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12 hours ago
- Politics
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Protect Women Domestic Violence Survivors, Refugees, And Human Rights Defenders
Bangkok, June 19, 2025 U.N. committee to assess government record on women's rights The Government of Thailand should commit to ensuring the protection of women domestic violence survivors, refugees, and human rights defenders, Fortify Rights said today. The U.N. Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW Committee) will consider Thailand's record on women's rights during a public hearing later today in Geneva, Switzerland. 'While Thailand has made progress on women's rights, substantial areas still need reform,' said Patrick Phongsathorn, Senior Advocate at Fortify Rights. 'Survivors of domestic violence continue to be underserved by Thai authorities, while women refugees and human rights defenders suffer from a lack of comprehensive legal protection.' Ahead of Thailand's review, Fortify Rights made an official submission to the CEDAW Committee, making recommendations on the rights of domestic violence survivors, refugees, and human rights defenders. In its submission, FortifyRights stated that progress on women's rights in Thailand 'has too often been characterized by weak enforcement and poor implementation of relevant laws and policies, further compounding the vulnerability of survivors of abuse.' Fortify Rights's submission includes research conducted over multiple years with women survivors of human rights abuses in Thailand, including a recent 46-page report that documents significant failings in Thailand's response to domestic violence. The report draws on more than 50 interviews, including with 32 women survivors of domestic violence, finding that Thailand's domestic violence legal framework and law enforcement mechanisms fail to provide adequate protections for survivors of domestic violence. The report also highlights that while a new draft domestic violence law, which was recently 'approved in principle' by the Thai Cabinet, expands certain protections for domestic violence survivors, it retains problematic provisions, including a six-month statute of limitations that risks excluding child survivors. In its submission to the CEDAW Committee, Fortify Rights recommended that the Thai government ensure that any changes to the domestic violence law align with international standards, that official responses to domestic violence are well-coordinated across all the relevant agencies and stakeholders, and that officials dealing with domestic violence cases are regularly trained in survivor-centered approaches as well as proper legal and procedural handling of cases. In its report to the committee, the Thai government stated that it 'aids refugees and asylum-seekers in accordance with human rights principles.' Several years of investigations by Fortify Rights have found, however, that refugee women, especially those escaping violence and persecution in neighboring Myanmar, have been subjected to various abuses at the hands of Thai authorities. Without an effective legal framework to recognize and protect refugees in Thailand, refugees face criminal penalties under Thailand's 1979 Immigration Act, which prohibits unauthorized entry or stay in Thailand. Thailand is not party to the 1951 U.N. Refugee Convention and does not formally recognize refugee status as defined by the Convention. As a result, refugees in Thailand are subject to arbitrary arrest, detention, and extortion, as well as forced returns. A lack of legal status in Thailand also means that refugees face considerable barriers when trying to access basic public services, including healthcare. Fortify Rights recommended to the CEDAW Committee that Thailand should ratify the U.N. Refugee Convention and end abusive practices, including arbitrary arrests, detention, and forced return of women refugees, especially those fleeing violence and persecution in neighboring Myanmar. Fortify Rights also recommended that Thailand ensure the broadest possible coverage of protective legal status and access to basic public services, including healthcare, for women refugees in Thailand. Women human rights defenders in Thailand continue to be subjected to judicial harassment, including through instances of Strategic Litigation Against Public Participation or SLAPP suits. According to a recent U.N. study, between 1997 and 2022, more than 400 people, including many women human rights defenders, were targeted by 109 instances of SLAPP suits in Thailand. In 2018, Thailand amended its Criminal Procedure Code, allowing judges to dismiss and forbid the refiling of a complaint by a private individual if the complaint is filed 'in bad faith or with misrepresentation of facts to harass or take advantage of a defendant' this amendment has, however, been under-utilized by the courts. In its submission to the CEDAW Committee, Fortify Rights recommended that Thailand bring its legal framework in line with international law and standards by decriminalizing defamation and treating it as a civil matter between individuals. Fortify Rights also recommended that judges and lawyers be trained and provided with guidelines to ensure the proper implementation of legal measures to prevent judicial harassment of women human rights defenders. 'In many ways, Thailand stands at a crossroads on women's rights—there have been advancements, but there are still major gaps to be filled,' said Patrick Phongsathorn. 'In its review, the CEDAW Committee must press the Thai government to do all it can to guarantee the rights of all women in Thailand.'
