Statement: Release Liu Xia Immediately

The Nobel peace laureates of the Nobel Women’s Initiative strongly urge the Chinese government to release Liu Xia from custody. The widow of late Chinese Nobel peace laureate was last seen at her husband, Liu Xiaobo’s, burial. Her friends and family have not been able to contact her since then. This has led the international community to believe that Liu Xia has been forcibly disappeared by the Chinese government.

Liu Xiaobo won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2010 while serving an 11-year sentence for his political activism. Liu Xia has been under effective house arrest since then, despite her lack of involvement with any controversial political activity. After being denied international treatment for liver cancer, Liu Xiaobo died in custody on July 13, 2017.

This unlawful and unjust detention undermines Liu Xia’s basic and fundamental human rights, and is a violation of international law. Read the full statement from the Nobel Women’s Initiative laureates here.