On the Eve of International Human Rights Day, Beijing Rights Lawyers Restricted from Liberty

Thursday (December 10) is International Human Rights Day. In Beijing, several human rights lawyers and their families related to the 709 incident were suddenly barred from their homes by authorities on Wednesday, presumably to prevent them from attending Human Rights Day events held by foreign embassies.

On Wednesday morning, Beijing-based human rights lawyer Li Heping was preparing to take his children to school and walk his dog, as he usually does, when he found several intruders blocking the door. His wife, Wang Geoling, theorized with them.

The company’s main business is to provide a wide range of services and products to the public. Aren’t you allowed to go to school? I’m going to walk the dogs now. Why don’t you go walk the dogs and let them walk the dogs.”

Li Heping, on the other hand, became agitated and stood on the roof of the building to argue with the government officials downstairs: “You don’t let your children go to school or out, so what are you doing? Are you hooligans or what?”

At almost the same time, Wang Quanzhang, a lawyer who was released from prison after serving his sentence in the 709 arrests, and his wife, Li Wenzhu, were also restricted from going out, with no explanation as to why.

Li Wenzhu: “Who are you people? What are you doing? What time is it? You have been ringing our doorbell since six o’clock.”

National security guards blocked the door cameras with tape and guarded the outside of the house to prevent Wang Quanzhang’s family from going outside, even when they accompanied an elderly family member to the hospital for a checkup.

The government’s actions violate human rights,” Lee told the station.

A group of people blocked the door, not showing their documents and not telling us who they are,” Lee said. They blocked the door at random and did not let us out. After negotiation, they agreed to let Quanzhang send his children to school. My father had to go to the hospital to get the test results, but he was not allowed to go out, and his attitude was very bad, cursing. Not only did it make our lives very inconvenient and have a great impact, it also had a psychological impact on us.”

At one point, another group of Beijing State Security officers broke into the home of detained human rights lawyer Yu Wensheng and confronted his wife, Xu Yan. The door was blocked by several National Security officers. There are also people waiting in the hallway.

Xu Yan: “There are two of them in the house. There are four others in the corridor. They say they won’t let me go out because of World Human Rights Day, but they don’t know when. But I don’t know until when. They won’t let me go out when it arrives. “

National Security: “What day is World Human Rights Day.”

Xu Yan: “Didn’t you just say that? World Human Rights Day, 9th, 10th. The United States was founded and won’t let me out. Didn’t you just say that? Now you tell me to stop me from going out for a few days?”

NATIONAL SECURITY: “I didn’t stop you from going out. Who stopped you from going out? I’m talking to you.”

Xu Yan believes that the authorities had already anticipated that a group of 709 lawyers or their families would visit the European Union and U.S. embassies to participate in International Human Rights Day activities, so they pre-empted the situation and expanded their stabilization measures this year compared to previous years.

The government has also announced that the government will be issuing a new law on the sale of the property. The private space is so close. It’s definitely worse. It’s like depriving me of my freedom.

According to the human rights organization Human Rights Defenders of China, the Chinese government treats International Human Rights Day as a sensitive occasion and therefore restricts citizens’ freedom of movement, including preventing them from attending related events. This also shows that the Chinese government has no intention of abiding by its international commitments.