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RFA Breaking News: Branstad to Make First Visit to Tibet by U.S. China Ambassador Since 2013

by Paul Eckert

Branstad to Make First Visit to Tibet by U.S. China Ambassador Since 2013 May 19, 2019 - U.S. Ambassador to China Terry Branstad will travel to Tibet from Sunday for official meetings and visits to religious and cultural heritage sites, in the first such trip by a U.S. envoy to China since 2013, the State Department said. Branstad will visit the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) and Qinghai Province, a historic region of Tibet known to Tibetans as Amdo, from May 19 to 25, a State Department spokesman told RFA’s Tibetan Service. “This visit is a chance for the Ambassador to engage with local leaders to raise longstanding concerns about restrictions on religious freedom and the preservation of Tibetan culture and language,” the spokesman said. “He will also learn first-hand about the region’s unique cultural, religious, and ecological significance,” said the spokesman. “The Ambassador welcomes this opportunity to visit the Tibet Autonomous Region, and encourages authorities to provide access to the region to all American citizens,” the spokesman added. Branstad’s visit is the first by a U.S. official to Tibet since the approval by U.S. lawmakers in December of the Reciprocal Access to Tibet Act, which requires Washington by the end of this year to deny visas to Chinese officials in charge of implementing policies that restrict access for foreigners to Tibet. A report by the State Department in March said that China “systematically” impedes access to Tibet for U.S. diplomats and officials, journalists, and tourists, and when visits to the region are granted, they are “highly restricted. In 2018, the TAR was the only area of China for which the Chinese government required diplomats to request permission to visit, and Beijing denied five of the nine official requests for the U.S. diplomatic mission in China to visit the region, including one from Branstad, said the first annual report on U.S. access. China dismissed the report, which was mandated by the reciprocal access act, as being “full of bias” and harmful to bilateral relations. Gary Locke, President Barack Obama’s envoy to Beijing, was the last U.S. ambassador to visit Tibet, in June 2013. On Thursday the Dharamsala, India-based Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD) issued a report that said the human rights situation in Tibet took a sharp downward turn last year with tightened restrictions on travel by Tibetans and a new campaign against “organized crime” targeting Tibetan civil society and cultural practices. Calling 2018 a “pivotal year” for human rights in the TAR and other Tibetan areas of China, TCHRD said that new policies and regulations have led to “an increased restriction on human rights and lives of the Tibetan people.” A nationwide campaign against “crime” and “black and evil forces” introduced at the beginning of the year resulted in the detention, arrest, and torture of human rights and environmental activists and of ordinary Tibetans promoting the use of the Tibetan language, the rights group said in its report. “Peaceful dissent of any kind and degree was met with harsh penalties,” TCHRD said. In December, two young Tibetans set themselves ablaze in Ngaba (in Chinese, Aba) county in Sichuan province in opposition to China’s rule, as well as political and religious repression in the TAR and other Tibetan areas. They raised to 157 the number of self-immolations by Tibetans since the wave of fiery protests against nearly 70 years of Chinese rule of their homeland began in 2009. China maintains that it peacefully liberated Tibet from feudal rule, and that Tibetans enjoy the economic development it has brought to the region. Reported by RFA’s Tibetan Service. Written in English by Paul Eckert. View this story online at: https://www.rfa.org/english/news/tibet/usa-envoy-05192019132408.html Radio Free Asia is a private, nonprofit corporation broadcasting and publishing online news, information, and commentary in nine East Asian languages to listeners who do not have access to full and free news media. RFA’s broadcasts seek to promote the rights of freedom of opinion and expression, including the freedom to “seek, receive, and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.” RFA is funded by an annual grant from the Broadcasting Board of Governors. If you no longer wish to receive RFA news releases, send an e-mail to <mailto:engnews-leave@rfanews.org> engnews-leave(a)rfanews.org. To add your name to our mailing list, send an e-mail to <mailto:engnews-join@rfanews.org> engnews-join(a)rfanews.org . ##### All media inquiries may be sent to Rohit Mahajan at <mailto:mahajanr@rfa.org> mahajanr(a)rfa.org.

