CSW has joined over 100 human rights organisations in calling for the immediate release of Hada, a prominent Southern Mongolian dissident and political prisoner who has been forcibly disappeared in China’s Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region since February.

Hada was reported to have disappeared on 5 February 2025 after being taken to a hospital in the Inner Mongolia regional capital Hohhot on 25 January 2025 by the State Security personnel assigned to monitor him. The urgent medical intervention came shortly after the confirmation of Hada’s nomination for the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize by four Japanese parliament members, as well as United States (US) Senator Jeff Merkley and Congressman Chris Smith.

The Southern Mongolian Human Rights Information Center reported that Chinese State Security officials made multiple urgent calls to Hada’s son, Uiles, on 25 January, informing him that Hada was in critical condition but refusing to clarify the cause. Hada’s wife, Xinna, and Uiles were only allowed to see Hada once in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) at the Affiliated Hospital of the Inner Mongolia Medical University on 25 January. Photos and video footage taken by Xinna showed the barely conscious Hada with severe bruising on his left leg, which the authorities claimed to be ‘signs of multiple organ failure’.

Xinna told Voice of America that on 5 February Hada called to say he needed something but she was not allowed to see him when she arrived at the hospital. Xinna updated Voice of America on 6 February that she was told Hada had been taken away by the State Security officials, but his whereabouts have remained unknown ever since.

Hada is a distinguished political activist and the co-founder and president of the Southern Mongolian Democratic Alliance (SMDA), an organisation established in 1992 to advance the political, cultural, and economic rights of the Mongolian people and to fight against the systematic injustice they continue to endure. In a clear attempt to silence dissent, the SMDA was labelled by the Chinese government as a ‘national separatist group’ in 1995.  

In the same year, Hada was arrested and later sentenced to 15 years in prison on charges of ‘separatism and espionage.’ Upon completing his sentence in 2010, he was subjected to an additional four years of extrajudicial detention and has been under secret detention ever since in an undisclosed location tightly guarded by the Chinese Public Security authorities. Both Xinna and Uiles have endured repeated accusations, harassment, and imprisonment for over 30 years.

In an open letter signed by CSW and over 100 others dated 14 April, the organisations call on the international community to ‘demand the immediate and unconditional disclosure of Hada’s whereabouts and well-being', to ‘pressure China to release Hada unconditionally and restore his family’s fundamental freedoms’, and to ‘hold the Chinese government accountable for its persecution and maltreatment of Hada and his family members over the past 30 years.’

CSW’s Founder President Mervyn Thomas said: ‘CSW calls on the Chinese Community Party to take urgent action to determine the whereabouts and well-being of Hada. We stand with his family in demanding his immediate and unconditional release and an end to their relentless harassment.’

Notes to Editors:

1. The Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region was established in 1947, two years before the founding of the People’s Republic of China. It became a model for other minority autonomous regions, which are guaranteed rights to self-governance, including in education, culture, and language, under the Chinese Constitution. However, during the Cultural Revolution, ethnic Mongolians were subjected to severe persecution. Branded as ‘separatists,’ tens of thousands were imprisoned, tortured or killed, and Mongolian culture and language were violently suppressed. Ethnic policy further shifted after President Xi’s 2014 speech promoting a ‘new stage’ of ethnic work, emphasising interethnic mingling, national unity, and centralised control over education and employment. In 2020 the government implemented a bilingual education policy, replacing Mongolian with Mandarin Chinese in half of the core school subjects, sparking widespread concern over cultural erosion.
2. Traditional Mongolian names often consist of a single given name. In modern Mongolia, people typically use a patronymic system instead of family surnames. In conversation and everyday use, a person is addressed by the given name.