ICC Note:

Fears are growing over the possible torture of disappeared Christian human rights activist Jiang Tianyong. Authorities still claim he has been released, however, no one is aware of where he is nor ahs anyone been able to contact him. Since he is being accused of possessing “documents containing state secrets,” and “illegally handed over state secrets abroad” there is little doubt he is being held secretly. His wife insists that he must have been tortured to have “confessed” to these crimes. The United Nations fears that this disappearance is a reprisal for a meeting Jiang attended with the UN in August of this year. Release International said, “Jiang has courageously stood up in the courts to call for justice. He has worked lawfully within the Chinese legal system at great risk to himself. What does this say about a nation when it kidnaps, intimidates and even tortures its human rights lawyers?”

12/22/2016 China (Christian Today) – Fears that a missing Christian human rights lawyer in China may have been tortured into making a confession to trumped-up crimes have been raised by campaigners calling for his release.

Jiang Tianyong, 45, went missing on November 21 after visiting the wife of an imprisoned lawyer, persecution charity Release International reports.

He was first held in so-called ‘black jail’; an unregistered detention centre with no legal status. Watchdog China Aid has noted that torture is common in these centres, and inmates are refused physical, written or verbal communication with family members or legal representatives.

…