Case History: Chang Boyang
On 17 June 2014, the Zhengzhou offices of the anti-discrimination NGO Yirenping were raided by police in Henan Province. One staff member was detained for questioning while computers and documents were also confiscated. Three weeks before, on 27 May 2014, Zhengzhou Yirenping's legal representative and board member of the parent Yirenping organisation, Mr Chang Boyang, was detained on charges of “gathering a crowd to disrupt public order.”
Chang Boyang is a human rights lawyer who has worked extensively with disadvantaged and vulnerable communities to help defend their rights. He has represented migrant workers, children and people living with HIV/AIDS. In 2004 he set up a volunteer legal aid centre in Henan province and, in 2008, founded a volunteer lawyers' network to assist children who had been made ill from drinking tainted baby milk formula.
On 29 November 2014, human rights lawyer Mr Chang Boyang was released on bail following 6 months detention in Zhengzhou No. 3 Detention Centre.
On 5 July 2014, the official arrest notice delivered to Chang Boyang's family stated that the human rights lawyer had been charged with “engaging in illegal business operations”. On 3 July 2014, Chang Boyang's arrest had been approved by the prosecutor's office and he was detained in Zhengzhou No. 3 Detention Centre. Chang Boyang has never participated in Yirenping’s operation or management, nor in any of its financial or tax matters. Previously, on 27 May 2014, the human rights lawyer had been detained on a different charge of “gathering a crowd to disrupt public order”. While in detention, Chang Boyang did not have access to his lawyers. On 4 September 2014, his lawyers were informed that the detention period for investigation had expired but that it would be extended for another month.
Front Line Defenders welcomes the release on bail of Chang Boyang and believes that his arrest and detention were solely related to his legitimate and peaceful activities in the defence of human rights. Front Line Defenders also expresses its concern for the dozens of human rights defenders in China who have been detained in recent months and remain in detention as a result of their human rights activities.
On 17 June 2014, the Zhengzhou offices of the anti-discrimination NGO Yirenping were raided by police in Henan Province. One staff member was detained for questioning while computers and documents were also confiscated. Three weeks before, on 27 May 2014, Zhengzhou Yirenping's legal representative and board member of the parent Yirenping organisation, Mr Chang Boyang, was detained on charges of “gathering a crowd to disrupt public order.”
Yirenping is a non-profit organisation which fights discrimination, promotes social justice and provides community outreach programmes.
On the afternoon of 17 June 2014, five plain-clothes police officers from Erligang police station in Zhengzhou city entered the premises of Zhengzhou Yirenping. They demanded that the NGO cooperate with the police investigation into Mr Yu Shiwen and Ms Chen Wei, two human rights defenders legally represented by Chang Boyang. The two were detained in late May 2014 after participating in an event related to the 25th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square protests. In addition, one Yirenping staff member was taken in for questioning and held until 1am on 18 June 2014 before being released. Two computers and financial documents were also confiscated in the raid.
According to Zhengzhou Yirenping, the police interrogation of their staff member related to the organisation's connections with Chang Boyang. On 27 May 2014, the human rights defender received a summons to appear at Erligang police station in Zhengzhou and later that evening 15 police officers carried out a search of his home, during which two computers and two mobile phones were confiscated. Chang Boyang is currently being held in Zhengzhou No. 3 Detention Centre.
A number of days before the raid on the Yirenping offices, on 12 June 2014, the organisation's bank account in Zhengzhou city was frozen, with police reportedly telling Yirenping that this was due to the investigation into Chang Boyang. Police alleged that, as the human rights defender is a shareholder in Zhengzhou Yirenping, the deposits in that bank account constitute Chang Boyang's assets, and so can be legally frozen.
It is believed that Chang Boyang's detention relates to his legal representation of Yu Shiwen and Chen Wei, as well as a number of other detained human rights defenders in Henan province. Since his detention, Chang Boyang has not been permitted to meet with his lawyers, in violation of China's Criminal Procedure Law. Over 60 lawyers from around the country have expressed their willingness to represent the human rights defender.
Front Line Defenders expresses its concern regarding the raiding of the offices of Zhengzhou Yirenping, interrogation of its staff, confiscation of its property and freezing of its bank account. Furthermore, Front Line Defenders is concerned at the detention of Chang Boyang and the refusal to allow him access to a lawyer. Front Line Defenders believes that these actions are solely related to Zhengzhou Yirenping and Chang Boyang's legitim
