Liu Jiacai
Liu Jiacai is a democracy activist who has been working in defence of human rights since 1998. He first came to the attention of the authorities that year when he began to organise labourers in a factory he worked in to defend their rights and organise independent workers' unions. He was jailed for two years in 2001 for 'inciting subversion of state power' in response to his activities, and faced state harassment as a result of his efforts to commemorate those who died in the government crackdown on the Tiananmen Square protests in 1989. He was fired from his job in 2012 for his persistent human rights advocacy and in 2015 was sentenced to five years in prison for 'inciting subervsion of state power'.
Chinese HRDs face intimidation, harassment, house arrest, abductions, torture and imprisonment. They also work under very restrictive legislation, including laws which criminalize all unauthorized demonstrations and require government sponsorship for NGO registration, which is refused to any organisation touching on human rights issues. Widescale investigations into NGOs with links to overseas organisations took place in 2014 and 2015 resulting in harassment, detentions and forced closures.
