Children of human rights defenders in China face pressure due to their parents' activism, amid a crackdown launched by the authorities on civil society, according to a study published Monday.
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The Chinese Communist Party is wary of any potential threats to its absolute power and suppresses all political activity with an iron fist.
A new report published by China Human Rights Defenders (CHRD), a group of foreign and Chinese NGOs, notes that a certain number of “collective punishments” have been imposed on the families of these activists.
According to the study, “Although this report focuses on the year 2023, Chinese authorities have used these tactics for decades, inflicting great harm with impunity.”
The Center for Human Rights Defenders adds: “Seeking redress later often leads to more police harassment, brutality and baseless legal action.”
The study says it is based on the testimonies of about ten victims.
It claims that the authorities target children of human rights activists, in particular by imposing a ban on leaving Chinese territory or by detaining them in psychiatric wards or orphanages.
Agence France-Presse was unable to confirm these allegations.
The study cites in particular the case of He Fangmei, a mother who demonstrated publicly in Beijing against defective vaccines, a recurring problem in China.
According to the report, she saw her young children placed in a psychiatric hospital after she and her husband were arrested.
According to the study, the family of Wang Quanchang, a lawyer and human rights defender who was released in 2020 after more than four years behind bars, also faced harassment.
Thus, his young son was deprived of school due to pressure from the authorities.
According to the report, last month the police came to the school where the boy had been attending for only 10 days and “was forced to drop out of school again!” His mother, Li Wenzhou, also an activist mentioned in the study, expressed her regret.
China is regularly accused of not respecting human and political rights in certain regions such as Xinjiang (northwest), Tibet (southwest), and the semi-autonomous region of Hong Kong (south).
It criticizes these accusations, which in its opinion aim to contain its economic development.
