Early Rain Church elder released from prison after completing sentence
An elder of Early Rain Church in Chengdu, China, was released from prison after completing a four-year prison sentence on 9 December.
2022
Joint Statement: Respect Freedoms of Expression, Press and Assembly in China; Stop violent crackdown and arrests of peaceful protesters
CSW and a coalition of 48 human rights NGOs urge the Chinese government to respect human rights, especially in the context of the current protests against the regime’s zero-Covid policy.
China Voices: July – September 2022
In the run-up to its 20th party congress, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) further stepped up its efforts to both maintain political stability and contain Covid-19 in the country. Many people suffered shortages of food and medicine in areas that had been locked down for extended periods, including in Xinjiang and Tibet. Tragically, this was …
Disappointments at the UN, but we must not let the challenges obscure the good that it can achieve
Earlier this month, the UN General Assembly (UNGA) voted to elect 14 new members to the Human Rights Council (HRC) to serve from 2023 to 2025. Among those elected were Sudan and Vietnam…The election of both of these states is deeply disappointing.
CSW deeply disappointed by HRC failure to permit debate on the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region
CSW has joined Uyghurs and Chinese and international human rights organisations in expressing deep disappointment at a UN Human Rights Council (HRC) vote on 6 October which blocked a procedural draft decision that would have enabled a debate on the human rights situation in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) during the HRC session in March 2023. …
HRC51: Oral statement during General Debate under Item 4
Less than a month ago, the OHCHR published a long overdue report on the situation of human rights in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) which found that the widespread arbitrary detention of Uyghurs, Kazakhs and members of other predominantly Muslim ethnic groups in the region may amount to crimes against humanity. We welcome and fully concur with these findings. However, the publication of this report will be of little support to the Uyghur community if it is not met with swift and concrete action.
CSW calls for release of detained rural Christians
CSW is calling for the release of five Christians who have been detained in a rural area in China’s southwestern Yunnan province, near the border with Myanmar, since early August.
After the UN’s allegations of crimes against humanity, the world must mobilise on China’s actions in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region
“More than two years have passed since my last blog, and there are hundreds of thousands of Kamils. Some have been ‘released’ to forced labour, many making cheap clothing for Western brands; others have been sentenced for spurious crimes in secret courts to draconian prison terms; others are still unaccounted for, and many have died.”
China freedom of religion or belief: the untold stories (July 2022)
The violations described in CSW’s 2020 report have continued and, in many instances, have significantly increased. Therefore, rather than replacing the 2020 report, this new report focuses on violations against religion or belief communities that are under-reported or currently developing. It is based on in-depth research by five independent experts, which sheds light on less well-known cases and emerging FoRB developments.
China Voices: April – June 2022
From April to June 2022 we recorded 86 incidents of FoRB violations involving nine faith groups. This period saw snap lockdowns across the country due to the spreading Omicron variant that, on top of the stricter online restrictions mentioned in the last edition, made life particularly difficult for religion and belief groups in China.
