Scores of attacks, including assassinations, abductions and assaults, were perpetrated by 25 governments last year against people outside their borders, new analysis reveals. Data from the Washington DC-based pro-democracy organisation Freedom House reveals that the governments of Russia, Cambodia, Myanmar, Turkmenistan and China were the biggest five perpetrators of transnational repression in 2023. <gu-island name="GuideAtomWrapper" priority="feature" deferuntil="visible" props="{"id":"3a74eff0-0c22-4cf5-932b-14ea93e93bd4","title":"Transnational repression","html":" Transnational repression is the use of tactics including electronic surveillance, physical assault, intimidation and threats to family in the home country to silence people living in exile. The Guardian’s Rights and freedom series is publishing…
Tag: Global development
Beijing accused of using spying, threats and blackmail against Tibetan exiles
Thousands of Tibetans around the world have been subjected to spying, blackmail and threats against family members still living in Tibet, according to a new report. The Chinese government’s repressive policies in Tibet continue to be documented, but the new report by the Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD) is the first to investigate the widespread targeting of exiles in countries including the US, India, France, Australia and Canada, researchers say. China increasingly aims to stifle debate or criticism from Tibetans, Hongkongers and Uyghurs outside its borders in…
Elderly Uyghur women imprisoned in China for decades-old religious ‘crimes’, leaked files reveal
Hundreds of thousands of Uyghur female religious leaders are estimated to have been arrested and imprisoned in Xinjiang since 2014, with some elderly women detained for practices that took place decades ago, according to an analysis of leaked Chinese police files. There is growing evidence of the abusive treatment of the Uyghur Muslim population of the north-west Chinese region of Xinjiang, with their traditions and religion seen as evidence of extremism and separatism. New analysis of leaked police files found more than 400 women – some more than 80 years…
‘It’s difficult to survive’: China’s LGBTQ+ advocates face jail and forced confession
At the end of last summer, Mei* received a message from her friend telling her she was running away from home. It was the first time that Mei, 29, a transgender woman living in a southern Chinese city, had heard from her friend Ying* in nine months. Ying’s family – who are not supportive of her trans identity – had been keeping Ying, an adult over 18, under house arrest and cut off from the outside world. In August, they finally allowed her to leave to pursue her studies. She…
Human rights in decline globally as leaders fail to uphold laws, report warns
Human rights across the world are in a parlous state as leaders shun their obligations to uphold international law, according to the annual report of Human Rights Watch (HRW). In its 2024 world report, HRW warns grimly of escalating human rights crises around the globe, with wartime atrocities increasing, suppression of human rights defenders on the rise, and universal human rights principles and laws being attacked and undermined by governments. The report highlights political leaders’ increasing disregard for international human rights laws. The report says “selective government outrage and transactional…
‘I can’t sing any more’: The survivors of China’s prison camps in Xinjiang – in pictures
Since 2014, millions of Uyghurs, Kazakhs and other minorities have been locked up in China and subjected to torture and forced labour. Some of those released talk about trying to rebuild their lives in neighbouring Kazakhstan Photography by Robin Tutenges The Guardian
Chinese prisoner’s ID card apparently found in lining of Regatta coat
An ID card that appears to belong to a Chinese prisoner was found inside the lining of a coat from the British brand Regatta, raising concerns that the clothing was manufactured using prison labour. The waterproof women’s coat was bought online by a woman in Derbyshire in the Black Friday sale. When it arrived on 22 November, she could feel a hard rectangular item in the right sleeve, which restricted the movement of her elbow. After cutting into the coat to remove the item, she discovered what looked like a…
Uyghur film-maker claims he was tortured by authorities in China
A Uyghur film-maker has alleged he was tortured and forced to give a false confession during detention in Xinjiang province. Ikram Nurmehmet, 32, appeared on trial at Ürümqi people’s intermediary court on 27 October and is accused of organising “terrorist” activities and participating in an “East Turkestan separatist” group, sources close to him told the Guardian. Chinese authorities blame the East Turkestan Islamic Movement, which once advocated independence in Xinjiang, for a series of terrorist attacks in the late 1990s and see similar groups as a separatist threat. Nurmehmet denied…
China ‘world’s biggest debt collector’ as poorer nations struggle with its loans
China has become the world’s biggest debt collector, as the money it is owed from developing countries has surged to between $1.1tn (£889bn) and $1.5tn, according to a new report. An estimated 80% of China’s overseas lending portfolio in the global south is now supporting countries in financial distress. Since 2017, China has been the world’s biggest bilateral lender; its main development banks issued nearly $500bn between 2008 and 2021. While some of this predates the belt and road initiative (BRI), Beijing’s flagship development programme has mobilised much of the…
Trial of Uyghur film-maker to begin in China this week
A Uyghur film-maker who was arrested in Beijing earlier this year will appear on trial in Xinjiang on Wednesday. Ikram Nurmehmet, 32, was taken from his home by Chinese authorities on 29 May and flown to Ürümqi, Xinjiang’s capital, where he is being held in pre-trial detention on unknown charges, according to his supporters. Born and raised in Ürümqi, Nurmehmet is an independent film-maker based in Beijing, where he lives with his wife and infant son. Hours after his arrest, police called his wife to notify her of his transfer…