Biography:

Andrew Brunson, 50, is an American citizen who has lived in Turkey for 23 years. He is a pastor for the Izmir Diriliş (Resurrection) Church, a small evangelical Presbyterian congregation in the city of Izmir.

Andrew filed an application to renew his residence visa in April 2016. On October 7, 2016, the local police department summoned him for what he assumed to be a routine meeting to discuss his visa renewal. However, he was taken into custody upon his arrival at the station and told he would be deported within 15 days.

A lawyer who asked to visit Andrew was denied access. When the lawyer returned with an affidavit, officials told him that he signed a statement declaring that he did not want a lawyer; the document he signed waived his right to legal representation. Initially, Turkey also refused to allow a U.S. consulate representative to meet with him, a violation of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations. During this period, members of the Pastor’s church attempted to bring food, water, and clothing to him, but were denied access until October 13. Pastor Brunson was not allowed contact with other prisoners and was held incommunicado in the Harmandali Detention Center.

A court document released at a December 9, 2016 hearing indicated that Pastor Brunson had been charged with “membership in an armed terrorist organization.” The judge reportedly mentioned allegations that Pastor Brunson is linked to the Gülen movement, which the Turkish government accuses of planning the failed July 2016 coup.

Pastor Brunson initially was held in a cell with 21 other inmates that was built to hold only eight prisoners. He was transferred in August 2017 to Kiriklar Prison where he was in a cell with two other men who have been accused of being members of the Gülen movement. He spends 24 hours a day in his cell, leaving for one hour weekly for visits. Sometimes he is allowed family visits and the U.S. Embassy sees him regularly.

Anadolu, a state-run news agency, reported on August 24, 2017 that the prosecutor submitted new evidence corroborating two charges against Mr. Brunson: support of a terrorist organization and political or military espionage. On March 5, a Turkish court accepted the prosecutor’s indictment.

Vice Chair and USCIRF advocate Kristina Arriaga and then Vice Chair Sandra Jolley visited Pastor Brunson on October 5, 2017, and confirmed the desperate conditions in which Mr. Brunson was being held.

Pastor Brunson’s first court hearing of his trial occurred on April 16, 2018, after 18 months in detention. His second hearing took place on May 7; then USCIRF Vice Chair Sandra Jolley and USCIRF staff attended in person. His third hearing, which Vice Chair Arriaga and USCIRF staff attended, took place on July 18. Pastor Brunson was released to house arrest on July 25 due to health concerns. His fourth and last hearing took place on October 12, 2018, with Commissioner Tony Perkins and USCIRF staff present.

Pastor Brunson was convicted on the charge of aiding terrorism but released the same day and subsequently returned to the U.S. The judge determined that his two-year detainment plus his good conduct counted for him serving his sentence of three years, one month-imprisonment. 

Biography:

Nguyen Bac Truyen is a legal expert who leads the Vietnamese Political & Religious Prisoners Friendship Association, which assists prisoners of conscience and their families. On November 17, 2006, Truyen was arrested and sentenced to 3 years and 6 months in prison on charges of “conducting propaganda” against the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. He was released on May 2010. On July 30, 2017, he was again detained, arrested. At that time, he was working for the Catholic Redemptorist Church, which provides legal assistance to victims of land expropriation and health services to more than 5,000 veterans of the former Republic of Vietnam. He was sentenced on April 5, 2018 to 11 years’ imprisonment, followed by three years of house arrest for  “carrying out activities aimed at overthrowing the people’s administration.” He is currently serving this sentence at An Diem prison in Quang Nam Province, a thousand kilometers away from his wife in Ho Chi Minh City. He has submitted multiple requests to be transferred to a closer location, but to no avail. He also reportedly still suffers gastrointestinal diseases and back pain due to mistreatment and unhygienic water during his first prison term.

The Vietnamese government has targeted Truyen due to his human rights and religious freedom advocacy, particularly on behalf of Hoa Hao Buddhists. He is a 2011 recipient of Human Rights Watch’s Hellman/Hammett Award.

On September 8, 2023, Truyen was released from prison.

Biography:

Hu Shigen was born on November 14, 1955, in Jiangxi Province. He received his university education in Beijing and later taught at the Beijing Language Institute. The 1989 Democracy Movement, and the subsequent Tiananmen Square protests, jumpstarted Hu Shigen’s political activism. He was a founding figure for both the China Free Democratic Party and the China Free Labor Union. He also was an advocate for religious freedom and led several underground churches that operated without the government’s approval. In June 1992, authorities detained Hu Shigen, sentencing him in 1994 to 20 years in prison for “organizing and leading a counterrevolutionary group” and “counterrevolutionary propaganda and incitement.” After 16 years in prison, during part of which he was tortured, he was released in 2008. Hu was also detained briefly in 2011 and 2014.

On July 10, 2015, authorities disappeared Hu Shigen as part of a larger crackdown on rights lawyers and activists. His family was not made aware of his location or status until January 8, 2016 when they received an arrest notice stating that authorities suspected Hu of “subversion of state power.” (In China, it is legal for authorities to detain individuals for up to six months without charge, often in secret without any contact with family or legal representation.)

On August 3, 2016, Tianjin No. 2 Intermediate People’s Court tried and convicted Hu of “subverting” state power through his religious activities by using” illegal” religious groups to “spread subversive thoughts and ideas.” CCTV claimed Hu pled guilty and would not appeal his sentence. The court sentenced him to 7.5 years imprisonment, using a picture of his baptism as evidence of his supposed guilt.

In November 2016, for the first time since his disappearance, Hu Shigen’s family was allowed to visit him in prison. According to Chinese Human Rights Defenders, Hu’s health has deteriorated during his imprisonment, and his family has unsuccessfully applied for Hu’s release on medical grounds. Hu Shigen, along with Zhou Shifeng and Xie Yang, are three human rights activists the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention recommended in October 2017 for immediate release.

On March 26, 2023, Hu was released from prison after completing his sentence.