Amnesty International released its annual report on Wednesday (April 7), noting that persecution of journalists, as well as repression of activists, and human rights violations in general have continued unabated against the backdrop of the global New Crown (CCP virus) plague. The report finds that vulnerable groups in particular need of protection, such as ethnic minorities, refugees, and women and children, are most threatened by the CCP virus.
Speaking at a press conference to launch the annual report, which covers 149 countries, Agnes Callamard, Amnesty International’s new secretary-general, said governments should have shown extraordinary leadership in mitigating the impact of the New Crown (CCP virus) epidemic, particularly on vulnerable groups, over the past 2020 years, a role she criticized, but which they have failed to assume.
In the section on China, the report focuses on the continued repression of human rights defenders, the issue of Xinjiang, the enactment of the National Security Law in Hong Kong, and freedom of expression in the early stages of the epidemic.
Continued Repression of Human Rights Defenders
Human rights defenders and perceived dissidents have been severely repressed, the report reads. The report gives examples of this: former human rights lawyer Ding Jiaxi was formally arrested for “subversion of state power” after six months of enforced disappearance; Hong Kong bookseller Gui Minhai was sentenced to 10 years in prison for “illegally providing information to foreign countries”; and Australian author and blogger Yang Hengjun, who was charged with espionage, was sentenced to 10 years in prison for “illegally providing information to foreign countries. Yang Hengjun, an Australian author and blogger accused of espionage, has been held incommunicado since December 30, 2019, and was only able to meet with Australian consular representatives and his lawyer on August 31.
Xinjiang and Inner Mongolia Issues
In the Xinjiang section, the report writes, “Since 2017, an estimated one million or more Uighurs, Kazakhs, and other predominantly Muslim peoples have been arbitrarily detained without trial and subjected to political indoctrination and forced cultural assimilation in ‘educational conversion centers.’ It remains impossible to document the full picture of human rights violations due to the lack of publicly available data and the restrictions on access to the region.”
The report begins by highlighting that the Communist government has been strongly criticized at the UN and urged to immediately and effectively allow UN personnel unrestricted access to Xinjiang.
The report also focuses on regional protests over Inner Mongolia’s “bilingual education policy. The policy plans to gradually change the language of instruction in several classes from Mongolian to Mandarin Chinese during nine years of compulsory education. According to media reports, hundreds of people, including students, parents, teachers, pregnant women and children, have been arrested on “provocation charges” simply for participating in peaceful protests or sharing information about them on the Internet.
The report found that the “broadly worded” Hong Kong National Security Law passed by the Communist Party’s National People’s Congress allows the government to “interfere with the media and education on the pretext of national security. By the end of 2020, authorities had arrested 34 people under the law. In addition, Hong Kong authorities have used the extraterritoriality provisions of the law to issue arrest warrants for eight activists living outside of Hong Kong.
The report criticized the government for banning at least 14 protests on the grounds of the New Guinea virus outbreak, including a total ban on the annual Tiananmen Square June 4 memorial gala and the July 1 protest march.
Those who disclosed details of the outbreak were detained
In particular, the report noted that the Communist government’s severe restrictions on freedom of expression continued unabated. In the early stages of the epidemic, authorities detained or punished those who disclosed details of the New Guan (CCP virus) outbreak. Chen Qiushi, an outspoken lawyer and citizen journalist, and Fang Bin, a Wuhan resident, disappeared in early February after reporting on the outbreak and uploading videos taken from inside Wuhan Hospital. On December 28, citizen journalist Zhang Zhan was sentenced to four years in prison for reporting on the Wuhan outbreak of the New Crown (CCP) virus.
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