Li Heping

Li Heping (Chinese: 李和平) is a civil rights lawyer in the People's Republic of China and a partner of the Beijing Global Law Firm. He is a prominent figure in China's Weiquan (rights defending) movement, having defended underground Christians, Falun Gong practitioners, dissident writers, and victims of forced evictions, among others.[1] Li identifies as Christian,[2] and is a member of the editorial board for the journal Chinese Law and Religion Monitor, run by the China Aid Association.

Advocacy

Li began his career in civil rights advocacy in the late 1990s, and emerged as a vocal critic of the Communist Party's policies and practices toward unregistered religious groups.[1] He has sought to appeal on behalf other prominent Weiquan lawyers Chen Guangcheng and Gao Zhisheng, and has defended dissident Yang Zili and environmental activist Tan Kai.[3] Li has also defended victims of forced land requisition in China.

Harassment and detention

As with many Chinese human rights activists and dissidents, Li has been subject to various forms of intimidation and harassment by Chinese security forces. On 28 September 2007, the Public security bureau in Beijing threatened that Li and his family must leave Beijing. The following day, 29 September, he was abducted by a group of 12 plainclothes men and held for eight hours. The men reportedly beat and shocked Li with electric batons, and again told him to leave Beijing. He was dumped in the woods, and later found that his home had been ransacked, his lawyer's license stolen, and computer reformatted.[3] On 31 May 2010, Li was abducted and interrogated by security forces while attempting to visit fellow lawyer Tang Jitian.[2] In 2011, Li told USA Today that his home remained under constant surveillance, and that up to four police tail him wherever he goes.[4] In August 2015, The Guardian reported that he had gone missing from his home the previous month.

International recognition

Li has received a number of international awards and distinctions in recognition of his civil rights work in China. In 2008, he was an honoree for the National Endowment for Democracy's Democracy Award for Religious Freedom,[1] and the same year was granted the Human Rights Award by the Council of Bars and Law Societies of Europe (CCBE).[5]

References

  1. 1 2 3 National Endowment for Democracy, Biographies -> Li Heping, 2008.
  2. 1 2 China Aid, 'Christian Attorney Li Heping Interrogated by Police', 1 June 2010.
  3. 1 2 Amnesty International, 'China: Fear for Saftely: Li Heping', 3 October 2007.
  4. ↑ Calum MacLeod, 'Chinese activists disappear amid calls for protests', USA Today, 3 March 2011.
  5. ↑ The Council of Bars and Law Societies of Europe, 'CCBE Human Rights Award granted jointly to a Chinese lawyer, Li Heping, and to the group of Spanish lawyers who intervened in the 11/3 Madrid bombing trial', 27 November 2008.
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