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Thursday, October 09, 2003 |
VIETNAM INTENSIFIES RELIGIOUS PERSECUTION AGAINST HMONG CHRISTIANS - (Freedom House)
The Center for Religious Freedom has obtained two new petitions and other reliable reports evidencing continued harsh religious persecution against Christians in Ha Giang Province along Vietnam’s northwestern border with China. Among the documents is a never-before-released report of the beating death of Hmong Christian leader, Vang Seo Giao, on July 1, 2003, by commune-level officials. The Center has also received a copy of the government-issued pledge form that Hmong Christians are being forced to sign renouncing their faith. The documents show that local officials can adopt the most brutal measures with absolute impunity in complying with national directives to eradicate Christianity from tribal areas. Provincial- and national-level government bodies have failed to hold anyone accountable for even the murder that occurs in the course of this ongoing campaign.
1:07:00 PM 
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UZBEKISTAN: PERPETUAL RAIDS ON VILLAGE BAPTIST CHURCH - Forum 18
Almost two months after eight church members were sentenced for their activity with the church, Forum 18 has been unable to find out from officials why they are still preventing a local Baptist church from meeting for worship in the village of Khalkabad in Namangan region. "We are doing this at the request of the Baptists' parents, who are unhappy that their children have changed their faith," local police officer Bahtier (who refused to give his full name) claimed to Forum 18 News Service. "Police officers come to virtually every meeting we hold," Aleksandr Tyan – one of five church members imprisoned for ten days in August - told Forum 18
1:00:11 PM
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CHINA: PRISONERS, CULTS & THE PSB - (ANS)
Voice of the Martyrs reports that on Friday 26 September, some 20 Public Security Bureau (PSB) officers arrested Mr. Xiao Bi-guang and Mr. Zhang Yi-nan in Ping Ding Shan city, Henan Province. On the next Sunday, Zhang’s wife, Mrs. Ding Guizhen, was arrested at the hospital in Ping Ding Shan where she works as a doctor. She is currently being held at the Jiang He Chang PSB Office in that city while the whereabouts of the men is unknown. Zhang is a most significant Chinese church historian and writer. Xiao, who was in labour camp from 1994-97 for his Christian leadership, is a law graduate and has been on the legal team representing the South China Church. Xiao’s wife, Mrs. Gou Qinghui, was a theology professor at the Beijing Theological Seminary until the government expelled her on account of her involvement in the house-church movement.
12:56:45 PM
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Last Update: 4/4/2004; 9:54:58 AM
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