Woman human rights defender Li Yuhan returned home after completing sentence
On 24 March 2024, woman human rights defender and lawyer Li Yuhan completed a 6.5 year sentence and returned home.
On 25 October 2023, the Heping District Court in the city of Shenyang, Liaoning Province, found woman human rights lawyer Li Yuhan (李昱函) guilty of “picking quarrels and provoking trouble” and “fraud”, and sentenced her to 6.5 years in prison.
Woman human rights lawyer Li Yuhan’s health is deteriorating, as her detention approaches the five-year mark and the one-year mark since her trial in October 2021. The deterioration of her health includes episodes of heart attacks.
On 20 October 2021, the trial of woman human rights lawyer Li Yuhan took place at the Heping District People's Court in Shenyang city. Other human rights lawyers and defenders who attempted to observe the trial were blocked from entering the courthouse, which was guarded with heavy police presence. One of Li Yuhan's two defense lawyers was able to attend the trial. Her other defense lawyer can no longer represent her because his own law firm's operating license was arbitrarily invalidated in January 2021 and he has been unable to secure employment at another law firm. Human rights lawyer Wang Yu, who arrived in Shenyang the day before, attempted to submit credentials to represent Li Yuhan but was rejected by the presiding judge.
On 12 July 2021, woman human rights defender Li Yuhan's defense lawyer met her at the No. 1 Detention Centre in Shenyang city. The human rights defender told her lawyer that a judge has urged her to confess, but she refused. The judge told her that the prosecutors have recommended a sentence of between five to six years. The trial has now been postponed to 27 August 2021.
On 11 March 2021, woman human rights lawyer Li Yuhan was visited by her lawyers at the Shenyang Municipal No. 1 Detention Centre. She told her lawyers that on 7 January 2021, she was brought before a judge from the Shenyang Heping District Court who asked that she plead guilty and confess to her "crimes".
On 27 October 2020, Li Yuhan's lawyer met with the woman human rights defender at Detention Center No. 1 in Shenyang city and found that the authorities have added a new charge of "fraud" against her, in addition to her existing charge of "picking quarrels and provoking trouble" for which she was originally detained.
Li Yuhan was formally arrested on 15 November 2017. Her trial was scheduled to begin at the Heping District Court in Shenyang on 9 April 2019, but was abruptly cancelled three days before. Li Yuhan suffers from cardiovascular, gastric and several other diseases and her health deteriorated while in detention. She reported being subjected to verbal abuse and other ill-treatment in the detention centre. The authorities repeatedly rejected her lawyer’s requests for Li Yuhan to be released on medical parole.
On 31 October 2017, family of disappeared human rights lawyer Li Yuhan (李昱函) learned, following a call to an informal police contact, that she is currently under criminal detention in Shenyang City, Liaoning Province. On 9 October 2017, the human rights defender sent a text message to her younger brother reporting that she was being “taken away” by Shenyang police. She has been held in incommunicado detention since.
Li Yuhan, age 72, is a Beijing-based human rights lawyer and advocate for victims of human rights violations. In her capacity as a human rights lawyer, Li Yuhan has represented sensitive cases on freedom of religion or belief and access to government information. In 2015, during China’s “709” crackdown on human rights lawyers, Li Yuhan defended Wang Yu, a fellow human rights lawyer who was one of the main targets of the crackdown. She was one of the laureates of the Franco-German Prize for Human Rights in 2020.
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- 27 March 2024 : Woman human rights defender Li Yuhan returned home after completing sentence
- 26 October 2023 : Woman human rights lawyer Li Yuhan sentenced to 6.5 years in prison
- 6 September 2022 : Woman human rights defender and lawyer Li Yuhan’s health deteriorates under prolonged detention
- 27 October 2021 : Li Yuhan tried in court
- 14 July 2021 : Li Yuhan's health deteriorates and under duress to confess
- 11 March 2021 : Li Yuhan resists pressure to plead guilty, trial deadline extended
- 27 October 2020 : New charge filed against Li Yuhan
- 11 April 2019 : Li Yuhan Trial Cancelled; Medical Parole Request Denied
- 8 March 2018 : Li Yuhan on hunger strike
- 7 November 2017 : Li Yuhan detained incommunicado by Shenyang police
On 24 March 2024, woman human rights defender and lawyer Li Yuhan completed a 6.5 year sentence and returned home.
