***UN experts expressed grave concern over credible and well-documented allegations of long-standing trafficking and forced labour of migrant women in the Golyanovo district of Moscow, in Russia.

Archived version

The victims, primarily from Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan, have reportedly been subjected to extreme forms of exploitation and violence for decades.

“The facts described reveal deeply disturbing patterns of trafficking in persons and contemporary forms of slavery, enabled by systemic failures in the Russian legal and institutional framework,” the experts said. “The lack of effective and timely investigations and the fact that perpetrators are not held accountable fuels impunity which is unacceptable.”

...

“These women were isolated, abused, and stripped of all autonomy. The scale and duration of the abuse, coupled with the authorities’ failure to act despite repeated complaints, point to a deeply entrenched system of exploitation,” the experts said.

Despite dozens of complaints from victims and civil society organisations since the 1990s, Russian authorities have failed to conduct effective investigations, even refusing to register cases.

...

cross-posted from: https://scribe.disroot.org/post/3825031

Op-ed by Nataliya Gumenyuk, an Ukrainian journalist and founder of the Public Interest Journalism Lab. The text is based on Ms. Gumenyuk's intervention at the Helsinki Debate on Europe in May 2025.

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...

Ukrainian human rights defenders and journalists have spent over a decade documenting Russia's political violence.

Initially, their work echoed the moral legacy of the Helsinki Accords, pressing authoritarian regimes to acknowledge human dignity.

But meanwhile, they increasingly believe there is only one way to protect people in occupied territories: liberation by force. After Russian troops were pushed out of Bucha, Kherson and Izyum, the persecutions of the local population stopped.

Many Ukrainians have come to a painful conclusion: international law cannot stop atrocities. It cannot save lives.

...

For us Ukrainians, who live in an aggravated reality, everything around us automatically undergoes a reality check, particularly our values and ideals.

But we also need to consider another recent shift in political reality. Before, the fight against hypocrisy used to belong to idealists. There was a time when autocrats pretended to follow international rules. Today, they boast about breaking them. Instead of hiding their wrongdoings, they commit so many that it's hard not to be overwhelmed, learning about the scale of atrocities, resulting in a feeling of powerlessness.

...

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/39626256

Archived

People from countries around the world come to the UK as a place of safety from repression. "However, transnational repression (TNR) risks undermining the UK’s ability to protect the human rights of its citizens and those who have sought safety within its borders", a new report by the Joint Committee on Human Rights (JCHR) of the Parliament of the United Kingdom says.

It is deeply concerning to hear increasing reports of foreign governments moving beyond their own national borders to persecute people in the UK. The Committee received credible evidence that a number of states have engaged in acts of transnational repression on UK soil, the reports reads.

A substantial number of submissions we received were personal accounts of TNR perpetrated by Eritrea.

China, Russia and Iran were highlighted by witnesses as the three most flagrant TNR perpetrators in the UK, the report says, while these three countries have also imposed sanctions on UK Parliamentarians "iin what appears to be a deliberate attempt to deter scrutiny and suppress criticism."

Multiple evidence submissions accused Bahrain, Egypt, Eritrea, India, Pakistan, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates of perpetrating TNR in the UK, the report finds.

"These actions have a serious impact on those targeted, instilling fear, limiting their freedom of expression and movement, and undermining their sense of safety."

Despite the seriousness of the threat, the UK currently lacks a clear strategy to address TNR. There is no formal definition of transnational repression in the UK and the Government does not routinely collect data on TNR events. Understanding the scale and nature of the threat is essential to formulating effective and proportionate responses. We therefore recommend that the Government adopt a formal definition of TNR and establish data collection and monitoring mechanisms.

Police officers often lack the training necessary to respond effectively to TNR, resulting in inconsistent and ineffective support for TNR victims. We call for specialised training for police officers on the early warning signs of TNR and for the creation of a dedicated reporting line for TNR victims.

