Press Releases

Joint statement on the 10-year anniversary of deadly reprisals against Chinese activist Cao Shunli

Today, we pay tribute to Cao Shunli’s legacy, one that has inspired countless human rights defenders in China and abroad. We urge UN Member States to call for a full, independent, impartial investigation into her death. We reaffirm that no perpetrator of reprisals, no matter how powerful, is above scrutiny, and that reprisals are fundamentally incompatible with the values of the United Nations and of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Joint statement on the religious freedom implications of Article 23 legislation

Today 16 international experts in freedom of religion or belief have expressed “profound and grave concerns” about the implications of the new Article 23 security law Hong Kong’s government is currently pushing through. It directly threatens religious freedom, and in particular the confidentiality of the Sacrament of Penance (otherwise known as the Sacrament of Reconciliation or “Confession”)  in the Catholic Church.

Mass detention of Tibetans trying to save monasteries

The Chinese government has reportedly detained more than 1,000 Tibetans amidst protests over a dam project that would force two villages to relocate and destroy six Buddhist monasteries in southwestern China’s Sichuan Province.

House church leaders prosecuted as criminal ‘clique’

Three leaders of Linfen Covenant House (‘Shengyue Jiayuan’) Church in China’s northern Shanxi Province have been accused of forming a criminal ‘clique’ and obtaining ‘illegal income’ amounting to 780,000 yuan (approx. £85,000), according to a statement published by the church on 29 June.

Five Christians released on bail in rural Yunnan

Five Christians who had been detained since August 2022 for leading Bible studies were released on bail by the authorities in China’s Nujiang Lisu Autonomous Prefecture, Yunnan Province on 7 May.

Scroll to Top