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Safeguard Defenders

Safeguard Defenders
Image source: Impact Hub Taipei

Safeguard Defenders is a European non-governmental organization based in Madrid, Spain.

History

Safeguard Defenders was co-founded by Michael Caster and Peter Dahlin in late 2016.[1][2] The pair had previously worked together as part of the Chinese Urgent Action Working Group.[3] Known as “China Action” for short, the organization started operations in early 2009 and operated for almost ten years.[4] In 2016, the Chinese government shut down China Action and forced Dahlin to relocate to Madrid.[5]

The group reformed into Safeguard Defenders, commencing operations in late 2016.[2:1] A new version of the organization was registered in Spain on June 13, 2019 under the corporate name Fundacion Safeguard Defenders.[6]

Organization

Name Position Notes
Peter Dahlin Co-Founder and Director[2:2] Chinese Urgent Action Working Group
Michael Caster Co-Founder and Senior Adviser Chinese Urgent Action Working Group, Minority Rights Group International (MRG), Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
Dinah Gardner Research Director -
Laura Harth Campaign Director Apple Daily
Zhang Zhiming Coordinator -
Chen Yen-ting Coordinator Radio Free Asia, Apple Daily, Initium
Jing-Jie Chen Campaigner and Researcher -
Wang Mang Coordinator -
Liu Zhiqiang Coordinator -
Wang Xiao Coordinator -

Further reading

  1. Hale, E. (2021, December 2). Why the Women’s Tennis Association rallied for Peng Shuai. Al Jazeera. https://web.archive.org/web/20230420003927/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/12/2/why-the-wta-rallied-to-the-defence-of-peng-shuai ↩︎

  2. About Us. Safeguard Defenders. Retrieved December 2, 2021, from http://archive.vn/2021.12.02-145421/https://safeguarddefenders.com/en/about-us ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎

  3. Who? Peter Dahlin. Retrieved April 20, 2023, from https://web.archive.org/web/20230420004526/https://www.peterjdahlin.com/who ↩︎

  4. About Us. Chinese Urgent Action Working Group | 中 国 维 权 紧 急 援 助 组 . Retrieved September 3, 2013, from https://web.archive.org/web/20130903040416/http://www.china-action.org/ABOUTUS.aspx ↩︎

  5. Small, R. (2022, December 8). NGO says it uncovered more Chinese police stations in Canada. Western Standard. http://archive.vn/2023.04.20-021202/https://www.westernstandard.news/bc/ngo-says-it-uncovered-more-chinese-police-stations-in-canada/article_fdcb3ac2-773c-11ed-8cfc-5fa0deed9d45.html ↩︎

  6. Disposición 8052 del BOE núm. 195 de 2020. (2020, July 17). Boletín Oficial Del Estado. https://web.archive.org/web/20220425203236/https://www.boe.es/boe/dias/2020/07/17/pdfs/BOE-A-2020-8052.pdf ↩︎