Gender: Male
Perpetrator: China
Religion or Belief: Unknown
Date of Detainment: July//2015
Current Status: Not Released
Most Recent Type of Abuse: Imprisonment
Zhang Haitao
Extra Bio Info:
Zhang Haitao is imprisoned for his religious freedom advocacy.
In July 2015, Chinese authorities arrested Haitao for criticizing the Chinese Communist Party's human rights abuses against Uyghur Muslims, including forced sterilization, torture, sexual abuse, and forced labor.
In January 2016, the Urumchi Intermediate People’s Court in Xinjiang sentenced Zhang to 19 years' imprisonment with deprivation of political rights for 5 years, and confiscation of 120,000 yuan in personal property for "subversion of state power" and "illegally providing intelligence to overseas entities." During detention, prison guards beat Zhang upside down, deprived him of sleep for twenty days and nights, and held him incommunicado for at least four years.
Additional Name(s): Abbas Suri
Gender: Male
Perpetrator: Iran
Religion or Belief: Christian – Unspecified/Other
Date of Detainment: November//2024
Current Status: Not Released
Most Recent Type of Abuse: Imprisonment
Abbas Soori
Extra Bio Info:
Abbas Soori is imprisoned for his religious activity and conversion.
In November 2024, Iranian intelligence authorities arrested Abbas Soori while raiding his home, confiscating Bibles and crosses.
In March 2025, Judge Iman Afshari of Branch 26 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court sentenced him to 15 years' imprisonment for “propaganda activities” and membership of an “opposition group.”
Gender: Male
Perpetrator: Iran
Religion or Belief: Unknown
Date of Detainment: August//2025
Current Status: Not Released
Most Recent Type of Abuse: Imprisonment
Mohammad-Reza Asadi
Extra Bio Info:
Mohammad-Reza Asadi is imprisoned for his religious freedom advocacy.
In August 2025, Iranian authorities arrested Nik-Ahd for attending the memorial service of a man who was killed by government officials during nationwide protests in 2022 against religiously grounded mandatory hijab laws.
In September 2025, authorities sentenced him to 6 years' imprisonment and 74 lashes for blasphemy and disrupting the public order.