In China, Christian citizens sentenced for their faith increased 10,517 percent between 2007 and 2014, according to rights watch group China Aid, which also speculated that the trend towards greater persecution could continue for some time.
“All aspects of Chinese society will continue to be subjected to increased suppression, including the denial of religious freedom and related human rights,” stated China Aid’s report.
The number of Christians convicted for various offences in China rose from 12 to 1,274 between 2013 and 2014, according to the report. Persecutions of Christians represented the biggest jump in the report, but religious persecution in China increased across the board.
Overall, persecutions increased 300 percent between 2013 and 2014, from 143 cases involving 7,424 people to 572 cases involving 17,884 people.
“In 2014, Christians and practitioners of other faiths in China experienced the harshest persecution seen in over a decade, including draconian measures taken by Xi Jinping’s administration to eliminate all religious, political, and social dissent,” the report stated.
Of particular note with regard to the increased Christian persecutions in recent years, according to China Aid, is the incidence of large-scale government campaigns which purport to be acting against what the Chinese government considers to be cults.
The government acts under the Chinese criminal code to deal with “cults and sects using superstition to undermine law enforcement” to justify the destruction of Christian property, China Aid found.
The destruction of crosses and churches occurred in four provinces last year. In the province of Zhejiang, over 30 churches were demolished as part of the campaigns of Chinese President Xi Jinping. One thousand crosses were removed and over 1,300 Christians detained or arrested during the same campaign.
According to complaints received by China Aid, actual figures are expected to be much higher. The organization pointed to local reports that perhaps 50 churches were demolished and 1,000 crosses removed
The China Aid report corroborates the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom’s (USCIRF) 2014 report, which found that conditions for religious practitioners in two of China’s restless provinces, Tibet and Xinxiang, “are worse now than at any time in the past decade.”
The U.S. State Department considers China to be grouped along with North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Iran, and other rights violators as “countries of particular concern” with regards to religious freedom.
U.S.-based human rights organization Freedom House also found that repression has increased in China since President Xi Jinping took office in 2012. Their most recent report also indicated strong religious repression, in addition to repression of political dissidents, NGOs, human rights lawyers and protesters.
RCMP have arrested a Canadian woman on charges of installing a virus on the computers of people in Canada and abroad and viewing the victims using their webcams. The hacker also allegedly communicated with some of her victims and caused alarm by opening extreme pornography on their computers.
The suspect is a 27-year-old woman, Valerie Gignac, who was arrested by RCMP at her home in Saint-Alphonse-Rodriguez, Quebec Wednesday morning.
The woman is believed to be at the root of a botnet, a network of computers infected with a virus and controlled remotely. The suspect allegedly used malicious remote-access software to control infected computers and spy on their victims via their webcams.
According to initial reports, the alleged hacker took malicious pleasure in listening to private conversations. She also communicated with victims through the speakers of the infected computers, according to the reports, as well as causing them alarm by using their computers to open webpages showing extreme pornography.
The alleged attacker broadcast her exploits on YouTube, investigators say. They discovered several videos where you see a remote hacker take control of infected computers and scare victims.
Gignac is also the owner of an online hacking forum with 35,000 worldwide users, according to reports. The forum, which was hosted in Canada, has been seized by authorities.
The victims, including some minors, include Canadians as well as people of other nations.
The arrest was conducted by investigators from the RCMP’s Integrated Technological Crime Unit. The operation took place with the assistance of the Sûreté du Québec, Quebec’s provincial police force.
The suspect was scheduled to appear Wednesday afternoon at the Joliette courthouse to deal with unauthorized use of a computer and charges of mischief in relation to data under Canada’s Criminal Code.
On the night of April 24, 29 attacks and two engagements were reported by the Ukrainian Military to have taken place between Russian and pro-Russian forces and Ukrainian forces in the Donbass.
Of the 29 reported overnight attacks, 11 were conducted with 120 mm mortars on positions near Granitnoye, Peski, Popasnaya, Kirov and Avdeyevka.
The use of mortars with anything beyond 100 mm caliber is a violation of the Minsk agreement, as such weapons should have been withdrawn from the front line.
