to arrest her, and she has gone into hiding."
"The local government sent large numbers of workers to the village to go from house to house, telling people that they shouldn't vote for her."
Tian has spoken out about the pressure being put on her online, posting a video clip of a Feb. 19 village committee meeting during which the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) village secretary asked her to withdraw her candidacy.
"Secretary Zhang Xinhua asked me to withdraw from the village leader election qualification round," she said in that video. "This is an illegal act that undermines the election system and subverts the system of governance."
"He is illegally depriving citizens of their right to run for election," she said.
Tian's candidacy could potentially have toppled incumbent Tian Xinwu from the top job in the village of 300 residents, where 200 have the right to vote in local elections.
She has previously worked to expose local corruption linked to government compensation for land lost to development that was sent to the village, but never passed on to those eligible for it.
Voting went ahead on Tuesday, but another resident of Tianwu said villagers were unable to witness the ballot papers being counted on Wednesday.
"The general public wasn't allowed to get anywhere near the big screens in the hall," he said. "The police were blocking the doors and wouldn't let us through, although we had been allowed through on polling day."
Tianwu is the site of a long-running dispute between local officials and residents over rental income nearby Hualong quarry, which had been paid out to the registered lease-holders of the land used for the business.
Repeated calls to local CCP secretary Zhang Xinhua and incumbent village chief Tian Xinwu rang unanswered on Wednesday.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment, Intimidation and Threats
- Rights Concerned
- Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to political participation
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, Land rights defender, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Government, Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Mar 12, 2021
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Mar 9, 2021
- Event Description
Chinese authorities must stop harassing formerly imprisoned journalist Lu Yuyu, founder of Not News, and allow him to live where he wishes and travel freely, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.
Chinese national security officers in Guangzhou city broke into Lu’s apartment today and forced him to leave the city, Lu told CPJ via a messaging app. Lu told CPJ that approximately eight officers in plainclothes and uniforms forced their way into his apartment and refused to show him their identifications. The officers asked Lu to deactivate his account on Twitter. “They said if I don’t shut up on Twitter, they would have to keep harassing me,” Lu said. When Lu told the officers that he had deleted most of the sensitive tweets, one officer said, “’It’s because you have clout. If you cancel your Twitter account, no one will harass you again,’” Lu told CPJ.
“It’s time for Chinese authorities to stop harassing journalist Lu Yuyu and let him get on with his life,” said Steven Butler, CPJ’s Asia program coordinator, in Washington, D.C. “Lu has committed no crime and his continued abuse by Chinese authorities only exposes their lawless and arbitrary behavior.”
Lu was sentenced to four years in prison in 2017, after documenting demonstrations against land grabs, wage disputes, pollution, and alleged government corruption across the country on his blog Not News with another journalist, Li Tingyu. He suffered beatings in prison and has been repeatedly harassed since he was freed last year, as CPJ has reported.
Since Lu’s release from prison in June 2020, police have been tracking him wherever he goes and forcing him to relocate, as well as warning him to stop circumventing the country’s internet firewall, according to an interview he gave The Wall Street Journal in November. While Chinese diplomats often use the social media platform to carry out propaganda campaigns and defend Chinese Communist Party policies, Twitter is blocked in the country. Some Chinese citizens use virtual private networks (VPNs) to access it. In January, The Wall Street Journal reported that at least 50 people have been jailed for their posts on the platform.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats, Raid
- Rights Concerned
- Online, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Mar 11, 2021
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Feb 28, 2021
- Event Description
Nearly every main voice of dissent in Hong Kong is now in jail or exile, after Hong Kong police charged 47 pro-democracy campaigners and politicians with conspiracy to commit subversion. All face life in prison if convicted.
The group comprises most of the 55 people arrested last month, over primary polls held last year, in a dawn raid that marked the single biggest operation conducted under the controversial and draconian national security law.
On Sunday, the police force said all but eight had been charged with a single count, and would be detained ahead of court mentions on Monday morning.
The European Union’s office in Hong Kong said the charges made clear that “legitimate political pluralism will no longer be tolerated in Hong Kong”, and called for the immediate release of the detainees. Both Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International accused authorities of using the national security law to silence critics, called for all charges to be dropped.
Those arrested include young campaigners, activists, and local councillors, as well as established politicians such as Claudia Mo, Eddie Chu Hoi-dick and Ray Chan. The activist and former politician Joshua Wong is already in jail, serving 13 months on protest-related charges.
The mass charge had been feared since the individuals were told on Friday to report to police a month earlier than previously instructed. Many began making preparations on the expectation they would be charged and denied bail, including spending time with family, arranging care for their pets, and buying comfortable clothes for prison.
Local media reported the Democratic party legislators James To and Roy Kwong, and the American lawyer John Clancey, were among the eight not charged on Sunday. Clancey told reporters his bail was extended to 4 May, and said Hong Kong was increasingly like living in a detention centre, “with the freedoms and rights of people being constrained more and more”. Speaking outside the police station before going inside, Jimmy Sham, a key organiser of the 2019 protests, said they would remain strong and continue fighting. “Democracy is never a gift from heaven. It must be earned by many with strong will,” he said. “We can tell the whole world, under the most painful system, Hon
Many of those charged left messages to their supporters on social media.
The charge is the first for Claudia Mo, 64, a former journalist and outspoken pro-democracy legislator who resigned with colleagues in protest last year. “I maybe physically feeble, but I’m mentally sturdy,” she wrote on Facebook on Sunday.
“No worries. We all love Hong Kong yah.”
Chu said he was grateful to the people of Hong Kong for the opportunity to contribute, and was “deeply honoured” to be charged over their common ideals.
The former legislator Kwok Ka-ki said: “Prisons can isolate us, but they cannot stop us from connecting with each other and taking care of each other; chains can lock our bodies but can’t hold our minds and souls!
“Stay calm and carry on. This too shall pass! Remember: it is not hope to hold on, it is persistence to have hope!”
The charges stem from unofficial primaries held last year by the pan-democrat camp in an attempt to find the strongest candidates to run in Hong Kong’s election and win a majority in the legislative council. The mass protest movement of 2019 and the brutal crackdown by authorities had driven greater support towards the pro-democracy side of politics, and in district council elections in late 2019 they won the vast majority of seats. More than 600,000 Hongkongers turned out to vote in the polls.
But at the time of the arrests, the Hong Kong security secretary, John Lee, told local media those arrested had aimed to “paralyse” the city’s government with their plan to win the election and block legislation. He referred to an earlier published editorial by the organiser of the primaries, the legal scholar Benny Tai, as evidence of a premeditated and “vicious” plan to “sink Hong Kong into an abyss”.
In an earlier social media post on Sunday, Tai wrote: “My chance of bail won’t be too great.”
The election was ultimately postponed for a year, ostensibly because of the pandemic. Since that time, the Beijing and Hong Kong governments have introduced numerous new impediments to opposition candidates winning, or even running in the elections. Last week, they announced rules requiring all politicians and candidates pledge an oath of loyalty to the rule of the Chinese Communist party and swear not to act against the government, or face disqualification.
Officials said the new laws would ensure that only “patriots” could govern Hong Kong, with one spelling out that patriotism meant loyalty to the Communist party.
The laws are the latest efforts by authorities to wipe out dissent in Hong Kong, using the sweeping national security law imposed by Beijing last June, with the blessing of the Hong Kong government. At least 99 people have been arrested under the law so far, which is broadly defined to outlaw acts of subversion, secession, collusion with foreign forces and terrorism.
- Impact of Event
- 47
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Offline, Right to liberty and security, Right to political participation
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Mar 2, 2021
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Feb 23, 2021
- Event Description
A court in Hong Kong on Tuesday denied an application for bail from jailed democracy activists Agnes Chow and Ivan Lam pending their appeal against their sentence on charges related to "illegal assembly" during a mass siege of police headquarters on June 21, 2019.
Chow, who looked thinner and paler than in previous court appearances, wiped away tears in court as High Court judge Andrew Chan said he would be referring the case to the Court of Appeal, effectively denying the application for bail.
Some supporters shouted out encouragement to Chow, while Lam made the five-finger gesture of the 2019 pro-democracy movement representing five demands made by protesters, including fully democratic elections, an amnesty for jailed protesters, and accountability for police violence.
The hearing was also attended by outspoken Cardinal Joseph Zen. Police officers cordoned off the area around the court entrance with traffic barriers, and journalists weren't allowed to get close enough to take photos.
Lawyers for Lam and Chow later said the pair will both serve out their sentences, with Lam due to be released in April and Chow in June.
Chow, 24, was sentenced to seven months' imprisonment in Dec. 2 after pleading guilty to charges relating to "illegal assembly."
She was taken after sentencing to the medium-security Lo Wu Correctional Institution near the border with mainland China, but was later transferred to the Tai Lam Women's Correctional Institution, a Category A facility.
Category A prisoners, of whom there are only a few hundred in a city of seven million, are often people who have been convicted of murder or drug trafficking.
Fellow activist and former 2014 student leader Joshua Wong, who co-founded the now-disbanded political party Demosisto with Chow, is also believed to have been placed in Category A.
Fellow activists Joshua Wong, 24, and Lam, 26, were jailed for 13-and-a-half-months and seven months respectively by the West Kowloon District Court on Dec. 2, 2020.
All three defendants pleaded guilty to charges of "inciting others to take part in an illegal assembly" and "taking part in an illegal assembly," and their sentences were reduced in recognition of the guilty plea.
Oaths of allegiance
Meanwhile, the Hong Kong authorities are gearing up to require sitting members of the District Council to take an oath of allegiance to Hong Kong.
Secretary for mainland and constitutional affairs Eric Tsang said politicians whose oaths were deemed "insincere" would be stripped of their seats on the council.
Pro-democracy candidates swept to a landslide victory in the last District Council elections in November 2019, which came after several months of mass protest over Hong Kong's vanishing freedoms.
"The law will fulfill the constitutional responsibility of the government," Tsang said.
"You cannot say that you are patriotic but you do not love the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party or you do not respect it - this does not make sense," Tsang added. "Patriotism is holistic love."
The move came a day after a top ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) official in charge of Hong Kong said that only patriots should be allowed to hold public office.
Under the draft legislation, any district councilor who fails the loyalty test will be sent to court for formal disqualification, and banned from taking part in elections for five years.
Mass disqualifications
Political commentators have warned that the authorities are gearing up for the mass disqualification of opposition politicians from the council, who currently hold nearly 90 percent of seats.
Tsang said four district councilors -- Lester Shum, Tiffany Yuen, Fergus Leung, and Tat Cheng -- have already been earmarked for disqualification.
“The returning officers at the time have already concluded that the four do not genuinely uphold the Basic Law. So theoretically speaking, they won’t be qualified to stay on as district councillors," Tsang told reporters in comments reported by government broadcaster RTHK.
A recent poll by the Hong Kong Public Opinion Research Institute (PORI) found that several different measures of freedom in Hong Kong were at their lowest level since the handover.
Academic freedom, freedom of association, and freedom of movement all dropped to their lowest ebb in a survey carried out in early February 2021, while press freedom and freedom of speech also returned low scores.
HKPORI deputy chief executive Chung Kim-wah said the freedom of movement figure reflects people's concerns over growing entry and exit controls at Hong Kong's borders, particularly after China said it would no longer recognize the British National Overseas (BNO) passport.
"First they were talking about countermeasures and non-recognition, and then we had the announcement that the BNO wouldn't be accepted as a travel document any more," Chung told RFA. "There were also rumors that there would be restrictions on people trying to leave."
"Our survey conducted at the beginning of this month reflects people's feelings on the BNO [issue]," he said.
Following the imposition of the national security law in Hong Kong, the U.K. launched an immigration scheme for BNO passport-holders that offers a potential pathway to work, study, and eventual citizenship to around five million of Hong Kong's seven million residents, drawing Beijing's ire.
Crackdown on dissent, opposition
The CCP imposed the draconian National Security Law for Hong Kong on the city from July 1, 2020, ushering in a crackdown on peaceful dissent and political opposition.
The law was described as "one of the greatest threats to human rights and the rule of law in Hong Kong since the 1997 handover" by legal experts at Georgetown University's Asian Law Center.
The report found that the authorities "have made vigorous use of the [law] over the past seven months, with over 100 arrests by the newly-created national security department in the Hong Kong police force."
"The vast majority of initial ... arrests would not be considered national security cases in other liberal constitutional jurisdictions," the report said.
It said there are "serious concerns" that the law is being used to suppress the basic political rights of Hong Kong residents.
"Prosecution of individuals for exercising their rights to free expression, association, or assembly ... violate Hong Kong and Beijing’s commitments under international human rights law," it said.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- Denial Fair Trial, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Right to fair trial
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Feb 27, 2021
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Feb 18, 2021
- Event Description
Authorities in the southern Chinese province of Guangdong have hauled in a rights activist for questioning after he started a signature campaign in support of mass popular protests against the military coup in Myanmar.
State security police in Guangdong's Huizhou city summoned activist Xiao Yuhui for repeated interrogations starting Feb. 18 and continuing into this week, RFA has learned.
The summons came after Xiao posted to a number of groups on the social media app WeChat condemning the Myanmar military coup.
"Xiao Yuhui was summoned to the police station ... he was there about half an hour [that time]," a person familiar with the matter who declined to be named told RFA.
"He's back home now, but the state security police have him in their sights, and they call him in at random," the person said.
Xiao, who was interrogated by police from the Luoxi district police station in Guangzhou, Hengli district police station in Dongguan, and Huizhou municipal police department, is now being pressured to remain in or near his home.
While in Huizhou city, some 30 kilometers away from his home in Hengli district, on Monday night, Xiao received repeated phone calls from officers at his local Yuantongqiao police station asking him to report to them.
Xiao made the trip home, eventually arriving in the early hours of Tuesday, where he was forced to write the guarantee before being released.
Dissident Wang Aizhong, who is based in Guangdong's provincial capital, Guangzhou, said she had heard similar news of Xiao.
"It was about supporting the people of Myanmar [against the coup]," Wang said. "I didn't see it personally."
Targeted before
She said Xiao has been targeted by state security police before.
"He was detained and held under criminal detention for several months at one point, so he's no stranger to being asked to 'drink tea'," she said, in a slang reference to being summoned by state security police.
Xiao, who was called back in by police on Tuesday morning, declined to comment when contacted by RFA following his release.
"Sorry, it's not convenient right now," he said, using a phrase often used by activists to indicate pressure from the authorities.
Rights activists said a number of WeChat users across China, including Qingyuan, Shenzhen, Jieyang, and other Guangdong cities, have been treated similarly since Feb. 18, for adding their names to Xiao's signature campaign.
A friend of Xiao's who asked to remain anonymous said the authorities had responded very quickly to Xiao's posts.
"He posted to the group calling for solidarity with Myanmar and the protests against the military coup," the friend said. "He got the call [from police] ... within hours [of posting]."
Xiao's earlier detention was linked to his online support for the Hong Kong protest movement.
He was detained by Guangdong police alongside an unnamed woman after he retweeted a WeChat on May 27, 2020 referring to an online letter-writing campaign by Hong Kong's pro-democracy newspaper the Apple Daily, in opposition to the national security law.
The draconian law was imposed on the city on July 1, 2020, and outlaws sedition, subversion, foreign interference, and activities supporting independence for Hong Kong.
It is currently being enforced by a newly established state security branch of the Hong Kong police, alongside a branch of China's feared state security police.
The woman was subsequently released on bail pending trial, but Xiao was held under criminal detention at the Huicheng district police station in Huizhou.
A veteran activist, Xiao has also previously helped vulnerable groups to defend their rights, as well as families targeted by family planning officials under the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP)'s "one-child" policy.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Online, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Related Events
- China: pro-democracy defender arrested for joining an online petition demanding democracy in Hong Kong
- Date added
- Feb 27, 2021
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Feb 6, 2021
- Event Description
Chinese authorities should account for the death of a Tibetan tour guide serving a 21-year sentence for reporting protests in his native region seven years ago, Human Rights Watch said today.
Kunchok Jinpa, 51, died in a hospital in Lhasa in the Tibetan Autonomous Region on February 6, 2021, less than three months after being transferred there from prison without his family's knowledge. Local sources said he had suffered a brain hemorrhage and was paralyzed.
“Kunchok Jinpa’s death is yet another grim case of a wrongfully imprisoned Tibetan dying from mistreatment,” said Sophie Richardson, China director at Human Rights Watch. “Chinese authorities responsible for arbitrary detention, torture or ill-treatment, and the death of people in their custody should be held accountable.”
There had been no news of Kunchok Jinpa’s whereabouts since his detention in 2013. New information indicates that the authorities detained Kunchok Jinpa on November 8, 2013, providing his family no information on his whereabouts, and later convicted him of leaking state secrets for passing information to foreign media about local environmental and other protests in his region. His 21-year sentence is unparalleled for such an offense, and no information about his trial or conviction had been publicly available outside China until now.
The authorities moved him from a prison – believed to be the regional prison at Nyetang [Ch.: Nidang], near Lhasa – to a hospital in that city in November 2020. His family learned on January 29 that he was to undergo emergency treatment. Several then went to give blood at the hospital, but were unable to see him. He died in the hospital on February 6.
Kunchok Jinpa was a resident of Village No. 5 in Chaktse (Ch: Qiaze) township in Driru, a county in Nagchu prefecture (now municipality), about 300 kilometers north of Lhasa, the regional capital. He was one among reportedly hundreds of Tibetans from Driru detained after a series of peaceful protests in October 2013 against official demands that villagers fly Chinese flags from every house.
He is believed to have provided information via social media or directly to Tibetan media outside China about a protest in May 2013 against planned mining on a sacred mountain, Naklha Dzamba, together with the names of those detained for involvement in the protest.
People from his area, now in exile, reported that in his final communication on his WeChat micro-blogging account in April 2013, he wrote: “I am now at the bank of a river. There are many people behind me watching me, and I am sure to be arrested. Even if they arrest me, I am not afraid, even if they kill me, I have no regrets. But from now on, I will not be able to give reports. If there is no word from me, that means I have been arrested.”
United Nations standards adopted by the UN General Assembly set out that all death-in-custody cases should be subjected to “prompt, impartial and effective investigations into the circumstances and causes” of the death.
As the UN special rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary, or arbitrary executions has noted, since there is a presumption of state responsibility due to the custodial setting, and the government’s obligation to ensure and respect the right to life, the government has to affirmatively provide evidence to rebut the presumption of state responsibility. Absent proof that it is not responsible, the government has an obligation to provide reparations to the family of the deceased.
The Chinese government also has rules dealing with deaths in custody. These require the police to “immediately conduct” an investigation into the cause of death by viewing and preserving the surveillance video of the detention cell, and questioning fellow detainees, doctors, and guards, among other measures.
Kunchok Jinpa, whose father’s name is Sonam Wangden and mother’s name is Pelha, had become a monk as a child at the Gom Gonsar monastery (Choekor Jampaling) in Driru. In October 1989, he traveled via Nepal to India, where he studied for about 18 months at the Changchubling monastery in Dehra Dun, the seat in exile of the Drikung Kagyu school of Tibetan Buddhism.
From April 1991 until his graduation in 1996, he studied as a layman at a school run by the Tibetan exile community at Suja in Himachal Pradesh. He undertook further studies at the elite Higher Tibetan Studies Institute in Varanasi, and became proficient in English and Hindi, as well as Chinese and Tibetan.
He returned to Tibet in about 1998 and took up work as a tour guide. According to a close associate, he was well regarded in his community for his stress on the importance of economic development and education. He made several return visits to India, including a final visit in 2012, when he attended the Kalachakra ceremony given by the exiled Tibetan leader, the Dalai Lama, in Bodh Gaya.
During the crackdown by security forces on the 2013 protests in Driru, there were reports of firing on unarmed protesters, mass arrests, dozens sentenced on political charges of up to 18 years, and several deaths in custody. Human Rights Watch recently received information that more than 1,325 local people were detained at that time, of whom about 670 were eventually sentenced and imprisoned, although this cannot be confirmed.
Since Kunchok Jinpa’s arrest and imprisonment, little information about the situation in Driru has been available outside China. On February 4, the exile newspaper Tibet Express, based in India, reported for the first time that another Tibetan from Driru, Namdak, about 34, from Meri village in the Tsala area, had been sentenced to 13 years in around July 2013 for assisting Tibetans trying to travel to India. Chinese authorities have not allowed Namdak any visitors for the past two years, reportedly because he is suffering from a contagious disease, and his present condition is not known.
The newspaper also said that up to seven other Tibetans were given 13-year prison sentences in related cases at that time, but their names, ages, and the charges against them remain unknown.
In August 2020, Lhamo, a mother of three from the same locality, died from injuries inflicted in custody there. She had been detained along with her cousin Tenzin Tharpa, apparently accused of sending money to relatives in India.
A collective statement from UN human rights experts in June underlined the need for an independent investigation of the range of human rights violations by the Chinese government. They expressed grave concern over China’s failures to respect human rights and abide by its international obligations, and recommended the establishment of an impartial and independent UN mechanism to monitor and report on abuses “in view of the urgency of the situations” in Hong Kong, Xinjiang, and Tibet.
“For decades Chinese officials have gotten away with detaining people without basis and mistreating them, including to near death,” Richardson said. “Those officials cannot be relied on to investigate these violations, so there is an urgent need for an independent, international investigation by UN human rights experts.”
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Death, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Right to life
- HRD
- Minority rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Feb 23, 2021
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Feb 5, 2021
- Event Description
Police from the eastern Chinese province of Shandong have detained a prominent women's rights activist in Beijing, detaining her thousands of miles away from her home, after she accepted a prize on behalf of jailed dissident Xu Zhiyong.
Li Qiaochu was taken away by police from Shandong's Linyi county after they requested a meeting with her in Beijing's Haidian district, according to a post to her Twitter account on Feb. 5.
The call came after Li accepted the PEN/Barbey Freedom to Write award on behalf of her partner, the jailed dissident Xu Zhiyong, and hours after she had tweeted her reaction to learning that Xu had been tortured in prison.
Li is currently being held in the police-run Linyi Detention Center, the writers' group PEN America said in a statement on its website, adding that she was detained on suspicion of "subversion of state power."
"This is an appalling escalation in the attempt to silence and punish Li Qiaochu for continuing to speak out about Xu’s case and about her own treatment at the hands of state security services," the group's CEO Suzanne Nossel said.
"It may also represent an attempt to increase the pressure on Xu himself by targeting his loved ones."
Nossel described Li as a "woman of tremendous courage and conviction."
"She is being treated like a criminal for refusing to relent as her partner is detained and abused ... we call for her immediate release, and we insist the police stop pursuing these spurious charges," she said.
In December, police forced Li into house arrest and threatened to detain her if she kept speaking out about Xu’s case, according to PEN America.
Li was detained in February 2020 and released on bail on June 19, 2020 after being detained incommunicado under "residential surveillance at a designated location.
Amnesty International said at the time that she was herself at risk of torture.
Help for women, workers
Li worked to find accommodation for thousands of migrant workers forcibly evicted from their homes by authorities in Beijing during a bitterly cold winter in 2017.
She also played an active role in China's #MeToo movement, collating and publishing reports online of sexual harassment and abuse.
After the pandemic struck, Li joined a volunteer team that handed out free masks to sanitation workers in Beijing, and helped pregnant women in quarantine areas to find doctors.
She also worked to support victims of domestic violence, which saw a nationwide spike after hundreds of millions of people were placed under draconian quarantine lockdowns in central China.
Li was summoned by police and held for questioning for 24 hours on Dec. 31 as part of a nationwide operation targeting a group of activists who met in the southeastern port city of Xiamen on Dec. 13.
Xu Zhiyong, who founded the New Citizens' Movement, is also being held by state security police on suspicion of "incitement to subvert state power" after he called on President Xi Jinping to resign.
Xu, who had already served jail time for his spearheading of the New Citizens' Movement anti-corruption campaign, penned an open letter to Xi while in hiding following an earlier meeting in Xiamen, calling on him to step down.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention
- Rights Concerned
- Online, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Feb 10, 2021
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Jan 29, 2021
- Event Description
Authorities in Beijing have demolished the studio of artist Wang Peng in a move he says is likely linked to a planned exhibit featuring the late Wuhan doctor Li Wenliang, who tried to warn the world about the coronavirus pandemic.
A demolition team arrived outside Wang's studio in Beijing's Pinggu district on Friday morning, escorted by police officers, disturbing the family.
"They have demolished my house during a pandemic," he told RFA. "The district mayor said the demolition order came from higher up, from Beijing [municipal government]."
"I was about to pray ... when these police officers suddenly burst in like gangsters and started shoving me around, and they stopped my wife, son, and friends from shooting video," he said.
Wang said he thought the order was likely linked to his plans to hold an exhibit about Li Wenliang, the Wuhan doctor who died of COVID-19 after been warned off speaking out about the extent of the initial outbreak in his city.
"The state security police said I was an 'unstable factor,' so they are doing various things to target me," he said. "The background to this is Li Wenliang."
Wang said the state security police had found out about the planned exhibit, and called to warn him not to proceed.
"They said I would be bringing China into disrepute," Wang said. "Now they have demolished [my studio], because they said it was an illegal structure."
"The political situation is getting to the point of madness," he said.
The demolition came after Wang received a demolition notice on Jan. 23 from the the Xinggu sub-district of Pinggu district government.
It informed him that he would receive no compensation, and would have to have the debris left behind by the demolition gang removed at his own expense.
Repeated calls to the Xingguo subdistrict offices and the Pinggu district government rang unanswered during office hours on Friday.
Political retaliation
Beijing-based rights activist Ni Yulan, who has been hounded from several rented homes by the authorities for helping evictees lodge complaints with the government, said the demolition of Wang's studio was a form of political retaliation for his activism.
She said Wang had already angered the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) with earlier artworks hitting out at its family planning policies.
"The forced demolition was directly related to the concerns he raised about family planning," Ni said.
"Otherwise, why didn't they say anything when he built the place; why did they take so long to look into it?"
Wang's recent work has included installations and a book referencing the violence employed by government family planning officials to stay within birth quotas.
He built the studio with two million yuan of his savings on land leased from the local village committee in 2008. The lease runs until 2028.
In 2014, Beijing state security police evicted Wang and his family from their home in Beijing's Songzhuang Artists' Village.
Li Wenliang was among a group of eight doctors who first sounded the alarm on Dec. 30 about the emergence of a mystery virus in Wuhan that seemed similar to SARS.
The authorities detained and questioned eight of the doctors on Jan. 3, including Li Wenliang, who later died of the virus, accusing them of "rumor-mongering."
One year after Li's death authorities in the central province of Hubei are keeping his family under tight surveillance and restrictions.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- #COVID-19, Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to housing, Right to property
- HRD
- Artist
- Perpetrator-State
- Government, Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Feb 10, 2021
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Feb 9, 2021
- Event Description
A Chinese businesswoman was sentenced to three years’ jail on Tuesday, according to her supporters, after she spoke out in defence of dissident law professor Xu Zhangrun , who has openly criticised the Communist Party and President Xi Jinping . Geng Xiaonan , 46, and her husband Qin Zhen, as well as employees of her private publishing company, stood trial at the Haidian District People’s Court in Beijing after the couple were detained in September and investigated for “illegal business operations”.
There was a heavy police presence outside the court and supporters said they were barred from entering. Friends including Xu and activists Ji Feng and Yan Zhengxue were stopped by the authorities from leaving their homes to attend the hearing.
The trial was broadcast live by the Haidian court but footage was taken down from its website after it was viewed more than 80,000 times and it did not release a statement on the case.
After asking the court to disregard her legal defence, Geng pleaded guilty to charges including conducting illegal business activities, according to a video of the trial that was captured and posted online.
In pleading guilty, Geng asked the court for leniency in the cases of her husband and staff, saying they had been “forced to carry out orders from their boss”. She also contradicted her legal defence and claimed to have been “the sole proprietor and decision maker” of the publishing company since 2001.
“I would really appreciate it if the court would be lenient on them and target all of the sentencing burden on me alone,” Geng said.
She also asked the court to consider giving her a lighter sentence on humanitarian grounds since she is the only child of, and supports, her disabled war veteran father who lives alone.
Qin, Geng’s husband, was sentenced to 2½ years in prison, suspended for three years.
A number of Geng’s supporters, including prominent liberal intellectual Guo Yuhua, went to the Haidian court but were blocked from entering. Witnesses said more than a dozen police vehicles were parked outside the court, and Geng’s lawyers had been warned not to speak to the media. Dissident Ji said he had been told by state security personnel on Monday evening to stay at home the next day. “Two officers came to my house in the morning and stopped me from leaving. The same thing happened to Xu Zhangrun ,” Ji said by phone.
He said Geng had been indicted over illegal business activities involving 200,000 copies of mostly cookery books for which the full publishing rights had not been obtained.
“‘Illegal business activities’ is just an alternative charge to ‘inciting state subversion’ when it comes to entrepreneurs who are critical of China’s political ecology,” Ji said. “The purpose is to intimidate, silence and cut off all social networks they have with political dissidents in a bid to isolate them.”
Geng, who is also an art curator and film producer, was detained, along with her husband, two months after she had spoken out in support of Xu. He had been detained by police for “patronising prostitutes” during a trip which Geng organised for a group of academics including Xu to the southwestern city of Chengdu last year.
Xu, who has since been released but cannot leave Beijing, denies the charges and has hired lawyers to clear his name. After he was detained, Xu was sacked by Tsinghua University in Beijing where he had taught law for 20 years. The university also accused Xu of publishing articles since mid-2018 that “seriously violated” its code of conduct. Xu, 57, has written a series of articles criticising the authorities in recent years, taking aim at Communist Party leaders over the decision to remove the two-term limit on the presidency – allowing Xi to remain as president after 2023 – and the handling of the coronavirus pandemic.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Denial Fair Trial, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Offline, Right to fair trial, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Artist, Family of HRD, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Related Events
- China: outspoken publisher, her husband detained
- Date added
- Feb 10, 2021
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Feb 7, 2021
- Event Description
Yesterday, national security officers of the Hong Kong Police Force arrested Wan on four charges of “doing an act with a seditious intention,” a criminal offense under the territory’s colonial-era sedition law, according to news reports.
Wan, who broadcasts under the name “Giggs,” hosts a show on the internet radio channel D100 that reports and comments on political issues in mainland China and Hong Kong, including on the arrest of Apple Daily newspaper founder Jimmy Lai. D100 is an independent station that has about 510,000 followers on its YouTube channel and about 59,000 followers on its Facebook page.
If convicted of sedition, Wan could face a fine of up to $5,000 Hong Kong dollars (US$644) and up to two years in jail for a first offense, and up to three years in jail for subsequent offenses, according to Hong Kong’s Crimes Ordinance.
“Hong Kong authorities’ use of sedition charges against radio host Wan Yiu-sing amounts to a government assault on press freedom and freedom of speech,” said Steven Butler, CPJ’s Asia program coordinator, in Washington, D.C. “Wan should be freed with all charges dropped, and the government should halt its ridiculous efforts to block political criticism by journalists.”
The charges stem from comments Wan made on four shows between August and October 2020, which police allege had an intent to incite hatred or contempt towards the People’s Republic of China and the Hong Kong government, and to instigate Hong Kongers to illegally seek changes to the city’s lawful orders, according to news reports.
The Hong Kong Police Force did not immediately respond to CPJ’s emailed request for comment.
Wan felt unwell in police custody last night and has been hospitalized, according to reports. He was originally scheduled to attend a court hearing today, but it has been adjourned to February 11, according to those reports.
Journalists in Hong Kong have faced increasing repression and harassment since the passage of the new national security law on July 1, 2020, as CPJ has documented. On December 11, Hong Kong authorities charged Lai with foreign collusion under that law.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Online, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Feb 9, 2021
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Jan 21, 2021
- Event Description
Public broadcaster Radio Television Hong Kong (RTHK) terminated journalist Nabela Qoser’s three-year civil service contract, citing an ongoing investigation into her reporting as justification. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and its affiliate, the Hong Kong Journalists Association (HKJA), condemn the political interference in RTHK and calls for the journalist to be fully reinstated.
The 35-year-old program officer for RTHK regularly aimed hard-hitting questions to Hong Kong Chief Executive, Carrie Lam, and other government officials in the live-streamed press conferences during the months-long pro-democracy protests in 2019. Her work, particularly, also drew the ire of pro-government supporters.
RTHK later launched an investigation into Qoser’s conduct after receiving complaints but cleared her of any wrongdoing. However, the public broadcaster reopened a probe into Qoser’s case in September 2020, and her probation period as a civil servant was extended by 120 days until the end of January 2021.
On January 21, Qoser was informed by RTHK that her civil service contract was being terminated, and she was offered a three-month short-term contract instead. Qoser has already completed her three-year probationary services.
On January 28, more than 60 RTHK employees protested outside the public broadcaster’s headquarters against the unfair treatment of their colleague. Qoser later accepted the short-term contract.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment, Censorship
- Rights Concerned
- Media freedom, Offline, Right to work
- HRD
- Media Worker, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Government
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Feb 9, 2021
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Feb 2, 2021
- Event Description
Authorities in the central Chinese province of Henan have struck off a human rights lawyer after he tried to represent one of the 12 Hong Kong protesters detained by the China Coast Guard as they tried to flee to the democratic island of Taiwan.
Ren Quanniu received a notice from the Henan provincial bureau of judicial affairs on Tuesday informing him that his license to practice had been revoked on the grounds that he "used a cult to undermine the law" in November 2018.
The letter said Ren had "seriously damaged the image of the legal profession" after he defended a member of the banned Falun Gong spiritual movement, which has been designated an "evil cult" by the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
Ren said he didn't believe the reason stated in the letter was the main factor behind the decision, however.
"One factor was my involvement in the Hong Kong 12 case, which was much deeper [than in the other case]," he told RFA on Tuesday. "The other was [my defense of citizen journalist] Zhang Zhan."
"I gave a lot of media interviews about those two cases, so I think they are more likely to have been the main reasons," Ren said.
Authorities in the southwestern Chinese province of Sichuan have already suspended the license of fellow rights attorney Lu Siwei, citing his public comments on the case of the 12 Hong Kong activists detained at sea in August 2020.
'Inappropriate remarks'
Judicial authorities in Sichuan's provincial capital Chengdu moved on Jan. 4 to strike Lu off, alleging that he made "inappropriate remarks" in public about the case, thereby "breaking Chinese law and professional guidelines for lawyers."
None of the attorneys hired by the families of the 12 detainees was allowed to see their clients, who had lawyers appointed for them by the local government instead.
Ren also defended Zhang Zhan, who was sentenced to four years' imprisonment in December 2020 for posting reports from Wuhan during the first wave of the coronavirus pandemic in the city.
She was found guilty of "picking quarrels and stirring up trouble," a charge frequently used to target critics of the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP), on the basis that she had published "false information" about the pandemic on social media sites.
Ren had given media interviews detailing her physical condition as she engaged in a hunger strike in protest at her treatment.
No regrets
Ren, who is now effectively barred from working as a lawyer in China, said he has no regrets, however.
"I think that rights lawyers in mainland China should stand with the people of Hong Kong, even if it means that they wind up losing their licenses," Ren said. "Hong Kong people have always been at the forefront of Chinese people's hopes for their own society."
"So many paid a heavy price and were arrested, and the [authorities'] persecution [of activists] has been pretty serious," he said. "I had no hesitation [in taking the case] and felt we should do our best to help them."
Hong Kong rights lawyer Albert Ho, who heads the Chinese Human Rights Lawyers Concern Group, said the suspension of Lu and Ren's licenses are the latest in a long litany of actions taken by the CCP against human rights lawyers in China, starting with a nationwide police operation in July 2015.
"If lawyers have no protection for their own rights, then how can they defend their clients' rights?" Ho said. "How does one defend disadvantaged groups who have no legal knowledge at all?"
"Things are moving towards a state of lawlessness [in China], slowly inching back towards the Cultural Revolution," he said, in a reference to an era of political violence and social turmoil from 1966 to 1976 under late supreme leader Mao Zedong and the Gang of Four.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Offline, Right to work
- HRD
- Lawyer
- Perpetrator-State
- Government
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Feb 3, 2021
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Jan 16, 2021
- Event Description
On January 16, 10 minutes prior to boarding a high-speed train (D2655) to visit the parents of Lawyer Chang Weiping (their client), two human rights lawyers Chen Keyun and Xie Yang disappeared. Recently, Lawyer Chang's parents had demonstrated against Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officials' secretive imprisonment and torture of their son.
At 11:15 am, January 16 (Beijing time), human rights lawyer Xie Yang texted his location to Chen Guiqiu, his wife: Xi’an North Station. At approximately 10 pm, when Ms. Chen phoned both Lawyer Xie and Lawyer Chen, the calls did not go through. She also phoned Mr. Xiang Xianhong a security agent in charge of Lawyer Chang’s case but he did not answer her call. Around 11 pm, Ms. Chen phoned three other security agents in Changsha, Hunan Province (Mr. Li Kewei, Mr. Li Yang, and Mr. Peng Jinsong). Although the phone calls got through to these lawyers in charge of Lawyer Xie Yang’s case, none of them answered.
Ms. Chen did not receive any information about Lawyer Xie until 6 am January 17. At that time, she learned that Lawyer Xie and Lawyer Chen Keyun had been missing for more than 22 hours.
ChinaAid strongly urges Shaanxi police: “Conform to China’s rule of law and the United Nation’s articles concerning human rights. Stop blatantly infringing on the personal rights of Lawyer Xie Yang and Lawyer Chen Keyun.
Hunan rights lawyer Xie Yang, who recently tried to visit Baoji to support Chang's family, told RFA: "We found out from Chang Weiping's wife that his parents are now under close surveillance, and that the authorities have installed CCTV cameras at the door [of their home]."
Xie said he boarded a high-speed train to Baoji along with fellow lawyer Chen Keyun, but was intercepted by state security police at the provincial capital, Xi'an, where he needed to change trains.
"No sooner had I gotten off the train than I ran into a bunch of people," Xie told RFA in a recent interview. "They claimed it was to do with the pandemic, because my health code didn't scan properly, and that I should cooperate with their investigation."
"But those people didn't look like pandemic prevention types to me; they were state security police from [the provincial capital of] Xi'an," he said. "I told them that they knew perfectly well who I was, and that I knew perfectly well who they were."
The police forced Xie and Chen to leave the high-speed rail station, confiscated their phones and ID cards, and took them to a hotel, where they were held in separate rooms.
They were told they wouldn't be allowed to continue to Baoji, and stability maintenance personnel, or "interceptors," from their hometowns of Changsha and Guangzhou were summoned to escort them back home again.
On returning to Changsha, Xie was placed under house arrest.
"They don't want this information to reach the outside world," Xie said. "There have been rumors going around that [Chang Weiping's parents] have now been detained, but ... nobody can get anywhere near [their home]."
"They are so worried that we will expose the truth," he said. "Maybe they are also worried that we might encourage more supporters to gather."
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Intimidation and Threats, Judicial Harassment, Restrictions on Movement, Surveillance
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of movement, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security, Right to privacy
- HRD
- Lawyer
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Related Events
- China: prominent lawyer arrested, held incommunicado
- Date added
- Feb 1, 2021
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Jan 28, 2021
- Event Description
Rights groups and activists at home and abroad Friday denounced China for barring a prominent Chinese democracy and rights activist from leaving for the United States to care for his cancer-stricken wife.
They called the action “inhuman” and said China is a “fascist” state because the activist, Guo Feixiong, is a free man and the communist government has no right to restrict his travel.
Guo launched a hunger strike Thursday to protest after he was stopped at the Shanghai airport.
“I now begin my hunger strike indefinitely at the Shanghai Pudong International Airport. The customs have officially barred me from leaving the country on suspicion of endangering national security. I urge all the Chinese people and governments around the world to help me,” Guo wrote in a short message to VOA Thursday night, saying that he was being seized by two police officers at customs.
A brutal action
“What a brutal action by the state police and the customs,” he added.
Guo, 54, has since been unreachable, with his whereabouts unknown.
The public security bureau in Shanghai said Friday that it is unable to handle VOA’s inquiry as it is uncertain which unit made the arrest.
Prior to his departure from Guangzhou in south China’s Guangdong province, Guo told VOA he is determined to join his wife, who is in the U.S. and about to begin months of chemotherapy after her cancerous colon tumors were removed during surgery earlier this month.
“I will only stop my hunger strike the minute I’m allowed to board the plane. My life will apparently hang in the hands of the state police if you’re unable to reach me at my cellphone [later]… The [police’s] move is extremely inhuman, and they have to be held legally and morally responsible for my hunger strike,” Guo told VOA a day before his planned flights Thursday.
According to Guo, local police in Guangzhou had warned him on Tuesday about attempting to travel to the U.S. They said that his travel plan was vetoed at the last minute by their higher-ups in the Ministry of Public Security, even though Guo has legally obtained all necessary travel permits from local authorities, including proof of a negative COVID-19 test. The ministry also threatened to send police to intercept him if he made it to the airport in Shanghai on Thursday, he added.
Some kind of agreement
The local police, in addition, demanded that Guo fly to his birthplace in Hubei province and talk with public security officers there to reach “some kind of agreement” – a request Guo said he flatly rejected.
It is widely speculated among Chinese rights lawyers and activists, many of whom are not free to speak, that Chinese authorities want to hold Guo hostage and keep him quiet.
“The police have absolutely no rights to deprive Guo of his freedom to travel. This is outrageous. What harm can dissidents, who travel overseas, do to endanger the regime?” a rights activist surnamed Lee told VOA on condition of anonymity.
Guo, whose real name is Yang Maodong, has been an active rights defender and political dissident since 2005. He had served a total of 11 years in prison on charges such as “picking quarrels and provoking” and “assembling a crowd to disturb order at public places.”
He was last freed from jail in late 2019 after having served a six-year sentence for his participation in a protest against the Guangzhou government’s censorship of a local liberal-leaning publication – the Southern Weekly.
However, Guo remains an outspoken dissident, who has called on Chinese President Xi Jinping to launch political reforms, abide by the country’s constitution and ensure press freedom, while urging the Chinese government to deepen its cooperation with the U.S.
To avoid China’s alleged political persecution, Guo’s wife, Zhang Qing, and their two children fled to the U.S. in 2009 and have been granted political asylum there.
A group of more than 100 dissidents, led by former Tiananmen Square movement leader Wang Dan, signed a petition in support of Guo.
They said, in a press statement, that “given Guo is a free man, China has no rights to keep him from visiting his family overseas whether it is from the legal, human rights or humanitarian perspectives. China’s inhuman move has proved again that its regime is increasingly fascist.”
“We called on western governments to help Guo facilitate his trip through diplomatic avenues,” the statement read.
In particular, Wu’er Kaixi, another Tiananmen student leader who also signed the petition, called on U.S. President Joe Biden and his administration to extend a helping hand to Guo.
Calls on U.S. to take action
“President Biden has and [Secretary of State] Mr. [Antony] Blinken has also strongly reiterated their stance against China, based on values, … We want to see action following [their] very well-said statement. And we want to see action to help Guo Feixiong and that action will ratify those statements,” Wu’er told VOA.
The former Tiananmen activist, who now lives in Taipei, said that many in Taiwan are also “outraged” about China’s disapproval of Guo’s travel – a move he said “was against the minds and hearts of all mankind.”
Several other rights groups, including the Hong Kong-based China Human Rights Lawyers Concerned Group, the U.S.-based Human Rights Lawyers of China and the Taipei-based New School for Democracy, all denounced China’s restriction on Guo’s ability to travel freely.
The restriction “is inhuman and it is also a reprisal to legal activists in China,” Du Song of the Hong Kong-based rights group said in a written reply to VOA, urging China to quickly reverse its decision.
In a press statement, the U.S.-based rights group expressed concern over Guo’s health.
“We’re deeply concerned about his health and life after he has staged another indefinite hunger strike. Guo was once on hunger strike in 2014 for a long time, which had taken a toll on his physical condition… We urge all relevant bodies [in China] to reconsider and soon greenlight his trip to take care of his wife in the U.S.” its statement read.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment, Restrictions on Movement, Travel Restriction
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of movement
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Feb 1, 2021
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Jan 28, 2021
- Event Description
Authorities in the eastern province of Shandong are preparing to revoke the license of a rights lawyer who was hired to defend fellow rights lawyer Wang Quanzhang, as the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) continues a nationwide clampdown on the legal profession.
Xi Xiangdong, who had been hired to represent Wang after his detention as part of a crackdown on the profession starting in July 2015, was notified by the Shandong provincial department of justice on Thursday that it will likely revoke his license to practise.
Wang told RFA that the authorities were likely retaliating after Xi spoke out against the mistreatment of his client Chi Shengang, an entrepreneur accused of involvement in organized crime.
"Lawyers like Xi Xiangdong tend to stick to the law when it comes to how lawyers should act, so they are likely anger some people, and suffer retaliation for that," Wang said.
He said the authorities are likely taking issue with Xi's attempts to do his job properly.
"If lawyers [like Xi] try to argue their case in court using reason, they see it as a failure to obey the judge," Wang said. "This gives them the excuse they need to retaliate against the lawyer."
According to the authorities, Xi had repeatedly ignored directions from the judge in the case, repeatedly interrupted judges and prosecutors and interfered with court proceedings.
Repeated calls to Xi's phone rang unanswered on Thursday.
"Everything [in the Chinese justice system] works to the detriment of detainees and defendants," Wang said. "Lawyers are forced to toe the line politically, and they have nowhere to turn for help, and can only rely on public opinion."
"In some cases, this means that they will disclose details of cases," he said.
'The courage to expose and criticize'
Henan-based rights lawyer Ren Quanniu, who also faces the loss of his license to practice, said he supported Xi's actions, because he was speaking out in his client's interest.
"Real lawyers have the courage to expose and criticize [the authorities]," Ren said. "You can't say they should remain silent if their clients are being treated illegally, or are in some kind of danger."
He said he fears the authorities will continue to revoke lawyers' licenses as a way of forcing them into compliance.
"Inside sources say that [the CCP] wants to deal with any lawyers who dare to speak out in public," Ren said. "[Xi] won't be the last to be warned, punished or lose his license ... we may be seeing a new purge."
Xi has the right to file an application for a disciplinary hearing, although such a hearing is unlikely to make much difference to the final outcome, according to rights lawyers.
Xi was initially hired by Wang Quanzhang's wife Li Wenzu to represent her husband following his disappearance in July 2015.
But he was later forced to drop the case after the ministry of justice threatened him with arrest.
Earlier this month, authorities in the southwestern Chinese province of Sichuan suspended the license of rights attorney Lu Siwei at a disciplinary hearing, citing his public comments on the case of the 12 Hong Kong activists detained at sea in August 2020.
Judicial authorities in Sichuan's provincial capital Chengdu moved on Jan. 4 to strike Lu off, alleging that he made "inappropriate remarks" in public about the case, thereby "breaking Chinese law and professional guidelines for lawyers."
Ren, who was hired to represent one of the Hong Kong 12 but denied access to his client along with the rest of the attorneys hired by the families, will have his disciplinary hearing on Friday.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Right to work
- HRD
- Lawyer
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Jan 29, 2021
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Jan 13, 2021
- Event Description
Authorities in the southwestern Chinese province of Sichuan on Wednesday suspended the license of rights attorney Lu Siwei at a disciplinary hearing, citing his public comments on the case of the 12 Hong Kong activists detained at sea in August 2020.
Judicial authorities in Sichuan's provincial capital Chengdu moved on Jan. 4 to strike Lu off, alleging that he made "inappropriate remarks" in public about the case, thereby "breaking Chinese law and professional guidelines for lawyers."
Faced with the loss of his license to practice law, Lu opted for a full hearing. He was dragged into the building by police officers on Wednesday as he showed up at the Sichuan provincial department of justice in Chengdu.
"Lawyer Lu Siwei was escorted to the justice department directly from his home in his wife's car," a lawyer at the scene, who asked to remain anonymous, told RFA on Wednesday.
"He wasn't allowed contact with anyone else, and was taken straight inside the building. His two lawyers were intercepted -- one of them got to go inside after a struggle," the lawyer said.
Xie Yanyi, who represented Lu at the hearing, dismissed the evidence brought by officials against Lu at the hearing.
"The allegations made by the investigators during the hearing over Lu Siwei's so-called violations of law and discipline were entirely fictitious; they didn't hold water," Xie told RFA.
He said the hearing had ended with the suspension of Lu's license.
"The Sichuan department of justice made no attempt to investigate the allegations, and just issued a notice of suspension of [Lu's] license without bothering to verify the details," Xie said. "It should at least have conducted a preliminary investigation."
'Illegal persecution'
He said the conduct of the hearing was tantamount to persecution.
"Everyone inside the room were insiders; this was basically a behind-closed-doors hearing," he said. "The whole process was illegal right from the start."
"Rushing to an administrative punishment in such a way ... is essentially illegal persecution," Xie said.
Consular staff sent by foreign diplomatic missions, including those of Canada, Denmark, France, the United Kingdom and the United States, were also denied entry to the hearing, which was then held behind closed doors.
The lawyer said there was a strong police presence outside the building, with checkpoints at either end of the street.
"The Department of Justice has set up police checkpoints at both ends of the road," the lawyer said. "I also saw a large police vehicle outside and seven or eight smaller ones."
"There are actually not as many police officers in uniform as plainclothes ... [the plainclothes officers] are guarding the place very tightly by following people and coming forward [when they approach the building]."
Fellow rights attorney Ren Quanniu, who also faces the loss of his lawyer's license for defending another of the Hong Kong 12, Xu Yan, wife of rights attorney Yu Wensheng, were taken away by police, the lawyer said.
"There was a standoff between them and the intercepting police officers," the lawyer said. "Some people who had gotten involved in a more intense altercation were taken straight to the local police station."
"Initially, the police denied them water, but they are saying that they have now been given lunch," the lawyer said.
Large-scale purge of lawyers since 2015
Lu and Ren both received notification around New Year that their licenses were being reviewed by their local judicial affairs bureaus because they had "posted inappropriate remarks" online.
Lu, who was never allowed to visit his client Quinn Moon in Yantian Detention Center in Shenzhen, despite being hired by her family, was particularly vocal in the months following the initial detention of the 12 protesters aged 16 to 33 by the China Coast Guard on Aug. 23, repeatedly commenting about his attempts to gain access to his client, to no avail.
In a Dec. 31 notice sent to Ren, who was hired by the family of Wong Wai-yin but similarly prevented from carrying out his instructions, judicial authorities in the central province of Henan, said his license was also under review for "violating Chinese law and professional guidelines for lawyers."
Ren's hearing will be held on Jan. 19.
On Dec. 31, 2020, a court in the southern Chinese province of Guangdong handed down jail terms of up to three years to 10 of the 12 Hong Kong protesters detained on Aug. 23 as they tried to flee a national security crackdown in the city, on charges linked to "illegally crossing a border."
The Yantian District People's Court in Guangdong's Shenzhen city sentenced Ren's client Tang Kai-yin to three years' imprisonment for "organizing others to cross a border illegally," while fellow activist Quinn Moon -- Lu's client -- was jailed for two years on the same charge.
Fellow defendants Cheng Tsz-ho, Cheung Chun-fu, Li Tsz-yin, Andy Li, Wong Wai-yin, Kok Tsz-Lun, Jim Man-him, and Cheung Ming-jyu were each jailed for seven months each for "illegally crossing a border" and fined 10,000 yuan each.
The remaining two detainees -- Liu Tsz-man and Hoang Lam-fuk -- were sent back to Hong Kong after the authorities said they wouldn't pursue charges against them, as they were under 18 at the time of their detention.
All 12 detainees were consistently denied access to defense attorneys hired by their families and allocated government-approved attorneys to represent them at a trial that was effectively held behind closed doors.
Since beginning a nationwide crackdown in July 2015, authorities in provinces and cities across China have conducted large-scale purges of lawyers deemed not to be toeing the party line, with hundreds losing their licenses in Hunan alone in September 2020.
On January 4, Attorney Ren Quanniu received a notice from Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officials, employed by Henan’s department of justice, informing him that the government had revoked his license to practice law in China. Lawyer Ren believes this ruling relates to the cases of “12 Hong Kongers,” and imprisoned “Shanghai Lawyer Zhang Zhan."
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment, Denial Fair Trial
- Rights Concerned
- Online, Right to fair trial, Right to work
- HRD
- Lawyer
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Jan 15, 2021
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Jan 7, 2021
- Event Description
On Jan. 7, the Pizhou Municipal People's Court in the eastern province of Jiangsu jailed journalist Li Xinde for five years after finding him guilty of "illegal business activity."
Li’s son Li Chao was handed a one-year jail term at the same time.
'A very dangerous business'
Li was first detained by police in October 2019 and placed in "residential surveillance at a designated location (RSDL)," not long after he published a claim that a court in Tianjin had wrongfully convicted a businessman.
Li, an investigative reporter, founded and ran the China Public Watchdog Network, which had a focus on exposing corrupt officials.
Beijing-based rights lawyer Liu Xiaoyuan commented via Twitter: "To speak out on behalf of those suffering injustice in today's society, and to monitor the agencies wielding state power, is a very dangerous business."
Zhang Yu, who heads the writers' group Independent Chinese PEN, said charges of "illegal business activity" are often brought against peaceful critics of the CCP.
"The main charge used to suppress freedom of speech in China is incitement to subvert state power, but they have to show in what part of their speech or writing they did that," Zhang told RFA.
"They may use illegal business activity if what they said was particularly sensitive, or if they can't really find evidence to support [subversion] charges in what they said or wrote," Zhang said. "It has nothing to do with [the defendant] actually having conducted illegal business activity."
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Online, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Jan 15, 2021
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Jan 8, 2021
- Event Description
Former Chinese journalist and renowned critic of internet censorship Zhang Jialong was sentenced to 18 months in prison on January 8 for his remarks on social media that were allegedly aimed at "spreading false information and provoking trouble". The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) condemns the assault on freedom of speech and calls on Chinese authorities to overturn the verdict and release Zhang immediately.
The 32-year-old former journalist with Caijing, a Beijing-based magazine, and Tencent was found guilty of “picking quarrels and provoking trouble,” a broadly defined charge often levelled by the authorities against those who are critical of the Chinese government.
Zhang was jailed for 18 months, his wife Shao Yuan said after being notified by Zhang’s lawyer on January 8.
Zhang was arrested at his residence in Guiyang, Guizho Province on August 12, 2019 and has been held in police custody ever since. The authorities later accused him of spreading false information defaming the Chinese Communist Party on Twitter.
His Twitter posts related to human rights issues and internet freedoms in China.
Zhang has been detained since August and is therefore expected to be released on February 12. Nevertheless, Zhang reportedly vowed to appeal against the ruling.
Zhang has been targeted by the Chinese authorities for several years. In February 2014, hemade headlines after asking the then-U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry to help “tear down this great firewall that blocks the Internet” during their meeting in Beijing.
He later published an op-ed in the global magazine Foreign Policy, calling on the U.S. government to deny visas to those involved in building and maintaining the Chinese great firewall of censorship. He was subsequently fired from Tencent.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Denial Fair Trial, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of expression Online, Right to fair trial, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Blogger/ Social Media Activist
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Jan 15, 2021
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Dec 13, 2020
- Event Description
On 26 December 2020, one of Yu Wensheng's defence lawyers received the Jiangsu Provincial Higher People's Court's appeal decision upholding the original verdict and sentence against the human rights defender. The appeal decision was reached before the defence lawyers had the opportunity to submit their defence statement to the court and before they were able to make copies of and review all the case files.
The appeal decision was dated 13 December 2020, but when Xu Yan, Yu Wensheng's wife, phoned the Court on 16 December, a court official told her that the Court had yet to reach a decision.
It is not yet clear when, or if, Yu Wensheng, who is currently detained at the Xuzhou Detention Centre, will be transferred to a prison. Detention centre officials have rejected Xu Yan's requests to visit him, on the pretext of COVID-19 regulations. Xu Yan has requested the authorities to; allow family visitation as soon as possible, transfer him back to Beijing where she and their child live, and guarantee him access to adequate treatment for medical conditions affecting his right hand and his teeth.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Denial Fair Trial, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Right to fair trial, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Lawyer
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Jan 15, 2021
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Jan 6, 2021
- Event Description
The Hong Kong police served four media organisations with court warrants requiring the handing in of internal documents related to July's primary elections on January 6. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and its affiliate, the Hong Kong Journalists' Association (HKJA), expressed concern about the chilling effect that such acts will have on the press and called on Hong Kong authorities to stop harassing journalists and media organisations.
On January 6, the Hong Kong police’s national security department turned up at the offices of online news outlets StandNews and InMedia, as well as media group Next Digital and its subsidiary newspaper Apple Daily with court orders. The media organisations were reportedly asked to hand in information about the pro-democracy camp’s primary elections held in July 2020 within seven days.
The police did not search the newsrooms.
Steve Li Kwai-Wah, a senior superintendent at the National Security Division, said during a press conference on January 6 that the authorities were not seeking to obtain journalistic materials. According to Li, the police were asking the media outlets to provide assistance in the investigation.
Both Apple Daily and StandNews said they would be seeking legal advice on the matter. Editor-in-chief of StandNews Chung Pui-kuen also said he was asked not to disclose details about the court order.
This came hours after the Hong Kong authorities arrested 53 pro-democracy leaders for their involvement in the primaries last year, including former lawmakers, district councillors, activists, and scholars. The authorities said the unofficial vote to choose opposition candidates for the city’s now postponed Legislative Council elections was part of a plan to “overthrow” the government.Gwyneth Ho Kwai-lam, a journalist-turned-politician who used to work with StandNews and the BBC, was one of the detainees.
According to Ho’s Facebook admin, the police searched Ho’s residence and took away business cards and electronic devices she had used when working for the BBC. Ho was released on bail late on January 7.
- Impact of Event
- 4
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Online, Right to liberty and security, Right to privacy
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Jan 15, 2021
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Dec 14, 2020
- Event Description
On 14 December 2020, Chang Weiping's parents held a protest in front of the Gaoxin branch of the Baoji Municipal Public Security Bureau, seeking his release and raising concerns about the risk of torture in detention. After the protest, both parents were summoned for interrogation several times. A CCTV camera was installed outside their home in Fengxiang county to monitor their movement and any visitors. Their mobile phones have since been confiscated and they are under de facto incommunicado house arrest.
One of Chang Weiping's brothers-in-law and his father-in-law also had their mobile phones confiscated. Chang Weiping's older sister was prohibited from visiting her father. Chen Zijuan, Chang Weiping's wife, has not been able to contact her father-in-law for over two weeks.
On 6 January 2021, Chen Zijuan submitted a complaint to the Baoji Municipal Procuratorate against local public security officials who visited her in Shenzhen eight times between 22 October 2020, the day Chang Weiping was detained, and 23 December 2020. The officials warned her not to conduct public advocacy for her husband. They also pressured her to delete her social media posts on Weibo about her husband's situation. The officials said she would lose her job if she defied their demands.
The two human rights lawyers who were initially hired to assist Chang Weiping had to withdraw from the case due to intense pressure from the authorities. Two new lawyers who took over the case said they could not give any media interviews due to official pressure. The new lawyers' first attempt to meet Chang Weiping was not successful. In a statement issued on 16 December 2020, the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders said the withdrawal of Chang Weiping's first lawyers was "telling of the gravity and scale of the situation faced by human rights defenders and lawyers in China.”
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats, Judicial Harassment, Restrictions on Movement, Surveillance
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of movement, Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Family of HRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Related Events
- China: prominent lawyer arrested, held incommunicado
- Date added
- Jan 15, 2021
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Jan 6, 2021
- Event Description
The Hong Kong government should not file charges against the 53 pro-democracy politicians arbitrarily arrested on January 6, 2021, Human Rights Watch said today. All were arrested for “subversion” under Hong Kong’s draconian National Security Law (NSL), which the Chinese government imposed on June 30, 2020.
The 53 men and women arrested span the spectrum of Hong Kong’s pro-democracy movement. They include veteran politicians and activists, such as Leung “Long Hair” Kwok-hung and Claudio Mo, and newcomers who joined the movement during the 2019 protests. The latter include Jeffrey Andrews, a social worker serving the city’s ethnic minority community, and Lee Chi Yung, a disability rights advocate. Many represent a broad cross-section of grassroots society long excluded from the city’s governance.
“Hong Kong authorities’ claims that discussing candidates and advocating for government action is somehow subversive is ludicrous,” said Maya Wang, senior China researcher at Human Rights Watch. “It’s increasingly clear that Beijing’s commitment to Hong Kong’s ‘high degree of autonomy’ isn’t worth the paper it’s written on.”
Hong Kong police said that a public opinion poll conducted in July 2020 regarding pro-democracy candidates for an upcoming Legislative Council (LegCo) election constituted “subversion.” They said those arrested violated article 22 of the National Security Law, which states that anyone who “organizes, plans, commits or participates” in “seriously interfering, disrupting or undermining” the performance of the Hong Kong or central government bodies are subject to a penalty of up to life in prison for “principal offenders.” Among the 53 arrested, police said, six were organizers.
The legal definitions of “subversion” and other NSL crimes are overly broad and vague, and can include the peaceful exercise of human rights, enshrined in Hong Kong’s de facto constitution, the Basic Law. These rights are also protected under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which is incorporated into Hong Kong’s legal framework via the Basic Law and expressed in the Bill of Rights Ordinance.
All but one of those arrested are being released on bail. Charges have yet to be brought against the 53, though they have to surrender their passports as a condition of bail. The prosecution said that Wu Chi-wai, former chairman of the Democratic Party, has kept one of his passports even though he was ordered to surrender his travel documents as part of bail conditions in an earlier case. Wu remains detained.
In addition, the police have frozen HK$1.6 million (US$206,000) in connection with the poll and delivered court warrants to four news organizations that require them to hand over information to the police for investigation. Hong Kong police should release Wu immediately, lift all bail conditions, and return everyone’s travel documents, Human Rights Watch said.
Since the Chinese government imposed the National Security Law in June, the authorities have intimidated and arbitrarily arrested pro-democracy activists, and encouraged people to report on one another to remove pro-democracy figures from key sectors of society, including education, the media, and civil service.
Beijing and the Hong Kong government have also accelerated their assault on the previously semi-democratic LegCo. Since 2016, they have disqualified pro-democracy activists from running for seats or unseated them after they were elected. Following the passage of the National Security Law, the Hong Kong government delayed the September 2020 LegCo elections for a year. Beijing then expelled four pro-democracy members of the legislature, leading other pro-democracy legislators to resign in protest. The arrests of the 53 politicians appears part of Beijing’s increasing actions to exert full control over the LegCo, Human Rights Watch said.
Concerned governments, including the United Kingdom, European Union countries, and the incoming Biden administration in the United States, should press for appointment of a United Nations special mandate holder to monitor and report on Hong Kong’s human rights developments, Human Rights Watch said. They should also impose coordinated targeted sanctions on officials responsible for violating the human rights of people in Hong Kong. Legislators around the world should express solidarity with their Hong Kong counterparts.
“Governments should urgently take concerted and concrete actions to ensure that Beijing pays a price for its escalating abusive behavior,” Wang said. “Standing with Hong Kong’s democrats needs to be more than a rhetorical commitment.”
- Impact of Event
- 53
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Right to liberty and security, Right to political participation
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender, Public Servant, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Jan 15, 2021
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Nov 12, 2020
- Event Description
Authorities in Qinghai province in northwestern China last month detained a Tibetan woman known for her online advocacy of democracy and the rule of law, holding her for 10 days before releasing her under continuing surveillance, Tibetan sources say.
Tsering Tso, who had drawn police attention with her postings on the social media platform WeChat, was taken into custody at her home in the provincial capital Xining on Nov. 12 and brought by 10 officers to a detention center in Trika (in Chinese, Guide) county, an India-based Tibetan rights group said this week.
“In addition to surviving only on steamed buns and boiled water during her detention, she was subjected to ill-treatment and intimidation,” the Tibetan Centre For Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD) said, adding that detaining officers had hoped to pressure her to give up her advocacy work.
“By detaining people like Tsering Tso, the Chinese government is violating the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which China has signed and agreed to abide by. However, China is inflicting many other policies on Tibetans in Tibet that violate international laws,” TCHRD researcher Tenzin Dawa said.
The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights is one of some 60 rights instruments under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on Dec. 10, 1948.
With the approach of the annual UN Human Rights Day on Dec. 10, estimates of political prisoners in Tibet range from more than 500 in U.S. Congressional reports to more than 2,000 in a database kept by the TCHRD.
“Tibetan political prisoners endure harsh prison conditions, including torture, deprivation of food and sleep, and long periods in isolation cells,” said the Washington-based International Campaign for Tibet, which notes that “opaque” Chinese record keeping makes it hard to determine how many are being held.
“In the current political climate imposed by Chinese authorities, even the most mild expressions of Tibetan cultural or religious identity can be punished by torture and arrest,” says the ICT.
One of the most famous prisoners of conscience is Tibet’s Panchen Lama, who vanished into Chinese custody as a young boy 25 years ago and has not been heard from since.
Gedhun Choekyi Nyima, was recognized on May 14, 1995 at the age of six as the 11th Panchen Lama, the reincarnation of his predecessor, the 10th Panchen Lama.
The recognition by exiled Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama angered Chinese authorities, who promptly took the boy and his family into custody and then installed another boy, Gyaincain Norbu, as their own candidate in his place.
The ranks of Tibet’s political prisoners include numerous monks, scholars, educators, and artists.
Beaten by police
Tsering Tso had also served a period of detention in 2017 after petitioning for the rights of Tibetans to apply for passports, during which she was physically assaulted by a security officer named Jamga who kicked her in the head, face, chest, and abdomen, leaving her hospitalized for her injuries, TCHRD said.
Police officers in November gave no reason for her detention following a trip she made to Thailand, Tso told RFA’s Mandarin Service in an interview.
“There were no concrete reasons for my arrest,” Tso said, adding, “But while I was returning from Thailand, I had a feeling they would arrest me, and I think they had already planned this from the beginning.”
“Finally, on Nov. 2, I was accused of violating the law by sending two message on WeChat related to issues of ‘stability,’ and I was detained for 10 days. I have no idea how my postings might have threatened stability,” Tso said.
A Nov. 13 announcement by the Trika county Public Security Bureau said that Tso had been charged with disseminating discussions of “provocative issues” on social media, adding that she would be fined and held in administrative detention for 10 days.
Tsering Tso had regularly written on topics like democracy and the rule of law on her social media platforms, Dawa told RFA in an interview. “But the Chinese government has always threatened people who speak up about these things.”
Reached for comment on Monday, a U.S. State Department spokesperson said, “We continue to press the [People’s Republic of China] to respect the freedom of speech and beliefs of its own people, and in particular those who seek to protect Tibet’s unique religion, language, and culture.”
Tibetan researcher held
A Tibetan researcher at Tibet University in Tibet’s regional capital Lhasa has meanwhile also been detained, with no word given as to his whereabouts since he was taken into custody in June, RFA has learned.
Kunsang Gyaltsen, a student in his late 20s from Qinghai’s Mangra (Chinese, Guinan) county, is thought to have been arrested for circulating booklets containing unauthorized views of Tibet’s political history, a Tibetan living in exile told RFA, citing sources in the region.
“Chinese authorities have concealed all information about him, and despite numerous attempts by family members to learn where he is being held, there has been no response from authorities at all,” RFA’s source said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Pema Gyal, an analyst at TCHRD, confirmed the account of Gyaltsen’s arrest and disappearance, adding that information about his current status is unavailable “because his parents have been denied access to him.”
A formerly independent nation, Tibet was taken over and incorporated into China by force nearly 70 years ago, following which Tibet’s spiritual leader the Dalai Lama and thousands of his followers fled into exile in India, and Beijing maintains a tight grip on Tibet and on Tibetan-populated regions of western Chinese provinces.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Intimidation and Threats, Surveillance
- Rights Concerned
- Online, Right to health, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security, Right to privacy
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Jan 8, 2021
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Dec 3, 2020
- Event Description
Authorities in the central province of Hunan have detained a prominent rights activist after he helped to publicize the story of Dong Yaoqiong, a woman sent to a psychiatric hospital for splashing ink on a poster of ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) leader Xi Jinping in a Twitter livestream.
Ou Biaofeng was taken away from his home in Hunan's Zhuzhou city by officers of the Lusong district police department on Dec. 3, who held him under administrative detention for 15 days for "picking quarrels and stirring up trouble."
"Four state security police came to our home without prior notice and took him away," his wife Wei Xinxin told RFA. "The fact that he was taken away so suddenly makes me quite worried, because it is a bit different from previous times."
Ou's friend Chen Siming said Ou's detention was linked to his public support for Dong.
"This is an open secret, and the police and state security police know that," Chen said.
"He was very concerned about [Dong's recent video] and has been in contact with Dong Yaoqiong on Twitter since then," he said.
Following her release from the psychiatric hospital, Dong posted a video on Twitter on Nov. 30 saying angrily that she had no mental illness and complaining of being held under long-term surveillance after her release.
Chen said the authorities likely blame Ou for international news coverage of the video, which broke Dong's public silence following her release.
"[Ou Biaofeng] was the only channel of communication between Dong and the rest of the world," he said. "Dong would never have gotten that much publicity without him."
"She also mentions Ou Biaofeng in the video."
Chen said Ou also has a track record of speaking out on human rights issues, and had been warned by the state security police that he risked a jail term over the cumulative effect of his activities.
A Changsha-based friend of Ou's who gave only the nickname Rosemary said that Ou remained in detention at the end of the 15-day sentence, and that police have been questioning his friends and fellow activists since his detention, suggesting that they may be building a case against him.
"I know of three or four people [who have been questioned]," Rosemary said. "He was held under 15 days' administrative detention, but the stability maintenance system kicked into place in other provinces, across the whole country ... and people were warned not to follow the case or speak out in support of him."
"We are worried this 15-day administrative detention is just a pretext [ahead of a criminal case]," she said. "[Other activists] have also had their administrative detentions converted into criminal detention."
On Tuesday, defense lawyer Zhang Lei was denied permission to meet with Ou, who is being held at the Zhuzhou Detention Center.
"When I was in detention, my friends could meet with me twice a week," Chen, who accompanied the lawyer, told RFA. "Now the detention center is saying that all meetings are suspended due to the pandemic."
"Not even lawyers are being allowed to meet with detainees," he said. "I am pretty worried, given what just happened."
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Enactment of repressive legislation and policies, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Online, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Jan 8, 2021
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Dec 15, 2020
- Event Description
Authorities put on trial Ge Zhihui, a human rights defender with disabilities, on December 15, 2020. Ms. Ge is an advocate for social and economic rights, who had been disabled by a demolition team while resisting the forced eviction of her family from their home. At her December 15 trial at the Beijing Fengtai District Court, she faced the charge of “picking quarrels & provoking trouble.” The prosecution’s case against her included the claims that Ms. Ge had showed support for persecuted human rights defender Cao Shunli, protested against officials who were interfering in a village election, and posted critical comments online. Except for her lawyer, nobody was allowed into the courtroom, not even her family members. The court did not announce a verdict. Police detained Ms. Ge in July 2019 and she has since languished at the Fengtai District Detention Facility. China ratified the international Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in 2008, The UN’s disability rights and social, economic and cultural rights treaty bodies are both currently conducting reviews of China’s implementation of the treaties.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Enactment of repressive legislation and policies, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Jan 8, 2021
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Dec 16, 2020
- Event Description
Chinese journalist and filmmaker Du Bin has been detained by authorities for allegedly “picking quarrels and provoking trouble” on December 16. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) calls on the Chinese government to release Du immediately and respect Chinese citizens’ right to freedom of expression.
Du, 48, is a Chinese documentary filmmaker and journalist who has previously worked for The New York Times as a freelance photographer. According to Du’s sister Du Jirong, Du was arrested and detained by Beijing police on December 16 over vague allegations he was ‘picking quarrels and provoking trouble’.
The journalist’s detention may have been linked to his recent writing, including a book on the rule of Soviet leader Vladimir Lenin scheduled for publication in 2021. According to South China Morning Post, Du has been under scrutiny from the Chinese Communist Party for writing and editing a number of politically sensitive books, such as a documentation of the Tiananmen Square Massacre in 1989.
The police have recently summoned Du for questioning on multiple occasions, during which he was asked to delete sensitive contents on his Twitter account, according to Weiquanwang, a website tracking detentions and persecution of activists and dissidents in China, as well as Voice of America. Authorities have also inquired about his book projects, the reports said.
Violations of press freedom and journalists’ rights have increased in China in recent years as authorities continue to expand their control over the media. A number of citizen journalists were detained for their coverage of the Covid-19 pandemic in China during 2020, while about a dozen foreign journalists have been expelled, partly due to the ongoing tension between the United States and China.
Last week, the IFJ documented the arrest of Haze Fan, a staff member who has been at the Bloomberg News Beijing bureau since 2017, on suspicion of taking part in activities endangering national security. In August, Cheng Lei, a Chinese-born Australian journalist who had worked in the English service of the state run television CGTN, was detained by the Chinese government for the same accusation leveled against Fan.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Enactment of repressive legislation and policies, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Online, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Artist, Media Worker
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Jan 8, 2021
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Dec 8, 2020
- Event Description
Hong Kong police on Tuesday arrested eight activists in connection with a July protest, the latest in a widening crackdown on dissent in the semi-autonomous Chinese territory.
Local media reported that those arrested included former legislators Wu Chi-wei, Eddie Chu and “Longhair” Leung Kwok-hung, along with Civil Human Rights Front’s (CHRF's) Figo Chan, among others.
The police accused them of “inciting, organizing and taking part in an unauthorized assembly,” referring to the July 1 demonstrations in which thousands defied a protest ban and rallied on the streets against the national security law imposed on the city by Beijing the day before.
Speaking to reporters after he was released on bail, Figo of the pro-democracy CHRF said Hong Kong authorities are oppressing dissidents by filing unreasonable charges.
“I strongly condemn the Hong Kong government for continuously suppressing Hong Kong citizens,” he said.
Since pro-democracy protests erupted in Hong Kong in 2019, the city’s police force has been at the forefront of Beijing’s efforts to eliminate the demonstrations.
According to a survey published by Hong Kong Public Opinion Research Institute on Tuesday, the police now rank last in public approval among Hong Kong's "disciplinary forces," which include first responders, correctional officers, People's Liberation Army Hong Kong Garrison troops, anti-corruption investigators, and customs and immigration officials.
“The Police Force attains a rating of 40.3 marks, with 34% of the sample giving zero mark and continues to be the lowest among the nine disciplinary forces,” the organization said.
Chan Ka Lok, an associate professor and director of the Comparative Governance and Public Policy Research Center at Hong Kong Baptist University, said the low ratings were due to police abuse of power, and the force’s unwillingness to establish an independent investigation committee to assess police performance in handling the pro-democracy movement since 2019.
Tuesday’s arrests were carried out hours after the United States sanctioned another 14 Chinese officials over China’s move last month to expel four pro-democracy lawmakers from Hong Kong’s legislature. When asked whether there is any correlation, Chan told VOA that “the police's approach is a replay of ‘hostage diplomacy’ in the Cold War era.”
Since Monday, more than a dozen Hong Kong citizens have been arrested for their roles in pro-democracy demonstrations. Chan said these arrests resemble the mass arrests often used by the Chinese police force in the mainland and will turn Hong Kong into a place ruled by fear.
New pro-Beijing party
Meanwhile, a group of mainland-born, pro-establishment executives working in Hong Kong have founded a new political party in a bid to influence local government policies.
The Bauhinia Party was founded in May by three powerful executives: Li Shan, a member of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) and director of Credit Suisse Group AG; Huang Qiuzhi, chairman of CMMB Vision Holdings Limited; and Chen Jianwen, chairman of Bonjour Holdings Limited. Li and Wong were born in mainland China and later became Hong Kong residents.
According the Hong Kong Companies Registry, a government department that registers local and foreign companies, the party seeks to “promote a democratic political system best suited to Hong Kong based on the rule of law and civil liberty with the realization of universal suffrage as guaranteed by the Basic Law, so as to safeguard Hong Kong’s long-term prosperity and stability.”
But Hong Kong commentator Stephen Shiu said the creation of the party shows Beijing is no longer satisfied with old pro-establishment forces and hopes a new party representing new immigrants from the mainland can help restrain “extremist forces” in the legislature.
Other analysts say that Beijing wants to put its own people into Hong Kong’s political arena.
They argue that to Beijing, even its closest ally, the New People’s Party, is still seen as a local party rather than one formed by its own people.
- Impact of Event
- 8
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Enactment of repressive legislation and policies, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Offline, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Jan 8, 2021
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Dec 3, 2020
- Event Description
Hong Kong media tycoon and pro-democracy advocate Jimmy Lai has been arrested and charged with fraud.
The 73-year-old Lai appeared in a Hong Kong courtroom Thursday along with two other executives of his Next Digital company and was accused of violating terms of the company’s lease of its office space. He was denied bail and his case has been adjourned until next April.
Lai was arrested at his home in August and charged with suspicion of colluding with a foreign country under the city’s new national security law imposed by China. Hours after his arrest, more than 100 police officers raided the headquarters of Lai’s Next Digital company, which publishes the newspaper Apple Daily. The newspaper livestreamed the raid on its website, showing officers roaming the newsroom as they rummaged through reporters’ files, while Lai was led through the newsroom in handcuffs.
He was one of at least 10 people arrested that day, including at least one of Lai’s sons.
Lai is already in legal jeopardy for his pro-democracy activism. He was one of 15 activists arrested earlier this year and hit with seven charges, including organizing and participating in unauthorized assemblies and inciting others to take part in an unauthorized assembly.
Lai’s arrest Thursday comes a day after three young Hong Kong pro-democracy activists -- 24-year-old Joshua Wong, 23-year-old Agnes Chow and 26-year-old Ivan Lam -- received jail sentences between seven and 13 1/2 months in connection with a protest outside the city’s police headquarters in June 2019.
Lai is one of the highest-profile Hong Kongers targeted by the new security law since it went into effect in July. Under the law, anyone in Hong Kong believed to be carrying out terrorism, separatism, subversion of state power or collusion with foreign forces could be tried and face life in prison if convicted.
The new law was imposed by Beijing in response to the massive and often violent pro-democracy demonstrations that engulfed the financial hub in the last half of last year, and is the cornerstone of its increasing grip on the city, which was granted an unusual amount of freedoms when Britain handed over control in 1997.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Jan 8, 2021
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Dec 28, 2020
- Event Description
A court in Shanghai, China on Monday sentenced former lawyer and citizen journalist Zhang Zhan to four years in prison for her reporting on the coronavirus outbreak, a harsh sentence that legal scholars say is aimed at having a chilling effect on Chinese rights activists.
Zhang, 37, was one of several citizen journalists who covered the initial outbreak in China’s central city of Wuhan. Their coverage painted a far more serious picture of conditions than the government’s official narrative of the spreading infection. Her reports included examples of the harassment of families of victims who were seeking accountability, according to human rights advocates.
Zhang was detained by authorities in May and accused of spreading false information, giving interviews to foreign media, disrupting public order and "maliciously manipulating" the outbreak. She went missing in Wuhan on May 14, according to media reports, and a day later turned up under arrest in Shanghai, more than 640 kilometers away. In court, she was formally charged with “picking quarrels and provoking trouble,” an accusation frequently used against Chinese activists.
Zhang’s lawyer, Zhang Keke, told VOA that Zhang Zhan has been on a hunger strike for nearly five months. She appeared in court in a wheelchair, all but refusing to speak — apparently using silence as a form of protest.
“The only thing she said is that citizens have the right to freedom of speech, and they have no right to question her,” Zhang Keke said.
According to the defense lawyer, the prosecutor during the trial accused Zhang of publishing so-called "problematic remarks" on China’s social media platforms including Weibo and WeChat. Yet the prosecution failed to provide any posts or videos as evidence.
“She didn’t fabricate any reports, nor has she created any harm to the society,” Zhang Keke said, adding that Zhang will likely appeal the verdict.
A Chinese human rights lawyer who asked to remain anonymous told VOA that the four-year sentence is extremely harsh. “Picking quarrels and provoking trouble usually leads to a fixed-term imprisonment of no more than five years. For first time offense, the sentence is usually one year,” he said, adding that Zhang’s harsh sentence was aimed at instilling fear among citizen journalists and civil rights lawyers.
Rights groups also condemned the ruling. Cédric Alviani, East Asia bureau head of the Paris-based media freedom group Reporters Without Borders, (RSF), called on the international community to increase pressure on the Chinese government until Beijing releases Zhang and other detained press freedom activists in China. “Zhang Zhan was only serving the public interest by reporting on the COVID-19 outbreak, so, she should never have been detained, not to mention, received a four-year prison sentence. This trial is actually a parody of justice,” Alviani told VOA.
The United Nations’ human rights office said in a tweet on Monday that it was troubled by the four-year sentence. “We raised her case with the authorities throughout 2020 as an example of the excessive clampdown on freedom of expression linked to #COVID19 & continue to call for her release,” the office said.
China has been accused of covering up the initial outbreak of the coronavirus that causes the COVID-19 disease and silencing whistleblowers, including the late Dr. Li Wenliang, and citizen journalists Fang Bing, Chen Qiushi, Li Zehua and Zhang Zhan, for exposing information that authorities did not approve for release. Dr. Li died of COVID-19 after Beijing silenced his attempts to warn the world about the coronavirus.
China has fiercely denied these accusations and said the country has been highly successful in containing the virus, compared to Western countries including the United States.
According to a survey by the Committee to Protect Journalists, China was the world’s leading jailer of journalists in 2020, with at least 47 people behind bars.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Denial Fair Trial, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- #COVID-19, Right to fair trial, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Blogger/ Social Media Activist, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Related Events
- China: missing lawyer-turned-citizen journalist is detained, formally indicted on vague charges (Update)
- Date added
- Jan 8, 2021
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Nov 26, 2020
- Event Description
At 2 pm on November 26, political police officer Guo (last name) asked human rights activist Li Qiaochu to meet him in Beijing Haidian District. Instead of engaging in a typical, approximately hour-long session complying with a police officer’s request to meet to address a concern, officials detained Ms. Li overnight. The next day, November 27, however, authorities conditionally released Ms. Li to her parents.
For Ms. Li’s release and for her to avoid imprisonment at that time, police told her parents that they had to sign a guarantee Ms. Li would no longer communicate on the internet. Otherwise, authorities warned, they would imprison her. In addition, upon Ms. Li’s release, police confiscated her computer and cell phone.
Earlier this year, on February 2, police detained human rights defender Xu Zhiyong, On February 16, officials also detained 29-year-old Ms. Li, Mr. Xu’s girlfriend, one of the initiators of the New Citizens’ Movement. Authorities continued to detain Mr. Xu but released Ms. Li on bail soon after her arrest.
After her release, Ms. Li appealed for Mr. Xu‘s release. Her efforts, however, merited ongoing threats of detainment and obligatory meetings with Gua and other officers. In fall/winter 2017, Ms. Li, also a researcher of labor issues, had accompanied volunteers to gather information and share data with heavily affected communities following an incident where the “low-end population” of migrant workers in the Beijing district had been driven out. There, the group assisted workers who had lost their jobs and housing.
In 2018, Ms. Li actively participated in the “MeToo” movement against gender violence, supporting the movement on platforms such as Twitter. She often stood in solidarity with various prisoners of conscience and their families.
In June 2019, doctors diagnosed Ms. Li with depression and advised her that she needed long-term medication. Nevertheless, she continued to participate in activities as usual.
From the start of December 2019, authorities stationed public safety personnel at her house. They have also surveilled her routes to and from work.
In the past, due to Ms. Li’s human rights activism, police regularly harassed her, Now, also due to Ms. Li’s past human rights activism, police continue to monitor her, violating her privacy and civil rights.
Now, in addition to police harassing and monitoring Ms. Li and violating her rights, she lives with the threat officials will imprison her if she communicates online.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Censorship, Intimidation and Threats, Surveillance
- Rights Concerned
- Online, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Labour rights defender, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Related Events
- China: WHRD temporarily detained, threatened to stop communicating online (Update), China: WHRD went missing few hours after his partner's detention
- Date added
- Dec 7, 2020
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Nov 29, 2020
- Event Description
Sunday, November 30, Justice Bureau authorities phoned Beijing Lawyer Wang Yu informing her that the Chinese Government had revoked her license to practice law. Lawyer Wang had defended human rights activist Yu Wensheng, arrested in January 2018, currently imprisoned in Jiangsu, China. Since authorities sieged Mr. Yu, they have not only denied his wife’s visitation rights, they have revoked his rights to communicate with others, and have turned down requests for him to obtain dental treatment. Lawyer Wang has provided support and stood by Ms. Xu Yan, Mr. Yu’s wife, who has continued to fight for her husband’s rights during his detention.
On November 29, the day authorities revoked Lawyer Wang’s license, she and her husband, Lawyer Bao Longjun, joined with several other human rights lawyers, including Xie Yanyi, Wen Donghai, and Cheng Hai, to host a modest event to advocate for Mr. Yu. The support group petitioned the High People’s Court of Jiangsu to open trials on Mr. Yu’s case and allow his wife to visit him in prison.
As the first human rights lawyer arrested in the "709 incident,"* and because Lawyer Wang has helped Ms. Xu fight for Mr. Yu's rights, as well as helped many others defend their rights, she contravened the Chinese Communist Party CCP authorities’ taboo.
China typically resorts to implementing a series of suppressions toward human rights activists for example, lawyers face deliberate obstacles when representing human rights cases. In severe situations, they face the risk of police detaining them. If detained, the lawyer’s legal counsel also faces the risk of detainment for representing dissenting cases. Lawyer Wang’s case depicts this scenario.
In 2015, China’s President Xi Jinping initiated an action plan to weaken nascent human rights movements. CCP authorities apprehended Lawyer Wang in accordance with this plan. Authorities also arrested Lawyer Li Yuhan, Wang’s lawyer, currently serving her sentence in Liaoning, Shengyang. While defending Lawyer Li, Li Boguang, the lawyer who represented her, suddenly died in Jiangsu, Nanjing.
During the process of defending others, the four related lawyers suffered a series of persecutions. In January of 2016, authorities arrested Lawyer Wang, charging her for state subversion. After her imprisonment at a detention center in Tianjin, authorities released Lawyer Wang in July 2016.
As a lawyer’s livelihood depends on practicing law, revoking his or her license to practice law significantly impacts the survival of the individuals’ and his or her families’ survival. The CCP's current practice of revoking licenses of lawyers who defend human rights blatantly deprives them of their right to survive. CCP authorities also revoked the license to practice law for Lawyer Wang’s husband for representing human rights cases.
Human rights lawyer Chen Jiangang, exiled to America, said: “Both the husband and wife, have been deprived of their way out. Xi Jinping is the number one murderer, the chief CCP oppressor of human rights. Xi Jinping’s era does not allow for real lawyers.”
Lawyer Wang did not violate any laws or regulations during her time practicing law. Governing judicial organs forcibly revoked her license to practice law, against her own will. According to article 49 of “Lawyers’ Law of the People’s Republic of China,” the provincial judicial administration can revoke the lawyer’s license only if the circumstances of violation were severe.
For the first trial of a person accused of a crime, due process should define the Justice Bureau’s legitimacy and rationality. Only after confirmation can officials instruct the second deviation. Therefore, the punitive measures authorities imposed on Lawyer Wang violated her constitutional and legal rights, a serious crime.
The CCP perceives the human rights movement as a threat to its regime. Therefore, those like Lawyer Wang, who help wrongly accused and imprisoned rights defenders, as well as their defense lawyers, may also be wrongfully imprisoned. The authorities’ approach aims to put human rights activists in a situation where they’re isolated and without aid. Their ultimate goal? To shake the will of human rights workers.
In her work to help and defend human rights activists, as Lawyer Wang did not violate the law, the CCP’s punishment, revoking her license to practice law lacked justification. *Denotes the large-scale unified arrest in July of 2015 when CCP officials sieged more than 300 Chinese human rights defenders.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Right to work
- HRD
- Lawyer, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Government
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Dec 7, 2020
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Nov 26, 2020
- Event Description
On 26 November 2020, the Linyi Municipal Public Security Bureau in Shandong province once again rejected the request of the lawyer of human rights defender Ding Jiaxi to meet his client. The Public Security Bureau said that, as Ding Jiaxi is facing national security charges, allowing him access to legal counsel would "impede the investigation" or result in the "leaking of State secrets".
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Denial Fair Trial, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Right to fair trial
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Related Events
- China: eight pro-democracy defenders interrogated, detained for joining a liberal meeting, China: pro-democracy defender investigated, put under de facto house arrest (Update)
- Date added
- Dec 7, 2020
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Dec 2, 2020
- Event Description
Fears are growing over the health and well-being of rights lawyer Chang Weiping, who is currently in detention on suspicion of "incitement to subvert state power" in the northern Chinese province of Shaanxi, his family says after being allowed to visit him.
Shaanxi authorities allowed the Nov. 25 meeting after Chang's family and lawyers lodged official complaints about his incommunicado detention under "residential surveillance at a designated location (RSDL)" following his description of his torture during an earlier period in detention.
Chang's visit with father Chang Shuanming took place at a police station in Shaanxi's Baoji city, a source close to the family told RFA on Wednesday.
During the 10-minute visit, Chang appeared significantly thinner than before, and spoke slowly, the source said. He was also concerned that his wife might give interviews.
"From his father's description, he was exhausted, ... his eyes were red, and he spoke as if he was reciting something by heart," the source said. "His reactions were also slow, suggesting that he has probably been tortured."
There were also signs that the second detention was taking a psychological toll. As his father left, Chang shouted out to him, saying he no longer wished to live, the source said.
"His father said that when they came to say goodbye, Chang shouted out with all his strength that he didn't want to live any more," the source said.
Family threatened by police
Baoji police had pursued Chang's wife all the way to her place of work in the southern city of Shenzhen to put pressure on her not to speak out about his case, the source said.
"His father is a veteran member of the [ruling Chinese Communist] Party, and [Chang's] wife works in Shenzhen," the source said. "They even went to Shenzhen to find his wife and her employer, to threaten her and stop her speaking up on behalf of her husband."
"They have done everything in their power to threaten the family, making it harder for them to talk to the outside world about their grievances," he said, adding that the visit was also likely allowed in a bid to limit negative publicity.
Sources said two lawyers previously hired to represent Chang have now dropped the case under intense police pressure.
Repeated calls to Chang Shuanming's cell phone rang unanswered on Wednesday.
Tortured in detention
Qi An, a researcher with the London-based rights group Amnesty International, said Chang had already made a video describing his torture at the hands of the authorities during an earlier 10-day period of RSDL in January 2020.
"In the video, he mentions that he was put in a tiger chair," Qi said. "Human rights experts including the United Nations have said that RSDL in itself is a violation of human rights."
"Suspects in RSDL aren't allowed to see family or a lawyer, making it hard to verify whether someone has been tortured," Qi said.
The aim of the torture appears to be to extract a "confession" and guilty plea from suspects, Qi said.
"Many people say after they are released from RSDL that the authorities wanted them to plead guilty or provide some information," Qi said. "Of course, we don't know what information the authorities may want from Chang Weiping, but there is an operation to crack down on any of the rights activists or lawyers who took part in the Xiamen gathering."
Chang was taken away from his home by police in Baoji city in China's northern province of Shaanxi, on Oct. 22, on suspicion of "incitement to subvert state power."
The arrest came six days after he posted a video on YouTube sharing details of his torture.
Chang's January detention came after rights lawyer Ding Jiaxi and activists Zhang Zhongshun and Dai Zhenya were detained following a meeting with New Citizens' Movement founder Xu Zhiyong, who was himself later detained after publishing an open letter calling on CCP general secretary Xi Jinping to step down.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats
- Rights Concerned
- Online, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Family of HRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Related Events
- China: prominent lawyer arrested, held incommunicado
- Date added
- Dec 7, 2020
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Nov 10, 2020
- Event Description
On November 10, 2020, Beijing No. 2 Intermediate Court convicted activist Zhang Baocheng (张宝成) of “picking quarrels and provoking trouble” and “promoting terrorism, extremism, and inciting execution of terrorist activities” and handed down a 3.5-year prison sentence; three years for the “picking quarrels” charge and 8 months for the terrorism charge. The sentencing hearing followed an August 18 trial. Zhang appealed against his conviction on November 16. The court convicted Zhang of using the Internet, especially Twitter, to send out or share videos and information that “smear and insult the country’s leadership, oppose the Communist Party, split the state, harm ethnic unity and insult judicial organs.” One type of post cited included Zhang raising awareness of the plight of imprisoned activist Huang Qi’s elderly mother Pu Wenqing. Zhang was convicted of sending 1 video about East Turkestan (Xinjiang) which authorities said touched on “violent terrorism and extremism.” Beijing police initially seized Zhang on May 28, 2019, ahead of the 30th anniversary of the Tiananmen Massacre. He was not granted access to his lawyers until October 2019. Zhang Baocheng is currently being detained at Beijing No. 3 Detention Center and is expected to be released in November 2022.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Denial Fair Trial, Enactment of repressive legislation and policies, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Right to fair trial, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Nov 28, 2020
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Nov 20, 2020
- Event Description
Activist Zhou Weilin (周维林) went on trial on charges of “picking quarrels and provoking trouble” on November 20, 2020 in a closed-door hearing at Feidong County Court in Anhui Province. Guards blocked the entrance to the courthouse and lawyers Liang Xiaojun (梁小军) and Wu Li (吴莉) had to be escorted inside by the trial judge. The court refused to allow Zhou’s supporters inside to observe or testify in his defence. Zhou and his lawyers were allowed to speak during the trial. The hearing ended without a sentence being pronounced. The charges against Zhou are related to his comments on Twitter and for writing articles for the human rights website Rights Defence Network (维权网). Police initially detained Zhou on March 12, 2020 and he has been held at Feidong County Detention Center.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Denial Fair Trial, Enactment of repressive legislation and policies, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Online, Right to fair trial
- HRD
- Blogger/ Social Media Activist, Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Related Events
- China: PWD and pro-democracy blogger faces unfair trial
- Date added
- Nov 28, 2020
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Nov 21, 2020
- Event Description
Wan Yiu-sing, an internet radio reporter and his wife were arrested this morning on suspicion of money laundering and financing of secessionist activities. The news was reported by the couple's lawyer and a note on Wan's Facebook page, familiarly called "Giggs". His secretary was also arrested for money laundering.
"Giggs" (in the photo) hosts a program on the D100 channel, in which he often addressed issues related to last year’s pro-democracy demonstrations. In February he also opened a fundraiser to help young people from Hong Kong who go to Taiwan to study.
Police believe this money is used to finance young people who fled Hong Kong because they are involved in secession activities, punishable under the new security law, wanted by Beijing for the territory. The law prohibits and punishes acts and activities of secession, subversion, terrorism and collaboration with foreign forces that endanger national security.
According to the special national security police, those arrested used part of these funds to send them to organizations engaged in secessionist activities.
Requested by various media to give more details, political commissioner Chris Tang said he could not reveal more details, given that the investigation is still ongoing.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Online, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Family of HRD, Media Worker
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Nov 28, 2020
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Nov 23, 2020
- Event Description
Democracy activists Joshua Wong, Agnes Chow, and Ivan Lam on Monday pleaded guilty to public order charges in a Hong Kong court hearing, before being held in police custody pending a sentencing hearing scheduled for Dec. 2.
Wong, 24, admitted organizing an illegal assembly, while Chow pleaded guilty to taking part in an illegal assembly, while all three pleaded guilty to inciting people to attend an illegal gathering, charges which carry maximum jail terms of three years.
"Hang in there, everyone, keep going!" Wong told the court, before being taken away by correctional service officers.
Lam raised his hand, palm and fingers splayed to signify the five demands of last year's protest movement, while Chow made no response to the decision to hold the three in custody pending sentencing.
Dozens of supporters chanted "Release Joshua Wong! Release Agnes Chow! Release Ivan Lam" outside the court building, as well as repeating the five demands of the protest movement, which include fully democratic elections and accountability for widespread police violence.
The three were formerly leaders of the political party Demosisto, which disbanded just before the ruling Chinese Communist Party imposed a draconian national security law on Hong Kong on July 1, banning peaceful criticism of the authorities.
Wong had earlier told reporters that he wouldn't be surprised if the three were placed behind bars following the hearing at West Kowloon Magistrate's Court.
He said 23 activists, journalist, and democratic politicians had been arrested as the crackdown on peaceful dissent gathered pace.
Many arrests and raids have come after their targets were denounced in the pro-China media or by Chinese officials.
Defense lawyers called on the court to take into account the youth of the defendants and the fact that Chow, who, unlike Wong and Lam has never served time in jail before, had no prior convictions.
Magistrate Lily Wong said she would rule out a community service sentence for Lam due to his previous convictions.
Expected to be jailed
Joshua Wong, who was out on bail before the hearing, had earlier told reporters the trio had decided to plead guilty to avoid interrogation and investigation.
"But it also means that the three of us could be remanded in custody immediately," he said, calling on Hongkongers to support each other.
"We will want to call on the people of Hong Kong at this difficult time of white terror and persecution under the national security law ... to support each other through this low point in the pro-democracy movement," he said.
Chow said she felt "uneasy" at the thought of going to jail for the first time.
"It's entirely likely that I may be in jail for the first time in my life, and I have a lot of anxiety about what the future will bring," she said.
"But never forget that there are brothers, sisters, and friends who have suffered far worse than us," she said, calling for greater public pressure on China over the 12 Hongkongers currently detained by Chinese police after trying to flee to democratic Taiwan by speedboat.
Lam said he had made mental preparation for being remanded in police custody pending sentencing.
"Our case ... shows that the legitimacy of the Hong Kong police force has been blown to smithereens," Lam said. "Was the siege of police headquarters a crime, or was it necessary to achieve justice and fight for democracy?"
"I believe that the people of Hong Kong know the answer to that already," he said. "We have no regrets, and we will keep up the struggle."
The case against Wong relied on public comments he made on June 21, 2019, ahead of a mass protest over police violence that resulted in the siege of police headquarters in Wanchai, as well as a message on his phone detailing the timing and arrangements for the protest.
