HRN reported in September that 1608 political prisoners and prisoners of conscience were in custody: 252 were in detention pending trial, and 2 were reported dead in prison

On 30 September, the Network issued its monthly report No. 132, entitled " Political Prisoners and Prisoners of Conscience in mainland China ", which states that a total of 1608 persons remain in detention during this period. The report also disclosed that 56 persons had been released from prison and 28 had been added to the list during the month, while two other persons had died in prison.

This monthly newspaper is not official Chinese statistics, but rather a civil database organized by the Network on the basis of public information, family information, feedback from human rights workers and long-term case tracking. The report itself indicates that the list does not represent the total number of detainees, subject to such restrictions as information blockades, disconnections and incomplete information on individual cases.

Four sets of figures behind 1608

The report classified the 1608 detainees as suspended, life imprisonment, imprisonment, unknown sentences and detention pending trial. Of these, 11 were suspended, 19 were sentenced to life imprisonment, 1326 were imprisoned, 24 were not known and 252 were in detention.

In the change of the month, 56 persons were listed as having served their sentences; Of the 28 new persons, 1 was in criminal detention and 27 were sentenced. At the same time, it claimed that two of the previous detainees, Stensford and Cao Ping, had died in prison and linked their deaths to the situation they had encountered while serving their sentences. This is attributable to information from the Human Rights Defence Network and related civil human rights sources, and at this stage no complete information on the investigation of deaths is publicly available from the Chinese prison system.

The Hong Kong National Security case was one of the most visible sentencing developments this month

The report updates the sentences of Zou Xianxiang, Lee Cheuk and Ho Joon-in, among others, this month. <a href="https://gbcode.rthk.hk/TuniS/news.rthk.hk/rthk/ch/component/k2/1869649-20260911.htm?spTabChangeable=0The High Court of Hong Kong sentenced the League to a fine of HK$ 1.5 million on 11 September in the case of "Incitement to Subjugate State Power": Zou Xian Xianxian 7 years 3 months, Li Zhuo 7 years, and He Jun-ren 5 years 2 months. This decision was reported on by Radio Hong Kong and in various media outlets.

This case also led to the continuation of Hong Kong political cases into the mainland China and Hong Kong's system of statistics on political prisoners and prisoners of conscience. <a href="https://www.hrw.org/zh-hans/news/2026/08/21/hong-kong-activists-convicted-for-tiananmen-vigils"target" rel = "noopener noreferrer" data-linked-reference= "tru" data-reference-label = "Human Rights Watch: Hong Kong SAR Case" The Hong Kong Police, for their part, emphasized that the case was heard in public under the Hong Kong National Security Act and found the three defendants to be responsible for serious crimes. Both evaluations reflect the continuing fundamental controversy between the security of rights and national security in Hong Kong's national security cases.

Choose out of prison: the decrease in the list does not mean the end of the case

Independent journalist, feminist is one of 56 persons who were released from prison this month. She had previously been sentenced for “incitement to overthrow the State's power” and had been a long-standing concern of international press freedom and human rights organizations. Her name was removed from the “detention list” and only represented a change in the state of detention, which did not equate to the disappearance of the occupational, social and personal effects of the case.

Stenfue: news of deaths in prison from across the province

Zhang Weibo, a Nanjing defender, was arrested across the province </a" in 2024 for helping the Gono-wee-wee-wee-wee-wee-wee-wee-wee-wee-wee-wee-wee-wee-wee-wee-wee-wee-wee-wee-wee-wee-wee-we-we-we-we-we-we-we-we-we-we-we-we-we-we-we-we-we-we-we-we-we-we-we-we-we-we-we-we-we-we-we-we-we-we-we-we-we-we-we-we-we-we-we-we-we Radio Free Asia and Human Rights Network have all previously reported on his rights-related experiences and physical condition before and after his arrest. In the current period, the Network stated that family members had received a telephone call from Xinjiang Sha River Prison in September, informing them that Stemford had died in prison.

The case of Stinford brought back the “two deaths” in the monthly newspaper from the figures to the personal situation: a Nanjing citizen who had been involved in the 899 People's Movement and had long been in solidarity with human rights defenders, whose family had received a death notice after having been arrested, sentenced and serving a sentence of more than two years across the province. There is still a lack of complete, open, independent and verifiable investigation materials on the cause of death, the medical treatment process and whether the prison is responsible for it.

252 persons still in custody

According to the report, 252 persons are currently in detention, spread over Beijing, Guangdong, Sichuan, Jiangsu, Hong Kong and Xinjiang. For these persons, the case is not yet in the final judgement stage and the core issues they face include prolonged detention, access to a lawyer, public trials and the extent to which family members are informed about the case.

The list has been updated continuously by the Network for the Defence of Human Rights for more than a decade. The figures will change with release, sentencing, additional detention and death, but the list is a recurrent feature of several long-standing issues in Chinese political cases: the handling of dissent and civil action on charges of national security, sedition, incitement to subversion, etc.; (b) The lack of transparency of detention information; (b) The difficulties of families and lawyers in obtaining complete and ongoing information on cases; Some cases remain under external supervision at the time of their sentence.

A list of 1608 persons does not summarize the experience of all. What is really worth pursuing is the reasons for the arrest behind each name, the trial process, the conditions of imprisonment and the availability of real information to families. The ongoing record of these cases is also a fundamental element in the determination of the human rights and judicial situation in China.