Commentary | Chinese Human Rights Defenders

Why We Are Calling on the United Nations to Act Over the Tiananmen Massacre

June 17, 2019 Comments Off

By Wang Dan and Frances Eve In 1989, the Chinese Communist Party ordered the People’s Liberation Army to massacre the people for peacefully protesting for democracy. In the 30 years since, the government has refused to allow any independent investigation nor hold anyone accountable for the slaughter. The government imprisons (read more…)

30-Year Censorship and No Accountability for Tiananmen: Here Lies the Hope

June 4, 2019 Comments Off

By Renee Xia By one important measure, the Chinese government’s 30-year campaign to enforce amnesia around the Tiananmen massacre has failed and will continue to fail. Despite China’s rising global influence and status as an economic superpower, its control of state media outlets and high-tech cyber censorship and surveillance, it (read more…)

China’s Ethnic Cleansing Met with US Inaction under Global Magnitsky Law

May 26, 2019 Comments Off

By Renee Xia & Frances Eve, The US Administration is squandering an opportunity to hold the Chinese government accountable for its atrocities in the Xinjiang region under the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act. Of grave concern is the lack of targeted sanctions created by this law against the type (read more…)

Cao Shunli died five years ago. She stood up to China on human rights, and so must we

May 22, 2019 Comments Off

By Frances Eve, Deputy Director of Research Originally published in The Guardian on March 14, 2019 Five years ago today, Chinese activist Cao Shunli died in a Beijing hospital surrounded by police. Her ordeal began in September 2013, when she tried to fly to Geneva to attend a session of the (read more…)

China is committing ethnic cleansing in Xinjiang – it’s time for the world to stand up

May 22, 2019 Comments Off

By Frances Eve, Deputy Director of Research Originally published in The Guardian on November 3, 2018 Now is the time to act on China’s human rights abuses in Xinjiang. China’s efforts to destroy the ethnic Uighur identity through mass internment camps and militarised surveillance must be raised loudly and clearly condemned during a UN human rights (read more…)

The US withdrawal from the UNHRC is perfect for Xi Jinping and China

May 22, 2019 Comments Off

By Frances Eve, Quitting the UNHRC won’t make it disappear. It opens a leadership vacancy that China is happy to fill. The Trump administration has stepped back to allow China the space to dominate the council unchallenged and advance its agenda to redefine human rights after the “China model.”

Human rights issues ignored during BRICS summit in China

September 25, 2017 Comments Off

By Frances Eve & Cathal Gilbert, From 3-5 September, the leaders of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa met at the ninth BRICS summit. The venue was Xiamen – a gleaming port city which symbolises China’s rise as the new economic and political force in the world. It is (read more…)

China Is Risking the Lives of Political Prisoners by Denying Them Medical Care

September 11, 2017 Comments Off

By Frances Eve, Dozens of political detainees and prisoners have reported being deprived of adequate medical treatment. Deliberately depriving prisoners of medical care is a life-threatening form of torture, and appears to be commonly used against political prisoners on China.

China: Bringing Down The House

October 1, 2016 Comments Off

By Victor Clemens, China’s central government has made the construction of more affordable urban housing an official goal, but in China and elsewhere, creating affordable housing should not come at the expense of human rights.

Risky prospects: Engagement of Chinese human rights defenders with the Human Rights Council

June 1, 2016 Comments Off

By Linda Wang & Alex Beck, For many Chinese human rights defenders and independent non-governmental organizations, difficulties and risks associated with engaging the Human Rights Council, including threat of Chinese government reprisals, outweigh the benefits. But there are meaningful actions the Council can take to improve access and to prevent (read more…)

Guest Post: The Repression of Human Rights Defenders in China

March 1, 2015 Comments Off

By Frances Eve, A prominent pro-bono lawyer disappeared into police custody in Beijing last November. The family of Xia Lin, a man known for defending death penalty cases and environmental activists, has received no information about him for more than three months.

The Plight of China’s Rights Lawyers

January 20, 2015 Comments Off

By Frances Eve, As 2014 came to a close, at least seven prominent Chinese human rights lawyers rang in the New Year from a jail cell. Under President Xi Jinping, the year was one of the worst in recent memory for China’s embattled civil society.