On the day in question, crowds of mostly young people wearing black converged on immigration and tax headquarters in Wanchai, sparking temporary shutdowns of the offices, before gathering in their thousands outside police headquarters to call for the release of those already arrested, and to demand an apology for police violence against unarmed protesters the previous week.
Some activists barricaded a vehicle gate in the barbed-wire wall of the fortress-like compound, prevented police vans from getting in or out, and taped up CCTV cameras to avoid being identified. Others blocked nearby highways with makeshift walls, cones, and traffic barriers, taking over several major traffic routes.
Police in uniform lined up inside the glass atrium of their own headquarters, with officers watching warily as the crowd chanted "Release them! Release them!" and "Apologize! Apologize!" on the street outside, where someone had taped a large poster to the building that read "Struggle to the bitter end."
The crowd also chanted: "Retract the designation of rioting! Stop arresting citizens!"
London-based rights group Amnesty International had earlier condemned police violence during protests on June 12 as violating international law, after evaluating video footage of the clashes.
Wong joined the June 21 protest just three days after his release from an earlier jail sentence related to the 2014 Occupy Central pro-democracy movement.
'Poisoned judicial system'
The U.S.-based Hong Kong Hong Kong Democracy Council (HKDC) condemned the decision to remand Wong, Chow, and Lam in custody pending sentencing.
“We condemn Magistrate Lily Wong’s decision today to jail Wong, Chow, and Lam while awaiting sentencing for exercising their rights to protest," the group's managing director Samuel Chu said in a statement.
"Make no mistake, when they pled guilty in court today, it was not a judgment on them, but rather a judgment against a poisoned Hong Kong judiciary system no longer independent or capable of rendering justice," Chu said.
Since the beginning of November, Hong Kong authorities have arrested a public radio show producer, pro-democracy lawmakers, a primary school teacher, owners of small businesses who have expressed support for the protest, [among others], the HKDC said, calling for the trio to be released immediately.
"We cannot remain silent or surrender to the terror," it said.
- Impact of Event
- 3
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Related Events
- China: pro-democracy leader arrested for participating in an allegedly unauthorised assembly in 2019
- Date added
- Nov 28, 2020
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Nov 3, 2020
- Event Description
Police in Hong Kong arrested a producer Tuesday who made a documentary for government broadcaster RTHK about a July 21, 2019, mob attack on train passengers in Yuen Long.
Bao Choy, who worked on an investigative documentary showing how police were present as baton-wielding men in white T-shirts began to gather in Yuen Long ahead of the bloody attack on passengers and passers-by, was arrested at her home, RTHK reported.
Police carried out a search of Choy's home in Mei Foo, and she was taken away by officers at about 3.30 p.m., the report said.
She was arrested on suspicion of road traffic violations relating to vehicle registration searches used in the program. Her arrest has prompted fears that she is being targeted for political reasons. She was released on bail after about six hours of questioning, RTHK reported.
The Hong Kong Connection TV documentary titled “7.21 Who Owns the Truth?” showed clips from surveillance cameras at shops in Yuen Long and interviewed people who were identified in the footage.
Its airing forced police to admit they already had a presence in the town but did nothing to prevent the attack following initial denials.
Thirty-nine minutes elapsed between the first emergency calls to the final arrival of police at the Yuen Long MTR station, where dozens of people already were injured and many needed hospital treatment.
RTHK’s director of broadcasting Leung Ka-wing said the station was "afraid" and "worried" by Choy’s arrest, but would not alter its editorial policies.
“We are afraid. We are worried ... we better say we are worried, whether we can continue the way we produce accurate news as before,” Leung told reporters.
“We always stick to our principles. It’s very clear in the charter, as well as the producer guidelines,” he said.
'Extreme shock and outrage'
At least eight media organizations, including the Hong Kong Journalists Association, the Hong Kong Press Photographers Association and the RTHK staff union issued a joint statement Tuesday expressing “extreme shock and outrage” at Choy’s arrest.
The groups called on the police to make public the details of the case and justification for the arrest, and to release Choy immediately and unconditionally.
“We think this is unreasonable and a complete blow to freedom of the press,” HKJA chairperson Chris Yeung said. “There will be an immediate chilling effect, because the reporter has been working with many media, including media of different backgrounds.”
He said even the pro-China Ta Kung Pao and Wen Wei Po newspapers had conducted such investigations.
“If you are facing a prosecution because of a (car registration search) you may not dare to continue, and you may need to wait for legal issues to be clarified before proceeding,” he said.
Council Front lawmaker and former journalist Claudia Mo said it is extremely common practice for Hong Kong journalists to use car registration searches as part of their investigations.
"This is obviously a blow to freedom of the press,” Mo told RFA. “I myself have made just such a license plate query for H.K. $45 … after someone followed me in a car.”
“This is directed at RTHK, one hundred percent,” she said.
Civic Party leader Alvin Yeung agreed.
“If this isn’t retaliation, then what is?” he told journalists.
Assault on press freedom
In a statement, Britain-based rights group Hong Kong Watch strongly condemned Choy’s arrest.
The group’s policy director, Johnny Patterson, said Choy’s arrest was “nothing less than an outright assault on press freedom.”
“The police have failed to hold the perpetrators of the Yuen Long attack to account. For the victims, there has still been no justice,” he said. “Instead, they have chosen to arrest a journalist whose only crime is reminding the world of that fact.”
Democratic Party lawmaker Lam Cheuk-ting, who was injured in the Yuen Long attack, praised Choy’s professionalism, saying she had "asked all the right questions.”
"I do think that the police operation will inevitably create a chilling effect that those journalists who dare to report any wrongdoings of the government officials or the pro-establishment camp have been facing great pressure, and I urge them to stand firm and report the truth ... without fear or favor,” Lam said in comments quoted by RTHK.
Pro-government lawmaker Junius Ho, who was filmed shaking hands with white-clad men in Yuen Long on the night of the attack, July 21, last year, said journalists should not break the law while doing their jobs.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention
- Rights Concerned
- Offline, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Artist, Media Worker, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Related Events
- China: documentary filmmaker arrested
- Date added
- Nov 5, 2020
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Oct 27, 2020
- Event Description
On October 27, Lin Qilei, attorney for Li Yuhan, a female human rights lawyer in her 60’s, announced that the supreme people’s court has rescheduled Li’s case for November 30. Li, who has been detained for more than three years at Shengyang No. 1 Detention Center, suffers multiple health concerns, including hypothyroidism, ischemic heart disease, and stomach problems, requiring daily medications. After a fall in 2018 which led to spinal damages, Li now has to walk with a crutch.
Authorities initially indicted Li for provoking troubles and picking quarrels, but later, added fraud to her charges. As evidence regarding her case has not proved to be sufficient, however, the court has repeatedly delayed hearing her case, blocking her release. After authorities transferred Li’s case to Shengyang Municipal Heping People’s Court on April 8, 2018, the court decided to host the trial on June 8, 2019, now scheduled for November 30. With no verdict after more than three years, supporters suspect officials have targeted and repressed her “simple" case.
During Li’s detention, police have hired the female cell head and other prisoners to torture daily her. Tactics include:
Forcing her to take cold showers. Rationing her food to half of portions other prisoners receive. Placing her vegetable/s and fruit on the restroom floor to prevent her from eating it. Giving her the previous day’s vegetable/s and fruit after other prisoners intentionally urinated on them; Prohibiting her family members from depositing money into her prison account.
After his last meeting with Li, Attorney Lin also announced that court officials have not addressed his nor Li’s application for bail and compulsory change. Li believes that authorities fabricated charges against her to persecute and suppress her previous work safeguarding other people’s rights.
The judicial department asked Li to write the “confession and acceptance of penalty” letter in exchange for her release, but she refused to compromise her stance. Attorney Lin relayed greetings and concerns from others to Li Yuhan, hoping that she can remain upbeat and able to confront conceivable challenges.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Denial Fair Trial, Judicial Harassment, Torture
- Rights Concerned
- Right to fair trial, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Lawyer, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Nov 1, 2020
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Oct 22, 2020
- Event Description
The Observatory has been informed by the Network of Chinese Human Rights Defenders (CHRD) about the arbitrary and incommunicado detention of Mr. Chang Weiping, a prominent human rights lawyer known for taking on sensitive human rights cases and filling lawsuits against companies for discrimination in the workplace against women, LGBTQ+ persons, and individuals affected by HIV/AIDs.
According to the information received, on October 22, 2020, Mr. Chang Weiping was arrested at his home in Fengxiang County, Shaanxi Province, by police officers from Baoji City. Later the same day, Mr. Chang Weiping’s wife received a phone call from a police officer who informed her that her husband had been placed under “residential surveillance in a designated location” (RSDL), a form of enforced disappearance[1].
On October 26, 2020, the Baoji City Public Security Bureau denied two separate requests presented by Mr. Chang Weiping’s lawyers to meet with their client. Furthermore, one of the lawyers was informed that Mr. Chang Weiping was suspected of “subversion of State power” and that the case involved “State secrets”. At the time of publication of this Urgent Appeal, Mr. Chang Weiping had not been formally charged and his whereabouts remained unknown.
Six days before his arrest, on October 16, 2020, Mr. Chang Weiping published a video statement on social media denouncing the physical and psychological torture he had been subjected to while in detention in January 2020, including being tied to a “tiger chair”[2].
On January 12, 2020, Mr. Chang Weiping, was arbitrarily arrested by Shaanxi police and placed under RSDL in an unknown location on charges of “subversion of State power” (Article 105(1) of China’s Criminal Law), in connection to a private meeting organised by academics, human rights lawyers and activists in December 2019 in Xiamen, Fujian Province, to discuss the situation of the rule of law and human rights in China.
On January 13, Mr. Chang Weiping’s license to practice law was cancelled. Previously, in October 2018, the Baoji City Judicial Bureau had suspended his law license in retaliation for his human rights work.
On January 21, Mr. Chang Weiping was released on bail pending trial. Nonetheless, he was requested to leave his city of residence and was confined to his family home in Baoji, where he remained under strict police scrutiny, including daily phone calls and weekly meetings with the police. Furthermore, he was prevented from being reunited with his family.
The Observatory expresses its utmost concern over the arbitrary arrest and detention of Mr. Chang Weiping as it seems to be only aimed at punishing him for his legitimate human rights activities and urges the Chinese authorities to immediately disclose his whereabouts and unconditionally release him and all other human rights defenders, including labour rights defenders, arbitrarily detained in the country.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Online, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Lawyer
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Related Events
- China: prominent lawyer arrested, held incommunicado
- Date added
- Nov 1, 2020
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Oct 28, 2020
- Event Description
A teenage Hong Kong activist was charged on Thursday with secession, the first public political figure to be prosecuted under a sweeping new national security law Beijing imposed on the city.
Tony Chung, 19, appeared in court charged with secession, money laundering and conspiring to publish seditious content, two days after he was arrested in a Hong Kong coffee shop opposite the US consulate.
Chung is a former member of Student Localism, a small group that advocated Hong Kong's independence from China.
The group disbanded its Hong Kong network shortly before Beijing blanketed the city in its new security law in late June but it has kept its international chapters going.
The legislation outlawed a host of new crimes, including expressing political views such as advocating independence or greater autonomy for Hong Kong.
Chung and three other members of Student Localism were first arrested by a newly created national security police unit in July on suspicion of inciting secession via social media posts.
However, Chung was arrested again on Tuesday morning by plainclothes police just metres away from the US consulate.
A little-known group calling itself Friends of Hong Kong put out a statement shortly afterwards saying it had been trying to arrange for Chung to enter the US consulate that day and apply for asylum.
Chung was held by police until his appearance in court on Thursday morning. He was denied bail.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Offline, Online, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Student, Youth
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary, Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Oct 31, 2020
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Sep 4, 2020
- Event Description
Chinese authorities in the northern region of Inner Mongolia have arrested a human rights lawyer after he refused to send his child to school amid regionwide protests against plans to end Mongolian-medium education.
Police in Inner Mongolia's Tongliao city are have formally arrested Hu Baolong on charges of "leaking state secrets overseas," ethnic Mongolian scholar Khubis, who currently lives in Japan, told RFA on Wednesday.
He said he last had contact with Hu on Sept. 4.
"Hu Baolong protested because his kid was starting primary school this year," Khubis said. "As a father, he was protesting against [the ruling Chinese Communist Party's] 'bilingual education' policy."
"I was told that he was arrested for giving information to foreigners," he said. "But all his messages were on WeChat and were about regular stuff that most people know about."
Khubis said that, last time they spoke, he and Hu had avoided talking about the massive political resistance to plans to end Mongolian-medium education in the region's schools.
"We talked about everyday life; there was nothing secret or sensitive," Khubis said. "I think they are targeting him for taking part in the resistance movement among parents in Tongliao."
Class boycotts and street protests
Nomin, an ethnic Mongolian and former colleague of Hu's now living in the U.S., said she had tried to contact Hu's sister.
"I asked [his sister] if he had been detained and she said yes, he had," she said.
"The Tongliao authorities told some local parents that they detained [Hu] to encourage the local parents to settle down," Nomin said. "This was a couple of weeks ago."
"I learned via a group chat that Hu is being prosecuted and has been formally arrested."
Plans to end the use of the Mongolian language in the region's ethnic Mongolian schools have sparked weeks of class boycotts, street protests, and a region-wide crackdown by riot squads and state security police in the region, in a process described by ethnic Mongolians as "cultural genocide."
Since the start of the new semester, schools that previously offered Mongolian-medium teaching will start using Mandarin Chinese instead, phasing out any Mongolian-language teaching materials, according to local residents and overseas activists who spoke to RFA.
As well as Hu, the authorities have detained a further eight people on suspicion of "picking quarrels and stirring up trouble," in connection with the schools protests.
Nine deaths so far
According to the New York-based Southern Mongolian Human Rights Information Center (SMHRIC), at least nine people have died and thousands have been detained as the authorities launched a region-wide crackdown on the protest movement, which organized region-wide class boycotts and street protests in response to the policy change.
An estimated 300,000 students have boycotted class across Inner Mongolia since the end of August, with the authorities claiming the policy is a move towards "bilingual education."
Ethnic Mongolians in the region say it is a form of cultural genocide aimed at cutting off their remaining connection to their culture and heritage.
In several areas, the authorities dispatched SWAT teams, plainclothes state security police, and volunteers to strong-arm families into sending their children back to school, SMHRIC reported.
Parents who failed to enroll their children in school were threatened with having them expelled, while hundreds of ethnic Mongolians were forced to resign from public office after they resisted the changes to the curriculum, which were kept under wraps until the start of the new semester at the end of August.
Hu Baolong is the the founder of Tongliao's Menggali law firm, which mostly provides legal services for ethnic Mongolians, especially members of traditional herding communities.
The authorities had earlier imposed a travel ban on him after he represented a client in a politically sensitive legal case, and Hu was prevented from crossing the border into the neighboring country of Mongolia by border guards at Erenhot in 2010, on the grounds that his leaving would "endanger national security."
According to ethnic Mongolian Tara, Hu was also a veteran of the 1989 pro-democracy movement in China.
"He took part in the student movement in 1989, then went on to found his own law firm in Tongliao," Tara said. "He is a dissident, and advocate for freedom, and has been targeted all along; this time he explained the bilingual education policy to everyone in a WeChat group."
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Offline, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Lawyer
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Oct 20, 2020
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Oct 1, 2020
- Event Description
Activist Meng Xiaodong (孟晓东) stood trial at Sui County Court in Shangqiu City on charges of “picking quarrels ” and “obstruction of credit card management” on October 1. The prosecution also accused him of “insulting others” on Twitter for his comments about former state leader Mao Zedong. He pled not guilty and his lawyers defended his innocence. No members of the public were allowed into the courthouse. The hearing ended without a verdict being pronounced. Since 2010, Meng has been active in defending local farmers’ land rights. On September 6, 2019, police from Sui County took Meng away from his home, first detaining him on suspicion of “picking quarrels” and later adding the allegations of “obstruction of credit card management” and “insulting others” on Twitter.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Denial Fair Trial, Enactment of repressive legislation and policies, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Online, Right to fair trial, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Land rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Oct 7, 2020
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Sep 29, 2020
- Event Description
Zhongwei City police in Ningxia arrested several volunteers at a wildlife conservation group on numerous charges on September 29. Police announced Li Genshan (李根山), Zhang Baoqi (张保其), Niu Haobao (牛海波) and 8 unnamed individuals of the Zhongwei Mongolian Gazelle Patrol Team had been arrested for “picking quarrels and provoking trouble”, “extortion and bribery” & “illegal hunting.” The group used to chase poachers in the desert at night and shortly before being detained, had reportedly accused local forest police of sheltering poachers. Police seized Li, Zhang and Niu on September 9, 2020 and criminally detained them the next day for “picking quarrels,” “extortion and blackmail,” and “robbery.” On September 11, 2020, the police announced on its Weibo account that they arrested 6 more individuals but did not disclose any details. According to other volunteers of their group, three of the six detainees were from the group. By the end of September, 12 individuals remain in custody and two had been released on bail. Zhang’s son Zhang Hai applied for bail but the police rejected the application. In 2019, Li Genshan exposed that a paper manufacturer had been illegally discharging sewage in the Tengger Desert in Inner Mongolia for years, resulting in an investigation from the Ministry of Ecology and Environment.
- Impact of Event
- 12
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Enactment of repressive legislation and policies, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Environmental rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Oct 7, 2020
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Sep 27, 2020
- Event Description
An ongoing investigation into a hard-hitting journalist with Hong Kong's government broadcaster RTHK will have a "chilling effect" on the city's news organizations, the Hong Kong Journalists' Association (HKJA) warned on Monday.
The RTHK Programme Staff Union said on Sunday it had received news that the station management will reopen a probe into the work performance of TV presenter Nabela Qoser, whose questions of chief executive Carrie Lam in the wake of a July 31 attack by armed thugs on train passengers in Yuen Long prompted Lam and other top officials to walk out of a news conference.
The union described the broadcaster’s decisions to reopen the investigation into complaints against Qoser and extend her probationary period by 120 days as "political persecution," RTHK reported.
Qoser, a Hong Kong-born journalist of Pakistani descent, asked Lam where she was on the night of the attack, which went on for nearly 40 minutes before police showed up at the scene, demanding: "How could you sleep last night?"
"The Hong Kong Journalists Association is concerned about [the reopening of the investigation ], and worries that journalists who raise pointed questions will be subjected to suppression in their workplaces," the HKJA said in a statement on its Facebook page.
"[This] will eventually create a chilling effect," it said.
RTHK staff, as civil servants, are required to submit to at least performance appraisals over a three-year probationary period, but the process doesn't include public complaints.
Qoser's probationary period had been due to end, but has been extended pending the renewed investigation, the staff union said on its Facebook page.
"The sudden re-opening of the investigation and the extension of the probationary period are not only unfair to Qoser; they also undermine the entire civil service appraisal system," the HKJA said.
"If journalists are subjected to criticism, suppression, or political censorship just for doing their jobs ... they will no longer be able to speak up against injustice," the group said.
RTHK union members staged a protest outside the station's headquarters on Monday as a new advisory board convened in the wake of complaints of anti-government bias against the organization met.
'A form of political suppression'
Union president Chiu Sin-yan said the reinvestigation of Qoser seemed to be politically motivated.
"We tend to believe that this is a form of political suppression," Chiu said. "This investigation was previously closed ... so if it can be reopened indefinitely, we think the intention behind this is self-evident."
Chiu said the reasons given by RTHK director of broadcasting Leung Ka-wing during a meeting on were insufficient.
HKJA chairman Chris Yeung said the move will likely have a further chilling effect on the city's journalists.
"It is worrying because if news organizations cave in to political pressure from the authorities and put pressure on journalists, even if they dress it up as non-renewal of a contract or ... sacking for other reasons, this ... will have a chilling effect on the whole industry," Yeung said.
A warning to others
Bruce Lui, senior journalism lecturer at Hong Kong Baptist University said the singling out of Qoser is intended as a warning to all journalists.
"Is this to be the fate of journalists or media organizations seen as less obedient by the government?" Lui said. "I'm sure many will be wondering if they should be less outspoken ... and not do anything wrong."
As China imposed a draconian national security law on Hong Kong on June 30, Zhang Xiaoming, deputy director of Beijing's Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office, and Lam both hit out at some media organizations for "smearing" the authorities in their criticisms of government and police.
The law stipulates that the media should be "subject to better supervision, management, publicity, and education," Lui said.
"So it is not surprising that the authorities have targeted the media with various actions," he said.
Democratic Party lawmaker Lam Cheuk-ting wrote to RTHK on Monday saying that there was no new information that would justify a reinvestigation of Qoser's performance.
He told its reporters: "I strongly urge the senior management of RTHK to uphold the freedom of expression, freedom of the press and editorial autonomy, and to try to defend their professional reporters and journalists and let them to perform their duties professionally and independently."
But Lam Tai-fai, chairman of the RTHK advisory board, declined to comment on the move when asked by journalists on Monday.
"I am not in a good position to comment (on) the employment situation," Lam said. "Whether it’s fair or not fair, it’s not my job and also I cannot make a comment with my limited knowledge in this area."
No support for police, government
The reinvestigation into Qoser's work comes after broadcasting regulator the Communications Authority issued a warning to RTHK following public complaints that its TV show Pentaprism hadn't upheld a wide enough range of views, namely those in support of police and government.
Qoser, a Hong Kong Baptist University graduate, has previously worked at TVB and Ming Pao, and has been subjected to online racist abuse, according to Hong Kong's Equal Opportunities Commission.
RTHK is a fully funded department of the Hong Kong government, but has been criticized by pro-China politicians and officials for alleged anti-government bias.
In May 2020, it axed a top satirical show that poked fun at police denials of violence against pro-democracy protesters, and apologized, after the Communications Authority issued a warning to the station for "denigrating and insulting" the police in a February episode of the show.
The decision to reinvestigate Qoser's performance comes after the city's police force said it would no longer recognize credentials issued by the HKJA, as was previously the case, saying it would now decide which media organizations were legitimate.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Media freedom, Offline, Right to work
- HRD
- Media Worker, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Government
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Oct 7, 2020
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Oct 2, 2020
- Event Description
A court in Shanghai recently handed down a secret sentence of three years' imprisonment to detained rights activist Chen Jianfang, a Chinese rights website reported.
"We learned on Oct. 2, 2020 that Shanghai human rights defender Chen Jianfang has been sentenced to three years' imprisonment for incitement to subvert state power," the Weiquanwang rights website reported, citing lawyer Liu Shihui.
"Chen Jianfang is currently being held in the Shanghai Detention Center. The authorities have so far not allowed her to meet with a defense attorney," the report said.
The sentence will run until Feb. 18, 2022, it said.
Chen, 49, a Shanghai-based housing activist was recently named as a recipient of the 4th Cao Shunli Memorial Award for Human Rights Defenders by Civil Rights & Livelihood Watch, Human Rights Campaign in China, and the Chinese Human Rights Defenders (CHRD) network.
The news of her secret sentencing came after her indictment by the state prosecutor on Aug. 30, and the transfer of her case to the Shanghai No. 1 Intermediate People's Court.
Chen's appointed defense lawyer Wu Li told RFA on Monday that she had been repeatedly denied permission to meet with her client.
"After she instructed us, she applied to the Shanghai No. 1 Intermediate Court, but it didn't approve her request, so we were never able to read the case files," Wu said. "Later, we requested information from the court about where she was being held, but they didn't tell us."
"I later learned that she is in the Shanghai No. 1 Detention Center, so I made an appointment, but they canceled it," Wu said. "The reason they gave was ridiculous: that only one meeting was permitted for each stage in the case."
Wu said unconfirmed reports suggest that Chen's family may have been forced to revoke her lawyer's instruction under pressure from the authorities.
Cao Shunli as model
Gu Guoping, a friend of Chen's, said her detention came after she penned an essay paying tribute rights activist Cao Shunli on the fifth anniversary of her death in police custody on March 14, 2014.
Gu said the charges could also be linked to the way in which the news of the Cao Shunli award was made public.
"She inadvertently disclosed the contact details of the chairman of the U.N. Human Rights Council to petitioners, and they also inadvertently leaked the news [of her award]," Gu said. "Then the authorities stopped her from going to Switzerland [to receive the award]."
Chen has been held incommunicado for more than six months on subversion charges, putting her at high risk of torture and other ill-treatment, rights groups say.
Chen was detained on March 20 alongside her husband, and the couple 'disappeared' for several months. Chen was formally arrested on suspicion of "subversion of state power" on May 22, while her husband was released on bail on April 3.
Her incommunicado detention was the subject of an appeal from four United Nations human rights experts to the Chinese government in August.
Chen, 49, who hails from a rural community, began defending land and housing rights after her family lost land to government-backed developers.
Her work has highlighted the widespread mass evictions behind Shanghai's skyscrapers and high-speed railways, key elements in China's development showcase that mask widespread abuses of residents' rights.
She has referred to Cao Shunli as "my spiritual teacher, from whom I learned some of the highest ideals."
"My own rights defense work is indivisible from what she taught me," Chen wrote to RFA at the time of the award.
Chen's sentencing comes at a time of worsening rights abuses under President Xi Jinping, who now looks set to rule indefinitely.
Cao was detained on Sept. 14, 2013, as she was boarding a flight to Geneva, where she was to attend a session of the U.N. Human Rights Council, where she hoped to participate in drafting China’s human rights action plans and reports for its U.N. human rights reviews.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Denial Fair Trial, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Online, Right to fair trial, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Oct 7, 2020
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Sep 30, 2020
- Event Description
A court in Hong Kong on Wednesday extended a travel ban on pro-democracy activist Joshua Wong in connection with an "illegal" protest last year, and for defying a government ban on mask-wearing in public.
The Eastern Magistrate's Court granted bail applications from Wong and co-defendant Koo Sze-yiu, who face charges of "taking part in an illegal assembly" on Oct. 5, 2019, before adjourning until Dec. 18.
But while it lifted a travel ban linked to bail for Koo, it extended the ban on Wong leaving Hong Kong.
Protesters and supporters gathered outside the courtroom, chanting: "Go Joshua Wong!" as dozens of uniformed police officers stood by, while a pro-China group showed up to shout insults and call for Wong's bail application to be denied.
Koo, who has stage IV cancer requiring chemotherapy and multiple surgeries, said public rallies don't need to seek the approval of the authorities before going ahead.
Wong, who faces a number of protest-related charges in separate cases, said he had no intention of giving up his activism.He said the extended travel ban was likely aimed at ensuring he can't promote the cause of the Hong Kong protesters overseas, as fellow activist Nathan Law has done.
"The prosecution once more applied for me to be prevented from leaving Hong Kong," he said. "The government wants to create a chilling effect under the guise of a criminal trial."
"By bringing case after case against me, they have succeeded in preventing me from leaving Hong Kong, to make it much harder for me to talk about Hong Kong's resistance movement to the rest of the world," he said.
"But what I have to put up with is nothing compared to the charges [faced by many others] of rioting, assault and conspiracy, not to mention the 12 Hongkongers [detained] in Shenzhen," Wong said.
He called on Hongkongers to remember the 12 detainees in Hong Kong, whose speedboat was seized by the China Coast Guard as they tried to flee to the democratic island of Taiwan.
March application turned down
Hong Kong police last week turned down an application to hold a protest march on China's Oct. 1 National Day public holiday, to call for the release of the 12 detainees.
"I believe that Hongkongers will use different methods, today, tomorrow, and in the future, to express their concern for them," Wong said.
Wong, 23, was arrested on Sept. 24 as he reported to Central Police Station in connection with another ongoing protest-related case.
He has already served several months' of prison time in connection with last year's anti-extradition and pro-democracy protests and the 2014 Occupy Central movement.
He continues to face six charges in three separate cases, including "inciting others to participate in an illegal assembly," "organizing an illegal assembly," and violating an emergency law banning masks in public.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment, Travel Restriction
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of movement, Offline, Online, Right to fair trial
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender, Youth
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Oct 7, 2020
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Sep 22, 2020
- Event Description
Chinese authorities should immediately quash the 18-year sentence against a property tycoon and outspoken critic of President Xi Jinping, Human Rights Watch said today.
On September 22, 2020, a Beijing court announced on its website that Ren Zhiqiang had been convicted of taking bribes and embezzling public funds. He was also fined 4.2 million yuan (US$620,000).
“The corruption charges against Ren Zhiqiang are a thin cover for President Xi Jinping’s intolerance of dissent,” said Yaqiu Wang, China researcher. “The 18-year sentence handed down to a Communist Party member and member of the economic elite shows the grim environment for speech in China.”
Ren, 69, is the former chairman of Huayuan, a state-owned real estate group. He was born into a political family – his father was a deputy commerce minister. He rose to public prominence after garnering 38 million followers on the Chinese social media site Weibo. Known as “The Cannon,” Ren often used the platform to express views critical of authorities, and to urge the Communist Party to improve its governance of the country.
In March, the Beijing police detained Ren after he criticized the Chinese government’s handling of the coronavirus outbreak. In an online essay, Ren wrote that “People’s lives are harmed by both the virus and the serious ills of the system.” While he did not mention Xi by name, he suggested Xi was a “clown stripped naked who insisted on continuing being emperor.”
In July, the Beijing Commission for Discipline Inspection, the Chinese Communist Party’s abusive internal investigation agency, announced that Ren had been expelled from the Party and would be prosecuted on corruption charges. The commission did not make public where Ren was being held, and it is unclear what, if any, access he had to family members or lawyers of his choice.
The case highlights serious due process concerns and the absence of credible, publicly available information to substantiate the charges against Ren. The trial, held on September 9 at the Beijing No. 2 Intermediate Court, was secret. Neither the court nor Chinese state media released any information regarding the proceedings. Ren’s friends said that he was represented by a government-appointed lawyer, but it is unclear whether he had requested his own lawyer. The court said Ren had confessed to all charges and would not appeal.
The authorities’ treatment of Ren in detention is unknown, but as Human Rights Watch documented in a 2016 report, abuses against detainees in corruption cases are common. They include prolonged sleep deprivation, being forced into stress positions for extended periods, deprivation of water and food, and severe beatings. Detainees are also subject to solitary and incommunicado detention in unofficial detention facilities. After “confessing” to corruption, suspects are typically brought into the criminal justice system, convicted, and sentenced to often lengthy prison terms.
In February 2016, Ren was banished from social media in China after he criticized Xi for calling on the Chinese media to “serve the Party” in a speech. The authorities publicly censured Ren and put him on a one-year probation from the Party.
“Ren’s sham trial may put him in prison for the rest of his life,” Wang said. “A failure to immediately release Ren would show the world that China’s legal system is a tool for settling political scores, not delivering justice.”
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Denial Fair Trial, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Right to fair trial, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Blogger/ Social Media Activist
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Sep 25, 2020
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Sep 24, 2020
- Event Description
Hong Kong police arrested prominent democracy activist Joshua Wong on Thursday for participating in an unauthorised assembly in October 2019 and violating the city's anti-mask law, according to a post on his official Twitter account.
Wong's latest arrest adds to several unlawful assembly charges or suspected offences he and other activists are facing related to last year's pro-democracy protests, which prompted Beijing to impose a sweeping national security law on June 30.
Hong Kong police confirmed they arrested two men, aged 23 and 74, on Thursday for illegal assembly on Oct 5, 2019.
The arrest of Wong, aged 23, comes around 6 weeks after media tycoon Jimmy Lai was detained on suspicion of colluding with foreign forces.
Wong had been a frequent visitor to Washington where he appealed to the U.S. Congress to support Hong Kong's democracy movement and counter Beijing's tightening grip over the global financial hub. His visits drew the wrath of Beijing, which says he is a "black hand" of foreign forces.
Wong disbanded his pro-democracy group Demosisto in June, just hours after China's parliament passed national security law for Hong Kong, bypassing the city's local legislature, a move widely criticised by Western governments.
His long-time colleague, Agnes Chow, and two other activists were also among 10 people police arrested in August on suspicion of violating the new law.
The new law punishes anything China considers as subversion, secession, terrorism and collusion with foreign forces, with up to life in prison.
Wong was just 17 years old when he became the face of the 2014 student-led Umbrella Movement democracy protests, but he was not a leading figure of the often violent unrest that shook the semi-autonomous former British colony last year.
An anti-mask law was introduced last year in a bid to help police identify the protesters they suspected of committing crimes and it is facing a challenge in court. In the meantime, the Hong Kong government has made face masks mandatory in most circumstances due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The European Union on Thursday criticised the arrest of the prominent activist, saying it was "troubling" and undermined trust in China.
"The arrest of Hong Kong pro-democracy activist Joshua Wong on 24 September is the latest in a troubling series of arrests of pro-democracy activists since the summer," an EU spokesperson said, calling for "very careful scrutiny" by the judiciary.
"Developments in Hong Kong call into question China's will to uphold its international commitments, undermine trust and impact EU-China relations."
The EU has repeatedly voiced concern at the new Hong Kong security law, which critics say erodes important freedoms in the city.
Last week senior EU leaders pressed Chinese President Xi Jinping over the situation in Hong Kong at a video summit, saying democratic rights in the city must be preserved.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Offline, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender, Youth
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Related Events
- China: pro-democracy leader arrested for participating in an allegedly unauthorised assembly in 2019
- Date added
- Sep 25, 2020
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Sep 9, 2020
- Event Description
Beijing police seized publisher Geng Xiaonan (耿潇男) and her husband Qin Zhen (秦真) on September 9. Both have been criminally detained on suspicion of “illegal business activity” and are being held at Haidian District Detention Center. Geng had alerted the world to the July detention of then-Tsinghua University professor and outspoken critic of Xi Jinping, Xu Zhangrun (许章润). Geng had organized the trip which Xu attended and which police later accused him of “soliciting prostitutes” while on. She has also tried to raise awareness of the ongoing enforced disappearance of citizen journalist Chen Qiushi (陈秋实), who reported from Wuhan during the COVID-19 pandemic and has been missing in police custody since February 6. Authorities recently began an investigation into her and her husband’s publishing company, Ruiya Books (北京瑞雅文化传播有限公司), in what appears to be retaliation for her speaking out.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Online, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Family of HRD, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Related Events
- China: outspoken publisher, her husband detained
- Date added
- Sep 17, 2020
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Aug 26, 2020
- Event Description
Hubei activist and blogger Liu Yanli (刘艳丽), 45, lost her appeal against the 4-year prison sentence handed down in violation of her right to freedom of expression. Jingmen City Intermediate People’s Court upheld the original conviction and sentence on August 26, 2020. Liu had been convicted and sentenced on April 24, 2020 by Dongbao District Court in Jingmen City for “picking quarrels and provoking trouble”. Liu Yanli was formerly an employee at a bank in Jingmen City, Hubei province and a blogger. In recent years, she has repeatedly posted comments online calling for support for the army veterans who fought during the Anti-Japan (Second World) War. She also called for disclosure of officials’ assets. She established over 160 WeChat groups to raise awareness about social justice issues.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- Denial Fair Trial, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Right to fair trial, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Blogger/ Social Media Activist, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Sep 17, 2020
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Jun 5, 2020
- Event Description
On June 5, 2020, the People’s Court of Heshigten Banner of Southern (Inner) Mongolia tried two Mongolian activists, Mr. Tsogjil and Mr. Haschuluu, who organized local Mongolian herders to protest the government’s illegal appropriation of their grazing land. Jail sentences of eight months and four months were handed down to Tsogjil and Haschuluu respectively for “rallying the public to petition the government, obstructing official business, videotaping and posting untrue stories, and transferring edited video footage to foreign organizations.”
“Defendant Tsogjil, male, born on March 4, 1979” and “defendant Haschuluu, male, born on October 23, 1978” were sentenced for “picking quarrels and provoking trouble,” according to the criminal verdict issued by the Heshigten Banner People’s Court.
“Criminal tools used: one long banner and one cellular phone that were already confiscated,” the verdict added.
“They are totally innocent,” Mr. O. Sechenbaatar, who himself was released from a year of house arrest recently after being detained for two weeks for supporting the protest in the neighboring Ongniuud Banner, said in an audio statement. “What they did was nothing but to legally file complaints about the local government’s illegal land grab and stage protests to urge the local Public Security Bureau to release detained herders and activists including myself.”
Under the Chinese authorities’ “bail pending trial” for over a year, the two activists were deprived of their basic rights to mobility and communication after being released from their initial detention last year.
“The trial was carried out pretty much behind a closed door,” O. Sechenbaatar told the Southern Mongolian Human Rights Information Center. “The crimes they were accused of committing were rallying people to demand the release of detained herders; inviting Ms. Yanjindulam (also knowns as Naranhuaar), a herder's leader, to join the protest; posting protest video footage on WeChat and sending information to foreign hostile forces.”
Tsogjil, a native of Heshigten Banner, had actively been advocating Southern Mongolians’ rights to use their native language; access their land, water, and other resources; and maintain national identity. He founded and managed at least five discussion groups with a total membership of nearly 2,500 Mongolian herders and grassroots activists on China’s only available social media outlet WeChat.
Before his arrest in April 2019, Tsogjil rallied the Mongolian herders for the release of the detained writer O. Sechenbaatar in one of his WeChat discussion groups called “Language, Livestock, and National Boundary.” “I ask our fellow herders from each and every village to gather in front of the banner government tomorrow to demand the immediate release of O. Sechenbaatar,” he wrote.
“O. Sechenbaatar went to jail for defending our land and rights. We all must wake up and take up the fight to protect our homeland,” Tsogjil said in the discussion group. “The authorities can arrest one of us, a few of us, but cannot arrest all of us.”
“Haschuluu was accused of committing similar crimes, including his involvement in last year’s public protest in front of the banner government and demanding my release,” O. Sechenbaatar said.
“What is truly revealing is the family members of the two were told by the court that the decision was handed down from the above. This means the government is above the law, and the law is a tool for the government officials to punish those who protest the government’s abuse of power,” O. Sechenbaatar added.
According to online discussions posted by local herders from Heshigten Banner, Haschuluu lived with his 80-year-old mother who is left without anyone's care after his trial despite her poor health.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Offline, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Community-based HRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Sep 17, 2020
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Sep 6, 2020
- Event Description
An opposition activist was arrested in Hong Kong on Sunday (Sep 6) by a new police squad for "uttering seditious words", hours before a rally against a controversial security law.
The arrest of Tam Tak-chi, vice president of radical democratic party People Power, is the latest detention of a high profile democracy supporter in the financial hub and came on the morning Hongkongers had been due to vote in a general election, delayed because of the coronavirus.
An unauthorised protest in opposition to a new law that gives authorities sweeping powers - as well as the poll's postponement and a Beijing-backed COVID-19 testing programme - had more than 10,000 online subscribers.
Tam, a former radio presenter known "Fast Beat", was arrested at his home in north east Hong Kong by police officers from the national security squad, although he was not detained under the new law, police said.
"The gentleman we arrested this morning was arrested for uttering seditious words under the Crimes Ordinance's section ten," senior superintendent Li Kwai-wah said, referring to legislation enacted in the British colonial era to clamp down anti-government expressions.
According to Li, Tam was held for using words that "brought into hatred and contempt of the government and raised discontent and disaffection among Hong Kong people" in speeches made across Hong Kong this summer.
Li said the national security police was leading the arrest because at the initial stage of investigation the force suspected Tam of committing "incitement to secession" in article 21 of the national security law.
"But after collection of evidence and consulting the Department of Justice, we decided that it is more suitable to use the Crimes Ordinance," Li said.
Since the national security law was passed in Beijing and implemented in Hong Kong on Jun 30, 21 people, including pro-democracy media mogul Jimmy Lai and prominent activist Agnes Chow, have been arrested for allegations of "incitement to secession", "collusion with foreign forces" and "terrorism acts".
Hong Kong's administration insists the law has not impinged on the rights to freedom of speech and assembly guaranteed to the territory when it returned to Chinese rule in 1997.
Yet certain opinions and expressions in previously free-wheeling Hong Kong have become illegal, and activists have spoken of a deep chilling effect that has seen books yanked from libraries and publishers rush to amend their titles.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Offline, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Sep 16, 2020
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Aug 20, 2020
- Event Description
Chongqing City suffered the biggest flood in 40 years. On August 20, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang inspected the disaster-stricken area in Chongqing. It was reported that at least 11 Chongqing activists had been arrested, with their personal freedom restricted.
As of the morning of Aug 21st, many activists had been missing. At noon on August 20, Chongqing human rights activists Chen Mingyu, Tan Junrong, Liu Gaosheng, He Chaozheng, Zhao Liang, Cai Bangying, and He Yan were stopped by a group of people on Huangzhu Road in Liangjiang New District.
They were forced to be escorted into a car and taken to the Dazhulin Police Station of the Public Security Bureau in Liangjiang New District. They were shortly picked up and detained by the police from their resident districts. Chen Mingyu said that he was still under surveillance after returning home, and someone followed him when he went out.
- Impact of Event
- 7
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Surveillance
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of movement, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Aug 27, 2020
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Aug 21, 2020
- Event Description
A Tibetan community leader and his nephew were arrested this weekend in Qinghai’s Tridu county after defying Chinese authorities by advising local Tibetans not to sign away their rights to grazing land, Tibetan sources said.
Bu Dokyab, 63, and his nephew Gyaltsen, 43, were taken into custody on Aug. 21 by Chinese police while eating at a restaurant in Yushu prefecture’s Tridu county and were taken to the county’s Detention Center 683, a local source told RFA’s Tibetan Service.
Authorities did not release a statement regarding the arrests of the two men, residents of Chakchok village in neighboring Chumarleb county’s Chigdril township, RFA’s source said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
“But Tibetans living in the area suspect it had to do with their open defiance of a government order,” RFA’s source said.
“Recently, Chinese authorities held a meeting in Chumarleb to talk about confiscating the land, and Bu Dokyab during the meeting advised the people there not to give up their ownership of the land, saying that this would destroy their livelihood,” the source said.
“He said that surrendering their deeds to the land would prevent them from ever passing anything down to future generations.”
Also speaking to RFA, a second source said that Bu Dokyab had “spoken strongly” against nomads giving up their rights to their land, reminding his listeners that anyone surrendering their deed to government authorities would lose their way to make a living.
“Dokyab is a unit leader in his village and is a very generous man who often gives his help to poor nomads who are in need,” the second source said. “He even petitions the government when local government assistance to the poor does not reach them in time.”
“Because of his interventions to secure local families’ government subsidies, he has already been detained twice by the Chinese police,” the source said.
Land deeds revoked
Several counties in Qinghai have called public meetings this year regarding land rights, with officials issuing advisories and distributing documents canceling people’s ownership of their land, the source said.
“Before this, the Chinese promised that the land belonged to the local people, and that no one could interfere with their rights for 50 years.”
“But beginning this year, the land deeds have been revoked, and this has left the local Tibetans very concerned,” he said.
Development projects in Tibetan areas have led to frequent standoffs with Tibetans who accuse Chinese firms and local officials of pilfering money, improperly seizing land, and disrupting the lives of local people.
Many result in violent suppression and intense pressure on the local population to comply with the government’s wishes, with protest leaders frequently detained and charged under cover of a Chinese campaign against so-called “underworld criminal gangs” in Tibetan areas.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Land rights, Offline, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Community-based HRD, Family of HRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Aug 27, 2020
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Aug 11, 2020
- Event Description
One of Hong Kong�s most strident pro-democracy figures has been arrested and the offices of the newspaper he owns searched by police in a stark escalation by authorities enforcing a new national security law brought in by Beijing.
The raid on Apple Daily, Hong Kong�s largest pro-democracy daily paper, and arrest of Jimmy Lai and other senior executives were condemned by activists and journalists, who said they marked �the day press freedom officially died�.
Apple Daily�s publisher, Next Digital Media, said it was �furious� about the raid and arrests. It warned that press freedom was �hanging by a thread� but said its staff remained committed to defending it.
Lai, a 71-year-old media tycoon and outspoken supporter of Hong Kong�s pro-democracy movement, was arrested alongside six others including his son on Monday morning on suspicion of �collusion with foreign forces� and conspiracy to commit fraud.
In a separate incident the pro-democracy activist Agnes Chow was also arrested under the new law, her fellow activist Nathan Law said.
Hong Kong police said nine men and one woman, aged between 23 and 72, had been arrested.
Hundreds of police descended on the Apple Daily building in an unprecedented hours-long raid, which was live-streamed by dozens of the paper�s staff.
�Tell your colleagues to keep their hands off until our lawyers check the warrant,� the editor-in-chief, Ryan Law Wai-kwong, told police. Staff were ordered to produce ID. Midway through the raid a handcuffed Lai was marched through the newsroom.
Thousands watched the streams, which appeared to contradict police claims that �news materials� would not be targeted, as officers casually rifled through papers on journalists� desks. Boxes of documents were confiscated.
Later, police barred news organisations including Reuters, Agence France-Presse, the Associated Press and the public broadcaster RTHK from attending a press conference about the search.
The Hong Kong journalist association head, Chris Yeung, said the raid was �horrendous�. �I think in some third-world countries there has been this kind of press freedom suppression, I just didn�t expect it to be in Hong Kong,� he told media.
Next Digital accused police of abusing their power and authorities of �breaching press freedom through intimidation and creating an atmosphere of white fear�.
The arrest of Lai, while not unexpected, has alarmed the city, which has been on edge after Beijing imposed a sweeping national security law outlawing sedition and secessionist activities, and foreign collusion.
Lai, who also holds UK citizenship, is the most high-profile figure detained under the law. If charged and convicted, he could face potential sentences of three to 10 years in prison � or up to life for an offence �of a grave nature�.
In 2019 state media labelled him one of a new �Gang of Four� conspiring against Beijing. He is already facing several charges over involvement in last year�s pro-democracy protests, and he was one of 25 people charged on Friday over attending a Tiananmen Square massacre vigil in June. Hong Kong�s security laws: what are they and why are they so controversial? Read more
A report in hawkish Chinese state media mouthpiece the Global Times labelled Lai a �modern-day traitor� and suggested he was unlikely to receive bail and would face �heavy penalties�.
Hong Kong journalists have repeatedly warned that the law would have a chilling affect on local media.
The activist and legislator Eddie Chu Hoi-dick accused the Chinese Communist party of wanting to close Apple Daily, and said Lai�s arrest was �the first step of [a] HK media blackout�.
Claudia Mo, a pro-democracy legislator and a former journalist, said she was more surprised by the raid than the arrest. �This is just so drastic and blatant,� she told the Guardian.
Keith Richburg, a veteran correspondent and now head of Hong Kong University�s media school, said the raid and arrests were outrageous. �I think you can say that is the day press freedom officially died, and it didn�t die a natural death. It was killed by Beijing and it was killed by Carrie Lam and Hong Kong police,� he said.
The police operation marked the first time the law has been used against media in Hong Kong, which has historically had a high level of press freedom. Last month the New York Times announced it was moving part of its Hong Kong bureau to South Korea.
Several outlets have complained of foreign journalist visas not being renewed. On Monday the Standard news website reported that the immigration department had established a national security unit to vet �sensitive� visa applications, including from journalists.
Chinese and Hong Kong officials had promised the security law would not impinge on the city�s civil freedoms, including its independent press. �Today�s police action upends those assurances,� the Foreign Correspondents� Club of Hong Kong said in a statement.
Benedict Rogers, a co-founder and the chair of Hong Kong Watch, said: �To arrest one of the most moderate, peaceful and internationally respected voices for democracy in Hong Kong � sends the message that no one is safe in Hong Kong unless they stay completely silent and do exactly as Xi Jinping�s brutal regime says.�
There was some speculation that the arrests were retaliation for US sanctions against senior Hong Kong officials, including Lam. The accusations against Lai have been at least partly driven by his meetings with and support from senior US figures including the secretary of state, Mike Pompeo.
In response to the US sanctions, China�s foreign ministry on Monday said that it would be placing sanctions on 11 US officials and lawmakers. A foreign ministry spokesman condemned the US for its �blatant interference� in China�s internal affairs.
On Monday afternoon the stock price of Next Digital, which is owned by Lai, rose more than 300% after some analysts reportedly said they would buy in protest against his arrest.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Enactment of repressive legislation and policies, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Offline, Online, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Media Worker, Pro-democracy defender, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Aug 21, 2020
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Aug 6, 2020
- Event Description
Two dozen people in Hong Kong, including pro-democracy activist Joshua Wong, have been charged with participating in an illegal assembly at a vigil on June 4 commemorating the crackdown on protesters in and around Beijing's Tiananmen square in 1989.
It was the first time the vigil had been banned in semi-autonomous Hong Kong, with police citing coronavirus restrictions on group gatherings in refusing permission for it to take place. Still, tens of thousands lit candles across the city in what was largely a peaceful event, bar a brief skirmish with riot police in one neighbourhood.
The anniversary struck an especially sensitive nerve in the former British colony this year, falling just as China prepared to introduce national security legislation later that month in response to last year's often violent pro-democracy demonstrations.
Pro-democracy activists see the new legislation as the latest attempt by Beijing to encroach on Hong Kong's freedoms.
Police said in a statement on Thursday that 24 people, including 19 men and five women, aged 23-69, had been charged with holding and knowingly taking part in an unauthorised assembly. Such a charge existed before the new security law came into force on June 30.
