UN rights commissioner slams sentences for rights activists in China

UN Human Rights Commissioner Volker Türk expressed concern at lengthy sentences handed to two Chinese rights activists and said he would take up their cases with the authorities, in a statement on Tuesday.

The lawyers Xu Zhiyong, 50, and Ding Jiaxi, 55, were sentenced on Monday to 14 and 12 years in prison respectively by a court in Linshu, Shandong Province, according to Human Rights Watch.

They had been convicted of "subversion of state power" in trials conducted behind closed doors that were "riddled with procedural problems and allegations of mistreatment," the organization said in a statement.

Türk said the sentences were "at variance with international human rights law standards," which demand that people should not be prosecuted for voicing criticism of government policies and require respect for a fair trial.

Pledging to follow up on the case with the Chinese authorities, Türk said measures need to be taken "to ensure that other human rights defenders are not targeted for exercising their human rights to freedom of expression, association and peaceful assembly."

Human Rights Watch called for the sentences to be quashed. Both activists had been detained before.

Providing background to the cases, the organization said that Ding was arrested in December 2019 after he and Xu had participated in a gathering to discuss rights in Fujian province. Xu was detained in Guangzhou, where he had gone into hiding, in February 2020.

Li Qiaochu, Xu's partner and also an activist, has been detained since February 2021 for "inciting subversion of state power" and is awaiting trial, Human Rights Watch said.