Fighting Impunity: First Chinese language manual on using Magnitsky Acts

4 August 2020. Today, Safeguard Defenders is releasing the simplified Chinese version of Fighting Impunity: A guide on how civil society can use Magnitsky Acts to sanction human rights violators. This comprehensive manual, aimed at civil society, is the first of its kind and provides step-by-step instructions on how to file recommendations for sanctions on perpetrators of gross human rights violations.

The manual also provides an in-depth ‘investigator’s guide’, showing in detail how to make use of China and Hong Kong-based registers and resources to track down the perpetrators of human rights crimes from their license plates, phone numbers, social media and to company ownership. Written in consultation with professional due diligence investigators who have worked in China and Hong Kong before, this is a valuable resource for researchers.

Two different editions – a single page layout and a two-page spread layout - can be downloaded as pdf files here (scroll to bottom). You can also find the template form for filing recommendations here. This release follows an English-language version released earlier this year, available both as pdf and as a book via Amazon.

A few years ago, Xu Zhiyong and others founded the New Citizens’ Movement, whose main aim was to force officials to register and publicize their financial interests as a way of tackling China’s endemic corruption, often a key driver behind human rights violations. Xu was arrested on national security charges earlier this year. With this guide, both civil society organizations and even individuals can now apply to sanction those responsible for gross corruption or human rights violations.

This manual has been made possible due to significant support from a variety of sectors. To encourage candid responses, all interviewees were offered full anonymity, ranging from diplomats, government officials, those involved in drafting or developing Magnitsky legislation and members of the international NGO community who have experience in filing for sanctions through Magnitsky Acts. This manual offers not only the procedural step-by-step method for how civil society can interact with Magnitsky sanctioning, but also the political realities behind how it actually works and what works best.

Vietnamese edition is set for release shortly. Preliminary work has also begun to create localized Farsi, Tibetan, Burmese, and Uyghur language editions.