A group of UN human rights experts called on the Chinese government Tuesday to investigate the disappearance [press release] of a prominent human rights lawyer. Jiang Tianyong has been missing since November 21, after he visited the family of another human rights lawyer who has been detained since a “crackdown” on political dissidents [JURIST report] last summer. UN experts are concerned that Jiang has been detained, possibly while traveling on a train bound for Beijing following his visit with the detained lawyer’s family in Changsha. In February 2011 Jiang was detained for two months by Chinese authorities, during which he claims [CHRD materials] to have been beaten and tortured. Human rights activists claim that the crackdown in China is part of a larger effort to silence political dissidents. Jiang rose to prominence for his involvement in high profile cases [AI press release, PDF] defending human rights activists, legal activists, HIV/AIDS victims, Tibetan protesters and other vulnerable groups.

In July China announced plans to prosecute [JURIST report] prominent human rights lawyer Zhou Shifeng on charges of subverting state power, furthering its recent crackdown on political dissidents. In April a civil rights lawyer was arrested and released [JURIST report] for posting an image online mocking Xi in relation to the Panama Papers release. In January Chinese authorities arrested [JURIST report] high profile human rights lawyer Wang Yu and her husband on charges of political subversion.