5 years, 8 months

RFA Breaking News: North Korea Begins Crackdown on Falun Gong

by Paul Eckert

North Korea Begins Crackdown on Falun Gong May 17, 2019 - Falun Gong, controversial spiritual movement with recent origins in China, is reportedly spreading in the North Korean capital city of Pyongyang, even as North Korean and Chinese authorities have launched crackdowns to eliminate it, sources say. Founded in 1992 in China’s northeast, the Falun Gong spiritual movement gained increasing influence as the fastest growing religion in the PRC and overseas over the next seven years. In 1999 the Chinese government at the orders of then President Jiang Zemin began a harsh and sometimes deadly crackdown on the sect, dragging practitioners from their homes and sending them to detention centers. Outside of China, the movement was considered harmless and continued to flourish. It is often cited as an example of religious persecution in China, with practitioners and allied religious freedom advocates holding protests in major cities to bring attention to the situation faced by Falun Gong believers in the PRC. Sources within North Korea have said that authorities in Pyongyang have begun a crackdown on Falun Gong as the city has seen a sharp increase in the number of followers within its population. “The judicial authorities are struggling because the spread of Falun Gong among citizens of Pyongyang has surged beyond their expectations,” said a source from Pyongyang in an interview with RFA’s Korean Service on May 11. The source said that the authorities began their crackdown last month. “In early April, the police issued a proclamation ordering citizens to voluntarily report their status as believers in Falun Gong. They threatened to impose harsh punishments on those who don’t turn themselves in, but are found after the reporting period,” the source said. Government action against Falun Gong appears to have backfired according to the source, as the negative publicity for the religion seems to have made it more popular. “After the proclamation and subsequent crackdown, people are suddenly very interested in Falun Gong, which had already been spreading in [Pyongyang’s] underworld. Falun Gong is known here as a religious practice that combines meditation and physical exercises, so people are now approaching it with curiosity,” said the source. Trade officials introduce the practice While there is no official record of how Falun Gong entered North Korea, the source said it was introduced by trade officials in Pyongyang. “The headquarters of the central trade organizations are concentrated in Pyongyang. As North Korea-China trade relations have become more active recently, Falun Gong began spreading in Pyongyang through trade workers,” the source said. According to the source, during the first round of crackdowns, 100 Falun Gong followers were arrested in Pyongyang—a number that is a lot higher than they expected. “Many Falun Gong followers were arrested in other districts [of Pyongyang] and they will be sentenced to hard labor or correctional labor depending on the severity of their crimes,” added the source. The source said that the crackdown has increased tension in the police department because so many practitioners were caught in the early crackdown. “They can’t predict how many more Falun Gong followers they will arrest and since [the religion] is spreading among high-ranking government officials and their families, it is becoming more than a troubling issue for them,” the source said. Another source, also from Pyongyang likened the crackdown on Falun Gong to a war on the religion, and compared the situation to how North Korean authorities have persecuted followers of other religions in the past. “The Central Committee [of the Korean Workers’ Party] say that Christianity is like opium or drugs and have harshly punished [Christians]. Now that Falun Gong is here, people are watching closely to see how the authorities will respond,” the second source said. Rapid spread The second source believes that the religion has many features that North Koreans are quite curious about, leading to its rapid spread. “Faun Gong has spread [here] because everyone wants to get martial arts training and exercise, and they [like] the magical spiritual ability to control the human soul,” the second source said. While the rapid spread might be alarming to the regime, the second source believes that the religion will not be easy to quash. “Even the Chinese government did not win [their battle] against Falun Gong, and now it’s spreading in Pyongyang, the heart of a historic hereditary dictatorship,” said the second source. The second source also believes that Falun Gong is popular because the people live in oppression, and because followers of the religion make fantastic claims, giving them hope. “[It’s] like a rainfall during a drought because the citizens have no hope for the future. People in Pyongyang say absurd things like that Falun Gong followers will not die or dry out if they were hanged for 80 days. So many people believe this is true,” said the second source. The Pyongyang crackdown on Falun Gong is the first ever action by the government against the movement in North Korea. The 100 people arrested for following Falun Gong were caught only in Pyongyang's Songyo district, one of 18 districts in the city. North Korea’s constitution allows for freedom of religious beliefs, but true religious freedom does not exist within its borders and all churches and temples are state operated. The website of Liberty in North Korea (LiNK) says that organized religion is perceived by the regime as a threat, and besides token churches and temples built to give the appearance of religious freedom, North Koreans must practice their religions in secret or risk a stint in a prison camp or worse, execution. The website notes that “thousands of Buddhists and Christians have been purged and persecuted throughout the history of North Korea.” A 2014 United Nations report cited North Korean government figures showing that the proportion of religious adherents among the population dropped from close to 24 percent in 1950 to 0.016 percent in 2002. Reported by Jieun Kim for RFA’s Korean Service. Translated by Leejin Jun. Written in English by Eugene Whong. View this story online at: [ https://www.rfa.org/english/news/korea/nk-falun-gong-05172019164536.html | https://www.rfa.org/english/news/korea/nk-falun-gong-05172019164536.html ] Radio Free Asia is a private, nonprofit corporation broadcasting and publishing online news, information, and commentary in nine East Asian languages to listeners who do not have access to full and free news media. RFA ’s broadcasts seek to promote the rights of freedom of opinion and expression, including the freedom to “seek, receive, and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.” RFA is funded by an annual grant from the Broadcasting Board of Governors. If you no longer wish to receive RFA news releases, send an e-mail to [ mailto:engnews-leave@rfanews.org | engnews-leave(a)rfanews.org ] . To add your name to our mailing list, send an e-mail to [ mailto:engnews-join@rfanews.org | engnews-join(a)rfanews.org ] . ##### All media inquiries may be sent to Rohit Mahajan at [ mailto:mahajanr@rfa.org | mahajanr(a)rfa.org ] .