Scoop
a day ago
- Politics
- Scoop
Malaysia: End Arbitrary Arrest, Detention And Torture Of Refugees
(KUALA LUMPUR, June 18, 2025)—Malaysian authorities must end the use of torture in their Immigration Detention Centers (IDCs) and stop their arbitrary arrest raids against migrants, Fortify Rights said today. Several refugees, arbitrarily arrested and detained as part of a new campaign of immigration raids, told Fortify Rights that they were beaten, forced to maintain stress positions or stripped naked for prolonged periods, humiliated, and denied basic necessities while in detention. 'The use of violence and humiliation against refugees is unlawful and inhumane,' said Yap Lay Sheng, Human Rights Specialist at Fortify Rights. 'Individuals seeking safety and protection from persecution are being met with mass arrest raids, discrimination, and abuse at the hands of Malaysian officials. The government must end its approach of indiscriminate raids to solving the problems of irregular migration.' While ostensibly targeting undocumented migrants, the recent raids have resulted in the arbitrary arrest and detention of refugees, registered with the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Malaysia. Fortify Rights interviewed 17 victims and eyewitnesses of the recent immigration raids in Kuala Lumpur, Klang, and Muar, including former immigration detainees, their family members, humanitarians, and social workers. The interviewees include ethnic Rohingya, Rakhine, Bamar, Mon, and Kachin refugees from Myanmar. They described a dramatic surge in immigration raids in recent months that included arbitrary arrests and detention of refugees. Fortify Rights' analysis of publicly available data shows that arrests for immigration-related offences have more than tripled in the past two years. Several refugees also told Fortify Rights how they were tortured while in the custody of Malaysian immigration authorities. 'Saiful,' a 58-year-old Rohingya refugee registered with UNHCR, who was detained in the Semenyih IDC in early 2025, told Fortify Rights that immigration officers tortured detainees as a form of punishment. 'The officers told them [the detainees] to hold their ears and repeatedly sit down and stand up a hundred times,' Saiful said, 'They [the detainees] were stripped naked of whatever they were wearing, even their underwear.' Another Rohingya refugee, 'Amar,' 25, described verbal abuses while being strip-searched in Semenyih IDC in February 2025: They told us to take off our clothes. … We took off the clothes and I felt shame to see all my people [treated] like this. Then they told us to sit and they said that we are doing wrong things in their country. … They called us animals, called us dogs. Rohingya refugee 'Abdul,' 21, who was arrested and detained in the Semenyih IDC in early 2025, told Fortify Rights: We were beaten in the IDC for talking. … Immigration officers came and beat us with black pipes on the soles of our feet. … They also beat us because the water they provided was too little … When we went to ask for more water, we were beaten. 'Hanif,' 30, a Rohingya refugee who was detained in the Bukit Jalil IDC in January 2025, also told Fortify Rights the torture he witnessed: There were these three people who were interrogated. … I saw the officer smashing the phone on [one of the detainees'] forehead with the front screen. I saw that it was hurting him and he kept smashing until the phone screen broke. … I saw that he was in pain. He was crying. In February 2024, 'Razia,' 34, visited her husband at a police station where he had been detained on immigration-related charges, despite being a UNHCR-registered refugee. Razia told Fortify Rights that her husband showed signs of ill-treatment, '[M]y husband's face was swollen. There was blood on his nose and his mouth. Before this [her visit], they had already beaten him.' During Razia's visit with her husband, she witnessed police officers beat him: For that one hour, … I could see my husband, but they didn't give me permission to speak to him. When I tried to talk to him, … a policeman said, 'We already told you, you cannot talk with your husband.' At that time, one policeman came [to Razia's husband] held his collar, then he punched his face. He punched his eye once. And they [police officers] pushed him around a lot of times. Razia's husband was then moved from the police station, but despite making direct requests to the police for information, Malaysian authorities have failed to tell Razia where her husband is. She has not seen or heard from him for more than a year. 