"The UK’s response to TNR would benefit significantly from more structured and consistent coordination across government departments. Currently, responsibilities related to TNR are dispersed across the Home Office, the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, the National Crime Agency (NCA), and the intelligence and security services. While each plays a vital role, the absence of a formalised mechanism for collaboration can lead to consistent responses and support for individuals at risk. We welcome the recent announcement of the State Threats Joint Unit, which is intended to enhance the UK’s capacity to respond to hostile state activity."

UK lawmakers are deeply concerned by the misuse of INTERPOL Red Notices by certain member states. [A Red Notice is a request to law enforcement worldwide to locate and provisionally arrest a person pending extradition, surrender, or similar legal action.]

Refusal by the INTERPOL secretariat to acknowledge that there is a problem and to take remedial action poses a significant threat to the rights and freedoms of individuals targeted by authoritarian regimes and sends a message that this behaviour is acceptable.

We call on the Government to put pressure on INTERPOL to reform procedures and call out serial abusers. We also propose that the Government consider introducing a formal mechanism by which the Home Office or the National Crime Agency could alert individuals to the existence of a Red Notice, where there is a strong basis to believe it has been politically motivated.

Transnational repression is a serious and under-recognised threat that requires urgent and coordinated international action. Its impacts extend far beyond those directly targeted, creating a broader ‘chilling effect’2 on entire communities and undermining fundamental rights such as freedom of expression, assembly, and association. We urge the Government to work with likeminded states to support efforts to elevate TNR as a priority issue on the UN agenda and to promote coordinated international action against its use by authoritarian regimes.

[...]

cross-posted from: https://crazypeople.online/post/5464740

FATCA specifically oppresses Americans who live outside the US. It strong-arms banks into treating Americans adversely different based on their national origin (ranging from denial of service to extra data collection and disclosure). I thought Americans were the only people who broadly face discrimination in banking due to their nationality. But I recently heard of other nationalities (not Americans) who are refused bank access due to their nationality (in Europe, where we might have a high expectation of human rights).

I could never get the details. People that report this to me have been vague. But I’ve heard it twice now. Does anyone know the specifics? Which nationalities and why?

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/38553026

The High Court of Galicia has made a landmark ruling today, which confirms that Spanish national and regional authorities have breached residents’ human rights according to both the Spanish Constitution and European human rights law, by failing to manage record levels of pollution from hundreds of pig and poultry farms in the A Limia region.

The Xunta de Galicia and the Miño-Sil River Basin Authority have been ordered to immediately adopt all necessary measures to guarantee the end to the odours and environmental degradation of the As Conchas reservoir and its surroundings, restoring the full enjoyment of the right to life.

This is a critical step in recognising that the devastating impacts of industrial agriculture are not just policy issues—they are human rights issues.

Lawyers say the case now paves the way for suffering communities to bring replica suits across Europe, to demand justice and protection from their authorities.

[...]

In the landmark ruling, published today, the court said:

“Human rights and environmental protection are interdependent. A sustainable environment is necessary for the full enjoyment of human rights, including the rights to life, to an adequate standard of living, to drinking water and sanitation, to housing, to participation in cultural life and to development."

[...]

Designing more and better platforms to support democracy can be an antidote to the wave of global autocracy that is increasingly bolstered by tech platforms that tighten public control.

Op-ed by Lisa Schirch, Professor of the Practice of Peace Studies, University of Notre Dame, Paris, France.

[...]

Democracy is in crisis globally, and technology is playing a role. Most large platforms optimize their designs for profit, not community or democracy. Increasingly, Big Tech is siding with autocrats, and the platforms’ designs help keep society under control.

[...]

A handful of tech billionaires dominate the global information ecosystem. Without public accountability or oversight, they determine what news shows up on your feed and what data they collect and share.

[...]

