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In a joint statement, Lawyers for Lawyers, The Law Society of England and Wales (‘the Law Society’), Lawyers’ Rights Watch Canada, Asian Lawyers Network, the International Bar Association Human Rights Institute, 29 Principles, The Rights Practice, and the Council of Bars and Law Societies of Europe (CCBE) express grave concern about human rights lawyer and legal scholar, Dr Xu Zhiyong who is currently on hunger strike in Lunan prison, Shandong province in China.

Mr Xu started his hunger strike on 4 October 2024 to call attention to the inhumane treatment he is being subjected to in prison.

[...] Mr Xu is held in a cell with three other detainees who have been instructed by prison guards to monitor and torment him, even when he is using the toilet. In the prison, he is only referred to as “prisoner No. 003”, rather than his real name. His family have been granted access to visit him once a month. However, they have experienced threats and harassment which has prevented them from visiting. Furthermore, authorities have refused to deliver his letters to his family or his girlfriend Li Qiaochu, a feminist activist, and have not permitted him to contact them by phone.1 This activity violates China’s Prison Law (1994) and the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners (the Nelson Mandela Rules).

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