CNHRA PERSON RECORD · CNHRA-P-016145
Jiang Tianyong
Born
Unknown
Occupation
Human rights lawyer
Role
Human Rights Defender
Record ID
CNHRA-P-016145
Biography
Jiang Tianyong is a human rights lawyer who supported rights-defense work and the families of detained lawyers. In 2011, UN Special Procedures sought information concerning reports that he had been taken away.[4]
Jiang began practicing in Beijing in late 2004; Chen Guangcheng was among his early clients. The IBA records legal assistance for people infected with HIV through transfusions, victims of unlawful land seizures, and people facing discrimination because of health, gender or age.[8]
After losing his legal practice license, Jiang continued helping detainees and their families. In 2014 he investigated an unofficial detention facility in Heilongjiang. In May 2016 he joined a relay hunger strike supporting the imprisoned Guo Feixiong and calling for a medical examination.[6]
On November 21, 2016, he disappeared from contact while returning from Changsha after visiting Xie Yang’s family. Relatives and lawyers sought him, and in December the family received a Changsha police notice of residential surveillance at a designated location. Their chosen lawyers subsequently faced restrictions on access and representation.[5][2]
A Changsha court tried him in August 2017 and sentenced him to two years that November. A 2018 Working Group opinion found the detention under review arbitrary. China later informed the UN that he completed his sentence on February 28, 2019.[1][2][3]
On November 3, 2022, Jiang’s wife Jin Bianling accepted the IBA human rights award for him in Miami. In prerecorded remarks, he described continuing restrictions on travel, medical access and reunion with his family after release.[8]
The Secretary-General’s 2024 report records a reported refusal to renew Jiang’s passport in May 2023 and continuing surveillance. In July 2024, China replied that he was not subject to judicial coercive measures.[7]
Case Summary
After Jiang disappeared from contact on November 21, 2016, his family sought help from police in several locations. On December 23 they received notice of residential surveillance at a designated location. A Changsha court tried him on August 22, 2017, with government-appointed counsel; family-appointed lawyers had lacked normal access.[5][2]
On November 21, 2017, Changsha Intermediate People’s Court sentenced him to two years for inciting subversion. Amnesty questioned the confession and trial process; a 2018 Working Group opinion found the detention under review arbitrary. China’s reply records sentence completion on February 28, 2019.[1][2][3]
Timeline
2004
Begins practicing in Beijing late in the year
The IBA biography records his move and early legal work.[8]
2011-03-02
UN communication records an earlier alleged detention
The 2011 Special Procedures communication recounts reports that police took Jiang into custody.[4]
2016-05
Campaigns for medical care for Guo Feixiong
He joined a relay hunger strike and calls for a medical examination of the imprisoned Guo Feixiong.[6]
2016-11-21
Loses contact after visiting Xie Yang’s family
HRW records his disappearance from contact while returning from Changsha and relatives’ attempts to report it to police in Changsha, Beijing and Henan.
He had traveled to Changsha to visit detained lawyer Xie Yang’s family. After losing contact on his return journey, relatives sought help from police in Changsha, Beijing and Henan. The subsequent residential-surveillance notice did not disclose a place of detention, bringing the search for him, legal assistance and access to official information together in the case.[5]
2016-12-23
Family receives RSDL notice
HRW’s update records a Changsha police notice concerning inciting subversion and residential surveillance at a designated location, without disclosure of the location.[5]
2016-12-29
Lawyer denied access
Paragraph 18 records Changsha police refusing the defense lawyer’s visit request.[2]
2017-05-31
Formally arrested
Paragraph 20 records formal arrest on subversion-related charges after incommunicado detention.[2]
2017-07
Indicted
Paragraph 21 records indictment by Changsha prosecutors in July on an inciting-subversion charge.[2]
2017-08-22
Trial in Changsha
The opinion records representation at trial by government-appointed lawyers after family-retained counsel had been unable to obtain regular access.
The Working Group records that family-retained lawyers had been unable to meet him normally and government-appointed counsel appeared at trial. A two-year sentence followed on November 21. Amnesty International questioned the confession and procedure; the hearing needs to be read alongside the defense arrangements and preceding lack of contact, rather than treated alone as evidence of adequate safeguards.[2][1]
2017-11-21
Two-year sentence
Amnesty reported that day that Jiang had been sentenced to two years for inciting subversion of state power.[1]
2018-08-24
UN opinion on the examined detention
Opinion No. 62/2018 found the examined detention of Jiang and others arbitrary under categories I, II and III and called for release and remedies.[2]
2019-02-28
Sentence completion recorded in China’s reply
China’s public reply to the UN records release on completion of sentence that day.[3]
2022-11-03
Wife accepts IBA human rights award on his behalf
Jin Bianling accepted the award in Miami; Jiang addressed delegates in a prerecorded video.
The ceremony took place in Miami, with Jin Bianling accepting on his behalf and Jiang addressing it through a prerecorded video. He said that restrictions on travel, medical care and family reunion had continued after leaving prison in 2019. His account extends the record beyond the prison term; representation at the ceremony did not mean that he could travel abroad.[8]
2023-05
Reported refusal to renew passport
The Secretary-General’s 2024 report records a reported refusal to renew Jiang’s passport in May 2023 and continuing surveillance. In July 2024, China replied that he was not subject to judicial coercive measures.[7]
Related Events
2011
Teng Biao: Reported Disappearance in 2011 and Later Testimony
滕彪2011年失联与后来公开证言
CNHRA-E-696275
2016-11
Jiang Tianyong: Detention, Two-Year Sentence and Sentence Completion
江天勇2016年被带走、两年刑期与刑满释放
CNHRA-E-053530
2015-07-09
The 709 Crackdown in 2015 and Ten Years of Follow-up
2015年709律师打压及十年后续
CNHRA-E-044886
Documents
Sources
- [1]
CNHRA-S-882512Amnesty International
Evidence location: Opening paragraphs and Changsha Intermediate People’s Court passage: November 2017 sentence and 2016 detention.
- [2]
CNHRA-S-434619UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention
Evidence location: Facts concerning Wang and Jiang; paragraphs 82–85; adoption on 24 August 2018.
- [3]
CNHRA-S-310280Government of China / United Nations
Evidence location: Jiang Tianyong passage: sentence on 21 November 2017 and release on 28 February 2019; indexed text.
- [4]
CNHRA-S-479144United Nations
Evidence location: A/HRC/18/51, printed page 61: CHN 5/2011 dated March 2, 2011; Teng Biao and Jiang Tianyong.
- [5]
CNHRA-S-737363Human Rights Watch
Evidence location: Body and subsequent updates: Jiang missing on November 21, Huang on November 28; family notices in December.
- [6]
CNHRA-S-768097Front Line Defenders
Evidence location: Background: 2014 Heilongjiang investigation and 2016 medical advocacy for Guo Feixiong.
- [7]
CNHRA-S-271786United Nations
Evidence location: Annex II, paragraphs 60–63 and 69–70, printed pages 46–49; reported restrictions and government replies.
- [8]
CNHRA-S-264949International Bar Association
Evidence location: Professional background: move to Beijing in late 2004, Chen Guangcheng case and client groups.