Tech companies design platforms based on extensive psychological research. Examples include flashing notifications that make your phone jump and squeak, colorful rewards when others like your posts, and algorithms that push out the most emotional content to stimulate your most base emotions of anger, shame or glee.

[...]

A techno-autocracy is a political system where an authoritarian government uses technology to control its population. Techno-autocrats spread disinformation and propaganda, using fear tactics to demonize others and distract from corruption. They leverage massive amounts of data, artificial intelligence and surveillance to censor opponents.

For example, China uses technology to monitor and surveil its population with public cameras. Chinese platforms like WeChat and Weibo automatically scan, block or delete messages and posts for sensitive words like “freedom of speech.” Russia promotes domestic platforms like VK that are closely monitored and partly owned by state-linked entities that use it to promote political propaganda.

Over a decade ago, tech billionaires like Elon Musk and Peter Thiel, and now Vice President JD Vance, began aligning with far-right political philosophers like Curtis Yarvin. They argue that democracy impedes innovation, favoring concentrated decision-making in corporate-controlled mini-states governed through surveillance. Embracing this philosophy of techno-autocracy, they moved from funding and designing the internet to reshaping government.

Techno-autocrats weaponize social media platforms as part of their plan to dismantle democratic institutions.

The political capture of both X and Meta also have consequences for global security. At Meta, Mark Zuckerberg removed barriers to right-wing propaganda and openly endorsed President Donald Trump’s agenda. Musk changed X’s algorithm to highlight right-wing content, including Russian propaganda.

Designing tech for democracy

Recognizing the power that platform design has on society, some companies are designing new civic participation platforms that support rather than undermine society’s access to verified information and places for public deliberation.

[...]

In 2014, a group of technologists founded Pol.is, an open-source technology for hosting public deliberation that leverages data science. Pol.is enables participants to propose and vote on policy ideas using what they call “computational democracy.” [...] People participate anonymously, helping to keep the focus on the issues and not the people.

[...]

Taiwan used the Pol.is platform to enable mass civic engagement in the 2014 democracy movement. The U.K. government’s Collective Intelligence Lab used the platform to generate public discussion and generate new policy proposals on climate and health care policies. In Finland, a public foundation called Sitra uses Pol.is in its “What do you think, Finland?” public dialogues.

Barcelona, Spain, designed a new participatory democracy platform called Decidim in 2017. Now used throughout Spain and Europe, Decidim enables citizens to collaboratively propose, debate and decide on public policies and budgets through transparent digital processes.

Nobel Peace Laureate Maria Ressa founded Rappler Communities in 2023, a social network in the Philippines that combines journalism, community and technology. It aims to restore trust in institutions by providing safe spaces for exchanging ideas and connecting with neighbors, journalists and civil society groups.

[...]

In 2024, the Alliance for Middle East Peace began using Remesh.ai, an AI-based platform, to find areas of common ground between Israelis and Palestinians in order to advance the idea of a public peace process and identify elements of a ceasefire agreement.

[...]

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/38180325

• The Chinese government is persecuting and silencing lawyers who challenge official abuses a decade after a major crackdown on lawyers defending people’s rights.
• The Xi Jinping government has sought to eradicate the influence of lawyers who defend people’s rights while compelling the rest of the legal profession to serve the Chinese Communist Party’s political agenda.
• The Chinese government should stop persecuting rights defense lawyers and reinstate their licenses. Concerned governments should speak out to support rights defense lawyers, and support those seeking refuge abroad.

The Chinese government is persecuting and silencing lawyers who challenge official abuses a decade after the “709 crackdown” on lawyers defending people’s rights, Human Rights Watch said today. The Chinese Communist Party has also strengthened ideological controls over the broader legal profession.

In July 2015, Chinese police rounded up and interrogated about 300 lawyers, legal assistants, and activists across the country; members of a loosely connected community known as the “rights defense” movement, which had become increasingly influential between 2003 and 2013. Some were forcibly disappeared for months and tortured, and 10 were sentenced to harsh prison terms. In the decade since, the authorities have subjected many of them to surveillance, harassment, public shaming, and collective punishment, and revoked or cancelled their or their law firms’ licenses.

