The Rights Practice is relieved to learn that all of the Chinese lawyers detained in February 2011 have now been released by the authorities. However, their freedom of movement and communication with friends and the wider public are severely restricted and deeply worrying reports of their ill treatment in detention are now coming to light.

The intimidation of Chinese lawyers has continued. Disabled lawyer Ni Yulan and her husband have been detained and are being investigated on charges of “creating a disturbance". On 15 June news came to light of a savage beating in February of Ms Yuan Weijing and her husband the blind, self-taught human rights lawyer Chen Guangcheng; they both remain imprisoned at home in Shandong, together with their five year old daughter who has not been allowed to start school this September. There is still no news of the whereabouts of lawyer Gao Zhisheng since he disappeared in April 2010.

The use of extrajudicial detention measures, the risk of ill treatment and torture, and the absence of any formal notification to the families seem designed to intimidate lawyers.

Related Links:
Disappeared Lawyers: Risk of Torture from Incommunicado Detentions