Other attacks took place near Shirokino, Opytnoye, Mayorsk and Lozovoye, in addition to two attacks in Lugansk.
The 29 overnight attacks brings the total attacks for the 24 hour period to around 50.
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko stated Friday that if another offensive was launched by Russian and Pro-Russian forces in Ukraine, the president would move immediately toward a state of martial law and a wartime stance.
“The armed forces of Ukraine, and I as the supreme commander of those forces, have given clear guarantees that we will abide scrupulously by the Minsk agreements. We will not take the offensive,” announced Poroshenko.
The Ukrainian president said that if Ukrainian troops were attacked all measures would be taken to protect them. He mentioned the need for a UN or EU peacekeeping mission in the east of the country.
“Two options exist: either we invite peacekeepers who, acting in accordance with the UN Security Council’s decisions, serve as a line of control on the Ukraine-Russia border – for what? To avoid conflict, to prevent provocations… or a mission by the European Union, which today is also ready to take on this responsibility.”
Poroshenko did not elaborate on the issue to say what would constitute a new offensive.
The current world population is 7 billion – 1.6 billion are Muslim. Over the next 40 years, the world population is projected to increase 35 percent to 9.3 billion, according to Pew research, and of eight major religious groups calculated, only Muslims will outstrip the overall rate of population growth.
While Christians, Jews and Hindus are expected at remain at nearly the same level as the overall population – 35 percent – and Buddhists, adherents of folk religions, the unaffiliated and other religions will decline, Muslims will increase by 73 percent by 2050.
The reason for this difference, Pew found, was that on average Muslims have more children than people of other faiths. Muslims as a group also have a younger median age, meaning more of Muslims will soon be having children.
Also, many Muslim regions are projected to have significantly higher numbers of children than regions inhabited primarily by other religions, Pew found. While European and North American families have 2 – 2.6 children, and Asians have 2 – 2.7 children, people in the Middle East and North Africa have 2.6 – 3 children, and Sub-Saharan Africans have 4.5 – 5.6 children.
Although Muslim numbers will rise quickly in Africa and the Middle East, Pew found, the Muslim population will grow relative to the overall population in every region of the globe except Latin America and the Caribbean, where relatively few Muslims live.
In Ngaba, Tibet — the scene of many self immolations by Tibetans protesting Chinese rule over the past several years — a man in his forties or fifties self immolated Wednesday beside a shrine he had set up which included photos of the Dalai Lama, the Tenth Panchen Lama, and his family, as well as the traditional butter-lamps and flowers of the Tibetan Buddhist practice.
“He was protesting against Chinese policies in Tibet,” a source from Ngaba told Radio Free Asia. “His body was taken away by police.”
Another of RFA’s sources was quoted, “He had received [religious] recognition for his vow not to harm others in personal disputes — a vow that he took in honor of all those who have sacrificed themselves in self-immolation protests for the cause of Tibetan freedom.”
The man’s name was Neykyab, according to Tibetan sources, who also said that the man was related by marriage to another Ngaba man who self immolated in Lhasa May 27, 2012.
The self immolation is the 139th within Tibet in protest of Chinese rule. It is the 141st self immolation for the cause, as self immolations have taken place in neighboring Nepal and India as well.
SEOUL, South Korea — South Koreans paid tribute to the victims of the Sewol ferry disaster today in central Seoul, one year after the ferry sank, causing the deaths of 304 people April 16, 2014.
The Sewol ferry was heading to Jeju Island from Incheon International Port Passenger Terminal, carrying 476 passengers. Of those, 325 were high school students on the way to a field trip. The 6,800-ton vessel suddenly started leaning to port when it was passing Jindo Island. Within 10 minutes, the overloaded ferry capsized and sank in the sea near the southwestern province.
Two hundred fifty students were killed among the 304 victims, after listening to an announcement on the ship warning that “students shouldn’t move.” There were only 172 survivors, including 73 students and the captain of the ferry, and nine bodies still remain missing. The disaster was recorded as South Korea’s worst maritime tragedy.
