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.

Biography:

Deacon Jang Moon Seok, also known by his Chinese name, Zhang Wen Shi, is an ethnically Korean Chinese citizen who lived in Changbai, China, a town on the border between China and North Korea. He worked alongside a Korean-Chinese pastor, Pastor Han Chung-Ryeol, ministering to the North Koreans who crossed the border into Changbai.

Though it is illegal to cross into China without permission, North Koreans often visit Chinese border towns to purchase goods for reselling in North Korea, seek medicine or other help, and conduct business. Near Changbai, North Koreans gather herbs on the North Korean side of the mountain and then take them into Changbai to sell at the market and bring the money back with them to North Korea. Deacon Jang regularly hosted these visiting North Koreans for days and weeks at a time before they returned to North Korea, giving them warm clothing, feeding them and providing supplies they might need for their return.. He saw this as his Christian duty to welcome the stranger, clothe the naked and care for the sick. As a believer, he also shared  his faith with those who were willing.

A number of these North Koreans accepted the message and became Christians. Some returned to Deacon Jang’s home repeatedly for more Bible training, and Deacon Jang and Pastor Han also taught them how to share their faith with their loved ones. Their goal was always to see North Koreans return home.

In November 2014, Deacon Jang was kidnapped from China and put in a North Korean prison. Fifteen months later, Pastor Han was lured from his home and brutally stabbed to death in Changbai.
Deacon Jang was sentenced to 15 years in prison for his ministry to the North Korean people. Since his imprisonment, a number of other prisoners have either encountered Deacon Jang in prison or heard a report about him.