Wong, and at least six other activists said on their Facebook pages that they were among those charged.
"Clearly, the regime plans to stage another crackdown on the city's activists by all means," Wong said.
Wong made a court appearance on Wednesday on similar charges related to a protest last year. The verdict is expected later this year.
The new security law, which punishes anything China sees as subversion, secession, terrorism or collusion with foreign forces with up to life in prison, has drawn strong criticism from Western countries for putting Hong Kong on a more authoritarian path.
Its supporters say it will bring stability after a year of unrest.
June 4 commemorations are banned in mainland China, but Hong Kong, which was promised certain freedoms when it returned to Chinese rule in 1997, such as that of expression and assembly, traditionally held the largest vigils globally every year.
China has never provided a full account of the 1989 violence. The death toll given by officials days later was about 300, most of them soldiers, but rights groups and witnesses say thousands of people may have perished.
- Impact of Event
- 7
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Enactment of repressive legislation and policies, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Offline
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Related Events
- China: at least six pro-democracy activists charged in Hong Kong for joining Tienanmen square commemoration
- Date added
- Aug 21, 2020
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Jul 30, 2020
- Event Description
Hong Kong authorities have disqualified 12 pro-democracy candidates from upcoming elections, deepening political tensions in the Chinese territory.
Opposition legislators had hoped to obtain a majority in the Legislative Council (LegCo) in September's poll after Beijing's imposition of a highly controversial national security law.
Among those barred are high-profile activists Joshua Wong and Lester Shum.
The government said the candidates were not fit to run for office.
It said they could not be considered to be abiding by the constitutional duty required of lawmakers if they:
advocated for, or promoted, Hong Kong's independence solicited intervention by foreign governments in Hong Kong's affairs expressed "an objection in principle" to the imposition of the national security law by central authorities in Beijing expressed "an intention to exercise the functions of a LegCo Member by indiscriminately voting down" any legislative proposals introduced by the Hong Kong government, "so as to force the government to accede to certain political demands"
In its statement announcing the disqualifications, the government said the decision was taken in line with Hong Kong's mini-constitution - the Basic Law.
"There is no question of any political censorship, restriction of the freedom of speech or deprivation of the right to stand for elections as alleged by some members of the community," it said, adding that more disqualifications could not be ruled out.
Joshua Wong, who rose to prominence as a teenage activist during protests in 2014, said the decision showed "a total disregard for the will of Hongkongers" and "tramples upon the city's last pillar of vanishing autonomy".
The new national security law has been highly controversial in Hong Kong, a former British colony which is now part of China but was given unique freedoms in an agreement before the transfer of sovereignty.
The law was widely condemned by Western governments, but China says it is necessary to restore stability in the territory, which was hit by months of pro-democracy protests last year which often turned violent.
The opposition candidates disqualified on Thursday include four incumbent lawmakers, four district councillors - including Mr Shum - and activists Ventus Lau Wing-hong, Gwyneth Ho Kwai-lam and Alvin Cheng Kam-mun, in addition to Mr Wong.
The Civic Party, one of the city's pro-democracy parties that had members among those barred, said the disqualifications "exploited the right of Hong Kong people to vote", Reuters news agency reports.
Its four disqualified members were Alvin Yeung, Dennis Kwok, Kwok Ka-ki and Cheng Tat-hung.
- Impact of Event
- 12
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment, Denial Fair Trial
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of association, Offline, Right to fair trial, Right to political participation
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Government
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Aug 21, 2020
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Jul 28, 2020
- Event Description
The University of Hong Kong�s governing body voted on Tuesday to fire an associate law professor who was convicted last year of charges related to his leading role in the 2014 Umbrella Movement protests and has remained a key figure in the city�s pro-democracy movement.
The legal scholar, Benny Tai, was convicted of public nuisance charges last year and sentenced to 16 months in prison, but he was released and remains on bail while his case is under appeal.
The university had faced widespread calls from members of the pro-Beijing establishment to dismiss Mr. Tai. But his supporters argued that dismissing him would undermine academic freedom that has already been imperiled by a new national security law imposed by Beijing.
The decision �marks the end of academic freedom in Hong Kong,� Mr. Tai said in a Facebook post. �Academic staff in education institutions in Hong Kong are no longer free to make controversial statements to the general public about politically or socially controversial matters.�
Last year the university began an investigation into Mr. Tai that led to Tuesday�s decision by the school�s council, a body dominated by members from outside the university. Arthur Li, its chair, is also an adviser to Carrie Lam, Hong Kong�s chief executive.
The university�s senate, which is comprised largely of academic staff, found earlier this month that Mr. Tai�s conduct did not warrant his removal. The council rejected that recommendation, a move that Mr. Tai�s supporters called politically motivated.
�Arthur Li has completed his political mission, and Benny Tai has become a martyr to civil disobedience,� said Joseph Chan, a political science professor at the university. �The University of Hong Kong has sacrificed its reputation and it will not be able to hold its head high in the international academic community. This day will become a major stain in the history of the University of Hong Kong that cannot be washed away.�
Lei Tsz Shing, an undergraduate representative of the university�s council, said in an opinion article on Tuesday that Mr. Tai�s termination would contradict messages that academic freedom would be maintained under the national security law.
�If the university at this moment ignores the senate�s recommendations and fires Benny Tai, it would be equivalent to declaring that academic freedom is being repressed,� he wrote on Tuesday in The Stand News, an online outlet.
The Hong Kong University Students� Union had argued that Mr. Tai should not be dismissed, calling him a model scholar who was willing to put his knowledge into action.
�He has impressed on generations of students the responsibility of a public intellectual, with his genuine care of society and unwavering pursuit of universal suffrage,� the group wrote in a statement on Facebook.
Mr. Tai was a central figure in the 2014 Umbrella Movement, calling for a protest to push for more direct democracy in Hong Kong. What he had envisioned as a sit-in of a few days was pre-empted by student demonstrators who occupied a square near government headquarters.
Thousands took to the streets after police used pepper spray and tear gas on the protesters. They occupied major roadways in the city for 79 days, but ultimately failed to change how Hong Kong chooses its leaders.
He was convicted last year of conspiracy to commit public nuisance and incitement to commit public nuisance. The judge rejected the argument made on behalf of Mr. Tai and eight other defendants that the protests were an appropriate exercise of free speech.
Shiu Ka-chun, a Legislative Council member who was one of the eight other activists convicted along with Mr. Tai last year, said he was told Monday that Hong Kong Baptist University was not renewing his contract to teach social work.
After his conviction, Mr. Tai has remained active in politics, and this year helped organize a primary vote among the pro-democracy camp to choose candidates for a legislative election in September. More than 600,000 people participated, despite government warnings the exercise might be illegal under the new national security law. The turnout was an early indication of broad support for the opposition camp.
The primary was denounced both by Hong Kong government and Beijing�s representatives in the city, who singled out Mr. Tai for vehement criticism.
�Facts have proven that Benny Tai and his like are the chief culprits for creating the chaotic situation in Hong Kong, bringing disaster to Hong Kong and harming its people,� Beijing�s Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office said after the primary earlier this month.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Academic freedom
- HRD
- Academic, Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Government
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Aug 21, 2020
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Jul 27, 2020
- Event Description
Four young activists who belonged to a disbanded pro-independence group have been arrested on secessionist charges in Hong Kong�s first crackdown on political figures after the enactment July 1 of a sweeping national security law.
Senior Superintendent Li Kwai-wah, with Hong Kong police�s newly formed National Security Department, told reporters late Wednesday that four students between the ages of 16 and 21 had been arrested under the new national security law for �organizing and inciting secession� by their advocacy of independence.
He declined to name them and their group, but the group Studentlocalism announced on social media that its former convenor, Tony Chung, 19, had been arrested Wednesday night for �inciting secession.� Activists said at least two other former group members also had been arrested about the same time.
The arrests were the most high-profile crackdown on political figures since the introduction of the new security law. Ten protesters were arrested that day on national security charges.
'Hong Kong nation'
Li accused the group of announcing online the establishment of a new group to advocate for the establishment of a �Hong Kong nation,� as well as its declaration that it would use all means to achieve this end. He also alleged that the group was trying to �unite all pro-independence groups in Hong Kong� and �incite others to join them.�
Li said mobile phones, computers and documents had been seized from the arrested activists� homes. He said the police could take DNA samples from them if necessary.
Citing clauses 36 to 38 of the national security law, Li emphasized that people also could be charged with criminal enterprises for �national security crimes� committed elsewhere in the world.
�We have jurisdiction even if the propaganda takes place abroad,� he said.
Studentlocalism announced its closure on the eve of the enactment of the national security law on July 1, but it also announced 10 days ago the establishment of its U.S. division. On its Twitter account, the group called on its supporters to join in, and it posted an online recruitment form.
Manifesto
Its manifesto on Twitter says one of its missions is to �establish a Hong Kong republic with independent sovereignty� and �awaken the will of Hong Kong�s national independence.�
Li said the arrestees were suspected of violating both Article 20 and 21 of the national security law, which criminalizes secessionist acts and incitement of others to commit such offenses.
In a video footage posted online, a plainclothes police officer, purportedly from the national security department, can be seen escorting Chung, who has his hands tied behind his back, to a vehicle.
Local media said it was the first time that officers from the police force's new national security department had made an arrest under the security legislation.
As the group disbanded June 30, Chung vowed on Twitter, �We won�t give up, we refuse to forget, one day we will witness the Hong Kong national flag on our land.�
Chung was arrested in May 2019 for damaging the national flag at the protest zone outside the legislature, before the anti-government protest movement began.
Ahead of the police briefing Wednesday night, officers expelled several journalists, saying they had not been registered with the government � even though no such restrictions had been put in place previously.
Commenting on the arrests, pro-democracy lawmaker Eddie Chu said the activists were not arrested for their actions but rather for their rhetoric on social media. �The maximum penalty is life imprisonment. Typical CCP [Chinese Communist Party] speech crime,� he said on Twitter.
Human Rights Watch researcher Maya Wang said the arrests were �a significant escalation on the part of the Hong Kong government, criminalizing those who organize political parties, and it's likely [to be] just the beginning before it moves onto pan-democratic parties.�
- Impact of Event
- 4
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Enactment of repressive legislation and policies, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Online, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Student
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Aug 21, 2020
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Jul 21, 2020
- Event Description
Police arrested an anti-government protester on suspicion of violating Hong Kong�s new national security law on Tuesday and dispersed dozens more who had gathered at a shopping mall to mark one year since a mob attacked protesters and passengers at a train station in Yuen Long.
Three other people were arrested on suspicion of obstructing police in the execution of their duties, while a fourth was detained for violating a court-imposed curfew.
Officers also fined 79 people for social-distancing violations in Yuen Long, and some others in Central, where another small rally took place earlier. Activists were voicing anger over a lack of progress in investigating the attack.
The anti-government protester was handcuffed and taken away from the Yoho mall in the evening after being accused of displaying a placard reading: �Liberate Hong Kong; revolution of our times.�
In a statement, police said he allegedly incited or abetted others to commit secession, in breach of the new law.
The government maintains the slogan amounts to a separatist call, although lawyers have cast doubt over the assertion and say the courts should decide.
Police also led away Democratic Party lawmaker Ted Hui Chi-fung, who told reporters officers accused him of being uncooperative as they tried to search his belongings.
A small group of people inside the mall chanted protest slogans, including the controversial one, and officers briefly raised a purple flag warning they could be arrested for violating the new law.
Officers rounded up dozens of journalists outside and demanded they turn off their cameras as they were searched and their press credentials were checked. The force took to social media earlier in the day to warn demonstrators of legal action if they participated in the rally, amid a worsening third wave of the Covid-19 pandemic . The attack on July 21 last year was widely caught on video. Clips show the white-clad mob armed with metal poles and rattan sticks entering the train station and begin to beat anti-government protesters and passengers seemingly at random, leaving 45 people injured .
Some activists have accused police of colluding with the attackers as officers failed to show up promptly after being alerted to the incident, although the force maintains the delay was caused by a staffing crunch.
The attack is widely regarded as a turning point in the year-long social unrest triggered by a now-withdrawn extradition bill, which pitted police and protesters against each other.
Dozens of arrests have been made over the violence, but the force�s watchdog has noted it lacks the authority to investigate the allegation officers were involved.
Police were out in force in Yuen Long in the afternoon, with officers issuing tickets to three Democratic Party lawmakers, among others, outside the MTR station for failing to observe the ban on public gatherings of more than four people.
The three lawmakers were party chairman Wu Chi-wai, vice-chairman Andrew Wan Siu-kin and Lam Cheuk-ting, who afterwards accused officers of abusing their power.
�We came in groups of four,� said Lam, a victim himself. �But when we arrived, the police ushered us together and then claimed we had breached the social-gathering regulations. If police had deployed one-tenth of the manpower last year to handle the July 21 attack, the attack might not have taken place.�
Victim Calvin So said he was returning home after a shift working as a chef that night when the mob descended upon him, leaving him with injuries to his leg and back.
�I was invited by police to give a statement once last August and then police called me two or three times later in October for some follow-up questions,� So said. �Since then, I have not heard anything from police. I can�t help thinking they are not actually serious in investigating the case.�
Earlier in the day, a handful of protesters were handed fines during a gathering at a mall in Hong Kong�s Central district to mark the anniversary.
A police spokesman said officers fined four men and two women, aged between 14 and 55, for violating social-distancing rules. Last week the government tightened the ban on public gatherings from 50 people to four in a bid to contain the spread of Covid-19 infections.
One young protester, in tears after being fined, said: �I was crying not because I was fined � But where were all these officers on July 21 last year? Now, why are there so many of them here to slap fines on young people?�
The force said it understood public concern over the violence at Yuen Long MTR station last year and stressed their New Territories North regional crime unit spared no effort in bringing the criminals to justice.
So far, 37 people, aged between 18 and 61, have been arrested over the attack, seven of whom have been charged with rioting. Police refused to comment further on the investigation, saying it was ongoing.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Enactment of repressive legislation and policies, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Offline, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Media Worker, Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Aug 21, 2020
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Jul 6, 2020
- Event Description
A Chinese law professor who has written essays critical of President Xi Jinping�s governance has reportedly been detained in Beijing.
Friends of Xu Zhangrun say the writer and academic was taken from his home early Monday morning by more than a dozen police officers. The New York Times, quoting his friend Geng Xiaonan, says a computer and papers were also taken from the home.
Geng says she learned from Xu�s wife that police told her Xu was accused of soliciting prostitutes during a recent visit to the southwestern city of Chengdu.
Xu Zhangrun taught law at Beijing�s prestigious Tsinghua University for several years until 2019, when he was banned from teaching and researching after publishing an essay condemning President Xi�s tightening grip on power. He had recently been placed under house arrest.
An essay he published in February blamed the culture of secrecy and deception for the spread of the novel coronavirus in China, which was first detected late last year in the central city of Wuhan before evolving into a pandemic that has sickened over 11.4 million people around the globe, killing more than 534,000.
Xu is the latest prominent figure to have been arrested this year for criticizing Xi over his handling of the coronavirus outbreak. Millionaire property tycoon Ren Zhiqiang was detained in April.
The arrests are part of President Xi�s increasing crackdown on dissenting voices in China, highlighted by the new national security law for Hong Kong that has criminalized open protest.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Administrative Harassment, Raid
- Rights Concerned
- Academic freedom, Offline, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Academic
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Aug 21, 2020
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Jul 1, 2020
- Event Description
Hong Kong police arrested hundreds of people amid defiant protests on the anniversary of the city's handover to Chinese rule, and on the first day of a draconian new security law that was already having an impact on freedom of speech.
"Police arrested over 300 persons, including 10 people for suspected violation of the National Security Law," the city's police force said in a statement.
"The remaining arrestees were arrested for suspected unlawful assembly, disorder in public places, furious driving and possession of offensive weapon," it said.
A senior Chinese official said anyone arrested by the mainland�s new national security office in Hong Kong on charges of violating the new national security law for the city would be tried in the mainland, although it was unclear whether Wednesday's arrests were made by that office.
Zhang Xiaoming, executive deputy director of the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office, said China�s national security office in the city abides by Chinese law and that Hong Kong�s legal system cannot be expected to implement those laws.
The arrests came after crowds gathered in the shopping and entertainment districts of Wanchai and Causeway Bay in defiance of a police ban on the traditional annual protest march, and of the new ban on any expression of pro-independence sentiment.
Chanting: "Five demands, not one less! Fight for our freedom!" and "Hong Kong independence, the only solution!" the crowds faced down hundreds of police in full riot gear who were drafted into the area during the afternoon.
Police fired at individuals, one of whom was a journalist sent flying onto the pavement in footage captured by several social media accounts, with a water cannon truck that patrolled the streets of Wanchai and Causeway Bay as police raised flags declaring the gathering "illegal."
'Rule of law is dead'
A protester surnamed Loh said she had attended the protest to display a placard which read: "Loving Hong Kong is not a crime."
"The rule of law is dead, starting from today," Loh told RFA. "Now we daren't say anything."
"I grew up here, and it is already not the same place today that it was yesterday," she said. "I don't want the Hong Kong I knew to die, and there is no crime in my loving it."
A protester surnamed Leung said the national security law, which contains sweeping and vaguely worded bans on speech as well as action, including speech critical of the authorities or promoting independence, showed that the ruling Chinese Communist Party had abandoned all pretense over Hong Kong's promised freedoms and was taking over.
"They're not even bothering with one country, two systems any more; they are showing their true colors," Leung said. "They are imposing mainland Chinese law enforcement on Hong Kong. It's instant mainlandification."
"What does mainlandification mean? It means the loss of reasonable government, because it's the mainland we're dealing with now," he said. "The Chinese Communist Party isn't a rational entity; it's an organization of utmost evil, and it wants to make Hong Kong in its own image."
Civic Party politician Kwok Ka-ki said the law would likely also have a huge impact on the city's economy.
"Taiwanese people are already saying they will avoid Hong Kong at all costs," Kwok said. "Because someone from Taiwan would totally be targeted if they were to utter a single word against the Chinese or Hong Kong authorities, or if they were to refer to Taiwan as an independent entity."
Pro-democracy lawmaker Claudia Mo said journalists could also soon find themselves in "dire trouble" under the new law.
"Anyone giving or disseminating any [sensitive] material or information to a journalist, and this journalist publishes information obtained in such a manner, could be in dire trouble. Both of them," said Mo, who is a former journalist herself.
"This is not the rule of law. These is not even rule by law. This is rule by decree. Free press could just be announced dead in Hong Kong," she said.
U.K. offers route to immigration
In Washington, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo noted that the feared arrests are "already happening" under the new law, which he called a "violation of commitments that it made to the Hong Kong people and to the United Kingdom, in a UN-registered treaty � and in contravention of Hong Kongers� human rights and fundamental freedoms."
"Security forces are already rounding up Hong Kongers for daring to speak and think freely. The rule of law has been eviscerated. And as always, the Chinese Communist Party fears its own people more than anything else," he said at a news briefing Wednesday.
"The United States is deeply concerned about the law�s sweeping provisions and the safety of everyone living in the territory, including Americans," added Pompeo, who has recently unveiled visa restrictions and military trade restrictions in response to the Chinese policies in Hong Kong.
The U.K. said it would offer all those in Hong Kong with British National Overseas (BNO) status a "bespoke" immigration route, foreign minister Dominic Raab said in a statement after the security law took effect.
"The prime minister and the government are crystal clear: the United Kingdom will keep its word, we will live up to our responsibilities to the people of Hong Kong," Raab told parliament.
"I can now confirm we will proceed to honor our commitment to change the arrangements for those holding BNO status," he said, adding that those with such status would be granted five years of limited leave in Britain to work or study.
After that, they could apply for settled status and after a further 12 months with settled status, they would be able to apply for citizenship. There will be no cap on the numbers who may apply.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Enactment of repressive legislation and policies
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of movement, Offline, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Aug 21, 2020
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Jun 27, 2020
- Event Description
After releasing Liu Xianbin, authorities still watched him.
On June 27, Liu completed a 10-year prison sentence. His family received a phone call at 10:00 a.m., saying he would return home soon. Yet, he did not arrive home until 8:00 p.m. because he had to take a COVID-19 test.
State security officers and pandemic prevention personnel picked him up at 4:00 p.m. and took him home. His family had been waiting for the whole day. They were very mentally and physically exhausted.
The next day, the family saw a police vehicle outside of their apartment complex. A few state security officers sat in the car. The family thought it was odd for the officers to be monitoring the area.
A month before, government officials installed surveillance cameras around his home. They also placed cameras at the entry of the complex.
An insider said, �State security officers stay at the entry of his building and have been there the whole day. I have no clue whether Liu Xianbin is under house arrest or residential surveillance.... The practice is not normal, and it seems that Liu Xianbin is being tightly controlled.�
Liu is a supporter of democracy and human rights. He participated in the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests. He has also defended prisoners of conscience.
Since 1991, Liu has spent more than 20 years in prison on various charges. His first charge was �counter-revolutionary propaganda and incitement." He received this charge for his participation in the Tiananmen Square protests. He was released in 1993.
In 1998, he formed a democratic party, so he received a 13-year sentence, but he was released early in 2008.
Two years later, he was arrested on a charge of inciting subversion of state power. A local court sentenced him to 10 years in prison on March 25, 2011. They also stripped him of political rights for two years and four months.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Surveillance
- Rights Concerned
- Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Aug 21, 2020
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Jun 25, 2020
- Event Description
Police used pepper spray and arrested at least 14 people in a Hong Kong mall during a �shopping protest� on Thursday against Beijing�s impending national security law .
The suspects, nine males and five females, aged 14 to 55, were arrested for illegal assembly, police said, after protesters marched around the Yoho Mall shopping centre in Yuen Long chanting slogans, which caused customers to flee and stores to close on what was a public holiday.
Trouble flared again in the evening after two protesters who were waving a colonial flag and chanting slogans in the mall�s atrium were taken away by plain-clothes officers, sparking the anger of a small group of demonstrators nearby.
The officers then fired pepper spray to keep the group at bay. Riot police quickly arrived to provide back up and also used pepper spray.
Beijing is drafting legislation for Hong Kong, which will ban secession, subversion, terrorism and collusion with foreign and external influences to threaten national security. The controversial law, of which only a broad outline has been revealed, could be passed as early as June 30.
Among those hit with pepper spray was opposition district councillor Lam Chun. First aiders helped four people sprayed with the chemical.
The Yuen Long councillor said he was just trying to find out why the pair were taken away. �One was just chanting slogans. There were no more than 50 people [as permitted by coronavirus social-distancing rules]. We don�t even know why they were arrested,� Lam said.
�We couldn�t even ask police why they were arrested, they responded with pepper spray. That�s the situation Hongkongers are facing now.� Thursday is a public holiday in Hong Kong to celebrate the Dragon Boat Festival . The demonstration started at about 1.30pm, when a man in the mall chanted slogans and displayed a banner that read �Liberate Hong Kong, revolution of our time�, a popular mantra at the height of last year�s anti-government protests , which were sparked by a now-withdrawn extradition bill .
Others watched from upper floors, and some joined in with shouts of their own. They then marched through the mall chanting slogans.
�Give me back my justice,� they yelled. �Hong Kong independence, the only way.�
Police in riot gear arrived at the mall at 2pm to break up the crowd and left soon after. But protesters later regrouped and continued with their routine.
Shortly after 3pm, plain-clothes police officers revealed their identities and stopped more than a dozen people. Some were taken away after police reinforcements arrived.
- Impact of Event
- 14
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Enactment of repressive legislation and policies, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Aug 21, 2020
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Jun 24, 2020
- Event Description
Authorities in the central Chinese province of Hunan have secretly indicted the "Changsha Three" non-governmental organization (NGO) workers, family members and rights groups said.
Cheng Yuan, Liu Dazhi, and Wuge Jianxiong were indicted in secret for "subversion of state power" by prosecutors in Hunan's provincial capital, Changsha, on June 24.
The three were detained last year, as they worked for a non-government group called Changsha Funeng.
Cheng Yuan's wife Shi Minglei learned of the charges only after calling the Changsha Procuratorate for an update on July 10, the overseas-based Chinese Human Rights Defenders (CHRD) network said in an e-mail.
Shi was informed that the indictments had been issued and the case transferred to the Changsha Intermediate People's Court to await trial, it said.
The move came after the firing of six defense attorneys and the three Changsha Funeng staff in March.
"[Cheng, Liu and Wuge] have not received a single visit from their family-hired attorneys since being taken into custody on July 22, 2019 nor allowed any communication with their families," CHRD said.
They are being currently being held at the Kaifu District Detention Center in Changsha, it said.
Shi told RFA on Friday that the case against her husband and his co-defendants had been marked by procedural violations, and was akin to an extrajudicial procedure.
"This case hasn't gone through the system in the usual way at all," she said. "It is dithering about outside of the system."
"We have tried to get in touch with the judge, Zhao Zhe, and we have called his office number, but nobody ever picks up," Shi said. "When we went to the detention center, we unexpectedly ran into a government-appointed defense attorney."
Pressure to 'confess'
Authorities in China have repeatedly put pressure on political prisoners to accept government-appointed lawyers, and to achieve a more lenient sentence by "confessing" to the charges against them.
In some cases, they have issued letters "firing" the defense attorneys hired by their families.
"So I called the government-appointed lawyer, and they said that the pretrial meeting had already happened," Shi said. "I think this means that they're going to go ahead with a secret trial very soon, maybe next week."
"The so-called government lawyer had no independence to speak of," she said, adding that non-government lawyers had been reluctant to take on the case. "So I really don't expect a proper defense."
Human rights and political cases can lead to trouble for law firms and the suspension of lawyers' licenses to practice.
Changsha Funeng founder Yang Zhanqing, who is now in the U.S., said the Changsha Three were detained as part of a general crackdown on the organization.
"Cheng, Liu, and Wuge had been very low profile, and very rarely made any kind of public comment on their work," Yang said. "They even tried to minimize police harassment by doing all of their legal advocacy work in an individual capacity."
"They never spoke on behalf of Changsha Funeng."
Yang said the main reason the authorities had targeted the three men was the fact that their rights work had received overseas funding, which the ruling Chinese Communist Party regards as "collusion with hostile foreign forces," and a threat to its national security.
- Impact of Event
- 3
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Denial Fair Trial, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Right to fair trial, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- NGO staff
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Aug 21, 2020
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Jun 24, 2020
- Event Description
Human rights lawyer Chen Jiahong (???) (aka Chen Wendan, ???), was put on trial in a closed-door hearing on �inciting subversion� charges at the Yulin City Intermediate Court, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, on June 24. It�s unclear whether Mr. Chen had legal representation during the trial, as he had been pressured to fire the lawyers of his choice in March after telling one he had been mistreated in detention. The trial came more than one year after he was taken into custody. The charges against him have been linked to his online speech critical of the government, his condemnation of the abolition of presidential term limits, as well as his pro-democracy views. Mr. Chen had been held at the Yulin City Detention Center.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Denial Fair Trial, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Right to fair trial
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Aug 21, 2020
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Jun 24, 2020
- Event Description
The Suzhou Intermediate Court in Jiangsu Province sentenced human rights defender Ge Jueping (???) to 4.5 years in jail on �inciting subversion of state power� charges on June 24. Mr. Ge has already been subjected to a 3-year and 8-month prolonged pre-trial detention, including being put under �residential surveillance in a designated location.� His trial took place more than a year ago on May 13, 2019. Mr. Ge, who suffers from serious illnesses, including hypertension, heart palpitations, parotid gland cancer, has not received proper medical treatment at the detention center.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Right to health, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Aug 21, 2020
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Jun 21, 2020
- Event Description
China's state security police have formally arrested dissident Xu Zhiyong for subversion after he called publicly on President Xi Jinping to resign.
Xu, who has already served jail time for his spearheading of the New Citizens' Movement anti-corruption campaign, penned an open letter to Xi while in hiding following a gathering of pro-democracy activists and lawyers in December 2019, calling on him to step down.
He is currently being held incommunicado in "residential surveillance at a designated location" (RSDL) pending the completion of the investigation.
RSDL allows police to hold anyone they say is suspected of crimes linked to national security without contact with family or a lawyer for up to six months.
Xu is currently being investigated for "incitement to subvert state power by a team of state security police based in the eastern province of Shandong that has been pursuing a number of participants in December's gathering in the southeastern port city of Xiamen.
Human rights lawyer Ding Jiaxi is a co-defendant in the same case, RFA has learned.
Xu Zhiyong's sister was notified by the Shandong police on June 20 that Xu had been formally arrested, but his location remains unknown.
Xu Zhiyong's friend and independent documentary director Hua Ze meanwhile said the "meeting" was merely a gathering of friends.
"The police are treating this as if it is a big case, and claiming that there is an organization at work, but actually it was just a group of friends getting together," Hua said.
"They were just talking about how to help some of the current [detained activists'] cases, and follow up on them," she said.
Liu Jiacai, a rights activist from the Yangtze river city of Yichang who is often targeted by state security police, said he is currently safe at home after being taken out of town for the sensitive June 4 anniversary of the Tiananmen massacre.
"Xu had written a lot of articles since the start of the coronavirus pandemic," Liu said. "Anyone who attended the Xiamen gathering is now being suppressed by the authorities, and many people no longer dare to speak out."
"But Xu kept insisting on speaking up ... I feel bad that he was detained, as his friend and fellow activist," he said.
Liu said the Xiamen gathering was a meeting of like-minded friends who discussed social phenomena and China's future.
"We did not violate the Constitution or the current laws of China, but the authorities have persecuted us anyway," he said.
Fears over possible torture
Ding Jiaxi�s wife Luo Shengchun says she fears her husband, who is also being held under RDSL detention, may be being tortured.
"My sense is that he is being subjected to torture," Luo told RFA. "The people who came out [after being interrogated as part of the investigation] wouldn't talk about it; they had been silenced."
"This is clearly about framing Ding Jiaxi; they haven't been able to find any evidence of criminal behavior, but they will keep on finding excuses to keep him in detention because he refuses to plead guilty," she said.
Luo said she is certain that Ding Jiaxi will never cave in to police pressure to "confess" to the charges against him.
"This is a red line for him, because he is innocent," Luo said. "They came before to try to persuade him, and he told them they should be trying to persuade the bad guys not to do bad things, not trying to persuade the good guys not to do good things."
Writers' group PEN America, which recently honored Xu with the PEN/Barbey Freedom to Write Award, on Monday condemned Xu's formal arrest.
"Xu Zhiyong is under arrest for criticizing the government, plain and simple," PEN CEO Suzanne Nossel said in a statement. "By proceeding with these meritless charges of �subversion,� the government is using the law as a tool to legitimize its suppression of dissidents. But criticisms are not crimes, no matter how much Beijing insists otherwise."
She added: "We have zero confidence that Xu will receive a fair trial. We insist that the government drop these absurd and abusive criminal charges against him, and acknowledge his right to express his ideas and opinions without fear of a jail cell."
Critical flaws in proposed resolution
The news of Xu's formal arrest emerged as the United Nations Human Rights Council (HRC) held a brief debate in Geneva on June 22 over a draft resolution presented by China, raising "serious concerns" about the future of the Human Rights Council and, more broadly, the multilateral UN human rights system, rights groups said.
The overseas-based Chinese Human Rights Defenders (CHRD) network said there were "critical flaws" in the resolution, which would limit the council's ability to hold member states to account for human rights violations.
"The draft resolution, once put into effect, would codify language directly taken from Chinese Communist Party propaganda � namely, China�s promotion for a �shared community of future� modeled on its authoritarian governance at home � and its attempt to silence criticisms of rights abuses in the Human Rights Council platforms," the group said in a statement.
Xu had also penned a New Year's message to China's citizens in 2020, calling on them to think about whether they want to carry on with an authoritarian government or movement towards democratic constitutionalism, an idea that President Xi has said has no place in his vision for China.
Dozens of people linked in some way to the New Citizens' Movement group have been detained and jailed in recent years.
Xu was handed a four-year jail term in January 2014 on public order charges after staging a street protest calling for greater transparency from the country's richest and most powerful people.
Ding Jiaxi, who has previously served jail time for calling on top officials of the ruling Chinese Communist Party to reveal details of their wealth, was stopped by police at Beijing International Airport in May 2018, as he tried to board a plane to visit his wife and daughter in the U.S.
He was also among more than 300 rights attorneys, law firm staff, and associated activists detained, questioned, and subjected to surveillance and travel bans amid a nationwide crackdown since 2015.
Ding was earlier detained in April 2013 and handed a three-and-a-half year jail term a year later by Beijing's Haidian District People's Court for �gathering a crowd to disrupt public order,� after he called publicly on Chinese officials to reveal details of their wealth, as part of the New Citizens� Movement.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- #COVID-19, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Aug 21, 2020
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Jun 19, 2020
- Event Description
Authorities in Shanghai have formally arrested a lawyer-turned-citizen journalist who reported on the emerging coronavirus epidemic in the central Chinese city of Wuhan.
Zhang Zhan, who lives in Shanghai but who traveled to Wuhan in early February, was taken away from Wuhan's Caiguang Hotel near Hankou railway station on the night of May 14.
She was held by police near her home in Shanghai's Pudong district on suspicion of "picking quarrels and stirring up trouble," a charge frequently used to target peaceful critics of the ruling Chinese Communist Party.
Zhang was then formally arrested on that charge on June 19 on the orders of the Pudong state prosecutor, RFA has learned. She is currently being held in the Pudong Detention Center.
Repeated calls to Zhang's mother rang unanswered on Monday.
But a friend of Zhang's surnamed Zhu said she had denied the charges when she met with her defense attorney two weeks earlier.
"Zhang Zhan has been formally arrested for picking quarrels and stirring up trouble," Zhu said. "Shortly after Zhang Zhan was detained, a lawyer went to Pudong Detention Center to meet with her, and she told him she was pleading not guilty."
Zhu said Zhang's mother had received a notification of her daughter's arrest, but was too frightened to talk to journalists following heavy pressure from state security police, and hadn't publicized the arrest details.
Zhu said her friend had traveled to Wuhan after lockdown began purely to report on the situation there.
"She found a way to get into Wuhan after the city was locked down," Zhu said. "That was such a big risk to take; she has an extraordinary spirit not available to most people, to the extent that she was willing to risk arrest, and even her life."
'She is very strong-minded'
An overseas-based friend of Zhang's surnamed Lang said he was sad to learn of her arrest.
"I had been expecting it, though, because this isn't her first rodeo," he said. "She was previously detained for supporting the anti-extradition movement [in Hong Kong]."
"I am worried about her, because she is a practicing Christian with a strong tendency towards martyrdom," he said. "She is very strong-minded."
Zhang, 40, was detained by police in Shanghai in September 2019 for holding up an umbrella in solidarity with the Hong Kong pro-democracy movement on the streets of Shanghai, and demanding an end to Communist Party rule.
She was released after 65 days in detention, during which time she went on hunger strike twice.
Zhang moved to Shanghai from the northern province of Shaanxi in 2010, and formerly worked as a lawyer before official retaliation took away her license to practice.
In Zhang's last YouTube video posted on May 13, she had reported on the impact of a huge fall in passenger numbers on the livelihoods of Wuhan's taxi drivers, as well as loss of employment in the wake of the lockdown among the city's residents.
She also spoke out against the intimidation of local people by the urban management police, or chengguan, and about a sense of despair at life in China.
Thousands targeted for speaking out
The Chinese government has targeted thousands of people for speaking out about the coronavirus epidemic in the country since it began in late December in the central city of Wuhan.
After President Xi Jinping said he would lead "a people's war" on the epidemic on Jan. 20, police handled 5,111 cases of "fabricating and deliberately disseminating false and harmful information," according to a Feb. 21 statement from the ministry of public security.
Between Jan. 1 and March 26, nearly 900 internet users were penalized by police for their online speech or info-sharing about the coronavirus epidemic, across almost every province, region, and municipality in China.
Charges used to question, detain, and arrest people included "rumor-mongering," "fabricating false information," �sowing panic,� �disturbing public order,� and "breach of privacy."
Cases in which people were accused of "spreading misinformation" or "disrupting public order" accounted for more than 96 percent of cases, according to the overseas-based Chinese Human Rights Defenders (CHRD) network.
CHRD said on Monday it has documented "a dozen cases" of detainees or prisoners of conscience being denied access to their lawyers and families, including virtual meetings, on coronavirus grounds.
The group called on the government to stop using the pandemic as a pretext to restrict people's rights.
"In some instances, Chinese officials have stated that the suspensions are �indefinite� or until the pandemic is over, even if lockdown restrictions elsewhere have already begun to be lifted and authorities have declared that public health milestones have been met," CHRD said in a statement on its website.
Among those affected are ailing citizen journalist and rights activist Huang Qi, veteran dissident Qin Yongmin, Tibetan activist and businessman Tashi Wangchuk, and activist Chen Jianfang.
Detained lawyers Hao Jinsong and Li Yuhan have also been denied meetings with their defense lawyers, as have detained activists Liu Jinxing, Shen Liangqing, Xie Wenfei, Xu Kun, and Zhang Baocheng, CHRD said.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- Enactment of repressive legislation and policies, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- #COVID-19, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Blogger/ Social Media Activist, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Related Events
- China: missing lawyer-turned-citizen journalist is detained, formally indicted on vague charges (Update)
- Date added
- Aug 21, 2020
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Jun 17, 2020
- Event Description
A Chinese court has secretly convicted and handed down a four-year jail sentence to one of China�s most outspoken human rights lawyers, Yu Wensheng, on the charge of �inciting subversion of state power�, according to his wife.
Yu�s wife, Xu Yan, told the Guardian that she was informed by phone by the prosecutor�s office in Xuzhou city in the eastern province of Jiangsu that her husband�s term was ordered in a closed door sentencing on Wednesday morning. The Xuzhou city intermediate people�s court also deprived Yu of his political rights, meaning he is barred from serving in public positions, publishing and speaking publicly, for three years.
His sentencing comes after his secret trial in May 2019, which took place without the knowledge of his family.
During Yu�s more than two years in detention, he was barred from meeting his family and the lawyers they hired, and there were widespread fears that he was tortured in custody. In April last year, the UN working group on arbitrary detention said Yu should be released.
His wife said Yu was �in a very isolated situation� as none of his relatives, including herself, or lawyers appointed by the family were present at the trial.
�He can�t accept this outcome. He would appeal,� his wife said. �I demand his unconditional release.�
As one of the staunchest government critics in the country, Yu had repeatedly weighed in on politically sensitive issues despite intensifying efforts to stifle dissent under China�s leader Xi Jinping.
Yu, 52, was picked up by police near his home in Beijing on 19 January 2018 as he walked his son to school and later charged with inciting subversion of state power. The day before, he published an online post calling for the removal of Xi and for reforms in the legal and political systems. Three months earlier, Yu also demanded Xi�s resignation in an open letter, accusing China under his rule as �marching backwards�. Yu�s legal licence was revoked shortly before he was taken away.
Yu had long been seen as a thorn in the side of the authorities. He had tried to sue authorities for failing to shield Chinese citizens from pollution and represented activists and dissidents, including Wang Quanzhang, a fellow attorney who vanished into detention in the summer of 2015 and was later sentenced to four-and-a-half-years in jail for subversion. Wang was released in early April this year but was barred from being reunited with his family for weeks.
Yu had also been detained for more than three months in 2014 after voicing his support for pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong and was tortured in detention.
Amnesty International�s Asia-Pacific regional director, Nicholas Bequelin, said Yu�s sentencing is �nothing but political persecution dressed up as legal process�.
�The secret sentencing of yet another human rights lawyer marks a new low for what is left of the rule of law in China,� he said.
US-based rights group Chinese Human Rights Defenders said Yu joined �a long list of Chinese human rights lawyers, activists, dissidents, and journalists� convicted on national security charges for exercising and defending human rights.
�China is in the process of imposing a national security law on Hong Kong to further the suppression of free expression and assembly in the territory,� it said.
The Hong Kong-based Chinese Human Rights Lawyers Concern Group and 17 other international rights groups and individuals issued a joint statement to condemn Yu�s sentencing and urged his immediate release.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Denial Fair Trial, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Right to fair trial, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Lawyer
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Aug 21, 2020
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Jun 11, 2020
- Event Description
Responding to today�s targeting of nine more activists in connection with Hong Kong�s June Fourth Tiananmen vigil, in addition to four arrests carried out yesterday, Director of Amnesty International Hong Kong Man-Kei Tam said:
�The targeting of is the latest assault on freedom of expression and peaceful assembly in the city. With China's Orwellian national security law coming, the Hong Kong authorities appear emboldened to ramp up repression of critical voices.
�The June Fourth vigil is a moment for people in Hong Kong to remember those killed in the Tiananmen crackdown 31 years ago, and for the authorities to use this peaceful event as a means of targeting critics is sickening.
�A year to the day after Hong Kong Police infamously targeted protesters with excessive force during mass demonstrations, the crackdown on Hong Kong�s freedoms is unrelenting.
�But as shown by those who peacefully took to the streets today to mark the 12 June anniversary, people will continue to peacefully advocate for those freedoms and will not be cowed by repression.�
Background
Between 11 and 12 June, police informed 13 individuals that they will receive a summons to appear in court in late June for �inciting� others to take part in unauthorized assemblies on 4 June.
Ten of those targeted are members of the HK Alliance, which has organized the annual vigil in Hong Kong�s Victoria Park to commemorate the Tiananmen crackdown.
Last week, Hong Kong police banned the vigil for the first time in 30 years, citing COVID-19 measures. The ban did not stop thousands from convening in the park, and even more holding smaller events elsewhere.
The 13 people targeted include the chairperson of Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements in China (HK Alliance) Lee Cheuk-yan; vice-chairpersons Albert Ho Chun-yan and Chow Hang-tung; secretary Richard Tsoi; core members Cheung Man-kwong, Mak Hoi-wah, Andrew Wan Siu-kin, Chiu Yan-loi, Leung Yiu-chung and Leung Kam-wai; vice president of the Labour Party Steven Kwok Wing-kin; vice convenor of the NGO Civil Human Rights Front Figo Chan Ho-wun; and founder of media group Next Digital Jimmy Lai.
On the evening of 3�4 June, 1989 in Beijing�s Tiananmen Square, hundreds � possibly thousands � of people were killed when troops opened fire on students and workers who had been peacefully calling for political and economic reforms as well as an end to corruption. No one knows the exact number of fatalities since the Chinese authorities have stifled and censored discussion of the crackdown for the past three decades.
- Impact of Event
- 13
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- #COVID-19, Freedom of assembly, Offline
- HRD
- NGO staff
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Aug 21, 2020
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Jun 10, 2020
- Event Description
On June 10th, almost a year after the brief occupation of the Legislative Council building (LegCo) during a pro-democracy protest in Hong Kong, two journalists at the scene have been slammed with new charges of rioting which in the law carries a maximum 10-year prison sentence, but is in this case is limited to seven years due to the fact it is judged by the District Court in Hong Kong.
Ma Kai-chung, a reporter from the online media Passion Times and Wong Ka-ho, the deputy chief-editor of the City University of Hong Kong�s student journal, will both be tried in August alongside 10 protestors and were initially only charged with �illegally entering and remaining in the Legislative Council chamber�, an offense which carries a maximum 3-month prison sentence.
�These two journalists were only performing their professional duty by documenting the occupation of the Legislative Council building and should never be indicted, and especially not charged with a crime that carries a 10-year jail term�, says C�dric Alviani, Reporters Without Borders� (RSF) East Asia bureau head, who calls on the Hong Kong Secretary for Justice to �immediately drop the absurd rioting charge.�
On the night of July 1st 2019, a date that marked the 22nd anniversary of the former British colony�s handover to China, a small group of protesters stormed the Legislative Council building, whilst over half a million Hong Kong residents took to the streets protesting against a now withdrawn bill that would have allowed extradition to the mainland.
According to the Hong Kong Journalists Association (HKJA), Hong Kong�s press freedom dropped to a record low in 2019, largely as a result of police violence. RSF has raised the issue of violence against journalists in a letter last July addressed to Carrie Lam, head of the Hong Kong executive, but received only a canned response.
The Special Administrative Region of Hong Kong has fallen from 18th place in 2002 to 80th place in this year�s RSF Press Freedom Index. The People's Republic of China stagnates at the bottom of the index in 177th place out of a total of 180 countries.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Offline
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Aug 21, 2020
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- May 27, 2020
- Event Description
Pro-democracy Xiao Yuhui was taken away by Guangdong police after forwarding a petition addressed to President Trump.
On May 27, police in China took Xiao into custody shortly after he had passed the petition on to his friends. At least one other person was arrested after spreading the petition, but she was released on bail on May 30.
Xiao was released on May 31.
This is not the first time Xiao has been in custody. In October 2016, police detained him for owing more than 18,000 yuan in credit card fees. In June 2017, he received a nine-month sentence for suspected credit card fraud.
He also has taken part in a variety of activist activities. He attended an anti-national education rally in Hong Kong in 2012. On March 8, he planned to distribute voting cards at a subway station and was interviewed by state security. He has followed China�s family planning policy for a long time and has been forbidden from leaving the country.
The petition, titled, �One Person, One Letter to Save Hong Kong,� was first started by Hong Kong�s Apple Daily. It urged Trump to intervene on behalf of Hong Kong after Beijing pushed forward a national security law for the region.
Agreements reached between China and Britain as Hong Kong transitioned into Chinese control in 1997 required Hong Kong maintain its own judicial, legislative, and economic systems. Hong Kong also follows a partially-democratic model, in which residents are allowed to elect some of their officials. These elements permitted Hong Kong residents more freedom than people in mainland China, making it relatively safe for activists and religious people.
However, the new national security law has furthered concerns that those freedoms are being eroded. A version of the law implemented in mainland China is often used to target religious people and dissidents.
As of May 30, the , �One Person, One Letter to Save Hong Kong� petition had more than 110,000 signatures.
American policymakers have taken action on behalf of Hong Kong�s rights in the past few weeks. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo declared Hong Kong no longer autonomous from China, a significant move that could have trade ramifications. On May 29, Trump gave a speech, saying:
�Several of the most significant actions we are taking pertained to deeply troubling situations unfolding in Hong Kong. This week China unilaterally imposed control over Hong Kong�s security. This was a plain violation of Beijing's treaty obligations, with the United Kingdom, in the declaration of 1984 and explicit provisions of Hong Kong's Basic Law. It has 27 years to go.
The Chinese government's move against Hong Kong is the latest in a series of measures that are diminishing the city's long-standing and very proud status.
This is a tragedy for the people of Hong Kong, the people of China, and indeed the people of the world.
China claims it is protecting national security. But the truth is that Hong Kong was secure and prosperous as a free society. Beijing's decision reverses all of that. It extends the reach of China's evasive state security apparatus into what was formerly a bastion of liberty.
China's latest incursion, along with other recent developments that degraded the territory�s freedoms, makes clear that Hong Kong is no longer sufficiently autonomous to warrant the special treatment that we have afforded the territory since the hand of it.
China has replaced its promise formula of �one country, two systems� with �one country, one system.� Therefore, I am directing my administration to begin the process of eliminating policy exemptions that give Hong Kong different and special treatment.
My announcement today will affect the full range of agreements we have with Hong Kong, from our extradition treaty to our export controls on dual-use technologies and more with few exceptions.
We will be revising the State Department's travel advisory for Hong Kong to reflect the increased danger of surveillance and punishment by the Chinese state security apparatus.
We will take action to revoke Hong Kong's preferential treatment as a separate customs and travel territory from the rest of China.
The United States will also take necessary steps to sanction PRC and Hong Kong officials directly or indirectly involved in eroding Hong Kong's autonomy and so just if you take a look, smothering absolutely smothering Hong Kong's freedom.
Our actions will be strong. Our actions will be meaningful.
More than two decades ago, on a rainy night in 1997, British soldiers lowered the Union Flag and Chinese soldiers raised the Chinese flag in Hong Kong. The people of Hong Kong felt simultaneously proud of their Chinese heritage and their unique Hong Kong identity.
The people of Hong Kong hoped that in the years and decades to come, China would increasingly come to resemble its most radiant and dynamic city. The rest of the world was electrified by a sense of optimism that Hong Kong was a glimpse into China's future. Not that, Hong Kong would grow into a reflection of China's past.�
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention
- Rights Concerned
- Internet freedom, Online, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Related Events
- China: pro-democracy defender arrested for joining an online petition demanding democracy in Hong Kong
- Date added
- Aug 21, 2020
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- May 24, 2020
- Event Description
Police in Hong Kong have fired tear gas and water cannon at protesters rallying against China's plans to impose a new security law on the territory.
Thousands of demonstrators have been marching through the city centre. Police say 120 have been arrested.
Earlier, 200 senior politicians from around the world issued a joint statement criticising China's plan.
But China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi said the legislation should be brought in "without the slightest delay".
China is seeking to pass a law that would ban "treason, secession, sedition and subversion" in the territory.
Activists fear it is an attempt to limit freedoms and silence Beijing's opponents.
Hong Kong's leader Carrie Lam, who is seen as part of the pro-Beijing political establishment, has pledged full support for the proposed law and said the city's rights would remain unchanged.
China has dismissed concerns the legislation would harm foreign investors in Hong Kong, an important financial centre, and lashed out at "meddling" countries. How are the latest demonstrations unfolding?
