Su Changlan

Su Changlan (苏昌兰, c.1971)[1] is a prominent women's rights activist from Foshan, Guangdong, China.

Background

A former primary school teacher, Su became involved in human rights activism after local authorities seized farmland in her home village, Sanshan in Foshan, in 2005. She taught herself law, and later began to help other women seek land rights protection. Over the next few years, Su campaigned for improving the government’s response to other women’s rights issues, including domestic violence, sex trafficking and sexual assault, and provided legal advice to victims in those cases.

Between 2014 - 2017 she served a three-year prison sentence in Nanhai Detention Centre for “inciting subversion of state power” after posting posted messages on social media supporting the pro-democracy Umbrella Movement in Hong Kong.[2]

Imprisonment

Su Changlan was questioned by police on 12 September and 5 October 2014. On the 27th of October 2014 she was detained and taken to Nanhai Guicheng local police station by four police officers on suspicion of "picking quarrels and provoking troubles" . Information about her whereabouts was withheld from her family.

On the 3rd of December 2014, she was formally charged with “inciting subversion” and was tried alongside fellow activists Chen Qitang and Chen Yunfei[3] in the Foshan City Intermediate People’s Court on 31 March 2017. Su's guilty verdict and three-year sentence, which was dated from the first day of her detention, were announced that same day.

On 8 June 2017, the Court denied her request for an appeal hearing.[4]

Su was held with between 50 and 70 other inmates in an 80 square-metre cell, with a sleeping space of little more than 50 cm wide, and inadequate hygiene facilities.[5] She suffers from hyperthyroidism, heart arrhythmia, and tremors, and was hospitalized several times during her detention. Authorities denied multiple requests by Su’s lawyer for bail on medical grounds.[6]

On 26 October 2017, Su Changlan was released from the Nanhai Detention Centre.[7]

International response

Amnesty International considered her a Prisoner of Conscience, held solely for peacefully exercising her human right to freedom of expression. They issued an Urgent Action and campaigned on her behalf.[8][9]

References
  1. "Su Changlan's story is the story of many Chinese women". www.amnesty.org. Retrieved 2021-01-01.
  2. "China: 3 Activists Convicted on Bogus Charges". Human Rights Watch. 2017-03-31. Retrieved 2021-01-01.
  3. "China: 3 Activists Convicted on Bogus Charges". Human Rights Watch. 2017-03-31. Retrieved 2021-01-01.
  4. "Su Changlan". Front Line Defenders. 2014-11-04. Retrieved 2021-01-01.
  5. "China: Released women's right activist in need of urgent medical care". www.amnesty.org. Retrieved 2021-01-01.
  6. "China: 3 Activists Convicted on Bogus Charges". Human Rights Watch. 2017-03-31. Retrieved 2021-01-01.
  7. hermesauto (2017-10-26). "China releases activist who supported HK democracy". The Straits Times. Retrieved 2021-01-02.
  8. "China: Released women's right activist in need of urgent medical care". www.amnesty.org. Retrieved 2021-01-01.
  9. "China: Jailed activists expose President Xi's hypocrisy on women's human rights ahead of UN summit". www.amnesty.org. Retrieved 2021-01-01.
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