World News

Cross posted from: https://beehaw.org/post/18048115

The Chinese government maintained its systematic suppression of human rights across the country in 2024, Human Rights Watch said today in its World Report 2025. Repression was especially severe in Tibetan areas and for the Uyghurs in Xinjiang, and the authorities further dismantled Hong Kong’s basic freedoms.

For the 546-page world report, in its 35th edition, Human Rights Watch reviewed human rights practices in more than 100 countries. In much of the world, Executive Director Tirana Hassan writes in her introductory essay, governments cracked down and wrongfully arrested and imprisoned political opponents, activists, and journalists. Armed groups and government forces unlawfully killed civilians, drove many from their homes, and blocked access to humanitarian aid. In many of the more than 70 national elections in 2024, authoritarian leaders gained ground with their discriminatory rhetoric and policies.

“From freedom of expression to religious freedoms, the Chinese government has kept a chokehold over the country throughout 2024,” said Maya Wang, associate China director at Human Rights Watch. “The Chinese government has further tightened abusive laws and imprisoned critics and rights defenders, while making it increasingly difficult to report on government abuses throughout the country.”

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