On 25 October 2023, the Heping District Court in the city of Shenyang, Liaoning Province, found woman human rights lawyer Li Yuhan (李昱函) guilty of “picking quarrels and provoking trouble” and “fraud”, and sentenced her to 6.5 years in prison.
Li Yuhan, age 72, is a Beijing-based human rights lawyer and advocate for victims of human rights violations. In her capacity as a human rights lawyer, Li Yuhan has represented sensitive cases on freedom of religion or belief and access to government information. In 2015, during China’s “709” crackdown on human rights lawyers, Li Yuhan defended Wang Yu, a fellow human rights lawyer who was one of the main targets of the crackdown. She was one of the laureates of the Franco-German Prize for Human Rights in 2020.
The verdict was announced more than two years after the trial first began on 20 October 2021 and more than six years since the woman human rights defender was detained on 9 October 2017. Despite her advance age and the fact that she is suffering from multiple health conditions, applications for her release on medical parole have been repeatedly rejected.
In 2018, the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention declared Li Yuhan’s detention to be in violation of international human rights standards. In July 2023, the Working Group and a group of independent UN human rights experts wrote to the Chinese government to express grave concerns about her prolonged arbitrary detention and the violations of the due process guarantees in her case, “including the denial of her access to lawyers of her own choosing; the failure to promptly inform her of the charges she faced; and the failure of the State to guarantee Ms. Yuhan a trial within a reasonable time.”
Front Line Defenders strongly condemns the verdict against Li Yuhan and believes that the detention and conviction of the woman human rights defender are an act of reprisal for her peaceful and legitimate work in defence of human rights. It calls on the Chinese authorities to immediately and unconditionally release her and quash her conviction. Pending her release, she should be given prompt and regular access to adequate and quality medical care of her choice.
Woman human rights lawyer Li Yuhan’s health is deteriorating, as her detention approaches the five-year mark and the one-year mark since her trial in October 2021. The deterioration of her health includes episodes of heart attacks.
Li Yuhan is a Beijing-based human rights lawyer and advocate for victims of human rights violations, known to many in China’s human rights community as “big sister”, a reference to both her age and her compassionate demeanour. In her capacity as a human rights lawyer, Li Yuhan has represented sensitive cases on freedom of belief and access to government information. In 2015, during China’s “709” crackdown on human rights lawyers, Li Yuhan defended Wang Yu, a fellow human rights lawyer who was targeted as one of the central victims of the crackdown. Wang Yu was officially released on bail on 22 July 2016 and allowed to return home on 20 July 2017.
In late August 2022, an independent Chinese human rights monitoring and overseas Chinese-language media platform reported the pleas from Li Yuhan’s family for her release on medical parole. Her family reported that Li Yuhan appeared weak and had to walk with a cane during a recent meeting with a family-appointed lawyer.
Prior to her detention in October 2017, the woman human rights defender, who is in her late 60s, was already suffering from multiple heart and brain conditions requiring regular medical treatment. These conditions have continuously deteriorated due to limited access to adequate medical care and medicines, as well as the harsh conditions and ill-treatment received at the Shenyang No. 1 Detention Centre. According to the reports, she has suffered at least three heart attacks while in detention.
In 2018, the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention declared Li Yuhan’s detention to be in violation of international human rights standards for being held incommunicado and for the lack of effective legal assistance during the initial stages of her detention. The Working Group raised concerns about the alleged torture and ill-treatment of Li Yuhan, and also believed that her detention was a reprisal against her human rights work. The Working Group’s call on the Chinese authorities to release the woman human rights defender went unheeded. On the contrary, on 20 October 2021, the Heping District Court in Shenyang put her on trial with restricted access to it. Up until now, a verdict has not been publicly announced yet.
Under China’s Criminal Procedure Law (CPL), courts must “announce a verdict within two months of accepting the case, and may not exceed three months at the latest” (article 208). However, the CPL gives a higher court or the Supreme Court authority to approve three-month extensions conditions which are ill-defined in the law, such as “major, complicated cases” (article 158) or simply “special circumstances” (article 208). The prolonged period that the woman human rights defender has spent in detention before trial is already excessive, and the delay in issuing a verdict further contributes to the severity of the violations of her rights to due process guarantees and fair trial.
