cross-posted from: https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/43176835

A newly proposed law in China would provide a broad legal framework to justify existing repression and force assimilation of minority populations throughout the country and abroad, Human Rights Watch said today. Once passed, the law could be used to facilitate intensifying ideological controls, target ethnic and religious minorities including by erasing minority language rights, and foster control beyond China’s borders.

The 62-article draft Law on Promoting Ethnic Unity and Progress was submitted to the National People’s Congress, China’s legislature, on September 8, 2025. An official explanatory document states that the law “implements General Secretary Xi Jinping’s important thinking” on ethnic affairs and promotes “the common prosperity and development of all ethnic groups … along the path of rule of law.”

[...]

The draft law prescribes a rigid and uniform ideological framework for China. In its preamble, it asserts an unbroken historical continuity of the modern People’s Republic of China, established in 1949, as “a civilization with a history of over 5,000 years” that has forged “a unified multi-ethnic nation” under the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Xi Jinping has increasingly emphasized this narrative and these specific phrases while adopting ethnic policies characterized by forced assimilation.

[...]

Under article 20(2), parents and guardians would be required to “educate and guide minors to love the Chinese Communist Party,” and “establish the concept that all ethnic groups of the Chinese nation are one family and shall not teach minors concepts detrimental to ethnic unity and progress.”

[...]

In Tibet, criticism of the government or party, such as championing language rights or raising concerns about mass relocations, is often construed as damaging “ethnic unity” and punished by imprisonment under existing laws.

In Xinjiang, the Chinese government has justified its cultural persecution and other crimes against humanity toward Uyghurs in terms similar to those contained in the draft law. Its abusive Strike-Hard Campaign targets anyone who “challenges … ethnic unity,” categorizing some peaceful expressions and behavior by Uyghurs, such as studying the Quran without state permission, as “ideological viruses.”

[...]

The draft law seeks to erase previously guaranteed rights of minorities to “use and develop their own language” as stipulated in the 1984 Law on Regional National Autonomy, emphasizing instead the dominance of Mandarin Chinese.

For example, the 1984 law states that government agencies in minority areas “shall … use one or several languages commonly used in the locality.” But article 15(3) of the draft law states that “if it is necessary to issue documents in minority languages and scripts,” agencies should accompany it with a version in Mandarin Chinese and that it should be clear that “the national common language” is “given prominence.” Such practices have already been required, at least in the Tibetan Autonomous Region.

[...]

In Tibet, Xinjiang, and Inner Mongolia, the authorities have already significantly reduced students’ access to education in their mother tongue, despite strong opposition and protests by students, teachers, and parents.

[...]

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/42534709

Archived

[...]

Sebastien Lai addressed the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (WGAD) on behalf of PEN International, calling on the Hong Kong and Chinese authorities to release his father, imprisoned writer and publisher, Jimmy Lai.

[...]

During the trial, Jimmy Lai’s health has sharply deteriorated, raising significant concerns for his well-being. On 4 September, his international legal team submitted an urgent appeal to UN experts about life-threatening risks posed by his ongoing arbitrary detention.

Jimmy Lai has already been subjected to almost five years of solitary confinement, despite the WGAD’s determination last year that his detention is arbitrary and unlawful, and their call for his immediate release.

[...]

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/42354560

Archived

According to official data from Russia’s Ministry of Internal Affairs, 6.3 million immigrants arrived in the country in 2024 — the highest number since 1995. About half of them came in search of work. At the same time, immigrants have become one of the main targets of Russian propaganda (especially after the Crocus City Hall attack of March 22, 2024), with former president Dmitry Medvedev and Investigative Committee head Alexander Bastrykin numbering among the government’s most notable xenophobes.

The fight against migrants in Russia is not limited to rhetoric alone. At the end of 2024, the State Duma passed several anti-migrant laws, including a ban on nongovernmental institutions issuing Russian language proficiency certificates. The state also instituted tougher penalties for “organizing illegal migration” or providing fictitious residency registrations.

Starting from Feb. 5, 2025, police were granted the right to deport foreign citizens without trial for offenses as mild as drinking alcohol in public places, “promoting nontraditional relations,” and possession and use of drugs. The following day, the Ministry of Internal Affairs launched a registry of “controlled persons” — migrants who had been found guilty of violating the law. Being placed on this list effectively amounts to “social death”: people have their bank accounts blocked and lose access to most public services. In essence, they are left with little choice but to leave Russia.

[...]