Protesters gathered in the busy Causeway Bay and Wan Chai districts of the city on Sunday, chanting slogans against the government and waving banners.
Riot police fired tear gas and water cannon at demonstrators, who were wearing face masks to protect against the spread of coronavirus.
The rally comes despite earlier warnings from authorities against unauthorised assembly and a ban on large public gatherings to enforce social distancing.
Some protesters threw objects such as umbrellas and water bottles at officers, and used bins and other debris to set up road blocks.
Reports say Sunday's protest followed a similar pattern to many of last year's demonstrations, many of which turned violent.
More than 8,400 people have been arrested in Hong Kong since pro-democracy protests erupted last year.
The "draft decision" - as it is known before approval by China's National People's Congress - includes an article that says Hong Kong "must improve" national security.
It adds: "When needed, relevant national security organs of the Central People's Government will set up agencies in Hong Kong to fulfil relevant duties to safeguard national security in accordance with the law."
That means China could potentially have its own law enforcement agencies in Hong Kong, alongside the city's own.
Earlier this week, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo condemned the plans, which he described as a "death knell" for the city's freedoms. The UK, Australia and Canada have also expressed their "deep concern".
Relations between Washington and Beijing are already strained over trade disputes and the coronavirus pandemic.
The US is currently considering whether to extend Hong Kong's preferential trading and investment privileges. President Trump has also weighed in, saying the US would react strongly if the law went through - without giving details.
Speaking on Sunday, Mr Wang accused countries said "some political forces in the US" were pushing the two countries "to the brink of a new Cold War".
The Chinese government argues the law is necessary to "prevent, stop and punish" protests such as those that rocked Hong Kong last year. They were sparked by a bill that would have allowed extraditions to mainland China.
The statement was drafted by former Hong Kong Governor Christopher Patten and former British Foreign Secretary Malcolm Rifkind, and signed by 186 policy makers and politicians from 23 countries.
It describes Beijing's plans as a "flagrant breach" of the Sino-British Joint Declaration, under which Hong Kong returned to Chinese rule in 1997.
"If the international community cannot trust Beijing to keep its word when it comes to Hong Kong, people will be reluctant to take its word on other matters," the signatories wrote.
They include 17 members of the US Congress, and 44 UK MPs.
The NPC is expected to vote on the draft law at the end of its annual session, on 28 May. It will then be forwarded to the NPC's Standing Committee, China's top legislature, which is expected to finalise and enact the law by the end of June.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Aug 21, 2020
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- May 20, 2020
- Event Description
Human rights lawyer Jiang Tianyong was harassed ahead of the convening of two of China�s governing bodies this week.
Yesterday, some of China�s top politicians met, including Premier Li Keqiang and President Xi Jinping. Afterward, the National People�s Congress convened. These two sets of meetings comprise one of China�s most major annual political events.
Before the meetings took place, officials harassed and monitored Jiang Tianyong, a human rights attorney. Jiang�s family said national security officers constructed tents so they could monitor Jiang continuously. Cameras were installed at the front door and at the intersection of roads. On Wednesday, an officer approached the door, punched it, shook the fence, and peeped inside the house.
It is not unusual for China to harass activists ahead of major events.
Jiang has previously served prison time for his work defending those targeted by the Chinese government. Even now that he has been released, officials watch him closely and have surrounded him when he has tried to go to restaurants.
He suffers from swollen legs and pain in his waist, but the officials will not let him seek medical treatment in Beijing.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats, Surveillance , Vilification
- Rights Concerned
- Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to property
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Aug 21, 2020
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- May 14, 2020
- Event Description
Wei Zhongping, an activist, has been closely monitored in the past six months since he was released and was warned by authorities about his online speech. On Thursday, May 14, he was summoned by police on the charge of picking quarrels and provoking trouble and was still detained at dusk.
Wei had dropped off meals at the home of Liu Ping, another activist, on Thursday morning and was subsequently taken to the Ludong police station in Xinyu by auxiliary police. A police officer showed the summons paper, claiming it is due to his involvement in picking quarrels and provoking trouble. He was detained until that night. The neighborhood committee had also called Wei on the phone the day of his arrest, reminding him that he should report where he goes. Liu estimated that these two occurrences are related.
Liu said, �If he was released, he would contact us immediately. We hope that it can draw others� attention because we are vulnerable. We have been closely monitored since being released, and we can not send anything we want via our cell phones. The neighborhood committee checked in on us multiple times on the excuse of caring for us, asking where we will go.�
She also said that Xinyu�s state security officers with police and leaders of the neighborhood committee came to Wei�s home a couple of weeks ago, warning him, but she didn�t know details. Earlier on, state security officers and police came to Liu�s place as well, warning her not to post anything sensitive, and her WeChat account is often blocked. Liu posted something about the coronavirus on WeChat, and as a result, she received a warning.
Wei was beaten during his last detention, leading to a broken nose and ribs. He filed complaints but never received an explanation. As a result of the abuse, he has poor health and no money for doctor appointments.
On April 28, 2013, Wei, Liu, and fellow activist Li Sihua were arrested because they held banners at the entry of the complex where Liu lives, calling for the release of detained citizens. The three became known as the �Three Xinyu Gentlemen.� On May 7, they were criminally detained by the Xinyu police on the charge of inciting subversion of state power. Later, the charge was changed to �picking quarrels and provoking trouble,� �assembling a crowd to disturb public order,� and �utilizing a cult to obstruct law enforcement.� On June 18, 2014, Wei and Liu were both sentenced to six-and-a-half years and Li to three years. Wei and Liu were released on Oct. 27, 2019.
Wei, a 57-year-old originally from Xiaogan, Hubei, used to work for a steel company in Jiangxi province. He, as an independent candidate, participated in the election of deputies to the National People�s Congress in 2006. In 2009, he met Liu during a labor dispute lawsuit and sued the Xinyu Municipal Labor Supervisory Department for administrative violation on her behalf. He also worked to repeal his steel company�s retirement system.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Enactment of repressive legislation and policies, Judicial Harassment, Surveillance
- Rights Concerned
- Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Aug 21, 2020
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- May 14, 2020
- Event Description
Chinese authorities must immediately release journalist Zhang Zhan, drop any charges against her, and ensure that the media can cover the coronavirus pandemic without fear of arrest, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.
Zhang, an independent video journalist who had been posting reports from Wuhan on Twitter and YouTube since early February, went missing in the city on May 14, one day after she published a video critical of the government�s countermeasures to contain the virus, according to news reports.
On May 15, the Shanghai Municipal Public Security Bureau issued a notice stating that Zhang had been arrested and detained for �picking quarrels and provoking trouble,� and was being held at the Pudong Xinqu Detention Center, according to those reports.
If convicted, she could face up to five years in prison, according to the Chinese criminal code.
�China professes pride in its handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, but appears deathly afraid of allowing independent journalists like Zhang Zhan to freely tell the story of what is happening,� said CPJ Asia Program Coordinator Steven Butler, in Washington, D.C. �Chinese authorities should free Zhang immediately and allow her to continue the important work of documenting the impact of the disease.�
Since arriving in Wuhan in early February, Zhang posted videos including interviews with local business owners who were severely impacted by the pandemic, and with workers who struggled to find work in the city.
CPJ called the Wuhan Public Security Bureau for comment, but no one answered. An officer at the Shanghai Municipal Public Security Bureau told CPJ to call the Pudong Xinqu Detention Center for information about Zhang�s arrest. CPJ called the center, but no one answered.
Video journalist Chen Quishi, who traveled to Wuhan to report on the pandemic in late January, went missing after telling his family that he planned to visit a temporary hospital on February 6, as CPJ documented at the time.
Freelance journalist Li Zehua, who also went missing in the city after posting two live-stream videos claiming that state security agents were pursuing him on February 26, reappeared two months later claiming that he was quarantined by police because he had been to �sensitive epidemic areas,� according to news reports.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Abduction/Kidnapping, Enactment of repressive legislation and policies, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- #COVID-19, Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Blogger/ Social Media Activist
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Aug 21, 2020
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- May 10, 2020
- Event Description
Hong Kong police arrested more than 250 people in Mong Kok on Sunday night following a day of anti-government protests across the city.
A source said about 200 of those were detained on suspicion of unlawful assembly. Earlier in the day, hundreds of protesters gathered in at least 10 shopping malls to chant slogans and sing Glory to Hong Kong, the anthem of the anti-government movement .
Police said they arrested one man who had materials capable of making petrol bombs.
In the evening, a small group of protesters in the busy Mong Kok shopping district attempted to block roads by setting trash and rubbish bins on fire but were quickly dispersed by police.
Officers in riot gear then took up guard on the street, firing pepper spray on a number of occasions, including twice at reporters, and taking away several people.
Democratic Party legislator Roy Kwong Chun-yu, who turned up in Mong Kok to negotiate with police, was subdued by several officers as he crossed a street, with one pressing his knee onto the politician�s head. The party wrote on its Facebook page that Kwong was to be charged with disorderly behaviour and brought to Hung Hom Police Station. Earlier, protesters circulated messages online, urging people to gather in malls by 3pm. The shopping centres included Harbour City in Tsim Sha Tsui, Cityplaza in Taikoo Shing and Moko Mall in Mong Kok. Since April 26, when hundreds gathered in Cityplaza to chant slogans, Hong Kong has seen a revival of protests, which had died down because of the Covid-19 pandemic .
The protesters had earlier planned a march from Tsim Sha Tsui to Mong Kok demanding the resignation of Hong Kong�s embattled leader Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor. But the event was postponed indefinitely after police objected on the grounds of restrictions on public gatherings to curb the spread of the virus.
In Tsim Sha Tsui, dozens of officers had been on patrol from the early afternoon. At least a dozen people were searched and two were taken to police vehicles. At about 3pm, a crowd of people, including some with placards, gathered on the steps leading to Harbour City. The crowd retreated into the mall after officers marched towards the building, but police did not initially enter the mall and protesters continued to chant slogans.
Shortly after 4pm, police entered the shopping centre, saying there was a public gathering of more than eight people inside. A few people were stopped inside as police cordoned off parts of the mall.
Among those taken away was a 12-year-old boy who claimed to be a student reporter. He was later released after police warned his mother against allowing him to take part in �illegal child labour�.
The boy said: �Police asked me twice if I was working as an illegal child worker, but I explained I was only a volunteer.�
The boy said he was volunteering for Student Depth Media, a student-run news organisation set up this February. The group also issued a statement on its Facebook page and said the boy was working for it on a voluntary basis, and labour laws did not apply. It also said a 16-year-old girl who worked for the group had been taken away by police too.
In Mong Kok, police armed with non-lethal guns also entered Moko Mall in the afternoon, and fired what was believed to be a pepper ball to disperse protesters.
One man was arrested after officers seized items including petrol, towels and several lighters after intercepting a group of protesters, the force later said on its Facebook page.
Police said they did not rule out the possibility the materials, purportedly for making petrol bombs, would be used, seriously endangering public safety.
Officers also entered other malls and told people to leave.
Earlier in the day, police asked media personnel to disperse from Tsim Sha Tsui, warning that they might be violating the ban on public gatherings of more than eight people, a restriction put in place to help halt the spread of Covid-19. A Post reporter was searched despite showing his press card.
During the search, an officer told him: �Don�t play with your phone, smartphones are fragile these days.�
Another officer filmed the journalist after he was asked to remove his mask. He was later let go.
Among the crowd at Harbour City was a family of four celebrating Mother�s Day.
The mother said she was not aware a protest was planned but it did not affect her. �I explained to my daughters what [the protesters] were trying to say,� she said.
A 19-year-old student, who did not want to be named, said he expected protests to become more frequent as the coronavirus came under control locally.
�With or without the ban, people will come out, and those who are out are prepared to be arrested,� he said.
Some shops at Harbour City closed early, but others served customers with shutters closed.
In a statement, a police spokesman said protesters had gathered in various shopping malls across the city, holding banners, shouting slogans and undermining public order.
�Police received reports from the public and entered the malls to enforce the law,� he added, noting that gatherings of more than eight people in public places were prohibited. Protests first broke out in June last year, sparked by a now-withdrawn extradition bill. The demonstrations later evolved into a wider anti-government movement, with clashes between radical protesters and police turning increasingly violent. With the onset of the coronavirus crisis, the campaign began losing momentum.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Enactment of repressive legislation and policies
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of movement, Offline, Right to liberty and security, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Aug 21, 2020
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- May 10, 2020
- Event Description
Human rights lawyer Zhang Xuezhong was "taken away" by authorities on Sunday after writing an open letter criticising the Chinese government's Covid-19 response, the South China Morning Post reported, citing multiple sources.
According to SCMP, the 43-year-old constitutional scholar was forcibly removed from his Shanghai home on Sunday night after posting the letter on popular social media platform WeChat. The letter was addressed to deputies of China's National People's Congress and called out the country for its lack of a modern constitution and for its stifling of social freedoms, highlighted by the pandemic.
In his letter, seen by SCMP, Zhang said that the handling of the coronavirus pandemic was emblematic of deep-rooted issues within the country's leadership.
"The outbreak and spread of the Covid-19 epidemic is a good illustration of the problem," he wrote.
"Since January 3, 2020, the [Chinese] foreign ministry had been regularly notifying the US government about the epidemic, but the disease control department was not notifying the people of [China] at the same time. Such an irresponsible attitude towards their people's safety is rare," he continued.
"There were few independent professional media to investigate and report on the outbreak, nor did medical professionals provide independent advice to the public � It only shows that the government's long-term tight control of society and people has almost completely destroyed the organisation and self-help capabilities of Chinese society."
Zhang also admonished China's treatment of Li Wenliang, a doctor and coronavirus whistleblower who tried to warn his colleagues about a potential coronavirus outbreak in December. Li was forced by Chinese authorities to sign a letter acknowledging that he was "making false comments"; he later died from the coronavirus.
"Twenty-two days before [the country's first major lockdown] in the city, Wuhan was still investigating and punishing citizens who had disclosed the epidemic, including Dr. Li Wenliang � showing how tight and arbitrary the government's suppression of society is," Zhang said.
Zhang acknowledged that his letter would spark controversy, but encouraged others to speak out.
"The best way to fight for freedom of expression is for everyone to speak as if we already have freedom of speech," he wrote in his WeChat post alongside his letter.
According to SCMP, Zhang was removed from his teaching position at East China University of Political Science and Law in 2013 because of critical statements he made about the Chinese constitution. SCMP said calls to Zhang's mobile phone and messages sent to his WeChat account went unanswered on Monday.
China is known for censoring criticism of its policies, and dissenters have been jailed or disappeared after making complaints. Chinese government censors are working in overdrive to protect the party narrative its been drilling down on the country's response to the novel coronavirus, which originated in the city of Wuhan before spreading worldwide.
Last week, The New York Times reported that the Chinese government was silencing coronavirus survivors who want answers on what went wrong with the country's early coronavirus response.
The international community has also increased pressure on China for an independent investigation into the origins of the virus, as well as the country's response to the outbreak early on. The European Commission, Sweden, Australia, and others have been calling on China for more transparency in recent weeks.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Abduction/Kidnapping
- Rights Concerned
- #COVID-19, Online, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Lawyer
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Aug 21, 2020
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- May 1, 2020
- Event Description
Hong Kong police used pepper spray on Friday to disperse over a hundred protesters in a shopping mall who were singing and chanting pro-democracy slogans.
The demonstrators sang the protest anthem "Glory to Hong Kong" and chanted "Glory to Hong Kong, revolution of our times" in the New Town Plaza mall in Hong Kong's New Territories.
As protesters gathered in the mall, riot police stopped and searched some and later told them to leave, saying they were violating social-distancing rules. The police then sprayed tear gas to disperse the crowd before cordoning off the atrium of the mall.
The protest was one of several that went ahead on May 1, Labor Day, despite rules that forbid public gatherings of more than four people.
Small groups of protesters also gathered near Kowloon's Mong Kok and Kwun Tong subway stations.
Organizers initially planned citywide protests but many were canceled, with the organizers urging people to support pro-democracy restaurants instead.
Friday's protests were the latest in a string of demonstrations over the past week in which protesters gathered in shopping malls. They follow the arrest of 15 pro-democracy activists and former lawmakers last Saturday.
The demonstrations are a continuation of a movement that began last June to protest an extradition bill that would have allowed detainees in Hong Kong to be transferred to mainland China. Although the bill was later withdrawn, the demonstrations continued for months before a lull starting in January as the coronavirus pandemic broke out.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of movement, Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Aug 21, 2020
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Apr 30, 2020
- Event Description
Chinese authorities must immediately and unconditionally release journalist Chen Jieren and his family members and associates, who have been prosecuted over Chen�s exercise of his right to free expression. A Chinese court handed down a 15-year prison sentence on April 30, 2020 to Chen Jieren (???) apparently to punish him for his political speech on WeChat and other social media platforms. After being sacked from various state newspapers including Southern Weekend, China Youth Daily, Beijing Daily, and People�s Daily, Chen published online commentaries and investigative reports on social media, including WeChat and Weibo channels called �Jieren Observation Viewpoint� and �Jieren Observation Heights.�
Guiyang County Court in Hunan Province convicted Chen Jieren of �picking quarrels and provoking trouble,� �extortion and blackmail,� �illegal business activity,� and �bribes� and handed down a 15-year prison sentence and 7.01 million RMB (990,000 USD) fine. The court also convicted his brother Chen Weiren (???) of �picking quarrels� and �extortion and blackmail� charges and sentenced him to four years in prison and a fine of 10,000 RMB (1,400 USD). An associate, Liu Min (??), was exempted from criminal penalties after being convicted of �picking quarrels.�
The Court statement said that Chen �used the information network to publish false or negative information, maliciously exaggerate certain mass incidents, attack and vilify the [Chinese Communist] Party and the government, judicial organs and their staff, instigate troubles, and extort public and private property.�
Hunan authorities violated Chen Jieren�s right to a fair trial. Chen and several of his family members and associates disappeared a few days after he disclosed on his social media channels alleged corruption by local CCP officials in late June-early July 2018. His detention was only confirmed on July 7. On July 16, 2018, Chenzhou City Supervisory Commission told Chen�s lawyers that Chen and his brother were under investigation by the Supervisory Commission and being held in �residential surveillance at a designated location� (RSDL). The brothers� lawyers were denied visits during the RSDL period. On November 12, 2018, Chen Jieren was criminally detained and formally arrested on November 20.
In August 2018, Chinese state media launched a smear campaign, accusing Chen of various crimes and quoted police as saying that his online speech �sabotaged the reputation of the Party and the government and damaged the government�s credibility.� State media published Chen�s �confession� while he was incommunicado in a secret detention facility under RSDL.
Chen graduated from Tsinghua University Law School and previously worked as a reporter for Chinese state newspapers. Chen was fired from China Youth Daily in 2003 for uncovering a prostitution ring involving students at Wuhan University which caused a scandal; he was demoted as editor-in-chief of China Philanthropy Times for criticising a government portal in 2006; and in 2011, sacked from his position in at People�s Daily Online�s Jiangsu Window for �too much criticism of the government.�
Chen�s heavy punishment sends a chilling signal to online independent commentators and citizen jounalists. In 2018, China�s Cyberspace Administration launched a crackdown on �self-media� and ordered hundreds of thousands of social media accounts to be deleted for spreading �politically harmful information� or �vulgar� content. Individual accounts on social media are widely used to post news stories or comments in China. Such publication venues are not registered with the government, though heavily censored, have allowed some independent reporting for at least a short period of time.
China is one of the worst countries in the world for press freedom. It was ranked #177th out of 180 on Reporters Without Border�s 2020 �World Press Freedom Index.� According to a 2019 report from the Committee to Protect Journalists, China is the 5th most censored country in the world. Both press freedom watchdogs have called for Chen Jieren�s release.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Censorship, Denial Fair Trial, Enactment of repressive legislation and policies, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Media freedom, Online, Right to fair trial, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Aug 21, 2020
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Apr 29, 2020
- Event Description
Hong Kong independence activist Edward Leung Tin-kei has lost an appeal against his six-year jail sentence for rioting in one of the city�s busiest districts four years ago.
The Court of Appeal on Wednesday also ruled against Lo Kin-man and Wong Ka-kui, who were jailed for seven years and 3� years respectively for rioting on the same night of February 8, 2016, in Mong Kok.
In rejecting the applications, Mr Justice Jeremy Poon Shiu-chor said the trial judge was entitled to pass punitive and deterrent sentences on the trio, whose rioting offences had an immediate and extremely serious impact on the rule of law.
�Sentencing for the offence of riot must reflect the law�s determination to maintain public order, and send a clear message to society and the public that the law does not condone the breach of public order by means of violence,� Poon said, adding that one�s personal belief could not be a mitigating factor.
Poon, chief judge of the High Court, said the offences Leung, 28, committed were extremely serious as he had witnessed how the events unfolded but chose to remain at the scene despite the escalating violence.
He said that, while the trial judge did err in assessing Leung�s liability in the unrest, his overall jail term was not manifestly excessive given the severity of the offence.
The court also dismissed the appeals by Lo and Wong against their sentences, and Lo�s separate appeal against his conviction.
Leung�s lawyers said they would study the appeal court�s judgment before determining whether to lodge a final appeal at the top court. He was expected to serve out his sentence in January 2022.
Leung was the poster boy for the city�s pro-independence movement and the former convenor of the group Hong Kong Indigenous.
He rose to prominence while running in the 2016 Legislative Council elections, but was subsequently banned from taking part for advocating Hong Kong independence, and was jailed in 2018 for his role in the riot.
Leung and Lo were both convicted of rioting during the Mong Kok unrest, which erupted on the first night of the Lunar New Year. Leung and Wong also pleaded guilty respectively to assaulting a police officer and rioting.
During the trial at the Court of First Instance, prosecutors said the riot started out as a scuffle between hawker control officers and street vendors, but quickly descended into violence, during which some 500 protesters set fires on the streets and threw bricks and other objects at police.
A jury found Leung guilty of taking part in a riot on Argyle Street, where he also attacked a traffic officer with a wooden board. The jury also found Lo guilty of rioting on Portland Street at an earlier time.
Madam Justice Anthea Pang Po-kam, who jailed the trio, said the mass unrest was �organised violence� which could not be mitigated by a person�s political aspirations.
At the appeal court, lawyers for the trio argued their sentences were excessive.
Leung�s lawyers said Pang had wrongfully taken into account various aggravating factors in her sentencing consideration, including Leung�s presence in the riot on Portland Street although he was not convicted of taking part.
But the contention was rejected by Poon and appeal justices Carlye Chu Fun-ling and Derek Pang Wai-cheong.
The judges observed that, having witnessed how protesters clashed with police on Portland Street, it was only reasonable for Leung to infer that protesters on Argyle Street would launch similar attacks on officers there, but he still chose to take part.
While accepting that the trial judge was wrong in making Leung liable to an arson incident near the scene despite his lack of involvement, the judges said Leung�s sentence was justified given he had joined a group attack against officers for no reason.
�Even if [Leung�s] motive was to protect local traditions and culture, this could not lessen his culpability for rioting and unjustified use of serious violence on a police officer,� Poon said as he explained the ruling on behalf of the court.
The disturbance in Mong Kok saw 91 people, aged 14 to 70, arrested for rioting, taking part in an unlawful assembly, assaulting police officers or other offences. Of those, 64 were charged and 33 convicted.
Leung still had some supporters while in prison. Last year, he made an emotional appeal from behind bars, urging Hong Kong protesters �not to be dominated by hatred� amid the escalating unrest triggered by the now-withdrawn extradition bill.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Denial Fair Trial, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Right to fair trial, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Aug 21, 2020
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Apr 29, 2020
- Event Description
Meanwhile, police detained activist Xie Wenfei on April 29 on suspicion of "picking quarrels and provoking trouble."
Xie is a veteran rights activist in China's Hunan province. He recently has criticized the detention of three young volunteers who archived censored information about COVID-19 online, and questioned the disappearance in Wuhan of citizen journalists Chen Qiushi and Fang Bing. He also signed an online petition to honor the COVID-19 whistleblower Dr. Li Wenliang.
"This is not the first arrest," his brother Xie Qiufeng told VOA. "The police didn't tell me anything specific. I think it's about what he had posted on WeChat again."
Born in 1977, Xie Yunfei is a veteran activist who has been detained many times for exercising his rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly over the years. He previously served a 4.5-year prison sentence for supporting the 2014 Occupy Central protests in Hong Kong.
Xie's friend Ou Biaofeng, who is also an activist, told VOA that he's not surprised about Xie's arrest.
Ou said that in recent years, the government has severely reduced the space for civil liberties by rounding up rights lawyers, labor activists and citizen journalists. He added that anyone who expresses a slightly different opinion online will have their account blocked immediately.
"The pro-democracy movement in China has entered a freezing winter because of the crackdown," he said. "The pressure is just enormous. Also, for the past year or two, there's been less and less support of civil movements. It's quite sad."
The press freedom group Reporters Without Borders ranked China near the bottom of its 2020 press freedom index. The group said President Xi is tightening control over news and information and trying to export the country's oppressive surveillance systems.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- #COVID-19, Online, Right to information, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Blogger/ Social Media Activist, Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Aug 21, 2020
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Apr 24, 2020
- Event Description
The Chengdu City Lawyers� Association, a state-run agency, handed out a �professional reprimand� to discipline human rights lawyer Lu Siwei (???) on April 24, 2020. The Discipline Oversight Committee of the Association said in a written document that lawyer Lu violated the rules by representing another human rights lawyer, Chen Jiahong, based in Guangxi region, who has been detained and charged with �inciting subversion of state power.� The written reprimand will stay on lawyer Lu�s record, which may affect him during the annual review of his qualifications for keeping his lawyer�s license.
Lawyer Chen Jiahong was detained in April 2019, soon after he had posted a video on social media in which he criticized the Chinese Communist Party and President Xi Jinping, and called for China to move towards a more democratic and constitutional government. His lawyer Lu Siwei had tried to visit him but was blocked until a meeting was finally granted in December 2019. During the meeting, Chen disclosed that he had been subjected to deprivation of sleep, poor quality food, and other forms of mistreatment for refusing to admit guilt under coercion. On March 12, 2020, a Guangxi court notified lawyer Lu that Chen had �dismissed� him. Detaining outspoken lawyers and administratively penalizing these lawyers� lawyers have become routine practice in China. It violates international human rights standard on the right to a fair trial and interferes in the independence of lawyers.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Access to justice, Denial effective remedy
- HRD
- Lawyer
- Perpetrator-State
- Government
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Aug 21, 2020
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Apr 22, 2020
- Event Description
On April 22, 2020, Dongbao District Court in Jingmen City convicted activist Liu Yanli (???) of �picking quarrels and provoking trouble� and sentenced her to four years in prison. Hubei police had criminally detained the activist on the �picking quarrels� charges on November 22, 2018 for �insulting and attacking the Chinese Communist Party� by criticizing former and current state leaders, including Mao Zedong, Zhou Enlai and Xi Jinping. She was tried on January 31, 2019 and sentenced over a year later on April 22, 2020. She is currently detained at Jingmen City Detention Center. Liu, 44, has been active on her Qzone and WeChat account making comments on democracy and politics since September 2009. Police repeatedly harassed her for her online speech. On September 26, 2016, she was criminally detained for eight months on suspicion of �libel� after she posted and reposted over 10 messages about Mao Zedong, Zhou Enlai and Xi Jinping on her WeChat Moments. On May 25, 2018, she was placed under �residential surveillance� for six months for �libel�.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- Denial Fair Trial, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Online, Right to fair trial
- HRD
- Blogger/ Social Media Activist, Pro-democracy defender, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Aug 21, 2020
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Apr 21, 2020
- Event Description
Family members of Huang Qi, a human rights activist who was re-sentenced to prison for leaking state secrets last year, have been blocked from visiting him on the grounds of the epidemic. Huang�s mother, Pu Wenqing, was also denied a phone call with her son by prison officials.
A friend of Huang Qi's mother, Pu Wenqing, said on Wednesday, April 22 that yesterday, Pu Wenqing called the prison section chief Mr. Yang of Bazhong prison and was told that Huang Qi was serving a sentence in Area Four of the prison, which is for the old, weak and disabled. Due to the epidemic situation, no visit is allowed now. In addition, Pu Wenqing asked for a phone call with his son, but the prison authority said it would have to wait for the leader's approval, and didn't tell her about Huang Qi�s health. He is seriously ill and his family is very worried about his condition.
The friend said, "Pu Wenqing is worried about her son. She hopes she can go to see Huang Qi, or he can make a phone call. And only after speaking with her son on the phone will she stop worrying and feel relieved. She is worried about her son."
Considering Pu is over 80 years old and in poor health, she should be allowed to talk on the phone with her son. After the epidemic is over, visitation should also be permitted.
On July 29, 2019, Huang Qi was sentenced by the Mianyang Intermediate Court to 12 years for intentionally disclosing state secrets and illegally providing state secrets abroad, with four years of deprivation of political rights. He was held in detention for more than two years before being sentenced, during which he was tortured and forced to confess.
Before the latest arrest, Huang Qi, who set up the website "6.4 net" in 1999, has been jailed two times for his speech. In May 2003, he was sentenced by the Chengdu Intermediate Court for five years for inciting subversion of the state power. He was also sentenced by the Wuhou District Court of Chengdu City for three years for the crime of �illegally holding state secrets� in November 2009.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Denial Fair Trial
- Rights Concerned
- Denial effective remedy, Right to health
- HRD
- Blogger/ Social Media Activist, Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Government
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Aug 21, 2020
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Apr 18, 2020
- Event Description
Hong Kong police have arrested 15 high-profile democracy activists on charges of illegal assembly.
The arrests took place just hours after China�s top representative office in the semi-autonomous city declared it is not bound by Hong Kong�s constitutional restrictions that bar Chinese government from interfering in local affairs.
Police arrested prominent figures, including the media tycoon Jimmy Lai and 81-year-old Martin Lee, the founder of the Democratic party and a senior barrister, in the biggest crackdown on the pro-democracy movement since the sometimes violent anti-government protests that have rocked the former British colony since June last year.
The 15 people arrested allegedly organised and took part in unlawful assemblies and police do not rule out that more will be arrested, Supt Lam Wing-Ho said.
Also among the detained were the barrister Margaret Ng, lawyer Albert Ho, labour rights activist Lee Cheuk-yan, former legislators Leung Kwok-hung and Au Nok-hin, and younger activists such as Figo Chan, the vice-convener of the Civil Human Rights Front, which organised several mass protests approved by police last year.
The 15 were accused of joining three unapproved protests on 18 August, 1 October and 20 October last year, local media reported.
Pro-democracy lawmakers say the arrests are an attempt to silence the movement after Chinese officials told Hong Kong to enact national security legislation. Claudia Mo said Beijing was also trying to �terrorise Hong Kong opposition� ahead of the legislative council election in September.
The veteran China watcher, Johnny Lau, said Beijing is trying to hit hard at Hong Kong while the world is busy dealing with Covid-19.
�In Xi Jinping�s eyes this is an opportunity to shuffle the cards and to assert its narrative,� he said. �If the foreign countries turn a blind eye and fail to rein in [China�s power], they would also suffer.�
The arrests came just hours after China�s liaison office asserted in a strongly-worded statement that it and the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office (HKMAO) � China�s top bodies overseeing the city�s affairs � are �authorised by the central authorities to handle Hong Kong affairs.�
Earlier this week, the liason office�s chief, Luo Huining, called for controversial national security laws to be urgently passed as accusations of overreach by Beijing into the city�s legislative council and judiciary escalate.
Hong Kong was promised a �high degree of autonomy� for at least 50 years after China resumed control in 1997, under the Sino-British joint declaration. The city�s post-handover mini-constitution, the Basic Law, bars the mainland Chinese government from interfering in Hong Kong affairs, and article 22 states that no department under the Chinese central and local governments �may interfere in the affairs which the Hong Kong special administrative region administers on its own in accordance with this law.�
But the liaison office statement, published late on Friday, asserts that �a high degree of autonomy is not complete autonomy.� It stresses that Hong Kong�s right to self-rule is �authorised by the central government.�
The statement argues that the liaison office and the HKMAO �are not what is referred to in article 22 of the Basic Law, or what is commonly understood to be �departments under the central people�s government�.� It adds that the offices derive their authority both from China�s constitution and the Basic Law.
This week, pro-democracy lawmakers accused the Chinese government of �blatant intervention� and violation of article 22 of the Basic Law after the HKMAO said some lawmakers were guilty of misconduct in public office for delaying bills, failing to appoint a House committee chairman and paralysing the legislature by filibustering.
The liaison office statement said people who made such allegations were distorting the Basic Law and misleading public opinion, adding that �loyalty to the country is a necessary requirement� for lawmakers.
China law expert Prof Jerome Cohen at the New York University descibed China�s statement is �astounding and incendiary�. Test and trace: lessons from Hong Kong on avoiding a coronavirus lockdown Read more
�If taken seriously, it collapses the whole one country, two systems edifice that was constructed over so many years since the joint declaration,� he said.
Prof Michael Davis, a global fellow at the Wilson Center and former law professor at the University of Hong Kong, said China�s aggressive language would �result in further pushback� from Hong Kong society, which has already experienced its most severe political crisis.
�The danger is that Hong Kong�s autonomy will be squandered and this has implications for all countries that have relied on the promises made to Hong Kong,� he said. �This fear that Hong Kong�s autonomy will be lost, along with it the rule of law, is what has driven the many protests in Hong Kong and international concern.�
Alvin Cheung, a legal scholar specialising in Hong Kong issues at New York University, said: �[The fact that] Beijing is not even pretending to keep up appearances heralds a dark new stage in Hong Kong�s post-1997 development � It suggests repression will intensify further.�
A Foreign & Commonwealth Office spokesperson said in a statement that the UK government was concerned about the arrests and stressed that the right to peaceful protest was �protected in both the joint declaration and the Basic Law�.
�It is essential that any protests are conducted peacefully, and that the authorities avoid actions that inflame tensions. The authorities should focus on rebuilding trust through a process of meaningful political dialogue,� the statement said.
Chris Patten, the last governor of Hong Kong, said while the world�s attention is focused on the covid-19 epidemic, Beijing has taken �yet another step towards burying one-country, two-system� and the arrests show that �Beijing is determined to throttle Hong Kong�.
He said the liaison office�s claim that it is not bound by the basic law is �a reckless argument which shows that Xi Jinping is determined to abandon the policies pursued by his predecessors, even at the cost of destroying Hong Kong�s way of life�.
�It should be rejected immediately by all those governments and parliaments around the world who know the importance of safe-guarding the high degree of autonomy which is guaranteed by the Basic Law.�
Lee, often dubbed the �Father of Democracy� in Hong Kong and a drafter of the Basic Law, said after he was released on bail that he had �no regrets� and felt �proud to walk the road of democracy with the outstanding youths in Hong Kong�.
- Impact of Event
- 15
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Enactment of repressive legislation and policies, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Offline, Online, Right to political participation, Right to Protest, Right to self-determination
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender, WHRD, Youth
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Aug 21, 2020
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Apr 17, 2020
- Event Description
On 17 April 2020, the Cangshan District Court in Fuzhou city, Fujian province found human rightsdefenders Lin Lanying (???), Lin Yingqiang (???), and Tang Zhaoxing (???) guilty of�picking quarrel and provoking trouble�. Lin Yingqiang and Tang Zhaoxing were both sentenced tothree years in prison whilst Lin Lanying was sentenced to one year and ten months. He Zongwang(???), a human rights defender who was detained along with the three in September 2018, wastried separately and sentenced in August 2019.Lin Lanying is a long time petitioner and woman human rights defender in Fuxhou, focusingprimarily on actions to support prosecuted or imprisoned human rights defenders. Lin Yingqiang isa petitioner and land rights defender in Fuzhou. Since 2004, he has initiated and participated inadvocacy and public protests to support local farmers who have had their land appropriated by theauthorities without adequate compensation. Tan Zhaoxing is a petitioner and human rightsdefender in Fuzhou and has participated in advocacy and public actions to support and raiseawareness about the persecution of local political activists and human rights defenders. HeZongwang is a petitioner and human rights defender in Fuqing city, Fujian province. Heparticipated in advocacy and public protests, including those aimed at raising awareness of socialinjustice and persecution of human rights defenders. Both Lin Yingqiang and He Zongwang havebeen previously detained for their works as human rights defenders. On the morning of 12 September 2018, a group of more than 30 local human rights defendersgathered in front of the Fuzhou No. 1 Detention Centre to welcome the release of imprisonedhuman rights defender Yan Xingsheng (???). They gave flowers to him, took group photos, andset off firecrackers which is a traditional practice aimed at warding off negative energy and oftenused for the occasion of prison release. As the group of defenders began to disperse, they werecorralled and detained by police officers waiting nearby. Over the course of a month, most of thedetained human rights defenders were released, except for Lin Lanying, Lin Yingqian, TangZhaoxing and He Zongwang.Lin Lanying, Lin Yingqiang and Tang Zhaoxing were initially criminally detained on the charge of�gathering a crowd to disrupt public order� and later formally arrested on the charge of �pickingquarrel and provoking trouble�, a vague public order offence often used to prosecute human rightsdefenders and peaceful protesters in recent years. They were tried on 22 November 2019. HeZongwang was prosecuted separately and tried by a different court in Fuzhou for �picking quarreland provoking trouble� and �fabricating and intentionally disseminating false information�. He wassentenced on 30 August 2019 to four years in prison.In the official verdict issued on 17 April 2020, the Cangshan Court wrote that the three defenders,joined by other petitioners, had engaged in seven public assemblies in 2018 in front of courts,detention centres, and convention centres while international conferences were being held. Duringthe trial in November 2019, the lawyers defending the three defenders argued that the prosecutor�sassertion that these actions had �stirred up disturbances� and �seriously disturbed public order�was not backed up by the �evidence� they presented, including video footage of some of theprotests in question. The defence lawyers argued that the prosecution of their clients was a reprisalagainst their peaceful activism. Front Line Defenders condemns the court verdicts given on 30 August 2019 and 17 April 2020,and the sentencing of Lin Lanying, Lin Yingqiang, Tang Zhaoxing and He Zongwang to prison, as itbelieves that they are a direct reprisal against their legitimate human rights work, and the exerciseof their freedom of assembly and of expression, which are guaranteed by the Chinese Constitution.
- Impact of Event
- 3
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- Denial Fair Trial, Enactment of repressive legislation and policies, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Denial effective remedy, Offline, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Land rights defender, Pro-democracy defender, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Aug 21, 2020
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Apr 17, 2020
- Event Description
Three Chinese volunteers who helped to publish censored Covid-19 articles on Github, the world�s largest open-source website, have been detained by police at an unknown location, according to a source close to them.
The trio � Cai Wei, his girlfriend, a woman surnamed Tang, and Chen Mei � were contributors to a crowd-sourced project known as Terminus2049 that began in 2018 and collected articles that had been removed from mainstream media outlets and social media.
Microsoft-owned Github lets programmers collaborate on code, but has increasingly become a haven for Chinese activists who want to circumvent the Great Firewall to publish censored content.
There are other archives on GitHub that collect coronavirus-related articles and personal accounts found on mainstream and social media, and some of these projects say they hope to keep a record to help people better �understand the epidemic and the people affected by it�.
Terminus2049 appeared to be blocked in mainland China on Saturday.
The three Beijing-based volunteers went missing on April 19, the source, who declined to give her name for fear of retaliation, told the South China Morning Post. Their families and friends then called the police, who initially denied knowledge of their whereabouts.
�About five days later, the families of Cai and Tang received official notices from the Chaoyang district bureau of the Beijing police,� the source said. �During the first few days they did not admit they took them.�
According to the notices, Cai and Tang were being kept under police surveillance at an unnamed location for �picking quarrels and provoking trouble�.
Chen�s family has not yet received any notification from the police.
�They had regular contact with their families and friends. Now that they have been taken, their families and friends are distraught beyond imagination,� the source said.
The Chaoyang police bureau could not be reached for comment.
Among the articles and personal accounts published by the project, one of the most well known is an interview with Ai Fen, a whistle-blower doctor at the Wuhan Central Hospital. The article was published by China�s People magazine in early March but was removed within hours.
Ai, who said she had been muzzled by the authorities for raising the alarm without permission at the start of the outbreak, posted an image of a diagnostic report on social network WeChat on December 30, showing that a patient had a pneumonia infection caused by a Sars-like coronavirus.
Some of the information she released was also shared by Li Wenliang, the doctor who was detained by the authorities and who later died from Covid-19.
After the removal of Ai�s article, angry members of the public published dozens of different versions on social media, using emojis, code words and different languages � even invented ones such as Elvish and Klingon � to bypass the censors.
Earlier this week, citizen journalist Li Zehua re-emerged after going missing for two weeks. He said he had been held in a quarantine centre in Wuhan before being sent to isolation in his hometown.
But the whereabouts of Chen Qiushi and Fang Bin, two other citizen journalists who disappeared in Wuhan in early February, remain unknown.
Chen, a lawyer and citizen journalist, arrived in Wuhan, the epicentre of the outbreak in China, on the last train before the lockdown.
He also attended a protest in Hong Kong last year and posted videos of pro-democracy rallies, after which the authorities shut down his Chinese social media accounts and ordered him to return to the mainland.
- Impact of Event
- 3
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- #COVID-19, Online, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to information
- HRD
- Blogger/ Social Media Activist, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Aug 21, 2020
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Apr 4, 2020
- Event Description
Prominent Chinese human rights lawyer Wang Quanzhang, who was jailed for four and a half years for subversion, has been released from prison but barred from reuniting with his wife and son in Beijing amid the coronavirus pandemic.
His wife, Li Wenzu, fears that the authorities are using the pandemic as an excuse to hold him under de facto house arrest indefinitely. She said Wang has been released from prison but authorities had sent him to his home town, Jinan, in the north-eastern province of Shandong (400km south of Beijing) for quarantine.
Chinese authorities have been using compulsory quarantine as a pretext to detain or restrict the movements of government critics.
�The government is continuing to restrict his personal freedoms and forcing us to be separated,� Li told the Guardian. �This behaviour is shameless, I�m absolutely opposed to this and am very angry.
�I fear the government is using the pandemic as an excuse to detain him. Would it be just 14 days as they say? I can�t trust them. So long as my husband has no freedom, I�ll continue to fight until he comes back.� Chinese human rights lawyer �totally changed man� after being jailed Read more
Wang called his wife from the prison yesterday telling her to refrain from going to meet him in prison. In a recording she posted on Twitter, Wang said he had to be quarantined �for some time� due to the pandemic. When Li, who has been frequently harassed by the authorities, angrily asked whether he was prompted to say that under duress, he said: �We�ll be back together, but there�ll be a process.�
�The Linyi prison� forced Quanzhang to �persuade� me into accepting the arrangement of sending him to Jinan. I absolutely oppose it,� Li said on Twitter: �Wang Quanzhang needs real freedom, our family needs to be reunited.�
In a practice dubbed �non-release release� by respected China law expert Jerome Cohen at the New York University, Chinese rights activists are often released from prison into de facto house arrest or enforced restriction to their native village, where they remain for years.
�What will Wang Quanzhang�s �release� on April 5 amount to?� asked Cohen in his blog.
Wang, a lawyer who had taken on politically sensitive cases and defended activists and members of the banned religious group Falun Gong, was sentenced to jail in January 2019 on the blanket charge of �subversion of state power�.
He was one of more than 300 lawyers and activists detained in a wave of crackdowns that started in July 2015. He was the last lawyer of the group to be convicted, with his trial taking place three-and-a-half years after he was taken away by the authorities.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment, Restrictions on Movement, Travel Restriction
- Rights Concerned
- #COVID-19, Freedom of movement, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Lawyer
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Aug 21, 2020
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Mar 27, 2020
- Event Description
Authorities in the central Chinese province of Hubei have formally arrested a woman on public order charges after she organized local people to protest against price-gouging on essential goods during the coronavirus lockdown.
Police in Hubei's Yingcheng city formally arrested Zeng Chunzhi on suspicion of "picking quarrels and stirring up trouble" on April 17, an overseas rights group reported.
Zeng had organized a protest in which hundreds of residents in a housing compound in Haishan district took part, the Chinese Human Rights Defenders (CHRD) network said in a statement on its website.
Local residents shouted slogans calling for the local neighborhood committee to be fired in the March 12 protest, after it charged them higher prices on essential goods they couldn't easily get elsewhere.
Zeng was placed under administrative detention on March 27, then held under criminal detention on April 9.
She is currently being held at Yingcheng Detention Center, CHRD said.
"The residents� protest came as small business owners in Wuhan reportedly protested outside a shopping mall on April 10 for rent relief on their shops which have been shut down due to coronavirus restrictions," it said.
Social and political tensions rose throughout the lockdowns imposed in Hubei and its provincial capital Wuhan, which were first to be hit by the coronavirus epidemic after its emergence in Wuhan.
Food prices skyrocketed as hundreds of millions were prevented from traveling or accessing supplies without official passes and permits, while aid and food donations were being commandeered or left to rot owing to corruption or a lack of delivery infrastructure, residents told RFA at the time.
In early March, residents of a housing project in Wuhan heckled vice premier Sun Chunlan with shouts of "Fake!" after being told to stay home during the official visit.
Residents complained that the neighborhood committee had failed to ensure a supply of fresh food to residents, contrary to the claims they made to Sun.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- #COVID-19, Freedom of assembly, Offline, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Government, Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Aug 21, 2020
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Mar 5, 2020
- Event Description
On March 5, police in Beijing detained Chen, a filmmaker who recently shot a documentary on Chinese activist and scholar Xu Zhiyong, according to an open letter written by his wife and shared on Facebook by the Southern Idiot Observation Group, a human rights group, on April 12.
Beijings Haidian Public Security Bureau is holding Chen under residential surveillance at a designated location,a form of extrajudicial detention, and he was charged with subversion of state power, according to the letter.
Detaining Chen Jiaping for filming a documentary on a subject the Chinese government doesnt like is absurd, said Carlos Martinez de la Serna, CPJs program director, in New York. Chinese authorities should drop all charges against Chen Jiaping, release him immediately, and allow him to continue his work.
Authorities repeatedly denied Chens wifes requests to see the filmmaker and pressured her to keep quiet about the arrest, according to the letter. She published the letter on Chen�s 50th birthday on April 12, signed with �your love.� It does not include her name.
Police confiscated Chens unreleased documentary materials about Xu, who was arrested on February 15 in Guangzhou for attending a human rights activists gathering in late 2019, and told Chens wife that they worried the documentarian would continue to make mistakes,according to the letter and news reports.
When CPJ called the Haidian Public Security Bureau for comment, an officer said he was not familiar with Chens case, but said that the bureau complied with the law. He said if Chen broke the law, he would be a target for arrest.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Offline, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Blogger/ Social Media Activist
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Aug 21, 2020
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Jan 31, 2020
- Event Description
Reporters Without Borders (RSF), a nonprofit advocating for press freedom, has urged Beijing to free journalists and political commentators and stop censoring information about the novel coronavirus outbreak in China.
RSF pointed out that two citizen journalists, Chen Qiushi and Fang Bin, and two political commentators, Guo Quan and Xu Zhiyong, were arrested in early February in connection with their social media posts about the outbreak, in a statement published on Feb. 24.
“Censorship is clearly counter-productive in the fight against an epidemic and can only aggravate it or even help turn it into a pandemic,” said Cédric Alviani, the head of RSF’s East Asia bureau, in the statement.
“Only complete transparency will enable China to minimize the spread of false rumors and convince the population to follow the health and safety instructions recommended for curbing the epidemic.”
Guo, a human rights activist and a former assistant professor at Nanjing Normal University, was arrested on Jan. 31 after he posted about the coronavirus. He was then held at a detention center in Nanjing, the capital of eastern China’s Jiangsu Province, according to Radio Free Asia.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- #COVID-19, Online, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Mar 26, 2020
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Feb 2, 2020
- Event Description
Over the past month, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has marshalled the country’s public security apparatus to track down and detain known activists and ordinary citizens who have shared information about the coronavirus outbreak, provided on-the-ground updates from the epicenter, or reflected upon the epidemic’s implications for China’s governance model.
But parts of the regime have also gone on the offensive against its political enemies more broadly, raising new questions about where party leaders’ priorities lie during a public health crisis and how far they will go to maintain their hold on power.
Muzzling Sources of Independent Information
The disappearance of three Chinese citizen journalists who had been live-streaming updates from Wuhan has drawn international attention. The three men — businessman Fang Bin, lawyer Chen Qiushi, and former journalist Li Zehua — had separately recorded and disseminated video reports from inside the locked-down city, its hospitals, and its quarantine centers. Over the past month, all three have vanished into some form of custody, detained by police or possibly quarantined despite their reported good health.
While these cases are widely known, in part due to the men’s international contacts and the potency of their videos, there are many more like them. Media reports, updates from human rights groups, and posts on local government websites from the past month indicate that similar measures are being taken by authorities far from Wuhan. Tan Zuoren, an online activist and former political prisoner in Sichuan province, received multiple visits by police and had his account on the WeChat social media platform frozen.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats
- Rights Concerned
- #COVID-19, Internet freedom, Online, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to privacy
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Mar 26, 2020
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Feb 12, 2020
- Event Description
The number of citizen journalists to disappear in China in the last month after reporting on COVID-19 has risen to at least three, with reports that former journalist Li Zehua was arrested on February 26. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) said the disappearances are a grave concern for the international media community and urges China’s authorities to provide transparent information on their whereabouts and grant their immediate release. It also reminded of the vital need to respect the international community’s right to information.
