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China Human Rights and Rule of Law Update
New Information Released on Uyghur Political Prisoners Mehbube Ablesh and Omer Akchi
October 20, 2010
New information is now available on the cases of two Uyghur political prisoners serving prison sentences in the far western region of Xinjiang. According to information from the Dui Hua Foundation, Mehbube Ablesh, a radio station employee detained in 2008 in apparent connection to her criticism of Chinese government policies, is now known to be serving a three-year sentence for "splittism" (separatism). The date she was sentenced is not known. Omer Akchi, a farmer sentenced to 14 years in prison in 1997 for a "counterrevolutionary" crime in connection to an organization he allegedly led, is now known to have had his sentence extended in December 2006 to life in prison for a "splittist" crime. The details of this crime are not known. As of October 2010, he is the only known living prisoner in the Congressional-Executive Commission on China's Political Prisoner Database who has had his sentence extended to life imprisonment.
Mehbube Ablesh
According to a report from the Dui Hua Foundation, based on responses to a request for information from Chinese authorities, former Uyghur radio station employee Mehbube Ablesh is serving a three-year prison sentence in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) for "splittism" (separatism), a crime under Article 103 of China's Criminal Law, in apparent connection to her criticism of Chinese government policies. (See the Dui Hua Foundation's summer 2010 Dialogue Newsletter and article on Uyghur cases.) Given the length of the sentence and circumstances of the case, Dui Hua conjectures that the full charge could be "inciting splittism."
Authorities detained Mehbube Ablesh (identified as Mehbube Abrak in information provided to Dui Hua) in August 2008, but at that time, charges against her and subsequent information on the case remained unknown. As reported in the Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC) Political Prisoner Database, Mehbube Ablesh was fired from her job in the advertising department at the Xinjiang People's Radio Station in Urumqi in August 2008 and placed in detention. A co-worker connected the detention to articles she wrote for the Internet. An overseas source said that in her communications with him, she had been critical of political leaders in the XUAR and had criticized Mandarin-focused language policies in the region. (See Radio Free Asia reports from August 8 (1, 2) and August 9, 2008, for initial reports on the case.) She is serving her sentence in the Xinjiang Women's Prison (Xinjiang Number 2 Prison) in Urumqi.
The date of Mehbube Ablesh's sentencing is not known. News of her sentence, however, follows the detention and trials of several other Uyghurs in connection to other articles critical of government policy or in connection to their involvement with Uyghur Web sites. See a related CECC analysis on the cases of Gheyret Niyaz, Dilshat Perhat, Nijaz Azat, and Nureli. The detentions come during a year of tightened controls over the free flow of information in the XUAR following demonstrations and rioting in the region in July 2009.
Omer Akchi
According to Dui Hua information from official Chinese sources, also reported in Dui Hua's summer 2010 Dialogue newsletter, Uyghur farmer Omer (Emer) Akchi's prison sentence was extended in December 2006 from 14 years (a sentence handed down in 1997 for a "counterrevolutionary" crime) to life imprisonment for an alleged "splittist" (separatist) crime. Details of the alleged splittist crime are not available. Dui Hua describes the extension as "presumably for acts committed during his imprisonment." Article 71 of China's Criminal Law provides that if a "criminal again commits a crime" before a punishment is complete, "another judgment shall be rendered for the newly committed crime."
As reported in the CECC Political Prisoner Database, drawing on Dui Hua information based on official Chinese sources, public security officials in Awat county, Aksu district, XUAR, detained nine Uyghur farmers, including Omer Akchi, in or about December 1996. Authorities alleged the men joined the "Islamic Party of Allah" earlier in the year, and that Omer Akchi attended a party meeting in Hotan in November, returning home with drafts of the party's "Basic Program" and constitution. On September 1, 1997, the Aksu Intermediate People's Court sentenced five of the men to prison terms for "organizing and leading a counterrevolutionary group" (a crime since removed from China's Criminal Law), including Omer Akchi, who received the longest sentence, 14 years.
Based on CECC analysis of the 75 cases in its Political Prisoner Database known to involve sentence extensions as of October 2010, Omer Akchi is the only known living political prisoner whose sentence has been extended to life imprisonment. The only other known political prisoner in the Political Prisoner Database to have a sentence extended to life imprisonment, Rigzin Wanggyal, died in 2003. He had been sentenced to 16 years for splittism in late 1995, and his sentence was extended in May 1997 to life imprisonment for "espionage" allegedly committed in prison.
For more information on conditions in the XUAR, see Section IV！Xinjiang in the CECC 2010 Annual Report.
| Source: -See Summary (2010-08-17 / English) |
Posted on: 2010-11-09 |
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| Link directly to this item with: http://www.cecc.gov/pages/virtualAcad/index.phpd?showsingle=146218 |
Members of Henan House Church Ordered To Serve Reeducation Through Labor
October 27, 2010
A house church pastor and church member in Henan province are currently awaiting a court ruling that will determine whether or not they each will be required to serve one year of reeducation through labor (RTL), a form of administrative punishment without trial. The two had appealed a July 2010 Henan court ruling against them in an administrative lawsuit in which they had challenged the legality of the RTL punishments. Local public security officers detained the two men and several other members of the unregistered church in March and accused them of belonging to a "cult" organization, a designation that authorities have used in some cases to interfere with the activities of religious communities that run afoul of government or Party policy. Public security officers reportedly harassed the two men and other members of the Tianmiao Town Church on multiple occasions while they were in detention. In September, authorities harassed and detained seven members of unregistered Protestant churches who attempted to enter the courtroom during the two men's appeal trial, including members of their families.
