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China: Harassment of human rights defender Ms Ni Yulanposted on: 2011/01/07

Human rights defender Ms Ni Yulan faces her 19th day without electricity or internet connection due to ongoing police harassment. Her water supply has also been cut for the majority of this time.

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Ni Yulan is a lawyer who has been involved in human rights defence for 11 years. She has been persistently targetted by police since offering legal aid to a Falun Gong practitioner in 1999. In 2002 Ni Yulan attempted to document on camera her neighbours' forced eviction and the demolition of their home. She was noticed by the police, and subsequently dragged to a police station and beaten so severely that she was left permanently disabled. She is currently confined to a wheelchair.

As of 7 January 2011, human rights defender Ni Yulan has had the electricity and internet connection cut for 19 consecutive days in the Beijing hotel room where she is currently staying, as a result of police pressure on the owners of the hotel. She has had only intermittent access to water during this time.

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China: Human rights defender Sun Hongjie left brain-dead after assaultposted on: 2010/12/22

Front Line is saddened by a brutal assault on human rights defender and anti-corruption journalist Mr Sun Hongjie on 18 December in Kuitun, Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region. Sun Hongjie is an investigative journalist with Northern Xinjiang Morning Post.

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At approximately 1 am on 18 December Sun Hongjie was returning home after meeting an acquaintance for a drink.

As the two walked home, the acquaintance turned on Sun Hongjie as five other men appeared and proceeded to attack him. They dragged him into a construction site where he was severely beaten and reportedly hit over the head with clumps of earth.

His mobile phone was also smashed. His wallet and other belongings remained untouched. A colleague brought Sun to a hospital, where he was later pronounced brain dead. Six men have been arrested.

Sun Hongjie has become well known in Kuitun for exposing corruption and abuse of power in his writing.

China: Human rights defenders remain missing following Nobel crackdownposted on: 2010/12/15

As of 15 December 2010 several prominent human rights defenders remain missing or in police detention following a sweeping crackdown in the run-up to the Nobel Peace Prize Ceremony in Oslo on 10 December 2010.

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In the past number of days, police have lifted restrictions on many human rights defenders who had been confined to house arrest, had been forced back to their home towns, or had their internet and phone lines cut for the period surrounding the Nobel Ceremony.

Others though, have failed to resurface after being taken by police, and their prolonged periods of detention are cause for concern.

Among those who have yet to reappear are the following (list is not exhaustive):

Fan Yafeng, a prominent human rights lawyer and leader of an underground house church. On 9 December, following numerous house arrests and interrogations in the previous two months, Fan was taken into police custody once again and has been out of contact since.

Li Hai, a Beijing based dissident and a member of the house church led by Fan Yafeng. On 30 October he was seized by police at the premises of the church and since then he has been unreachable.

GENEVA: Three UN independent experts express concerns over crackdown on human rights defenders since Liu Xiaobo was awarded the Nobel Peace Prizeposted on: 2010/12/14

“Since 8 October 2010, we have received reports of over 20 arrests or detentions of human rights defenders, and over 120 other cases of house arrests, including Liu Xiaobo’s wife, Liu Xia, travel restrictions, forced relocations, acts of intimidation, and blocking of means of communication, including removal of content on the Internet regarding the Nobel Peace Prize,” stated the experts.

Further Information

The statement was issued by:

    1. Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders, Margaret Sekaggya;
    2. Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression, Frank La Rue;
    3. Chair-Rapporteur of the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, El Hadji Malick Sow.

Gao Zhisheng - Currently missing in Chinaposted on: 2010/12/07

Human rights defender and self-taught lawyer Gao Zhisheng was named one of China's top ten lawyers by the Ministry of Justice in 2001. However, after beginning to investigate and draw attention to allegations of abuse against members of China’s religious minorities, he became subject to harassment, detentions and forced disappearances himself. The whereabouts of Gao Zhisheng are currently unknown. He has not been heard from since 20 April 2010.

Further Information

In 2004 and 2005 Gao wrote three open letters to the Chinese leaders calling on the government to bring to a halt the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners. As a result of this Gao’s license to practice law was revoked, his law firm shut down and his family began to face harassment from Chinese security forces. In February 2006 Gao organised a “Relay Hunger Strike for Human Rights,” which involved human rights defenders and citizens fasting for 24 hours in rotation. This was launched to protest against state harassment and abuse of human rights defenders and the lawyers who represented them.

China: Public support for human rights defender Chen Guangcheng under close house arrestposted on: 2010/12/02

Chen Guangcheng, a blind self-taught lawyer and human rights defender, was released from prison on 9 September 2010 after serving more than four years on account of his work exposing human rights abuses in Linyi City, Shandong Province. Since then he and his family have been under strict house arrest with extremely limited contact with the outside world.

Report from China

The entrances to his village are blocked by hired thugs who refuse to let anybody from outside the village – including foreign diplomats – enter to visit Chen, amidst reports of his worsening health.

Below is an appeal launched by Chinese civil society and human rights defenders urging greater action to be taken to help show solidarity with Chen and to secure his freedom.

More information may be found on the website www.chenguangcheng.com

“YOU ARE NOT FORGOTTEN”

As of September 9, 2010, blind self-taught rights lawyer Chen Guangcheng had served in full his sentence of 4 years 3 months and was transported from the prison directly to his home in Shandong province; Chen and his family were placed under strict house arrest and remain under constant guard by several dozen people.

China: Human rights defender Mr Zhao Lianhai sentenced to two-and-a-half years in prisonposted on: 2010/11/11

On 10 November 2010, human rights defender Mr Zhao Lianhai was sentenced by a court in Beijing, to two-and-a-half years in prison on charges of inciting social disorder.

Further Information

Mr Zhao's lawyer, Mr Li Fanping, stated that Zhao Lianhai plans to appeal the verdict and will begin a hunger strike in protest against the sentence.

Zhao Lianhai founded the website,˜Home for the Kidney Stone Babies", an online space set up to collect and provide information for the parents of children who became ill after drinking contaminated milk.

On 13 November 2009, Zhao Lianhai was detained on suspicion of making a public disturbance. He was tried in a closed court on 30 March 2010 in a trial which lasted six hours. He pleaded not-guilty to the charges.

Zhao Lianhai began defending the rights of those affected by the contaminated milk in 2008. Mr Zhao's son was one of at least 300,000 babies in China who became ill as a result of drinking deliberately contaminated milk from over 20 dairy producers.

50,000 children were hospitalised and at least six died after melamine, an industrial chemical, was added to poor quality milk to give it a higher protein reading.

China: Human rights defender who campaigned for compensation for victims of 2008 contaminated baby milk scandal jailed posted on: 2010/11/10

A Chinese human rights defender who campaigned for compensation for victims of a 2008 contaminated baby milk scandal has been jailed for two-and-a-half years.

China: Ai Weiwei latest human rights defender placed under house arrest posted on: 2010/11/05

Prominent artist, social activist and human rights defender Mr Ai Weiwei was placed under house arrest on 5 November 2010 at his home in Beijing by the Beijing State Security.

China Liu Xiaobo's inspiring speech from the dock during his trial in December 2009

The history of the human rights movement is littered with the personal stories of human rights defenders and political activists who have faced the full rigour of the repressive state with courage and conviction.

Liu Xiaobo has remained steadfast despite bearing the brunt of by the entire legal machinery of the state- but his statement during his trial - even in this abridged form - transcends the normal limits of advocacy into literature. His statement is at the same time a visionary statement - a love letter - and a piece of literature.

It reminds us of the daily courage of human rights defenders around the world who put their lives on the line in defenders of the rights of others.

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