Li Zehua, a citizen journalist in Wuhan who had been reporting about the reality of life inside Wuhan since its lockdown, had uploaded a video of being chased and arrested on February 26. He has not been heard from since then.
Li, who previously worked at China’s state broadcaster CCTV, came to Wuhan independently and uploaded a video on YouTube of him being chased. Wearing a face mask underneath a baseball cap, he recorded the video while driving. He is recorded as saying: “I’m on the road and someone, I don’t know, state security, has started chasing me. I’m driving very fast. Help me.” The final part of the video shows two men in plain clothes entering an apartment and then cuts out. According to news reports, the live stream was posted on Weibo, but later deleted. It is now posted on YouTube.
Three Chinese citizen journalists, who had live-streamed updates from the locked-down city of Wuhan, its hospitals and quarantine centres, disappeared over the past month. The IFJ issued a statement on the disappearances of businessman Fang Bin and lawyer Chen Qiushi on February 11. Freedom House said today that “all three have vanished into some form of custody, detained by police or possibly quarantined despite their reported good health”. Other than the disappearances and possible arrests of citizen journalists, the IFJ has documented reports of online media being censored, including We Tencent’s website and WeChat account which disappeared after publication of an article entitled “The 50 days of Wuhan pneumonia: Chinese people are all paying the price of the death of media”.
Taking effect from March 1, China’s authorities stated ‘content should be mainly positive, uplifting and devoid of rumours’. According to reports, the regulations also list examples of what is unacceptable – content “harming national honour and interests”, “spreading rumours, disrupting economic and social order”, “content that embodies sexual innuendo … horror and brutality, vulgarity” and “inappropriate commentary on natural disasters and major accidents”. The authorities will also hold service providers, content producers and service users accountable for such content.
Media reports, updates from human rights groups, and posts on local government websites indicate that similar measures are being taken by authorities far from Wuhan, according to Freedom House. It noted the cases In Shandong Province of prodemocracy activist Ren Ziyuan, who was sent to 15 days of administrative detention for criticizing the government’s management of the epidemic online
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention
- Rights Concerned
- #COVID-19, Online, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Mar 26, 2020
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Feb 26, 2020
- Event Description
Li Zehua's apparent detention comes amid reports of a comprehensive cover-up of early research into the COVID-19 coronavirus.
State Broadcaster-Turned-Citizen Journalist Incommunicado in Virus-Hit Wuhan
A former news anchor with China's state broadcaster CCTV who quit his job to report from the front line of the coronavirus epidemic in the central province of Hubei is incommunicado, believed detained.
Li Zehua, who had quit his state-approved job at the behemoth broadcaster to dedicate himself to telling the truth about the epidemic via YouTube, went suddenly off air for the last time on Wednesday after reporting being followed.
"I'm suddenly being chased down by the state security police. The car they're driving isn't a police car," Li tells the camera after being hassled and obstructed for days by local officials and security guards as he traveled around Wuhan reporting on the epidemic, including the round-the-clock operation of crematoriums in the city.
"They're chasing me, so I can't livestream any more. I will just have to leave you with this clip," Li says. "I'm in Wuhan right now. I'm driving really fast because they're chasing me."
"I'm sure that they want to hold me in isolation. Please help me!" he says.
Later, Li returned to where he was staying, but there was a knock at the door, and he eventually allowed the people outside to come in, and the camera was abruptly turned off. He had earlier claimed that the source of the virus was the P4 laboratory of the Wuhan Institute of Virology.
Li saw himself as the willing successor of previous citizen journalists who have since disappeared from Wuhan after reporting on the harsh reality of the epidemic for millions of the city's residents.
Citizen journalist Fang Bin has stopped reporting since he was detained by police, while Chen Qiushi is incommunicado, believed detained.
In one of Li's early videos, he says: "If one Chen Qiushi falls, 10 million more Chen Qiushi's will stand up to take his place."
A veteran journalist surnamed Zhang said Li is 25 years old, and likely has yet to become disillusioned by journalism in China.
"He may be young ... but he has a very clear head," Zhang said. But he said he wasn't optimistic about the outcome for Li.
"Zhao Kezhi, minister for public security, has just made a speech saying that political stability must be prioritized above everything else, so I don't think that bodes well for his situation there in Wuhan," he said.
Li, a recent graduate of the Jiaotong University, resigned his job as on-air talent on CCTV-7, and starting reporting from Wuhan on Feb. 16.
Report on cover-up
A recent report by cutting-edge news organization Caixin showed that officials ordered that samples and papers linked to the discovery of COVID-19 be destroyed, citing a Wuhan Health Commission directive dated Jan. 1.
The existence and characteristics of the virus were shared with a number of public health bodies and health commissions at regional and national level.
It said Hubei hospitals, health officials, disease control centers (CDCs), and district governments all directly participated in the cover-up, ensuring that earlier findings didn't make their way into the hands of a task-force of health experts sent by the ruling Chinese Communist Party's central leadership in Beijing.
Members of the expert group told Caixin that it was the lack of precisely this lack of information that led them to conclude that the virus wasn't being transmitted from person to person.
Two reports were published on the cover-up by Caixin and sister-site Caijing, but have since been deleted.
A former Communist Party official surnamed Cao told RFA that the order to suppress the information must have come from the highest echelons of leadership for it to be so uniformly suppressed by so many departments.
President Xi Jinping has previously said that he personally directed the response to the coronavirus epidemic from its early stages.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Abduction/Kidnapping
- Rights Concerned
- #COVID-19, Online, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Blogger/ Social Media Activist
- Perpetrator-State
- Suspected state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Mar 5, 2020
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Feb 7, 2020
- Event Description
Chen Qiushi, an outspoken Chinese lawyer and citizen journalist, has been missing since February 7, after telling family he planned to visit Wuhan’s hospitals. The IFJ urges Chinese authorities to immediately disclose the location of Chen and ensure journalists freedom of movement and safety from intimidation when reporting.
Chen Qiushi is an influential citizen journalist with more than 400,000 followers on YouTube, 250,000 followers on Twitter and 740,000 on the Chinese social media platform Weibo. The journalist travelled from Beijing to Wuhan on January 24 where he filmed and reported about the situation in Wuhan, covering the lack of resources to deal with the epidemic, the lack of capacity at hospitals, the rising death tolls and the misconduct of civil servants. Chen livestreamed interviews with patients through Weibo, allowing them to speak out about the coronavirus. Since Chen’s disappearance his Weibo account has been taken down.
Chen’s mother said her family lost contact with Chen on February 7. At 6pm that day, he told his family he would visit Feng Cang hospital in Wuhan to talk to patients with the coronavirus. Authorities are reported to have since told Chen’s family that he is being forcibly quarantined in an undisclosed location.
As a citizen journalist, Chen is known for closely following a number of cases, including the detention of citizen journalist Fang Bin and the interrogation of activist Hu Jia by Chinese authorities. Chen also travelled from Bejing to Hong Kong in August 2019 to report on the anti-government protests. Chen was quoted in Hong Kong as saying that authorities ‘advised’ him to return to China.
The IFJ said: “We are incredibly concerned by the disappearance of Chen Qiushi. Journalists, including citizen journalists, are critically needed during national emergencies in imparting stories from everyday people and providing insights that may greatly assist the public’s right to information and inform response efforts in times of crisis. The IFJ calls on Chinese authorities to immediately disclose the location of Chen, allow him contact with his family and to provide guarantees for his safety.”
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention
- Rights Concerned
- #COVID-19, Online, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Blogger/ Social Media Activist, Lawyer
- Perpetrator-State
- Suspected state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Mar 3, 2020
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Feb 15, 2020
- Event Description
Chinese authorities should immediately and unconditionally release a well-known anti-corruption activist who had eluded arrest after a new government crackdown on rights activists, Human Rights Watch said today. On February 15, 2020, authorities in Guangzhou apprehended Xu Zhiyong at a friend’s home where he had gone after authorities in December detained participants of a gathering on human rights in Fujian province.
Xu, 46, is one of China’s most prominent activists and human rights advocates. He was a co-founder of the now-banned legal aid center Open Constitution Initiative and the New Citizens’ Movement, a nongovernmental group advocating for civil rights.
“President Xi Jinping claims the government is ‘open’ and ‘transparent,’ but the authorities have without basis detained one of the country’s best-known anti-corruption advocates,” said Yaqiu Wang, China researcher at Human Rights Watch. “Instead of arbitrarily detaining Xu Zhiyong and other human rights activists, the Chinse government should listen to what they have to say.”
In late December 2019, police across the country began to detain participants of a December 7 and 8 gathering in Xiamen, Fujian province, where they discussed human rights and China’s political future. On December 26, in what has become known as the 12.26 crackdown, authorities detained prominent human rights lawyer Ding Jiaxi, scholar Zhang Zhongshun, and activists Dai Zhenya and Li Yingjun. Since then, Xu had been traveling to different cities, updating his Twitter account, and criticizing the government’s authoritarian rule and its mishandling of the coronavirus outbreak.
It is unclear what charges authorities might bring against Xu. Police had accused the four men detained in December of “inciting subversion” – a crime that carries up to 15 years in prison – and placed them under “residential surveillance in a designated location,” a form of enforced disappearance in which police can hold individuals in undisclosed locations for up to six months. This places them outside the formal detention system, denying them access to legal counsel and family members, and increasing the risk of torture and ill-treatment.
Hours after the police took Xu away, his girlfriend, Li Qiaochu, a Beijing-based women’s rights and labor rights activist, also went missing. In January 2020, Beijing police searched Xu’s home, detained Li for 24 hours, and denied her adequate medicine in the detention center.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- Abduction/Kidnapping
- Rights Concerned
- Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Labour rights defender, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Suspected state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Mar 3, 2020
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Feb 15, 2020
- Event Description
Xu Zhiyong, a prominent Chinese legal activist, went silent over the weekend. His girlfriend, Li Qiaochu, a social activist, has gone missing.
He portrayed China’s leader, Xi Jinping, as hungry for power. He accused Mr. Xi of trying to cover up the coronavirus outbreak in central China. In one of his most daring writings, he urged Mr. Xi to resign, saying, “You’re just not smart enough.”
Then, over the weekend, Xu Zhiyong, a prominent Chinese legal activist, went silent. The authorities in the southern city of Guangzhou detained him on Saturday, according to Mr. Xu’s friends, after he spent nearly two months in hiding. His girlfriend, Li Qiaochu, a social activist, went missing on Sunday, Mr. Xu’s friends said.
The activist is the latest critic to be caught up in Mr. Xi’s far-reaching efforts to limit dissent in China. The crackdown, which has ensnared scores of activists, lawyers, journalists and intellectuals, is likely to intensify as the ruling Communist Party comes under broad attack for its handling of the coronavirus outbreak, one of its biggest political challenges in years.
Mr. Xu, a 46-year-old former university lecturer, has long railed against government corruption and social injustice in China. He went into hiding in December as the police began rounding up human rights activists who met with him in the eastern city of Xiamen.
While in hiding, Mr. Xu continued to publish blunt critiques of Mr. Xi on social media, accusing him of leading a dictatorship.
He also criticized Mr. Xi’s handling of the outbreak in the central province of Hubei that has killed at least 1,770 people in China and sickened more than 70,000. In one of his last writings before he was detained, Mr. Xu mourned the death of a doctor in Wuhan whom the police had silenced after he warned about the virus.
“In their hearts,” Mr. Xu said of party leaders, “there is no right and wrong, no conscience, no bottom line, no humanity.”
Mr. Xu, a firebrand who has spent decades pushing for political reforms, has long clashed with the Chinese government.
He was sentenced to four years in prison in 2014 for “gathering a crowd to disturb public order,” a charge that stemmed from his role organizing the New Citizens Movement, a grass-roots effort against corruption and social injustice in Chinese society.
It is unclear what charges the authorities might bring against Mr. Xu. The circumstances of the disappearance of his girlfriend, Ms. Li, were also ambiguous. The police in Guangzhou did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Mr. Xu’s friends defended his actions.
“It is within the scope of freedom of speech under the Chinese Constitution,” said Hua Ze, an activist based in New Jersey and a friend of Mr. Xu who confirmed his detention.
Faced with growing public anger over the coronavirus outbreak, China’s leader has cited a need to “strengthen the guidance of public opinion,” a term that often refers to blocking independent news reporting and censoring critical comments on Chinese social media.
Many free-speech activists worry that the party, which is concerned about maintaining its control, is tightening the reins of public discourse despite a growing perception that the silencing of doctors and others who tried to raise alarms has enabled the virus to spread more widely.
Two video bloggers who attracted wide attention for their dispatches from Wuhan, the epicenter of the outbreak, have gone missing.
Yaqiu Wang, a China researcher at Human Rights Watch, an advocacy organization, said the detention of Mr. Xu showed that the authorities had no intention of loosening restrictions on speech.
“The Chinese government persists in its old ways: silencing its critics rather than listening to people who promote rights-respecting policies that actually solve problems,” she said.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention
- Rights Concerned
- #COVID-19, Online, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Mar 3, 2020
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Feb 28, 2020
- Event Description
In response to today’s arrest of media tycoon Jimmy Lai and two other pro-democracy activists in Hong Kong on charges of “unlawful assembly” for their participation in largely peaceful mass protests on 31 August 2019, Director of Amnesty International Hong Kong Man-Kei Tam said:
“These unjustifiable arrests are a shameless attempt to harass and silence those in Hong Kong’s pro-democracy movement. It continues the pattern of the authorities using politically motivated charges to suppress opposition voices.
“The vast majority of people taking part in the 31 August protests were exercising their right to peaceful assembly. Peaceful protests do not require authorization and are therefore not ‘unlawful’, as the Hong Kong authorities claim.
“With the six-month anniversary of the 31 August protests due to be marked by activists this weekend, this merely appears to be the police’s way of intimidating anyone planning to take part.
“This continued assault on freedom of expression and assembly in Hong Kong only underlines the urgent need for an independent inquiry into the heavy-handed tactics used by police against protesters since last year.”
Background
On Friday police arrested founder of pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily Jimmy Lai and opposition politicians Lee Cheuk-yan and Yeung Sum for “unlawful assembly”.
The Hong Kong Police had banned the protests on 31 August 2019, but hundreds of thousands of peaceful protesters took to the street defying the ban.
As the protest went on, some protesters threw bricks and petrol bombs at police. The police for the first time deployed blue dye in water cannons in response – to indiscriminately mark people for identification later. On the same evening, riot police stormed into train carriages at Prince Edward metro station and beat up passengers. Two live warning shots were also fired by the police near Causeway Bay.
The UN Human Rights Committee has repeatedly expressed concern that the application of “unlawful assembly” against Hong Kong protesters risks violating their human rights. According to police figures, from June to December 2019 the Hong Kong police banned 47 out of 537 applications for public processions or meetings.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Enactment of repressive legislation and policies, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Media Worker, Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Related Events
- China: Arrest of pro-democracy activists in Hong Kong is fresh attempt to crush dissent
- Date added
- Mar 3, 2020
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Jan 10, 2020
- Event Description
Police in eastern China told the lawyer of a civil rights activist on Friday that his client was being investigated for alleged incitement of subversion as part of a government crackdown on dissent that started late last year.
Lawyer Peng Jian, who represented Ding Jiaxi, said he was told by police in Yantai, Shandong province, that the 53-year-old activist was officially under investigation and that his request to meet Ding had been rejected.
Ding is being held under “residential surveillance” – a form of secretive detention – and is barred from contacting his family or lawyer. According to Peng, if Ding is finally charged and convicted, he could face a jail term of up to 15 years since it was his second run-in with the law in five years. The activist was sentenced to 3½ years in prison in 2014 for disrupting public order and was released in October 2016.
“He is now held for the second time in five years,” Peng said. “If he is convicted again, he may face a stiff sentence.”
Calls to Yantai police for comment were not answered.
Ding was among a number of dissidents – including Zhang Zhongshun, Dai Zhenya and Li Yingjun – who were taken away by the authorities in the last week of December after attending a private dinner for about 20 people in Xiamen, Fujian province. After the detentions, police searched the flat of Xu Zhiyong, a Beijing-based civil rights activist , and interrogated his girlfriend, Li Qiaochu, prompting him to go into hiding, Xu wrote on Twitter.
Ding was a lawyer specialising in human rights cases before he was jailed and stripped of his licence in 2014. He was also a key figure in the New Citizens’ Movement, a group that advocates working within the system for political change, including urging officials to publicly disclose their wealth.
According to Ding’s wife, Luo Shengchun, her husband has continued his activism to raise public awareness of civil rights since his release in 2016.
Luo, who lives in the United States with the couple’s two daughters, said the rejection of Peng’s request to meet his client had raised concerns that Ding might have been tortured in custody.
“He believes that democracy and freedom are the fundamental human rights of a person,” Luo said.
“I can’t understand – how can a man of such moderate ideas be accused of inciting subversion?” she said. “This shows how fragile the authority is as it cannot tolerate even the mildest, most rational and peaceful expression of civil rights.”
Neither Ding’s family members in China nor Peng have received the official documents notifying them of Ding’s detention or arrest.
Zhang and Dai are also under residential surveillance but Li’s status is not known.
Zhang, a former university lecturer in Shandong, was accused of inciting subversion after police claimed to have found 245 bullets at his home, according to his daughter Zhang Mofei.
Sophie Richardson, China director at Human Rights Watch, denounced the crackdown on the activists.
“If discussing the need for official transparency over a meal is now considered ‘inciting subversion of state power’, then a lot of officials should be investigated as well … To accuse them of serious crimes and deny them the basic rights to a fair trial is a powerful statement about President Xi [Jinping]’s rule,” Richardson said.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Denial Fair Trial, Judicial Harassment, Restrictions on Movement
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of movement, Right to fair trial, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary, Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Related Events
- China: eight pro-democracy defenders interrogated, detained for joining a liberal meeting, China: pro-democracy defender investigated, put under de facto house arrest (Update)
- Date added
- Feb 10, 2020
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Jan 2, 2020
- Event Description
Hong Kong police have been accused of violating international law and making arbitrary arrests after three human rights observers were among hundreds detained en masse following a march on New Year’s Day.
But the force denied the accusation and said that no one – including journalists, first-aiders and observers – had the right to stay in a “riot”. More than a third of those intercepted by police in Causeway Bay on Wednesday were released.
Civil Rights Observer on Thursday confirmed three of its volunteers were arrested the night before and said that the move violated the Johannesburg Principles on National Security, Freedom of Expression and Access to Information, which stated monitors should not be denied access to areas when they believed a violation of human rights was being committed.
“It is the first time any of our observers have been arrested since the team was set up in 2018,” the group said. “We strongly condemn police for these indiscriminate arrests.”
Tam Man-kei, director of Amnesty International Hong Kong, also said the targeting of independent monitors was “especially disturbing” as they were essential to ensure full accountability.
On Wednesday, a march organised by the Civil Human Rights Front was cut short three hours after it started, with police citing violence in a branch of HSBC.
The violence then escalated as radical protesters spilled out into Causeway Bay, Wan Chai and Central, where they vandalised more bank branches, set fires and barricaded roads.
Later, police made mass arrests outside Sogo department store, where at one point around 70 people were seen being made to squat on the ground as they were searched and processed.
Some complained they had done nothing wrong, but were trapped after police cordoned off a sizeable area.
A total of 464 people were intercepted in Causeway Bay, of whom 287 were arrested for unlawful assembly, according to the police. The other 177 were released.
A 12-year-old primary school student and an 81-year-old citizen were among the 420 people arrested on New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day.
Eric Lai Yan-ho, deputy convenor of the front, said it was unreasonable to detain people without sufficient evidence then release them hours later.
“They were forced to kneel on the streets. It is unacceptable.”
Chief Superintendent Kwok Ka-chuen on Thursday said they had given repeated warnings for everyone to leave the scene.
“No one has the privilege to stay in a riot,” Kwok said. “You can claim to be a first-aider [or] a human rights observer. But this does not exempt you from the legal liability of taking part in a riot.”
Ng Lok-chun, senior superintendent of Hong Kong Island, denied police had made arbitrary mass arrests.
“When we had our first dispersal operation yesterday, rallygoers left. Those who came out again deliberately blocked roads,” Ng said.
Police had set up a cordon as they could not be sure whether the arrestees posed a risk to others and also to prevent any attempts to snatch arrested people away, Ng added.
Lai also attacked the force for its “unprecedented and disproportionate” decision to cut short the march, setting an “impossible” time frame of 45 minutes for the huge crowd to leave. He said it had risked a stampede.
“Many people didn’t know how to leave safely and didn’t take the trains for fear of arrest even though they only marched peacefully.”
Organisers were told at 5.30pm to call off the march, but were initially given 30 minutes – then an additional 15 minutes – to disperse the crowd.
“It was the first time a march of the scale of 1 million people was cut short,” Lai said. “With only 100-odd helpers and many people still stuck in Victoria Park, it was impossible to disband a procession like this.”
The group estimated more than 1.03 million people took part in the march, while police put the turnout at 47,000 in the procession and another 13,000 at the park.
Ng stressed police had only started advancing on Arsenal Street at 6.30pm and fired tear gas at around 7pm, which was 90 minutes after the ending time of the march.
But police had fired the first round of tear gas at protesters at around 5pm, shortly after the HSBC branch on Hennessy Road was vandalised.
In response to an incident during which a police officer forcibly removed the protective goggles of lawmaker Ted Hui Chi-fung and pepper-sprayed him in Causeway Bay on Wednesday night, Senior Superintendent Kelvin Kong Wing-cheung said that Hui had ignored repeated orders to get back on the pavement.
“He refused to cooperate and resisted. My colleagues issued warnings that pepper spray might be used. I don’t know if it was because he was wearing goggles, he was not afraid,” Kong said. “So my colleagues removed his goggles and used pepper spray to make the dispersal effective.”
Hui on Thursday vowed to launch legal action.
- Impact of Event
- 3
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Offline, Right to Protest
- HRD
- NGO staff
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Active
- Date added
- Feb 4, 2020
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Dec 29, 2019
- Event Description
Chinese police have launched a nationwide operation detaining at least eight people and questioning others, following a Dec. 13 meeting of liberal-minded activists and lawyers in the southeastern province of Fujian.
Authorities in the eastern province of Shandong set up a police task force after the meeting in the Fujian port city of Xiamen, and had detained eight people in Fujian, Shandong, Beijing, Hebei, Sichuan, and Zhejiang by Jan. 1.
The overseas-based Chinese Human Rights Defenders (CHRD) network said a similar gathering took place one year ago in Shandong, which could explain the leading role of the Shandong police.
Rights lawyers Ding Jiaxi and Huang Zhiqiang and activists Dai Zhenya, Li Yingjun, and Zhang Zhongshun were among those detained.
Rights lawyer and university professor Liu Shuqing, 43, was detained by police in Shandong's provincial capital Jinan on Dec. 31, on suspicion of "subversion of state power."
"Police used force to kick open the door of his residence without any warning," CHRD said, adding that Liu had recently undergone cardiac surgery. Liu was allowed back home on Jan. 1, the group said.
In the eastern city of Hangzhou, veteran activists Zhu Yufu, Wu Zexi, Xin Zhongcheng, Mao Lijun, and Tang Xiaoyun were detained and interrogated for a day on Dec. 29 after they had dinner with someone who attended the Dec. 13 meeting, CHRD said.
The rights website Civil Rights and Livelihood Watch said many of the activists were detained on suspicion of "incitement to subvert state power."
CHRD called on the ruling Chinese Communist Party to release all the detainees immediately, as their right to freedom of peaceful assembly is protected under international human rights treaties.
Others also held
Rights lawyer Ding Jiaxi, 52, was detained in his hometown of Beijing on Dec. 26 by Shandong police, and police searched his home and confiscated belongings without a search warrant, it said.
Ding's wife Luo Shengchun said her husband had likely attended the meeting in Xiamen.
"He said he was going to meet friends for a meal," Luo said. "I've asked all [the other families], and they all said it seems that their husbands went to Xiamen."
On the same day, university professor Zhang Zhongshun was detained on suspicion of subversion at his home in Yantai, Shandong, despite not having attended the Fujian meeting.
Xiamen-based Dai Zhenya, 46, was meanwhile detained on similar charges. He is being held under "residential surveillance at a designated location" that hasn't been disclosed, CHRD said.
Zhang's wife Yang Hongni said the family had planned to visit relatives in the United States on the Jan. 15 and had tried to get police to rescind her husband's travel ban.
"I have no news of Zhang Zhongshun," Yang said. "It's probably because he went to Xiamen."
Going to a cold place
Lin Yanping, wife of Dai Zhenya, said she was told her husband would need warm winter clothes where he was going.
"In the living room, they told us that they were from the Xiamen police department, and told us to get some very warm clothes for him, because he'd be going to a cold place for investigation," Lin said.
"A police officer told us that the [other officers] were from Shandong and that he might be taken to Shandong, allegedly for inciting subversion of state power," she said.
Lin said the family has been unable to find out any more about Dai since.
"We have no information," Lin told RFA. "We went to that police station and asked which police agency in Shandong took him away."
"They wouldn't tell us, so we are very worried now. I don't know about this Dec. 13 taskforce. I just want to know where he is," she said.
Activist Li Yingjun, a factory worker from Fujian's Zhangzhou city, was also held on the same day, while lawyer Huang Zhiqiang, 47, was detained on Dec. 29, in the eastern province of Zhejiang on suspicion of "picking quarrels and stirring up trouble," a charge often leveled at peaceful critics of the regime.
Meanwhile, in the southwestern province of Sichuan, police detained businessman-turned-activist Wei Xiaobing, 42, after he distributed T-shirts printed with slogans supportive of the pro-democracy movement in Hong Kong.
No clear theme
An employee at the Civil Rights and Livelihood Watch website said the latest crackdown was unusual in that there was no clear theme connecting all of the detentions.
"In the past, they would divide the opposition into categories, so you would get waves of crackdowns on activist websites, or on lawyers, or the one-off crackdown on the New Citizens Movement," the employee said.
"This time it was very complicated."
Zhu Yufu's U.S.-based son Zhu Xi said his father is still under close surveillance by the state security police, and that the additional security will likely continue at least until after the annual parliamentary sessions in March.
"This time around it has been quite strange: I think a lot of people are very nervous," he said.
Repeated calls to the Shandong provincial police department went unanswered during office hours, while calls to the political department of the ministry of public security in Beijing were met with the sound of a fax machine.
An official who answered the phone at the political department of the Xiamen police department declined requests for an interview.
"We don't know the situation you asked about ... so you have to ask the department that is handling the case," the official said. "I can't answer you about the legal matters. You will have to ask a lawyer."
'China can't go on like this'
New Citizens' Movement founder Xu Zhiyong is currently on the run after penning a New Year's message to China's citizens, calling on them to think about whether they want to carry on with an authoritarian government or movement towards democratic constitutionalism, an idea that President Xi Jinping has said has no place in his vision for China.
"We are sadly seeing that the Chinese economy is deteriorating, while the stability maintenance regime is depleting national wealth accumulated over more than three decades, and stagnation and poverty are looming," Xu wrote.
"China cannot go on like this. Think about it, people! What kind of China do we want to leave for future generations?"
- Impact of Event
- 8
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment, Raid, Surveillance
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of association, Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Lawyer, Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Related Events
- China: eight pro-democracy defenders interrogated, detained for joining a liberal meeting, China: pro-democracy defender investigated, put under de facto house arrest (Update)
- Date added
- Jan 9, 2020
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Dec 26, 2019
- Event Description
Over a dozen Chinese lawyers and activists were detained or went missing in the final days of 2019 in a crackdown on participants of a private democracy gathering, rights groups said Thursday.
The Chinese government has severely reduced the space for civil liberties since President Xi Jinping took power in 2012, rounding up rights lawyers, labour activists and even Marxists students in various sweeps.
The latest crackdown was linked to a December gathering in the east coast city of Xiamen in Fujian province, where participants discussed “democratic transition in China,” said Human Rights Watch researcher Wang Yaqiu.
The period around Christmas and New Year is traditionally when China chooses to sentence prominent dissidents in an effort to minimise international media attention, “so it is not a surprise that they chose this particular time to launch a manhunt of activists,” Wang said.
The meeting involved a small group of people “peacefully discussing politics in a private space,” she said.
Ding Jiaxi, a prominent Beijing-based disbarred lawyer previously jailed for protesting against official corruption, was among the activists known to have been detained across the country since December 26, according to China Human Rights Defenders (CHRD).
At least seven people, including Shandong-based disbarred lawyer Liu Shuqing, were released after being detained for questioning.
Other civil society figures, including pro-democracy activist Xu Zhiyong and human rights lawyer Tang Jingling, have gone missing or are currently unreachable, CHRD said.
At least two of the people detained, activists Dai Zhenya and Zhang Zhongshun, are suspected of “subverting” or “inciting subversion” of state power, a charge often used to silence dissidents in China.
The crackdown showed how the authorities have “zero tolerance of even just private discussion on issues like democracy and human rights,” Amnesty International researcher Patrick Poon said.
According to CHRD, five activists were taken in for questioning by Jinhua city police in eastern China’s Zhejiang province, on December 29, after having had dinner with someone who attended the Xiamen gathering.
Another lawyer, Lu Tingge, was held overnight for questioning on New Year’s Eve by police in the northern city of Shijiazhuang, Hebei province, CHRD said.
Police in Shandong province, whom CHRD said were heavily involved in the crackdown, as well as Jinhua and Shijiazhuang police, did not respond immediately to AFP’s requests for comment.
“This round of detentions and harassment is the continuation of the larger crackdown on civil society,” Wang said.
On December 30, a court in southwest China’s Chengdu sentenced Wang Yi, the leader of an underground Protestant church, to nine years in prison for “incitement to subvert state power.”
- Impact of Event
- 12
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Offline, Online, Right to political participation
- HRD
- Lawyer, Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Government, Judiciary, Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Jan 7, 2020
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Dec 30, 2019
- Event Description
SHANGHAI : The pastor of one of China’s best-known unregistered “house” churches was sentenced to nine years in prison on Monday on charges of inciting subversion of state power, part of Beijing’s crackdown on unregistered religious groups.
Wang Yi, pastor of the Early Rain Covenant Church in the southwestern city of Chengdu, was among dozens of the church’s members and leaders detained by police in December 2018, most of whom were subsequently released.
China’s constitution guarantees religious freedom, but since President Xi Jinping took office six years ago, the government has tightened restrictions on religions seen as a challenge to the authority of the ruling Communist Party.
The government has cracked down on underground churches, both Protestant and Catholic, and has rolled out new legislation to increase oversight of religious education and practices, with harsher punishment for practices not sanctioned by authorities.
“Today’s verdict makes a mockery of China’s supposed religious freedoms,” Amnesty International China researcher Patrick Poon said in a statement.
“Wang Yi was merely practising his religion and peacefully standing up for human rights in China. This nine-year sentence is appalling and unjust.”
Chinese law requires that places of worship register and submit to government oversight, but some have declined to register, for various reasons, and are known as “house” or “underground” churches.
Wang was profiled in Beijing-based journalist Ian Johnson’s 2017 book The Souls of China, and was also among three Chinese Christians who travelled to Washington in 2006, where they met with then-president George W. Bush, asking for his support in their fight for religious freedom.
An unusually outspoken religious figure, he has openly criticised Xi and wrote in an essay before his detention that Communist Party ideology was “morally incompatible with the Christian faith”.
Quotes attributed to him on a Facebook page run by the church’s supporters’ include one that said, “the Communist Party may kill my body but it cannot kill my soul.”
Wang’s sentencing was announced in a brief statement on the website of the Chengdu court, which said he had been charged with illegally operating a business.
Wang was also deprived of his political rights for three years and 50,000 yuan ($7,160) of his personal property was confiscated as part of his sentencing, the court said.
In 2009, China sentenced Nobel Peace Prize-winning dissident Liu Xiaobo to 11 years in prison on charges of “inciting subversion of state power”. Liu, a writer and activist, died in prison in 2017 after being denied permission to go abroad for treatment of late-stage liver cancer.
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Denial Fair Trial, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of Religion and Belief, Offline
- HRD
- Freedom of religion/belief activist
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Jan 7, 2020
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Dec 19, 2019
- Event Description
A labor rights worker, a volunteer and an intern were reported incommunicado in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou on Thursday, while mainland Chinese activists who took part in the Hong Kong protests were sent for "drug rehabilitation," RFA has learned.
Chen Weixiang, who worked for the Xin Huanwei group focusing on labor rights for street cleaners and sanitation workers, was detained on the afternoon of Dec. 17 by police at his home in Guangzhou, a person familiar with the situation told RFA.
Recent graduate and intern Lu Haoju was detained at the same time, the source said.
Yang Zhanqing, a friend of Chen's, said Chen was detained by officers from the Nanshitou Street police station in Guangzhou's Haizhu district.
"We don't know what the charges are or where they are being held," Yang said. "We have had no news so far."
He said a third person -- a volunteer -- linked to Xin Huanwei was also incommunicado, believed detained.
"One of my former classmates, she was involved in [Chen's] project, and she is now out of touch," Yang said. "I think they were taken away by Guangzhou police between 4-5 p.m. on Dec. 17. There were three of them."
"My guess is that they are targeting him because of Xin Huanwei, but a more direct reason could be that he recently helped some sanitation workers to stand up for their rights [with legal assistance]," Yang said.
"One instance was a case of wage arrears for sanitation workers, and another was a sanitation worker who got fired, then died, so it became a compensation case," he said. "Both of these cases touched on vested interests in local government."
No tolerance left for civil rights organizations
Chen had only recently returned to China after gaining a master's degree in the United States, Yang said.
But he said the ruling Chinese Communist Party had no tolerance left for civil rights organizations like Chen's.
"According to my experience and that of my former colleagues and people I know, any independent, privately run NGO that stands up for people's rights will be threatened and harassed with detentions and demands that it cease operating," he said.
An officer who answered the phone at the Nanshitou Street police station declined to comment, saying interviews had to be approved at district level.
"If you want an interview, you'll have to go higher up ... the Haizhu police department," the officer said.
Chen Weixiang graduated from Sun Yat-sen University School of Medicine in 2015, but was rejected from further medical training because of his labor activism.
After studying for a master's degree at Penn State University in the United States, he returned to China in August and set up services for sanitation workers, including Xin Huanwei.
'Compulsory detoxification'
Meanwhile, authorities in Guangdong's Dongguan city have detained activist Hu Haibo after he traveled to Hong Kong to support the pro-democracy movement there.
Since his return from Hong Kong, Hu was designated a "drug addict" by police and referred for "compulsory detoxification" at a rehab center last month, fellow activist Chen Yanhui told RFA.
"We are guessing that he may not have been cooperating after being admitted [to rehab] so it was changed to compulsory detoxification," Chen said. "He refused to accept their drugs and injections because he had never done drugs in the first place."
According to the Civil Rights and Livelihood Watch website, Hu could be incarcerated for up to two years under the compulsory program.
Chen said Hu's father had visited him at the center on Wednesday, but the visit was controlled and monitored at all times by police, who forced the pair to speak Mandarin rather than their native language.
"Maybe they were worried that Hu would disclose some information about life inside, because he was being treated differently from other drug addicts there," Chen said.
A Hong Kong resident who knew Hu said he had never seen any evidence of drug-taking during their time as roommates.
Reported by Wong Siu-san and Sing Man for RFA's Cantonese Service, and by Qiao Long and Gao Feng for the Mandarin Service. Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie.
- Impact of Event
- 3
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Abduction/Kidnapping, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Labour rights
- HRD
- Labour rights defender, NGO staff
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Jan 6, 2020
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Dec 10, 2019
- Event Description
Authorities in the Chinese capital detained and questioned a group of rights activists en route to the U.S. embassy in Beijing to participate in an event marking Human Rights Day on Tuesday, RFA has learned.
Wang Heying and a group of fellow petitioners -- people pursuing complaints against misconduct and rights violations by the ruling Chinese Communist Party -- were detained by police on the street after they registered to attend the event online, Wang said.
"This was a public event bringing friends together, an opportunity for the exchange of views," Wang said. "Everyone else got their invitations by using an invitation code they saw online, and registering with their ID. I was directly invited to participate by a friend."
But the group was stopped by a police patrol en route to the embassy, and taken to a nearby police station for questioning, she said.
"There were more than a dozen people at the police station, all of whom had previously lodged complaints against the government," Wang said.
"All petitioners have their ID cards marked with a special code, so they wouldn't be allowed through if there was an ID check. All we did was to lodge a petition ... and now we're labeled as class enemies. I don't get it."
Meanwhile, state security police in Beijing's Shijingshan district warned Xu Yan, wife of detained rights lawyer Yu Wensheng, not to go out ahead of Human Rights Day on Tuesday.
"They came to my door and told me very forcefully that I mustn't go out," Xu told RFA. "They said the restrictions would be in place for four or five days."
Xu, who recently wrote to the Global Lawyers' Forum in Guangzhou calling on overseas lawyers to call for Yu's release or speedy trial, said she was yelled at and shoved by more than a dozen people who surrounded her later, when she tried to leave her apartment.
China a 'bitterly ironic' host
State media said around 800 delegates from around the world attended the forum, which was hosted by the government-controlled All-China Lawyers' Association.
As it opened on Monday, a group of human rights lawyers from Hong Kong, Taiwan, Europe and the International Bar Association penned an open letter hitting out at the ruling Chinese Communist Party's use of indiscriminate arrest and detention and the forced disappearances of millions of people with no access to legal representation or fair trials.
Guangdong-based rights attorney Sui Muqing said the forum was mostly attended by justice department officials, and that few practicing Chinese attorneys had the opportunity to participate.
"It's just for people who do as the government tells them," Sui said. "Human rights lawyers or people who are slightly critical of the regime can't attend."
He said he has also had restrictions placed on his movements until the forum closes on Tuesday.
Geng He, the U.S.-based wife of disappeared rights lawyer Gao Zhisheng, called on Human Rights Day for the world to remember the nationwide crackdown on lawyers, law firms and associated activists that has seen more than 300 people detained, questioned, prevented from leaving the country or their families harassed and denied access to jobs and education since July 2015.
"In China, law firms can be shut down whenever they want, and lawyers can lose their license, or be arrested, disappeared and tortured whenever they feel like it," Geng told RFA.
"It is bitterly ironic that they are holding a lawyers' conference in such a country, and on Human Rights Day, too."
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Restrictions on Movement
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of movement, Offline, Right to liberty and security, Right to political participation
- HRD
- Lawyer, Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Government, Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Dec 19, 2019
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Dec 3, 2019
- Event Description
An outspoken former Chinese rights lawyer has been arrested on suspicion of “inciting subversion of state power”, as the government continues to crack down on activists and political dissidents.
Qin Yongpei, 50, who often criticised Beijing on social media including Twitter, was arrested on Tuesday in southern China, according to an arrest notice seen by AFP.
“He dares to say anything online,” his wife, Deng Xiaoyun, said.
She said he had been accused of inciting state subversion “because it would be easiest charge to give”.
Qin “drew a lot of attention, and possibly retaliation, from the authorities for openly criticising and reporting high-level public officials”, said Doriane Lau, a researcher at Amnesty International.
Qin, who was detained last month in Nanning, in the southern region of Guangxi, often took to social media to comment on topics deemed sensitive by the Chinese Communist Party, including pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong.
The Chinese lawyer, who was disbarred in May last year, is also among the growing number of rights lawyers in China to be stripped of their license to practise – a method activists say effectively silences them without attracting as much attention as an arrest. The widespread disbarment of rights lawyers – at least a dozen have had their licenses cancelled or revoked since 2018, according to government documents – follows one of the largest clampdowns on China’s legal profession in the country’s recent history.
A police sweep launched on July 9, 2015 saw more than 200 Chinese human rights lawyers and activists detained or questioned in a huge operation – later dubbed the “709 crackdown”– that rights groups called “unprecedented”.
“That authorities arrested Qin is outright political persecution,” said Sui Muqing, a Chinese lawyer who was detained during the “709 crackdown” and a friend of Qin’s.
His arrest is also “an escalation of political persecution towards lawyers”, he added. Nanning police did not immediately respond to AFP’s request for comment.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Denial Fair Trial, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Online, Right to fair trial, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Lawyer
- Perpetrator-State
- Government, Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Dec 19, 2019
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Dec 6, 2019
- Event Description
A Tibetan man detained in Qinghai on charges of disturbing social order after he complained online about corrupt officials, illegal mining, and the hunting of protected wildlife was convicted on Friday following a two-day trial and handed a seven-year term in prison, a Tibetan advocacy group says.
Anya Sengdra, a resident of Kyangche township in Gade (in Chinese, Gande) county in the Golog (Guoluo) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture was widely respected in his community for his campaigns, London-based Free Tibet said in a statement.
“[His] arrest and conviction fits a wider pattern of harassment of Tibetan activists and environmental defenders, which has [now] seen hundreds of arrests,” Free Tibet said, adding that roundups by Chinese police are conducted as a crackdown on so-called “criminal gangs.”
Sengdra’s work to end corruption and protect the environment “highlighted problems that the authorities should have taken seriously,” Free Tibet said. “But rather than listening, the [Chinese Communist Party] decided that A-Nya must be locked away in silence.”
Sengdra’s lawyer Lin Qilei said in a tweet following the trial that his client refused to accept the court’s verdict against him and will appeal his sentence, Free Tibet said.
Jailed before
Elected Kyangche township chief in 2014, Sengdra was later jailed for 15 months after raising questions about government corruption and served his term at hard labor, suffering damage to his health, sources told RFA in an earlier report.
Before his arrest in December 2014, Sengdra had questioned local authorities about their use of money assigned for projects in the township, one source said, adding, “He argued with them about the mismatch of funds announced by the government and what was actually spent.”
“This could have angered authorities and led to his detention,” the source said.
Development projects in Tibetan areas have led to frequent standoffs with Tibetans who accuse Chinese firms and local officials of pilfering money, improperly seizing land, and disrupting the lives of local people.
Many result in violent suppression, the detention of protest organizers, and intense pressure on the local population to comply with the government’s wishes.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Denial Fair Trial, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Online, Right to fair trial, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Environmental rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Dec 19, 2019
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Nov 19, 2019
- Event Description
Pro-democracy activist Joshua Wong Chi-fung has been banned by the Hong Kong court from travelling to London to receive a human rights award from the British parliament, as he faces a charge of inciting anti-government protesters to besiege the police headquarters.
Madam Justice Esther Toh Lye-ping of the High Court on Tuesday refused Wong’s application to vary his bail conditions and lift a travel ban, citing heightened risk of absconding.
Toh said Wong did not need to be present in British parliamentary hearings and meetings in which he was invited, and could instead remain in Hong Kong to help the city return to peace.
Wong, secretary general of localist party Demosisto, was named the recipient of the Westminster Award for Human Life, Human Rights, and Human Dignity by both houses of parliament in Britain, for his “commitments to universal suffrage, human rights and free speech”.
He was the second Chinese person to receive the prize after blind mainland activist Chen Guangcheng was awarded in 2013. District council polls ban was ‘arbitrary’ decision, Joshua Wong says
Wong initially planned to leave Hong Kong next week for 20 days, during which he would attend parliamental hearings and deliver speeches in six European countries, and receive the prize in the Palace of Westminster on December 12.
But Hong Kong’s Eastern Court imposed a travel ban on Wong on August 30 after he was charged with organising, taking part in, and inciting others to take part in an unlawful assembly outside the Wan Chai police headquarters on June 21.
The lower court also refused to lift the ban earlier this month, saying Wong’s proposed trip was “not very important”.
Wong said he was disappointed with the ruling which amounted to “an extra punishment” before he was convicted by the court.
A statement by Demosisto said the court was now under immense pressure following Beijing’s criticism over its ruling on Monday that the anti-mask law was unconstitutional.
“Even in times of social turmoil, it’s really inappropriate and unnecessary for the court to step in and comment on how politicians should behave,” Wong said on Facebook.
He was charged alongside party member Agnes Chow Ting and chairman Ivan Lam Long-yin. The trio will appear in court again on December 19.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Travel Restriction
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of movement, Offline
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender, Youth
- Perpetrator-State
- Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Dec 3, 2019
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Nov 3, 2019
- Event Description
A pro-democracy politician and four other people were injured when a knife-wielding man attacked protesters in Hong Kong Sunday.
The assailant slashed and stabbed people at Cityplaza mall, one of several shopping centers where protesters had gathered to demand government reforms for the 22nd straight weekend.
Local media reported the attacker told his victims that Hong Kong belongs to China.
Four men and one woman were taken to hospitals, where two were in critical condition.
Among the injured was politician Andrew Chiu Ka-yin, who had part of his ear bitten off as he tried to prevent the attacker from leaving the scene.
A pro-democracy activist tweeted that his "close colleague Dr Andrew Chiu was assaulted" and his "left ear was brutally halved."
The semi-autonomous city has been mired in more than five months of massive and often times violent protests, sparked by a proposed bill that would have allowed criminal suspects to be extradited to mainland China. The protests have evolved into demands for full democracy for Hong Kong, an independent inquiry into possible use of excessive force by police and complete amnesty for all activists arrested during the demonstrations. Masked activists have vandalized businesses and the city subway system, and attacked police with bricks and homemade gasoline bombs.
In September, Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam announced she would withdraw the extradition bill but that has not quelled the protests.
Hong Kong enjoys a high degree of autonomy under the "one government, two systems" arrangement established when China regained control of Hong Kong from Britain in 1997. But political activists and observers say Beijing is slowly tightening its grip on the territory and eroding its basic freedoms.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Violence (physical), Wounds and Injuries
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Nov 20, 2019
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Nov 3, 2019
- Event Description
Two journalists were arrested as Hong Kong police stormed shopping malls on Sunday following protests.
With no large-scale demonstrations planned, some protesters called for “shopping” stunts in seven districts including Admiralty, Mong Kok, Tsuen Wan, Wong Tai Sin, Tai Po, Sha Tin and Tuen Mun.
Scuffles were most serious at Cityplaza in Tai Koo, where pro-democracy district councillor Andrew Chiu had his ear bitten off after the assailant slashed several people with a knife.
According to lawmaker Charles Mok, Chiu’s ear was reconnected after an operation: “His status is stable but we will have to see if its function will recover,” Mok said.
Most of the protests began peacefully as sit-in events at shopping malls. At Cityplaza, residents formed human chains and sang protest songs, whilst a group of masked protesters vandalised a restaurant in the mall.
At around 6pm, police stormed the mall and arrested several people. “Police warn the masked rioters to stop all destructive and illegal acts and appeal to the protestors to stay rational and calm. They should refrain from obstructing Police’s action,” the force said in a statement.
Hong Kong Law & Crime Politics & Protest Two journalists arrested as riot police storm malls around Hong Kong and deploy pepper spray 4 November 2019 13:25 Kris Cheng 5 min read
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Two journalists were arrested as Hong Kong police stormed shopping malls on Sunday following protests.
With no large-scale demonstrations planned, some protesters called for “shopping” stunts in seven districts including Admiralty, Mong Kok, Tsuen Wan, Wong Tai Sin, Tai Po, Sha Tin and Tuen Mun. cityplaza
A cityplaza guard. Photo: Stand News.
Scuffles were most serious at Cityplaza in Tai Koo, where pro-democracy district councillor Andrew Chiu had his ear bitten off after the assailant slashed several people with a knife.
According to lawmaker Charles Mok, Chiu’s ear was reconnected after an operation: “His status is stable but we will have to see if its function will recover,” Mok said. photojournalist Joey Kwok Stand News arrested
Joey Kwok, freelance photojournalist working for Stand News, being arrested. Photo: Stand News.
Most of the protests began peacefully as sit-in events at shopping malls. At Cityplaza, residents formed human chains and sang protest songs, whilst a group of masked protesters vandalised a restaurant in the mall.
At around 6pm, police stormed the mall and arrested several people. “Police warn the masked rioters to stop all destructive and illegal acts and appeal to the protestors to stay rational and calm. They should refrain from obstructing Police’s action,” the force said in a statement.
Joey Kwok, a freelance photojournalist working for Stand News, was arrested and handcuffed on suspicion of obstructing police as he was taking photos at the mall.
Stand News said Kwok was at standing at a distance from police officers and did not obstruct their work. The news outlet condemned the arrest as unreasonable and demanded his immediate release.
“He has said he was a journalist multiple times when he was arrested, but it was ignored by the police,” Stand News said.
Hong Kong has now entered into its 22nd weekend of protest and unrest, which was sparked by a now-withdrawn extradition bill that would have allowed fugitive transfers to mainland China.
A journalism student, who is a member of the Hong Kong Baptist University Students’ Union Editorial Board, was also arrested at the mall whilst covering the news.
Roland Chin, the university’s president, said in an email to students, alumni and staff members that the school was deeply concerned about the student’s well-being.
He said the head of the Department of Journalism and a lawyer have visited the police station to provide assistance. The student’s family members have been notified.