5 years, 8 months

RFA Breaking News: Vietnamese Human Rights Campaigner Leaves Thailand for Canada

by Paul Eckert

Vietnamese Human Rights Campaigner Leaves Thailand for Canada May 2, 2019 - Human rights activist Bach Hong Quyen left Thailand for Canada on Thursday, ending fears he could be extradited to Vietnam for his role in helping a dissident Vietnamese blogger apply for asylum in Bangkok before he was abducted by Vietnamese agents. Truong Duy Nhat, an RFA contributor, disappeared in Bangkok in late January, and two months later was revealed to be in a Hanoi jail, in what legal experts said was a violation by Vietnam's police of the country's criminal procedure laws. Quyen and his six-month-old son Joseph boarded an airplane leaving Bangkok at 10:40 p.m. local time, with arrival in Canada expected early on Friday, Do Ky Anh-a representative of the Voice Canada advocacy group-told RFA's Vietnamese Service on May 2. "Quyen left Thailand at night on May 2 and will arrive in Mississauga city of Canada at around 9:30 in the morning of May 3," Anh said. He added that Quyen had spent about a week in an immigration detention center in accordance with Thai regulations that immigrants be held in detention before leaving for a third country. Quyen had been approved for travel to Canada in a refugee program funded by the Canadian government, Voice Canada said in a press release, adding that Quyen's wife Bui Huong Giang and the couple's two daughters had already traveled to Canada under the same program on April 16. Anh said he had no information regarding Quyen's possible extradition to Vietnam for having helped Nhat before the blogger's abduction, but said "We did have concerns about that." "We heard that when Quyen was in the IDC [immigration detention center], a delegation from Vietnam visited the facility. I don't know why they were there, but we monitored Quyen's situation in the IDC very closely." Thai immigration authorities have denied any knowledge of efforts to deport Quyen, who fled to Thailand in May 2017 after Vietnamese police issued a warrant for his arrest for organizing a march on the anniversary of a 2016 waste spill that that polluted the coast of central Vietnam. The environmental disaster sparked major protests. In a May 2 press release, Voice-a California-based organization supporting human rights and civil society in Vietnam-and its branch Voice Canada thanked the United Nations refugee agency, the Thai government, Human Rights Watch, and other groups for their help to Quyen and his family. "After two years of efforts, and with the utmost help from individuals and organizations, we have succeeded in helping Quyen and his family reunite and settle down in Canada," the advocacy group said. Reported by RFA's Vietnamese Service. Translated by Viet Ha. Written in English by Richard Finney. View this story online at: https://www.rfa.org/english/news/vietnam/canada-05022019172237.html Radio Free Asia is a private, nonprofit corporation broadcasting and publishing online news, information, and commentary in nine East Asian languages to listeners who do not have access to full and free news media. RFA's broadcasts seek to promote the rights of freedom of opinion and expression, including the freedom to "seek, receive, and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers." RFA is funded by an annual grant from the Broadcasting Board of Governors. If you no longer wish to receive RFA news releases, send an e-mail to <mailto:engnews-leave@rfanews.org> engnews-leave(a)rfanews.org. To add your name to our mailing list, send an e-mail to <mailto:engnews-join@rfanews.org> engnews-join(a)rfanews.org . ##### All media inquiries may be sent to Rohit Mahajan at <mailto:mahajanr@rfa.org> mahajanr(a)rfa.org.

5 years, 8 months

Tactics to Threaten and Intimidate Journalists 'Unacceptable': RFA President

by Rohit Mahajan

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: May 2, 2019 Contact: Rohit Mahajan | 202.530.4976 | mahajanr(a)rfa.org <mailto:mahajanr@rfa.org> Tactics to Threaten and Intimidate Journalists 'Unacceptable': RFA President WASHINGTON-As journalists and news groups around the world mark World Press Freedom Day, Radio Free Asia <https://www.rfa.org/english/> 's President noted the serious challenges and threats the organization and its contributors face. Especially alarming have been the declining trends in all of RFA's broadcast countries, in which authorities have jailed contributors, re-instated charges against former reporters, and even detained relatives of RFA journalists. "Radio Free Asia's brave reporters often endure unimaginable threats and intimidation so we can get the truth to our audiences," said RFA President Libby Liu. "Regimes resort to every possible means to crush independent voices with impunity. The consequences have sadly been profound for RFA's journalists. "Among the dozens of bloggers and reporters imprisoned under Vietnam's restrictive media laws are RFA videographer Nguyen Van Hoa, and more recently, blogger Truong Duy Nhat who resurfaced in a Vietnamese prison three months after disappearing from Bangkok where he was seeking asylum. "China continues to hold dozens of relatives of six U.S.-based Uyghur journalists in retaliation for their work exposing the mass incarcerations in Xinjiang. In Cambodia, two former RFA reporters continue to face trumped-up charges for their past association with our organization, long after we were forced to leave the country. "These harsh tactics are unacceptable and will not deter RFA from bringing free press to closed societies. World Press Freedom Day is an important time to remember the struggles journalists face every day to shed light on events and developments that affect us all. In an era of widespread authoritarian rule and disinformation, RFA's mission proves as vital as ever." Reporters Without Borders (RSF)'s recent World Press Freedom Index <https://rsf.org/en/2019-world-press-freedom-index-cycle-fear> emphasized the news "black hole" developing in China and Vietnam where authoritarian rulers continue to consolidate their power. The global survey specifically highlighted China's efforts to export its censorship technology as one of the major threats to press freedom in the region as the country funnels funds and resources to authoritarian regimes. Disinformation is a growing concern in countries such as Myanmar where hate messages go unmoderated. North Korea ranked second to last, the first time it has moved from the bottom of RSF's index in three years. Radio Free Asia recently joined global news organizations and publishers in the recently launched One Free Press Coalition <https://www.onefreepresscoalition.com/> , an effort to call attention to journalists under attack around the world. # # # Radio Free Asia is a private, nonprofit corporation broadcasting and publishing online news, information, and commentary in nine East Asian languages to listeners who do not have access to full and free news media. RFA's broadcasts seek to promote the rights of freedom of opinion and expression, including the freedom to "seek, receive, and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers." RFA is funded by an annual grant from the United States Agency for Global Media. Rohit Mahajan | Radio Free Asia | Vice President of Communications & External Relations <mailto:mahajanr@rfa.org> mahajanr(a)rfa.org | O: 202.530.4976 | M: 202.489.8021