'I want to know where my husband is and I want to meet him again,' she told Fortify Rights. For more than a year, her husband's whereabouts is unknown in what may amount to a case of a government-enforced disappearance. On March 31, 2024, the Malaysian government launched a year-long 'Migrant Repatriation Programme,' a program that offered irregular migrants an amnesty in exchange for agreeing to be repatriated to their home countries. Concurrently, immigration officials have vowed to 'ramp up immigration operations nationwide … to create an ecosystem that is unconducive for illegal immigrants.' Some migrants hail from Myanmar, where they cannot safely return. On May 17, 2025, Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail extended a further one-year extension to the programme. At the same time, the minister warned, 'The immigration enforcement division has been instructed to redouble enforcement operations to detect and arrest any illegal migrant that still refuses to participate in the program.' Data disclosed by the Ministry of Home Affairs shows that between January and May 13, 2025, immigration authorities have arrested 34,287 individuals, totalling an average of about 7,800 arrests per month for the first four months of this year. Fortify Rights's calculations show a surge in the average number of immigration-related arrests from 2024, at approximately 3,900 per month and a more than threefold surge in arrests compared to the average monthly arrest of about 2,300 in 2023. Refugees caught up in these raids reported that immigration officers ignored evidence of refugee status, including cards issued by UNHCR confirming the cardholder's need for international protection, and in some cases discarding or destroying the official UN documents. 'Our refugee card is not valid, has no value, at that time,' Amar, a UNHCR-registered Rohingya refugee, told Fortify Rights. 'When I showed them … They said, 'This card is useless, no need to share U.N. cards. If you have passports, then show me.'' Another UNHCR-registered ethnic Rakhine refugee from Myanmar, 'Tun,' 47, whose workplace in central Kuala Lumpur was raided in October 2024, told Fortify Rights that the authorities threatened him, 'Your UNHCR card is not valid, I will tear it up and lock you up.' Once in detention, former detainees and family members tell Fortify Rights that contact with the outside world, including family, legal representatives, and UNHCR, is extremely limited. Some detainees manage to call friends or family only after paying hefty bribes. Tun tells Fortify Rights, 'I paid 300 ringgit [US$68] to speak for half an hour. We have to hide behind the door … to avoid the CCTV.' 'Saira,' 29, described the ordeal of speaking to her Rohingya relative who was arrested in December 2024, 'After she was arrested, she called me … For three minutes, we have to pay 150 ringgit [US$34]. … I deposited money into [the officer's] personal account.' Due to this difficulty, social workers and representatives of community-based organizations, who are often first responders to immigration raids, told Fortify Rights that without timely access to the detainee or their family members, it becomes difficult to notify UNHCR or initiate the verification for their refugee status. Although Malaysia does not formally recognize UNHCR refugee status, in practice, authorities typically detain registered refugees for two weeks under a so-called 'verification' process. 'Kevin,' an aid worker who frequently responds to arrests in his community, told Fortify Rights that refugee detainees' access to protection often hinges on whether someone outside is able to alert UNHCR. We've seen a UNHCR cardholder detained past 14 days with no follow-through with UNHCR. … In another very similar case, … the family member informed UNHCR to follow through. So UNHCR was aware of the case and informed the depot where the person was held. Since August 2019, the Malaysian government has barred UNHCR from entering IDCs, hindering effective oversight and protection of refugees and other vulnerable individuals. The U.N. Convention Against Torture (UNCAT) defines torture as: Any act by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, is intentionally inflicted on a person for such purposes as obtaining from him or a third person information or a confession, punishing him for an act he or a third person has committed or is suspected of having committed, or intimidating or coercing him or a third person, or for any reason based on discrimination of any kind, when such pain or suffering is inflicted by or at the instigation of or with the consent or acquiescence of a public official or other person acting in an official capacity. While Malaysia is not a party to the UNCAT, customary international law dictates that the right to be free from torture is non-derogable, meaning that it cannot be contravened, suspended, or limited under any circumstance, and that the prohibition on torture is universal, regardless of whether countries have formally joined UNCAT. Malaysia has not ratified the 1951 Refugee Convention, and authorities do not formally recognize UNHCR cards as conferring legal status to cardholders. Under Malaysia's Immigration Act 1959/63, anyone who lacks a 'valid entry permit' is considered 'illegal' or 'prohibited' immigrants. Under Section 35 of the Act, officers can arrest 'without warrant' any person 'reasonably believed' to be liable for removal. Although Malaysia is also not a party to the 1951 U.N. Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees (the Refugee Convention) or its 1967 Protocol, the Convention provides authoritative guidance on refugee protection under international law. Under the Convention, a refugee is defined as a person unable or unwilling to return to their country due to a well-founded fear of persecution. Article 31 of the Refugee Convention notes that refugees should not be penalized, including through arrest or detention, in relation to their irregular entry or stay in a country of asylum, recognizing the fact that individuals fleeing persecution cannot always obtain proper documentation or official authorizations. Failure to ratify international conventions is not a valid excuse for Malaysia to violate the rights of refugees, said Fortify Rights. 'Malaysia must end these indiscriminate immigration raids, provide formal refugee status to people whose lives are in danger in their home countries, restore UNHCR's full access to detention centers, and put in place clear safeguards so that no one fleeing persecution is tortured, arbitrarily arrested, detained or forcibly returned,' said Yap Lay Sheng. 'Refugees and asylum seekers must not be caught up in the dragnet of Malaysia's migration policies.'
Scoop
5 days ago
- Politics
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ILO Member States: Implement Resolution On Myanmar Junta
(BANGKOK, June 12, 2025)—International Labour Organization (ILO) member states and organizations should fully implement measures recommended by the ILO's governing body aimed at ending the Myanmar junta's abuses, said Fortify Rights. A resolution, passed last week by the International Labour Conference (ILC), calls on ILO member states and constituent organizations to 'disable' the junta's ability to commit atrocity crimes. 'The ILO's resolution on Myanmar lays a clear roadmap for states, trade unions, and employers' organizations to follow,' said Patrick Phongsathorn, Senior Advocate at Fortify Rights. 'While this commitment is welcomed, words are not enough. ILO member states and organizations must now act to comprehensively disable the junta's war machine through sanctions and actions targeting the junta's arms, funds, and impunity.' Passed on June 5 by consensus during the ILC's 113th session, the resolution on Myanmar invokes Article 33 of the ILO Constitution—an article reserved to address only the most serious instances of human and labor rights abuses. The actions set out in the resolution are aimed at achieving the Myanmar junta's compliance with recommendations made by an ILO Commission of Inquiry. In its report, issued August 4, 2023, the Commission of Inquiry found that measures imposed by the Myanmar military junta have had 'a disastrous impact on the exercise of basic civil liberties,' and contravened ILO conventions on workers' rights and forced labor, to which Myanmar is a state party. The resolution calls on governments, workers, and employers organizations to review their relations with the junta 'with the aim to disable all means that have abetted or empowered the perpetuation of … egregious violations.' It urges ILO member states and organizations to cease selling or supplying the junta with military equipment, jet fuel, and financing. Finally, the resolution calls on states to respect the principle of non-refoulement, considering that 'human rights defenders fleeing Myanmar are at serious risk of irreparable harm.' On January 14, Fortify Rights wrote to ILO Director-General Gilbert Houngbo recommending measures, including targeted sanctions, protection of refugees, and accountability initiatives, to be included in the resolution on Myanmar. In the letter, Fortify Rights stated that the measures it outlined, many of which were included in the final resolution, 'are vital to protecting Myanmar's workers and ensuring that the military regime is held accountable for its ongoing abuses.' Since the Myanmar military coup d'état in February 2021, Fortify Rights has documented extensive evidence of widespread and systematic human rights violations by the junta and its operatives that amount to crimes against humanity and war crimes. In particular, Fortify Rights has documented grave breaches of the laws of war, including the use of civilians as human shields and porters, and the forced military conscription of Rohingya refugees. 'The ILO resolution on Myanmar proposes strong and potentially effective measures to end the junta's crimes,' said Patrick Phongsathorn. 'Given the overwhelming support it has garnered from ILO member states and organizations, the resolution provides a mandate for action that must be met.'
