27 February 2025

Today, The Rights Practice, along with The Law Society of England and Wales, International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute, Asian Lawyers Network, Lawyers’ Rights Watch Canada, Lawyers for Lawyers, and Council of Bars and Law Societies of Europe (CCBE) published a joint statement expressing grave concerns about the detention and deteriorating health of human rights lawyer Lu Siwei while he is detained in Chengdu, China. It has been reported that his health is deteriorating due to being held in poor, cramped conditions, a lack of adequate nutrition, and a ban on his family sending him imported medicine which he was previously reliant on to control his thyroid disease.

Our organisations are concerned that Lu Siwei’s detention is related to his professional duties as a lawyer and that the offence he has reportedly been charged with is based on an exit ban that lacks legitimacy, rendering his arrest and detention arbitrary. We are also concerned about the conditions under which Lu Siwei is being held, and his lack of adequate health care which are causing his health to deteriorate.

We urge the relevant authorities to release Lu Siwei from detention, ensure he is held in adequate conditions pending release and halt all acts of intimidation and harassment against lawyers in China

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