Hong Kong Law & Crime Politics & Protest Two journalists arrested as riot police storm malls around Hong Kong and deploy pepper spray 4 November 2019 13:25 Kris Cheng 5 min read
Donate
Two journalists were arrested as Hong Kong police stormed shopping malls on Sunday following protests.
With no large-scale demonstrations planned, some protesters called for “shopping” stunts in seven districts including Admiralty, Mong Kok, Tsuen Wan, Wong Tai Sin, Tai Po, Sha Tin and Tuen Mun. cityplaza
A cityplaza guard. Photo: Stand News.
Scuffles were most serious at Cityplaza in Tai Koo, where pro-democracy district councillor Andrew Chiu had his ear bitten off after the assailant slashed several people with a knife.
According to lawmaker Charles Mok, Chiu’s ear was reconnected after an operation: “His status is stable but we will have to see if its function will recover,” Mok said. photojournalist Joey Kwok Stand News arrested
Joey Kwok, freelance photojournalist working for Stand News, being arrested. Photo: Stand News.
Most of the protests began peacefully as sit-in events at shopping malls. At Cityplaza, residents formed human chains and sang protest songs, whilst a group of masked protesters vandalised a restaurant in the mall.
At around 6pm, police stormed the mall and arrested several people. “Police warn the masked rioters to stop all destructive and illegal acts and appeal to the protestors to stay rational and calm. They should refrain from obstructing Police’s action,” the force said in a statement.
Joey Kwok, a freelance photojournalist working for Stand News, was arrested and handcuffed on suspicion of obstructing police as he was taking photos at the mall.
Stand News said Kwok was at standing at a distance from police officers and did not obstruct their work. The news outlet condemned the arrest as unreasonable and demanded his immediate release. photojournalist Joey Kwok Stand News arrested
Joey Kwok, a freelance photojournalist working for Stand News, being arrested. Photo: Stand News.
“He has said he was a journalist multiple times when he was arrested, but it was ignored by the police,” Stand News said.
Hong Kong has now entered into its 22nd weekend of protest and unrest, which was sparked by a now-withdrawn extradition bill that would have allowed fugitive transfers to mainland China.
A journalism student, who is a member of the Hong Kong Baptist University Students’ Union Editorial Board, was also arrested at the mall whilst covering the news.
Roland Chin, the university’s president, said in an email to students, alumni and staff members that the school was deeply concerned about the student’s well-being.
He said the head of the Department of Journalism and a lawyer have visited the police station to provide assistance. The student’s family members have been notified.
“We are also liaising with the relevant government agencies in our effort to seek a fair and proper treatment for the other students arrested by the police over the weekend,” Chin said.
The student claimed police threatened him with rape at the San Uk Ling Holding Centre when he was arrested. “I would not commit suicide,” the student shouted, in reference to a spate of recent deaths which some in the protest movement believe to be suspicious.
Shopping mall protests
Police officers also stormed other malls. At around 1:40pm, officers took eight people away from a gathering outside Sha Tin Town Hall.
At 4pm, police stormed the New Town Plaza from the bus terminus below, arresting at least two. Some threw objects at police inside the mall, as officers pointed their rifles at people and fired pepper spray.
Similar scenes also occurred at Tai Po Mega Mall and Diamond Hill’s Plaza Hollywood. At the Mega Mall, some protesters were folding origami cranes to form protest slogans whilst others trashed a Yoshinoya branch in the mall, believing that the restaurant has sided with the government. Officers then rushed into the mall but did not make any arrests.
At around 6pm, police rushed into the Tai Po mall again, despite a commander ordering them not to do so. Apple Daily footage showed that the commander had to enter the mall and shout: “No-one enter the mall… go back and reform [team] at the bridge.”
Residents gathered again at the mall and riot police entered for the third time at around 7pm to arrest two people, prompting onlookers to throw objects at police from above. Officers fired pepper spray and pointed their rifles at them.
Tseung Kwan O incident
Meanwhile, protesters gathered in Tseung Kwan O following rumours that a police officer was getting married at the Crowne Plaza hotel. At around 1am, police fired tear gas to disperse them.
A student from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology appeared to be trying to escape the tear gas when he fell from a car park’s third floor onto the second floor. He was unconscious and rushed to Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Jordan.
The student was in a critical condition and underwent an operation to remove haematoma from his brain. Wei Shyy, president of the university, visited the student on Monday morning at the hospital.
Chiu is running in the District Council election’s Tai Koo Shing West constituency. Kacee Ting of the Business and Professionals Alliance for Hong Kong is also running.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Man, Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention
- Rights Concerned
- Offline, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Media Worker, Student
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Nov 20, 2019
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Oct 29, 2019
- Event Description
Hong Kong pro-democracy activist Joshua Wong says a decision by Hong Kong authorities to bar him from running in upcoming local elections proves "how Beijing manipulate[s] the election with political censorship and screening."
Wong posted the notice he received from an election commission officer on his Twitter page Tuesday declaring his candidacy invalid.
Wong had said last week that he was the only candidate running in the upcoming polls to be barred from taking part.
A government spokesman issued a written statement saying Wong's candidacy was invalidated because he has advocated for "self-determination" for Hong Kong.
The 23-year-old Wong, along with fellow student activists Nathan Law and Alex Chow, stormed a courtyard on the grounds of the government's headquarters in September 2014, which led to the "Umbrella Revolution" that shut down several major highways for more than two months, demanding fully free elections. The protests were launched after Beijing reneged on promises of universal suffrage by 2017, but ended without winning any concessions from the Hong Kong government.
The semi-autonomous city has been mired in nearly five months of massive and oftentimes violent protests since June, sparked by a proposed bill that would have allowed criminal suspects to be extradited to mainland China. The protests have evolved into demands for full democracy for Hong Kong, along with an independent inquiry into possible use of excessive force by police and complete amnesty for all activists arrested during the demonstrations. Masked activists have vandalized businesses and the city subway system, and attacked police with bricks and homemade gasoline bombs.
Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam warned Tuesday that city's economy could see negative economic growth this year due to the protests.
Hong Kong enjoys a high degree of autonomy under the “one government, two systems” arrangement established when China regained control of the financial hub from Britain in 1997. But political activists and observers say Beijing is slowly tightening its grip on the territory and eroding its basic freedoms.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Offline, Online, Right to political participation
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender, Youth
- Perpetrator-State
- Government
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Nov 4, 2019
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Oct 24, 2019
- Event Description
Police in southern China detained feminist activist and journalist Huang Xueqin after she returned to the mainland from Hong Kong and Taiwan, her friends said Friday.
Authorities in Guangdong province's Guangzhou city arrested Huang last Thursday on suspicion of "picking quarrels and provoking trouble," her friends said. The vague charge is commonly used against activists viewed as threatening by the ruling Communist Party.
The friends spoke on the condition of anonymity because they feared government retribution for being publicly associated with Huang. Calls on Friday to Huang's lawyer and Guangzhou's Baiyun District Detention Center, where friends say she is detained, rang unanswered.
The friends said police harassed Huang's family after she published an essay describing her experience at a protest in Hong Kong, a semi-autonomous Chinese city that has been roiled by months of anti-government demonstrations.
"Perhaps, under the powerful machine of the party state, ignorance and fear can be cultivated," Huang wrote in her essay. "But if you have personally experienced it, witnessed it, you cannot pretend to be ignorant."
In August, Guangzhou police confiscated Huang's passport and other travel documents, preventing her from pursuing a postgraduate law program at the University of Hong Kong.
Huang has been an outspoken voice in China's #MeToo movement, helping sexual assault victims highlight cases against university professors. She has worked as an independent reporter covering issues surrounding gender, equality and disadvantaged groups.
Detained, harassed
"It is unclear exactly the reasons for Huang's detention, but in recent weeks, more and more activists, writers and regular citizens in the mainland have been detained or harassed by authorities for their peacefully voicing support for the Hong Kong protests," said Yaqiu Wang, China researcher at Human Rights Watch.
"Huang's detention shows that the Chinese government has intensified the crackdown on mainland Chinese who peacefully showed solidarity with Hong Kong protesters, and that authorities are fearful that the protests in Hong Kong could inspire challenges to the government in the mainland, and any expression of ideas of freedom and democracy is a threat to their grip on power," Wang said.
The protests in Hong Kong began over the summer in response to a now-withdrawn extradition bill that would have allowed Hong Kong residents to stand trial in mainland China, where critics say their legal rights would be threatened. The sometimes-violent demonstrations have since ballooned to encompass broader calls for democratic reform and an inquiry into alleged police abuse.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community), Woman
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Administrative Harassment, Intimidation and Threats, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Offline
- HRD
- Family of HRD, Media Worker, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Nov 4, 2019
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Oct 20, 2019
- Event Description
The Hong Kong Police Force has been obstructing the work of reporters at protests in recent months. They have even used excessive and unnecessary force. The Hong Kong Journalists Association has time and again expressed our discontent. Police has not just failed to make any improvement. They did more to obstruct the work of reporters. Yesterday, police officers targeted at journalists spraying blue dye on them. And without giving prior warning, they threw teargas canisters at a place where many reporters had gathered. HKJA again vehemently condemns Police for unreasonably obstructing the work of reporters. We demand the force to immediately stop interfering and causing injuries to reporters – and apologise to the media for their wrongdoings.
According to several press reports, police have deployed a water cannon truck to drive away protesters in Sham Shui Po on Sunday. On one occasion, officers inside the truck have twice sprayed blue dye directly to them.
Meanwhile, several journalists have been rudely treated by police officers during their reporting in Mong Kok. Some riot-police officers have shouted at reporters, pushed and drove them away. An officer had pointed his gun at reporters. Late evening, a group of riot-police officers had deliberately thrown a hand teargas canister to a group of reporters before they withdrew. The canister exploded above the heads of several reporters. Thank to their protection devices, they escaped injuries.
HKJA vehemently condemns the Police for ignoring freedom of reporting and freedom of the press when they repeatedly used unnecessary force against reporters. We reiterate that freedom of expression and press freedom are an important cornerstone of Hong Kong. Truth-finding is the sacred duty of reporters. We cannot take abuses of the use of force by the police as normal. We urge the Government to immediately correct their mistakes.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Nov 4, 2019
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Oct 31, 2019
- Event Description
Authorities in the southwestern Chinese region of Guangxi have detained outspoken rights attorney Tan Yongpei, whose license to practice was revoked last year.
Tan was detained on Thursday by officers of the Nanning municipal police department during a raid on his Baijuying legal consultancy company.
An employee at a company occupying the same floor told RFA: "There were 10 or 20 of them. They came shortly after 5.00 p.m., just before we got off work."
"They showed their police identification and said they were from the police department and that they were looking for a lawyer surnamed Tan," he said. "Then they went in."
The employee said the officers were still on the premises when he left after 6.00 p.m. "They were forceful, but went into their offices quite politely, with somebody shooting video," he said. "They put seals on Tan's office door that said "Nanning Municipal Police Department."
The Civil Rights and Livelihood Watch website said the police hadn't produced any official documents authorizing the raid and search, however.
It said Tan had tried and failed to prevent them from carrying out the raid, which lasted around three hours, after which the police took Tan away with them.
Fellow Guangxi-based lawyer Tan Jiaji said it was hard to tell whether Tan would face criminal charges now, or simply be released after questioning.
"It's pretty hard to say right now," he said. "Anything is possible."
"He would regularly post [politically sensitive] stuff to social media, so maybe they now see him as a threat," Tan Jiaji said. "This sort of thing is happening more and more nowadays."
"I wasn't surprised at all that this happened."
'Picking quarrels and stirring up trouble'
He said the authorities can use catch-all charges like "picking quarrels and stirring up trouble" to detain people for what they post to social media.
"The whole idea of what is picking quarrels and stirring up trouble is so broad," he said. "It's perfect for those in power to use [against government critics]."
In January, Tan's China Lawyer's Club was raided by dozens of police office who said it was an illegal organization of banned lawyers.
A nationwide police operation under the administration of President Xi Jinping has targeted more than 300 lawyers, law firms, and related activists for questioning, detention, imprisonment, debarring and travel bans since it launched in July 2015.
The China Lawyers' Club was set up in Guangxi's regional capital, Nanning, by a group of former rights attorneys who lost their "business license" at the hands of local justice departments, and may no longer represent clients in court.
Formally established on Sept. 29, 2018, the club's aim was to find employment and income for dozens of experienced litigators who no longer have an income in the wake of the crackdown.
The club traded as a legal services company, and had 'signed' lawyers in a manner similar to the way sports teams sign big stars. Under current regulations, Chinese lawyers need a business license to represent clients, but not to offer legal consultancy on petitions and complaints.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment, Raid
- Rights Concerned
- Labour rights, Online, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Lawyer
- Perpetrator-State
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Nov 4, 2019
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Oct 16, 2019
- Event Description
The leader of a pro-democracy group responsible for some of the largest peaceful protest marches in Hong Kong was attacked on Wednesday, four days before another planned mass rally.
Jimmy Sham Tsz-kit, convenor of the Civil Human Rights Front, was set upon by at least four non-ethnic Chinese assailants on Arran Street in Mong Kok at 7.40pm, a police source said.
The attack was the second against Sham in less than two months.
The Civil Human Rights Front said Sham had been smashed over the head with hammers and spanners but was conscious when sent to Kwong Wah Hospital in Yau Ma Tei. He was understood to be in stable condition.
A photo of Sham following the attack showed the activist lying on the ground near a white vehicle with blood spilled around him.
Police said Sham was bleeding from his head and arms when officers found him. The suspects fled in a car which officers were pursuing, the force said. An investigation was under way.
Jimmy Sham is pictured after Wednesday’s attack. Photo: FacebookJimmy Sham is pictured after Wednesday’s attack. Photo: Facebook Jimmy Sham is pictured after Wednesday’s attack. Photo: Facebook
The leader of a pro-democracy group responsible for some of the largest peaceful protest marches in Hong Kong was attacked on Wednesday, four days before another planned mass rally.
Jimmy Sham Tsz-kit, convenor of the Civil Human Rights Front, was set upon by at least four non-ethnic Chinese assailants on Arran Street in Mong Kok at 7.40pm, a police source said.
The attack was the second against Sham in less than two months.
The Civil Human Rights Front said Sham had been smashed over the head with hammers and spanners but was conscious when sent to Kwong Wah Hospital in Yau Ma Tei. He was understood to be in stable condition.
A photo of Sham following the attack showed the activist lying on the ground near a white vehicle with blood spilled around him.
Police said Sham was bleeding from his head and arms when officers found him. The suspects fled in a car which officers were pursuing, the force said. An investigation was under way. SUBSCRIBE TO Hong Kong News Get updates direct to your inbox By registering, you agree to our T&C and Privacy Policy Government condemns attack on Hong Kong protest leader
Fellow rights front member Figo Chan said witnesses had told him onlookers tried to stop the ambush but Sham’s attackers pointed a knife at them.
Sham had been making his way to the democracy group’s annual general meeting where he was expected to discuss a march from Tsim Sha Tsui to West Kowloon railway station set for Sunday.
Chan said the march would proceed as planned.
The rights front condemned the attack, saying it would have a “chilling effect” on democracy advocates and fuel fears of “white terror” in Hong Kong. China warns US it will take ‘countermeasures’ over Hong Kong bill
The attack was not the first against Sham. He and his assistant Law Kwok-wai were in late August set upon by two people in masks wielding a baseball bat and a rod, hours after the pair were told by police that a rally they had planned for the following weekend had been banned.
Police later arrested three male suspects, including a 15-year-old boy. The youngster was charged with conspiracy to assault occasioning actual bodily harm and appeared at Kowloon City Juvenile Court. Two other suspects remain at large.
In addition to his activism, Sham is contesting a seat in Hong Kong’s district council elections set for November, at Lek Yuen in Sha Tin.
A number of Hong Kong lawmakers from the city’s pan-democratic camp were among those visiting Sham at Kwong Wah Hospital on Wednesday night, including Shiu Ka-chun, Tanya Chan, Wu Chi-wai, Ip Kin-yuen, Raphael Wong Ho-ming and “Long Hair” Leung Kwok-hung. Fifteen-year-old boy arrested over attack on activist Jimmy Sham and his assistant
Tanya Chan, the bloc’s convenor, condemned the attack and called it shocking. She urged police to investigate as soon as possible.
“What has Hong Kong turned into?” she asked.
Democratic Party lawmaker Lam Cheuk-ting said “the assault is clearly politically motivated”. He accused police of failing to protect opposition politicians and activists. Lam said he had been assaulted by government supporters in June but that police had not made any arrests.
Sha Tin district councillor Wong Yue-hon, who is campaigning against Sham for another term on the council in the November elections, condemned “all forms of violence” and wished Sham a speedy recovery.
“I do hope there will be a fair election and it will not be affected by this incident,” he said.
But Wong discouraged Hongkongers from attending Sunday’s rally, warning that it would descend into chaos like other protests in recent months. Election hopefuls insist use of ‘liberate’ slogan is not independence call
“I hope the government can come up with a concrete proposal to restore social order, instead of the city seeing more and more injuries,” he said.
Since August, at least nine pro-democracy figures have been attacked, including Democratic Party lawmaker Roy Kwong Chun-yu. Offices of pro-establishment politicians, meanwhile, have been trashed by radical protesters during the anti-government protests.
Ng Tak-nam, chief inspector of Mong Kok district, said the attackers, who were masked and were wearing black tops, assaulted Sham causing a 3cm (1.2-inch) wound on his forehead.
Ng condemned the violence and believed the crime was organised as the attackers had been wandering in the area for some time.
“After the attack, they jumped into a black private car and fled in the direction to Sham Shui Po,” Ng said. “Witnesses have told us the car had been driving in the area for a while. The attack was swift and the suspects wore similar clothing.”
Ng added uniformed officers were protecting Sham in hospital and they were investigating whether the case was linked to the previous attack in August.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to political participation, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender, SOGI rights defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Unknown
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Unknown
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Oct 25, 2019
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Oct 21, 2019
- Event Description
Sichuan Human rights lawyer Lu Siwei received a notification from Chengdu All China Lawyers Association’s Disciplinary Committee for allegedly violating rules while accepting to represent a defendant of a human rights case, and thus will be subjected to disciplinary punishment.
Lawyer Lu specializes in finance laws and criminal defense, and at the same time, took up human rights cases; he was notably among the lawyers who were set to represent one of the defendants in the June 4th Wine Bottle Case and the Pengxi County land seizure case. The disciplinary punishment issues by the Lawyers Association is likely to be associated with Lawyer Lu taking on the case of Lawyer Chen Jiahong, who has been suspected of committing “incitement to subvert state power.”
Lawyer Chen’s charge was probably based on his calligraphy piece against “the evil bureaucracy” and encouraging democracy which he created in April this year, leading to his detainment in Guangxi’s Yulin Detention Center, where Lawyer Lu visited him on 9th May. At the same time, a list of lawyers defending Lawyer Chen began circulating online, which triggered the Chengdu Municipal Bureau of Justice to call for Lawyer Lu to return to Chengdu as soon as possible, and to notify the staff at his law firm not to sign any contract of authorization.
The next day (10th May), the Chengdu Municipal Bureau of Justice received evidence from the Sichuan Department of Justice regarding Lawyer Lu possibly violating professional ethics and the disciplinary code, thus referring the case to the Chengdu All China Lawyers Association. On 4th June, the Lawyers Association’s Disciplinary Committee started investigating the allegations and found that Lawyer Lu violated rules when taking up a case, therefore planning on disciplinary punishment.
At 2pm on Monday, Lawyer Lu Siwei attended a hearing regarding his alleged misconduct and consequent punishment by the Chengdu All China Lawyers Association at the Chengdu Legal Aid Centre.
The disciplinary punishment is likely associated with Lawyer Lu taking on the case of Lawyer Chen Jiahong, who has been suspected of committing “incitement to subvert state power.” The Lawyers Association’s Disciplinary Committee started investigating the allegations, and found that Lawyer Lu violated rules when taking up a case, therefore planning on disciplinary punishment, in addition to not allowing Lawyer Lu to pass the annual inspection for up to three months for the same reason.
Staff from the Consulate Generals of the USA, Germany, Canada, and the UK attended the hearing, but the moderator stated a fear for his own safety after their entry, saying that there were too many people in the meeting room, and requested that the members of the audience be limited to five only. A decision regarding Lawyer Lu has yet to be made, as it will be debated by the Chengdu All China Lawyers Association’s Disciplinary Committee.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Offline
- HRD
- Lawyer, Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Government, Judiciary
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Oct 24, 2019
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Oct 5, 2019
- Event Description
A series of false allegations and smears have this week targeted journalists and unionists in Hong Kong known for speaking out against attacks on media. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and its affiliate, the Hong Kong Journalists Association (HKJA) condemn the attacks against media workers and commends the solidarity of Hong Kong journalists in the face of such relentless attacks.
Since the “Prohibition on Face Covering”, otherwise knowns as the “anti-mask law”, was passed on October 4, media workers and their union, the Hong Kong Journalist Association (HKJA), have week endured a targeted campaign of smears and false allegations published online and in newspapers including state newspaper China Daily. The HKJA is among those strongly criticising the colonial era Emergency Regulation Ordinance that has allowed the government to ban the use of face masks – an action which jeopardises the safety not only of journalists but ordinary citizens caught up in tear gas attacks by the territory’s police.
On October 5, HKJA received a fake report claiming it “is racing against time to issue 10,000 press cards”. The false claim went viral on social media, despite HKJA’s rigorous defence and explanation of its eligibility requirements and application process for membership. Then, on October 7, Mark Pinkstone wrote in the China Daily that HKJA was “in the pocket of the NED/NDI”; a non-profit organisation funded by US Congress that invests in democratic movements worldwide. The article went on to defame HKJA chairperson, Chris Yeung alleging he attended “anti-China” meetings in the United States recently, even though the leader has not travelled to the country since 2007.
The HKJA said it deplored the “groundless and defamatory” article.
HKJA chairperson, Chris Yeung, said: “We trust your paper will take factual mistakes and unfounded allegations seriously and would take promptly action to set the record straight and make an apology for the remarks. To seek legal remedy for the damages caused to us is the last things we want.”
This week, Hong Kong Free Press reported comments by Hong Kong Executive Council member Ip Kwok-him, stating that the government “would not rule out a ban on the internet”. The IFJ strongly condemned such a move that would only further erode the right to free expression and democracy of Hong Kong.
The IFJ said: “Persistent attacks on the media this week is evidence of the continued erosion of Hong Kong’s democracy and the fragile state of press freedom. We strongly condemn the use of state media to spread defamatory and false statements about journalists and activists who are in the fight of their lives to defend Hong Kong’s press freedom. The IFJ expresses solidarity with Chris Yeung and will stand with the HKJA through these attacks.”
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Online Attack and Harassment, Vilification
- Rights Concerned
- Online, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to protect reputation
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Non-state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Oct 24, 2019
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Sep 29, 2019
- Event Description
The Hong Kong Journalists Association deplores the use and threat of violence towards journalists covering events in Hong Kong.
HKJA notes with grave concern, reports by Radio Television Hong Kong ( RTHK) of serious injury to a journalist covering protests in Hong Kong on Sunday 29 September 2019.
Reports have stated that the journalist, working for an Indonesian-language publication based in Hong Kong, was injured in the eye by a rubber bullet or beanbag round whilst covering demonstrations in Wanchai.
Media video footage of her receiving medical attention shows her wearing a high visibility jacket with press markings as well as press card on display. HKJA also understands that the journalist was also wearing a helmet with press markings.
We are gravely concerned by these reports of serious injury to a journalist whilst covering events in HK. We are particularly concerned by reports that the injury was caused by a rubber bullet or bean bag round and that the journalist was not in the immediate vicinity of protestors at the time of the incident, she was clearly identifiable as being a member of the press and was with a number of other journalists at the time also wearing high visibility press markings.
Police have a duty to assist the press and facilitate reporting by members of the press. It is self-evident that this means that police should not cause injury to members of the press.
The HKJA will be investigating this incident and if substantiated, will be taking action to protect the rights and safety of our members
The HKJA also expresses grave concern about recent online threats, purportedly by radical protestors, to TVB journalists if they cover events in Hong Kong from today onwards.
We deplores the use and threat of violence towards journalists covering events in Hong Kong from any source and calls on police and protestors to allow journalists to carry out their job of reporting the facts without risk of serious injury or threats of violence.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- Violence (physical), Wounds and Injuries
- Rights Concerned
- Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Media Worker, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Government, Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Oct 3, 2019
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Sep 26, 2019
- Event Description
(Hengyang, Hunan—Sept. 25, 2019) Authorities controlled human rights lawyer Xie Yang and a Chinese citizen, Chen Yanhui, this evening when they were discussing the Sept. 23 death of Wang Meiyu, a prisoner who died in the Hengyang Detention Center.
In the middle of Xie and Chen’s conversation at the Shennong Hotel in Hengyang, Hunan, six armed SWAT team members rushed in and contained them. Plainclothes police and hotel employees watched the room’s doorway, while the SWAT team members handled the staircase.
Xie’s wife, Chen Guiqiu, noted on social media that he was still being controlled as of 1:16 a.m. on Sept. 26 Beijing time. Her attempts to contact him have been unsuccessful, leading her to believe he is still being restricted by the officials.
Xie was previously taken into police custody for his human rights work on July 11, 2015, as part of a nationwide crackdown on rights attorneys known colloquially as the "709 Incident." During Xie's time in prison, he revealed that he had been tortured and that the lawyers appointed by his family were prevented from meeting him numerous times. To combat these accusations, China launched a propaganda campaign, claiming the reports were false. They also forced Xie Yang to deny his torture allegations during his trial.
Prior to his trial, Xie made a written declaration stating that he was not guilty of subversion, the charge which authorities used to imprison him, and said he would not plead guilty unless it was for the sake of his family or because of torture.
Xie was ultimately ruled "exempt from criminal penalty," a decision that means Xie should be legally free but also that the court had convicted him. He continues to be constantly monitored by the authorities.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Restrictions on Movement, Surveillance
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of movement, Offline
- HRD
- Lawyer
- Perpetrator-State
- Government, Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Oct 3, 2019
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Sep 24, 2019
- Event Description
Hong Kong authorities should conduct a swift and credible investigation into the recent assault of an Apple Daily reporter and bring those responsible to justice, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.
Yesterday, four men dressed in black and wearing yellow helmets rushed into a restaurant in Hong Kong’s Kwun Tong district where a reporter from the pro-democracy Chinese-language newspaper Apple Daily was dining with her family, and kicked and punched the reporter and then fled the scene, according to a report by Apple Daily and other news reports.
During the assault, the attackers mentioned Jimmy Lai, founder and chair of Next Digital, which owns Apple Daily, according a report by the newspaper.
The journalist was taken to a hospital with injuries to her head and right ear, according to the newspaper, which published photos of her injuries but did not release the reporter’s name.
“If the rule of law means anything in Hong Kong, police must take swift action to apprehend not just the men who carried out this assault on an Apple Daily reporter, but anyone who planned the attack as well,” said Steven Butler, CPJ’s Asia program coordinator, in Washington, D.C. “Attacks against journalists have gone unpunished for far too long in Hong Kong.”
Apple Daily editor-in-chief Ryan Law Wai-kwong said in a statement on the newspaper’s website that the reporter was targeted for her reports and live-streams of the protests that have taken place in Hong Kong since June. The protests were originally sparked by an extradition bill that would have allowed Hong Kong residents to face trial in mainland Chinese courts, as CPJ reported at the time.
The journalist’s personal information had recently been published by an anonymous website opposed to the protesters, according to a statement published on Facebook by the Hong Kong Journalists Association.
Hong Kong authorities have asked the website to remove identifying information of about 20 Apple Daily journalists, as well as more than 70 activists, student leaders, and protesters, but the website, which is registered to a Russian domain, has kept the information online, according to the South China Morning Post.
Jimmy Lai’s home was firebombed earlier this month, but no one was hurt in the incident, according to news reports.
The Hong Kong Police Force told CPJ in an email that the case is under investigation and no arrests have been made.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Woman
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats, Violence (physical), Wounds and Injuries
- Rights Concerned
- Right to healthy and safe environment
- HRD
- Media Worker, WHRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Unknown
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Unknown
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Oct 3, 2019
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Sep 23, 2019
- Event Description
A rights activist who called publicly for the resignation of Chinese president Xi Jinping has died in a police-run detention center in the central province of Hunan, rights groups said.
Wang Meiyu's widow received notification of her husband's death in the Hengyang Detention Center on Monday.
Wang, 38, was detained two months ago after holding up a placard in public calling on President Xi to step down, and for democratic elections in China.
"Wang Meiyu died in the detention center," his mother, who declined to give her name, told RFA. "Wang Meiyu was only 38 years old. His father passed away 20 years ago, and now my only child is dead too."
Wang's widow Cao Shuxia said Wang was initially detained on July 8, and had been in normal health when his detention began.
Then, he was reported as having died suddenly in a military hospital. Cao said Wang's body was "unrecognizable" when she went to identify it.
"He was a healthy, normal man when he went in there," she said. "Then, at 4.00 a.m. on Sept. 23, I got a call from the village [ruling Chinese Communist] Party secretary, who told me that Wang Meiyu was dead."
"I asked how he died, and he said he didn't know, and that he had been informed by his superiors," she said. "He didn't even know the time of death. Later, I found out when I called up to enquire that he had died in the emergency room of Hengyang 169 Hospital."
"When I saw his body, it was like another person; he was totally unrecognizable," Cao said. "They wouldn't let me take my cell phone in with me, and there were a lot of police officers there with us, and they stopped me from getting too close."
Solitary confinement
Cao said Wang had received two visits from a lawyer after being detained. During these meetings, the lawyer heard that he was initially held in a large cell along with dozens of other inmates.
But by the time the lawyer visited again at the end of August, Wang had been transferred to solitary confinement, she said.
She said Wang's death was a huge blow to his family, especially to his two children, the older of whom is just 11. The couple had already lost their jobs as a result of Wang's activism, she said.
"My husband didn't commit any crime: he did nothing wrong," Cao said.
An acquaintance of Wang's surnamed Chen said Wang had been campaigning for democratic elections in China, which was why he had called on President Xi and Premier Li Keqiang to resign.
"Last year, he held up a placard outside the gates of the Hengyang Normal University in Hunan, and he did it again last July, outside the Hunan provincial police department, where he was detained," Chen said.
"He was already under very tight surveillance and had no source of income, and relations with his family were already strained," he said.
The authorities had already been in touch to warn off anyone thinking of showing support to the family, or speaking out on Wang's behalf, he said. "I will likely have to go and meet with state security police tomorrow."
'Step down and enable general elections'
In November 2018, Wang wrote on the social media platform WeChat that he had been visited by five officers of the state security police from Hengyang's Zhoushi county.
"They accused me of making random comments online, calling on Xi Jinping and Li Keqiang to step down and enable general elections," Wang wrote at the time.
"They said this was attacking our national leaders and told me to ... write a letter of repentance and a guarantee [of future good behavior]."
"Morons: it never occurred to them that three days and three nights of torture with dripping water and electric batons until I was spitting blood and my soul had nearly left my body wouldn't bring about my surrender," he wrote.
"What have I done wrong? I didn't give these state security morons the time of day: eventually, they went away with their tails between their legs."
An employee who answered the phone at the Hengyang People's Liberation Army 169 Hospital declined to comment, saying she wasn't on duty when Wang died, and that nobody was discussing the incident at work.
Repeated requests to the Hengyang police department for comment went unanswered at the time of writing.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Death, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Right to health, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to life
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Suspected state
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Oct 3, 2019
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Sep 19, 2019
- Event Description
Authorities in the southwestern Chinese province of Sichuan have criminally detained a prominent rights activist after he repeatedly showed public support for the anti-extradition protests in Hong Kong.
Chen Yunfei was taken away by state security police from his home in Gucheng township in Sichuan's provincial capital Chengdu on Sept. 19, his friend told RFA on Monday.
"Eight or nine people came from the Gucheng township police station, some in uniform, some in plain clothes," Chen's friend Luo Kaiwen said. "The police station called his sister and offered to find a lawyer for him."
"I heard that it was because of interviews Chen Yunfei gave to overseas media during which he expressed his support for the anti-extradition movement, that's what this was," Luo said. "They didn't say what the charge was, but I read online that it was for 'supporting Hong Kong'."
"The authorities basically have a lot of different options if they want to bring charges," he said.
Chen's family received official notification on Sept. 21 that he is under criminal detention for publishing comments in support of the anti-extradition movement in Hong Kong, it said.
Chen has outspokenly defended the anti-extradition movement at a time when the ruling Chinese Communist Party is ramping up the nationalistic narrative that the Hong Kong protests are being carried out by a small minority of troublemakers in the pay of "hostile foreign forces."
In recent interviews with RFA, Chen has called repeatedly for a dialogue between Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam and protesters to try to reach a resolution over the five demands of the anti-extradition movement.
Several Chinese dissidents have had their Twitter accounts taken offline or been called in for questioning by police after they voiced support for the Hong Kong protests.
Chinese authorities have also been checking the devices of anyone crossing the internal border from Hong Kong to mainland China, as part of a concerted campaign to ensure that no unedited news of the Hong Kong anti-extradition protests is able to reach residents of China.
Admiration for the anti-extradition protesters
In an interview with the Epoch Times on Aug. 31, Chen expressed his admiration for the anti-extradition protesters and said Hong Kong should serve as a model for people in mainland China, an idea that gives voice to concerns in Beijing that Hong Kong's liberal attitudes could lead to the overthrow of the ruling Chinese Communist Party.
Chen was only released last March from a jail term handed down on public order charges after he marked the anniversary of the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre, politically sensitive and forbidden topic in China, in 2015.
Back then, he was detained after visiting the grave of Tiananmen massacre victim Wu Guofeng near Chengdu along with a group of fellow activists.
The government bans public memorials marking the event, and has continued to ignore growing calls in China and from overseas for a reappraisal of the 1989 student protests, which it once styled a "counterrevolutionary rebellion."
Chen has also campaigned vigorously for human rights protections and against environmental pollution in the past two decades.
Sichuan-based writer and activist Tan Zuoren declined to comment in detail, citing additional security measures ahead of celebrations of the 70th anniversary of Communist Party rule on Oct. 1.
"Of course I'm worried about him, but there's not much I can do to help, particularly not before National Day on Oct. 1," Tan said. "I have been told not to make any comments, as part of the conditions of my current bail."
Chen's wife said she and her husband are currently estranged, and that she is also under pressure from the authorities over the birth of the couple's daughter, which was deemed a violation of family planning restrictions.
"I just saw on the group chat that he was in trouble," she said. "But I don't know any of the details. I'll go and visit him in a few days ... we are not living together at the moment ... and I don't have much time to take care of him."
National Day on Oct. 1
Calls to the nearby Wenjiang Detention Center rang unanswered during office hours on Monday.
An employee who answered the phone at the the Gucheng township police station said he knew nothing of Chen's detention.
"I don't really know about this," the employee said. "You could come to the police station and ask. Different people are on duty here every day."
Fellow dissident Zeng Rongkang said Chen's detention could also be linked to his attempts to make news of the Hong Kong protests available to social media users in mainland China.
"News from Hong Kong is usually deleted from WeChat, and a lot of ordinary people don't actually know about the anti-extradition movement in Hong Kong," Zeng said.
"Security is extremely tight across the whole country ahead of National Day on Oct. 1," he said. "There are police on all the buses and metro trains in the Chengdu area."
Zeng said Chen had previously been sentenced to four years' imprisonment over his commemoration of the Tiananmen massacre. "He didn't even do anything, just visit the grave of a 1989 student protester."
"Strictly speaking, that's not a crime."
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Offline, Right to liberty and security
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender
- Perpetrator-State
- Armed forces/ Military, Government, Judiciary, Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Oct 3, 2019
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Sep 23, 2019
- Event Description
The Global Times, an English media owned by the state-run People’s Daily, published an article on September 23, which referred to a ‘campaign’ launched by several Hong Kong journalists against the Hong Kong Journalist Association (HKJA), and requested the IFJ to revoke HKJA’s membership. The journalists behind the campaign remain anonymous, and the accusations referred to against the HKJA on the campaign website [saynotohkja.mystrikingly.com], are not based on solid evidence, some are based on the disinformation by other state-run media.
The IFJ is aware of attempts to discredit HKJA, having received several complaints since June from anonymous emails. The complaints are almost identical in language and issues referred to, raising questions about their authenticity. The IFJ strongly condemns attempts to discredit professional journalist unions such as the HKJA, as well as the broader work of the journalist community with attempts to legitimise the authorities’ attacks against the media or suppress press freedom.
The IFJ said:"We strongly deplore this smear campaign against our affiliate the HKJA. The work of the HKJA is commendable, especially the continued support and campaigning for media safety in the past four months in Hong Kong. We stand in solidarity and support the HKJA. The IFJ was never sort for comment regarding the campaign to have HKJA's membership revoked. The attempts by some to share disinformation are part of a campaign to discredit the work done by HKJA, supported by the IFJ to ensure the safety and security of the media and press freedom in Hong Kong."
The HKJA is a strong professional media union, working to support the Hong Kong media community and promote press freedom. Since the start of Hong Kong wide protests in June 2019, HKJA has been active in working to support the media. Since June they have raised HKD3 million (USD 383,000) for an anti-violence legal fund for journalists. They have supplied more than 100 safety kids to journalists, organized medical service for 33 journalists injured with tear gas while covering the protests, provided professional counselling services to 20 journalists and filed complaints for over 40 journalists attacked covering the protests.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Online Attack and Harassment, Vilification
- Rights Concerned
- Online, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to protect reputation
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-State
- Government
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Oct 3, 2019
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Sep 8, 2019
- Event Description
Hong Kong police must cease their unprovoked use of tear gas and pepper spray against journalists covering protests in the city, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.
On September 7, police pepper-sprayed a group of journalists who were filming the arrests of protesters in the Mong Kok area, according to news reports and Holmes Chi Hang Chan, a reporter with the independent news website Hong Kong Free Press, who live-streamed the incident on Facebook and recounted it in a statement sent to CPJ.
On September 8, police threw teargas canisters directly at several journalists wearing clearly marked press vests while they were covering protests in the Causeway Bay metro station, according to news reports and footage circulated online showing the attack. One canister appeared to hit a journalist in the helmet and then exploded near another journalist, according to those reports.
“Hong Kong police need to learn that a police badge and a uniform do not amount to a license for indiscriminate attacks against journalists, or anyone,” said Steven Butler, CPJ’s Asia program coordinator, in Washington, D.C. “The most recent attacks against journalists make clear why an independent investigation into police behavior is essential if Hong Kong is to be a place where rule of law prevails.”
Police fired pepper spray without warning that hit Chan, who was wearing a reflective press vest and a helmed labeled “Press,” in the face, he wrote in the statement provided to CPJ. Chan had two press passes visible and was not wearing protective facial gear, he wrote.
Chan was admitted to the Kwong Wah Hospital and was treated for a “chemical eye injury,” according to a document given to him by a doctor, he said in the statement. The journalists on the scene had complied with police instructions and had not given police any reason to use force against them, he said.
Also on September 7, in Mong Kok, police pepper-sprayed three reporters for local daily Ming Pao who wore helmets and passes identifying them as press, according to a statement posted on Facebook by the newspaper’s staff association.
The Foreign Correspondents Club of Hong Kong and the Hong Kong Journalists Association both issued statements condemning the increasing acts of violence against journalists. Protestors have demanded an independent inquiry into police behavior, according to news reports.
The Hong Kong Police Force did not respond to CPJ's email requesting comment.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Offline
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-State
- Government, Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Oct 2, 2019
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Sep 7, 2019
- Event Description
Around 10.30 pm Saturday (Sept 7), police officers were charging to drive away protesters and make arrests outside Pioneer Centre in Mongkok. With no protesters around, police officers sprayed pepper spray at reporters at the scene. Several frontline journalists were injured. We condemn police violence and taking journalists as their target of attack – deliberately and with hostilities – in obstructing reporters’ work. We urge Police to take the issue of frontline officers being unable to control their emotions and abuse of power seriously.
Around 10.30 pm, reporters who covered the police operation were driven away by police officers. Reporters kept a distance of about 10 meters from the place where police made arrests. They heeded police’s demand for them to position themselves at the pedestrian pavement. Suddenly, two officers from the Special Tactical Squad, or commonly known as Raptor, sprayed pepper spray. At least five photojournalists, two from HK01, one from AFP and two from Ming Pao and three reporters, one from Ming Pao and two from Cable TV. Two had sprayed on their faces.
We noted that reporters there were wearing passes and helmets emblazoned with the word, PRESS, which were easily identifiable. There were no protesters near the reporters. Reporters were retreating while police officers were making the requests. The sudden attack from police officers was unreasonable. Two officers had persistently sprayed at a bigger group of reporters, injuring more. A reporter at the scene heard from an officer who sprayed pepper spray saying, “shooting (pictures), so you like shooting.” It is clear the police officers were hostile towards the reporters. The acts of the two officers were close to an assault against journalists. We demand police to provide the identification of the two officers for reporters to lodge a formal complaint.
Police officers at the scene had not provided clear identification for reporters to lodge a complaint. Police’s media liaison officers were nowhere to be seen. Those who turned up late failed to perform their duty of liaison. They were also hostile when responding to journalists’ questions.
We condemn police’s abuse of the use of force and deliberately obstruct reporters’ work. We urge the police to take seriously the statements issued by us in the past three months. We urge the police to take the issue of frontline officers being unable to control their emotions and abuse of power seriously to coordinate with the work of frontline journalists for them to play their role of fourth power.
- Impact of Event
- 8
- Gender of HRD
- Other (e.g. undefined, organisation, community)
- Violation
- Violence (physical), Wounds and Injuries
- Rights Concerned
- Offline
- HRD
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-State
- Government, Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Oct 1, 2019
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Sep 2, 2019
- Event Description
In 2016, the police issued an order to all the kindergartens, including all the early education centers in Beijing’s Shijingshan District (石景山区) to not accept my son at their schools. My son, Quanquan (泉泉), had stayed home, unable to attend school since May 2018. Then, by luck and coincidence, I found a private school that accepted him. Quanquan finally was able to go to school, joining the top kindergarten class there.
It was a hard-won opportunity for Quanquan, and he was very excited. On the first day of school [in 2018], he woke up at 6 am. He tugged at me, acting cute one moment and threatening me the next. I had to get out of bed. We washed together, and after getting dressed, he wanted to go to school. Reluctantly, I told him that the school bus wouldn’t arrive at the gate until 7:48 am. His single-eyelid eyes flashed with ardent hope, and he said to me pleading: “I want to go early to wait at the gate. Please?”
So I gave in, unable to say no to his adorable face. So, we sat on the side of the street waiting for the bus for more than an hour before it was due to arrive. Quanquan was a little anxious; he would stand up and sit down, stand up and sit down again, making me dizzy just watching him. His small pudgy face was full of worry, and he asked me over and over again: “Mom, are you sure we’re waiting in the right place for the school bus?” It was annoying and amusing at the same time; all I could do was answer “Yes!” over and over again. At that time, I thought, it was only children who’ve been unable to attend school who could feel such excitement about going to school.
Quanquan really liked his school. The flowers and trees in the school grounds, the sandboxes, the trampoline, and the various insects on the lawn made each day full of surprise and joy. The school’s atmosphere was happy, relaxed, and full of love, which led to Quanquan arguing that he wanted to go to school on Sundays. He also made a lot of friends, and he even secretly liked a little girl.
Quanquan successfully completed kindergarten without incident. I thought at the time that attending school would no longer pose a problem.
Come September 2, Quanquan was promoted to primary school. School has only been in session for four days, but the police have visited multiple times already to put pressure on the school. As a result, my son is once again forced out of school.
Having been told that that Quanquan could not continue school, I felt all my strength was sucked out of me there and then. Heavyhearted, I walked out of the school gate. At home, Quanquan’s maternal grandpa had just suffered a severe cold, stooping after days of high fever and coughing. I tried hard to pull myself together, not wanting to cry in front of him. But I broke down after all, tears streaming down my face.
I was thinking, why? Why?
It’s no wonder that every time I visited Quanzhang (王全璋), what he worried about most was whether our son could go to school. No wonder he repeatedly sought confirmation from me whether our son was indeed going to school.
When Quanzhang was detained four years ago, our son was only two and a half years old. Now, it looks like our son has been made into a bargaining chip which officials are going to use to coerce Quanzhang. Maybe that’s why every time I see Quanzhang he tells me not to come visit; maybe that’s why Wang Quanzhang said he did not want medical parole (as I write this, I recall that Quanzhang has lost three teeth in the past four years; maybe that’s why Wang Quanzhang said that after he is released from prison next year, he would continue to be subject to government monitoring, and would not return to Beijing, but stay in Jinan!
They detained and isolated an innocent lawyer from the outside world for four years; they held a secret trial of him without lawyers present to defend him, and then transferred him to prison to serve his sentence, and repeatedly blocked me, his wife, from visiting him. Now they are making an issue of a 6-year-old boy attending school.
I have to ask, what do you want?
Do you intend to make a mother give in and give up by making her suffer pain and despair over her son’s loss of schooling? Or, are you using his son to strike the imprisoned father and force him to bow to your menacing?
Or, perhaps you are concocting a tribute to your grand celebration of the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China by depriving this six-year-old child of schooling, and inflicting pain on this family.
Quanquan knows that he can’t go to school anymore starting today. He asked me: “I am the leader of Team No. 1 in martial arts class. I can’t lead the team anymore, what to do? The teacher is going to teach a lot of new moves, which I won’t know — what should I do?” He’s not ready to accept that fact that he has no school to go to anymore. He’s said repeatedly that he wants to go school, he wants to go to school.
I wiped my tears, and began to smile, telling him:
“If we can’t attend this school, I believe that God will provide another school for us that is just as good as this one!”
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Administrative Harassment, Intimidation and Threats
- Rights Concerned
- Right to education
- HRD
- Family of HRD
- Perpetrator-State
- Government
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Oct 1, 2019
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Sep 2, 2019
- Event Description
Thousands of Hong Kong university and school students boycotted class and rallied peacefully for democracy on Monday, the latest acts of defiance in an anti-government movement that has plunged the Chinese-ruled city into crisis.
The boycott followed a weekend marred by some of the worst violence since unrest escalated more than three months ago, with protesters burning barricades and throwing petrol bombs, and police retaliating with water cannon, tear gas and batons.
Tension remained high, with several brief skirmishes around the territory after night fell. Police fired tear gas to clear protesters in the densely populated Mongkok region of the Kowloon peninsula.
Thousands of students gathered earlier on the hilltop campus of Chinese University under leaden skies, taking turns to make speeches from a stage with a black backdrop embossed with “Students in Unity Boycott for our City”.
They are seeking greater democracy for the former British colony which returned to China in 1997 under a “one country, two systems” formula that guarantees wide-ranging autonomy, including the right to protest and an independent judiciary.
They fear those freedoms are being slowly eroded by Communist Party rulers in Beijing, a charge China denies.
“I come here just to tell others that even after summer holidays end we are not back to our normal life, we should continue to fight for Hong Kong,” said one 19-year-old student who asked to be identified as just Chan.
On the first day of the new school year, secondary students were seen singing, chanting and forming human chains, some wearing hard hats and masks.
China accuses Western countries of egging on the protests. It says Hong Kong is its own internal affair.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang reiterated Beijing’s support for Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam.
“China’s central government supports chief executive Carrie Lam’s leadership ... to administer in accordance with the law and supports Hong Kong’s police tackling the violence and chaos in accordance with the law to restore order,” he told a press briefing.
As for Lam, she said last week she had caused “unforgivable havoc” by igniting the crisis and would quit if she had a choice.
Students have turned out in significant numbers at recent rallies and were also prominent during the 2014 pro-democracy “Umbrella” movement that foreshadowed the current unrest.
“It’s very different from what happened back then. People are more mad now,” said Summer, a 20-year-old student who gave only his first name.
The vice-chairman of the Demosisto pro-democracy movement, Isaac Cheng, was assaulted by three unidentified men on Monday and taken to hospital, the group said in a statement. The group’s leader, Joshua Wong, was one of the prominent leaders of the 2014 struggle.
Thousands of protesters blocked roads and public transport links to Hong Kong airport on Sunday. Some then targeted the MTR subway station in nearby Tung Chung, ripping out turnstiles and smashing CCTV cameras, glass panels and lamps with metal poles. Police made several arrests.
Lam, a lightning rod for protesters’ anger, said on her Facebook page on Monday that 10 subway stations had been damaged by “violent offenders” over the weekend.
John Lee, government secretary for security, told media that nearly 100 petrol bombs were thrown in various locations on Saturday with two found on a 13-year-old boy who was arrested inside an MTR station.
The unrest began over a now-suspended extradition bill that would have allowed people in the city to be sent to China for trial in courts controlled by the party.
The turmoil has evolved into calls for democracy. China is eager to quell the unrest before the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China on Oct. 1.
