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.