Human Rights

China Acknowledges Torture and Illegal Detention in its Judicial System — Supreme People’s Procuratorate Establishes Investigation Office in Response

China’s top prosecutorial body has publicly acknowledged the existence of torture and illegal detention within the country’s judicial system. In response, the Supreme People’s Procuratorate has launched a new Investigation Department tasked with probing abuses of power by judicial and law enforcement officials. This development is particularly significant in the context of the McDonald’s case, as it directly echoes personal events I experienced in 2022 when I was subjected to what I consider torture by police officers in Taiyuan — a city where U.S. intelligence operatives were also known to be active. The creation of this investigative body raises important questions about past mishandlings, local accountability, and possible foreign interference in China’s internal legal processes.
Click here to read more.

McLibel and the Golden Arches of Silence: When McDonald’s Sued Its Critics

How McDonald’s silenced over 45 UK media outlets and activists through libel threats—raising human rights concerns that even the current UK Prime Minister, Keir Starmer, once called “enormously important.” A look back at the 1997 McLibel trial and the fight for free speech.
Click here to read more.

McPrisoners of Conscience – Full Article (1997) Used in ECtHR Case 50552/22 (V.L.C. v France)

Full-text reproduction of D. D. Guttenplan’s 1997 article “McPrisoners of Conscience”, originally published in Index on Censorship. Cited as key evidence in ECtHR Case 50552/22 (V.L.C. v France), concerning McDonald’s suppression of critics, whistleblowers, and victims, and the potential death penalty risk to the applicant’s family in China.
Click here to read more.