Israel must immediately rescind the mass displacement order issued by the military to the residents of Gaza City on 9 September as it escalates its assault on Gaza City compounding the suffering of civilians amidst an ongoing genocide, said Amnesty International today.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/42052864

September 10, 2025, Campaign for Uyghurs (CFU) observes seven years since the enforced disappearance and unjust imprisonment of Dr. Gulshan Abbas, sister of CFU Executive Director Rushan Abbas and Dr. Rishat Abbas, President of Uyghur Academy International. Her case stands as a stark reminder of the Chinese regime’s use of kin punishment and transnational repression amidst the ongoing Uyghur genocide.

Dr. Gulshan Abbas’s disappearance came just days after her sister, Rushan Abbas, spoke publicly at a Hudson Institute panel about the Chinese government’s persecution of Uyghurs in September 2018. Her family had no knowledge of her whereabouts until December 2020, when authorities admitted that Dr. Abbas had been secretly sentenced to 20 years in prison on baseless charges of “terrorism.” Now entering her seventh year of unjust imprisonment, concerns grow about her health conditions, as she suffers from serious medical conditions, including high blood pressure. Denied access to proper medical care and contact with her family, Gulshan’s imprisonment is both an act of retaliation against her siblings’ advocacy and a violation of international law.

[...]

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/41884998

Torture and severe ill-treatment are rampant within the Liuzhi system. Indeed, the system of enforced disappearances and incommunicado, solitary confinement, detention for up to six months is defined as torture in and of itself under international law.

[...]

Official statistics from the Central Commission on Discipline Inspection (CCDI) show a rapid increase in the number of disciplinary investigations, punishments and incommunicado detentions in 2024. Comparative data from 2018 to 2024 shows that after remaining stable over the course of the years, the number of disciplinary investigations grew by 40% during 2024.

[...]

CCDI - also known under its state front National Commission of Supervision (NCS) - is the Chinese Communist Party police force or “disciplinary watchdog”. It has the power to take people off the streets and hold them incommunicado at secret locations for up to 6 months (or even more). Its operations are not part of the formal legal system in any way. Once inside Liuzhi, there is no external oversight, no right to access legal counsel, no external appeal body, and no way to communicate with the outside world. Regulations do not oblige the CCDI to inform families of target’s whereabouts or that they’ve even been taken at all.

[...]

Recent public reporting cites at least five entrepreneurs known to have been taken into the system in mid-August alone.

• Pi Yu (皮宇), director and general manager of Dameng Data, was placed into Liuzhi sometime before the company announced it on August 19. On August 21, the same company announced another senior manager, Chen Wen (陈文), had also taken.

• Liu Jiande (刘建德), director and ultimate beneficial owner of Kesi Technology, was placed into Liuzhi, according to information provided to the company by his family on August 19.

• Yue Yamei (岳亚梅), general manager of Xiling Information, was placed into Liuzhi by the supervisory commission in Alashankou on August 20.

• Chen Baixiao (陈柏校), chairman of Guotai Environmental Protection, was placed into Liuzhi by the supervisory commission in Linping District, Hangzhou, on August 17.

[...]

Official CCDI data from 2023 and 2024 suggest a just above 4% average of all investigations – 4.15% in 2023 and 4.33% in 2024 – included the use of Liuzhi. Insufficient disaggregated data is available to make any firm estimates for separate target categories, such as the entrepreneurial sector.

However, if official CCDI data states at least 171,000 individuals were effectively sanctioned (e.g. following investigation), it stands to reason that the number of entrepreneurs placed in Liuzhi during 2024 likely runs in the upper thousands.

Death by Liuzhi

The Jianghan District Supervisory Commission in Wuhan placed Wang Linpeng (汪林朋), chairman of Easyhome, into Liuzhi on April 17.

On July 23, Wang was released from Liuzhi, ‘pending investigation’.

On July 27, Wang jumped to his death.

Similar cases include Zeng Yuzhou (曾育周), founder of L&D Home, who died on July 17; Liu Wenchao (刘文超) of Xizi Elevator, who died on June 2; and Bi Guangjun (毕光钧), founder of Shaoxing Jindianzi Textile, who died on April 16.

All committed suicide shortly after their release from Liuzhi.

[...]

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/41776689

Earlier this week, some of the world’s most brutal tyrants, responsible for mass atrocity crimes and egregious repression, gathered in Beijing in a macabre dictator-fest.

Xi Jinping hosted Russia’s Vladimir Putin, North Korea’s Kim Jong-un, and Myanmar’s General Min Aung Hlaing, alongside the rulers of Iran, Belarus, and Vietnam, among twenty others, in a parade that ostensibly marked the 80th anniversary of the end of the Second World War.

