The Letter
Lao authorities have reportedly arrested and detained well-known Chinese human rights lawyer Lu Siwei since 27 July 2023. We are gravely concerned that he is at serious risk of forced repatriation to China.
Southeast Asian governments have frequently been pressured into forcibly returning vulnerable individuals back to China. Our organizations have documented numerous cases, ranging from the 2009 forced return of Uyghurs from Cambodia to the August 2022 disappearance of Chinese democracy activist Dong Guangping from Vietnam into Chinese custody. Gui Minhai was disappeared in Thailand in 2015 only to resurface in China without his passport. These individuals are effectively disappeared for extended periods, with family members and colleagues unable to obtain information until months or years after.
We urge your government to:
- Ask Lao authorities to immediately halt Lu Siwei’s repatriation and to move quickly to ensure he has access to the relevant UN authorities and lawyer of his choice; and
- Publicly call on Chinese authorities to drop the charges against Lu Siwei.
By handing Lu Siwei over to Chinese authorities, the Lao government is putting him at risk of likely torture and inhuman treatment. UN rights experts have found that the Chinese government frequently subjects rights defenders and lawyers to torture and inhuman treatment.[1] As a state party to the UN Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CAT) since September 2012, the Lao PDR government has a non-refoulement obligation as stipulated in article 3 of the Convention.
We urge the Lao government to:
- Halt all processes of repatriation for Lu Siwei and release him immediately according to its international human rights obligations;
- Arrange for him to meet with the relevant UN authorities and a lawyer of his choosing;
- Allow him to meet with US and other country diplomats as needed to help him resume his journey to reunite with his family in the US; and
- Pending the above, to disclose his whereabouts and ensure his personal safety as well as his physical and mental well-being.
Lu Siwei is a renowned rights defender and lawyer in China, advocating for vulnerable groups and representing numerous political dissidents. As Chinese authorities have become increasingly intolerant of independent rights advocacy, they have targeted Lu with intimidation and harassment, including disbarment in January 2021 for online speech that allegedly “endangered national security” and being physically attacked while traveling to the hearing for his disbarment. Since then, Lu has been closely monitored by the Chinese authorities and subject to an exit ban since May 2021. It is understood that Lu was in Laos en route to joining his family in the US.
