"Transnational Repression in an Age of Upheaval: Global Policy Challenges for Canada"
In a policy brief for CIGI, @emiledirks.bsky.social & co-authors argue that the Canadian government must do more to protect diaspora members from #transnationalrepression.
www.cigionline.org/publications...
#China’s new “ethnic unity” law, to be passed this week, will accelerate the attempted forced assimilation of the country’s ethnic minorities into the dominant Han culture, according to academics and human rights groups. A piece by me:
CLICK LINK TO READ
www.bbc.com/news/article...
BOOK LAUNCH: Join the Citizen Lab’s @penney.bsky.social @rondeibert.bsky.social, and Kate Robertson as they discuss Penney’s new book, "Chilling Effects: Repression, Conformity, and Power in the Digital Age."
🕠 March 12, 5:30 pm
✅ RSVP: machformext.osgoode.yorku.ca/machform/vie...
Senior researcher @noura.bsky.social will share her insights at OSCE's meeting on legal and institutional strategies to address gender-based violence and violence against women in the public sphere.
More info: odihr.osce.org/event/662392
Ok, since I’ve gotten a few “you don’t know for sure it’s not true!” let’s briefly say why. In a hyper-strict Cartesian sense of “know,” you can’t really “know” whether anything or anyone is conscious except yourself. But in the everyday sense, outside the dorm room…
Ottawa has taken steps to address TNR. Yet, as we note, "the more that Ottawa avoids centring human rights in its international dealings and domestic policies, the more it signals to allies and adversaries alike that human rights are negotiable commodities in a new global order."
Shaila Baran, Emma Dickinson, Andre Fajardo & I have a new policy brief for CIGI on transnational repression, arguing that Ottawa's ability to counter TNR is challenged by its warming ties with autocracies, its uncritical embrace of AI, & US authoritarianism.
www.cigionline.org/publications...
MARCH 10: Get practical safety tips from the Citizen Lab's Rebekah Brown at @accessnow.org's Digital Security Helpline webinar on preventing spear-phishing attacks against civil society.
Register: www.accessnow.org/event/digita...
Our submission aims to confront an inconvenient truth in governments' efforts - particularly those of the US - to counter CCP transnational repression: You cannot be instilling fear in immigrants while simultaneously expecting them to report CCP harassment or publicly speak out against the regime.
Cert glad to have worked with colleagues on this important issue, at a time when migrants are targeted with impunity by origin and host states
Our latest submission to the Committee on Enforced Disappearance and the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances is out now.
We highlight the role of digital technologies; spyware & location-tracking technologies in facilitating enforced disappearances of exiled dissidents
Take a look at our submission, as well as a separate submission on the role of digital tools in enforced disappearances by my Citizen Lab colleagues @sanstis.bsky.social, @noura.bsky.social, Tristan Surman, @mmichae1sen.bsky.social, & @rondeibert.bsky.social, here: citizenlab.ca/submissions-...
Three big factors are contributing to this pressing human rights problem: 1) hostile anti-migrant policies; 2) inadequate resourcing for the processing of migrant cases; & 3) migrant-related data sharing agreements among states. Importantly, these factors are not limited to any single country.
Migrants are uniquely vulnerable to TNR. However, host states’ policies on countering TNR, & their policies on restricting migration, are in tension. Efforts to address TNR are undermined by migration controls which curtail the rights of migrants, & place them at greater risk of detention & removal.
Sarah McKune, @nateschenkkan.bsky.social, an anonymous @citizenlab.ca researcher, @yaqiu.bsky.social & I have co-authored a UN submission on the enforced disappearance of migrants in the context of transnational repression:
citizenlab.ca/submissions-...
Senior research associate @emiledirks.bsky.social spoke with @icij.org about a new report he co-authored on #transnationalrepression in the EU.
Read it here: www.icij.org/investigatio...
Some good news! Guan Heng has just been granted asylum in the US, although DHS reserve the right to appeal the decision in the next 30 days.
Great to see @nateschenkkan.bsky.social presenting our report “Perpetrators & methods of transnational repression and possible counter strategies” (co-authored w/ @emiledirks.bsky.social @zecsaky.bsky.social & me) in the @afet.europarl.europa.eu
Full report: www.europarl.europa.eu/thinktank/en...
PM Carney 🇨🇦gave a courageous speech with a lot of real-talk about the "rupture" in the international order.
But he left something out: the values that define us as a country & distinguish us from the fascist train wreck in the US 🇺🇸
My oped w Jason Stanley
www.thestar.com/opinion/cont...
It was a privilege to work on this report for the @europarl.europa.eu about transnational repression w/ @nateschenkkan.bsky.social @zecsaky.bsky.social & @emiledirks.bsky.social
Check it out here: www.europarl.europa.eu/thinktank/en...
I urge leaders of democracies worldwide to step forward and stand with Americans fighting on the ground.
And yesterday our study on transnational repression led by @nateschenkkan.bsky.social and co-authored with @alexdukalskis.bsky.social and @emiledirks.bsky.social went live on the European Parliament's website. Do check it out! www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etud...
It was a privilege contributing to this report on transnational repression in the EU. I learned a great deal working with @nateschenkkan.bsky.social, @zecsaky.bsky.social, & @alexdukalskis.bsky.social. A special thank you to the victims of TNR who shared their experiences & expertise with us.
🚨 New report alert! 🚨
Our new study for the European Parliament on transnational repression in the EU is live!
Co-authored with @zecsaky.bsky.social, @emiledirks.bsky.social, and @alexdukalskis.bsky.social: a great team to work with.
"In the trial footage, General Xu explains that he refused the order as a matter of individual conscience and professional judgment...[S]aying that a commander who carried out martial law poorly would go down as “a sinner in history.”"
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/17/w...
"Mothers had to choose which of their kids to feed...Pregnant women with life-threatening anemia were so desperate for calories that they ate mud. Out of options and mortally afraid, refugees began fleeing...They said they’d rather risk being shot or dying on the perilous route than slowly starving"
Today, a lawyer for DHS suggested sending Guan Heng to Uganda, a country with close ties to China that is "more likely than not" to send him back, says Mr. Guan's lawyer. Due to increased public attention to the case, he has been scheduled for a 2nd hearing on Jan 12. www.nytimes.com/2025/12/15/u...
In this piece, I share lessons for Americans who are struggling with whether to protest Trump. Drawing from my years working with courageous Chinese activists, I argue that while acting on one’s moral convictions can be risky, it can also feel profoundly good. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
@hrichina.bsky.social
The Trump administration is threatening to deport a Chinese man who personally documented the Chinese government's massive detention system in Xinjiang. If forcibly returned to China, he faces the risk of state persecution for his invaluable & brave work.
open.substack.com/pub/hrichina...