In fact, it was an effort by China to showcase its weaponry and power, and galvanize an axis of authoritarianism to challenge democracies. It was a “Davos” of dictators.

That made the participation of a handful of democratically elected leaders, including Indonesia’s president, Prabowo Subianto, Malaysia’s Anwar Ibrahim, and the president of Serbia and prime minister of Slovakia, disappointing — although India’s prime minister Narendra Modi deserves some credit for deciding to skip the parade.

The presence of Australian politician and former premier of Victoria Daniel Andrews, and two former New Zealand prime ministers, Helen Clark and John Key, at this anti-democracy jamboree was particularly galling.

The parade in Beijing followed the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit in Tianjin, a 10-member body that brings together the leaders of China, Russia, and India, alongside Pakistan, Iran, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan. Dialogue partners, including Turkey, Sri Lanka, Cambodia, Nepal, Saudi Arabia, Myanmar, and others, were also in attendance.

[...]

Xi and Putin were overheard discussing prolonging their lives through organ transplants, with the intention of living to 150 years old. Given allegations of the barbaric practice of forced organ harvesting from prisoners of conscience in China — first investigated by former Canadian politician David Kilgour and lawyer David Matas two decades ago, then by American researcher Ethan Gutmann in The Slaughter just over ten years ago, and then in a collaborative report by the three together in 2016 — this was particularly grotesque.

[...]

China stands accused — by the United States, several parliaments around the world, and another independent tribunal chaired by Sir Geoffrey Nice — of the genocide of Uyghurs. It is also committing atrocities in Tibet, and has broken an international treaty by dismantling Hong Kong’s freedoms.

[...]

Certainly, democracies around the world should not allow Xi’s show of force this week to weaken support for Taiwan. On the contrary, the United States, the European Union, Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom, together with Japan, South Korea, and others in the region, should strengthen their solidarity with Taiwan and send a clear message to deter Beijing. If Xi scents weakness, he will be emboldened, but if he thinks an invasion of Taiwan could be a miscalculation — because of the consequences that could follow for him and his regime — he may think twice.

[...]

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/41695929

The evidence Amnesty International has gathered provides a factual basis for the conclusion that the Chinese government has committed at least the following crimes against humanity: imprisonment or other severe deprivation of physical liberty in violation of fundamental rules of international law; torture; and persecution.

>"I was there… The police would take people out of their houses… with hands handcuffed behind them, including women… and they put black hoods on them… Nobody could resist. Imagine if all of a sudden a group [of police] enters [your home], cuffs you and puts [a black hood] over your head… It was very sad… [Afterwards] I cried… That night we made 60 arrests… That was just in one district [of many where people were being detained]… Every day they arrested more people."

Summary

Since 2017, under the guise of a campaign against “terrorism”, the government of China has carried out massive and systematic abuses against Muslims living in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (Xinjiang). Far from a legitimate response to the purported terrorist threat, the government’s campaign evinces a clear intent to target parts of Xinjiang’s population collectively on the basis of religion and ethnicity and to use severe violence and intimidation to root out Islamic religious beliefs and Turkic Muslim ethno-cultural practices. The government aims to replace these beliefs and practices with secular state-sanctioned views and behaviours, and, ultimately, to forcibly assimilate members of these ethnic groups into a homogenous Chinese nation possessing a unified language, culture, and unwavering loyalty to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

To achieve this political indoctrination and forced cultural assimilation, the government undertook a campaign of arbitrary mass detention. Huge numbers of men and women from predominantly Muslim ethnic groups have been detained. They include hundreds of thousands who have been sent to prisons as well as hundreds of thousands – perhaps 1 million or more – who have been sent to what the government refers to as “training” or “education” centres. These facilities are more accurately described as internment camps. Detainees in these camps are subjected to a ceaseless indoctrination campaign as well as physical and psychological torture and other forms of ill-treatment.

The internment camp system is part of a larger campaign of subjugation and forced assimilation of ethnic minorities in Xinjiang. The government of China has enacted other far-reaching policies that severely restrict the behaviour of Muslims in Xinjiang. These policies violate multiple human rights, including the rights to liberty and security of person; to privacy; to freedom of movement; to opinion and expression; to thought, conscience, religion, and belief; to participate in cultural life; and to equality and non-discrimination. These violations are carried out in such a widespread and systematic manner that they are now an inexorable aspect of daily life for millions of members of predominantly Muslim ethnic minorities in Xinjiang.

