On Children's Day, HRIC Condemns Disappearance of He Fangmei’s Daughters

On Children's Day, HRIC Condemns Disappearance of He Fangmei’s Daughters

下附中文版

In China, as in many countries around the world, Children’s Day is celebrated on June 1^st. This Children’s Day, let's unite in asking the government of the People’s Republic of China: Where are He Fangmei's children? Human Rights in China calls on the Chinese government to respect the rights of children under international law and calls for the release of human rights defender He Fangmei and her two daughters, who were kept from their family and held in Gongji psychiatric hospital in Henan Province for years until their disappearance in April 2024. We strongly condemn the arbitrary detention and mistreatment of these children and their mother, who only sought to defend the rights of her own family and others.

He Fangmei’s oldest daughter was temporarily paralyzed at almost two years old, leaving her with lasting disabilities, due to faulty vaccines produced by Changsheng Biotechnology. In response, she began petitioning for justice for her daughter. When her petitions went nowhere, she founded the group “Vaccine Baby Home,” which organized families whose children had been harmed by the faulty vaccines to advocate for medical care, accountability, and legislative reform for their children. For her daughter’s sake, He Fangmei traveled to Beijing repeatedly and raised the issue at all levels of government. 

As a result of her petitioning, He Fangmei was repeatedly detained by the authorities, but she refused to stop speaking out about this issue. In October 2020, she staged a protest outside of the Huixian government office in Henan province, splashing ink on the government sign. Pregnant at the time, she was taken away by the authorities and was detained with her six-year-old son and four-year-old daughter. Her husband, Li Xin, was also arrested, and sentenced to prison until October 2025. After giving birth in the psychiatric hospital, He Fangmei was forcibly separated from her children and sent to Xinxiang Detention Center, where she is still held today.

Although He Fangmei authorized her sister to care for her children, the authorities did not allow it. Instead, they placed her son in a foster home against the family’s wishes and kept both her older and newborn daughters in the hospital in Xinxiang where He Fangmei gave birth. This year, the girls are 7 and 3 years old. The eldest has never attended school, nor has she been given the special medical care required for her condition, and the youngest has never known a life outside of the hospital. For a short period, family members were allowed to visit the girls, but they have not been seen since summer 2023. In April 2024, the family learned that the girls had been taken to the town mayor’s office, and did not return to the hospital. Their location is currently unknown.

The Chinese authorities have used the arbitrary detention of He Fangmei’s children as a method of collective punishment for the family. Collective punishment and arbitrary detention are both illegal under international human rights and humanitarian law. Furthermore, China has signed and ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which states that “no child shall be deprived of his or her liberty unlawfully or arbitrarily” (Article 37(b)). Article 3 states that “In all actions concerning children…the best interests of the child shall be a primary consideration.” He Fangmei’s children have been deprived of education and medical care, and kept from their family, who is able and willing to care for them.

Using children’s lives as a weapon to punish human rights defenders goes against all standards of moral decency and human rights. Human Rights in China strongly condemns the actions of the Chinese authorities and urges the immediate release of He Fangmei and Li Xin, as well as the immediate return of their children to their loving family.

值此儿童节，中国人权谴责何方美女儿失踪事件

如同世界上许多国家一样，中国在 6月1日庆祝儿童节。今年的儿童节，让我们联合向中华人民共和国政府发问：何方美的孩子们在哪里？中国人权呼吁中国政府根据国际法尊重儿童权利，释放人权捍卫者何方美及其两个女儿。她们被从家中带走并拘禁在新乡共济精神病医院多年，直至2024年4月失踪。我们强烈谴责对孩子及其母亲的任意拘留和虐待行为，何方美只是为了维护自己家庭和其他人的权利而发声，却遭此打压。

何方美的大女儿在不到两岁时因长生生物科技公司生产的劣质疫苗造成暂时瘫痪，导致终身残障。为此，何方美开始为女儿寻求正义。当她的请愿无果时，她创立了“疫苗宝宝之家”，以帮助那些因劣质疫苗受害的家庭争取医疗护理、问责和立法改革。为了女儿的未来，何方美多次前往北京，并向各级政府提出这些问题。

由于她的上访行为，何方美多次被当局拘留，但她拒绝停止发声。2020年10月，她在河南省辉县市的政府办公楼外抗议并泼墨。当时身怀六甲的她与六岁的儿子和四岁的女儿一并被当局带走拘禁。她的丈夫李新也被逮捕，并被判刑至2025年10月。何方美在共济精神病院产下次女后，被强行与孩子们分开，送往新乡拘留所拘禁至今。

尽管何方美委托她的姐姐照顾孩子们，当局却不允许，而是违背家人的意愿将她的儿子送入寄养家庭，并将她的大女儿和新生女儿拘禁在她生产的共济医院。今年，这两个女孩分别7岁和3岁。大女儿从未上学，也没有得到她病情所需的特殊医疗护理，小女儿从未离开过医院。家人曾短暂被允许探视她们，但自2023年夏季以来，她们再未见到孩子们。2024年4月，家人得知女孩们被带到镇长办公室，但未再被带回医院。目前她们的下落不明。

中国当局任意拘留何方美的孩子们，以此作为对其家庭的连坐惩罚手段。连坐惩罚和任意拘留在国际人权法和人道法下都是非法的。此外，中国已签署并批准《儿童权利公约》，其中规定“任何儿童不得被非法或任意剥夺自由”（第37条(b)款）。第3条规定“在涉及儿童的一切行动中……应以儿童的最大利益为首要考虑。” 何方美的孩子被剥夺了教育和医疗护理，被阻止与能够并愿意照顾他们的家人团聚。

利用孩子作为惩罚人权捍卫者的武器违背了所有道德和人权标准。中国人权强烈谴责中国当局的行为，并敦促立即释放何方美和李新，同时立即将孩子送还家人。