Published on Human Rights in China 中国人权 | HRIC (https://www.hrichina.org)

Human rights defenders are at the core of all HRIC work. We focus on defenders who are raising systemic rights issues such as: corruption, censorship and surveillance, land expropriation and evictions, environmental degradation, and crackdowns on ethnic groups. Through our in-country network of lawyers, petitioners, activists, journalists, bloggers, and writers, HRIC also monitors important cases, legal and policy developments, and the human rights challenges facing people across the country. 

With the rapidly expanding online space and explosion of the number of social media users, people all over China are now pressing for greater transparency, official accountability, and participation in decision-making. HRIC works to support this growing citizen activism by increasing access to information, bringing international attention to domestic calls for action, providing legal assistance and media support for individual cases, and offering training and resources for defenders.

Find out more about individual defenders and their issues on HRIC’s online platforms—media, Citizens' Square, China Rights Forum—or by clicking on an individual name below.

Special Cases Advocacy
The Sixth Anniversary of ""709 Crackdown"": A Tribute to the Women Who Resist

On the occasion of the sixth anniversary of the 709 Crackdown, Human Rights in China (HRIC) honors Chinese women rights defenders by highlighting the activism of nine notable women who have been steadfast in fighting against suppression by the authorities.  

The Sixth Anniversary of "709 Crackdown": A Tribute to the Women Who Resist [1]
“12.26 Citizen Case”

In early December 2019, Xu Zhiyong (许志永), Ding Jiaxi (丁家喜) and other citizens and lawyers met in Xiamen, Fujian Province, to discuss current affairs and China's future and share their experience in promoting the construction of civil society. On December 26, the authorities started taking away the participants and others involved in the private gathering. More than 20 citizens and lawyers have been disappeared or summoned, and several have been accused of “inciting subversion of state power” or “picking quarrel and provoking trouble.” Those still in custody have not been allowed to meet with lawyers, and their families and lawyers have had no information on where they are being held.

“12.26 Citizen Case” [2]
The Changsha 3 Case

The case is also known as the “Changsha Funeng” case.

On July 22, 2019, three staff members of Changsha Funeng (长沙富能), a non-governmental public interest organization, were criminally detained by the Changsha Municipal State Security Bureau on suspicion of "subversion of state power" and officially arrested on August 26 on the same charges. The three individuals are: Chen Yuan (程渊), Liu Dazhi (刘大志), and Wu Gejianxiong (吴葛健雄). The investigation period of their cases was extended multiple times, and the authorities rejected repeated requests by lawyers appointed by family members to meet with the defendants. On March 16, 2020, the six defense lawyers (two representing each defendant) received oral notices from the Changsha Municipal State Security Bureau and local bureaus of justice  informing them that the defendants had dismissed their lawyers, including lawyer Wu Youshui (吴有水), who was representing his son, Wu Gejianxiong.

The Changsha 3 Case [3]
Lawyers and Legal Advocates
Access to Justice: Statement by Chinese Lawyers on Not Participating in Unlawful Annual Inspections and Assessments

Cheng Hai (程海), a lawyer currently disputing his one year suspension from legal practice, leads 38 lawyers in demanding an end to the annual assessment and certification process for lawyers. The statement argues that this certification practice, mandated by the Ministry of Justice, not only violates the law, but also wastes time, resources and money.  Worse, the group declares, the practice is a thinly disguised tool for compelling lawyers to toe the political line.  In this petition, he and his fellow signatories state that they will no longer participate in unlawful assessments.

Statement by Chinese Lawyers on Not Participating in Unlawful Annual Inspections and Assessments [4]
Case Background: Lawyer Cheng Hai Faces One-year License Suspension

Cheng Hai is a Beijing-based rights defense lawyer. He has represented victims of hukou discrimination and Falun Gong practitioners, among others. Cheng was a vocal advocate for the abolition of Reeducation-Through-Labor, and, in 2008, joined other lawyers to call for the independent election of officials in the Beijing Lawyers Association. In 2012, he represented Ni Yulan, a housing rights advocate who, along with her husband, was suffering continued persecution by police authorities after her release from prison in April 2010. 

 

Case Background: Lawyer Cheng Hai Faces One-year License Suspension [5]
Independence of Lawyers: The Role of Justice Bureaus and Lawyers’ Associations

China’s more than 250,000 lawyers do not yet benefit from many of the fundamental protections outlined in the UN Basic Principles for Lawyers. Moreover, the growing body of rights defense lawyers and their increasingly sophisticated and diverse legal activism has triggered heightened interference from authorities, both legal and extralegal. 

Independence of Lawyers: The Role of Justice Bureaus and Lawyers’ Associations [6]
Citizen Activists
Citizen Activists on Trial 2014: Schedule/Status and Essays

Starting in January 2014, a number of citizen activists, many of whom were involved in the New Citizens Movement and actively campaigning for official asset transparency, were put on trial in Beijing and Guangdong. The numerous detentions and trials of citizen activists demonstrate a trend of intensifying crackdown on citizen activism, particularly in relation to official asset transparency and corruption. 

Citizen Activists on Trial 2013-2014: Schedule/Status and Essays [7]
HRIC Advocacy Initiatives
“12.26 Citizen Case”

In early December 2019, Xu Zhiyong (许志永), Ding Jiaxi (丁家喜) and other citizens and lawyers met in Xiamen, Fujian Province, to discuss current affairs and China's future and share their experience in promoting the construction of civil society. On December 26, the authorities started taking away the participants and others involved in the private gathering. More than 20 citizens and lawyers have been disappeared or summoned, and several have been accused of “inciting subversion of state power” or “picking quarrel and provoking trouble.” Those still in custody have not been allowed to meet with lawyers, and their families and lawyers have had no information on where they are being held.