5 years, 8 months

RFA Breaking news: Uyghur Inmates in Iconic Xinjiang Detention Camp Photo Identified

by Paul Eckert

Uyghur Inmates in Iconic Xinjiang Detention Camp Photo Identified April 26, 2019 - Five Uyghur inmates in a widely published photograph of scores of men sitting in a political re-education camp in China’s Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) have been identified by friends and acquaintances, who confirmed their names and occupations to RFA’s Uyghur Service. The photo was posted to the WeChat account of the Xinjiang Judicial Administration and shows Uyghur detainees listening to a 'de-radicalization' speech at a camp in Hotan (Hetian, in Chinese) prefecture's Lop county April 2017. The camp is located in the Beijing Industrial Zone in front of the cement factory and Number 1 Middle School in Lop County. One of the detainees was planning to build a bakery in the industrial zone where is now incarcerated. On April 19, the Facebook page of the U.S.-based World Uyghur Congress Vice President Perhat Muhammet revealed their names and professions, based on information provided by a man from Lop county and who is now living in exile. RFA conducted telephone interviews with the Lop county man and others who knew the inmates. The five men in the photo are among up to 1.5 million Uyghurs and other Muslim ethnic minorities accused of harboring “strong religious views” and “politically incorrect” ideas and held in political “re-education camps” across the XUAR since April 2017. The five men are medical equipment entrepreneur Mamtimin, restaurant and bakery proprietor Aziz Haji Shangtang, religious teacher and jade merchant Eli Ahun Qarim, woodworker Abdulla Haret, and driver Abduleziz Haji. Mamtimin studied business management at the Shanghai University of Medicine and Health Sciences and graduated in 2012. He attended a Chinese high school in China and was good at computers and web design. A former classmate of Mamatimin named Nurmement, who now lives in Turkey, said he last saw his classmate in Hotan in 2012. At the time, Mamtimin was establishing his own company to sell medical equipment. “Mamtimin was two years ahead of me in the university,” he said. Nurmement told RFA he is not sure why Mamtimin was sent to the camp, but described him as “an independent thinker and actor.” 'A man of faith and good character' According to a man from Lop county who is now living in exile, Aziz Haji is an entrepreneur whose house was located behind the big mosque in the Lop county bazaar. He used to run a restaurant on the banks of Yoronqash River. “He used to run a restaurant, so he was given the nick name, Shangtang. Later he opened a bakery shop. Business was very good, so he decided to expand it by building a bakery, which was completed when I was there,” said the man, speaking on condition of anonymity to avoid reprisals against his family. “I think the reason he was arrested is that he performed a Haj pilgrimage (to Mecca in Saudi Arabia) in 2002, and they have arrested everyone who travelled abroad,” said the man. An acquaintance of Eli Ahun Qarim described the 50-something native of Lop county’s Igerchi village as a religious student with “a profound understanding of religion” who had earlier been detained for one year for teaching religion. “We did jade business together around 2007-8. Prior to that, he was learning religion in Hotan,” said the acquaintance told RFA. “He used to preach among us, just several of us. All of us were impressed with his religious understanding. He had a relatively good life. He was married and with a child. I think he was detained because of his religious knowledge,” the man added. Woodworker Abdulla Haret is around 45 years old and the father of three sons who had never left Hotan, according to his former neighbor. “He fixes doors and windows. He’s a very humble and credible person who is eager to do charitable works,” the neighbor said, adding that Haret was a caretaker at the local Shipang mosque. “The reason for his detention is probably because of his work at the mosque. He’s a man of faith and good character. He has never had any arguments or problems with other people,” the neighbor told RFA. Political indoctrination and rough treatment Abdulaziz was a 50-something driver at the Lop Labor Insurance Bureau before his detention. He had earlier been a driver for driver at the Lop County Radio-TV station, an official from the bureau said. Married with children, Abdulaziz was expelled from work and now attending “education." RFA made multiple phone calls to police to inquire about the men and their reasons for being detain in the camps, but most officers refused to discuss the cases. “I am unable to tell you anything, we were told not to accept interviews from outside. You can make your enquiries to the Public Security Bureau,” said one police officer. Though Beijing initially denied the existence of re-education camps, Shohrat Zakir, chairman of the XUAR, told China’s official Xinhua news agency in October 2018 that the facilities are an effective tool to protect the country from terrorism and provide vocational training for Uyghurs. China recently organized two visits to monitor re-education camps in the XUAR—one for a small group of foreign journalists, and another for diplomats from non-Western countries, including Russia, Indonesia, Kazakhstan and Thailand—during which officials dismissed claims about mistreatment and poor conditions in the facilities as “slanderous lies.” Reporting by RFA’s Uyghur Service and other media organizations, however, has shown that those in the camps are detained against their will and subjected to political indoctrination, routinely face rough treatment at the hands of their overseers, and endure poor diets and unhygienic conditions in the often overcrowded facilities. Adrian Zenz, a lecturer in social research methods at the Germany-based European School of Culture and Theology, earlier this month said that some 1.5 million people are or have been detained in the camps—equivalent to just under 1 in 6 members of the adult Muslim population of the XUAR—after initially putting the number at 1.1 million. Michael Kozak, the head of the State Department's human rights and democracy bureau, in an apparent reference to the policies of Hitler's Germany and Stalin's Soviet Union, last week said people "haven’t seen things like this since the 1930s" and called the internment of more than a million Uyghurs "one of the most serious human rights violations in the world today." In November 2018, Scott Busby, the deputy assistant secretary in the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor at the U.S. Department of State, said there are "at least 800,000 and possibly up to a couple of million" Uyghurs and others detained at re-education camps in the XUAR without charges, citing U.S. intelligence assessments. Reported by Shohret Hoshur for RFA’s Uyghur Service. Translated by Alim Seytoff. Written in English by Paul Eckert. View this s tory online at: [ https://www.rfa.org/english/news/uyghur/camp-photo-04262019171258.html | https://www.rfa.org/english/news/uyghur/camp-photo-04262019171258.html ] Radio Free Asia is a private, nonprofit corporation broadcasting and publishing online news, information, and commentary in nine East Asian languages to listeners who do not have access to full and free news media. RFA ’s broadcasts seek to promote the rights of freedom of opinion and expression, including the freedom to “seek, receive, and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.” RFA is funded by an annual grant from the Broadcasting Board of Governors. If you no longer wish to receive RFA news releases, send an e-mail to [ mailto:engnews-leave@rfanews.org | engnews-leave(a)rfanews.org ] . To add your name to our mailing list, send an e-mail to [ mailto:engnews-join@rfanews.org | engnews-join(a)rfanews.org ] . ##### All media inquiries may be sent to Rohit Mahajan at [ mailto:mahajanr@rfa.org | mahajanr(a)rfa.org ] .

