Related Research Articles
Huang Ju was a Chinese politician and a high-ranking leader in the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). He was a member of the Politburo Standing Committee of the CCP,China's top decision making body,between 2002 until his death in 2007,and also served as the first-ranked vice premier of China beginning in 2003. He died in office before he could complete his terms on the Standing Committee and as vice premier.
Shi Tao is a Chinese journalist,writer and poet,who in 2005 was sentenced to 10 years in prison for releasing a document of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to an overseas Chinese democracy site. Yahoo! China was later discovered to have facilitated his arrest by providing his personal details to the Chinese government. Yahoo! was subsequently rebuked by a panel of the U.S. Congress,settled a lawsuit by Shi's family out of court,and pledged to reform its practices.
Mao Hengfeng is a women's rights and human rights activist in the People's Republic of China. She refused to abort her third child after already having twins and was detained in an ankang and then dismissed from her job. A frequent petitioner,Mao served a year and a half of re-education through labor from 2004 to 2005 and two and half years in prison for "intentional destruction of property" in from 2006 to 2008. She was released from Shanghai Women's Prison on 29 November 2008. Since then she has served another year in RTL after protesting in support of Liu Xiaobo. She was briefly released,in February 2011,but under house arrest. She was almost immediately taken again,and placed in Shanghai City Prison Hospital,where she was previously tortured and ill-treated.
Falun Gong,also called Falun Dafa,is a spiritual practice and system of beliefs that combines the practice of meditation with the moral philosophy articulated by its leader and founder,Li Hongzhi. It emerged on the public radar in the Spring of 1992 in the northeastern Chinese city of Changchun,and was classified as a system of qigong identifying with the Buddhist tradition. Li claimed to have both supernatural powers like the ability to prevent illness,as well having eternal youth and promised that others can attain supernatural powers and eternal youth by following his teachings. Falun Gong initially enjoyed official sanction and support from Chinese government agencies,and the practice grew quickly on account of the simplicity of its exercise movements,impact on health,the absence of fees or formal membership,and moral and philosophical teachings.
Pu Zhiqiang is a Chinese civil rights lawyer who specialises in press freedom,defamation,and product safety,and other issues. Based in Beijing,he is an executive partner of the Huayi Law Firm. Pu is known for being a prominent member of the Weiquan movement,having advocated for writers and journalists in a number of high-profile cases. Due to the nature of the cases he has taken on and his criticism of official Chinese policies,Pu's actions are monitored by the Chinese state security services,and he has been detained and questioned on several occasions.
Xu Zhiyong is a Chinese civil rights activist and formerly a lecturer at the Beijing University of Post and Telecommunications. He was one of the founders of the NGO Open Constitution Initiative and an active rights lawyer in China who campaigned against corruption and helped those underprivileged. He is the main founder and icon of the New Citizens' Movement in China. In January 2014 he was sentenced to four years in prison for "gathering crowds to disrupt public order". He was detained again on February 15,2020,in the southern city of Guangzhou after two months in hiding,for his participation in a meeting of rights activists and lawyers in Xiamen in December 2019 in which "democratic transition in China" was discussed. He was sentenced for subversion to 14 years in jail on April 10,2023.
Teng Biao is a Chinese lawyer and political activist. He is a lecturer at the China University of Political Science and Law in Beijing. He has been a vocal supporter of human rights activists such as Chen Guangcheng and Hu Jia. He has been arrested at least twice,in March 2008 and in February 2011. He was also a visiting scholar at Harvard Law School from (2015-16) and at the Chinese University of Hong Kong.
The German Association of Judges is the largest professional organization of judges and public prosecutors in Germany. It was founded in 1909. It is a member organization of the International Association of Judges.
The Weiquan movement is a non-centralized group of lawyers,legal experts,and intellectuals in China who seek to protect and defend the civil rights of the citizenry through litigation and legal activism. The movement,which began in the early 2000s,has organized demonstrations,sought reform via the legal system and media,defended victims of human rights abuses,and written appeal letters,despite opposition from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Among the issues adopted by Weiquan lawyers are property and housing rights,protection for AIDS victims,environmental damage,religious freedom,freedom of speech and the press,and defending the rights of other lawyers facing disbarment or imprisonment.
