Global Pressure Mounts on CCP to Cease Crackdown on Human Rights Attorneys

July 11, 2024 TruthUSA

On July 9, 2015, more than 300 lawyers and activists across China were arrested.

Western governments, lawmakers, and human rights organizations have called on China to end the continuing suppression of rights defenders in China on the ninth anniversary of the Chinese communist regime’s large-scale clampdown on human rights lawyers and activists.

The U.S. Congressional-Executive Commission on China chairs urged Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen to seek accountability, including sanctions, for Chinese officials responsible for their torture and arbitrary detention.

“Human rights lawyers detained during the #709Crackdown must be allowed to travel without restrictions,” the commission wrote in a July 9 post on social media platform X.

In 2015, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) initiated a nationwide campaign targeting human rights lawyers, activists, and their families. Beginning on July 9 of that year, more than 300 lawyers and activists across the nation were arrested, in what later became known as the “709 Crackdown,” or simply “709.”

German Ambassador to China Patricia Flor called on the CCP to overturn rulings on the 709 cases.

“The ‘709’ lawyers are a distinct group of brave Chinese human rights defenders whose relentless pursuit of justice has resulted in their loss of basic freedoms, as well as social and economic inclusion—in some cases, this even extends to their families,” Ms. Flor said in a July 9 post on social media. “I call on the authorities in China to overturn … rulings on the ‘709’ cases and to restore the rights of these defenders and their families. They deserve to be celebrated.”