Henan House Church Members Appeal After Court Refuses To Hear Lawsuit
In late September 2010, Tianmiao Town Church pastor Gao Jianli and church member Liu Yunhua of Yucheng county, Shangqiu city, Henan province appealed a July ruling of the Weidu District People's Court！located in Xuchang city, Henan province！to challenge the legality of reeducation through labor (RTL) punishments that they received in March 2010, according to a September 22 AsiaNews report and a September 25 ChinaAid report. According to reports from ChinaAid (19 May 10, 3 August 10) and Radio Free Asia (3 August 10), Gao filed an administrative lawsuit against the Shangqiu Municipal RTL Committee in May to challenge the legality of the RTL punishments, but the court ruled in favor of the RTL committee in July. Gao and Liu tried to file a second lawsuit with the same court, which refused to hear that lawsuit on August 2. According to the September 22 AsiaNews report and an October 7 ChinaAid report, after the court refused to hear the second lawsuit, Gao and Liu appealed the decision to a higher level court！the Xuchang Intermediate People's Court！which began to hear the case in late September. Gao and Liu are still awaiting a decision from the Xuchang Intermediate People's Court, which effectively will determine whether or not Gao and Liu must begin to serve the RTL punishments.
As the Xuchang Intermediate People's Court heard the case, authorities reportedly harassed and detained several members of unregistered Protestant churches, including members of Gao and Liu's families, who came to attend the trial. Public security officers from Shangqiu city and Xuchang city took into custody seven people: Beijing-based pastor Zhang Mingxuan, his wife Xie Fenglan, and Yucheng house church members Li Yuxia (Gao's wife), Hua Cuiying, Liu Fulan, Ma Ke'ai, and Liu Sen (Liu Yunhua's son). Public security officers from Yucheng county, Shangqiu city！where the Tianmiao Town Church is based！released Zhang, Xie, Ma, and Liu Sen soon thereafter, but ordered Li, Hua, and Liu Fulan each to serve 15 days of administrative detention, beginning on September 20, according to September 20 administrative punishment orders published in a September 26 ChinaAid report. According to the October 7 ChinaAid report, authorities released all three after they served the administrative detentions.
Authorities Use Cult Designation To Interfere with Unregistered House Church
While the most prominent example of a religious or spiritual group officially designated as a "cult" in China is Falun Gong！a spiritual movement based on Chinese meditative exercises called qigong and the teachings of Falun Gong's founder, Li Hongzhi！authorities continue to use the "cult" designation to interfere with the activities of various religious communities that run afoul of government or Party policy, including some Protestant communities.
The Gao and Liu case stems from "cult"-related accusations that public security officers in Yucheng levied against Gao, Liu, and several other members of the Tianmiao Town Church after detaining them in March, according to an April 9 ChinaAid report and a June 29 South China Morning Post report (subscription required). According to an August 3 ChinaAid report, Gao's attorney noted that authorities determined that Gao and Liu belonged to a cult and issued the RTL punishments on the basis of an internal document that has not been made public: The "Public Security Bureau Circular on Several Issues Regarding the Identification and Banning of Cult Organizations" (Circular). On the basis of the Circular, the Shangqiu Municipal RTL Committee (Committee) reportedly determined that the house church organized by Gao and Liu belonged to the "Full-Scope Church" (also translated as the "All-Scope Church"), a Protestant organization that has appeared on lists of officially designated "cult" organizations, such as a list of Chinese government and Party-designated "cults" issued by the Ministry of Public Security (available via the Zhengqi Net Web site, 5 February 07).
Authorities also levied "cult"-related charges against three of the seven unregistered Protestants who attempted to enter the Xuchang Intermediate People's Court as it heard Gao and Liu's case. According to September 20 administrative punishment orders published in the September 26 ChinaAid report, after Yucheng public security officers detained the seven Protestants, the Yucheng PSB determined that Li Yuxia, Hua Cuiying, and Liu Fulan belonged to the Full-Scope Church and carried out activities in connection with the church. Authorities accused them of violating Article 27(1) of the Public Security Administration Punishment Law, which provides for administrative punishment for various forms of "cult"-related activity.
Authorities also accused additional members of the Tianmiao Town Church of belonging to a cult on the basis of certain religious practices, including teaching religion to children. According to a June 29 ChinaAid report, on June 24, three plainclothes public security officers entered the home of two elderly Tianmiao Town Church members and told them:
Your beliefs are wrong. What you believe in is a cult. You cry when you pray, you let children believe, and you get baptized in ponds when everyone who gets baptized under the Three-Self Patriotic Movement [TSPM] has a pastor dab water on them. You believe in a cult. Don't worship at home. If you want to worship, go to a TSPM church.
According to the Chinese-language August 3 ChinaAid report, the Committee also determined that conducting Sunday school for children "caused social harm." As discussed in the CECC's 2009 Annual Report (p. 112-113), such a restriction on children's freedom of religion lacks a basis in Chinese national law and contravenes protections in international human rights law.
In addition, according to reports from ChinaAid (9 April 10, 29 June 10) and the South China Morning Post (29 June 10, subscription required), public security officials harassed the detainees and other members of the Tianmiao Town Church while they held them in detention. For example, public security officers in Yucheng reportedly demanded money in exchange for granting visitation rights to the families of some of the detainees, and they reportedly threatened some of the detainees with RTL when those detainees refused to renounce their faith.
For more information on conditions for Protestants in China, see Section II—Freedom of Religion in the CECC's 2010 Annual Report (p. 108-111). For more information on the Chinese government's crackdown on cults, see the CECC's 2010 Annual Report (p. 103-105, 110-111), a CECC analysis, and an October 1999 report on the Web site of the Chinese Embassy to the United States.
| Source: -See Summary (2010-08-17 ) |
Posted on: 2010-11-09 |
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| Link directly to this item with: http://www.cecc.gov/pages/virtualAcad/index.phpd?showsingle=146219 |
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