CHRD
Shanghai: Chinese human rights defenders (CHRD) report urged the Chinese government to immediately end the practice of arbitrary detention, particularly targeting those who are advocating for human rights protections and exercising their right to freedom of expression. Pending their release, authorities must guarantee human rights defenders access to lawyers of their choice and protect their fair trial rights, including without unreasonably prolonging their time in pre-trial detention, the report said.
“CHRD is alarmed at the lack of information about the conditions of detained rights defenders in several cases involving delayed trials and denial of their lawyers’ requests for visits”, the report stated.
Detained human rights defenders continue to suffer from arbitrary detention and abuses of their legal rights throughout China. Violations of the right to fair trial seem to be exacerbated by the tense “politically sensitive” climate as numerous cities have imposed lockdowns or other strict measures to achieve “Zero COVID”, added the report.
CHRD urged the Chinese government to stop using COVID-19 precautions to deny the due process and fair trial rights of detained human rights defenders.
(Information supplied by Twitter)
By Team TRC