Report on the Visit by the Family of Renowned Human Rights Defender Ms. He Fangmei at Luoyang Women's Prison

(Rights Defense Network Information Center report) On April 24, 2026, this outlet learned that the family of renowned human rights defender Ms. He Fangmei successfully visited her yesterday at Luoyang Women's Prison.

After the visit, He Fangmei's husband, Mr. Li Xin, reported: “At two o'clock early this morning, I travelled from Huixian to Luoyang to visit her in prison. It was more than 200 kilometres, and the visit went smoothly. Fangmei looks much thinner, but she remains optimistic and determined. We brought all the documents required for the visitation application. The prison officials were very humane and enthusiastically provided guidance, answered the questions of inmates' family members, and escorted us to the visitation hall. It felt like going home, which deserves praise. Unlike Zhengzhou Women's Prison, where the officials have unpleasant attitudes and it is difficult to gain entry. Fangmei said that her transfer to another prison was a normal situation, and that I had been overthinking it.”

Biography of He Fangmei: Born on October 8, 1985, she is from Huixian, Xinxiang City, Henan Province. Her online name is “Thirteenth Sister.” Her occupation is unknown. She is the founder of the “Vaccine Babies' Home” rights-defence group, a human rights defender, and a detained rights defender in China.

On March 23, 2018, after her 1-year-and-10-month-old daughter became paralysed throughout her body following administration of the diphtheria, pertussis and tetanus vaccine, and after her requests for help and complaints to various parties were rejected, she pursued redress through successive levels to seek an explanation. Later, as similar incidents of vaccine-related harm to babies occurred in many places, she helped establish the “Vaccine Babies' Home” rights-defence group to make joint appeals, seeking the authorities' attention and reasonable compensation and medical treatment. However, the authorities repeatedly delayed, forcing her to petition in Beijing, where she was repeatedly arrested and suppressed. On March 5, 2019, during the “Two Sessions” of the Chinese Communist Party, she went to Beijing's Wangfujing with parents of children affected by problematic vaccines from various regions to raise donations for children with disabilities, and was consequently administratively detained for 15 days by Huixian police in Xinxiang City. On March 21, she was again criminally detained by Huixian police on suspicion of “picking quarrels and provoking trouble” and held at the Xinxiang City Detention Center in Henan Province. Because she continued to refuse to admit guilt, on April 26, 2019, she was formally arrested by the Huixian Procuratorate of Xinxiang City on the same charge. She was later prosecuted and six charges were listed, with a recommended sentence of one year. On November 15 of the same year, her case formally went to trial at the Huixian County Court in Henan Province. On January 10, 2020, the Huixian Procuratorate withdrew the prosecution on the grounds that “the facts were unclear and the evidence was insufficient,” and she was subsequently released after being acquitted.

On May 18, 2020, because she repeatedly spoke out to request that the state resolve the vaccine issue through legislation and called on the United Nations to pay attention to China's vaccine problems, among other actions, she was once again forcibly disappeared in Beijing.

After her release, on October 2, 2020, because the local government obstructed her from taking her daughter, who had been disabled by a vaccine, to receive medical treatment, she protested by splashing ink on the Huixian government signboard and was administratively detained. She later protested for a second time by splashing paint on the Huixian municipal government on October 9.

On October 14, 2020, after learning that she, her husband, their then six-year-old son, and their three-year-old daughter with disabilities had all been taken away by Huixian police, she was placed under residential surveillance at a designated location, on suspicion of “picking quarrels and provoking trouble,” at Gongji Hospital in Xinxiang City for 18 months, during which time she gave birth to a younger daughter; on March 23, 2021, she was formally arrested by Huixian municipal police on suspicion of “bigamy” and “picking quarrels and provoking trouble,” while her husband, Li Xin, was forcibly disappeared, and the whereabouts of their son and daughter with disabilities were also unknown; in April 2022, after her defence lawyer became involved, it was learned that her case had already been heard at first instance, but there had been no result and her relatives had not been notified; on October 23, 2024, her case was again decided at first instance by the Huixian County Court in Henan Province, and she was ultimately sentenced to five years and six months in prison for “bigamy” and “picking quarrels and provoking trouble”; dissatisfied with the verdict, she appealed; on January 21, 2025, it was learned that, following a second-instance ruling by the Xinxiang Intermediate People's Court of Henan Province, the original judgment was upheld and her sentence would run until January 1, 2027.

It is reported that her husband, Li Xin, formerly an editor at Nandu.com, was also unjustly sentenced to five years on unspecified charges for engaging in rights defence alongside her and is serving his sentence at Jiaozuo Prison in Henan; their son was sent by the authorities to live with villagers as a foster child, while their two young daughters were initially held at Gongji Hospital but were transferred elsewhere in early April 2024, and their family has been unable to contact them ever since; after hearing about this, she became extremely worried about the children's living conditions, physical and mental health, and education, and hoped to come out soon to care for and accompany them. She was previously held at the Xinxiang City Detention Center. In March 2026, she was sent to Zhengzhou Women's Prison in Zhongmu County to serve her sentence. In April 2026, she was transferred again to Luoyang Women's Prison.

This outlet will continue to follow Ms. He Fangmei's conditions in prison.