Li Heping

Li Heping (Chinese: 李和平) is a civil rights lawyer in the People's Republic of China and a partner of the Beijing Global Law Firm who was abducted on 10 July 2015.[1] He is a prominent figure in China's Weiquan (rights defending) movement, having defended underground Christians, Falun Gong practitioners, dissident writers, and victims of forced evictions, among others.[2]

Advocacy

Li began his career in civil rights advocacy in the late 1990s, and emerged as a vocal critic of the Communist Party's policies and practices toward unregistered religious groups.[2] He has sought to appeal on behalf other prominent Weiquan lawyers Chen Guangcheng and Gao Zhisheng, and has defended dissident Yang Zili and environmental activist Tan Kai.[3] Li has also defended victims of forced land requisition in China. Li identifies as Christian,[4] and is a member of the editorial board for the journal Chinese Law and Religion Monitor, run by the China Aid Association.

Harassment and detention

As with many Chinese human rights activists and dissidents, Li has been subject to various forms of intimidation and harassment by Chinese security forces. On 28 September 2007, the Public security bureau in Beijing threatened that Li and his family must leave Beijing. The following day, 29 September, he was abducted by a group of 12 plainclothes men and held for eight hours. The men reportedly beat and shocked Li with electric batons, and again told him to leave Beijing. He was dumped in the woods, and later found that his home had been ransacked, his lawyer's license stolen, and computer reformatted.[3] On 31 May 2010, Li was abducted and interrogated by security forces while attempting to visit fellow lawyer Tang Jitian.[4] In 2011, Li told USA Today that his home remained under constant surveillance, and that up to four police tail him wherever he goes.[5]

2015 abduction and disappearance

Li has been missing since his abduction from his home on 10 July 2015, as part of the "709 crackdown" on lawyers. In the days following his disappearance, two other lawyers attempted to locate him, travelling to the police stations and detention centres across northern China where he was likely to be held.[6] His assistant, Zhao Wei, was also abducted at around the same time.[7] He was given a suspended jail term in April 2017,[8] and released in May 2017.[9]

International recognition

Li has received a number of international awards and distinctions in recognition of his civil rights work in China. In 2008, he was an honoree for the National Endowment for Democracy's Democracy Award for Religious Freedom,[2] and the same year was granted the Human Rights Award by the Council of Bars and Law Societies of Europe (CCBE).[10]

Lawyers and activists detained in China

More than 200 lawyers and associates have been detained as part of the crackdown, with many still in custody.[11] Other people still detained by the authorities include lawyers Wang Yu, Zhou Shifeng, Li Shuyun and Xie Yanyi; as well a legal assistant, Liu Sixin; and activists Hu Shigen and Gou Hongguo.[12]

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References
  1. Halliday, Terence (8 June 2016). "My friend Li Heping, a man China thinks is 'more dangerous than Bin Laden'".
  2. National Endowment for Democracy, Biographies -> Li Heping Archived 2010-03-04 at the Wayback Machine, 2008.
  3. Amnesty International, 'China: Fear for Saftely: Li Heping', 3 October 2007.
  4. China Aid, 'Christian Attorney Li Heping Interrogated by Police', 1 June 2010.
  5. Calum MacLeod, 'Chinese activists disappear amid calls for protests', USA Today, 3 March 2011.
  6. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/jan/11/wife-of-chinese-human-rights-lawyer-missing-for-six-months-tells-of-despair
  7. Phillips, Tom (25 January 2016). "The day Zhao Wei disappeared: how a young law graduate was caught in China's human rights dragnet".
  8. "China human rights lawyer Li Heping given suspended jail term". BBC News. 28 April 2017. Retrieved 22 May 2017.
  9. Sudworth, John (13 May 2017). "Chinese lawyer 'wore torture device for a month'". BBC News. Retrieved 22 May 2017.
  10. The Council of Bars and Law Societies of Europe, 'CCBE Human Rights Award granted jointly to a Chinese lawyer, Li Heping, and to the group of Spanish lawyers who intervened in the 11/3 Madrid bombing trial', 27 November 2008.
  11. https://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/23/world/asia/china-crackdown-human-rights-lawyers.html?_r=0
  12. "China: Detained Lawyers, Activists Denied Basic Rights | Human Rights Watch". Hrw.org. Retrieved 2016-07-19.
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