With Hong Kong facing its first recession in a decade, China has also warned of the damage the protests are causing to the economy.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- Violence (physical), Wounds and Injuries
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Offline, Right to healthy and safe environment, Right to Protest
- HRD
- Pro-democracy defender, Student
- Perpetrator-State
- Unknown
- Perpetrator-Non-State
- Unknown
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Oct 1, 2019
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Oct 31, 2014
- Event Description
Authorities in the central Chinese city of Wuhan on Friday 31st October detained a prominent women's rights activist after she organized an online activity in support of Hong Kong's Occupy Central pro-democracy movement. Ye Haiyan, who founded the Women's Rights Workshop, was taken away by police in her home district of Xinzhou after her home was searched, a Beijing-based rights lawyer told RFA. "Police went to her home and confiscated some of her things," rights lawyer Tang Jitian said. "I am guessing it's because she organized some activities on and offline." "I can't say for sure, but it is likely to have at least something to do with her support for Occupy Central," Tang said. Ye's boyfriend Ling Haobo said around a dozen police officers had arrived at her home at around 11.30 a.m. local time on Friday, and had confiscated two notebook computers, three cellphones, and an external hard drive. "I was at the door when the police came knocking," Ling said, adding that police had stayed around 20 minutes. "Then they told Ye Haiyan to go with them to the police station, but they didn't produce any documentation," he said. "They didn't say whether it was for questioning, or whether it was criminal detention," he said. "They just took her away, and left five officers behind to go through her things." He said Ye had recently joined an online movement in which participants shaved their heads to show support for Occupy Central. "Several dozen people in mainland China shaved their heads," Ling said. The overseas-based Chinese Human Rights Defenders (CHRD) group, which collates and translates reports from rights groups inside China, says it has documented 72 cases of detention of people showing public support for the Occupy Central movement. Of those, 27 people were criminally detained and three were handed administrative detentions, while 32 remain in custody without charge. A further 11 were released, it said. It said the most recent detention was that of Guangdong-based activist Su Changlan, who is being held by Foshan municipal authorities on suspicion of "incitement to subvert state power" after she took part in Hong Kong-related activities in the province. But Tang said the true number of Hong Kong-related detentions may be much higher. "It's more than 100 so far, although we haven't yet updated those numbers," he said. Beijing has repeatedly said the five-week-old Occupy movement is "illegal," but Hong Kong officials have taken a more diplomatic stance since police use of tear gas brought hundreds of thousands of people out onto the streets to swell the movement, and sent video and social media accounts of the Sept. 28 clashes streaming live around the world. Since then, the mostly peaceful protests have occupied major highways and intersections near government headquarters in Admiralty district and in the busy shopping districts of Causeway Bay and Mong Kok, amid sporadic clashes with police and anti-Occupy protesters.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Intimidation and Threats, Judicial Harassment, Reprisal as Result of Communication
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of association, Internet freedom, Right to Protest
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Sep 20, 2019
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Oct 1, 2014
- Event Description
A Tibetan monk charged with inciting Tibetans to oppose Chinese rule has been ordered jailed for 12 years, according to sources who say he is being confined in a prison notorious for its abusive treatment of prisoners. Tsangyang Gyatso, chant leader at the Drilda monastery in Sog (in Chinese, Suo) county in the Nagchu (Naqu) prefecture of the Tibet Autonomous Region, "was sentenced sometime around Oct. 1, 2014," Ngawang Tharpa, a Tibetan living in India, told RFA's Tibetan Service, citing contacts in the region. "He is reportedly being held in Chushur prison near[the regional capital] Lhasa," Tharpa said. Harsh treatment is common at the Chushur prison, located about 48 kilometers (30 miles) southwest of Lhasa, with prisoners routinely subjected to torture, beatings, and forms of abuse, Tibetan sources have said. "[Gyatso] was convicted on charges of inciting others to protest against China and of communicating with contacts outside Tibet," Tharpa said. "His relatives in Sog county's Trido township were informed of his sentence by letter only around Oct. 15." Family members have been told they will not be allowed to visit the jailed monk until three months elapse from the date of his sentencing, but have also been warned they will need letters from township and county officials giving permission for the visit, Tharpa said. Tsangyang Gyatso was detained on unknown charges on March 17, 2014, along with three other monks from Drilda monastery named Tsewang, Atse, and Gyaltsen, Tharpa said. Their detention followed a roundup earlier in March of at least nine other area monks and residents suspected of involvement of activities challenging Chinese rule in Tibet, including the painting of independence slogans on boulders near an iron bridge in Trido township. Sporadic demonstrations challenging Chinese rule have continued in Tibetan-populated areas of China since widespread protests swept the region in 2008, with 133 Tibetans to date setting themselves ablaze to oppose Beijing's rule and call for the return of exiled Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Judicial Harassment, Reprisal as Result of Communication
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of association, Right to Protest
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Sep 20, 2019
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Oct 10, 2014
- Event Description
An AIDS researcher, Wang Qiuyan, was prevented from attending a women's rights conference put on by the United Nations, when authorities forcibly registered her at a hospital. Jess Macy Yu reports for the New York Times: Wang Qiuyun, 46, a member of the Women's Network Against H.I.V./AIDS China, was to have consulted Thursday with experts reviewing China's case before the Committee for the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women. In an interview on Wednesday, she said she was currently under close surveillance at her home in Hebi, Henan Province, after local officials took away her passport with her newly issued Swiss visa on Oct. 10. On that same day, she was driven to the Hebi City Infectious Disease Hospital by six officials, registered as a patient and told to notify the conference that she was "too sick to attend." That night, she said she was able to quietly escape the hospital. Ms. Wang, formerly director of women's services with the Henan Province Family Planning and Medical Station, has in recent years devoted her time to the Women's Network Against H.I.V./AIDS China, an organization founded in 2009 with the support of Unaids, the United Nations agency dealing with AIDS, to help Chinese women with H.I.V. improve the quality of their life.[Source] Simon Denyers at the Washington Post looks at Wang's work and the possible reasons for her travel ban. Wang herself contracted HIV, most likely during an operation when Henan was the center of an HIV epidemic in the 1990s: "I don't know why this happened," Wang said in a telephone interview. "I've explained to the police and other officials many times that I was just going to talk about helping women with AIDS, and about children who suffer discrimination because of their parents' HIV status." The report she was due to present, on behalf of the nongovernmental group Women's Network Against HIV/AIDS China (WNAC), concludes that the HIV epidemic among women in China is on the rise, partly because of a lack of awareness and low condom use among sex workers. It also argues that women face "serious discrimination and humiliation" in health care, employment and education, and that strong laws against prostitution - including police regulations that equate condom possession with prostitution - were discouraging sex workers from carrying condoms.[Source]
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of movement
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Sep 20, 2019
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Oct 16, 2014
- Event Description
A young Tibetan called out in public for Tibet's freedom before being assaulted and taken into custody by Chinese police in the second solo protest in Sichuan province's Kardze prefecture this month, according to sources. Dorje Rinchen, believed to be in his 20s, launched his solitary protest shortly after 2:00 p.m. on Thursday the 16th October in the central square of the Serthar (in Chinese, Seda) county seat in the Kardze (Ganzi) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, a local source told RFA's Tibetan Service. "Many witnesses saw him throw leaflets in the air and shout slogans calling for the long life of[exiled spiritual leader] the Dalai Lama and for freedom for Tibet before he was overpowered by police," the source said, speaking on condition of anonymity. The detaining officers tied Dorje Rinchen's hands behind his back, forced his head down, "and took him away, beating him severely at the same time," the source said. "A large contingent of police were then stationed in the square and imposed harsh restrictions in the area," he added. Separately, a Tibetan living in exile confirmed Rinchen's detention, citing contacts in the Serthar area. Rinchen, a resident of Horshul village, had once been a monk at Serthar's Nubsur monastery but "had left monastic life and pursued various trades in the nomadic community," the source, Golog Jigme, said. "At this time, it is difficult to know whether his family members have been allowed to see him or learn where he is being held," Jigme said. Sporadic demonstrations challenging Chinese rule have continued in Tibetan-populated areas of China since widespread protests swept the region in 2008, with 133 Tibetans to date setting themselves ablaze to oppose Beijing's rule and for the return of exiled Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Intimidation and Threats, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Right to Protest
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Sep 20, 2019
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Oct 15, 2014
- Event Description
Hong Kong protesters clashed with dozens of police using batons and pepper spray early Wednesday, in some of the worst violence since pro-democracy demonstrations began. The confrontation broke out during a police operation to clear newly erected barricades on a main road next to the city's embattled government headquarters. A wall of police armed with shields and batons marched before dawn on crowds clutching the umbrellas that have become emblematic of their fight for full democracy. Police used their fists and batons to beat back protesters who refused to retreat, aiming pepper spray in their faces in wild scenes. Others were pulled to the ground, handcuffed and hauled away by officers, and there were injuries on both sides. Police said that 45 people had been arrested in the operation, including 37 men and eight women. Within an hour police had regained control of Lung Wo Road, which sits just metres from the offices of Hong Kong's Chief Executive Leung Chin-Ying, ending a short-lived occupation that protesters staged the day before. The violence was among the worst seen since the start of rallies that have drawn huge crowds calling for Beijing to grant the semi-autonomous city the right to hold free elections. China has insisted it will vet candidates standing for election as the semi-autonomous city's next leader in 2017 - a move protesters deride as "fake democracy". While the activists have been praised for their civility and organisational skills, they have also brought widespread disruption and traffic congestion to the financial hub, and tempers on all sides have begun to fray. A police statement said officers had warned that "advancing against police cordon line even with their arms raised is not a peaceful act", and had appealed to the demonstrators to "stay calm and restrained". The protests that have paralysed parts of the city over the last fortnight have largely been peaceful. But ugly scuffles have frequently broken out between demonstrators and government loyalists, sparking accusations the authorities are using hired thugs. Patience is running short in some quarters, with shop owners and taxi drivers losing business and commuters voicing irritation at extensive disruptions on the roads and on public transport. UPDATE: 15 October 2015 Hong Kong police charged over beating of democracy activist Seven Hong Kong police officers have been charged in relation to the beating of a protester during pro-democracy demonstrations in the Chinese-ruled city late last year that brought large parts of the financial centre to a halt. The officers were charged with one count of attempting to cause grievous bodily harm with intent, while one officer was also charged with one count of common assault, a police spokesperson said today. The officers will appear in court on Monday. The seven officers are accused of beating activist and Civic Party member Ken Tsang Kin-chiu. Footage of the attack in October last year went viral, sparking outrage from some lawmakers and the public. Protesters had been demanding full democracy for the former British colony and were also calling for Hong Kong's pro-Beijing leader, Leung Chun-ying, to step down. The weeks of protests failed to persuade Beijing to lift a restriction on who can stand for election as Hong Kong's leader in the next vote in 2017. China rules Hong Kong under a "one country, two systems" formula that accords the city a degree of autonomy and freedom not enjoyed in mainland China, with universal suffrage an eventual goal. - Reuters, October 15, 2015. UPDATE: 12/ 11/ 2015 Hong Kong activist takes police torture claim to UN HONG KONG - A Hong Kong activist allegedly assaulted by police during last year's pro-democracy protests said Wednesday he would present his case to a United Nations torture hearing next week. Footage of activist Ken Tsang being punched and kicked by police officers was beamed around the world at the height of the mass protests that brought parts of the southern Chinese city to a standstill last year. The video, aired by local television network TVB, showed a group of men hauling a handcuffed Tsang to a dark corner in a public park. One man stood over Tsang punching him while three others repeatedly kicked him. Seven police officers were charged with assault over the incident, while Tsang himself was also charged with attacking 11 police officers. Tsang, 40, said he would present his case at a UN Committee Against Torture hearing in Geneva next Tuesday. "Those seven policemen being accused should be charged with torture, not with common assault," Tsang told AFP. "We want to raise more pressure on the government on how they are handling the case," Tsang said, adding that the charges were only brought a year after the incident. Tsang has previously slammed allegations against him as "unreasonable and ridiculous", while the justice department has justified the assault charge against, saying he "splashed liquid from a plastic container" onto police. Democratic Party chairwoman Emily Lau, who will also attend the UN torture hearing, told AFP: "On a number of occasions the police used force to deal with the peaceful demonstrators, and that is very, very unacceptable. "They (Hong Kong government) don't want to be disgraced on an international stage... it is an important arena where Hong Kong is under international scrutiny," said Lau. At the height of the 2014 protests, which lasted for 79 days, tens of thousands of people regularly gathered to demand political reform in a major challenge to China's communist rulers. Thousands more joined the crowds after police fired tear gas in the afternoon of September 28, a move that shocked the public and galvanised the Umbrella Movement -- named after the umbrellas used to ward off sun, rain, tear gas and pepper spray. The democracy protests began after China's central government said it would allow a popular vote for Hong Kong's leader in 2017, but insisted that candidates be vetted. Hong Kong has been governed under a "one country, two systems" arrangement since it was handed back to China by Britain in 1997.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Violation
- Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Right to Protest
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Sep 20, 2019
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Oct 3, 2014
- Event Description
Tibetan businessman Pasang Wangchuk has been taken into custody by authorities in China's western province of Sichuan after launching a solitary protest challenging Beijing's rule in Tibetan areas, according to sources. He staged his protest on October 3rd in the downtown area of the Kardze (in Chinese, Ganzi) county seat in Kardze prefecture, a Tibetan living in India told RFA's Tibetan Service, citing sources in Kardze. "He called out for the return of[exiled spiritual leader] the Dalai Lama to Tibet," RFA's source said. During his solo protest Wangchuk also carried a banner bearing slogans calling for the Dalai Lama's long life and for human rights and religious freedom in Tibet, the source said. "He was able to protest for about ten minutes before he was overpowered by police and taken away," he said. No further details were immediately available regarding Wangchuk's condition or where he was taken. Reached by RFA for comment, an officer at the Kardze county police office angrily hung up the phone. UPDATE 3rd November 2014: Pasang Wangchuk, 37, a businessman and father of three, detained in China's Sichuan province last month for launching a solitary protest challenging Beijing's rule in Tibetan areas has been freed after being interrogated over slogans he wrote on his protest banner, Tibetan sources said. He was taken into custody on Oct. 3 as he protested in the downtown area of the Kardze (in Chinese, Ganzi) county seat in the Kardze Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, calling out for human rights and religious freedom in Tibet, sources said. "He was released around 5:00 p.m. on Nov. 3," a Tibetan living in Nepal told RFA's Tibetan Service on Friday, citing local sources. "I could not speak to him directly, but it is confirmed that he has been released," the source said, adding that his contacts could not say whether Wangchuk had been beaten or tortured during the month he spent in jail-a punishment most detained Tibetan protesters say they undergo. "It is also unclear why he was freed," the source continued, speaking on condition of anonymity. During his solo protest, Wangchuk-who is also known as Ngodru-carried a banner bearing slogans calling for the long life of exiled Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama and shouted slogans calling for the Dalai Lama's return to Tibet, sources had said. "We have now learned that he also wrote slogans on his banner urging Tibetans to "remember our heroic patriots' and calling for a peaceful dialogue to resolve the question of Tibet," RFA's source said on Friday. "During his detention, he was questioned mainly about these writings on his banner," he said. Wangchuk's release has fueled various speculations. "Some say that he was released because of "improving conditions' in the area, while others say that he was freed because he is a well-known businessman with good connections," the source said. "Others are saying that some of his close business associates paid for his release," he said.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Intimidation and Threats
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of Religion and Belief, Right to Protest
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Sep 20, 2019
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Oct 2, 2014
- Event Description
The pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong took an ugly turn with women protesters alleging sexual assaults by men opposing the Occupy Central movement. A woman protester has alleged that she and other female pro-democracy activists were sexually assaulted by a man opposing the Occupy movement and police did nothing about it. A video uploaded on the website of the Hong Kong based South China Morning Post showed an older man in a white polo shirt violently groping a young woman while arguing with her. A woman identified as Christine was quoted by the Post as saying that she was standing as part of a human chain when the man lying on the ground sexually assaulted the girl. "I felt very, very scared, insulted and threatened," she was quoted as saying by the Post. "I yelled, That guy has assaulted me. The police were there but they didnt really do anything," she said. Other people at the scene had shouted at the man to move, but he refused to leave the women alone, she added. "I wasn't scared of the tear gas but I was scared of this. It was non-violent but it was more violent," she said.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats, Sexual Violence
- Rights Concerned
- Women's rights
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Sep 20, 2019
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Oct 1, 2014
- Event Description
International rights groups called on Wednesday for the release of dozens of activists being held across China for showing support for Occupy Central's mass pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong. At least 20 people have been detained by police in a number of mainland Chinese cities after they posted photographs of themselves with shaved heads as a message of support for the protests, which are calling for genuine universal suffrage in 2017 elections in the former British colony. At least 60 more have been called in by state security police for questioning, Amnesty International said in a statement on its website. "The Chinese authorities must immediately and unconditionally release all those detained for peacefully showing support for pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong," the group said. The ruling Chinese Communist Party's censorship machine, known colloquially as the Great Firewall, has blocked and filtered keywords linked to the pro-democracy movement in Hong Kong and banned the photo-sharing service Instagram in a bid to keep its more than 600 million netizens in the dark about developments there. Among those detained or held under guard at their homes to prevent them from traveling to Hong Kong to join the demonstrations were Hunan activist Ou Biaofeng and Shenzhen-based Wang Long, detained on criminal charges of "picking quarrels and stirring up trouble," it said. In the southern city of Guangzhou, police seized dozens of activists and citizens who gathered in the Martyr Memorial Gardens to show support for the Hong Kong protests on Tuesday, the overseas-based Chinese Human Rights Defenders (CHRD) group said in an e-mailed statement. The group, which monitors and collates reports from rights groups inside China, said an estimated 20 people were detained and taken to unknown locations. Luo Xiaoxiang, another activist from Guangzhou, capital of Guangdong province which borders Hong Kong, was also detained, while Xie Dan and Luo Yaling are being held in the southwestern megacity of Chongqing, Amnesty said. Shanghai-based Chen Jianfang and Shen Yanqiu were also named, along with Song Ningsheng, Gong Xinsheng and Chen Maosen from the eastern province of Jiangsu. In Beijing, police have imposed tight domestic surveillance on Liu Huizhen, Li Dongmei, Guo Zhiying, Chen Lianhe, Wu Xiaoping, Han Shuzhen, Cui Baodi and Zhang Chonggang, Amnesty reported. Circumvention software While the complex system of filters, blocks and human censorship severely limit what Chinese netizens are able to see online, activists and intellectuals are increasingly making use of circumvention software and virtual private network (VPN) services to "scale the Wall" and read blocked content. The result has been a slow filtering of news back into China's civil rights and activist community, and a growing wave of support for Hong Kong's bid for full democracy. Online activist Wu Bin, known by his online nickname Xiucai Jianghu, said accounts on popular social media platforms in China are consequently being close left and right. "A lot of accounts are being shut down; it's really serious," Wu said. "I shaved my head in support of Hong Kong, took a photo and posted it online." He said the Twitter-like service Sina Weibo had immediately shut down his account. "A lot of my friends have had their accounts closed as well," Wu said. "It's much worse than it used to be." Messaging app In the eastern province of Shandong, civil rights campaigner Li Shufen said she had learned about the Hong Kong protests via the messaging app WeChat, which is hugely popular in mainland China. "Everyone is very supportive of the Occupy Central campaign for democracy in Hong Kong," Li said. She added: "They don't really report it. All the news here is the government's point of view." "We have to go online to read about it." Amnesty International China researcher William Nee said China is merely demonstrating what Hong Kong has to fear from Beijing. "The rounding up of activists in mainland China only underlines why so many people in Hong Kong fear the growing control Beijing has in their city's affairs," Nee said in a statement. "The fundamental freedoms being exercised by hundreds of thousands of people in Hong Kong continue to be denied to those in mainland China." CHRD said some of those detained in China had made plans to join the protests in person. "Police in China have harassed and warned activists in many cities, concerned that they may try to travel to Hong Kong or take to streets to protest," the group said. "The occupation of several areas in Hong Kong, including parts of its financial and political center, has inspired many Chinese on the mainland and encouraged them to speak up for democracy," it said.
- Impact of Event
- 20
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Censorship
- Rights Concerned
- Internet freedom
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Sep 20, 2019
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Sep 16, 2014
- Event Description
Cyber-dissident Huang Qi's site has been repeatedly blocked by DDoS attacks since 16 September Reporters Without Borders condemns the cyber-attacks on China's leading human rights information website 64 Tianwang that have repeatedly rendered it inaccessible since 16 September. The creation of human rights activist and cyber-dissident Huang Qi, the site posts information supplied by citizen-journalists. A Distributed Denial of Service attack launched at around 10 a.m. on 16 September paralyzed activity on the site (www.64tianwang.com) until around 11 p.m. on 17 September. During the attack, the site redirected its visitors to its blog (64tianwang.blogspot.com/) or Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/twhuangqi). After resuming activity for 10 hours, the site was again rendered inaccessible on 18 September. Another attack occurred on 19 September, accompanied by the closure of 64 Tianwang's Tencent QQ and Weixin messaging and chat accounts. Huang said: "Reports recently posted on 64 Tianwang, including reports about[dissident writer] Tie Liu's arrest, land conflicts and the beatings of citizens trying to complain to local authorities, very probably triggered these latest attacks." "We condemns these targeted cyber-attacks, which testify to the sensitivity of the information revealed by 64 Tianwang," said Benjamin Isma��l, the head of the Reporters Without Borders Asia desk. "Their intensity and the fact that they coincided with Internet company Tencent's closure of 64 Tianwang's messaging accounts indicate that they were acts of censorship instigated by the government. We urge the authorities to apply the constitution, which guarantees freedom of information, by bringing these untimely attacks to an end. We also call on Tencent to stop cooperating with the censors." Created by Huang in 1998, 64 Tianwang is regarded as subversive by the authorities. The police watch both Huang and his reporters, who were recently again the target of government-orchestrated reprisals after they covered protests in Tiananmen Square and various human rights violations. The winner of the Reporters Without Borders Cyber-Freedom Prize in 2004, Huang has had two long spells in prison, the second of which began in 2008, after the Sichuan earthquake, when he was jailed on a charge of "illegal possession of state secrets." He was briefly detained in March in connection with the coverage of the Tiananmen Square protests.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Violation
- Online Attack and Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of association, Internet freedom
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Sep 20, 2019
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Sep 18, 2014
- Event Description
Beijing-based veteran rights activist Hu Jia has received death threats by text message, while explosive substances were placed into his heavily vandalized vehicle during the trial of a fellow activist this week, Hu told RFA on Friday. Hu, who was taken in for questioning on Wednesday by Beijing police on suspicion of "beating another person," received a text message on Thursday threatening to kill him, before discovering his car had been vandalized with red paint and a small explosive shell placed on the dashboard on Friday morning, he said. Photos posted on Hu's Twitter account showed his Volkswagen sedan slathered in red paint, both inside and outside, on the driver's side, with a small black pot-like object placed behind the steering wheel. Hu is a close friend and vocal supporter of detained Uyghur scholar Ilham Tohti, who stood trial on charges of "separatism" in the northwestern region of Xinjiang on Wednesday and Thursday. "There haven't been any clues yet[about who might have done this]," Hu told RFA on Friday. "All I can say is that it was done by the same people who carried out the[earlier attacks]." On July 16, Hu was set upon as he made his way back to his car on a Beijing street by people he identified at the time as "trained men," and likely "plainclothes cops." Hu tweeted at the time that he was grabbed by some "plainclothes guys in black," grabbed by the throat, punched in the eye and nose, then kicked in the stomach. Further threats and vandalism took place last month, including a death threat on Aug. 12 and damage to his parents' property on Aug. 26. "It is clear that these attacks are escalating," said Hu, a long-time campaigner on AIDS issues and for civil rights in general who has served time in jail for subversion, as well as being subjected to prolonged "criminal detention" and periods of house arrest at his Beijing home. He said he is convinced that the attacks are a covert form of intimidation by the ruling Chinese Communist Party. "The type of explosive they planted was a shell used by the Communist Party for ceremonial occasions," Hu said. "That's not something your average person can easily get hold of." "The authorities knew I would go public with this if they planted explosives," Hu said. "They know they can't scare me, but they might scare some other people." He said the vandalism and previous attacks seemed calculated to frighten off anyone thinking of opposing the Chinese government. "They police said maybe the explosives were put there by someone with a private grudge against[me]," he said. Asked if the authorities had taken steps to protect him against further attacks, Hu replied: "They won't send anyone to protect me, because I'm not a government official. It's a very difficult situation for me, because I don't know how things will develop." Health at risk Hu, who suffers from hepatitis B, said he has been warned that his activism may be damaging his health irreparably. "The doctor told me very clearly that strenuous work and strong emotions will damage my liver and gall bladder," Hu said. "But I don't seem to be able to get away from an environment that makes me angry." "During the past three days, I was put under house arrest because of Ilham Tohti's trial, and that will continue[on Friday and Saturday], although I don't know why," he added. "It's hard to see how I'm going to get well." Hu was handed a three-and-a-half year jail term in 2008 for "incitement to subversion" after he wrote online articles critical of China's hosting of the Olympics. A campaigner for human rights and AIDS victims in China, Hu was awarded the Sakharov Prize, a major human rights award, by the European Union in 2008. He had acted as a key source of information for foreign media on human rights and environmental violations, government abuses, judicial injustices, and the mistreatment of dissidents. More recently, Hu has been a vocal supporter of jailed Uyghur dissident Ilham Tohti, regularly speaking out against Chinese government policy in the troubled northwestern region of Xinjiang. Source: Radio Free Asia (Radio Free Asia
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Sep 20, 2019
- Country
- China
- Event Description
A Chinese blogger and a rights activist are being held in mental institutions, rights groups and activists say, sparking fears for their well-being. Authorities in the southeastern province of Fujian detained outspoken blogger Shi Genyuan at his home on June 3 and forcibly committed him to the mental health ward of the Quanzhou No. 3 Hospital, according to the Civil Rights and Livelihood Watch website. Shi's committal means that only Quanzhou state security police have the power to release him from the facility, although nurses there said he didn't consent to his detention there. A campaign by Shi's family and friends for his release has come to nothing in the face of threats from Quanzhou state security police, the group said. Shi is being held on the basis of a "psychiatric evaluation" carried out by police in August 2013, after he was held on suspicion of "incitement to subvert state power" the previous May, it said. "They are using mental illness as an excuse to detain him," Shi's friend, who gave only his surname Pan, told RFA. He said nobody believes that Shi is suffering from a genuine mental illness. "Mental health patients have normally lost at least some of their capacity to function in society," Pan said. "But his notes say he wants to appeal." "Perhaps he wants to appeal against being labeled a mental health patient?" 'A form of reprisal' Meanwhile, it has emerged that authorities in Beijing have been holding veteran pro-democracy activist Song Zaimin at the Pinggu Psychiatric Hospital, since he "disappeared" on Aug. 27, activists said. "We have received reliable information in the past couple of days saying that that[Song] is being held in a mental institution," Beijing-based fellow activist Hou Xin told RFA. "I am very worried about his situation. I never thought they would use a psychiatric hospital to detain him," Hou said. He said Song's friends and family are getting together to campaign for his release. "We want to see if we can get lawyers involved, because people don't get released from psychiatric hospitals quickly," he said. According to Civil Rights and Livelihood Watch, Song was detained after taking part in activities marking the 25th anniversary of the military crackdown on student-led pro-democracy protests in Tiananmen Square. The overseas-based Chinese Human Rights Defenders (CHRD) group, which collates and translates reports from a number of Chinese rights groups, said both Song's and Shi's detentions are illegal. "Their detentions constitute a deprivation of liberty that directly violates China's Mental Health Law, which went into effect in May 2013," the group said in an e-mailed statement on Thursday. "The law has not stopped the use of involuntary psychiatric commitment as a form of reprisal against members of civil society," it said. Litany of abuses Aimed at protecting mental health service users from misdiagnosis and involuntary medical treatment in China's state-run psychiatric hospitals, the mental health law is the first in the country to define the concept and procedures linked to compulsory committal. Chinese people who lodge complaints about or criticize the ruling Chinese Communist Party have been force-fed medication, tied up, beaten and humiliated, and subjected to electroconvulsive shocks in mental hospitals last year, according to a February report by the Civil Rights and Livelihood Watch group. The report focused on those without prior mental illness who are forcibly committed to psychiatric institutions, either by officials or family members with whom they come into conflict. It detailed a litany of abuses of the psychiatric system in a process known as "being mentally-illed" that have continued in spite of the new law. The victims of the system, which often makes use of a nationwide network of police-run hospitals, include activists who highlight human rights abuses. Source: Radio Free Asia (Radio Free Asia
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Active
- Date added
- Sep 20, 2019
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Aug 23, 2014
- Event Description
Authorities in northwestern China's Qinghai province have detained a Tibetan woman for blogging on topics considered politically sensitive, including the living conditions of Tibetans in an area devastated by an earthquake four years ago, sources said. Dawa Tsomo was taken into custody on Aug. 23 in Dzatoe (in Chinese, Zaduo) county in the Yulshul (Yushu) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture "for violating China's Internet rules and regulations," a local source told RFA's Tibetan Service on Tuesday. "She had blogged and disseminated articles with political overtones online," the source said, speaking on condition of anonymity. Tsomo, a native of Dzatoe county's Chidza Sachen village, was taken away shortly after her arrest, "but her present whereabouts and status are unknown," he said. Tsomo had recently blogged on the plight of Tibetans living in Kyegudo, a Yulshul town hit by a devastating earthquake on April 14, 2010, the source said, adding, "She had particularly highlighted local Chinese officials' mishandling of issues related to Tibetan residents' welfare." 'Discrimination' The earthquake in Kyegudo largely destroyed the town and killed almost 3,000 residents by official count, and many homes rebuilt by Tibetan families on their own land and with their own resources were later torn down by authorities. Chinese authorities have also refused permits to Tibetans to operate shops and restaurants in Kyegudo while applications to set up these businesses by Chinese immigrants are easily approved, sources say. "There are explicit actions of discrimination committed by local authorities favoring Han Chinese immigrants over the local Tibetans," one local source told RFA earlier this year. Meanwhile, Yulshul authorities in April demolished several brick kilns operated by Tibetans in Kyegudo in response to pleas by rival Chinese plants concerned over increasing competition, a local source said. Tibetans living in Tibet and in western provinces of China complain of political, religious, and economic discrimination as well as human rights abuses. Sporadic demonstrations challenging Beijing's rule have continued in Tibetan-populated areas of China since widespread protests swept the region in 2008.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Censorship, Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of Religion and Belief, Internet freedom, Minority Rights
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Sep 20, 2019
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Aug 11, 2014
- Event Description
Chinese police opened fire to disperse hundreds of Tibetans protesting the detention of a respected village leader in Sichuan province, seriously wounding nearly a dozen people, exile sources said Wednesday, quoting local contacts. Many Tibetans were also detained and beaten in the violent crackdown in Sershul (in Chinese, Shiqu) county in the Kardze (Ganzi) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture on Tuesday, a day after police whisked away village leader Dema Wangdak from his home at midnight, the sources said. Wangdak, 45, was detained after he complained to the authorities over the harassment of Tibetan women by senior Chinese officials at a cultural performance the local community was forced to host during their visit to the county, the source said. "Hundreds gathered to call for Wangdak's release because he is innocent, but the Chinese authorities sent in security forces to crack down on the protesters," Demay Gyaltsen, a Tibetan living in exile in India, told RFA's Tibetan Service. "The security forces used tear gas and fired live ammunition indiscriminately to disperse the crowd during the protest in Loshu township," he said, adding that about "10 Tibetans were seriously wounded" by the gunshots. Among the injured were Wangdak's son and brother, both of whom suffered two gunshot wounds each, said Gyaltsen, who heads an organization in India for Tibetans from Sershul's neighboring Dege county. After dispersing the protesters, he said, the authorities sought reinforcements and stepped up security late Tuesday, when many Tibetans were detained and communication lines were cut off. "The village is now entirely surrounded by security forces and many of the adults in the village have gone to the hills to hide," Jampa Youten, a monk in South India told RFA. "Those who remained were the younger Tibetans and women, who have been interrogated and tortured by the Chinese security forces," he said, also citing local contacts.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Sexual Violence, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Minority Rights, Right to Protest, Women's rights
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Active
- Date added
- Sep 20, 2019
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Aug 7, 2014
- Event Description
Beijing-based Tibetan poet and writer Tsering Woeser said Chinese authorities detained and "intimidated" her during three hours of interrogations on arrival at the airport in the Tibetan capital Lhasa. She said on her Twitter account that security personnel searched through all of her personal belongings and interrogated her after detaining her as she was about to leave the departure gate at Lhasa Gonggar Airport at 11 a.m. local time. "Chinese security personnel stopped me before I left the main departure gate," Woeser said. "They interrogated me and went through my personal belongings in my handbag, taking pictures of my lingerie, medicine, cosmetics, books and DVDs, and even copying all the contents of my computer. They also thoroughly checked my cell phone." Woeser said that airport security had "intimidated" her during the three-hour interrogation. "Last year I had the same problem, but this time the one thing I couldn't tolerate was that they even interrogated my 72-year-old mother yesterday[Aug. 7]," she said. Her mother lives in Lhasa, the capital of the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR). Woeser told RFA's Mandarin Service via Skype that it was inconvenient for her to be interviewed because "the authorities told me that they would 'take actions' if they found my conduct during my stay in Lhasa unacceptable." Chinese authorities frequently subject Woeser-an outspoken writer who has criticized Beijing's policies in Tibet-to tight restrictions and surveillance, particularly during visits from western dignitaries to the Chinese capital. Last month, she was placed under house arrest along with her husband at her Beijing home as Chinese officials began a high-profile round of annual talks with a U.S. delegation led by Secretary of State John Kerry. She said the move came after she posted on Twitter and Facebook that she had received an invitation from officials at the U.S. Embassy to attend a meeting and banquet. Woeser "has emerged as the most prominent mainland activist speaking out publicly about human rights conditions" for Tibetans, the U.S. State Department said in a statement after she won its "Woman of Courage" award in 2013. Her website Invisible Tibet, together with her poetry and nonfiction and writings on social media have given a voice to millions of Tibetans "who are prevented from expressing themselves to the outside world due to government efforts to curtail the flow of information," the State Department said. Woeser was prevented from leaving China to collect the award in person.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Intimidation and Threats
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of movement, Minority Rights, Right to self-determination
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Not active
- Date added
- Sep 20, 2019
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Dec 16, 2011
- Event Description
Gao Zhisheng (???), a defense lawyer known for taking on politically sensitive cases and for calling on the Chinese government to end its persecution of Falun Gong, completed his three-year prison sentence for inciting subversion today. He was released from Shaya Prison in western Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. Gao was accompanied by his brother and taken by police escort to his father-in-law's house in Urumqi, Xinjiang's capital and Gao's place of household registration (hukou). Gao now begins his supplemental sentence of one year of deprivation of political rights (DPR). China's Criminal Law, promulgated in March 1997, stipulates that DPR sentences of 1?5 years be applied to individuals convicted of inciting subversion (which falls under the category of endangering state security) and other serious crimes. According to Chapter 3, Section 7 of the Criminal Law, people serving DPR sentences lose their rights to freedom of speech, press, assembly, association, procession, and demonstration. Two years prior to the promulgation of the Criminal Law, the Ministry of Public Security issued the "Regulations for Monitoring and Management of Offenders Subject to Public Surveillance, Deprivation of Political Rights, Suspended Sentence, Parole, or Medical Parole by Public Security Organs." The Dui Hua Foundation has translated these regulations in their entirety. Together with the relevant articles of the Criminal Law, these regulations provide the framework for how Gao Zhisheng will be monitored and managed over the next 12 months. According to the regulations, public security authorities in Urumqi (Gao's place of residence) will be responsible for monitoring and observing him during DPR. He must report periodically to police and receive their approval to travel outside Urumqi. The regulations prohibit Gao from giving interviews to journalists, and from "publishing or circulating, inside or outside China, any remarks, books, audio recordings, or other such items that damage the reputation or interests of the state or pose any other threat to society." Gao was detained on suspicion of inciting subversion on August 16, 2006, and sentenced on December 22, 2006, to three years in prison and one year deprivation of political rights by the Beijing No. 1 Intermediate People's Court. The prison sentence was suspended for five years, but shortly before that period ended, the suspension was revoked by the court on December 16, 2011. Gao was then incarcerated in remote Shaya Prison. The four months and seven days he spent in detention prior to his first trial was credited to his three-year sentence. Local public security bureaus have a high degree of discretion to establish measures targeting specific individuals during the enforcement of DPR. Given what is known about how Gao was treated during the period of his suspended sentence, portions of which were spent in Urumqi, and the current tense situation in Xinjiang arising from ethnic strife between Uyghurs and Han, it is likely that the Urumqi public security authorities will strictly implement the regulations, thereby effectively restricting Gao's personal freedom and contact with the outside world. UPDATE 14/08/2014- Gao's family alleged that he was subject to inhumane detention conditions and torture. Gao was kept in a small cell with little light and no television or reading material and was severely underfed: he lost 22.5 kilograms while in detention. Although he has been released from prison, he is under constant surveillance. UPDATE: 11/ 05/ 2015 Top Chinese rights lawyer Gao Zhisheng remains effectively under house arrest, 10 months after his release from prison on subversion charges, his family said on Wednesday.Gao, 52, is currently under 24-hour surveillance by state security police at the home of his wife's parents in the northwestern region of Xinjiang, where he was released from a three-year jail term for "incitement to subvert state power" in August. While he is allowed to maintain phone contact with his family in Shaanxi province, Gao remains in Xinjiang, his brother Gao Zhiyu told RFA on Thursday."I talked to him recently and he is better now-[his physical condition] has been good for the past several weeks," Gao Zhiyu said."He can walk around the outside of the house, but he is not free[to go anywhere else]."Asked if he had plans to visit his brother, who he has not seen since his release, Gao Zhiyu said that authorities would not give him permission, "but we'll have to see what happens." According to Gao's friends, such as Beijing-based rights activist Hu Jia, the rights lawyer had barely been able to speak an entire sentence when he was first released from Xinjiang's Shaya Prison, where he had been held for lengthy periods in solitary confinement and tortured.Gao suffered psychological torture and various forms of corporal punishment, severely affecting his memory, and leaving his teeth in such bad shape that he was unable to chew, they said.Gao Zhiyu said his brother was mostly reading at home these days, while he remained under surveillance by authorities. He said he was unsure how many people were monitoring Gao at any given time. In January, Hu Jia told RFA that authorities were also monitoring Gao's phone calls, saying he was only permitted to have "brief, stilted conversations which can never touch on any deeper topics."He said at the time that Gao's family was "under the same huge political pressure that he himself is under."Gao's wife Geng He fled China with the couple's two children after her husband "disappeared" for more than a year, arriving in the United States with the couple's two children in 2009.During the Chinese New Year in February, Geng told RFA that she had tried to contact Gao, but was unsuccessful. Defending the vulnerable Once a prominent lawyer lauded by the Communist Party, Gao fell afoul of the government after he defended some of China's most vulnerable people, including Christians, coal miners and followers of the banned Falun Gong spiritual movement.In 2006, Beijing authorities arrested Gao and handed him a three-year jail term for "inciting subversion" that was later suspended for five years. But during the following five years, Gao had repeatedly suffered forced disappearances and torture. In December 2011, China's official Xinhua news agency said in a terse announcement that Gao had been imprisoned for three years for repeatedly violating his probation terms.The announcement drew strong criticism from the United Nations, United States and the European Union, all of which have repeatedly called for Gao's release, and by overseas rights groups, including Amnesty International. Geng He and fellow activists say they fear the authorities may decide to whisk Gao off into secret detention, given the sensitive nature of the cases he has defended.Since Geng's account of her husband's torture, overseas rights groups have highlighted the cases of several more Chinese activists subjected to cruel or degrading treatment while in detention.In January, the Chinese Human Rights Defenders (CHRD) group, which translates and collates reports from rights groups inside China, called on the authorities to investigate complaints made by the victims' lawyers.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Enforced Disappearance, Judicial Harassment, Surveillance , Torture, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of association, Freedom of Religion and Belief, Minority Rights, Right to property
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Sep 20, 2019
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Jul 16, 2014
- Event Description
Prominent Chinese activist Hu Jia says thugs ambushed him in the streets of Beijing and left him with a fractured nose. The outspoken human rights supporter says he believes the attackers were plainclothes police out to teach him a lesson and deter him from his activism. Activist Hu Jia told VOA he was assaulted late Wednesday outside a subway station where he parked his car earlier in the day. "It was raining, so I was carrying an umbrella. With that it was more difficult for people to see my face. But they recognized me after I pressed the button to open my car, and within seconds they jumped on me and started with the beating targeting my eyes," he said. After punching and kicking him for two minutes, Hu says the men left using a car driven by a third man. A CT scan at a nearby hospital revealed a fracture on the bridge of Hu's nose. The men did not wear a uniform, but Hu says he is certain they were plainclothes police. Hu says he wanted to fight back, but the assailants were too strong and it was clear they knew how to beat people. He says they did not call him by name or tell him why they were beating him. Hu says they only repeated "I teach you a lesson" with a low voice. Short of a general warning for his activism, Hu says the specific lesson they sought to teach him remains unclear. The attack against Hu comes amid a general crackdown against political speech in civil society. On Friday, a court in Beijing will pronounce the verdicts against two members of the New Citizens Movement, a group founded by legal scholar Xu Zhiyong to promote government transparency and more equal education policies. The organization has become the target of authorities who jailed its founder and put on trial scores of other members. On social media, Hu Jia had called for people to gather outside the courtroom Friday to show support for the defendants, charged with "gathering a crowd to disrupt public order". Hu Jia also endorsed Occupy Central, a political movement that calls for democracy in Hong Kong. On the day of the attack, Hu says he was wearing an "Occupy Central" T-shirt, which authorities had warned him was too sensitive for him to wear outside the house. "We are concerned that a prominent activist like Hu Jia is attacked in a public place, but I think it will be difficult to pin point what exactly caused this attack because we do not know who these people are," said Ye Shiwei, senior program officer at the advocacy group Human Rights in China. Hu started his advocacy on behalf of rural AIDS patients over a decade ago. He became one of China's most critical voices against human rights violations and spent three-and-a-half years in jail for inciting subversion. He was released in 2011.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Violation
- Intimidation and Threats, Violence (physical)
- Rights Concerned
- Access to justice, Internet freedom
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Not active
- Date added
- Sep 20, 2019
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Jul 15, 2014
- Event Description
A rights activist from the southern Chinese province of Guangdong who attended a mass pro-democracy rally in neighboring Hong Kong on July 1 has been out of contact with family and friends since returning to mainland China. Jia Pin, who was a vocal campaigner for human rights and for an inquiry into the death of Shandong dissident Xue Mingkai's father, crossed the internal immigration border to Hong Kong on June 30 ahead of the rally, in which an estimated half a million people took to the streets to demand public nomination of election candidates in 2017. Jia, who at the time reported being threatened with criminal detention by China's state security police if he continued to Hong Kong, has been incommunicado since returning to Guangdong on foot via the border crossing at Shenzhen on Tuesday, his friends said. Repeated calls to Jia's cell phone went unconnected on Wednesday. "I have been trying to get in touch with him this whole time," Jia's friend and fellow activist Luo Xiangyang told RFA. "I haven't heard anything. A lot of people are looking for him." Luo said Jia had received a phone call from state security police shortly before leaving for Hong Kong, in which they tried to put pressure on him not to take part in the demonstration. "But he still went anyway, which was brave of him. Since he got back, I haven't seen hide nor hair of him," Luo said. "I don't know why." 'Off for a while' Guangdong capital Guangzhou-based rights activist Xiao Yuhui said another friend, Xie Wenfei, had received a brief call from Jia on the day he returned to Guangdong. "He told Xie Yunfei[yesterday] to tell everyone his phone was going to be off for a while, and to tell them not to worry about him," Xiao said. "At the time, he said his phone would be off for a few hours... so if they still haven't managed to get in touch with him until now, then it's not looking good." "The state security police said they would put him under criminal detention if he went to the Hong Kong protest," Xiao added. Xie confirmed that he received the call around 11.00 a.m. local time on Tuesday. "If everyone's asking where he is, and the authorities have got their eye on him, then it's probably not going to be good for[Jia]," Xie said. Jia was a prominent campaigner at January 2013 street protests in Guangzhou over official censorship of an editorial in the cutting-edge Southern Weekend newspaper. He has also carried placards in public calling on China to abide by United Nations human rights treaties and for officials of the ruling Chinese Communist Party to disclose details of their assets. President Xi Jinping has launched a nationwide anti-graft crackdown, targeting high-ranking "tigers" and low-ranking "flies," since coming to power in November 2012. But the party regards any popular involvement in the anti-corruption campaign as highly sensitive and potentially threatening, and has already sentenced a number of activists to jail for calling on officials to reveal their wealth. Health fears Elsewhere in Guangzhou, Yuan Xinting, one of three top rights lawyers detained in May and now formally arrested on charges of "incitement to subvert state power," has written to his family about fears for his health while in detention. Yuan's lawyer Ge Wenxiu said he has concerns about his client's health following a recent meeting in which Yuan said that his blood pressure was high and that he was suffering from bowel problems. "This has been going on since June 23, and this is a health problem he had before[he was detained]," Ge said. "But it has recently got much worse." "I[did] apply for medical parole for him, but this was turned down by the investigating agency," he said. "Further requests for a meeting[with Yuan] were also refused." The May 16 detention of Yuan, Wang Qingying, and Tang Jingling comes as the government pursues a policy of nationwide harassment and physical attacks on Chinese lawyers, especially those involved in politically sensitive or high-profile cases. Signature campaign Last month, Chinese lawyers launched a signature campaign against moves by the government to formalize recent curbs on their profession and punish lawyers acting "outside of professional boundaries." They also called on the head of the ruling Chinese Communist Party-backed All-China Lawyers' Association Wang Junfeng to resign over the controversial new rules, warning of a "large-scale infringement of the civil and political rights of lawyers, and Chinese citizens in general." Law enforcement agencies have also denied lawyers the right to visit clients in detention in a number of high-profile political cases in recent weeks, including the detention of top rights lawyer Pu Zhiqiang and his defense attorney. Hundreds of thousands of people marched in Hong Kong on the 17th anniversary of the handover to Chinese rule to demand full and universal suffrage, including the public nomination of candidates in the 2017 chief executive race without prior vetting by Beijing. However, the Hong Kong government on Tuesday stopped short of asking for public nomination, saying mainstream public opinion supports the use of a pro-Beijing nomination committee.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly, Freedom of movement, Right to Protest
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Date added
- Sep 20, 2019
- Country
- China
- Initial Date
- Jul 15, 2014
- Event Description
Li Xuewen, an essayist and playwright in Beijing, has been fired from his job as a book editor in what he said was retribution for attending a private event in May marking the 25th anniversary of the military suppression of the Tiananmen Square protests. Mr. Li, 37, a senior editor at the state-owned Lijiang Publishing House, said he was abruptly let go on Tuesday. In a telephone interview Tuesday evening, Mr. Li said his boss had come under pressure from security agents in the two months since a group of intellectuals and rights advocates gathered at an apartment in Beijing to discuss the 1989 crackdown, in which hundreds, possibly thousands, of civilians were killed. A photograph of the seminar's participants was posted on the Internet, drawing the attention of the authorities at a time when the Chinese government was anxious to tamp down any commemoration or public discussion of the politically sensitive anniversary. In the days following the May 3 meeting, the police detained five of the attendees. One of them, Pu Zhiqiang, a prominent rights lawyer, was subsequently charged with "picking quarrels and provoking troubles," as well as with illegally gathering personal information. His niece Qu Zhenhong, a fellow lawyer, also remains in police custody, but the others have since been released. Mr. Li said he underwent several police interrogations, including one that lasted six hours. But he said in the interview that he was somewhat surprised by his dismissal, because a high-ranking police official in Beijing had assured him that he would be left unscathed if he declined interviews with foreign news outlets. He attributed his dismissal to security agents from Guangxi, the region in southern China where Lijiang Publishing House is based. "I held up my end of the bargain by refusing to talk to reporters, and this is what I get," he said. Mr. Li's former boss at the publishing house could not immediately be reached for comment. The authorities, Mr. Li said, had also pressured his landlord to evict him, but he was allowed to remain in his home after he followed police suggestions that he leave Beijing during the approach to the June 4 anniversary and to "adjust" the tenor of social media postings that criticized the government. "They told me I should give constructive advice to the government, not criticism," he said. There were other, somewhat mysterious occurrences that he interpreted as repercussions for joining the seminar. On two occasions recently, he said, someone had squirted a gluelike substance into the lock of his front door, rendering the mechanism inoperable. Although Mr. Li said he cut back on the number of critical postings to Sina Weibo, a Twitter-like microblog, he let his followers know that Wednesday night last week he had joined with friends to stand outside a Beijing police station where the writer Murong Xuecun was being interrogated. "That probably infuriated them," he said of the security agents on his case. Mr. Li said he had no interest in returning to the publishing industry and would devote himself to writing plays. "Until the day press freedom arrives in China, I'll never work in publishing again," he said.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention, Censorship, Reprisal as Result of Communication, Surveillance
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of association, Internet freedom
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Not active
- Date added
- Sep 20, 2019