“The Chinese government under Xi Jinping has sought to eradicate the influence of lawyers who defend people’s rights while compelling the rest of the legal profession to serve the Chinese Communist Party’s political agenda,” said Maya Wang, associate China director at Human Rights Watch. “The authorities over the past decade have muted the rights defense lawyers, though many still find ways to fight against social injustice.”

[...]

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[...]

The Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACHR) on Thursday handed down an advisory opinion requested in 2023 by Chile and Colombia to clarify state obligations related to the climate crisis.

In a public hearing held at the court’s headquarters in the Costa Rican capital of San José, Judge Nancy Hernández read out the trailblazing decision on climate change, which for the first time in IACHR history stated a clear link between the “climate emergency” and human rights. The opinion also recognises that states and companies have an obligation to mitigate global warming and its impacts.

“The evidence we saw during the hearings and written submissions shows us that there is no more margin for indifference,” said Judge Hernández. “This is a contribution from law, but law alone is not enough. Success depends on what each one of us can do.”

The Inter-American Court of Human Rights holds jurisdiction over 20 Latin American and Caribbean states, where its advisory opinions are binding. But the strongly-worded climate ruling states that it is binding for all signatories of the Organization of American States, including the US and Canada.

[...]

The landmark 230-page ruling mentions for the first time a subcategory of the human right to a healthy environment, by introducing a “right to a healthy climate”. Court judges said that this is defined as a climate system “free of anthropogenic interference dangerous” for nature and people.

According to the court ruling, states are also expected to cooperate to take actions to reduce emissions that are “as ambitious as possible”, and are obliged to prevent harm by carrying out environmental impact studies.

[...]

In The imperative of defossilizing our economies report, Morgera argues that the United States, Canada, Australia, the United Kingdom and other rich fossil fuel countries are legally bound by international law to phase out gas, oil and coal by the end of the decade, in addition to compensating communities for the harms caused.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/37702329

• China’s government has erased Hong Kong’s freedoms since imposing the draconian National Security Law on June 30, 2020.
• The Chinese government has largely dismantled freedoms of expression, association and assembly, free and fair elections, fair trial rights and judicial independence, and ended the city’s semi-democracy.
• Other governments should press the Chinese government to end its repressive policies in Hong Kong by holding responsible officials to account, Human Rights Watch says.

China’s government has erased Hong Kong’s freedoms since imposing the draconian National Security Law on June 30, 2020, Human Rights Watch said today.

Chinese and Hong Kong authorities have harshly punished critics of the government, created a highly repressive national security regime, and enforced ideological controls on the city’s residents. Increasingly, only Chinese Communist Party loyalists – that is, “patriots” – can occupy key positions in society.

“In just five years, the Chinese government has extinguished Hong Kong’s political and civil vibrancy and replaced it with the uniformity of enforced patriotism,” said Maya Wang, associate China director at Human Rights Watch. “This heightened oppression may have dire long-term consequences for Hong Kong, even though many Hong Kongers have found subtle ways to resist tyrannical rule.”

Since adopting the National Security Law, the Chinese government has largely dismantled freedoms of expression, association and assembly, as well as free and fair elections, fair trial rights and judicial independence. The government has increasingly politicized education, created impunity for police abuses, and ended the city’s semi-democracy. Many of Hong Kong’s independent civil society groups, labor unions, political parties, and media outlets have been shuttered.

[...]

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/37516949

Archived

This is an op-ed by Benedict Rogers, founder of rights group Hong Kong Watch and member of the advisory group of the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (IPAC) and an advisor to the World Uyghur Congress.

