House Church Lawyers Promote Religious Freedom Through the Rule of Law

June 30, 2006

Li Baiguang and Fan Yafeng, lawyers who are also house church Protestants, have volunteered to represent a group of other house church members who were among the 28 persons public security officials detained without warrants following a May 28 raid on a religious service in Fugou county, Henan province, according to a June 8 report of the China Aid Association (CAA), a U.S. NGO that monitors religious freedom in China.

Li Baiguang and Fan Yafeng, lawyers who are also house church Protestants, have volunteered to represent a group of other house church members who were among the 28 persons public security officials detained without warrants following a May 28 raid on a religious service in Fugou county, Henan province, according to a June 8 report of the China Aid Association (CAA), a U.S. NGO that monitors religious freedom in China. Li and Fan, and other house church lawyers like them, have begun to promote the rule of law with respect to religious belief and practice by raising house church leaders' awareness of their legal rights, and by demanding that the government comply with the Chinese Constitution, Regulation on Religious Affairs, Criminal Law, Criminal Procedure Law, and other relevant laws and regulations. Among their activities:

  • In 2005, Fan Yafeng, Gao Zhisheng, and Teng Biao were among the lawyers representing Protestant house church pastor Cai Zhuohua when the government prosecuted Cai for "illegal operation of a business" after he printed and gave away Bibles and other Christian literature. Fan, Gao, and Teng are house church members.
     
  • On January 15, 2006, Gao Zhisheng issued a report (through CAA) about raids Chinese government officials conducted on January 8 and 15, 2006, against the Beijing Ark Church, where Li Baiguang and Gao Zhisheng worshipped. CAA reported the raid in a January 16 press release.
  • On January 20, CAA announced in a press release that Li and Fan were founding members of the Association of Human Rights Attorneys for Chinese Christians (AHRACC). Other founding members were Gao Zhisheng, Teng Biao, and house church member Wang Yi. AHRACC lawyers have offered advice and training materials to a number of house church leaders, to educate them on defending their rights.
  • After Henan officials conducted a March 13 raid on a house church leadership meeting in Wen county, Fan Yafeng agreed to represent at least some of those detained and beaten, according to a March 20 CAA report.
  • On May 4, Li Baiguang and AHRACC co-founder Wang Yi spoke at a conference on religious freedom in China in Washington, D.C. Fan Yafeng, Gao Zhisheng, and Teng Biao were also invited to speak by the organizers, but authorities prevented them from attending, according to a May 16 CAA press release.
     
  • On May 11, Li Baiguang and Wang Yi met with President George W. Bush at the White House to discuss religious freedom in China, according to a May 11 CAA press release.
  • In April and May 2006, Anhui officials detained and arrested house church pastor Wang Zaiqing for giving away Bibles, and Li Baiguang volunteered to represent the pastor, according to a June 14 CAA report.

Other Chinese lawyers and legal advocates who have used constitutional law to promote the rule of law and human rights in China have faced official repression.

For more information on Protestants in China, see the CECC 2005 Annual Report, Section III(d).