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CSW’s Chinese delegation speaks up at the EU CSW has organised a delegation of Chinese human rights lawyers to attend and contribute to the European Parliament’s Subcommittee hearing on human rights on 15 July. This is a brilliant opportunity to speak up in the international community for those who are particularly vulnerable and victimised.
For CSW this not only means highlighting those persecuted for their faith, but also the defenders speaking up on their behalf, who regularly face intimidation and harassment for daring to confront the authorities on abuses of power. Often human rights defenders are caught in the crossfire between delicate balances of state power and citizens’ rights in China. So this is an exciting and influential opportunity for the CSW team to contribute to religious freedom in China! Pastor Wang Dao, Alim Yimiti and Gao Zhisheng These three men represent varying examples of persecution by the Chinese authorities. Pastor Wang Dao has over recent months been arrested in connection with his leadership of a house church in southern China. This is a frequent occurrence for the unregistered house churches across China, with targeted crackdowns being sporadic from region-to-region but nonetheless well-known in house church circles. Alim Yimiti, a Christian project manager from the minority Uyghur region in the northwest, was given a fifteen-year sentence – the harshest known for around ten years – and remains on CSW’s cases for concern list. Gao Zhisheng is a prominent human rights lawyer who worked on cases defending religious minorities, a brave undertaking considering most religious groups are seen as a divisive threat to Communist Party power in the Chinese political context. Distressingly, he went missing again recently. On behalf of these men, we ask for your continued prayers and encouragement. At the EU next week we have another chance to speak up for them and urge the EU to act on their behalf. So please pray for us and for the whole delegation. |
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