CNHRA PERSON RECORD · CNHRA-P-935468
He Fangmei
Born
Unknown
Occupation
Health rights advocate
Role
Human Rights Defender
Record ID
CNHRA-P-935468
Biography
He Fangmei advocates for vaccine safety and medical remedies and co-founded Home for Vaccine Babies. After her daughter developed a serious neurological illness following vaccination in 2018, she attributed the harm to the vaccination and sought accountability, compensation and medical support.[1][2]
She worked with other families to seek treatment, publicize their children’s situations and petition departments in Beijing. A 2025 UN Special Procedures communication describes the network’s calls for accountability, compensation, help with medical bills and legislative action.[1]
Both He and her husband Li Xin have been detained, while relatives sought information about their three children and requested to care for them. The UN communication records her May 19, 2023 letter entrusting the children to her sister and relatives’ unsuccessful attempts to visit or take them into their care.[1]
Case Summary
He faced administrative detention and prosecution in 2019 over petitioning and requests for assistance in Beijing; prosecutors dropped the charges in January 2020 and she was released. In October she protested with black paint at a government building in Huixian, Henan, and lost contact after being taken away following a further protest on October 9.[1]
Her trial took place in March 2022, and family-appointed counsel first met her in January 2023. On October 23, 2024, the Huixian Municipal Court imposed one year and nine months for bigamy and four years for picking quarrels and provoking trouble, with a combined term of five years and six months.[1][2]
UN Special Procedures wrote to China on January 3, 2025, setting out information received about sentencing, access to counsel and the children and requesting a response. The communication states that two daughters had been kept in a psychiatric hospital and moved to an undisclosed location in April 2024; relatives had not established their whereabouts when the letter was sent.[1]
Timeline
2018-03
Begins seeking remedies for her daughter
2020-01-10
Earlier charges dropped
Huixian prosecutors dropped charges in the 2019 case and He was subsequently released. The UN communication links that case to her petitioning and requests for assistance in Beijing.[1]
2020-10-09
Taken away after protest and loses contact
He was taken away after another black-paint protest at the Huixian government building while pregnant. Relatives repeatedly sought information from police and prosecutors without a full account of her whereabouts.[1]
2022-03
Family learns of arrest and trial
Relatives received an arrest notice dated March 23 alleging bigamy and picking quarrels and provoking trouble and learned that trial had taken place. The UN communication says family-appointed lawyers found out only after the hearing.[1]
2023-01
First meeting with family-appointed counsel
Family-appointed counsel first met He at Xinxiang Detention Center and learned about the earlier trial and separation from her children. In May she wrote to entrust the three children to her sister.[1]
2024-10-23
Combined sentence of five years and six months
2025-01-03
UN Special Procedures communication
Several UN Special Procedures mandates wrote to China about information received concerning He’s sentence and children, requesting responses to the allegations, information on the children’s whereabouts and measures to safeguard rights.[1]
Related Events
Sources
- [1]
CNHRA-S-636282OHCHR
Evidence location: AL CHN 17/2024, January 3, 2025, PDF pp. 1–5: earlier cases, 2022 trial, 2024 sentence and information on children; subsequent pages contain questions to China.
- [2]
CNHRA-S-389865Front Line Defenders
Evidence location: October 23, 2024 judgment update and case chronology: health advocacy, lawyer access and family.