Scoop
07-06-2025
- Politics
- Scoop
China: Immediately And Unconditionally Free Human Rights Defender Dr. Wang Bingzhang
Press Release – Fortify Rights Eight Parliamentarians Urge U.K. Foreign Secretary David Lammy to call for the release of Dr. Wang Bingzhang (LONDON, June 3, 2025)–The People's Republic of China should immediately and unconditionally free Chinese human rights defender Dr. Wang Bingzhang, said Fortify Rights today, on the eve of the 36th anniversary of the Tiananmen massacre of pro-democracy protesters in 1989. In a letter to British Foreign Secretary David Lammy, eight British Parliamentarians call for the release Dr. Wang Bingzhang, who was abducted in Vietnam in 2002 and sentenced to life imprisonment in China for his pro-democracy activities. He has spent 23 years in solitary confinement. Now aged 77, concerns are growing about Dr. Wang's physical and mental health. 'We warmly welcome these initiatives by British Parliamentarians to highlight the appalling case of Dr. Wang Bingzhang, who has endured solitary confinement in a Chinese jail for 23 years and whose abduction from Vietnam and forced rendition to China is widely recognised as arbitrary and in violation of international law,' said Benedict Rogers, Senior Director at Fortify Rights. 'Governments worldwide should condemn this egregious case of transnational repression.' On June 27, 2002, Dr. Wang was in Mong Cai, a city in Vietnam bordering China, meeting Chinese labor activists. A group of men reportedly accosted him and forced him into a waiting van, which then transported him by boat to China. The Guangxi Public Security Bureau then took him into custody, and he was later charged with 'offenses of espionage' and 'the conduct of terrorist activities.' He was tried by the Intermediate People's Court in Shenzhen, and sentenced to life imprisonment. His trial lasted only half a day and was closed to the public, and he was denied the right to due process, access to a lawyer, and a fair trial. Eight U.K. Parliamentarians have written to the British Foreign Secretary David Lammy this week to ask him and all U.K. ministers and officials to raise Dr. Wang's case with the Chinese government and call for his immediate release. The letter urges the U.K. government 'at every opportunity, public and private, to call on the government of the People's Republic of China to release Dr Wang Bingzhang and permit his return to the United States to be reunited with his family, immediately and unconditionally.' The Parliamentarians include the Chair of the U.K. Parliament's Joint Human Rights Committee Lord Alton of Liverpool, the Director of the International Bar Association's Human Rights Institute Baroness Helena Kennedy KC, the Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Groups (APPG) on the Uyghurs and Hong Kong Blair McDougall MP, the Chair of the APPG on International Freedom of Religion or Belief Jim Shannon MP, and Luke Taylor MP, urge the Foreign Secretary also to consult and coordinate with the United States, where he lived for over twenty years and where his family still resides. Dr. Wang's family members welcome the support from British Parliamentarians. In a statement provided to Fortify Rights on May 26, his daughters Qingyan and Tianan Wang, his son Times Wang, his brother Bingwu Wang, and his sisters Jinhuan, Yuhua and Mei Wang, said: We are the family of Wang Bingzhang. Every June 27th is a very sad day for us because this is the day when our relative Wang Bingzhang was illegally abducted from Vietnam to China by the Chinese government. Later Wang Bingzhang was illegally sentenced to life imprisonment by China and lost his freedom forever. For 23 years, countries in the world with freedom democracy human rights and rule of law have long spoken out for Wang Bingzhang's freedom. Today we see British MPs speaking out for Wang Bingzhang again, calling on the Chinese government to release Wang Bingzhang. We believe that this voice of justice will spread throughout the world. Thank you to the British people for their call for justice! Blair McDougall MP and Lord Alton have also recently tabled written Parliamentary Questions in the House of Commons and House of Lords, respectively, and