AI’s call ahead of the official countdown Wednesday, July 8, came as BosNewsLife learned that a military House Church in Xinjiang province was raided and members were allegedly detained and abused during their interrogation in the latest apparent government backed-crackdown on expanding churches.
"Some of their relatives were punished by the military" during the raid on June 1, said China Aid Association (CAA) a major religious rights group with close ties to Chinese House Churches. CAA said the house of "brother Gao Hongzhi was raided" by 10 officers of the Public Security Bureau, a major Chinese law enforcement agency.
Six believers including Gao were detained for 12 hours until the following morning, said CAA, adding that one believer was "beaten up" during the detention time. "Mr. Gao’s house was searched without a search warrant and Bibles, calendars, and a blackboard was confiscated as illegal religious materials…" the group claimed.
In addition Christian rights group the Voice Of the Martyrs (VOM) expressed concern about other Christian detainees including Shuang Shuying, a 77-year-old woman who was sentenced to two years imprisonment by the Beijing Chongwen District People’s Court on February 26 this year. She was sentenced on charges of "willfully damaging private property."
HOUSE CHURCH ACTIVIST
However, "She and her son, [house church activist] Hua Huiqi, were attacked by police and arrested on January 24," VOM added. Hua was released on July 26. "Shuang suffers from a heart problem and diabetes," VOM said.
Besides reports of religious persecution AI’s Secretary General Irene Khan said she was also concerned about widespread human rights violations in other areas. "Unless the Chinese authorities take urgent measures to stop human rights violations over the coming year, they risk tarnishing the image of China and the legacy of the Beijing Olympics," Khan said in a statement to BosNewsLife.
In its latest assessment of China’s progress towards its promised human rights improvements ahead of the 2008 Beijing Olympics, AI said in a new report that several Beijing-based activists continue to face "house arrest" amid tight police surveillance.
Activists in other parts of China are facing "heightened patterns of abuse as attention" is focused on Beijing in the run-up to the Olympics, AI said. The report also highlights "an ongoing crackdown on journalists", which has most recently extended to the closure of certain publications on Chinese civil society and development.
HUMAN RIGHTS CRACKDOWN
"The crackdown on human rights defenders and domestic media continues to overshadow more positive reforms with regard to the death penalty and foreign media coverage in China. Not only are we not seeing delivery on the promises made that the Olympics would help improve the human rights situation in China, but the police are using the pretext of the Olympics to extend the use of detention without trial," the group said in a statement to BosNewsLife.
The report also highlighted the continued use of detention without trial as part of Beijing’s "clean up" operations of houses in the city ahead of the 2008 Games to make way for stadiums and other sports centers. AI also condemned that "The application of the death penalty in China — the world’s top executioner — remains shrouded in secrecy."
"The ongoing serious human rights violations in China constitute an affront to core principles in the Olympic Charter relating to the ‘preservation of human dignity’ and ‘respect for universal fundamental ethical principles’.
The IOC must promote a positive legacy of the Olympics built on respect for human rights and rule of law," Irene Khan said. "With just one year to go, time is running out before the Beijing Olympic Games are irreversibly tarnished by the China’s lack of respect for human rights. The Chinese authorities must press ahead with their promises to improve human rights so that when August 2008 arrives the Chinese people can be proud in every respect of what their country has to offer the world."
