China
Liu Xiaobo: UN Working Group opinion and current status
The UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention found his detention arbitrary, falling within categories II and III. It asked the Government to free him immediately with appropriate compensation and invited China to ratify the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.1
Category IICategory III
Government position
The Government replied on 13 April 2011. It said he was "convicted according to the criminal code offences for inciting subversion of state power", not for promoting human rights. The Working Group rejected this justification.1
Background
According to the opinion, Mr. Liu, a literary scholar, was taken from his home by Beijing police on 8 December 2008, formally arrested on 23 June 2009 for inciting subversion of state power, and sentenced on 25 December 2009 to 11 years. The source linked the charges to his role in Charter 08 and six articles.1
Status now
Died on 13 July 2017 at the First Hospital of China Medical University in Shenyang, while serving his 11 year sentence, per RFE/RL, The Irish Times and PBS NewsHour. The Shenyang judicial authorities announced the death and said he died of multiple organ failure after treatment for late stage liver cancer. RFE/RL reported that Chinese authorities said he had been granted medical parole after his diagnosis in late May 2017 and that he was held in a heavily guarded hospital.2,3,4
As of 13 July 2017.
Sources
- University of Minnesota Human Rights Library (copy of UN document), Opinion No. 15/2011 (China), A/HRC/WGAD/2011/15, full text mirror (5 May 2011)
- RFE/RL, Chinese Nobel Laureate Liu Xiaobo Dies At 61 (13 July 2017)
- The Irish Times, Jailed Chinese Nobel Peace laureate Liu Xiaobo dies (13 July 2017)
- PBS NewsHour, Liu Xiaobo, Nobel laureate and Chinese dissident, dies at 61 (13 July 2017)