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Human rights lawyer Chang Weiping sentenced to three and a half years in prison

Status: 
Sentenced
About the situation

On 8 June 2023, human rights lawyer Chang Weiping (常玮平) was found guilty of “subversion of State power” and sentenced to three years and six months in prison. On 2 December 2022, the Baoji Municipal Intermediate People’s Court informed the family of detained human rights lawyer Chang Weiping that the Supreme People’s Court has again approved the extension of the deadline for announcing a verdict to 7 January 2023. Chang Weiping was tried behind closed-doors on 26 July 2022.

On 26 July 2022, human rights lawyer Chang Weiping was tried behind closed doors at the Feng County People’s Court in Shaanxi province, for the charge of “subversion of State power”. The trial lasted about 90 minutes and ended without a verdict, which will be announced at a later date.

On 22 June 2022, Chang Weiping’s defence lawyer talked to the human rights defender via a video link from the Feng County Court in Baoji city, Shaanxi province. Chang Weiping continues to suffer from bloody stool. In December 2021, he received a basic rectal examination. However, his family is very concerned that he has been experiencing bloody stool for an extended period of time during detention. His family would like him to undergo gastroscopy and colonoscopy in order to determine whether there are other conditions, which if not detected and treated early, may lead to serious health consequences. On 1 July 2022, Chen Zijuan, Chang Weiping’s wife, sent an official request to the Feng County Detention Centre demanding that Chang Weiping urgently receive a comprehensive health examination, including painless gastroscopy and colonoscopy.

On 22 October 2021, Dr Chen Zijuan telephoned the Baoji Municipal People's Procuratorate about the status of her husband Chang Weiping's case, which was pending review by the prosecutors. The Procuratorate told her that the case had been sent back to the Baoji police for supplementary investigation.

In the afternoon of 14 September 2021, Chang Weiping was allowed to meet his lawyer for the first time since his detention in October 2020. The meeting took place at the Feng County Detention Centre located in a remote mountainous area of Baoji city, Shaanxi province. The human rights defender was transferred to the detention centre in April 2021 after spending almost six months under "residential surveillance at a designated location" (RSDL), a form of enforced disappearance provided for under Chinese law.

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.

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.

On 1 July 2021, Chang Weiping's new lawyer, the sixth that his family has hired, went to the Baoji Municipal Public Security Bureau to formally seek a meeting with its Deputy Bureau Chief, Guo Zhangwei, and the deputy head of its Domestic Security Branch, Yang Yongke, in order to obtain information about the case against the human rights defender. The security guards at the Bureau refused to pass on the lawyer's request, or to contact the officials on the lawyer's behalf.

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.

On the morning of 11 March 2021, Chang Weiping's lawyers went to the Gaoxin branch of the Baoji Municipal Public Security Bureau in Shaanxi province to submit a request to meet the human rights defender and an application to end the "residential surveillance at a designated location" (RSDL), under which the defender has been detained since October 2020.

In late February 2021, a lawyer submitted a request to the authorities of Baoji city to meet Chang Weiping in detention. Soon after the lawyer returned to the city where she resides, she was made aware that the Baoji authorities had lodged complaints against her with the Judicial Bureau in her city.

On 25 November 2020, Chang Shuanming was allowed to meet his son Chang Weiping at a police station in the Gaoxin District in Baoji, Shaanxi province.

In a decision dated 28 October 2020, the Baoji Gaoxin District sub-branch of the Baoji Municipal Public Security Bureau rejected Chang Weiping's bail application, submitted by his lawyer.

Since 22 October 2020, human rights lawyer Chang Weiping (常玮平) has been held in an undisclosed location and denied access to lawyers, after police took him into custody in the city of Baoji in the northwestern province of Shaanxi. This comes only six days after he spoke publicly about torture he suffered at the hands of local police.

About Chang Weiping (常玮平)

Chang WeipingChang Weiping is a human rights lawyer known for his public interest litigation in defence of the rights of people facing discrimination based on their health status, sex, gender identity and sexual orientation. He has provided legal counsel to human rights defenders, victims of defective vaccines, as well as women, LGBT persons, and persons living with HIV/AIDS and hepatitis B who face discrimination in the workplace.