5 years, 8 months

RFA Breaking News: Laos Releases, Deports US Citizens Accused of Unauthorized Missionary Work

by Paul Eckert

Laos Releases, Deports US Citizens Accused of Unauthorized Missionary Work April 18, 2019 - Three U.S. citizens held in Laos since last week on suspicion of disseminating bibles and Christian material without government approval have been released and deported to neighboring Thailand on Thursday, their organization told RFA’s Lao Service. The volunteers for the Wyoming-based Vision Beyond Borders--identified only by their given names, Wayne, Autumn and Joseph--were picked up by police in a scenic corner of northern Laos’ Luang Namtha province on April 8, after handing out religious materials to villagers, a policeman and a witness told RFA. The three had their passports seized and were being kept in a guesthouse in the provincial capital of Luang Namtha, 60 kms (36 miles) from where they were arrested. “We have just received word that Wayne, Autumn, and Joseph, our volunteers who were detained in Laos from April 8, have been deported and crossed the border into Thailand a few minutes ago,” Eric Blievernicht, operations manager of Vision Beyond Borders, told RFA by e-mail. “Our prayers for their release and that they might be home for Easter are being answered,” he wrote. Details on their route out of Laos, their whereabouts in Thailand, and their arrangements for returning to the United States were not immediately available. Easter falls on Sunday, April 21. The detention of the three, who were able to move about the guesthouse and surrounding village, played out as Laos observed the traditional New Year holiday and government offices were closed, slowing down negotiations on their fate. Speaking to RFA on Tuesday, a police officer from Sing district said the three “didn’t get approval from the relevant departments. Their activity of disseminating religion was wrong.” “Usually this kind of activity must go through many steps to get approval. You can’t do whatever you want,” said the officer. The Casper, Wyoming-based Vision Beyond Borders says on its website that it has “carried over 1 million Bibles and 15,000 hand-wind tape players containing the Gospel into closed countries." "With donors' support, we have also provided for over 800 children (and) nearly 200 native pastors in Gospel-resistant nations," said the group. It also has administered humanitarian aid and medical care to refugees from Burma, Syria, and Iraq, and provides vegetable seed packets to poor villages. While the constitution of Communist-run Laos technically protects freedom of religion, conflicts between Christians and local authorities often flare up because authorities in the traditionally Buddhist nation consider Christianity a “foreign religion.” In December, seven Lao Christians were arrested for attending an ‘illegal’ church service. They were later allowed to return home. In a 2017 report, the U.S. State Department said that Lao local authorities often arrested or detained members of minority religions during the year, with a district-level official in Houaphan province expelling 26 Hmong Christians from their village, advising them they could return only if they renounced their faith. Reported by RFA’s Lao Service. Written in English by Paul Eckert. View this s tory online at: [ https://www.rfa.org/english/news/china/us-christians-04182019103827.html | https://www.rfa.org/english/news/china/us-christians-04182019103827.html ] Radio Free Asia is a private, nonprofit corporation broadcasting and publishing online news, information, and commentary in nine East Asian languages to listeners who do not have access to full and free news media. RFA ’s broadcasts seek to promote the rights of freedom of opinion and expression, including the freedom to “seek, receive, and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.” RFA is funded by an annual grant from the Broadcasting Board of Governors. If you no longer wish to receive RFA news releases, send an e-mail to [ mailto:engnews-leave@rfanews.org | engnews-leave(a)rfanews.org ] . To add your name to our mailing list, send an e-mail to [ mailto:engnews-join@rfanews.org | engnews-join(a)rfanews.org ] . ##### All media inquiries may be sent to Rohit Mahajan at [ mailto:mahajanr@rfa.org | mahajanr(a)rfa.org ] .

5 years, 9 months

RFA Breaking News: Three U.S. Citizens Arrested in Laos for Spreading Christian Materials

