Alleged human rights lawyer Xie Yang, accused of “inciting subversion of state power,” has been unlawfully detained for over 3 years and 3 months in a Changsha detention center. Despite facing torture, he insists on his innocence. Recently, before meeting his legal representative, Xie Yang was subjected to a humiliating strip search by guards in the detention center. This incident was exposed by his legal representative, sparking widespread attention.
On April 25th, Xie Yang’s legal representative Li Guobei revealed on Weibo that when she visited Xie Yang at the Changsha First Detention Center that morning, she learned about the severe violation of human rights he experienced. Prior to the meeting, Xie Yang was forced by several guards to remove all his clothes, even subjected to what they called a “security check.” However, in order to see his lawyer, Xie Yang ultimately chose to undergo the humiliating inspection.
During the meeting, lawyer Li Guobei mentioned that the police were on high alert, with Xie Yang having his hands cuffed to chairs on both sides and not allowed to bring any legal materials. People would often peek into the meeting room through the glass door in the corridor, even entering to observe what was being written. The police frequently interrupted the meeting, demanded it to end, and confiscated the notes Xie Yang was writing.
It is known that the hearing for Xie Yang’s case has been postponed 11 times so far.
Attempts to reach Li Guobei and Xie Yang’s ex-wife Chen Guiqiu by a reporter on April 26th were unsuccessful.
Well-known Chinese human rights lawyer Lin Ping expressed to Epoch Times that the Chinese Communist Party views the Xie Yang case as sensitive for two main reasons: Xie Yang has not yielded to the authorities’ pressure, and his case has gained international attention, causing the CCP to fear exposure of their persecution.
Lin Ping believes that subjecting Xie Yang to humiliating inspections is a severe violation of human rights. The rights of lawyers to meet clients and the rights of Xie Yang himself to meet with his lawyer have both been infringed upon.
Lin Ping admires Xie Yang’s resistance to oppression, stating, “Xie Yang’s persistence in resisting the Communist Party is also giving us Chinese people pride. Lawyer Xie Yang is telling the world that at least there are brave individuals like him in China.”
Beijing-based senior media personality Gao Yu posted on social media platform X, saying, “The Changsha First Detention Center’s degrading and humiliating treatment of Lawyer Xie Yang and other detainees only proves how brutal and inhumane the law enforcement officers under the CCP’s rule are, with the legal system in the CCP dictatorship darkening to such an extent that it exceeds normal thinking and imagination.”
Many well-known figures like Chen Guangcheng, Fu Xiqiu, Chen Jianguang, and Cai Shenkun have shared Lawyer Li Guobei’s article. Lawyer Wu Lei stated, “Strongly condemn the atrocities against Lawyer Xie Yang by the Changsha detention center!”
The Chinese Human Rights Lawyers Group issued a statement on April 25th “strongly condemning the degrading inspection against Xie Yang by the Chinese authorities.” The statement declared that this humiliating inspection severely violated Xie Yang’s dignity and constituted cruel and degrading treatment explicitly prohibited by the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment (CAT).
The statement also mentioned that during the meeting, Xie Yang’s lawyer faced illegal interference and restrictions: the police monitored her throughout, interfered with her note-taking, attempted to photograph and copy her work. Such behavior flagrantly violated Article 17 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) regarding the respect for individual privacy rights and contradicted the “International Principles on Lawyer Independence” which state that lawyers should be free to perform their duties without intimidation, hindrance, harassment, or improper interference.
Xie Yang is a prominent human rights lawyer who has been involved in representing numerous human rights cases since 2011, including visiting blind lawyer Chen Guangcheng, supporting lawyers arrested in the Jiansanjiang incident, and persistently facing obstruction and pressure from authorities.
During the “709 Crackdown” in 2015, Xie Yang was detained and later charged with offenses such as “incitement” and “disrupting court order.” In January 2022, he was again illegally arrested for supporting mentally ill teacher Li Tiantian, facing an additional charge of “incitement,” and has now been unlawfully detained for over 3 years and 3 months. During this time, he has endured cruel treatment like wearing ankle shackles, handcuffs, verbal insults, and other inhumane abuses, as well as having his communication rights unlawfully deprived.
In early 2025, a letter from Xie Yang in prison emerged, stating that the authorities’ allegations and evidence against him were irrelevant, and there were numerous illegal practices in the judicial process. Xie Yang claimed that the court feared him exposing them in court, which is why they kept postponing the hearings.
On May 21, 2024, Xie Yang’s ex-wife Chen Guiqiu, who resides in the United States, revealed that Xie Yang had been subjected to torture and humiliation at the Changsha First Detention Center, listing 8 illegal actions by the public security, procuratorate, court, and judicial authorities in Changsha, preparing to file a lawsuit.
On January 10, 2025, when Xie Yang had been detained for more than 3 years, Chen Guiqiu publicly shared a note sent by Xie Yang from prison, declaring, “Would rather lose my head than kneel!” The content of the note showed that Xie Yang had not been broken by the authorities, with human rights lawyers and their families being targeted as enemies and persecuted by the CCP.