Zhen Jianghua

Cases
Location of case in SG report
2019-014-005
Relevant SG report
Year of the report
2019
Country Geolocation

Latitude: 35.86166

Longitude: 104.195397

Country Geolocation (linked Cases)
China
From Region
Type of record
Named individual
Gender
Male
Was the victim a foreign national?
No
Was the victim a minor?
No
Individual's/organization's activity

activist

Type of rights defended
  • Unclear in SG Report
Was the victim a civil servant or member of the security forces or of the judiciary?
No
Reported trigger of reprisal

had engaged with the UN human rights mechanisms; Mr. Zhen’s case was raised by four special procedures mandate holders in January 2018 (CHN 2/2018). 66

Engagement with UN body
  • UN Special Procedures: thematic
  • Unclear
Dates of engagement
Unclear; January 2018
Type of attempted engagement
  • UN raised case of person/organization
  • Unclear
Dates of mentioned reprisals
28 December 2018
Reprisal information

On 28 December 2018, activist Mr. Zhen Jianghua, who had engaged with the UN human rights mechanisms, was convicted of “inciting subversion of state power” and sentenced to two years in prison, following a closed-door trial. He was reportedly seized from his apartment without a warrant on 1 September 2017 and denied access to a lawyer. On 29 September 2017, he was reportedly put under “residential surveillance at a designated location.”

Types of reprisals suffered
  • Charge/Investigation/Prosecution: Conviction
  • Detention/Imprisonment: Detention/Imprisonment - General
Alleged/likely perpetrators
State actors
Was the reprisal based on new legislation?
No
Does the report make general comment about country’s environment for engagement with UN?
No
Government response dates
1 July 2019
Government response content

Regarding the situation of Mr. Zhen Jianghua, the Government indicated that in September 2017 he was taken into custody and put under “residential surveillance at a designated location.” In May 2018, the People’s Procuratorate of Zhuhai City (Guangdong Province) filed a case against him for “inciting subversion of State power” based on rumors and slander against the Government from his repeated publication of articles and statements via websites based outside mainland China. On 16 December 2018, the court found Mr. Zhen Jianghua guilty of inciting subversion of State power and sentenced him to two years in prison and confiscation of his personal assets in the amount of 235,000 yuan (USD$ 34,000).

Is the country cited for a "pattern of reprisal" in the context of this case?
No
Is a pattern of reprisals mentioned otherwise in the context of this case?
No
Does the report cite "self-censorship" as an issue in the context of this case?
No
How many times has the case been followed up in subsequent SG reports?
1
In which SG report was this case followed up on? 0
2020
Follow up information provided in SG report 0

The case of Mr. Zhen Jianghua, who had engaged with UN human rights mechanisms, was included in the 2019 report of the Secretary-General (A/HRC/42/30, para. 45 and Annex I, paras. 13, 18) after being convicted of “inciting subversion of state power” and sentenced to two years in prison, following a closed-door trial (CHN 2/2018). 10 In its October 2019 report, the Working Group noted that it found the detention of Mr. Zhen Jianghua arbitrary and recommended that he be released and provided compensation and other reparations (A/HRC/WGAD/2019/20, paras. 68, 77, 87, 91, 95). 11 On 8 November 2019, he was released at the completion of his sentence.

Followup Trends 0
Stayed same
Did the government respond? 0
No
Was this case followed up by a UN body? 0
  • UN Special Procedures: Thematic