Jim Shannon MP has tabled an Early Day Motion on the case. Dr. Wang is an internationally respected leader of the overseas Chinese pro-democracy movement and a distinguished medical practitioner. He founded China Spring, a publication Time magazine described as 'the voice of a movement among Chinese inside and outside the country to restore democracy and resume liberal reforms begun by Deng Xiaoping in 1978 and discontinued in 1980.' He later founded the Chinese Alliance for Democracy, and in May 2024, he was honoured with Freedom House's Freedom Award. In 2003, soon after his unfair trial resulting in a life sentence, the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention declared that 'the detention of Wang Bingzhang is arbitrary, being in contravention of articles 9, 10 and 11 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.' Under international law, arrest and detention are unlawful when individuals are engaging in a protected activity, such as exercising their rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and freedom of expression. Dr. Wang's family continue to pursue his release, having recently established a new alliance to free Wang Bingzhang. Although Dr. Wang is permitted to receive one visit per month from immediate family members, lasting only 30-40 minutes, monitored by prison guards, his family members have been unable to obtain visas to enter China as a result of their advocacy on his behalf which puts them at risk of being detained and jailed as well if they travel to China. The most recent visit Dr. Wang received was from his youngest sister Mei Wang, in May 2024. She reported that he was in very poor physical and mental health. 'At Fortify Rights, we are deeply concerned about Dr. Wang's continued imprisonment, and add our support to his family's campaign for his release,' said Benedict Rogers. ' After 23 years in solitary confinement, it is vital that Dr. Wang's case is not forgotten. We call on China to immediately and unconditionally release Dr. Wang, and on the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada and the international community to do everything possible to put pressure on China to free him.'
Scoop
07-06-2025
- Politics
- Scoop
China: Immediately And Unconditionally Free Human Rights Defender Dr. Wang Bingzhang
(LONDON, June 3, 2025)–The People's Republic of China should immediately and unconditionally free Chinese human rights defender Dr. Wang Bingzhang, said Fortify Rights today, on the eve of the 36th anniversary of the Tiananmen massacre of pro-democracy protesters in 1989. In a letter to British Foreign Secretary David Lammy, eight British Parliamentarians call for the release Dr. Wang Bingzhang, who was abducted in Vietnam in 2002 and sentenced to life imprisonment in China for his pro-democracy activities. He has spent 23 years in solitary confinement. Now aged 77, concerns are growing about Dr. Wang's physical and mental health. 'We warmly welcome these initiatives by British Parliamentarians to highlight the appalling case of Dr. Wang Bingzhang, who has endured solitary confinement in a Chinese jail for 23 years and whose abduction from Vietnam and forced rendition to China is widely recognised as arbitrary and in violation of international law,' said Benedict Rogers, Senior Director at Fortify Rights. 'Governments worldwide should condemn this egregious case of transnational repression.' On June 27, 2002, Dr. Wang was in Mong Cai, a city in Vietnam bordering China, meeting Chinese labor activists. A group of men reportedly accosted him and forced him into a waiting van, which then transported him by boat to China. The Guangxi Public Security Bureau then took him into custody, and he was later charged with 'offenses of espionage' and 'the conduct of terrorist activities.' He was tried by the Intermediate People's Court in Shenzhen, and sentenced to life imprisonment. His trial lasted only half a day and was closed to the public, and he was denied the right to due process, access to a lawyer, and a fair trial. Eight U.K. Parliamentarians have written to the British Foreign Secretary David Lammy this week to ask him and all U.K. ministers and officials to raise Dr. Wang's case with the Chinese