by Paul Eckert

Three U.S. Citizens Arrested in Laos for Spreading Christian Materials April 12, 2019 - Lao authorities have arrested three U.S. citizens in Luang Namtha province’s Sing district for distributing bibles and other evangelistic materials, a Christian organization in the United States told RFA’s Lao Service on Friday. Identified by their organization only by their given names, Wayne, Autumn and Joseph are believed to have been detained in a guesthouse since Monday, after visiting villages in northern Laos to hand out the materials. “It appears that the interrogations have been going slowly. [Police] brought them into a room and said they would be back in 10 minutes, then they were gone for 4-5 hours,” said Eric Blievernicht, Operations Manager of Vision Beyond Borders in an interview with RFA. “Our concern now, if we don’t get them released soon in the next day or so, is that they will be held over the New Year,” he said, referring to the traditional New Year observed in Southeast Asia, which falls on April 13, with celebrations running for more days. Blievernicht said he was aware that the U.S. embassy in Laos has been notified and has gotten involved. He also said that only the three Americans were detained and no Laotians were. An official of the Luang Namtha police department confirmed that the three were arrested but denied they are being detained. “What we know about these three individuals is that they are not detained. Their passports have just been confiscated,” said the official. A Local Christian group is trying to help the three. “We just found out about this and we’re traveling to Luang Namtha province to help these three Americans,” said the leader of a church in Vientiane Capital, requesting anonymity. RFA contacted the U.S. Embassy in Laos but an official declined to comment on the matter. The State Department in Washington reiterated the official policy of not commenting on consular matters, out of concern for the privacy of the citizens. RFA also attempted to contact the press department of the Lao Ministry of Foreign Affairs, but phone calls went unanswered. While the constitution of Communist-run Laos technically protects freedom of religion, conflicts between Christians and local authorities often flare up because authorities in the traditionally Buddhist nation consider Christianity a “foreign religion.” In December, seven Lao Christians were arrested for attending an ‘illegal’ church service. They were allowed to return home. In a 2017 report, the U.S. State Department said that Lao local authorities often arrested or detained members of minority religions during the year, with a district-level official in Houaphan province expelling 26 Hmong Christians from their village, advising them they could return only if they renounced their faith. Reported and translated by RFA’s Lao Service. Written in English by Eugene Whong. View this s tory online at: [ https://www.rfa.org/english/news/laos/us-citizen-christians-laos-0412201917… | https://www.rfa.org/english/news/laos/us-citizen-christians-laos-0412201917… ] Radio Free Asia is a private, nonprofit corporation broadcasting and publishing online news, information, and commentary in nine East Asian languages to listeners who do not have access to full and free news media. RFA ’s broadcasts seek to promote the rights of freedom of opinion and expression, including the freedom to “seek, receive, and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.” RFA is funded by an annual grant from the Broadcasting Board of Governors. If you no longer wish to receive RFA news releases, send an e-mail to [ mailto:engnews-leave@rfanews.org | engnews-leave(a)rfanews.org ] . To add your name to our mailing list, send an e-mail to [ mailto:engnews-join@rfanews.org | engnews-join(a)rfanews.org ] . ##### All media inquiries may be sent to Rohit Mahajan at [ mailto:mahajanr@rfa.org | mahajanr(a)rfa.org ] .

5 years, 9 months

RFA Breaking News: North Korea Stages Public Executions to Strengthen ‘Social Order’

by Paul Eckert

North Korea Stages Public Executions to Strengthen ‘Social Order’ April 10, 2019 - North Korean authorities staged a public trial and shot two female fortune tellers to death last month, forcing tens of thousands of people to watch, in what appeared to be a resumption of public executions. The executions of the two women took place in March in North Hamgyong’s Chongjin city, and were aimed at forcing officials to stop patronizing fortune tellers and engaging in other "superstitious" behavior, according to two sources who spoke to RFA’s Korean Service on condition of anonymity. “Public trials and executions have resumed this year, with judicial authorities holding these trials in multiple locations for reasons of maintaining social order,” a source in North Hamgyong province, bordering China, told RFA’s Korean Service. The public executions “shocked” city residents, RFA’s source said. “They pronounced sentences of death and carried out public executions immediately,” the source said, adding that two of the three women put on trial were executed by shooting, with the third sentenced to life in prison. “Tens of thousands of people from factories, colleges, and housing units from Chongjin were forced to attend the public trail in March,” added the source. The three had created a group called Chilsungjo (Seven Star Group) to carry out what authorities described as “superstitious activities,” the source said. “They had used a three-year-old and five-year-old child to carry out their activities, claiming that the children were possessed by a spirit oracle and receiving money for telling fortunes,” he said. It is now common in North Korea for people to consult fortune tellers before planning weddings or making business deals, or considering other important decisions in their lives, the source said, adding, “Even high-ranking government officials and the families of judicial authorities often visit fortune tellers.” Making an example Also speaking to RFA, a second source in North Hamgyong said that government concerns over the involvement of high-ranking officials in “superstitious” activities has caused authorities to make an example of those caught telling fortunes. “The Central Committee has emphasized the elimination of anti-socialist behavior and the preservation of social order, but it is hard to find residents who will follow these orders,” the source said. “People fear that they will starve to death if they live by the law, so it is no exaggeration to say that illegal activities have now become common.” In February, authorities held an unusual open trial in Chongjin’s Pohang district for middle school students aged from 15 to 16 who had organized themselves into groups of two to three to carry out robberies at night, the source said. “They acted violently against residents and stole anything that they thought would earn them money. The atmosphere became uneasy in the area at night, and it was hard for a time to find people walking around after dark.” Because the accused were minors, they were spared harsh sentences, the source said. “But the adults tried in public are being sentenced to death, or at least receive life sentences, so the residents are living in fear,” he said. Numbers unclear Accurate statistics on North Korea’s use of the death penalty are hard to find. In February, RFA’s Korean Service reported that a Seoul-based North Korean defector-led NGO had detailed that the Kim Jong Un regime had purged 421 officials since 2010 to consolidate power around Kim. The report, “Executions and Purges of North Korean Elites: An Investigation into Genocide Based on High-Ranking Officials’ Testimonies," by the North Korean Strategy Center, collected accounts by 14 North Korean elite group defectors, six North Korean officials in China, and five other defectors who witnessed executions. The report notes the well-known case of Kim’s uncle Jang Song Thaek, a top official who was executed in 2013, and says that “more than 15 people were killed and 400 others were purged. At a U.N. Security Council session on North Korea's human rights situation in December 2017, then U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley was quoted by Reuters and other news agencies as saying that "defectors have reported that all North Koreans, ages 12 and older, are required to attend public executions—a graphic reminder of consequences of disobedience of the government.” she said. In a landmark report in 2014, the United Nations Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights in North Korea found that "as a matter of state policy, the authorities carry out executions, with or without trial, publicly or secretly, in response to political and other crimes that are often not among the most serious crimes." "The policy of regularly carrying out public executions serves to instill fear in the general population," said the report, based on extensive interviews with defectors from the North. The UN report said that while public executions "were most common in the 1990s," they continued up until the time of the landmark report's release in 2014, and that 2013 saw a "spike in the number of politically motivated public executions." Reported by Jieun Kim for RFA’s Korea Service. Translated by Leejin Jun. Written in English by Richard Finney. View this story online at: https://www.rfa.org/english/news/korea/executions-04102019175353.html Radio Free Asia is a private, nonprofit corporation broadcasting and publishing online news, information, and commentary in nine East Asian languages to listeners who do not have access to full and free news media. RFA’s broadcasts seek to promote the rights of freedom of opinion and expression, including the freedom to “seek, receive, and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.” RFA is funded by an annual grant from the Broadcasting Board of Governors. If you no longer wish to receive RFA news releases, send an e-mail to <mailto:engnews-leave@rfanews.org> engnews-leave(a)rfanews.org. To add your name to our mailing list, send an e-mail to <mailto:engnews-join@rfanews.org> engnews-join(a)rfanews.org . ##### All media inquiries may be sent to Rohit Mahajan at <mailto:mahajanr@rfa.org> mahajanr(a)rfa.org.

