The systemic nature of arbitrary detention in China

In 2022, a groundbreaking assessment report by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) alleged that the Chinese government may be committing international crimes, including crimes against humanity, in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. The OHCHR’s 2024 statement in respect of updates to the assessment report cited 'limited access to information and the fear of reprisals' as key barriers to its ongoing monitoring work.  

The Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (WGAD) has repeatedly noted, in 26 Opinions from 2017 to present, covering a range of individuals from at-risk populations across China, that 'under certain circumstances, widespread or systematic imprisonment or other severe deprivation of liberty in violation of the rules of international law may constitute crimes against humanity.'

In the three years since the OHCHR assessment mentioned above, new findings and casework by our organisations give new urgency to the need to consider the scope and systematic nature of deprivation of liberty both within and beyond the Uyghur Region, as well as the existing criminal law provisions in both mainland China and Hong Kong that facilitate it.  

This side event is therefore an opportunity to:  

• share findings and analysis of the use of arbitrary detention and enforced disappearance in China and its chilling effects on human rights advocacy 
• assess shortcomings in China’s actions to follow up on recommendations of the UN human rights mechanisms to address these concerns  
• propose recommendations for action by the international community to address the lack of action by the Chinese State and to support accountability and justice for victims and survivors of these crimes. 

Speakers: 

• Mary Lawlor, Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders
• Rizwangul NurMuhammed, Uyghurs at UN Initiative
• Sophie Richardson, Network of Chinese Human Rights Defenders 
• Yalkun Uluyol, Human Rights Watch 

 Moderator: Raphael Viana David, International Service for Human Rights 

This event is organised by the Network of Chinese Human Rights Defenders and the International Service for Human Rights, and supported by Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International.