Four years ago today, June 24, the printing presses of Hong Kong’s largest and most successful mass-circulation Chinese language pro-democracy daily newspaper, the Apple Daily, fell silent and its newsroom shut its doors.

When the lights were switched off in the Tseung Kwan O building, they were turned off not only for the newspaper founded by media entrepreneur and pro-democracy campaigner Jimmy Lai, but for media freedom itself in Hong Kong.

Since the forced closure of Apple Daily, almost all other independent media in the city — particularly Stand News and Citizen News — have shut down.

[...]

Meanwhile, dozen of rights groups released an open letter urging UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer to meet the son of jailed British publisher Jimmy Lai.

Archived

On June 22, in the Lithuanian capital of Vilnius, a group of recently released Belarusian political prisoners appeared in public for the first time. The press conference included blogger and political activist Sergei Tikhanovsky, journalist Ihar Karney, language teacher Natallia Dulina, and 24-year-old activist Kirill Balahonau. Their accounts revealed the extent of repression in Belarusian prisons, detailing years in solitary confinement, forced propaganda viewings, and psychological pressure.

[...]

Blogger and presidential candidate Sergei Tikhanovsky, who was arrested in 2020 while attempting to run against Lukashenka [...] was later sentenced to 18 years in prison. Speaking in Vilnius, he described being held under a regime of total isolation and psychological pressure.

“For two and a half years, I wasn’t allowed a single letter. No phone calls to family. For five years, I wasn’t allowed to confess to a priest,” he said. “I couldn’t even buy a toothbrush or soap, for years. They’d give us something from time to time, of course. But even a pen refill was impossible to get, seven kopecks [or 2 cents] each, and even those had to be passed along by other prisoners.”

“Cleaning: four times a day. If you’re not scrubbing constantly, back to SHIZO, a punishment isolation unit. They’d come in, run a hand along the wall: ‘White? Not clean. SHIZO.’ It’s a nightmare. What do you call that, if not torture?” he said.

“Justice in Belarus isn’t dead,” he went on. “It just has a hole in its forehead.”

Asked by journalists how his children had reacted to seeing him, Tikhanovsky grew emotional and cried: his daughter didn’t recognise him.

Other prisoners faced similar pressure [...]

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/37258415

Archived

[...]

Beijing’s strategy to silence regime critics also relies on right-wing social media groups in foreign countries, professional hackers, staff of Chinese nongovernmental organizations with access to United Nations proceedings and members of China’s diaspora connected to the CCP-linked United Front Work Department.

[...]

“If somebody is collecting information for the Chinese government, they join our conference and get all the information, who was there, who is the main host,” [one exiled Chinese activist] said. “The Chinese government wants to know everything.”

Several governments, including the U.S., New Zealand, Sweden, Turkey and Australia, have investigated dozens of suspects allegedly involved in Chinese covert operations targeting dissidents in recent years. In some cases authorities found that the targets of espionage later ended up in prison or had family members threatened.

[...]

Last week, the leaders of the Group of Seven meeting in Kananaskis, Canada, issued a joint statement condemning transnational repression “as an important vector of foreign interference” and pledged to boost cooperation to protect their sovereignty and the targeted communities.

“It has real life consequences.” [...] “China is effective in destroying opposition, simply because they inspire that type of fear and distrust within those communities.”

[...]

Work for us or ‘we’ll destroy you’

The Chinese government has also turned victims into perpetrators.

Shadeke Maimaitiazezi, a 60-year-old textile trader from Kargılık, Xinjiang, is currently sitting in an isolation cell in Istanbul, where he was recently convicted of spying on fellow Uyghurs on behalf of the Chinese state. He has denied the allegations and accused Turkish authorities of forcing him to give a statement under duress, his lawyer Fatih Davut Ejder told ICIJ’s media partner Deutsche Welle Turkey.

Maimaitiazezi, a Muslim, has five children, including three who still live in Xinjiang, the Chinese province where many Uyghurs live and where Beijing has implemented mass-detention and other repressive policies targeting the local minority which may constitute “crimes against humanity,” according to the United Nations.

