UN expert urged China to protect rights of detained activists, including Ilham Tohti, citing torture allegations and lack of medical care, and demanded updates on missing lawyer Gao Zhisheng.
On 11 August 2025, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights published a report titled “UN Special Rapporteur: China must uphold the rights of imprisoned human rights defenders.” In the report, UN Special Rapporteur on human rights defenders Mary Lawlor urged China to ensure the rights of detained human rights defenders, stressing that they must not be subjected to torture or ill-treatment. She expressed concern over consistent allegations regarding torture, denial of medical care, and restrictions on family and legal visits.
Lawlor called on the Chinese Government to grant detainees family and counsel visits, adequate medical attention, and to hold them in officially recognised places of detention, with information on their fate and whereabouts made available to those with a legitimate interest. She said Chinese authorities had failed to provide detailed responses to repeated requests, offering only general replies.
In February 2025, Lawlor requested information on the health condition, treatment, and access to family and legal representatives for seven human rights defenders serving sentences of 10 years or longer — Ding Jiaxi, Huang Qi, Huang Yunmin, Ilham Tohti, Qin Yongmin, Zhang Haitao, and Zhao Haitong. Specific information was provided for only two cases, while the rest received general or no details.
Lawlor also sought information on the whereabouts of prominent human rights lawyer Gao Zhisheng, missing since 2017. Despite official statements that Gao was released in 2014 and that there are “no issues” of enforced disappearance, authorities have not provided updates on investigations. Gao’s wife, Geng He, based in the United States, renewed her call for help in locating him at an event in Washington D.C. on 8 July 2025.
The Special Rapporteur reiterated her appeal to Chinese authorities to clarify Gao Zhisheng’s fate and whereabouts and to ensure that all detained human rights defenders receive proper medical care, regular family and legal visits, and are held in officially recognised detention facilities.
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