2023-10-04 15:10:00
© Amnesty International
Responding to confirmation of the detention of Chinese human rights lawyer Lu Siwei, arrested in Laos in July, Sarah Brooks, Amnesty International’s regional director for China, said:
“The confirmation of Lu Siwei’s detention in China is a heartbreaking result for his family, with whom he was trying to reunite in the United States. Now, instead of being with his wife and his young daughter, Lu Siwei is at serious risk of torture and other ill-treatment.”.
“Having been arrested in Laos after leaving China, Lu appears to have been forcibly repatriated by the Lao government in a flagrant violation of Laos’ obligations under international law. “This long-feared outcome compounds the complete lack of transparency that the Laotian authorities have shown in this case.”
“Lu’s reported reappearance in a Chinese detention center is a chilling, latest example of the Chinese government’s determination to pursue critics even beyond its borders, and its ability to to do so, especially in countries that are receptive to pressure and influence from Beijing.”
“Lu has been persecuted solely for his legitimate work defending human rights, and must be released. Pending his release, Chinese authorities must ensure that he has unrestricted access to a lawyer of his choice and that he can communicate with his family.”
Lu Siwei’s family confirmed to Amnesty International today that they have been informed by the Chinese authorities that the lawyer is being held at the Xindu Detention Center in Sichuan Province, southwest China.
According to Zhang Chunxiao, Lu’s wife, he was detained by Lao police on July 28 when he boarded a train bound for Thailand; They accused him of traveling with false documentation. Lu planned to travel to the United States to reunite with his family. In Laos she was not allowed to meet with a lawyer or representatives of his family.
Amnesty International and others had urged the Laotian authorities to ensure Lu’s access to relevant UN authorities and a lawyer of his choice, and to respect their obligations under the UN Convention against Torture not to return Lu to China.
Lu is a human rights lawyer who gained widespread visibility for his role in the attempted defend one of the 12 Hong Kongers who were detained in 2020 after fleeing Hong Kong on a boat and being intercepted by the Chinese coast guard. In response, provincial judicial authorities suspended Lu’s license to practice law.
Before this high-profile case, Lu was known for working hard to support human rights defenders; Among other things, he represented the case of the Tiananmen Square commemorations in Chengdu, human rights lawyer Yu Wensheng, the famous poet Wang Zang and other people from the Chinese legal community attacked in the “repression 709” in 2015.
Under general international law and as a State Party to the UN Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, the government of Laos must not return anyone to a place where they may be in danger. of being subjected to torture or other serious human rights violations.
Governments in Southeast Asia have frequently been pressured to return vulnerable people to China, where they have faced arbitrary detention, unfair trials, torture, enforced disappearance and other ill-treatment. Gui Minhai, a bookseller, disappeared in Thailand in 2015 and later reappeared in China without his passport. In August 2022, activists and media reported the disappearance in Vietnam of Chinese pro-democracy activist Dong Guangping, who reappeared in Chinese custody. And in August 2023, Yang Zewei, a Laos-based activist, was reportedly detained in a detention center in China after being arrested in Vientiane, the capital of Laos.
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