Yi Liu
Yi Liu Testimony
in China, human rights defenders' communications and online expression are monitored ; we have no privacy; at important, sensitive times throughout the year, we are interrogated or threatened; many human rights defenders are thrown back into prison shortly after their release.
Liu Yi is the Executive Director of the WCHRE, a small organisation dedicated to increasing awareness of human rights in China. It provides information about international standards, the UN mechanisms, opportunities for human rights defenders, as well as translating reports on human rights abuses around the world. The NGO also provides legal assistance to ethnic communities in Sichuan province. In 2008 Liu Yi co-founded Human Rights Campaign in China, a domestic NGO which documents human rights abuses throughout the country. In 2009 Liu Yi was sentenced to 18 months in prison as a result of his work with this NGO.
Chinese HRDs face intimidation, harassment, house arrest, abductions, torture and imprisonment. They also work under very restrictive legislation, including laws which criminalize all unauthorized demonstrations and require government sponsorship for NGO registration, which is refused to any organisation touching on human rights issues. Widescale investigations into NGOs with links to overseas organisations took place in 2014 and 2015 resulting in harassment, detentions and forced closures.
