New Report Details Persecution of Chinese Christians
An investigative report by a prominent Christian rights attorney reveals shocking details of persecution against house church leaders and believers in a northwest province in China.
An investigative report by a prominent Christian rights attorney reveals shocking details of persecution against house church leaders and believers in a northwest province in China.
On Dec. 21, Gao Zhisheng issued a report that highlighted the persecution endured by “house church” Christians in Xinjiang province. The report was later translated with permission into English by China Aid Association.
The Beijing attorney – who himself has been threatened by state security agent for his human right works, including defense of prominent house church leader Pastor Cai Zhuohua – took statements from 13 believers to illustrate the torture and abuse faced by house church Christians in Xinjiang.
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Gao, who has recently dedicated himself to the Christian faith, commented at the beginning of the report that although what he “saw is not as soul-stirring or stiflingly brutal as persecution of Falun Gong adherents, [yet] this did not affect [his] comments on the brutal crackdown by the local government on the Christian house churches and the illegal arrest of the house church members and the cruel condition of the persecution.”
The report is titled Zhicheng Gao: Study on the Present Condition of Christian House Churches in Xinjiang and is a reminder to the “people that on a constant basis there is the danger of continuing to tolerate this anti-humanist power group that slaughters all the positive values—the danger to ourselves—the danger to our beloved sons and daughters,” said Gao.
In one of the reported case, a Christian leader by the name of Lianru Ma (the name has been changed for security reasons) was arrested in November 2003 and was beaten using his own belt by police officers in a local police station. He and another Christian believer were told that they believe in a cult. The police also took the donated money and donation box. Lianru was also handcuffed from the back to a heating radiator until the second day at the station when his family brought money to bail him out.
Lingzhi Xia (real name in life), 63, related her story in tears to Gao. She said that during a police raid on Aug. 5, 2005, a police officer grabbed her money she had intended to use for train fare and slapped her in the face. She was then transferred to different detention centers where she lived in harsh and mentally and physically stressful conditions as the officers continuously interrogated her.
Her son, after hearing from a police officer that his mother was on the wanted list of Ministry of State Public Security, became very worried. He had a history of high blood pressure and the events in the past months about his mother had made him depressed to the point that he had a fatal cerebral hemorrhage on Sept. 1, 2005.
Lingzhi was released from the detention center after her daughter applied for Awaiting Trial on Bail status for her. Despite her release, the officer still sentenced her to three years of re-education through labor and she was put on the list of Ministry of State Public Security.
Another believer, Qimiao Tong, said in a statement that he was ordered on Sept. 28, 2005 to go to the Bureau of Security, where a police officer kicked him brutally in the chest to the point he could barely talk and was squatting from pain. The doctor that the police brought him to said that the kick was not serious and some medication was all that was needed. But after his release, the second doctor his wife took him to said he had a fracture rib.
Other Christians, the report noted, were beaten, interrogated and fined. Lin Jiang (name changed), 29, was placed on the “Tiger’s Bench” for almost 30 hours and severely beaten.
In his report, Gao concluded: “A huge police force exists only for the purpose of suppressing the value of freedom of belief. Year in and year out, brutal arrests, suppression, crackdowns and ‘interrogating’ the Christians are all the work this band of policemen has to do.”
The last line of the report exclaimed that “it is time for an immediate awakening.”
After reading Gao’s report, Mervyn Thomas, Chief Executive of Christian Solidarity Worldwide, said in a release statement: “We are deeply troubled by the persecution that the Christians in Xinjiang are suffering simply for peacefully following their faith. If the Chinese authorities want the international community to believe they respect religious freedom they need to act decisively to bring an end to these and the many other violations of religious freedom taking place across China.”
According to China Aid Association, Gao has been facing increasing danger because of his continuous stance against violations of human rights and religious freedom. Gao is one of the leading attorneys for the case of Beijing House church pastor Cai Zhuohua and he has wrote numerous open letters detailing how he and his wife and his 12-year-old daughter have been threatened by the Chinese secret agents because he publicly advocates for the persecuted religious minorities.
Gao's law firm has also been suspended for one year and his law practice license has been revoked by the Beijing Beau of Justice in December 2005.
CAA appeals to the international community to “continue to show your concern on the safety of Mr. Gao and his family members” and “urges the international Christian communities to pray continuously for Mr. Gao and his family and write emails and make phone calls to show solidarity and brotherly love to Mr. Gao.”
