Mi Chongbiao

Mi Chongbiao is a member of the Guizhou Human Rights Forum, a locally based informal network of human rights defenders promoting international standards and highlighting abuses committed by the authorities. He has submitted complaints to the UN human rights mechanisms, written articles on political persecution, called for justice for the victims of the Tiananmen massacre and protested for the release of jailed human rights defenders. 

Human rights defender Mr Mi Chongbiao, aged 78, and his wife, Ms Li Kezhen, aged 68, have been held in arbitrary detention in Guiyang city, Guizhou province since they were detained on 19 June 2013. No charges have been brought against them, nor have they been given permission to meet with a lawyer.Since at least 2011, Mi Chongbiao and his family have been subjected to various forms of abuse because of his human rights activities. In October 2011, on the 100th anniversary of the 1911 revolution in China, Mi Chongbiao stood at the entrance to a park in Guiyang distributing information on that revolution and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. On this occasion he was detained by police, taken to a local police station and beaten severely. Police also reportedly threatened his life.

On 28 and 29 May 2012 he held protests in a public square and park in Guiyang calling for justice for the victims of the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre, the release of fellow human rights defender Mr Chen Xi and for a stop to all political persecution. On the evening of 29 May 2012, more than one hundred police along with public and national security bureau officers carried out a raid on his home. Mi Chongbiao and Li Kezhen were taken to Yuyun local police station for interrogation. For 38 hours they were not permitted to sleep, not provided with any food and Mi Chongbiao, who has diabetes, was not given any medication. On the evening of 30 May 2012 Mi Chongbiao's two sons were also detained by police. Their home was raided a further four times and a number of items were confiscated. Following their release two weeks later, Mi Chongbiao and Li Kezhen were relocated to a residence outside of Guiyang city and kept under 24 hour surveillance.