Front Line Defenders condemns Li Yuhan’s detention, and believes her ill-treatment and prosecution are reprisals against her legitimate and peaceful work in defence of human rights, in particular her legal counsel to human rights defenders who were arbitrarily detained. The Chinese government has told the UN that it encourages and supports the efforts of social organizations and individuals to play an active role in the protection of human rights. Therefore, Front Line Defenders calls on the Chinese authorities to fulfil their international human rights obligations and take immediate steps to release Li Yuhan and guarantee her physical and psychosocial integrity by ensuring her access to adequate medical treatment.
On 20 October 2021, the trial of woman human rights lawyer Li Yuhan took place at the Heping District People's Court in Shenyang city. Other human rights lawyers and defenders who attempted to observe the trial were blocked from entering the courthouse, which was guarded with heavy police presence. One of Li Yuhan's two defense lawyers was able to attend the trial. Her other defense lawyer can no longer represent her because his own law firm's operating license was arbitrarily invalidated in January 2021 and he has been unable to secure employment at another law firm. Human rights lawyer Wang Yu, who arrived in Shenyang the day before, attempted to submit credentials to represent Li Yuhan but was rejected by the presiding judge.
Li Yuhan's younger brother was allowed to observe the morning session of the trial. After the lunch recess, he was initially blocked from re-entering the courthouse to attend the afternoon session. After an extended negotiation, he was allowed to enter the courthouse but instead of being allowed to observe the trial, he was detained in a separate room in the courthouse until after the trial ended. The afternoon session ended around 7:00pm.
The court will render its verdict on another date yet to be confirmed.
On 12 July 2021, woman human rights defender Li Yuhan's defense lawyer met her at the No. 1 Detention Centre in Shenyang city. The human rights defender told her lawyer that a judge has urged her to confess, but she refused. The judge told her that the prosecutors have recommended a sentence of between five to six years. The trial has now been postponed to 27 August 2021.
Li Yuhan is in her early 70s and said the authorities are well aware of her ill health, including a severe coronary disease that requires taking of a large amount of medication daily. Her liver function has deteriorated and she suffers from high blood cholesterol. She is also taking medicine to treat her deteriorating eyesight and hearing loss.
On 11 March 2021, woman human rights lawyer Li Yuhan was visited by her lawyers at the Shenyang Municipal No. 1 Detention Centre. She told her lawyers that on 7 January 2021, she was brought before a judge from the Shenyang Heping District Court who asked that she plead guilty and confess to her "crimes". She refused and told the judge that the two charges against her are in reprisal for her petitioning activities, which were targeted at the Shenyang Heping District Public Security Bureau and the Heping District Procuratorates. These two entities are responsible for investigating and prosecuting her, respectively. She also told her lawyers that due to overcrowding in the detention centre, she often has difficulty sleeping and her general health is not good.
Li Yuhan also showed her lawyers a notice issued by the Heping District Court, indicating that the Supreme People's Court had approved the extension of deadline for trial to 27 May 2021. The woman human rights defender has been held in pre-trial detention for over three years, since she was first detained in October 2017.
On 27 October 2020, Li Yuhan's lawyer met with the woman human rights defender at Detention Center No. 1 in Shenyang city and found that the authorities have added a new charge of "fraud" against her, in addition to her existing charge of "picking quarrels and provoking trouble" for which she was originally detained. The Heping District Court in Shenyang had planned to try Li Yuhan on 8 June 2019 but abruptly cancelled the session. The District Court announced that the Supreme People's Court has approved the latest extension of the trial deadline to 30 November 2020. The authorities have not responded to Li Yuhan and her lawyer’s requests for bail.
Li Yuhan reported that she is suffering from hypothyroidism, and other cardiovascular and gastric conditions that require her to take medication daily. In 2018, she suffered spinal injuries after a fall while in detention and now needs to walk with crutches.
