CFU PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 23, 2025, 1:30 PM
Contact: contact@campaignforuyghurs.org
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CFU Convenes Event on Transnational Repression During HRC59
Washington, D.C. — During the 59th Session of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC59), Campaign for Uyghurs (CFU), in collaboration with the International Service for Human Rights (ISHR) and with sponsorship from the Taiwan Foundation for Democracy, hosted a powerful side event titled Understanding and Resisting Transnational Repression on July 2, 2025. The panel brought together prominent advocates from the Uyghur, Tibetan, and Hong Konger communities to confront the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) transnational repression (TNR).
The event began with remarks from Marcelo Daher, Human Rights Officer at the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), who highlighted the growing concern within the UN regarding the targeting of dissidents by state actors and their proxies. He presented OHCHR’s new civil space brief on the issue, which outlines the scope and impact of TNR along with key recommendations for the global community to protect human rights defenders. Turghunjan Alawudun, President of the World Uyghur Congress (WUC), discussed the operation of illegal overseas Chinese police stations and detailed how the CCP uses surveillance, threats, and coercion to target Uyghur activists and leading Uyghur organizations, including WUC. Concluding the opening segment, Thinlay Chukki, Representative of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, highlighted how the CCP’s repression has reached even into UN institutions. She described attempts by Chinese diplomats to obstruct Tibetan participation at UN forums, and called on the UN to strengthen protections for human rights defenders to ensure that its platforms remain accessible and secure for marginalized voices.
During the panel moderated by Raphaël Viana David of ISHR, Rushan Abbas, Executive Director of CFU, shared the deeply personal story of her sister, Dr. Gulshan Abbas, who was unjustly imprisoned in retaliation for Rushan’s activism. Dr. Abbas has now spent her seventh consecutive birthday wrongfully detained by the Chinese government, a stark example of how the CCP weaponizes family members to punish and silence dissidents abroad. Rushan also highlighted a fake version of her recently released memoir, Unbroken: One Uyghur’s Fight for Freedom, created by AI and posted on Amazon to mislead the public, as well as coordinated defamation and libel campaigns against her. Amy Siu, Vice Chairperson of Freiheit für Hongkong e.V. and the General Secretary of the European Hong Kong Diaspora Alliance (EHKDA), outlined the weaponization of new national security laws in Hong Kong and described how these laws enable surveillance and intimidation of Hongkongers overseas. She emphasized the need for coordinated international responses and stronger asylum protections to safeguard those forced into exile for exercising their fundamental rights. Topjor Tsultrim, Communications Director of Students for a Free Tibet, drew attention to violent assaults and surveillance targeting Tibetans, including incidents during the APEC summit, as documented in a Washington Post investigation. He further exposed the roles of Chinese embassies, CCP-backed student groups, and government-organized non-governmental organizations (GONGOs) in facilitating these acts of repression. He urged the implementation of stronger safeguards to protect Tibetans and other marginalized communities across academic and diplomatic spaces.
The event, which drew over 7,000 views across multiple platforms and more than 50 in-person attendees, including more than ten member states, resonated with diverse audiences worldwide. Taking place at the heart of international diplomacy, it brought urgent attention to the CCP’s rising TNR and information manipulation in order to conceal its abuses. Through firsthand testimonies and expert insights, the panel exposed how the CCP systematically targets these communities and beyond, violating national sovereignty, weaponizing fear, and threatening the safety of those who speak out. TNR is not an isolated tactic but part of a global strategy that erodes the international human rights system and sets alarming precedents for authoritarian impunity.
CFU urges governments and international institutions to take decisive and coordinated action against TNR perpetrated by the Chinese government by implementing robust measures to enhance accountability, legal protections, and safeguard the rights and freedoms of dissidents worldwide.
