UN Rebuts China for its "Cult" Stigmatization

UN Rebuts China for its "Cult" Stigmatization

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http://www.falunhr.org/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=1828&Itemid=

On Thursday, October 21, 2010, the U.N. Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief, Prof. Heiner Bielefeldt drew the world's attention, once again, to China's persecution of Falun Gong. He specifically denounced China's stigmatization of Falun Gong and some other "small communities" as "cults," during his presentation at the 65th U.N. General Assembly, held in New York.  Special Rapporteur Bielefeldt said, "Small communities, such as Jehovah's Witnesses, Baha'is, Ahmadis, Falun Gong and others are sometimes stigmatized as 'cults' and frequently meet with societal prejudices which may escalate into fully fledged conspiracy theories."  This is Prof. Bielefeldt's first report to the U.N. General Assembly since he took the position as Special Rapporteur in August 2010. Ms. Asma Jahangir previously held the position. In his 15-minute presentation to the 192 member states, he criticized the government of China for its systematic persecution of and attitude of "intolerance" towards belief groups, including Falun Gong. His speech was reported to have "irritated" the delegation of China. The delegate responded with their usual demanding tone and repeated the communist party's position that the "correct response" is to eradicate Falun Gong.  The international media described China as being "irritated" yet again. This reaction accords with former reports of this kind. For example, after the U.N. Committee against Torture (CAT) published their China torture report on November 21, 2008, news media including the New York Times, BBC, VOA, and RFI unanimously described the government of China as being "irritated." Through this, the raspy and aggressive nature of the Communist party has been well exposed to the international community.

“I am a survivor of torture myself”

“I am a survivor of torture myself”
new UN Special Rapporteur on Torture Juan E. Méndez

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GENEVA (4 November 2010) – Human rights defender Juan E. Méndez, from Argentina, has taken over as the new Special Rapporteur appointed by the UN Human Rights Council to monitor and report on the use torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment in the world.

“I am a survivor of torture myself, so my approach to the mandate will certainly be victim-centered,” Mr. Méndez said. “By insisting on the absolute prohibition of torture and of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment in international law, I hope to make an effective contribution to the enforcement and progressive development of international norms in this area.”

“Beyond law,” the new UN Special Rapporteur stressed, “we need to do battle in the realm of ideas and political discourse, to counter an attitude of relativism about torture, as something that happens to ‘others’ whose faces we don’t see and whose names we can’t pronounce.”

Mr. Méndez has dedicated his long legal career to the defence of human rights and has a distinguished record of advocacy. As a result of his work representing political prisoners, he was subjected to torture, while under an eighteen month long administrative detention, by the Argentinean military dictatorship. During this time, Amnesty International adopted him as a “Prisoner of Conscience.” In 1977, he was expelled from Argentina and moved to the United States, where he worked in different capacities, including as legal counsel for Human Rights Watch.

Mr. Méndez is currently a Visiting Professor of Law at the American University – Washington College of Law, contributes as an advisor on crime prevention to the Prosecutor, International Criminal Court and Co-Chairs the Human Rights Institute of the International Bar Association. He was formerly, the President of the International Center for Transnational Justice (ICTJ) and Scholar-in-Residence at the Ford Foundation in New York. Mr. Méndez served as UN Special Advisor on the Prevention of Genocide from 2004 to 2007.

Tokyo Resident Believed to be the Latest Kidnap Victim in Japan

A 30-year-old Japanese bank employee is believed to be the latest victim of kidnapping and forced confinement, according to reports from Japanese Unification Church officials. She is among five active Japanese church members believed to be held against their will by opponents of their faith since August of 2009.

Ms. Yoshiko Majima, a member of the Musashino Youth Branch of West Tokyo, went home to visit her parents in the Tochigi Prefecture on Feb. 7, 2010 and did not return to her job in Tokyo. She reportedly loved singing in the church choir and wanted to invite her parents to her church in order to show her performance. It is believed that she first reported her church membership to her parents in 2008.
Ms. Majima has been working in Tokyo for a major credit card company, called JCB.  In 2009, she reportedly fasted for seven days as a preparation for the marriage blessing ceremony of the Unification Church. Ms. Majima had joined the Unification Church in 2004 and participated in church programs as a trainee from 2004 to 2006 and has served as a faithful church member since then.

On February 7th she told friends she planned to visit her parents’ home and return on the same day. However, she called a trusted friend in the church about 7 p.m. and said, “Although I was planning to go back to the church today, I cannot go back today.  I think I cannot go back for a while.” She did not respond to questions from her friend during the call.

After that call, her cell phone service reportedly was stopped. Visitors to her parents’ residence report that it appears to be vacant. According to Japanese Unification Church officials, they do not release photos of persons believed to be confined against their will, since the kidnappers have been known to force their victims to renounce their church membership and to file lawsuits against the Unification Church for reporting the kidnapping and confinement, on the grounds of false statement and invasion of privacy.

Since 1969 more than 4,300 members of the Unification Church have been kidnapped and confined by misguided relatives and opponents of the church. Some of the victims have been beaten, sexually assaulted or tortured while in captivity.

On Feb. 19, 2010 the Forum for Religious Freedom, a religious-freedom nonprofit, posted an appeal to the international community on the newsletter of the Brussels-based Human Rights Without Frontiers [http://www.hrwf.net], with the following opening statement: “On behalf of The Japanese Victims' Association Against Religious Kidnapping and Forced Conversion we appeal to the international community to influence the government of Japan to take action urgently to halt the impunity related to the long-term and persistent use of kidnapping, forced confinement and even torture of its citizens. These cases involve denial of multiple rights, including and especially freedom of religion during which time members of religious communities are being coerced to change their beliefs while confined against their will.”

 On January 12, 2010 the Institute on Religion and Public Policy, a human rights monitoring group in Washington, D.C. issued a statement calling upon the government of Japan “to bring to a halt the long-term and persistent use of kidnapping and forced confinement of its citizens to deny and change their religious beliefs.”
Contributed by Douglas Burton

Link: http://www.familyfed.org/news/index.php?id=111&page=1&apage=1