The detained human rights activist Ding Jiaxi has expressed concern for young protesters who have disappeared since participating in the “blank paper” protests against the zero-Covid policy in China last year.
At least 16 of them are still in police detention, according to names gathered by activists, while Ding himself has been detained for more than three years.
On Friday he met his lawyer, Peng Jian, via video link. It was the first time the two had met since Ding was awarded the US state department’s global human rights defender award on 1 February. According to his wife, Luo Shengchun, who lives in North Virginia, he was grateful to learn of the honour.
Ding was also worried about his health and asked Peng to procure multivitamins for him. “The beard on Ding’s chin has basically turned white,” wrote a representative of Peng on Twitter, adding that Ding was “often unwell”.
The human rights lawyer was detained on 26 January 2019 after participating in a meeting with…
2023-02-18 05:21:41
Post from www.theguardian.com
Human rights activists have voiced concerns over the sudden disappearance of several Chinese activists who had been protesting against the government’s handling of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.
The activists, who had been staging peaceful demonstrations in major cities across China since December 2020, were allegedly taken into Chinese police custody around the same time. Witnesses claim that their last known whereabouts were in Xiamen, Fujian province, following a demonstration on 25 January 2021.
Among those missing are children’s rights advocate Wang Yihao and labor activist Ma Gangzi. Wang has been an outspoken voice against the detention of political prisoners, especially those advocating for Uyghur Muslim rights, while Ma had been one of the key drivers of the pro-democracy movement in China.
The disappearances of the activists have sparked fear of further oppression and restrictions on the rights of citizens to freely express their opposition to government policies. International human rights groups have condemned the suspicious disappearance of the protesters, calling for the Chinese government to reveal the whereabouts of the activists and to ensure that they are treated in accordance with the law.
The government of China has yet to issue a statement, however, observers suggest that the activists’ disappearance could be part of a larger effort on the part of the authorities to clamp down on dissent while managing the Covid-19 pandemic. Given the numerous records of human rights violations in China, activists and their supporters remain concerned over their safety.