8 June 2023
Human rights lawyer Chang Weiping sentenced to three and a half years in prison

On 8 June 2023, human rights lawyer Chang Weiping (常玮平) was found guilty of “subversion of State power” and sentenced to three years and six months in prison. The verdict came ten months after the initial trial in July 2022 and was read out at the Feng County Detention Centre in Baoji city, Shaanxi province.

Chang Weiping is a human rights lawyer known for his public interest litigation in defence of the rights of people facing discrimination based on their health status, sex, gender identity and sexual orientation. He has provided legal counsel to human rights defenders and victims of defective vaccines, as well as women, LGBTIQ+ persons, and persons living with HIV/AIDS and hepatitis B who face discrimination in the workplace.

According to Chang Weiping’s spouse, since his secret trial in July 2022, the Feng County Detention Centre, where the human rights defender is being held, have repeatedly rejected his legal counsel’s requests to meet the human rights defender, on the pretext of COVID-19 prevention. Following the lifting of COVID-19 restrictions nationwide in December 2022, Chang Weiping’s lawyer made another request in January 2023, but the detention centre denied it again. This time, their denial was on the pretext that an approval from a superior official was needed because the case in question is “special.” The lawyer’s request to meet the human rights defender in March 2023 was also denied.

In September 2022, UN human rights experts wrote to the Chinese government again to express “grave concern” about the ongoing detention of the human rights defender and his trial which took place behind closed doors. The UN experts further stated that their concerns are “aggravated by the apparent violations of due process guarantees in Mr. Chang's case, which would strongly indicate the violation of his right to a fair trial.” In its reply in November 2022, the Chinese government claimed that Chang Weiping “voluntarily signed a statement containing a guilty plea,” but the said statement was not published. The so-called guilty plea is widely believed to have been involuntary and the result of coercion.

Front Line Defenders condemns the verdict against Chang Weiping 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 the human rights defender and immediately release him.

9 December 2022
Supreme Court extends deadline for announcing verdict in case against Chang Weiping

On 2 December 2022, the Baoji Municipal Intermediate People’s Court informed the family of detained human rights lawyer Chang Weiping that the Supreme People’s Court has again approved the extension of the deadline for announcing a verdict to 7 January 2023. Chang Weiping was tried behind closed-doors on 26 July 2022.

Under China’s Criminal Procedure Law (CPL), a court is supposed to reach a verdict within two months of accepting the case, and may not exceed three months at the latest. However, the CPL grants a higher court the authority to grant an extension of this deadline by three months at a time, in cases “where the death penalty might be issued or where civil litigation is attached, as well as those that have any of the circumstances provided for in article 158 of this law.” The human rights defender was tried for the charge of “subversion of State power” under the Criminal Law, which does not provide for the death penalty as a punishment. The case does not involve civil litigation.

The circumstances stipulated in article 158 of the CPL are: major, complicated cases in remote regions where transportation is extremely inconvenient; major cases of gang crimes; major, complicated cases of crimes being committed in several locations; and major, complicated cases involving a large area making it difficult to gather evidence. It is unclear which of these circumstances the Supreme People’s Court relied on, in approving the extension of the verdict deadline.

3 August 2022
Chang Weiping tried secretly, family denied access to court

On 26 July 2022, human rights lawyer Chang Weiping was tried behind closed doors at the Feng County People’s Court in Shaanxi province, for the charge of “subversion of State power”. The trial lasted about 90 minutes and ended without a verdict, which will be announced at a later date.

On 25 July 2022, Dr Chen Zijuan, Chang Weiping’s wife, as well as her son and mother, travelled over 2000 kilometres from their home in southern China to Feng County hoping to attend the trial, but security officers blocked her car at a highway exit in Feng County for over ten hours overnight. As a result, she could not attend the trial.

The court’s trial notice to the defender’s lawyers did not provide any legal basis or justification for holding a non-public trial. If convicted and deemed by the court to be a “ring leader” or to have committed a “major crime”, the defender faces life imprisonment or a minimum of a ten-year sentence under article 105 of China’s Criminal Law. In a letter to the Chinese government in April 2021, UN human rights experts have criticised the vagueness of the terms “ring leader” and “major crimes” in article 105, which allows the judiciary to hand down long and harsh sentences.