[...]

Maimaitiazezi claimed that the two Chinese officers then told him there was an international arrest warrant against him, but it could be voided if he returned to Turkey to spy on dissidents involved in activities related to East Turkistan, the name Uyghurs use for Xinjiang. According to the indictment, in the following months, they allegedly paid him more than $100,000 through intermediaries to provide information on activists. One of the alleged surveillance targets was Abdulkadir Yapchan, a Uyghur rights advocate who’s wanted by China on terrorism charges — allegations that a Turkish court has dismissed as politically motivated. The officers also asked Maimaitiazezi to find information on Uyghurs who had joined terrorist groups in Syria; he didn’t find any, he said.

[...]

Confidential domestic security guidelines reviewed by ICIJ as part of China Targets also revealed that the use of what Chinese authorities called the “covert struggle” is part of security officers’ strategy to control and stop any individuals deemed a threat to the Chinese Communist Party rule — regardless of whether they are inside or outside China.

Now advocates fear that the government’s use of informants in the Uyghur diaspora has become common overseas.

Swedish authorities recently arrested a Uyghur advocate who worked for the World Uyghur Congress, accusing him of spying on fellow Uyghurs for the Chinese government. The man denied the allegations and was released pending trial; the case is ongoing. It is the second time since 2009 that Swedish prosecutors have brought such charges against a Uyghur refugee.

[...]

ICIJ and its media partners have interviewed 105 people in 23 countries who have been targeted by Chinese authorities in recent years for criticizing the government’s policies publicly and privately. The targets included Chinese and Hong Kong political dissidents as well as members of oppressed Uyghur and Tibetan minorities.

Forty-eight targets of China’s transnational repression said they believe they have been spied on, were asked to spy on others or know of people in their communities who were asked to become informants.

[...]

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/37086375

Archived

[...]

[An investigation] can reveal for the first time that global brands [like LG, Apple, Samsung] directly own factories receiving workers from China’s so-called labour transfer scheme, exposing how some have a hand in the oppression and exploitation of ethnic minorities in the country.

[...]

Major Chinese companies, including some of the world's leading appliance manufacturers, also operate factories taking Xinjiang workers.

These businesses, as well as some of the lesser-known factories further back in the supply chain, are financed by state pension funds from Europe and North America, as well as a string of other major financial institutions. Taken together, the investigation brings to the fore the deep connection between global capital and the forced labour that is woven throughout much of China’s manufacturing economy.

[...]

In many cases, international investors need to set up a joint venture with a local partner in order to access the lucrative Chinese consumer market or to run a factory.

It’s an arrangement, research shows, that helps the government exercise control over foreign companies. Kirsten Asdal, a China risk advisor for investors and corporations, said that joint ventures are about embedding Communist Party leverage over foreign investments, through measures like requiring committees of party members in companies, acquiring board seats and controlling licensing.

Beijing has “built up arms of control into these foreign companies systematically over the last 20 years,” Asdal said. “They can no longer say no.”

International companies have far more questions to answer about forced labour in their own assembly lines. Reports connecting Chinese companies to the Xinjiang labour transfer programme have up to now only focused on supplier factories, not the plants owned by the brands themselves.

[...]

After all, China is no longer just the world’s factory. Home-grown companies have matured into global heavyweights, and appliance brands were among the earliest wave of Chinese labels to gain recognition in overseas markets.

“We’ve never seen the direct involvement of global brands in the Xinjiang government transfer program before,” said Laura Murphy, a professor focusing on labour and human rights. She previously advised the Biden administration on trade enforcement.

TBIJ’s investigation uncovered evidence of forced labour at plants owned by Hisense, Midea, Haier, and TCL. One of the five TCL facilities with Xinjiang workers is co-owned by Italy’s De’Longhi. Factories owned by Chinese footwear and car brands were also implicated.

