Want to practice your religion? Get a lawyer, says China

For the crime of praying for the Dalai Lama at a Buddhist temple in Sichuan, the Chinese government forced a group of monks to take a “patriotism” class where they were made to trample over an image of him. Bob Fu speaks about religious freedom in China. Photo by Lauren Orsini, American Observer

This is the kind of atrocity against religious freedom that occurs every day in China, Chinese attorneys said. Six Chinese lawyers spoke out against their government's treatment of religious dissidents at a meeting ChinaAid held at the National Press Club Wednesday.

“Our visitors are speaking out today at risk to their own careers and personal safety,” said Michael Cromartie, Commission Chairman of ChinaAid. “No lawyer should be harassed because of the client he defends.” 

The attorneys spoke about their difficulty defending the religiously persecuted, leading to the government fining them, revoking their licenses to practice law or torturing them. 

“In China, we call lawyers the 'Rights Defenders' because they are defenders for the defenseless,” said “Bob” Xiqui Fu, ChinaAid's founder and president. “But they themselves have been placed in danger. The defenders themselves need defense.”

One of the visiting lawyers, Jiang Tiangyong, lost his license to practice law in May of this year when he attempted to defend the Sichuan monks. He said lawyers who take cases like this will be harassed and beaten, like Tiangyong himself was. 

Tiangyong said that even once clients get a lawyer, the lawyer has a very difficult time defending them.

“Just trying to get a lawyer is a very difficult thing,” Tiangyong said. “In court, lawyers are only allowed to discuss the specific case, not about human rights or constitutional rights.”

Zhang Kai, Tiangyong's colleague, also lost his license in the Sichuan monk case. Kai said the Chinese government provides special punishments and humiliations for Chinese Christians. He said out of the 14 religions considered “evil religions” in China, 11 are related to Christianity.

“Another way they harassed the Christian churches is by demeaning and insulting the members. In Xinjiang one church was issued, by the National Bureau, a banner that proclaimed the church was an Islamic Mosque,” said Kai. “When the Church members went to complain, the officials said ‘You are all the same.’”

Cao Zhi, a Chinese lawyer who still has his license, said that religious freedoms have been increasingly restricted for years, but most prominently in the time since the '90s.

“In the 10 years between 1990 and 2000, 26 provinces passed laws that govern religious activities,” Zhi said.    

Cromartie said he hoped that President Obama would think of Chinese human rights violations when visiting China this November.

Lawyer "Floyd" Dai Jinbo on Chinese religious freedoms

“Since the President is a former constitutional law professor, human rights ought to be one of the president's signature topics of discussion,” Cromartie said.

Whether Obama is able to make a dent in Chinese treatment of religious freedoms or not, visiting lawyer Li Fangping said he will not give up.

“Even through the difficulties, we are still trying to fight using the current legal system.” Fangping said.

Quotes translated by Joseph Liu