BRUSSELS, July 16 /
Christian Newswire/ -- Following the recent EU-China Human Rights Dialogue hosted in Madrid on June 29, the European Parliament Human Rights Committee held a hearing on July 15 to further discuss human rights in China. Rights lawyers Li Subin and Wu Chenglian were invited by the EU Parliament Human Rights Committee to testify on the issues of religious freedom and rule of law. The hearing marked the first time Chinese rights defenders had been invited to speak before the EU Human Rights Committee on these issues.
Photo: Wu Chenglian (middle) and Li Subin (right) prepare to testify before the EU Human Rights Committee
Ms. Wu specifically addressed concerns of religious freedom, while Mr. Li Subin testified on rule of law conditions in China. Both devout Christians, Wu Chenglian works for the Beijing Holy Mountain Institute as a defense lawyer, and Li Subin recently became the Director of the Applications Committee for the
Chinese Human Rights Lawyers Defense Association--formed in May to help lawyers protect their licenses to practice law and the rights of citizen petitioners.
Both lawyers acknowledged rule of law has progressed in many ways, but in some areas have dramatically worsened.
Li Subin focused on the increased persecution of human rights lawyers and those who seek to petition the Chinese Government through legal means. He cited the specific cases of the re-disappearance of human rights attorney Gao Zhisheng, and the torture of female lawyer, Ni Yulan, who was imprisoned twice and beaten until paralyzed and homeless. He also highlighted the concern of two lawyers’ licenses (Liu Wei and Tang Jitian) revoked in April—a trend he and fellow lawyers seek to change through the efforts of the new lawyers defense association.
Wu Chenglian acknowledged that over the past 30 years, religious freedom has made some progress—but has also grown more complicated as the Chinese Government has adapted new tactics of persecution. The government avoids using the name of ‘religious freedom’ to persecute and punish, focusing instead on unlawfully convicting faith practitioners of fabricated or unrelated crimes.
She pointed specifically to the cases of Shanxi Linfen Church, where 10 pastors were arrested (5 sentenced to Re-Education through Labor, and 5 criminally sentenced to prison for 3-7 years), and the severe case of Uyghur Christian Alimujiang Yimiti, sentenced to 15 years in prison for allegedly “leaking state secrets to a foreign individual.”
Wu and Li also advised the European Union on how to promote rule of law in China. See the Written Statements:
Li Subin |
Wu Chenglian.
Attorneys Li and Wu joined ChinaAid President Bob Fu and CSW leaders in meeting the Vice-Chairman of the European Parliament, the Chair of the EU Human Rights Committee, and several parliamentary members and NGO leaders before and after the hearing, highlighting the need to continue raising awareness on these vitally important cases.