More than 150 people were sent to Hisense in Guangdong from the infamous Xinye internment camp in Hotan, southern Xinjiang in 2018, according to Chinese state media. Operating under a “semi-militarised” system, with ideological assessments and “punishments”, the camp transforms farmers into factory workers, according to a government report on local labour transfer efforts. In 2018, state media claimed that “extremist ideas previously poisoned the minds of many trainees” at the camp.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/37084496

Archived

Thousands of North Koreans are entering Russia, posing as students on “practical training” but instead coming to labor under slave-like conditions [...] The practice directly violates UN sanctions — sanctions that Russia itself has agreed to. The workers toil six days a week, sometimes for up to 20 hours a day, while their wages are divided between the North Korean regime and Russian companies. Among those profiting from the forced labor system is an organization linked to Artem Chaika, the son of Russia’s former prosecutor general.

[...]

Pyongyang uses its labor force as a vital source of hard currency. In 2015, Marzuki Darusman, the former UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in North Korea, reported that foreign employers paid the regime in Pyongyang “significantly higher amounts” than the workers themselves were told they were earning, allowing the government to collect an estimated $1.2 to $2.3 billion annually.

Meanwhile, the workers themselves often received little or nothing in exchange for working grueling shifts of up to 20 hours a day — all while living in conditions of constant surveillance and with insufficient food. In one of his messages, Tkachuk noted that each group of North Korean workers must include a designated “senior” supervisor — a minder tasked with overseeing and controlling the group on behalf of the regime.

[...]

According to Cedric Ryngaert, Head of the Department of International Law at Utrecht University in the Netherlands, given the findings of The Insider’s investigation are correct, Russia is likely to violate UN Security Council resolutions 2375 and 2397, both adopted in 2017. These resolutions, among other conditions, require member states to stop issuing work permits to North Korean labourers and repatriate all of them to their home country within 2 years.

[...]

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/37020287

Archived

The documentary can be watch using the YT link in the article, here is an alternative Invidious link: https://yewtu.be/watch?v=tiDFQ1lMefc

A new documentary on Sky News Australia (and also posted on YouTube) offers a rare and important glimpse inside the Communist Party of China’s secret RSDL prison system.

The documentary, Cheng Lei: My Story, reveals what happened to Australian journalist Cheng Lei after she was disappeared by China’s state security police in 2020, as relations between the two countries were at a low point. She was later falsely accused of illegally supplying state secrets overseas and eventually released in 2023.

For the first six months Lei, who is also a mother of two young children, was held in incommunicado detention under Residential Surveillance at a Designated Location (RSDL).

RSDL, often used on rights defenders and political prisoners, is a system so secretive that you will not find RSDL facilities marked on maps. Neither will you see any photos of RSDL on official web pages. When you’re in RSDL, no one knows where you are except your guards and interrogators.

RSDL is basically a system of legalized black jails.

In the documentary, Lei leads the viewer on a tour of her RSDL cell (reconstructed in Australia from Lei’s memory) interspersed by powerful scenes where actors reenact the extreme surveillance she was subjected to.

[...]

A sea of pain

RSDL is no ordinary detention. UN experts have described it as tantamount to torture and to enforced disappearance.

Prolonged solitary confinement is mental torture. RSDL typically lasts six months. And sometimes beyond.

Quietly weeping, Lei relates her experience of the mental torture she endured in RSDL.

“How did they come up with this? Just nothingness. Nothingness. And also a sea of pain. I had no idea what was happening or how long I would be here.”

In the film, Lei provides some key facts about how the CCP has designed RSDL:

The RSDL Cell

“The RSDL cell is about 4m by 4m. The windows are always covered by curtains. The bathroom has no door. The light stays on 24 hours a day.”

Surveillance

“You are guarded and watched at all times by two guards. One stands in front of me, one sits next to me. And they take turns with the standing and sitting.”

