Criminal Justice
The Congressional-Executive Commission on China will hold a hearing on people imprisoned and persecuted by the Chinese government, the families and religious communities working for their freedom, and the retaliation faced by those who speak out on their behalf. Witnesses will include Pastor Ezra Jin, who was released after more than 260 days in detention, as well as relatives of prisoners and representatives of persecuted communities.
WASHINGTON, DC—In a letter released today, a bipartisan group of U.S.
August 8, 2024
(Washington)—Representative Chris Smith (R-NJ) and Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR), the Chair and Co-chair respectively of the bipartisan Congressional-Executive Commission on China, will hold a hearing on securing the freedom of unjustly detained Americans in China on Wednesday, September 18, 2024, at 10:00 am (EDT). Following the high-profile release of Americans unjustly detained in Russia, attention to the cases of Americans imprisoned in China, many jailed for over or nearly a decade, remains a pressing diplomatic concern.
(Washington)—The Chairs of the bipartisan and bicameral Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC), Representative Christoper Smith (R-NJ) and Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR), today released a letter asking President Biden to submit a list of Chinese political prisoners and unjustly detained American citizens to Communist Party General Secretary and Chinese President Xi Jinping and to “demand an immediate end” to transnational repression efforts targeting American citizens and legal residents.
The Congressional-Executive Commission on China will hold a roundtable entitled “One Year of the National Security Law’s Repression of Fundamental Freedoms in Hong Kong” on Tuesday, June 29, 2021 from 1:00pm–2:30pm EDT.
Congressional staff, the interested public, and the media are welcome to join the virtual event. The roundtable will be livestreamed on the CECC’s YouTube Channel.
Beginning around July 9, 2015, Chinese authorities conducted a nationwide and coordinated crackdown (709 Crackdown) that affected over 300 human rights lawyers, legal professionals, and rights advocates.[i] At least fifteen individuals detained in the crackdown have been convicted on criminal charges.[ii] In a recent interview, one of the detained lawyers Sui Muqing recalled that suppression of rights lawyers began to intensify around 2014, after a long period when “lawyers were the only group willing to speak out” and were asked by grassroots activists “to take the lead [in rights defense movements].”[iii] Authorities consistently accused lawyers of committing crimes endangering state security, reflecting the view that lawyers presented a political threat to the state.