government and call for his immediate release. The letter urges the U.K. government 'at every opportunity, public and private, to call on the government of the People's Republic of China to release Dr Wang Bingzhang and permit his return to the United States to be reunited with his family, immediately and unconditionally.' The Parliamentarians include the Chair of the U.K. Parliament's Joint Human Rights Committee Lord Alton of Liverpool, the Director of the International Bar Association's Human Rights Institute Baroness Helena Kennedy KC, the Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Groups (APPG) on the Uyghurs and Hong Kong Blair McDougall MP, the Chair of the APPG on International Freedom of Religion or Belief Jim Shannon MP, and Luke Taylor MP, urge the Foreign Secretary also to consult and coordinate with the United States, where he lived for over twenty years and where his family still resides. Dr. Wang's family members welcome the support from British Parliamentarians. In a statement provided to Fortify Rights on May 26, his daughters Qingyan and Tianan Wang, his son Times Wang, his brother Bingwu Wang, and his sisters Jinhuan, Yuhua and Mei Wang, said: We are the family of Wang Bingzhang. Every June 27th is a very sad day for us because this is the day when our relative Wang Bingzhang was illegally abducted from Vietnam to China by the Chinese government. Later Wang Bingzhang was illegally sentenced to life imprisonment by China and lost his freedom forever. For 23 years, countries in the world with freedom democracy human rights and rule of law have long spoken out for Wang Bingzhang's freedom. Today we see British MPs speaking out for Wang Bingzhang again, calling on the Chinese government to release Wang Bingzhang. We believe that this voice of justice will spread throughout the world. Thank you to the British people for their call for justice! Blair McDougall MP and Lord Alton have also recently tabled written Parliamentary Questions in the House of Commons and House of Lords, respectively, and Jim Shannon MP has tabled an Early Day Motion on the case. Dr. Wang is an internationally respected leader of the overseas Chinese pro-democracy movement and a distinguished medical practitioner. He founded China Spring, a publication Time magazine described as 'the voice of a movement among Chinese inside and outside the country to restore democracy and resume liberal reforms begun by Deng Xiaoping in 1978 and discontinued in 1980.' He later founded the Chinese Alliance for Democracy, and in May 2024, he was honoured with Freedom House's Freedom Award. In 2003, soon after his unfair trial resulting in a life sentence, the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention declared that 'the detention of Wang Bingzhang is arbitrary, being in contravention of articles 9, 10 and 11 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.' Under international law, arrest and detention are unlawful when individuals are engaging in a protected activity, such as exercising their rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and freedom of expression. Dr. Wang's family continue to pursue his release, having recently established a new alliance to free Wang Bingzhang. Although Dr. Wang is permitted to receive one visit per month from immediate family members, lasting only 30-40 minutes, monitored by prison guards, his family members have been unable to obtain visas to enter China as a result of their advocacy on his behalf which puts them at risk of being detained and jailed as well if they travel to China. The most recent visit Dr. Wang received was from his youngest sister Mei Wang, in May 2024. She reported that he was in very poor physical and mental health. 'At Fortify Rights, we are deeply concerned about Dr. Wang's continued imprisonment, and add our support to his family's campaign for his release,' said Benedict Rogers. ' After 23 years in solitary confinement, it is vital that Dr. Wang's case is not forgotten. We call on China to immediately and unconditionally release Dr. Wang, and on the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada and the international community to do everything possible to put pressure on China to free him.'
