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. […]
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.
HRC51: Oral statement during General Debate under Item 4 READ MORE
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.
CSW calls for release of detained rural Christians READ MORE
A long-awaited report by the outgoing UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet has alleged that the widespread arbitrary detention of Uyghurs, Kazakhs and members of other predominantly Muslim ethnic groups in China’s Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) may amount to crimes against humanity.
On 14 August, a group of more than 50 Christians were meeting at a teahouse in the Wuhou district of Chengdu in Southwestern province of Sichuan for Sunday worship, when around 30 uniformed and plain clothes police officers raided the place. Announcing that the gathering was “illegal”, the officials locked the door and ordered everyone to produce their ID details. Xing Hongwei, known by his pen name ‘A Xin’, was taken to a local police station by force after he refused to give his details.
Christian author detained amid renewed crackdown on Early Rain Covenant Church READ MORE
Officials in Zhaotong city, Yunnan province, demolished the domes and minarets of Baoshan Mosque, a prominent local mosque, on 11 June. According to a source familiar with the situation, parts of the Baoshan mosque were demolished despite protests from the local Hui Muslim community.
Hui Muslims beaten as officials demolish mosque domes and minarets READ MORE
Human rights defenders, activist groups and survivors of human rights violations in China and across the world have expressed their anger, frustration and disappointment at the failure of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet to condemn human rights violations perpetrated by the Chinese authorities following her visit to China from 23-28 May.
On 4 June 2022, people around the world, including many Chinese activists and religious communities, will gather to remember the victims of the Tiananmen Square Massacre of 1989. They will do so amid ongoing reports of grave human rights violations in the country.
China activists to mark Tiananmen anniversary amid continued repression READ MORE
A BBC investigation revealing further details of the mass detention of Uyghurs in Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) was published on 24 May, as the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights continues her six-day visit to China. More than 5,000 police photographs of Uyghurs taken between January and July 2018, and that at least 2,884 of the people photographed have been detained either in prisons or in “re-education camps”. The youngest was just 15 years old at the time of her detention, the eldest was 73.
Newly revealed ‘Xinjiang police files’ detail mass detention of Uyghurs READ MORE
CSW has called on the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights to raise violations of the right to freedom of religion or belief (FoRB) with the Chinese authorities as a matter of urgency during her visit to China from 23-28 May.
