Hu Jia
Hu Jia (34, pictured with his wife Zeng Jinyan) is a Beijing-based human rights activist who has worked on numerous issues including AIDS advocacy, in his capacity as executive director of the Beijing Aizhixing Institute of Health Education. On August 8, 2007, as the one-year countdown to the Beijing Games began, Hu was one of 42 Chinese intellectuals and activists who cosigned an open letter, “One World, One Dream: Universal Human Rights,” calling for greater attention to human rights in China. On September 6, 2007, he and lawyer Teng Biao published another open letter, “The Real China and the Olympics,” spelling out in greater detail specific human rights concerns in China in the context of the Beijing Games. On November 26, 2007, Hu testifies via audio link at a European Parliament hearing, expressing his desire for 2008 to be “the year of human rights in China.”
One month later, on December 27, 2007, Hu was detained prior to being formally arrested on January 30, 2008. On April 3 of this year, after a trial which failed to meet minimum standards of fairness and due process, Hu was found guilty of “inciting subversion of state power” and sentenced to three and a half years in prison, as well as one additional year of deprivation of political rights. His wife and fellow activist Zeng Jinyan, as well as their baby daughter Qianci remain under house arrest in Beijing.
Case recommended to: French Olympic team
Text source: Human Rights Watch
Image source: Chinese Human Rights Defenders
Author: Olympic Watch | Section: Cases | Print | Send to friend