 |
 |
Tuesday, July 20, 2004 |
VIETNAMESE MONTAGNARDS LEAVE JUNGLE TO GET UN HELP [RFA]
PHNOM PENH-Forty-four Vietnamese Montagnards have left the Cambodian jungles to seek help from U.N. refugee officials, but up to five times that number are believed to be hiding still in Cambodia's densely forested border. All 44 are now in the hands of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Cambodia's Ratanakiri Province while their asylum claims are checked, a UNHCR spokesman said. [more]
. 11:37:18 PM 
|
|
Vietnam: Tribal Injustice [Time Asia]
The Montagnards stand up to Hanoi—and, in the aftermath, many are forced to flee their homes
. 11:19:50 PM
|
|
More Than 100 House Church Leaders Arrested in Xinjiang; One Arrested Leader Tortured in Henan [ChinaAid.org]
On July 12, 2004, more than 100 house church leaders have been arrested in the Xinjiang Autonomous Region of Western China. The group was meeting for a retreat when they were surrounded by more than 200 military police, Public Security Bureau (PSB) and other officers, who arrived at the scene in 46 police and military vehicles. No arrest warrants or even official identification papers were shown by officers as they carried out the assault.
The meeting was being held at the “Retreat Center for Railroad Workers” located in Section 5 of Liu Gong Town, Chang Ji Zhou (district) in Xinjiang.
Thirty of the leaders are still being held by PSB near the retreat center. The rest have been transported back to their home areas and are being held by the local area PSB in their respective areas. Several have been confined in the so-called “Transformation and Study Center” where they will be interrogated and pressured to renounce their faith. If they don’t, they will be formally charged and tried.
The “co-workers meeting” was being held to train and encourage Christian workers in the Xinjiang area, China’s western frontier and the home of the mostly-Muslim Uyghur people. The meeting was sponsored by the Ying Shang Church, a large house-church network headquartered in Anhui Province.
CAA sources say those who were from other provinces were treated differently after the arrest. In China it is illegal to cross a provincial border to hold religious meetings without approval from the Religious Affairs Bureau and the state-sponsored Three Self Patriotic Movement (TSPM) church. Police have already contacted the local home village of those from outside Xinjiang, seeking additional information about their religious activities.
Among those confirmed to have been arrested was Wang Yu Lian who has been a leader in the Ying Shang Church for more than 20 years. He is being held near the camp in Xinjiang.
Also arrested was Jin Da, the 34-year-old General Secretary of the TSPM of Ningbo City, Zhejiang Province. Jin has 46 TSPM churches under his leadership, but reportedly is supportive of unregistered house churches as well.
Also last week in China, 40 house church leaders were arrested while attending a training seminar in Cheng Du City, Sichuan Province. Also arrested was a Taiwanese couple, who were leading the seminar.
All 40 have been released, but the whereabouts of the Taiwanese couple is unknown. CAA sources say it is likely they will be deported and blacklisted by the Chinese government.
Meanwhile, CAA just learned that 39-year-old pastor Xing Jinfu, one of the senior China Gospel Fellowship(CGF) leaders was transferred from Hubei province to an undisclosed location in Henan province. CAA ‘s reliable source says pastor Xing has been under torture by his interrogators for his confessions of CGF’s ministry operations. Mr. Xing Jinfu was arrested on June 11 along with about 100 other church leaders in Wuhan city. Because of the publicity and international pressure, except pastor Xing, all other arrested were released.
“These cases show irrefutable evidence of the worsening situation on religious persecution in China,” said Bob Fu, CAA’s president. “We urge people of all faith to take actions to address your concerns.”
Letters of protest can be sent to the Chinese Embassy in Washington DC at the following address:
Ambassador Yang Jiechi
Embassy of the People’s Republic of China
2300 Connecticut Ave NW, Washington DC 20008
Tel:(202) 328-2500 Fax:(202) 588-0032
Director of Religious Affairs: (202) 328-2512
Issued by China Aid Association, Inc. on July 20, 2004.
More on our website
. 11:13:32 PM
|
|
North Korea Freedom Coalition is requesting that those in the US write congress to support the North Korea Human Rights Act, H.R. 4011 which is scheduled to the House floor "under suspension of rules" tomorrow, Wednesday, July 21.
They write asking to call or fax congress.
-----------------
Sample letter: Please feel free to use this letter or portions of the attached letter in your letter to your Congressmen.
Dear Representative _______________:
I respectfully request your support of H.R. 4011, the North Korea Human Rights Act of 2004, scheduled for a vote this Wednesday, July 21.
North Korea is home to the worst human rights abuses in the world today - it is indeed the Auschwitz of our time. We've heard the concurring evidence of recent defectors, all of whom speak of the torture, starvation and killing that takes place there every day.
