For Immediate Release
April 20, 2011

WASHINGTON, D.C. - During Christianity's holiest week, China has renewed pressure on Christians who refuse to subject themselves to government control. The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) urges the Chinese government to allow all Easter services to proceed without harassment or detentions, including planned public worship by Beijing's Shouwang Church.

Over 100 members of that church were detained last week for holding public prayer services to protest restrictions on their access to property purchased in 2009. The Shouwang Church which has over 1,000 members, tried to legally register independent of the government-controlled Protestant organization, and bought property on which to build a church, raising about $4 million, according to the NGO ChinaAid.

"Beijing has again responded with ruthless intolerance to peaceful religious activity,” said Leonard Leo, USCIRF chair. "The Shouwang Church tried to play by rules that the Chinese government keeps changing. Beijing's action further alienates the fast growing number of religious believers in China, particularly during Easter, the most sacred week in Christianity.”

The detentions of Shouwang Church members come amid a broader crackdown on scores of advocates, bloggers, lawyers, artists, and writers that began in February in a campaign to forestall any public protests within China similar to the "Jasmine Revolution" in the Middle East and North Africa. Detained and disappeared advocates include Teng Biao and Fan Yafeng.

Lawyer Jiang Tianyong resurfaced this week after disappearing for over two months. However, Liu Xia, the wife of imprisoned Nobel Prize laureate Liu Xiaobo, remains under strict "house arrest;” she is reportedly not allowed visitors and no one has heard from her since October 18, 2010.

Crackdowns on the public worship activities of the Shouwang church are more than attempts to maintain public order, they are evidence of renewed efforts by the Chinese government to control independent religious practice. In a February 2011 speech, Wang Zu'on, head of China's State Administration for Religious Affairs (SARA), called on government officials to renew efforts to "guide" unregistered Protestants to worship in state-sanctioned churches and "break” large churches like Shouwang into small groups. He also outlined efforts to further deny Chinese Catholics the freedom to make bishop appointments with the Vatican"s approval, require Muslims to pass political tests to go on pilgrimages, and better manage Tibetan Buddhist monasteries and unregistered shrines.

"Renewed calls to restrict and control the activities of Protestants, Catholics, Muslims, and Tibetan Buddhists are particularly troubling,” said Leo. "Obviously, China does not see the rule of law or religious freedom as being in its long-term interests. The United States cannot be silent, thinking this will allow more flexible economic and security arrangements with Beijing. We should speak publicly on behalf of those peacefully seeking reform, coordinate action with allies concerned about human rights, and raise prominently religious freedom issues at next month's U.S.-China Economic and Strategic Dialogue.”

USCIRF is an independent, bipartisan U.S. federal government commission. USCIRF Commissioners are appointed by the President and the leadership of both political parties in the Senate and the House of Representatives. USCIRF's principal responsibilities are to review the facts and circumstances of violations of religious freedom internationally and to make policy recommendations to the President, the Secretary of State and Congress.

To interview a USCIRF Commissioner, contact Tom Carter, Communications Director at [email protected] or (202) 523-3257.

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 5, 2011

The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) urges the U.S. government to speak out publicly on behalf of jailed human rights defender Cu Huy Ha Vu, who was found guilty and sentenced to seven years under vague national security laws for his activities defending victims of land confiscation and abuse of power, including representing the Catholic villagers of Con Dau.

"Cu Huy Ha Vu's arrest is part of a disturbing trend in Vietnam where the defenders of the vulnerable are attacked as threats to national security,” said Leonard Leo, USCIRF chair. "The Obama Administration cannot continue to advance Vietnam's security and economic interests without seeking concrete improvements on U.S. interests in religious freedom and the rule of law. It's past time for the Administration to re-designate Vietnam as a Country of Particular Concern (CPC).”

Cu Huy Ha Vu is a well known human rights defender who has sued the Vietnamese government to protect cultural heritage sites and publicly criticized officials for corruption and persecution of dissidents. In October 2010, his law firm took on the case of the Catholic villagers of Con Dau, near Da Nang. Residents of this village faced government-organized harassment, detention, torture, and arrest for refusing to sell or vacate land-including a long-standing religious burial site that has been in their village for 135 years-to create an eco-tourist resort. Cu Huy Ha Vu was arrested soon after speaking out publicly about their case. USCIRF testified at the August 2010 Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission hearing on efforts by the Vietnamese government to obtain the property of Con Dau residents and about general religious freedom conditions in Vietnam. A copy of this testimony can be found at www.uscirf.gov.

Cu Huy Ha Vu is the latest in a long list of human rights advocates in Vietnam who have faced government persecution for representing vulnerable communities, including religious groups and individuals. Among the advocates who have been arrested and harassed for representing religious communities or advocating for greater religious freedom including Le Cong Dinh, Nguyen Van Dai, Le Thi Cong Nhan, Le Tran Luat, Le Quoc Quan, and Fr. Nguyen Van Ly.

"Vietnam has been called the United States" new best friend in Asia, but it continues to trample on individual freedoms and the rule of law with impunity,” said Mr. Leo. "Re-designating Vietnam as a CPC is not only the right thing to do, it will advance the United States" strategic interests as well, producing tangible religious freedom improvements on the ground without hindering other bilateral interests. Most importantly, it will clearly signal that the United States sides with those in Vietnam who peacefully seek greater freedoms and rights.”

USCIRF is an independent, bipartisan U.S. federal government commission. USCIRF Commissioners are appointed by the President and the leadership of both political parties in the Senate and the House of Representatives. USCIRF's principal responsibilities are to review the facts and circumstances of violations of religious freedom internationally and to make policy recommendations to the President, the Secretary of State and Congress.

To interview a USCIRF Commissioner, contact Tom Carter, Communications Director at [email protected] or (202) 523-3257.