UN voices concern over harassment of Chinese women's human rights defender Yang Li

By Yoshita Singh
     United Nations, Feb 8 (PTI) UN human rights experts have called on China to immediately grant access to adequate medical treatment for women's human rights defender Yang Li, voicing concern over her arbitrary detention as she tries to travel to Beijing for medical appointments.
     “The arrest and indictment of Yang Li appear to represent an effort by the authorities to prevent her from peacefully exercising her rights to seek redress for legitimate grievances. This harassment is compounded by the fact that it was coupled with preventing her from accessing medical treatment,” the experts said in a statement last week.
     “Yang Li is in urgent need of adequate medical treatment, capable of responding to the late-stage kidney disease she is suffering from,” the experts said.
     “Her condition appears to have worsened significantly as a result of the repeated denial of medical care, her treatment whilst in prison and the stress she has been subjected to through numerous detentions that appear to have been carried out without legal basis or justification,” they said.
     Emphasising that they have been in contact with the Chinese government on these issues, the UN experts urged the authorities to “cease the harassment and intimidation of Yang Li and her family and allow her full, immediate access to medical treatment of her choosing, to ensure her health does not further deteriorate".
     The UN human rights experts urged China to immediately grant full access to adequate medical treatment for Li from Jintan, Jiangsu province, saying that her attempts to travel to Beijing for medical appointments have been intercepted on numerous occasions and allegedly resulted in her arbitrary detention.
     Li has been advocating against land requisition and crop clearance being carried out by the authorities in Jiangsu province since 2009. Her efforts to seek redress for her family and members of her community through filing petitions have led to her being administratively detained multiple times since 2014, a statement issued by the Office of the High Commissioner for UN Human Rights said.
     It said that since 2023, Li has consistently attempted to travel to Beijing to file petitions and receive medical treatment. During these attempts, she has been subjected to physical assaults, administrative detention and been prevented from accessing necessary medical treatment – reportedly by officials from the Jintan and Beijing police.
     In October 2024, she was placed in criminal detention for the charge of “picking quarrels and provoking trouble”, which was later changed to “disrupting the work order of state organs”.
     Li was convicted in September 2025 and sentenced to 15 months imprisonment in a judicial process that indicated several fair trial inconsistencies.
     Whilst in prison, Li was denied access to adequate medical care for her kidney disease. Protesting this treatment, she went on hunger strike and was subsequently subjected to forced nasal feeding, which is tantamount to cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment under international human rights law. Li was also reportedly denied medically prescribed meals as punishment for her protest.
     The UN agency said Li was inexplicably released from prison six days late. Since then, she has continued to be blocked by the authorities whilst attempting to travel to Beijing for medical treatment, allegedly being arbitrarily detained for hours.
     In a recent incident, she was physically assaulted whilst in detention, leading to five of her fingernails to be torn off and leaving her semi-conscious, the UN agency added.
     The experts are Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders Mary Lawlor; Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health Tlaleng Mofokeng; Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression Irene Khan and Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment Alice Jill Edwards.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)