members of civil society
Cases- Location of case in SG report
- 2024-034-001
- Relevant SG report
- Year of the report
- 2024
- From Country
- Country Geolocation
Latitude: 35.86166
Longitude: 104.195397
- Country Geolocation (linked Cases)
- China
- From Region
- UN body that raised the case prior to the SG report
- UN Human Rights Council: Universal Periodic Review (UPR)
- Dates of prior UN action
- 23 January 2023
- Type of record
- General situation addressed
- Gender
- Gender unclear
- Was the victim a foreign national?
- No
- Was the victim a minor?
- No
- Individual's/organization's activity
members of civil society seeking to freely engage with international human rights mechanisms without fear of intimidation or reprisals; women human rights defenders seeking to engage with CEDAW; human rights defenders, journalists and individuals belonging to minority groups seeking to engage with the CRPD;
- Type of rights defended
- Economic/social rights
- Unclear in SG Report
- Women’s rights
- Was the victim a civil servant or member of the security forces or of the judiciary?
- No
- Reported trigger of reprisal
During the fourth Universal Periodic Review of China on 23 January 2023, the State received one recommendation to enable all members of civil society to freely engage with international human rights mechanisms without fear of intimidation or reprisals and another to implement the concluding observations of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (see above) and the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities to immediately stop reprisals against human rights defenders, journalists and individuals belonging to minority groups (A/HRC/56/6, paras. 22.43 and 22.387).13 China accepted 290 recommendations, which did not include the latter (A/HRC/56/6/Add.1 paras. 1 and 45).
- Engagement with UN body
- UN Treaty Bodies: CEDAW
- UN Treaty Bodies: CRPD
- UN Human Rights Council: UPR
- Type of attempted engagement
- Participation in meeting on UN premises
- Submission of information to UN
- Unclear
- Reprisal information
During the fourth Universal Periodic Review of China on 23 January 2023, the State received one recommendation to enable all members of civil society to freely engage with international human rights mechanisms without fear of intimidation or reprisals and another to implement the concluding observations of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (see above) and the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities to immediately stop reprisals against human rights defenders, journalists and individuals belonging to minority groups (A/HRC/56/6, paras. 22.43 and 22.387).13 China accepted 290 recommendations, which did not include the latter (A/HRC/56/6/Add.1 paras. 1 and 45).
- Types of reprisals suffered
- Threats/Intimidations (incl. "fear of reprisal")
- Unclear
- Alleged/likely perpetrators
- State actors
- Was the reprisal based on new legislation?
- No
- Does the report make general comment about country’s environment for engagement with UN?
- No
- Government response dates
- 11 July 2024
- Government response content
The Government stated that that there is no retaliation whatsoever against those who cooperate with the treaty bodies and opposed treaty bodies’ recommendations concerning alleged reprisals against human rights defenders, for being “based on false information” The Government stated that all cases would continue to be handled in a fair, just and impartial manner in accordance with the law in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.
- Was the case raised by a State at the UN?
- No
- Is the country cited for a "pattern of reprisal" in the context of this case?
- No
- Is a pattern of reprisals mentioned otherwise in the context of this case?
- No
- Does the report cite "self-censorship" as an issue in the context of this case?
- No