The 61st Session of the UN Commission on Human Rights (UNCHR) is now taking place in Geneva, Switzerland. Running from 14th March to 22nd April, the six-week meeting gathered over 3,000 delegates from member and observer States and from non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to discuss the world’s human rights issue. Many victims whose human rights are being exploited, have taken this precious chance to make their experience known to the international communities.
According to the UK-based human rights group Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW), a Chinese Christian who has been illegally tortured and sexually abused for her faith in the labour camps, testified at the UNCHR on 30th March.
The 33-year-old core member from the underground church South China Church, Liu Xianzhi, was interviewed by CSW staff and prepared her testimony of persecution at the hands of Chinese Communist authorities. Yesterday, she spoke at a parallel meeting at UNCHR which was chaired by Lord Chan of the British House of Lords.
Liu’s appalling abuse experience is very shocking. Liu is one of the top 20 leaders in the South China Church, which has more than 100,000 members. Liu was arrested in 1996 when she spent three years in Shauang Labour Camp for being an "illegal evangelist". She was released in 1998, but was arrested again in 2001 in a crackdown on the South China Church. Then, she was brought to the Zhongxiang Police Training Centre where she was humiliated and abused.
CSW recorded Liu’s description about her mistreatment. In a room where there were around seven men, she was made to stand in the centre and she described:
"One of the men came to me and started touching my body. I was so horrified that I shouted out loudly. He slapped me across the face. Then the rest of the men started asking me questions about who I was, what I did and so forth. I told them my name, but before I could say what I did the first man started to kick me on each of my calves. He said angrily, ‘I’m going to beat you until you understand why we arrested you.’"
Liu then boldly said that she was free to believe in Jesus. The man replied, "You are still so proud to believe in Jesus and not believe in the Communist Party. Jesus is a foreigner’s god. Now is the time of the rule of the Communist Party."
Even worse, interrogators from the Chinese authorities tried to force her to give evidence of sexual misconduct by her Church leader, Pastor Gong Shengliang, in an attempt to persecute him.
