ICC Note:

The UN is pressing China to release Christian human rights activist Jiang Tianyong. Jiang has not been heard from since November 21st. He rarely spent more than one night in each place and was constantly on the move for fear of being detained. Jiang, who is a Christian, has worked on some of the most high profile cases in China defending or advising others. He has been detained and beaten multiple times by Chinese authorities for his work. Jiang disappeared after attempting to arrange a meeting with the family of Xie Yang, another detained lawyer. China’s crackdown on “corruption” has continued to ramp up with the detainment of its most prominent human rights lawyers over the last few weeks.

12/9/2016 China (Washington Post) – A United Nations representative has pressed China to investigate the fate of prominent human rights campaigner Jiang Tianyong, who disappeared two weeks ago and is believed by friends to be held by state security agents.

Philip Alston, the U.N. special rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights, said Tuesday that he is concerned Jiang’s disappearance was a “reprisal” for a meeting between the two in August.

Jiang has been detained and beaten by police as part of his past human rights work involving some of China’s most sensitive cases, including that of blind activist Chen Guangcheng and followers of the outlawed Falun Gong spiritual group. For more than a year, Jiang had been helping publicize the plight of nearly two dozen lawyers arrested as part of a sweeping 2015 government crackdown.

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