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#RepealRSDL: Who are the defenders we are campaigning for? Meet Chang Weiping!
Lawyer Chang is a promising human rights lawyer in China. He was disappeared on 22 October 2020 under 'Residential Surveillance at a Designated Location' for 'inciting subversion of State power.'
Chang Weiping has bravely defended sensitive cases of victims of sexual harassment during China’s ‘Me Too’. He has provided pro bono counsel to victims of discriminatory practices due to their sexual orientation or HIV status, or targeted for speaking freely or practicing their religion. He has also helped other activists facing judicial harassment for the legitimate exercise of their human rights.
On January 12, 2020, he was placed under Residential Surveillance at a Designated Location (RSDL) by police from Baoji City for ‘endangering national security’, after attending an informal gathering of human rights lawyers and citizens in Xiamen a month earlier. He was released ten days later on ‘bail pending trial.’
In October 2020, after months of constant police intimidation and restricted movement, he denounced the torture he had been subjected to under RSDL in a video posted on YouTube.
In late 2020, judicial authorities in Baoji City suspended his lawyer’s license. He was disappeared under RSDL on 22 October 2020.
UN experts have publicly called for his release. No one knows where he is held.
Stand in Solidarity!
Feeling supported is vital for disappeared defenders and their relatives. Send a solidarity message to Chen Zijuan, lawyer Chang’s wife: write a postcard, and share it with her on your social media. Don’t hesitate to personalise it before tweeting.
RSDL is undoubtedly a form of enforced disappearance, as well as arbitrary detention. It should be abolished. This is why ISHR and partners are campaigning to #RepealRSDL.
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