5 years, 9 months

Radio Free Asia documentaries recognized at New York Festivals TV & Film Awards

by Rohit Mahajan

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: April 10, 2019 Contact: Rohit Mahajan | 202.530.4976 | mahajanr(a)rfa.org <mailto:mahajanr@rfa.org> Radio Free Asia documentaries recognized at New York Festivals TV & Film Awards WASHINGTON - Radio Free Asia <https://www.rfa.org/english/> (RFA) received honors at last night's 2019 New York Festivals <https://www.newyorkfestivals.com/tvfilm/main.php?p=2,38> TV and Film Awards for two documentaries. RFA Khmer Service's documentary on Hun Sen's 1997 coup "Impunity or Justice <https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=2051426121568237> " received a Bronze Medal in the Human Rights category while the Mandarin Service's "Women against the State <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5sUTBmOY7jU&feature=youtu.be> " feature was a finalist in the Special Reports category of the annual competition. "These video documentaries re-examine key historical events in Cambodia and China," said Libby Liu, RFA President. "They are reminders of the power authoritarian governments in Asia continue to exercise over press freedom and rule of law. For millions living in these countries, Radio Free Asia is a lifeline to the truth - connecting audiences with the facts through quality, in-depth journalism. "We are so proud of our Khmer and Mandarin Services for earning this recognition for their excellent work." The Bronze award-winner "Impunity or Justice" (English version <https://youtu.be/O9XwZfT0tjM> ) follows Cambodia's Hun Sen as he launched a bloody coup against the sitting Prime Minister Prince Norodom Ranariddh in 1997. Hundreds were injured or killed, including forces loyal to the Prince. Now after more than two decades, some are still fighting to bring those responsible to justice. In "Women against the State" RFA's Mandarin Service highlights the lives of five women whose family members were arrested during China's countrywide "709" crackdown. Their family members, in addition to more than 300 lawyers were targeted for their attempts to defend human rights in China. Over the past three years, authorities have continued to harass and intimidate these women through threatening their family member's safety and well-being. This special report follows these women and their quest for justice for their family members. Other noteworthy winners <http://www.newyorkfestivals.com/winners/2019/index.php> at the NY Festivals this year include CNN, ESPN, VICE News, and RFA-sister network VOA. # # # Radio Free Asia is a private, nonprofit corporation broadcasting and publishing online news, information, and commentary in nine East Asian languages to listeners who do not have access to full and free news media. RFA's broadcasts seek to promote the rights of freedom of opinion and expression, including the freedom to "seek, receive, and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers." RFA is funded by an annual grant from the United States Agency for Global Media.

5 years, 9 months

RFA Breaking News: China Confirms Xinjiang Detention of Australian Uyghur’s Wife, Mother