“12.26 Citizen Case” [2]
709 Crackdown

The 709 Crackdown affected some 300 lawyers and legal and rights advocates. Below is a chart that summarizes the charges against them, their sentences, and their status as of July 2020. (The order of the case listing in the chart is based on the severity of the charge and length of time in custody.)

Fifth Anniversary of 709 Crackdown: Updated Chart of Persecution of Lawyers and Legal and Rights Advocates [8]
Post Reeducation-Through-Labor “Abolition”: Lawyers and Defenders Monitor Legal Reform Implementation--The Jiansanjiang Case

Lawyers, from left, Jiang Tianyong (江天勇), Zhang Junjie (张俊杰), Wang Cheng (王成), and Tang Jitian (唐吉田), in Jiansanjiang, Heilongjiang, before their detention on March 21, 2014.The unlawful detention of a group of lawyers and citizens in Jiansanjiang, Heilongjiang Province, in late March and early April 2014 highlights the critical role that lawyers and citizens play in the implementation of legal reform and the challenges they face. 

Post Reeducation-Through-Labor “Abolition”: Lawyers and Defenders Monitor Legal Reform Implementation--The Jiansanjiang Case [9]
Cao Shunli’s Living Legacy: International and Domestic Responses

On March 14, 2014, Cao Shunli’s family arrived at the 309 Military Hospital in Beijing to find that Cao had already died [10]. Since she was transferred there from an emergency medical center on February 20, she had been on a ventilator and non-responsive. There have been growing concerns expressed by the domestic and international communities and calls for a full independent investigation into the circumstances leading to her tragic death. More > [11]

Cao Shunli’s Living Legacy: International and Domestic Responses [11]
Supporting Gender Justice in China

After 37 days of detention, five women activists, Li Tingting (李婷婷), Wu Rongrong (武嵘嵘), Zheng Churan (郑楚然), Wei Tingting (韦婷婷), and Wang Man (王曼), were “released upon guarantee pending further investigation” (取保候审) [12] on April 13, 2015.

They are among nine women's and LGBT rights advocates who were detained on March 6-7, 2015, in three cities across China—Beijing, Guangzhou, and Hangzhou—on the eve of International Women’s Day, March 8.

Supporting Gender Justice in China [13]
Send Your Message of Support to Human Rights defenders [14]

Human rights defenders play a critical role in ensuring peaceful exercise of rights and promoting an independent civil society. As China’s civil society faces increasingly steep restrictions, human rights defenders have become the targets of draconian and comprehensive crackdowns. For their efforts, many human rights defenders have lost their jobs, family members, and personal freedom; many suffer mistreatment and torture in prison.

In these dark times for so many of them, HRIC honors their work, their spirit of dedication, and the great price they continue to pay in promoting the progress of civil society. Please take a moment to send messages to the imprisoned and detained rights defenders—to show your concern, solidarity, and support.

Advocacy Areas of Focus
Source URL: https://www.hrichina.org/en/human-rights-defenders

Links
[1] https://www.hrichina.org/en/sixth-anniversary-709-crackdown-tribute-women-who-resist
[2] https://www.hrichina.org/en/1226-citizen-case
[3] https://www.hrichina.org/en/changsha-3-case
[4] https://www.hrichina.org/en/citizens-square/statement-chinese-lawyers-not-participating-unlawful-annual-inspections-and
[5] https://www.hrichina.org/en/case-background-lawyer-cheng-hai-faces-one-year-license-suspension
[6] https://www.hrichina.org/en/independence-lawyers-role-justice-bureaus-and-lawyers-associations
[7] https://www.hrichina.org/en/citizen-activists-trial-2013-2014-schedulestatus-and-essays
[8] https://www.hrichina.org/en/fifth-anniversary-709-crackdown-updated-chart-persecution-lawyers-and-legal-and-rights-advocates
[9] https://www.hrichina.org/en/post-reeducation-through-labor-abolition-lawyers-and-defenders-monitor-legal-reform-implementation
[10] https://www.hrichina.org/en/press-work/statement/rights-defender-cao-shunli-died-hospital-beijing-lawyer-barred-viewing-body
[11] https://www.hrichina.org/en/press-work/hric-bulletin/cao-shunlis-living-legacy-international-and-domestic-responses
[12] https://www.hrichina.org/en/legal-resources/hric-law-note-five-detained-women-released-guarantee-pending-further-investigation
[13] https://www.hrichina.org/en/supporting-gender-justice-china
[14] https://www.hrichina.org/en/node/27721
[15] https://www.hrichina.org/en/honor-human-rights-defenders-send-messages-imprisoned-and-detained-human-rights-defenders-show-your
[16] https://www.hrichina.org/en/june-fourth
[17] https://www.hrichina.org/en/policy
[18] https://www.hrichina.org/en/outreach-and-collaboration
[19] https://www.hrichina.org/en/2008-olympics-campaign
[20] https://www.hrichina.org/en/donate-now
[21] http://eepurl.com/bh-Afn
[22] http://youtu.be/hrichina
[23] http://www.twitter.com/hrichina
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