Rules

“I have to sit on the edge of the bed and have my hands on my lap. Not allowed to cross the ankles or cross the legs. Not allowed to close the eyes. No talking. No laughing, No sunshine. No sky. No exercise. No exercise. No colour. Just fear. Desperation, isolation and utter boredom. That’s it. Probably 13 hours a day.”

“They watch you shit, shower and sleep. You’re not allowed to talk. To make the slightest movement, you must ask for permission.”

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/37001579

Archived

United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk has raised serious concerns over "ongoing infringements" on the rights of people living in Tibet and called to align legislation and policies with international human rights law.

Addressing the 59th session of the Human Rights Council in Geneva, the UN Human Rights Commissioner (OHCHR) detailed a grave assessment of the current global landscape.

He asserted that he has continued to engage directly with China on a wide range of issues.

Raising concerns about the human rights violations in China, Turk highlighted the lack of progress on much-needed legal reform to ensure compliance with international human rights law.

"In Tibet, there are ongoing infringements on cultural and other rights. I call for the release of all individuals detained for exercising their rights and to align legislation and policies with international human rights law," the UN human rights chief stated.

[...]

In his speech, Mr. Turk also emphazised "worrying reports" of violations in Xinjiang, including undue prison sentences, incommunicado detention, and restrictions on fundamental rights.

"In Hong Kong, the continued application of national security laws raises serious concerns about the shrinking of civic space," he added.

[...]

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/36864125

Archived

Despite public condemnations, the European Union’s response to Beijing’s repressive tactics against dissidents beyond China’s borders remains ineffective and lacks coordination, according to a survey of 10 EU governments conducted by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists and its media partners, alongside interviews with European lawmakers.

Since 2023, the European Parliament has recognized transnational repression as a growing threat to human rights and the rule of law, and called on member states to facilitate reporting, investigate allegations and sanction the perpetrators.

But China Targets, an investigation by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) and 42 media partners, found that the Chinese government continues to target Chinese and Hong Kong dissidents as well as Uyghur and Tibetan advocates using surveillance, hacking and threats against them and their family members in an effort to quash any criticism of the regime.

[...]

"The EU must set clear red lines, backed by criminal investigations, sanctions, and diplomatic consequences, to show that fundamental rights are not negotiable," says Hannah Neumann, European Parliament member.

[...]

Most of the targets interviewed by ICIJ and its partners said they had not reported state-sponsored threats to the authorities in their adopted countries for fear of retaliation from China or because they didn’t have faith in local authorities’ ability to help. Of those who had filed a report — including Nurya Zyden, a Uyghur rights advocate who said she was followed by two Chinese men from Dublin, where she lives, to an activist gathering in Sarajevo, Bosnia, last year — most said police did not follow up on their case or told them that they couldn’t do anything because there was no evidence of a crime.

[...]

Despite having sent “important political signals” through pronouncements and public condemnations, the EU’s response remains “fragmented” and “urgently” needs strengthening, said Hannah Neumann, a European lawmaker who led a 2023 report for the European Parliament on authoritarian regimes’ threats against human rights defenders.

[...]

“Currently, information on cross-border repression is scattered among local law enforcement authorities and is poorly coordinated,” says [Engin] Eroglu [who leads the European Parliament’s delegation for relations with China and was himself one of several politicians targeted by a sophisticated cyberattack allegedly linked to the Chinese government]. “Without cooperation between authorities, it is very difficult to determine the severity of cross-border repression measures, as these measures alone often do not violate local law.”

[...]

A spokesperson for the Belgian ministry of foreign affairs told ICIJ partner De Tijd that Belgian intelligence services, which are in contact with civil society organizations, have “insight into the general trends” of transnational repression in the country and that in recent years, “the intensity of the campaigns seems to have increased.”

According to EU Parliament member Eroglu, better information-sharing among member states is essential.