Hubei Shiyan rights defender Yin Dengzhen, who is about to spend her 58th birthday in Wuhan Women’s Prison, sees her lymphoma continue to worsen; her physical condition is cause for concern

(Rights Defense Network Information Center report) On April 6, 2026, this outlet learned: since 7 a.m. on January 26, 2025, rights defender Yin Dengzhen has been forcibly detained after six unidentified individuals illegally broke into her home in Beijing’s Daxing District, kidnapped and robbed her. Despite knowing that Yin Dengzhen has lymphoma and does not meet the conditions for detention, the Hubei Provincial Prison Administration and Wuhan Women’s Prison nevertheless illegally admitted her to prison by falsifying her medical examination report, depriving her of basic medical rights for an extended period and allowing her condition to continue deteriorating, even seeking to carry out intentional murder through medical deprivation.

I. Continued deprivation of medical rights: a seriously ill detainee on the verge of death is deliberately left to deteriorate

Yin Dengzhen’s lymphoma rapidly worsened while she was detained at the Shiyan City Detention Center. She became unable to eat or walk independently, her weight plummeted, and her bodily functions were severely impaired, resulting in her being sent twice to Shiyan People’s Hospital for emergency treatment and remaining hospitalized for more than four months.

Under these circumstances, Yin Dengzhen’s physical condition clearly no longer met the requirements for continued detention. Nevertheless, the Shiyan Intermediate People’s Court still deceived the party concerned and her lawyers, falsely claiming that “the procedure for execution outside prison had been initiated.” In reality, disregarding Yin Dengzhen’s safety and life, the Hubei Provincial Prison Administration and Wuhan Women’s Prison forcibly transferred her from the inpatient department of Shiyan People’s Hospital to the prison, after which they never provided any substantive medical treatment.

II. Depriving her of communication rights and shifting responsibility: forcing the person concerned to “raise her own medical expenses”

At the end of February 2026, after repeatedly demanding “treatment expenses” from Yin Dengzhen’s family without success, Wuhan Women’s Prison actually required Yin Dengzhen to call her family on her own initiative to “ask for money for medical treatment.”

During the call, Yin Dengzhen told her family that she had just mailed a letter, but more than a month had passed and the letter still could not be tracked and had not been delivered. When her family asked about her physical condition, including her weight, she did not dare answer and only repeatedly reminded them to ensure the safety of her daughter, Xia Beibei. At present, it is only known that Yin Dengzhen remains unable to walk and can move only with the aid of a wheelchair.

Wuhan Women’s Prison has not only refused to provide Yin Dengzhen with any medical treatment, but has also deliberately obstructed her normal communications. Her family has neither received her letters nor been able to obtain information about an account to which they could send her money; they have been forced to remit small amounts to the prison’s official account and cannot even confirm whether the money arrived.

On the one hand, Wuhan Women’s Prison falsified Yin Dengzhen’s medical examination report, illegally detained her, and continued to deprive her of medical rights; on the other hand, Wuhan Women’s Prison repeatedly rejected applications submitted by Yin Dengzhen and her family for medical parole, while repeatedly demanding treatment expenses from the family and even forcing Yin Dengzhen herself to ask her family for money for medical treatment.

This repeatedly contradictory conduct is no longer merely a failure of management by the Hubei Provincial Prison Administration and Wuhan Women’s Prison, but a systematic deprivation of the basic conditions for survival of a seriously ill detainee.

III. Systematic oppression: refusing treatment, restricting the conditions for survival, and applying sustained pressure

At the same time, Yin Dengzhen’s husband, Xiao Shujun, is also in a dangerous situation. In March this year, when Xiao Shujun’s family went to Lianjiangk’ou Prison to visit him and deliver epilepsy medication, they learned that a fellow inmate with whom he had a good relationship had suddenly died in prison after suffering from a long-term shortage of medical treatment for diabetes, using a “death quota” within the prescribed allocation. The incident caused Xiao Shujun severe psychological distress, leading to a weight loss of more than 10 jin.

In addition, because Xiao Shujun continues to refuse to “confess guilt and accept punishment” in prison, prison authorities have deliberately punished him and intentionally restricted the amount his family can remit, leaving him in a prolonged state of hunger and intense physical and psychological pressure. The frequency of his epileptic seizures has increased significantly, and his memory continues to deteriorate.

The above circumstances show that while rights defenders Yin Dengzhen and Xiao Shujun have been deprived of medical care in prison, their basic conditions for survival have also been deliberately restricted, creating sustained dual physical and psychological oppression.

Yin Dengzhen’s daughter appeals to all sectors of society to continue paying attention to the safety in prison of her parents—detainees Yin Dengzhen and Xiao Shujun, who are seriously ill and in critical condition.