Thursday, 01 April 2021

Impartiality and independence of police watchdog questioned by whistleblower

Photo: James Eades/Unsplash

An author of a government report into the handling of public protests has expressed her serious concerns about the independence and impartiality of the police watchdog. The report from Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC), published on 11 March, looked at policing in the wake of the Black Lives Matter and Extinction Rebellion protests.

She has now raised “serious and urgent concerns about breaches of the civil service code”. Index's Martin Bright broke the story this week.

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Xinjiang: “I have no regrets on speaking out”

Photo: https://www.flickr.com/photos/psit/, CC BY-NC 2.0

The Chinese government has outlined sanctions against nine British individuals and three organisations for daring to speak out about human rights abuses in Xinjiang.

The targets of these sanctions are largely political but one is an academic. Newcastle University's Reader in Chinese studies Dr Joanne Smith Finley believes that China has lost “an erstwhile ally” in sanctioning her but is firm in stating that she "will not be silenced".

Meet the judges for the 2021 Freedom of Expression Awards

The harassment of international journalists in China is becoming normalised

BBC’s China correspondent John Sudworth has been forced to relocate with his family from Beijing to Taiwan after a campaign of state-sanctioned threats and intimidation.

Sudworth and his wife, a fellow journalist for the Irish RTE, Yvonne Murray, were faced with no other option than to leave after months of personal attacks in Chinese state media and by Chinese government officials. Read what our CEO Ruth Smeeth says about the continuing attacks on freedoms by the Chinese government.

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