Li Yuhan was formally arrested on 15 November 2017. Her trial was scheduled to begin at the Heping District Court in Shenyang on 9 April 2019, but was abruptly cancelled three days before. Li Yuhan suffers from cardiovascular, gastric and several other diseases and her health deteriorated while in detention. She reported being subjected to verbal abuse and other ill-treatment in the detention centre. The authorities repeatedly rejected her lawyer’s requests for Li Yuhan to be released on medical parole.
On 1 March 2018, detained human rights lawyer Li Yuhan (李昱函) confirmed that she had been on hunger strike for one week, in protest against her treatment by the Chinese judicial system.
Li Yuhan is a Beijing-based human rights lawyer and advocate for victims of human rights violations, known to many in China’s human rights community as “big sister”. She has represented clients in numerous sensitive cases on freedom of belief and access to government information. In 2015, Li Yuhan acted as defence counsel for fellow lawyer Wang Yu, one of the central victims of China’s “709” crackdown on human rights lawyers.
Li Yuhan was arrested on 9 October 2017 and on 31 October 2017, her family learned that she had been placed under criminal detention in Shenyang City, Liaoning Province on charges of “picking quarrels and provoking troubles”.
On 28 February 2017, Li Yuhan’s son informed the human rights community that he heard that his mother had initiated a hunger strike. Li Yuhan’s communication with family and legal counsel is extremely limited, and her son only received this information via the lawyer of one of Li Yuhan’s cellmates.
On 1 March 2017, Li Yuhan’s lawyer, Ma Wei, traveled to the Shenyang City detention centre where Li Yuhan is being held. In a meeting with his client, Ma Wei learned that Li Yuhan had stopped accepting food from 24 February. Li Yuhan informed her lawyer that she is protesting her prolonged detention and her detention officer’s delayed delivery of necessary medication.
Front Line Defenders expresses its concern for Li Yuhan’s health and wellbeing and calls on Shenyang officials to address Li Yuhan’s legitimate demands. Front Line Defenders further calls on Shenyang authorities to drop the charge of “picking quarrels and provoking troubles” against Li Yuhan, a charge which is solely an attempt to interfere with Li Yuhan’s peaceful work defending human rights.
On 31 October 2017, family of disappeared human rights lawyer Li Yuhan (李昱函) learned, following a call to an informal police contact, that she is currently under criminal detention in Shenyang City, Liaoning Province. On 9 October 2017, the human rights defender sent a text message to her younger brother reporting that she was being “taken away” by Shenyang police. She has been held in incommunicado detention since.
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Despite regulations under Chinese law that family members must be notified within 24 hours of an individual’s arrest, Li Yuhan’s family have still received no official communication from Shenyang police. On 31 October 2017, Li Wensheng learned from an informal phone call to a police officer contact from Shenyang City, Heping Branch, that Li Yuhan had been placed under criminal detention at the Shenyang No. 1 Detention Centre, “most likely” on charges of “picking quarrels and provoking troubles”. The family has not been allowed any communication with Li Yuhan. On 6 November 2017, Li Yuhan’s lawyer was denied a meeting with his client by facility staff of the Shenyang No. 1 Detention Centre, in further violation of Li Yuhan’s legal rights.
Due to her work defending sensitive cases and drawing attention to government and police wrongdoing, Li Yuhan has frequently been the target of acts of retaliation by Chinese authorities including threats to her family, verbal harassment, and violent, physical assault. Associates of Li Yuhan believe that Shenyang authorities have in this case used nation-wide “stability” measures in the lead-up to China’s 19th Party Congress as a pretext for targeting Li Yuhan and depriving her of her liberty.
Front Line Defenders calls on Chinese authorities to drop any charges against Li Yuhan and to end her illegal incommunicado detention, as it believes that these acts are solely attempts to deter the defender’s peaceful work as a human rights lawyer.
Front Line Defenders urges the authorities in China to:
1. Drop any charges against Li Yuhan, restore her liberty and allow her to contact her family and legal representative;
2. Comply with Chinese and international law in upholding Li Yuhan’s procedural rights, including notifying Li Yuhan’s family of her current whereabouts and any criminal charges against her;
3. Take steps to guarantee the health and well-being of Li Yuhan while she is in detention;
4. 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.
