Human rights defenders Yu Wensheng and Xu Yan detained without trial for one year

Human rights lawyer Yu Wensheng and woman human rights defender Xu Yan has been arbitrarily detained for one year without trial since their arrest on 13 April 2023. Both human rights defenders were arrested in Beijing while en route to a meeting with European diplomats.

Yu Wensheng (余文生) is a human rights lawyer based in Beijing. He has represented cases of victims of China’s crackdowns on petitioners, civil rights activists, and his fellow human rights lawyers. Yu Wensheng has also used his legal skills to advocate for reform in multiple sectors of Chinese society. In 2016, Yu Wensheng was one of a small group of lawyers to sue the Chinese government over air pollution in the country. He is a recipient of the Franco-German Prize for Human Rights and the Rule of Law in 2018 and the Martin Ennals Award in 2021. Yu Wensheng had previously served a four-year sentence from 2018 to 2022 after being convicted for “inciting subversion of state power”. After he completed his sentence, he continued to speak out against human rights violations and arbitrary detention of human rights defenders.

Xu Yan (许艳) is a woman human rights defender who campaigned for the release of Yu Wensheng, to whom she is married, as well as for other human rights defenders and their family members who face harassment, surveillance, and arbitrary detention.

On 14 April 2023, a day after their arrest, Yu Wensheng and Xu Yan were placed under criminal detention, charged with “picking quarrels and provoking trouble”. In October 2023, Yu Wensheng and Xu Yan were indicted on this charge, along with a more severe charge of "inciting subversion of state power." Both accusations are vaguely defined offences frequently employed to target human rights defenders and activists exercising their fundamental freedoms.

Yu Wensheng was denied access to legal counsel for several months until a meeting was permitted in late December 2023. Both defenders remained detained in Beijing from their arrest until January 2024, after which they were transferred to Suzhou Detention Centre in Jiangsu province, approximately 1000 km away.

On 15 April 2023, two days after the couple’s arrest, police visited their residence in Beijing and verbally notified their son, who had just turned eighteen, of his parents’ criminal detention. However, the police failed to provide a copy of the criminal detention notice and declined the son's request to photograph it. The police also conducted a search of the residence and confiscated items without presenting a search warrant. The son’s mental health has seriously deteriorated over the last year.

Front Line Defenders believes the detention and charges against Yu Wensheng and Xu Yan are a reprisal for their peaceful and legitimate human rights work.

Front Line Defenders urges the authorities in China to:

Immediately and unconditionally release Yu Wensheng and Xu Yan;

Ensure that, pending their release, they are not subjected to any form of torture or other ill-treatment, that they receive adequate healthcare and that their human rights are guaranteed in accordance with international law and standards while in detention;

Ensure their son and other members of their family are not subjected to harassment or threats; and

Guarantee in all circumstances that all human rights defenders in China are able to carry out their legitimate human rights activities without fear of reprisals and free of all restrictions, including judicial harassment.