Hundreds of thousands of North Koreans reside in prison camps today, where they face unspeakable atrocities. Millions of North Koreans have starved to death while others have fled to China to try to survive but instead they are hunted down and treated cruelly by the Chinese authorities. I believe that H.R. 4011 is a vital piece of legislation that can help end the suffering of the North Korean people and as your constituent, I urge you to support its swift consideration and passage this week.
Sincerely
-----------
attached letter:
An Open Letter to Members of the U.S. Congress
We are writing on behalf of the North Korea Freedom Coalition, a bi-partisan group of American and Korean American human rights, religious, and non-governmental organizations representing millions of American citizens. We encourage you to support H.R. 4011, the North Korea Human Rights Act.
While it is openly recognized that the Kim Jong-il regime is one of the most horrific in modern history, the debate continues to rage on how best to deal with this regime – engagement, appeasement and/or regime change. We believe that H.R. 4011 charts the right direction: it makes human rights a priority in dealing with North Korea, it promotes transparency in the delivery of humanitarian aid, and it promotes initiatives to help vulnerable North Korean refugees, while
reaching out to the North Korean people through increased radio broadcasting and undiverted humanitarian assistance. Furthermore, it provides incentives to the North Korean regime to improve human rights, so that we break away from the pattern of nuclear blackmail that has plagued our policy in the past.
Every day hundreds of North Korean citizens are killed in Kim Jong-il's political prison camps while others starve to death because the regime diverts humanitarian aid. Those that escape this brutal regime to flee to China are subjected to even more horrors: women both middle aged as well as 12 to 14 years of age have been subjected to sexual trafficking and men have become slave laborers on Chinese farmers. This carefully crafted, bipartisan legislation seeks to address these horrific conditions. It has become an inspiration to the
hundreds of North Korean defectors who have fled this regime and understand it best, because they realize that the American people, represented by the United States Congress, have listened to their voices.
In April of this year for North Korea Freedom Day, we hosted nearly 20 defectors from North Korea representing all levels of society from government workers to engineers, from an award winning dancer to survivors of the North Korean gulag. Many of them continue to remain in contact with friends and family remaining in North Korea. They told us that the North Korean Human Rights Act has become a symbol of great hope for the North Korean people. Please vote to support this legislation so that hope can become a reality and
Americans can help champion the cause of humanity for these suffering brothers and sisters.
Sincerely,
Sandy Rios, Chairman Suzanne Scholte, Vice Chairman
Mariam Bell, Legislative Co-Chair Sin U Nam, Vice Chairman
(703)-904-7322
North Korea Freedom Coalition
http://nkfreedom.org
Google It!. 9:33:15 PM
|
|
China SARS Hero Freed After Weeks in Custody. BEIJING (Reuters) - Jiang Yanyong, the military doctor who exposed China's SARS cover-up last year, was released Tuesday after seven weeks in custody during which he was forced to undergo "study sessions," family members said. [Reuters: World]
. 7:00:14 PM
|
|
|
KAZAKHSTAN: New fines and pressure on unregistered Baptists |
|
By Igor Rotar, Forum 18 News Service |
|
At least five churches of the International Council of Evangelical Christians/Baptists, who refuse on principle to register with the state authorities, have suffered raids or fines this year, Forum 18 News Service has learnt. In the latest case, Pastor Vasili Kliver was fined 14 US dollars on 7 June in the town of Aktobe. The judge also ordered the church to close for six months. Fined the same amount in May in the town of Taraz, Pastor Pyotr Panafidin argued in court that neither the constitution nor the religion law makes registration compulsory. Jehovah's Witnesses, who in earlier years faced similar fines after some of their congregations were denied registration, told Forum 18 the problem has been resolved. [read more...] |
. 6:44:35 PM
|
|
Photos Reveal Electric Shock Torture Commonly Used on Falun Gong in China [FDI]
High-voltage Electric Current Burns and Disfigures Woman’s Face
NEW YORK (FDI) – Photos of 36-year-old Ms. Gao Rongrong, whose face was severely disfigured from seven hours of electric shock torture, were obtained from sources inside China last week. (photos at www.faluninfo.net) WARNING: These photos contain graphic content.
The photos offer a glimpse of the systematic beatings and torture of Falun Gong practitioners in police custody and inside labor camps throughout China. This type of torture is widespread under Jiang Zemin’s regime, but rarely documented on film because officials closely guard any evidence as “state secrets”. [more]
. 12:16:51 PM
|
|
© 2004 Radio Free China
Last Update: 7/31/2004; 11:51:22 PM
|
|
|
