Freedom of religion and conscience in danger

      CHINA

 

Religion in China has been characterized by pluralism since the beginning of Chinese history. The Chinese religions are family-oriented and do not demand the exclusive adherence of members.  Generally, the percentage of people who call themselves religious in China have been the lowest in the world. Buddhism remains the largest organized religion in China since its introduction in the 1st century. The Chinese religious tradition of Three Religions Combining into One which means combining Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism into one religion is very popular. In the 18th and 19th centuries, with the introduction of Western ideology into China, and as the country developed industrially, traditional religions began to fade. The communist and atheist CPC came to power in 1949. It viewed traditional religions as backwards, and Western religions such as Christianity as the tool of Western colonialism. This led to China being among the least religious countries in the world since the 1950s. After the "opening up" of the 1980s, more religious freedoms were granted, and traditional beliefs like Taoism and Buddhism were supported as an integral part of the Chinese culture. Now Buddhism is the largest and fastest-growing religion in China, thriving throughout the country as the government is allowing it to spread.

The Constitution and laws provide for freedom of religious belief and the freedom not to believe, but the Constitution protects only religious activities defined by the state as ‘normal’. The Constitution states also that religious bodies and affairs are not to be ‘ subject to any foreign domination’, and that the individual exercise of rights ‘ may not infringe upon the interest of the state’. What is more, the Constitution recognizes the leading role of the officially atheist Chinese Communist Party. The Government restricts legal religious practice to government-sanctioned organizations and registered religious groups and places of worship, and sought to control the growth and scope of the activity of both registered and unregistered religious groups, including ‘house churches’.

During the period covered by the Amnesty International Report 2009, officials continued to scrutinize, and in some cases, harass unregistered religious and spiritual groups. Individuals who practised their religion outside officially sanctioned channels, including Christians, Muslims, Buddhists and others, faced harassment and persecution. The authorities harassed, detained and often ill-treated members of unsanctioned Christian house-churches, and confiscated or destroyed their church property. Falun Gong practitioners were among those most harshly persecuted by the government. In the run-up to the Beijing Olympics, thousands were reported to have been arrested, with hundreds imprisoned or assigned to Re-education through Labour camps and other forms of administrative detention where they were at risk of torture and other ill-treatment sometimes leading to death.

On 25 January, Yu Zhou, a well-known folk singer, graduate of Beijing University, and reportedly a Falun Gong practitioner, was arrested in Tongzhou District, Beijing, along with his wife, Xu Na, a poet and painter. On 6 February, the authorities from the Qinghe District Emergency Centre told his family that Yu Zhou had died from either diabetes or from a hunger strike, although the family maintains he was healthy at the time of his arrest. The staff at the Emergency Centre refused the family’s request to view the body and for an autopsy. On 25 November, Xu Na was sentenced to three years in prison for “using a heretical organization to undermine the implementation of the law”. She appealed against the sentence and is at risk of torture and other ill-treatment in detention.

Individuals who peacefully exercised their rights to freedom of expression, assembly and association remained at high risk of harassment, house arrest, arbitrary detention, and torture and other ill-treatment. Family members of human rights activists, including children, were increasingly targeted by the authorities, including being subjected to long-term house arrest and harassment by security forces. Lawyers who took on sensitive cases were also at risk; several had their licences suspended, and others lost their jobs. Some lawyers were specifically warned by the authorities not to take on sensitive cases, including cases of Tibetans arrested during the unrest in Tibetan areas and Falun Gong practitioners.

The Uighur Muslim population in the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region (XUAR) in northwest China faced intensified persecution. The authorities used a series of violent incidents, allegedly linked to terrorists, to launch a sweeping crackdown. According to official media, almost 1,300 people were arrested during the year on terrorism, religious extremism or other state security charges, and 1,154 were formally charged and faced trials or administrative punishments. On 14 August, Wang Lequan, Party Secretary of the XUAR, announced a “life and death” struggle against Uighur “separatism”.

Local authorities maintained tight control over religious practice, including prohibiting all government employees and children under the age of 18 from worshipping at mosques.

One hundred and sixty Uighur children, aged between eight and 14, who had been living and studying in a Hui Muslim area of Yunnan province, were reportedly arrested by police sent by the Public Security Bureau in the XUAR. They were brought to Urumqi and held in Baijiahu prison. Ten of the children were reportedly released after their parents paid 20,000 Yuan ($3,140). Those who could not pay were told that their children would be charged with participating in “illegal religious activities”.

 

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