7 July 2022
Chang Weiping’s continued health concerns

On 22 June 2022, Chang Weiping’s defence lawyer talked to the human rights defender via a video link from the Feng County Court in Baoji city, Shaanxi province. Chang Weiping continues to suffer from bloody stool. In December 2021, he received a basic rectal examination. However, his family is very concerned that he has been experiencing bloody stool for an extended period of time during detention. His family would like him to undergo gastroscopy and colonoscopy in order to determine whether there are other conditions, which if not detected and treated early, may lead to serious health consequences. On 1 July 2022, Chen Zijuan, Chang Weiping’s wife, sent an official request to the Feng County Detention Centre demanding that Chang Weiping urgently receive a comprehensive health examination, including painless gastroscopy and colonoscopy.

A day before the video call, the defender’s lawyer went to review the case files at the Baoji Intermediate Court. The judge overseeing the case forced the lawyer to sign a non-disclosure agreement because the case is deemed “special”, without providing further justification or legal basis. The agreement prohibits the lawyer from disclosing the content of the case files to the public or even family members.

11 November 2021
Prosecutors send case back to police for more investigation

On 22 October 2021, Dr Chen Zijuan telephoned the Baoji Municipal People's Procuratorate about the status of her husband Chang Weiping's case, which was pending review by the prosecutors. The Procuratorate told her that the case had been sent back to the Baoji police for supplementary investigation. Under China's Criminal Procedure Law, the police must complete supplementary investigation within a month and a maximum of two rounds of such investigation are allowed.

Since Chang Weiping's lawyer met the human rights defender for the first time on 15 September 2021, three more meetings took place on 30 September, 15 October and 21 October. During these meetings, Chang Weiping revealed further details about the torture and ill-treatment he suffered at the hands of the Baoji police while he was under "residential surveillance at a designated location" (RSDL) in the months following his arrest in October 2020. He said he was subjected to particularly intensive interrogation and sleep deprivation in the first three months from October 2020 to late January 2021. He was interrogated while strapped to a restraining device called a "tiger chair" for six straight days right after his arrest on 22 October 2020. He was not allowed to go to the toilet often and was given a limited amount of water to drink per day.

The human rights defender said he is suffering from a number of health conditions, including occasional bloody stool, varicoses on his legs, acid reflux, and pain in his neck, shoulder and spine. He also said he has suffered psychological harm and developed symptoms of paranoia in December 2020.

16 September 2021
Chang Weiping allowed first meeting with lawyers, recounts ill-treatment

In the afternoon of 14 September 2021, Chang Weiping was allowed to meet his lawyer for the first time since his detention in October 2020. The meeting took place at the Feng County Detention Centre located in a remote mountainous area of Baoji city, Shaanxi province. The human rights defender was transferred to the detention centre in April 2021 after spending almost six months under "residential surveillance at a designated location" (RSDL), a form of enforced disappearance provided for under Chinese law.

Earlier on 8 September 2021, a local prosecutor from the Baoji Municipal People's Procuratorate came to question the human rights defender. On 9 September 2021, the human rights defender's lawyer went to the Procuratorate to examine the case files, a right afforded to defense lawyers under Chinese law once a criminal case is under review for prosecution at the procuratorate. However, the lawyer was not allowed to enter the Procuratorate's building because he did not bring a negative COVID test. He telephoned an assistant to the prosecutor who is responsible for the case and was told the prosecutor is on annual leave. The lawyer was also told that the examination of case files requires the prior approval of both the responsible prosecutor and the investigating organ, and that the files can only be viewed electronically on site because they contain "top secret" information.

Chang Weiping said his RSDL detention took place in the same hotel where he had been detained under RSDL in January 2020. During his RSDL from October 2020 to April 2021, he was restrained in an interrogation device known as a "tiger chair" for six consecutive days. The hotel room and his bed were very small, and he shared the room with state security officers. The room was under 24-hour CCTV surveillance. He only showered six times during this period.

The human rights defender said he was subjected to intensive interrogation and was not allowed to sleep unless he provided testimonies according to the interrogators' instructions. Each of his three daily meals consisted of a steamed bun. The officers gave him a small amount of meat in addition to the buns when he complied with the officers' interrogation instructions.

The human rights defender said he is currently suffering from bloody stool, a condition which he did not have prior to his detention.

9 September 2021
Police send Chang Weiping's case to prosecutors for review

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.