The New Democracy Party of China is a political party that started in the People's Republic of China,and is banned by the Chinese government. It was established by Mr. Guo Quan,a professor at Nanjing Normal University in 2007 after he published an open letter to the leaders of China. The second acting chairman is Mr. Cunzhu Zheng,who was also a student leader in Anhui Province in 1989's Tiananmen Square Protests.
Guo Guoting,is a former Chinese lawyer,and chief partner of the Shanghai Tian Yi Law Firm. He was one of few lawyers who would defend dissidents and Falun Gong practitioners. He represented the imprisoned lawyer Zheng Enchong and journalist Shi Tao. Because of these activities,the Shanghai authorities revoked his license to practice law. A year after he lost his right to practice and also his freedom of movement,he left for Canada.
During the Maoist era,particularly during the Anti-Rightist Movement and the Cultural Revolution,the judicial system of China was often used for political persecution of rivals,and penalties such as jail terms or capital punishment were largely imposed on the authority's political enemies,or anyone who attempted to challenge it. During those times,vague accusations such as "counter-revolutionary",capitalist roader (走资本主义路线),"running dog of the imperialist " (帝国主义走狗) could have had the accused imprisoned,or shot by firing squad. These labels fell out of use following the end of the Cultural Revolution in 1976.
Guo Feixiong is the pen name of Yang Maodong (杨茂东),a Chinese human rights legal activist from Guangdong province who is often identified with the Weiquan movement. Guo is known as a dissident writer and "barefoot lawyer",who has worked on several controversial issues to defend the rights of marginalized groups. Prior to his 2006 imprisonment,Guo worked as a legal advisor to the Shanghai Shengzhi Law Firm.
Ni Yulan is a civil rights lawyer in the People's Republic of China. She has established herself in defending human rights in China by providing legal aid to persecuted groups such as Falun Gong practitioners and victims of forced eviction.
The 2011 crackdown on dissidents in China refers to the arrest of dozens of mainland Chinese rights lawyers,activists and grassroots agitators in a response to the 2011 Chinese pro-democracy protests. Since the protests,at least 54 Chinese activists have been arrested or detained by authorities in the biggest crackdown on dissent since the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre. Since the start of the protests in mid-February 2011,human rights groups have claimed that more than 54 people have been arrested by authorities,some of whom have been charged with crimes. Among those arrested are bloggers who criticise the government such as Ai Weiwei,lawyers who pursue cases against the government,and human rights activists.
Guo Xiaojun is a Chinese university lecturer and practitioner of Falun Gong who has twice been imprisoned by the government of the People's Republic of China on charges of "using a heretical organization to subvert the law". Amnesty International considers him a prisoner of conscience.
Jiang Tianyong is a human rights lawyer in the People's Republic of China. Based in Beijing,he is a prominent figure in the Weiquan movement,and has defended Tibetans,petitioners,Falun Gong adherents,HIV/AIDS victims,and other vulnerable groups. Jiang's human rights advocacy has drawn the ire of Chinese authorities;his applications for renewal of his legal license have been denied,and he has been detained on multiple occasions.
A barefoot lawyer is a self-taught legal activist in China. Many barefoot lawyers are peasants who have taught themselves enough law to file civil complaints,engage in litigation,and educate fellow citizens about their rights. The term is a variation of the "barefoot doctor"—farmers with minimal formal training who nonetheless provided essential medical services in rural China during the Mao era. Barefoot lawyers provide free legal services,and in many instances take on controversial or politically sensitive cases—such as tackling corruption by local authorities—that more established legal professionals may be reluctant to pursue. Notable examples of barefoot lawyers include the blind self-taught activist Chen Guangcheng,and Guo Feixiong.
Zheng Churan is a Chinese women's rights activist and feminist. Together with four other activists,she was detained,in March 2015,shortly before events planned for International Women's Day. They are collectively known as the Feminist Five. In November 2016,she became one of the BBC's 100 Women 2016.
References
- ↑ Cohen, Jeremy A. (2010-06-10). "Prisoner in his own home". South China Morning Post. Hong Kong. pp. A13.
- ↑ Amnesty International, Document - China: Human rights defenders at risk 6 December 2004.
- ↑ Deutsche Richterbund Menschenrechtspreis des DRB http://www.drb.de/cms/index.php?id=51&L=0&no_cache=1&sword_list Archived October 5, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
- ↑ Human Rights in China, 'Shanghai Lawyer Zheng Enchong Under De Facto House Arrest', 28 June 2006
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
