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Religion still restricted in China: HRW

A Buddhist monk says no to photographs being taken at the Lama Temple in Beijing yesterday. The New York-based Human Rights Watch said in a statement that new regulations on protecting freedom of religion in China have failed to curb widespread government repression. PHOTO: AFP

Two Tibetan Buddhists jailed for "splittism" have had their sentences reduced, but a rights group said yesterday that one year after China introduced new regulations on religious rights, freedom to worship remains restricted.

The rules that took effect in March last year enshrine religious belief as a basic right of all citizens, but China still forbids worship outside designated religious organizations, fearing the growth of groups that could challenge Chinese Communist Party rule.

"One year after China's Regulations on Religious Affairs came into force, Chinese citizens' ability to exercise their right to freedom of religion remains as subject to arbitrary restrictions as ever," New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) said in a statement.

"Local officials continue to repress religious activities that they determine to be outside the scope of the state-controlled religious system," the group said.

Last year's regulations were deliberately vague, it added.

"There is nothing accidental about the vagueness -- it gives officials the room they need to legitimize closing mosques, raiding religious meetings, `re-educating' religious leaders and censoring publications," the group said.

Catholics who worship outside the state-backed Catholic Patriotic Association, Muslim Uighurs and Tibetan Buddhists are among those that risk punishment for practicing their religions.

Uighurs and Tibetans face the added problem of their religious beliefs being linked to movements for separatism or greater autonomy for Xinjiang and Tibet.

"Those who refused to accept that Tibet had always been a part of China or refused to denounce the Dalai Lama and accept the legitimacy of the Chinese-chosen Panchen Lama faced expulsion from their monasteries," the group said.

In Tibet, Jigme Tenzin had one year taken off his 19-year sentence imposed in 2000 for "splittism" -- the crime of advocating independence -- said the Dui Hua Foundation, which works to secure releases for political prisoners.

His wife, Nyima Choedron, was granted sentence reductions totalling two years off her 10-year sentence. The two ran an orphanage in Lhasa before being detained in 1999 following an anti-Chinese protest.

Beijing has also been seen as particularly harsh in Xinjiang, where rights groups say the government is using support for the US-led war on terrorism to legitimize a crackdown on Muslim Uighur activists.

The government has denied accusations it suppresses Islam in Xinjiang, saying it only wants to stop separatism, terrorism and religious extremism.

On Tuesday China ratified the International Convention for the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism, giving it another tool to fight unrest.
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