China: UN Human Rights Council must ensure accountability for ongoing atrocities in Xinjiang

The UN Human Rights Council must end its years of inaction and establish an independent international mechanism to investigate crimes under international law in China’s Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, Amnesty International said today. The Council session, which began on 12 September, is the first since the UN High Commissioner’s recent report on government atrocities in …

China: Families of Xinjiang detainees speak out as they await long-overdue UN report

Amnesty International today published heartbreaking new testimony from relatives of 48 ethnic Uyghur and Kazakh people detained in China’s Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, as it reiterated its call for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights to take action. The outgoing High Commissioner, Michelle Bachelet, has yet to release a long-awaited report on serious human rights violations …

Report: China’s Mass Internment, Torture and Persecution of Muslims in Xinjiang

Amnesty International’s latest report Like We Were Enemies In A War is a comprehensive human rights investigation into the crushing repression faced by Uyghurs, Kazakhs and other predominantly Muslim ethnic minorities in China’s Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. Based on scores of interviews – 55 of them with former detainees – the investigation since October 2019 found evidence …

Grave concerns held for Yang Hengjun after new trial delay

Amnesty International remains gravely concerned for the welfare of Australian writer Yang Hengjun who has been in custody in China awaiting trial for three years. Dr Yang’s family and colleagues have told Amnesty that he is in poor health and that he has been informed his trial on espionage charges has yet again been delayed. …

China: World must use Winter Olympics to demand human rights improvements

The world must use the Beijing Winter Olympics and Paralympics as an opportunity to push for human rights improvements in China, Amnesty International said ahead of next month’s Games. China’s capital will welcome athletes, officials and diplomats from around the world for the Games, which begin on 4 February. But the event will take place …

Hong Kong: Tiananmen vigil convictions an affront to human rights and international law

Responding to the convictions of three Hong Kong pro-democracy figures – Jimmy Lai, Gwyneth Ho and Chow Hang-tung – over their involvement in the city’s annual Tiananmen vigil on 4 June 2020, Amnesty International’s Deputy Secretary General Kyle Ward said: “The Hong Kong government has once again flouted international law by convicting activists simply for …

China: WTA’s decision should push for effective investigation of sexual violence

Responding to the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA)’s decision to halt all competitions in China, Doriane Lau, Amnesty International’s China researcher said: “Amnesty International shares the WTA’s concern about the state censorship around allegations made by Peng Shuai and the related online discussion. The Chinese government has a track record of silencing women who make allegations of sexual …

China: Prove tennis player is safe and investigate sexual assault allegations

Responding to increasing concerns for Chinese tennis player Peng Shuai, who has not been seen publicly since she made sexual violence allegations against a former senior Chinese politician two weeks ago, Amnesty International’s China Researcher Doriane Lau said: “The Chinese government has systematically silenced the country’s #MeToo movement. Given that it also has a zero-tolerance approach to …

China: Release jailed Wuhan activist ‘close to death’ after hunger strike

A Chinese citizen journalist jailed for reporting on the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic in Wuhan is at risk of dying if she is not urgently released to receive medical treatment, Amnesty International said today. Zhang Zhan, who was sentenced to four years in prison in December for posting on social media about China’s handling …