(Clearwisdom.net) On Wednesday, September 15, 2004, the U.S. State Department issued its sixth annual Report on International Religious Freedom. This report includes individual country chapters on the status of religious freedom worldwide. Because of its persecution of Falun Gong and other religious groups, China is once again identified as what the U.S. Department refers to as Countries of Particular Concern, governments that engage in or tolerate gross infringements of religious freedom. Besides China, four countries including Burma, Iran, North Korea and Sudan have been re-designated in a list for continuing to violate their citizens' religious liberty.

The U.S. State Department's report pointed out that although the Chinese Constitution provides for freedom of religious belief and the freedom not to believe, the Government seeks to control the growth and scope of activities of religious groups. The Government's respect for freedom of religion and freedom of conscience remained poor, especially for many unregistered religious groups and spiritual movements such as the Falun Gong. Unregistered religious groups continued to experience varying degrees of official interference and harassment. Members of some unregistered religious groups were subjected to restrictions, including intimidation, harassment, and detention.

The report stated, "The Government continued its repression of groups that it categorized as 'cults' in general and of the Falun Gong in particular. The arrest, detention, and imprisonment of Falun Gong practitioners continued. Practitioners who refuse to recant their beliefs are sometimes subjected to harsh treatment in prisons and reeducation-through-labor camps and there have been credible reports of deaths due to torture and abuse. "

According to the report, during the past year, the period covered by the report, the Chinese government tended to perceive unregulated religious gatherings or groups as a potential challenge to its authority, and it attempted to control and regulate religious groups to prevent the rise of groups or sources of authority outside the control of the Government and the CCP.

The Government also makes demands on the clergy or leadership of registered groups, for example, requiring that they publicly endorse government policies or denounce Falun Gong, says the report.

According to the report, in 1999, the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress adopted a decision, under Article 300 of the Criminal Law, to ban all groups the Government determined to be "cults," including the Falun Gong. The Supreme People's Court and the Supreme People's Procuratorate also provided legal directives on applying the existing criminal law to the Falun Gong. The law, as applied following these actions, specifies prison terms of 3 to 7 years for "cult" members who "disrupt public order" or distribute publications. Under the law, "cult" leaders and recruiters may be sentenced to 7 years or more in prison.

The report stated that during the period covered by this report, government repression of the Falun Gong spiritual movement continued. At the National People's Congress session in March, Premier Wen Jiabao's Government Work Report emphasized that the Government would "expand and deepen its battle against cults," including Falun Gong. Thousands of individuals were still undergoing criminal, administrative, and extrajudicial punishment for engaging in Falun Gong practices, admitting that they adhered to the teachings of Falun Gong, or refusing to criticize the organization or its founder. There were credible reports of torture and deaths in custody of Falun Gong practitioners.

The report said that although the law does not prohibit religious believers from holding public office; party membership is required for almost all high-level positions in Government, state-owned businesses, and many official organizations. High-ranking Communist Party officials, including then-President and CCP General Secretary Jiang Zemin, also have stated that party members cannot be religious adherents. Party and PLA military personnel have been expelled for adhering to the Falun Gong spiritual movement.

In the section of "Abuses of Religious Freedom", the report stated, during the period covered by this report, unapproved religious and spiritual groups remained under scrutiny and in some cases were harassed by officials.

The report says, according to Falun Gong practitioners in the United States, since 1999 more than 100,000 practitioners have been detained for engaging in Falun Gong practices, admitting that they adhere to the teachings of Falun Gong, or refusing to criticize the organization or its founder. The organization reports that its members have been subjected to excessive force, abuse, detention, and torture, and that some of its members have died in custody. For example, in December 2003, Falun Gong practitioner Liu Chengjun died after reportedly being abused in custody in Jilin Province. Foreign observers estimate that half of the 250,000 officially recorded inmates in the country's reeducation-through-labor camps are Falun Gong adherents. Falun Gong places the number even higher. Hundreds of Falun Gong adherents were also incarcerated in legal education centers, a form of administrative detention, upon completion of their reeducation-through-labor sentences. According to the Falun Gong, hundreds of its practitioners have been confined to psychiatric institutions and forced to take medications or undergo electric shock treatment against their will. During April to June 2003, official Chinese media accused Falun Gong adherents of "undermining anti-SARS operations." Over 180 Falun Gong adherents were detained for allegedly inciting public panic and "spreading false rumors about SARS."

For the religious freedom situation in Hong Kong, the report says that there was no change in the status of respect for religious freedom during the period covered by this report, and government policy continued to support the generally free practice of religion. Some overseas Falun Gong practitioners were denied entry into Hong Kong to attend an annual conference in May.

According to the report, the spiritual movement known as Falun Gong, which does not consider itself a religion, is registered under the Societies Ordinance, practices freely, and is able to stage public demonstrations. The legal appeal of 16 Falun Gong practitioners convicted of obstruction of public space and minor assault during demonstrations in March 2002 outside the PRC Government Liaison Office was pending at the end of the period covered by this report.

Regarding the restrictions on religious freedom, the report pointed out that under the Basic Law, the PRC Government does not have jurisdiction over religious practices in HKSAR. However, the report also stated that in May 2004, 23 practitioners from Taiwan and 6 from Macau were denied entry to the territory to attend an annual conference of practitioners. The report added, in February 2003, the Government barred 80 Taiwanese Falun Gong practitioners from entering Hong Kong to attend an annual conference.

According to the report, U.S. officials in Washington and Beijing continued to protest individual incidents of abuse. On numerous occasions, the State Department, the Embassy, and the four Consulates in the country protested government actions to curb freedom of religion and freedom of conscience, including the arrests of Falun Gong followers, Tibetan Buddhists, Uighur Muslims in Xinjiang and Catholic and Protestant clergy and believers.

The full content of the Report on International Religious Freedom can be found at: http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/irf/2004/index.htm

The full report on China may be found: http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/irf/2004/35396.htm