The government of China has taken extreme measures to prevent accurate information about the situation in Xinjiang from being documented, and finding reliable information about life inside the internment camps is particularly difficult. Between October 2019 and May 2021, Amnesty International interviewed dozens of former detainees and other people who were present in Xinjiang since 2017, most of whom had never spoken publicly about their experiences before. The testimonies of former detainees represent a significant portion of all public testimonial evidence gathered about the situation inside the internment camps since 2017.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/41107894

The Russian government has called on Vladimir Putin to withdraw the country from the European Convention for the Prevention of Torture, according to a resolution published on a government portal on Monday.

Archived

The resolution, dated 23 August and signed by Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin, approves the government’s “denunciation” of the convention and its additional protocols and calls on Putin to submit the proposal to the lower house of parliament for Russia’s formal withdrawal.

The convention was adopted by Council of Europe member states in 1987, and Russia ratified it in 1998, two years after joining the organisation. It established the Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT), a regulatory body authorised to carry out unannounced inspections of prisons, detention centres and psychiatric facilities to assess conditions and prevent torture and abuses.

Following its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Russia was excluded from the Council of Europe, meaning Russian citizens lost the protection of the European Convention on Human Rights and no longer had access to the European Court of Human Rights.

[...]

In November, the CPT criticised Russia’s “persistent lack of cooperation” with the convention, accusing Moscow of refusing to allow inspections and failing to provide information on “certain specific events which have raised concerns”, including the death of opposition leader Alexey Navalny in an Arctic penal colony in February 2024.

International organisations have repeatedly voiced concerns about Russia’s increased use of torture since 2022, with an October report by the UN finding that torture in Russia was “widespread and systematic” and “committed with impunity” by the authorities.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/40877350

Liuzhi - retention in custody is part of an internal CCP [Chinese Communist Party] system for detention and investigation and is not part of the State’s criminal justice system. While in Liuzhi, which is decided upon by the CCDI [The Chinese Communist Party Central Commission for Discipline Committee] itself, without any external body to supervise or approve, the person must, by regulation, be kept in solitary confinement, have no access to legal counsel (as this is by definition not a legal process) and may be kept from any form of communication. The target is, by design, held incommunicado. The locations used vary, from custom-built facilities to Party-run hotels, guesthouses, offices etc. The location shall not be shared, meaning the person is, by any definition, disappeared. This period of detention can last six months. There is no external appeal mechanism.

Data from the Chinese Communist Party’s internal discipline watchdog (CCDI) from 2025 shows a record 46% increase in the use of the feared Liuzhi system between 2023 and 2024, to new record high levels.

However, data from both 2024 (for 2023) and 2025 (for 2024), the first time the body has ever released (claimed) nationwide use of the Liuzhi system, also has much more to offer.

While occasional data has in the past been released on the use of Liuzhi, since the system came into effect March 2018, it has been limited either to its use in a few select provinces, for limited time-periods, or for specific campaigns, never in its full use.

[...]

Progress in Reverse: reforms worsen abuses

By far the most damaging revision that went into effect this summer (June 1) was two new additions which allow the CCDI (since 2018 also referred to as the NCS, or National Supervision Commission) to hold those placed into Liuzhi longer, and weaken the prior 6-month limit. Now, with one new clause, Liuzhi can be extended by two more months, for a total of eight months, if the possible crime they are being investigated for could carry a prison sentence of 10 years or more.

However, compounding this is the fact that a case run by the central CCDI/NCS, or provincial level CCDI/NCS, may “reset” the time spent in Liuzhi if the investigators identify a new serious (claimed) offense during the investigation, which would mean that a person can be kept - continuously - for 16 months.

[...]

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/40061722

Archived

The Russian-installed Education and Science Ministry in Ukraine’s partially occupied Luhansk region has published a searchable database of Ukrainian orphans, listing them as available for adoption.

[...]

The database’s search tool, with options to sort children by gender, eye color, hair color, and siblings

“The way they describe our children is no different from a slave catalog. This is modern-day child trafficking, and the world must put a stop to it,” said Mykola Kuleba, head of the organization Save Ukraine, who was the first to draw attention to the site.

Kuleba said many of the children listed were born before Russian forces occupied parts of Luhansk and held Ukrainian citizenship. According to him, some lost their parents in Russian attacks, while others were issued Russian documents as a way to legitimize their removal.

[...]

Novaya Gazeta reported that a similar adoption database was previously published in 2021 on the website of the self-proclaimed “Luhansk People’s Republic’s” Labor Ministry.

[...]

***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.

Archived version

...

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.”

[...]