Jiang Tianyong

Jiang was born in Luoshan, Henan province, where he worked as a teacher from 1995 to 2004. In 2004 year, he left his job as a teacher, relocated to Beijing, and become a human rights lawyer. He passed the bar exam in 2005, and became a partner in the Beijing Global Lawfirm, along with several other prominent human rights lawyers. He has taken on a number of politically sensitive cases, including those of petitioners and religious and ethnic minorities.Committee to Support Chinese Lawyers, [http://www.csclawyers.org/cases/JiangTianyong/ Jiang Tianyong]. In 2008, Jiang offered to provide legal services to Tibetans facing charges in the aftermath of the 2008 Tibetan unrest,Bill Schiller. [https://www.thestar.com/article/444409 “Lawyers pay high price for coming to aid of Tibetans”], The Star, 17 June 2008. and was involved in the high-profile defense of a Tibetan cleric, along with lawyer Li Fangping.Gillian Wong, [https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=13182850#.T2apb3ggvCQ 'China Takes Hard Line on Activists, Many Missing], Associated Press, 21 March 2011. Jiang began advocating for Falun Gong adherents in 2008, and by late 2009 said he had defended nearly 20 practitioners who had been detained for their spiritual practice.Jiang Tianyong, [http://wolf.house.gov/uploads/Jiang%20Tianyong's%20Testimony.pdf "Written Testimony submitted to the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission on the rule of law in China"]{{Dead link|date=February 2020 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}, 29 October 2009. Jiang has also advocated on behalf of citizens who contracted HIV/AIDS in tainted blood transfusions or donations, and was involved in advocating for victims of the Shanxi "black brick kiln" case.

Jiang has been detained on multiple occasions by Chinese security agents in response to his human rights advocacy.Freedom House, [http://www.freedomhouse.org/sites/default/files/inline_images/Cyberdisappearance%20in%20Action_special_feature-FINAL_0.pdf Special Feature:Cyberdisappearance in Action], China Media Bulletin, No. 29, 14 July 2011. In 2008, Jiang was informed that his license to practice law had expired. In 2009, he was one of at least 17 Weiquan lawyers whose application for renewal of a legal license was rejected. The same year, Jiang was put under police surveillance, and was prevented from leaving his home.Human Rights in China, [http://hrichina.org/content/300 Chinese Rights Defense Lawyers Under All-out Attack by the Authorities] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120201044651/http://www.hrichina.org/content/300 |date=2012-02-01 }}, 4 June 2009.

On 19 February 2011, he was one of several lawyers and dissidents detained as part of a sweeping crackdown on dissent. Jiang was held in custody for two months.BBC News, [https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-13139872 Chinese human rights lawyer Jiang Tianyong freed], 20 April 2011. In an interview with the South China Morning Post, Jiang said he was beaten and abused in custody. While in the detention center, interrogators reportedly kicked and punched Jiang repeatedly, and forced him to sit motionless for up to 15 hours at a stretch.Brian Spegele, [https://blogs.wsj.com/chinarealtime/2011/09/14/not-human-china-activist-lawyer-reveals-details-of-detention/ Not Human: China Activist Lawyer Reveals Details of Detention], Wall Street Journal, 14 September 2011.

In November 2016, Jiang was feared to be in custody again, according to his wife.{{cite web|url=http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2016/11/chinese-rights-activist-jiang-tianyong-missing-161124084529844.html|title=Chinese rights activist Jiang Tianyong missing|website=www.aljazeera.com}}{{cite web|url=http://www.rfa.org/mandarin/yataibaodao/renquanfazhi/ql1-11262016125702.html | language= | title=人权律师江天勇被羁押北京 国际特赦发出紧急呼吁 |publisher=Radio Free Asia |date=2016-11-26 |accessdate= }} On December 6, Philip Alston, the UN's special rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights, said Jiang's disappearance was in reprisal for his cooperation with the UN during Alston's visit to China.{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/dec/06/un-human-rights-china-missing-lawyer-jiang-tianyong|title=UN fears Chinese human rights lawyer has been 'disappeared' by authorities|work=The Guardian|date=2016-12-06|accessdate=2016-12-09}} Jiang was sentenced in 2017 to two years in prison for "inciting subversion of state power".{{cite web|url=https://edition.cnn.com/2020/05/22/asia/china-national-security-law-prosecution-intl-hnk/index.html|title=A national security law is coming to Hong Kong. Here's how it has been used to crush dissent in China|first=Nectar|last=Gan|publisher=CNN News|date=23 May 2020|access-date=28 August 2021}}

He was released in 2019, and reported to be living with his family in central China, under close watch from Chinese authorities.{{cite news | last=Gan| first=Nectar | date=2019-03-02| title=Jailed Chinese human rights lawyer Jiang Tianyong back home after going missing on release day | url=https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/2188374/jailed-chinese-human-rights-lawyer-jiang-tianyong-back-home| work= | location= | access-date= }}

In May 2021, Radio Free Asia reported that Jiang remained under house arrest.{{cite web | title=Chinese Rights Lawyer Still Under House Arrest on 50th Birthday | website=Radio Free Asia | date=2021-05-20 | url=https://www.rfa.org/english/news/china/arrest-05202021094205.html | access-date=2021-08-11}}

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• [https://web.archive.org/web/20111104065759/http://www.voanews.com/chinese/news/20110914-Chinas-Detained-Lawyer-Speaks-Up-129789948.html Interview with Voice of America]

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Category:Living people

Category:Chinese human rights activists

Category:Weiquan movement

Category:1971 births

Category:20th-century Chinese lawyers

Category:21st-century Chinese lawyers