Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) has reported that the mainly Christian lawyers were mostly last seen with police, and have not been seen since.
The East Asia Advocacy Officer for CSW, who can't be named to protect her identity, told Premier that: "Between a quarter and half of human rights lawyers in China are actually Christian - and that's disproportionate to the number of Christians in the population."
"When I asked why [they are Christian] this lawyer said, if you want to be a human rights lawyer in China and defend these cases, you can't expect a lot of wealth, you can't expect a lot of fame, you can't expect to be popular.
"So you have to be motivated by something else, so they're motivated by their faith to pursue justice."
CSW has joined over 45 other organisations from China, Hong Kong and around the world in calling on the Chinese authorities to stop the detention of these lawyers and citizens.
It is thought that the prisoners include human rights lawyers and activists, but also relatives of the lawyers and staff from the lawyers' firms.
CSW Chief Executive, Mervyn Thomas, said: "We join our voice with over 45 different organisations and institutions around the world in calling on the Chinese authorities to release the lawyers, activists and other citizens still in detention immediately.
"Human rights lawyers in China defend victims of rights abuses and injustices at great risk to themselves and play a vital role in upholding the rule of law and defending social justice.
"We reiterate our call for the detained lawyers' immediate and unconditional release."
Listen to Hannah Tooley speak to CSW here:
