Chinese Woman human rights lawyer Li Yuhan’s health is deteriorating, as her detention approaches the five-year mark and the one-year mark since her trial in October 2021. The deterioration of her health includes episodes of heart attacks.
She is a Beijing-based human rights lawyer and advocate for victims of human rights violations, known to many in China’s human rights community as “big sister”, a reference to both her age and her compassionate demeanour.
In her capacity as a human rights lawyer, Li Yuhan has represented sensitive cases on freedom of belief and access to government information. In 2015, during China’s “709” crackdown on human rights lawyers, she defended Wang Yu, a fellow human rights lawyer who was targeted as one of the central victims of the crackdown. Wang Yu was officially released on bail on 22 July 2016 and allowed to return home on 20 July 2017.
In late August 2022, an independent Chinese human rights monitoring and overseas Chinese-language media platform reported the pleas from Li Yuhan’s family for her release on medical parole. Her family reported that Li Yuhan appeared weak and had to walk with a cane during a recent meeting with a family-appointed lawyer.
Prior to her detention in October 2017, who is in her late 60s, was already suffering from multiple heart and brain conditions requiring regular medical treatment. These conditions have continuously deteriorated due to limited access to adequate medical care and medicines, as well as the harsh conditions and ill-treatment received at the Shenyang No. 1 Detention Centre. According to the reports, she has suffered at least three heart attacks while in detention.
In 2018, the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention declared Li Yuhan’s detention to be in violation of international human rights standards for being held incommunicado and for the lack of effective legal assistance during the initial stages of her detention. It call on the Chinese authorities to release the woman human rights defender went unheeded. On the contrary, on 20 October 2021, the Heping District Court in Shenyang put her on trial with restricted access to it. Up until now, a verdict has not been publicly announced yet.
Front Line Defenders condemns Li Yuhan’s detention also calls on the Chinese authorities to fulfil their international human rights obligations and take immediate steps to release Li Yuhan and guarantee her physical and psychosocial integrity by ensuring her access to adequate medical treatment.
