On 10 February 2025, The Rights Practice and 33 other international organisations, issued a joint statement commemorating the fifth anniversary of the 'Xiamen Gathering' crackdown and to stand in solidarity with all human rights defenders and lawyers in China who courageously advocate for justice despite knowing the risks of doing so.

The “Xiamen gathering” was a private gathering of about 20 Chinese human rights defenders and lawyers convened in Xiamen, China in December 2019 to discuss the situation of human rights and civil society in China. In the weeks that followed, Chinese authorities interrogated, harassed, detained and imprisoned every participant who was not able to leave China then and subjected almost all of them, including some families and friends, to travel bans, up to the present day, under the pretext of national security.

Among those detained were legal scholar Xu Zhiyong and human rights lawyer Ding Jiaxi. From 26 December 2019, the Chinese authorities forcibly disappeared both men under Residential Surveillance at a Designated Location (RSDL), a criminal procedure allowing secret detention for up to six months without access to legal counsel or family. They were subsequently convicted in a secret trial and handed severe prison sentences of 14 and 12 years, respectively, in April 2023.

We, organisations and activists from all over the world, urge the Chinese government to immediately and unconditionally release all human rights defenders and lawyers arbitrarily detained or imprisoned; end the systematic crackdown on civil society; and amend laws and regulations to bring them fully in line with international human rigts standards. 

CLICK HERE TO READ THE JOINT STATEMENT