by Paul Eckert

China Confirms Xinjiang Detention of Australian Uyghur’s Wife, Mother April 5, 2019 - Chinese authorities have confirmed that the wife and mother of an Australian citizen of Uyghur ethnicity are being detained in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) after Canberra pressed Beijing on their whereabouts. In an email dated April 1, Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) told Almas Nizamidin that the Chinese Embassy in Canberra had responded to its inquiry about his wife Gulzeynep Abdureshit (in Chinese, Buzainafu Abudourexiti) and mother Zulpiye Jalalidin (Zuyipiya Jiala), who were taken into custody in the XUAR in 2017 and 2018, respectively. Citing authorities in the XUAR, the embassy said that Abdureshit was sentenced to seven years imprisonment and two years deprivation of political rights on June 5, 2017 for the crime of “assembling a crowd to disturb social order,” while Jalalidin was arrested on Nov. 6, 2018 on the same charges and is currently under investigation, DFAT said. Abdureshit’s arrest came slightly more than a year after she and Nizamidin were married in the XUAR capital Urumqi, and DFAT said it had been informed that a medical examination conducted before she was detained “showed that she was not pregnant.” Abdureshit had been preparing documents to join her husband in Australia at the time of her arrest. “We understand that the information provided by the Chinese embassy may be particularly distressing for you and your family,” DFAT’s email said. “Chinese authorities advised that if you would like to get in touch with your wife, you could apply for a visit through local law enforcement agencies in line with Chinese law,” it added, though it advised travelers to the XUAR to “exercise a high degree of caution.” “The security situation in this region is volatile. Increased security measures are in place and individuals of Uyghur descent are particularly affected,” it warned. The information provided by the Chinese Embassy in Canberra confirmed what Nizamidin had learned about his wife after traveling to the XUAR to find out what had happened to her. “After my wife was arrested, I went to China and spent three months there,” he told RFA’s Uyghur Service earlier this week. Nizamidin had heard his wife was being held in the seat of the XUAR’s Aksu (Akesu) prefecture, and met with authorities there, seeking additional details. “I was told that she committed a crime, however they didn’t give me any information—instead they interrogated me about what I’d been doing during the 10 years I have been living abroad,” he said. “I tried so hard, but I was unable to obtain any official documents [from them] … I [later] obtained documentation on my wife’s sentencing, including the date of her sentencing, after paying a lot of money [in bribes] to relevant people.” He said that despite having six months remaining on his visa, authorities forced him to leave China soon after. Nizamidin provided the documents he obtained to London-based rights group Amnesty International, which issued a statement on Sept. 28, 2017 saying that Abdureshit’s arrest and subsequent sentencing was believed to be “part of a wider crackdown on Uyghur students who studied abroad,” noting she had spent two years in Egypt as a student before returning to the XUAR in 2015. “Held incommunicado, she is at grave risk of torture and other ill-treatment,” Amnesty said at the time. “Amnesty International published a report stating that my wife was innocent, the Chinese authorities must be held accountable for her arrest and sentencing, and if she had committed any crime, they must reveal the details,” Nizamidin told RFA. “However, the Chinese government remained silent. After that, I spoke to the media seven or eight times, but the Chinese government still said nothing—one of their common strategies.” In November the following year, Nizamidin’s mother, a former school teacher who had been living in the U.S., was arrested soon after returning to the XUAR to take care of her aging parents. ‘A small achievement’ While Nizamidin said he considers China’s confirmation of his wife’s sentencing and the arrest of his mother “a small achievement,” he is frustrated that nobody has provided him with evidence of the charges against them. But he said they were likely targeted because Abdureshit attended university in Egypt, while he and his father, who resides in the U.S., live and work abroad. “I believe [my wife was arrested] because she studied in Egypt,” he said, adding that “now they know my family background, they are even more determined not to release her.” “They arrested my mother to take revenge on us—because my father is in America and I am living in Australia. They cannot [physically] do anything to us, so they took our loved ones to hurt us.” Nizamidin said he also recently learned that his father-in-law and mother-in-law had been sentenced to prison in the XUAR, but knew little else about their situation, and had been cut off from communicating with his relatives in the region. He expressed gratitude to the Australian government for intervening in his case, saying he believes the Chinese government’s rare acknowledgement of an arrest and sentencing came as the result “pressure” from Canberra and the international community. When asked what he planned to do next, Nizamidin said he would apply to Chinese authorities to visit his wife, “but I am going to seek a safety guarantee from the Australian government before I travel.” “[Despite the danger], it is my duty—whether for my mother or my wife,” he said. “It is something that I must do.” Camp network Beginning in April 2017, authorities have held up to 1.5 million Uyghurs and other Muslim ethnic minorities accused of harboring “strong religious views” and “politically incorrect” in a network of political “re-education camps” in the XUAR. Though Beijing initially denied the existence of re-education camps, Shohrat Zakir, chairman of the XUAR, told China’s official Xinhua news agency in October 2018 that the facilities are an effective tool to protect the country from terrorism and provide vocational training for Uyghurs. Reporting by RFA’s Uyghur Service and other media organizations, however, has shown that those in the camps are detained against their will and subjected to political indoctrination, routinely face rough treatment at the hands of their overseers, and endure poor diets and unhygienic conditions in the often overcrowded facilities. Adrian Zenz, a lecturer in social research methods at the Germany-based European School of Culture and Theology, earlier this month said that some 1.5 million people are or have been detained in the camps—equivalent to just under 1 in 6 members of the adult Muslim population of the XUAR—after initially putting the number at 1.1 million. In November 2018, Scott Busby, the deputy assistant secretary in the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor at the U.S. Department of State, said there are "at least 800,000 and possibly up to a couple of million" Uyghurs and others detained at re-education camps in the XUAR without charges, citing U.S. intelligence assessments. Reported by RFA’s Uyghur Service. Translated by RFA’s Uyghur Service. Written in English by Joshua Lipes. View this s tory online at: [ https://www.rfa.org/english/news/uyghur/australian-04052019145335.html | https://www.rfa.org/english/news/uyghur/australian-04052019145335.html ] Radio Free Asia is a private, nonprofit corporation broadcasting and publishing online news, information, and commentary in nine East Asian languages to listeners who do not have access to full and free news media. RFA ’s broadcasts seek to promote the rights of freedom of opinion and expression, including the freedom to “seek, receive, and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.” RFA is funded by an annual grant from the Broadcasting Board of Governors. If you no longer wish to receive RFA news releases, send an e-mail to [ mailto:engnews-leave@rfanews.org | engnews-leave(a)rfanews.org ] . To add your name to our mailing list, send an e-mail to [ mailto:engnews-join@rfanews.org | engnews-join(a)rfanews.org ] . ##### All media inquiries may be sent to Rohit Mahajan at [ mailto:mahajanr@rfa.org | mahajanr(a)rfa.org ] .

5 years, 9 months

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