3 August 2021
Detention centre refuses access, higher authorities obstructed family's complaints against police

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.

14 July 2021
Baoji officials evade Chang Weiping's lawyer and stonewall attempts to obtain information

On 1 July 2021, Chang Weiping's new lawyer, the sixth that his family has hired, went to the Baoji Municipal Public Security Bureau to formally seek a meeting with its Deputy Bureau Chief, Guo Zhangwei, and the deputy head of its Domestic Security Branch, Yang Yongke, in order to obtain information about the case against the human rights defender. The security guards at the Bureau refused to pass on the lawyer's request, or to contact the officials on the lawyer's behalf. Chang Weiping's lawyer then went to the Baoji Municipal Procuratorate to lodge a complaint against the Public Security Bureau for its refusal to meet him. After recording the lawyer's identity and other documentations, the receptionists at the Procuratorate told the lawyer to talk directly to the Gaoxin Branch of the Public Security Bureau, as it is the unit responsible for investigating Chang Weiping.

The human rights defender's lawyer then visited the Gaoxin Branch to seek a meeting with its deputy chief, Xiang Xianhong, but was told that the official was not available. The lawyer's calls to Xiang's office phone and mobile went unanswered. The lawyer went back to the Procuratorate and asked for the identity and contact information of the prosecutor who is assigned to the case, but the receptionists refused to disclose that information, and insisted that the lawyer talk to the Public Security Bureau instead.

Chang Weiping's lawyer subsequently went to the Shaanxi Provincial Procuratorate to lodge a complaint against the Baoji Public Security Bureau and Procuratorate. The receptionist told the lawyer that "it is inconvenient for the provincial prosecutors to intervene" in this case. Multiple recent attempts by Chang Weiping's family to contact or submit complaints against the Public Security Bureau and Procuratorate officials at the local and provincial levels were also unsuccessful.

22 April 2021
Chang Weiping formally arrested on a more serious charge

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". 

22 March 2021
Police refuse to end secret detention or grant access to lawyers

On the morning of 11 March 2021, Chang Weiping's lawyers went to the Gaoxin branch of the Baoji Municipal Public Security Bureau in Shaanxi province to submit a request to meet the human rights defender and an application to end the "residential surveillance at a designated location" (RSDL), under which the defender has been detained since October 2020. The lawyers also requested to see Xiang Xianhong, the deputy chief of the Gaoxin branch, to discuss details of the case. Xiang Xianhong was away at the time however, and spoke to the lawyers by phone.

That afternoon, Chang Weiping's lawyers went to the Baoji Municipal Procuratorate and submitted a complaint against the Gaoxin branch of the Public Security Bureau for allegedly torturing Chang Weiping whilst detained under RSDL. The lawyers also requested that the procuratorate exercise its supervisory powers over the local public security bureau's investigations into Chang Weiping. The procuratorate confirmed that it is yet to receive the case for prosecution review.

On 12 March 2021, Chang Weiping's lawyers went to the Gaoxin branch again in a second attempt to meet Xiang Xianhong, however he was not present this time either. The lawyers spoke to him by phone again, but he refused to disclose any details in relation to the case. The lawyers then went back to the Baoji Municipal Procuratorate to follow up on their complaint the previous day, but were told that following "verification" with the police, the Procuratorate had concluded that Chang Weiping has not been subjected to torture by the public security bureau.

The Baoji Municipal Public Security Bureau subsequently rejected the request to end Chang Weiping's RSDL, indicating that due to the "requirements in processing the case", keeping Chang Weiping under RSDL is "more appropriate". No further reasons were provided. The Bureau also rejected the lawyers' request to meet the human rights defender as it would allegedly "impede the investigation or result in leaking of State secrets".

3 March 2021
Chang Weiping's legal counsel withdraws under pressure from authorities

In late February 2021, a lawyer submitted a request to the authorities of Baoji city to meet Chang Weiping in detention. Soon after the lawyer returned to the city where she resides, she was made aware that the Baoji authorities had lodged complaints against her with the Judicial Bureau in her city. As a result of this pressure, the lawyer decided to withdraw from the case.

This is the fourth lawyer who has withdrawn from Chang Weiping's case due to official pressure since the human rights defender was detained in October 2020.

13 January 2021
Chang Weiping's family and lawyers face immense pressure and harassment

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.”

2 December 2020
Father of human rights defender Chang Weiping granted visitation

On 25 November 2020, Chang Shuanming was allowed to meet his son Chang Weiping at a police station in the Gaoxin District in Baoji, Shaanxi province. The meeting lasted ten minutes and took place in a room in the presence of several security officers. The father said his son looked thinner and tired, and that his eyes were bloodshot and he spoke much slower than usual.

10 November 2020
Chang Weiping denied bail

In a decision dated 28 October 2020, the Baoji Gaoxin District sub-branch of the Baoji Municipal Public Security Bureau rejected Chang Weiping's bail application, submitted by his lawyer. The police indicated in the written decision that due to "requirements in processing this case, it is more appropriate to subject the suspect to residential surveillance at a designated location." The police did not further specify what the "requirements" are.

27 October 2020
Human rights lawyer Chang Weiping in secret detention, denied access to lawyers

Since 22 October 2020, human rights lawyer Chang Weiping (常玮平) has been held in an undisclosed location and denied access to lawyers, after police took him into custody in the city of Baoji in the northwestern province of Shaanxi. This comes only six days after he spoke publicly about torture he suffered at the hands of local police.

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Chang Weiping is a human rights lawyer known for his public interest litigation in defence of the rights of people facing discrimination based on their health status, sex, gender identity and sexual orientation. He has provided legal counsel to human rights defenders, victims of defective vaccines, as well as women, LGBT persons, and persons living with HIV/AIDS and hepatitis B who face discrimination in the workplace.

On the evening of 22 October 2020, after Chang Weiping was taken into custody, the Baoji police telephoned his wife, who lives in Guangdong province in southern China, and informed her that the defender had been placed under “residential surveillance at a designated location” (RSDL) for unspecified “violations of legal regulations”. The police did not inform her of the exact charges he faces, the location in which he is being held nor did they provide the family with an official RSDL notice.

On 26 October 2020, accompanied by two lawyers, Chang Weiping’s father went to the Gaoxin District Branch of the Baoji Public Security Bureau to seek additional information, request a meeting with Chang Weiping, present paperwork for legal representation, and submit an application for bail. The police did not allow the lawyers to meet Chang Weiping and refused to disclose the identity of the police officers or unit responsible for investigating him, the exact location of his detention, and the basis for placing him under RSDL. They justified these actions on the grounds that the human rights defender is suspected of “inciting subversion of national security” and that his case involves “state secrets”.

Chang Weiping’s detention came six days after he published online a video clip, in which he shared details of his torture during a ten-day RSDL detention in a hotel room in Baoji in January 2020. He was placed under RSDL then in connection with his participation in a private gathering of lawyers, academics and activists in Xiamen city, Fujian province in early December 2019. Police launched a cross-provincial operation to detain, question and harass a number of human rights defenders who attended or were otherwise connected to the meeting. During his January 2020 RSDL, local authorities officially announced the suspension of Chang Weiping’s lawyer’s license.

In the video clip, Chang Weiping said that police interrogators tied him to a restraining device known as a “tiger chair” for “24 hours a day for ten days” and interrogated him 16 times during that period. In the ten months since his provisional release from RSDL, he said the local police kept him under strict surveillance at his family home in Fengxiang county in Baoji, telephoned him daily, and visited him at least once a week. He explained in the video clip that his work as a lawyer and his attendance at the December 2019 meeting in Xiamen were completely lawful examples of his exercise and defence of human rights.

In August 2018, UN human rights experts wrote to the Chinese Government raising concern that the conditions of detention under RSDL “are analogous to incommunicado and secret detention and tantamount to enforced disappearance”, exposing “those subjected to RSDL to the risk of torture and other inhuman and degrading treatment and other human rights violations.” The Working Group on Arbitrary Detention has repeatedly warned China that “widespread or systematic imprisonment or other severe deprivation of liberty in violation of the rules of international law may constitute crimes against humanity.”

Front Line Defenders is deeply concerned about the detention of Chang Weiping in an undisclosed location, without access to legal counsel which significantly raises the risks of torture and ill-treatment in detention. Front Line Defenders believes that his detention is solely motivated by his peaceful and legitimate work in the defence of human rights.