In China, Christians' Lawyers Also Face Government Attacks

Cindy Ortiz

November 5, 2009

WASHINGTON (BP) -- Religious freedom activists in China are not the only ones needing a lawyer; their lawyers also are being attacked by the government.

"They are the defenders for the defenseless and a voice to the voiceless, and basically, for doing that, they themselves have been facing danger. The defenders themselves need defense, ironically," said Bob Fu,president of China Aid.

At a news conference in Washington, six Chinese legal rights professionals recounted their treatment by theChinese government.

One of the attorneys, Cao Zhi, founder and editor-in-chief of the Citizen Republic magazine in China, noted that a 2005 law enacted in China stipulates that if the government does not grant permission for a religious activity, it is considered illegal.

Dai Jinbo, a legal counsel for Chinese house churches, described a recent case that involved a church that was attacked at 3 a.m. on Sept. 13 in northeastern China's Shanxi province. At least 300 police raided the LinfenHouse Church, physically beat a number of believers and destroyed much of the church's property.

Zhang Kai, a defense attorney whose law license was revoked in May, cited some reasons Chinese officials persecute church members through beatings, imprisonments or insults:

-- If the church is not registered through the government.

-- If the church does not ask permission to have religious activities.

-- If the church evangelizes in other Chinese regions without government permission.

On Oct. 13, Christian leader Pastor Bike, as he is known, and his wife, Xie Feng-Lan, were on their way to visit Linfen Church leaders who were arrested and being kept at a detention center. When they crossed the border intoShanxi province, police arrested Pastor Bike and jailed him, according to China Aid. Two days later, the police released the pastor and barred the couple from returning to Shanxi.

When a defense attorney handles such cases, said Li Fangping, a lawyer who has defended clients in more than 10 high-profile cases, "The government can refuse you, decline you, and even if they grant you the case, they can interfere with what you're doing in the process."

Jiang Tianyong, a human rights defense attorney whose law license also was revoked, said human rights activistscan have a difficult time finding defense attorneys for their cases.

"It is extremely hard for the lawyer to process. The lawyers will be followed by the policemen, harassed or beaten physically. In court, we talk about the basic fact of these cases. We're not allowed to talk about constitutional human rights," Jiang said.

"No lawyer should be harassed or beaten or imprisoned because of the clients they defend on the cases they take on," said Michael Cromartie, vice chair of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), at the Oct. 28 news conference in Washington.

Despite the current religious liberty conditions in China, the number of believers in the house movement church inBeijing is growing rapidly, said Wang Guangze, a Chinese political and law expert and former international journalist for The New York Times.

However, Wang said Chinese media professionals are limited in reporting about religion in China and are required to release only positive reports.

"We can see there is a very large religious community in China, but we don't see much about them in the media," Wang told reporters.

With President Obama scheduled to travel to China in mid-November, the six attorneys said they hope Obama will address human rights with Chinese President Hu Jintao.

Jiang commented, "I think this is a nature of a real fallen world if the president of the United States has a problem to talk about the basic human rights in freedom and in public."

Cromartie said he would urge Obama "to meet with thehuman rights lawyers and ask ... why so many detained religious believers cannot get adequate legal protection. He should ask why so many lawyers have been intimidated and stripped of their legal rights as they are trying to protect individuals."

The USCIRF annual report, released in May, included recommendations for U.S. policy to support Chinese rights defenders through the State Department's Human Rights and Democracy Fund, including:

-- Creating new programs with increased networking of non-governmental organizations in China that address issues of religious freedom and other rights.

-- Expand contacts among U.S. human rights experts,Chinese government officials and non-governmental organizations on international standards relating to such issues as religious freedom.

-- Increase consultation on regulations and practices with international standards on freedom of religion or belief and human rights.

"China will not be changed by the Chinese government, but by the Chinese people," Li said.

In another recent case of persecution, Chen Le, a high school student at Huashan Middle School, was expelled Oct. 20 for refusing to renounce his Christian faith, according to China Aid. The organization reported Oct. 29, however, that the party secretary for the high school division and school officials had visited Chen the day before and invited him to return to the school.

Religious Freedom Report Lacks Specifics, Experts Say

Adelle M. Banks

October 29, 2009

WASHINGTON (RNS) -- Religious freedom experts called for more specifics in the State Department's policies on international religious liberty, but welcomed a new report that highlights abuse faced by people of faith throughout the world.

Released by the State Department on Monday (Oct. 26), the status report on religious freedom in 198 countries and territories pays particular attention to authoritarian governments that control religious expression or are hostile to religious minorities.

"President Obama has raised religious freedom in his speeches abroad without those sentiments being translated into concrete policy actions," said Leonard Leo, chair of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, "and our hope is that this report will be the administration's call to action."

The independent commission also disagrees with the State Department on the status of religious freedom in some countries. In particular, the USCIRF has called forPakistan and Vietnam to be added to the State Department's list of "countries of particular concern."

The State Department report notes that "serious" and "significant" problems remain in those countries. Michael Posner, assistant secretary for the department's Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor, told reporters he hopes new the list of "countries of particular concern" will be made public by January.

Thomas Farr, the first director of the State Department's Office of International Religious Freedom, said the report shows an improvement in U.S. policy on the issue, but more than incremental progress is needed.

"It is an approach that focuses on people who are being persecuted, as it should, but it tends to talk about cases rather than the structural problems that lead to persecution," said Farr, citing China as an example.

The report notes that China's "repression of religious freedom remained severe in Tibetan areas." It also said: "Citizens do not have the ability to bring legal action based on the Constitution's guarantees of religious freedom."

Religious freedom experts knocked Obama earlier this month (Oct.) for refusing to meet with the Dalai Lama, whom China considers a "splittist." The White House said Obama will meet with the exiled Buddhist leader after he returns from a summit in China next month.

Farr, who directed the religious freedom office from 1999 to 2003, criticized the administration for not yet naming an ambassador at large for religious freedom. But he praised its opposition to efforts by the Organization of the Islamic Conference to seek "defamation of religions" resolutions at the United Nations.

In her remarks introducing the report Monday, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton noted her disagreement with such proposals, saying an "individual's ability to practice his or her religion has no bearing on others'freedom of speech."

In addition to chronicling restrictions and improvements in religious freedom, the report also included what Clinton called a "special focus" on international initiatives promoting interfaith dialogue.

"We are encouraged by this growing recognition by governments and religious leaders that extremism is a common enemy and that freedom and respectful religious coexistence are critical to our shared future," the report's executive summary concluded.