Human rights

Sebastien Lai spoke to AsiaNews about his father’s ordeal. The 78-year-old Catholic businessman, who fought for democracy in Hong Kong, has been in prison since 2020. Given his poor health as a diabetic, “the fear for his life is very real.” Too many diabetics “have died in that situation in Hong Kong prisons.” The former media owner “is in solitary confinement,” denied the right to attend Mass. US President Donald Trump said that he would speak with Chinese President Xi Jinping about his case and get him released. His mother’s meeting with Pope Leo XIV gave her strength.

President Masoud Pezeshkian has signed the law, which has already come into force. For its promoters, it is a response to the leaks of confidential information during the “12-day war” with Israel (and the United States). Critics respond that the government has only targeted ordinary people, without punishing senior officials or those responsible. In the background is the serious economic crisis the country is going through.

Human Rights Watch is calling for a new investigation into the disappearance of the supporter of the opposition government-in-exile who went missing in Ampang (Malaysia). The advocacy group also warns of the risk of a possible transnational crackdown by Myanmar’s military junta. The activist fled in 2015 and was living under the protection of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees.

Zhang Wenpeng, 32, has been in prison since September 2024, allegedly for offering advice to a person accused of corruption in Sanya. He was reportedly kept in chains for seven days and is not allowed to meet freely with his lawyer. In February 2023, he signed a petition calling for the abolition of the offence of ‘picking quarrels and provoking trouble’ used against dissidents and for which he himself has now been charged.

Receiving in audience the Aid to the Church in Need International, the pontiff cited Pope Francis who, in his last message to the world, stressed the link between this fundamental right and peace. For Leo, “we do not abandon our persecuted brothers and sisters.” Even small and vulnerable communities can be bearers of brotherhood, showing “that a different world is possible”.

China continues to violate the rights and abuse Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in the western region. Victims' families are silenced and threatened. Those waiting for the return of a relative from detention centres tell their stories. For Brooks, Amnesty’s China Director, “lives have been destroyed, families separated, and communities dismantled by the Chinese authorities’ continuing cruelty.”

In recent days, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, visited the island. Meetings were held with religious leaders, politicians and civil society figures. The issue of internal ‘accountability’ and the creation of an independent prosecutor to shed light on past abuses. The story of over a hundred Rohingya adrift off the north coast.

The report was presented in Geneva by the World Organisation Against Torture. There were 2,739 deaths in prison in 2024, an increase on the previous year. New Delhi has never ratified the UN Convention against these horrific practices. Emblematic of impunity is the story of two Christian traders from Tamil Nadu who died in prison in 2020 after being arrested for violating the lockdown during Covid: their family has still not obtained justice.

In Hong Kong, the NGO that reported on spontaneous worker protests and workplace accidents in mainland China has been forced to cease operations. It was founded in 1994 by activist Han Dongfang, who tried to set up an independent trade union in Tiananmen Square in 1989. A few hours after the announcement, the website was already down. Sixty civil society groups have now been dissolved since 2020.

A Yanadi tribal family forced into bonded labour at a duck farm. The mother, desperate for news of her nine-year-old son held as "collateral", was fed a string of lies by the employer. Bishop Thakur of the Indian Bishops’ Commission for Migrants: "Slavery, though officially illegal, remains a deep stain on the conscience of a country that presents itself as an economic powerhouse".

Tomorrow is the anniversary of the abduction by Chinese authorities of the child designated as the reincarnation of the second-highest Tibetan Buddhist authority. This comes as concerns grow about possible interference in the succession of the Dalai Lama who is set to celebrate his 90th birthday shortly. Meanwhile, Tibet Radio was born in exile to fill the void left by the closure of the Tibetan-language service at Radio Free Asia and Voice of America.

The US president is in Saudi Arabia, the first stop on a regional trip that includes the United Arab Emirates and Qatar (but not Israel). His agenda is centred on business and billion-dollar deals (including weapons), relegating other issues to the margins. Economics and Saudi money overshadow human rights issues and environmental concerns linked to the Red Sea megaproject.