The ferry captain, Lee Jun-Seok, was sentenced to 36 years in prison for abandoning his ship and passengers. Fourteen other surviving crew members also faced jail terms of five to 30 years.
The 73 students returned to school in June, 71 days after the tragic incident.
The families of the victims are continuing to make demands for a transparent investigation after salvaging the ferry.
“We won’t forget,” written in the Seoul City Hall area.Gwanghwamun Square in Seoul, South KoreaHigh school students pay a tribute at a memorial for the victims of the Sewol ferry disaster in Gwanghwamun Square in Seoul.People waiting to pay a tribute at a memorial for the victims.Nine victims, including students and teachers, whose bodies have not yet been found.People write letters to the victims, deeply asleep in the sea.Yellow Ribbon Campaign: “A small move makes a big miracle.” It became a symbol of solidarity with the victims. This campaign spread rapidly to social media.
SEOUL, South Korea — Nongovernmental organization Justice for North Korea (JFNK) launched a street campaign last Saturday in Insadong Street, Central Seoul to bring attention to the North Korean crisis.
Founder of JFNK and activist Peter Jung and street campaign coordinator Aaron Peterson held the campaign with four volunteers. Three people handed out flyers which explained about the organization and North Korea’s situation briefly in Chinese, English and Korean, while the remaining volunteer helped Jung and Peterson to role-play as an arrested defector, Chinese and North Korean soldiers.
The main purpose of the campaign is to raise awareness of human rights violations in North Korea and to protest against China’s repatriation of North Korean refugees.
“The reason why we are role-playing is to give a more specific idea about how North Korean defectors are treated inhumanely, as well as to call on the Chinese government to stop the policy of repatriation. We also collect donations to support the process of bringing them over to South Korea safely,” Peterson explained.
Peter Jung founded JFNK in May 2007, when he staged a demonstration alone against Chinese authorities for 444 days, beginning May 23, 2007. He continued the protest until the first day of the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, Aug. 8, 2008.
“There are still many defectors who are in need of help. I still contact with them, so I can’t abandon this campaign,” he said.
According to a White Paper published by the South Korean think-tank Korea Institute for National Unification (KINU) in 2011, China and North Korea have been cooperating in the strict controls over North Korean refugees near the border under a “Bilateral Agreement on Mutual Cooperation for the Maintenance of State Safety and Social Order.”
The UN Commission’s report states that Chinese authorities started to oppress North Korean refugees more severely by tightening border security and cracking down at the end of 2013. The report condemns China for breaching international human rights and refugee laws, as North Korean refugees’ lives are threatened in their country once they are sent back.
The 1951 Refugee Convention describes a refugee as one who, “owing to a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion, is outside the country of his nationality, and is unable to, or owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail himself of the protection of that country.”
Despite the international community’s criticism, China has been sticking to its position, considering defectors as illegal immigrants.
Jung emphasized that the South Korean government has to discuss North Korean defectors with China as soon as possible. “If they are forcibly repatriated to North Korea, they will either face the most severe punishment in the political prison camp or be publicly executed. Therefore, the South Korean government should urge the Chinese government to stop it through diplomatic negotiations. Also, the South Korean embassy needs to accept them,” Jung said.
Peterson started to get involved in JFNK two years ago. “I first heard about the North Korean crisis through a National Geography documentary, I was completely shocked — when I watched how North Korean people were brainwashed and isolated from the whole world. This made me become a North Korean activist, because I didn’t feel like enough people knew about what is happening in North Korea,” Peterson said.
The American activist said that he has felt some changes since he began the street campaign. “I can see more and more people are starting to pay attention. Of course, some South Koreans don’t seem to care much, but a lot of them are starting to take pictures of our demonstration and ask for flyers. Most people are very supportive. We would like to see more of that. I’m sure that it will become something that the world leaders have to address in the future,” he said.
Jung and Peterson said that they will not stop this campaign. “We will continue it until North Korean refugees settle down in South Korea or third-party countries, not being repatriated,” Jung said.
Tibet’s spiritual leader the Dalai Lama made a speech in Japan this week in which he said that he expects to finalize his decision in 2025 about who his reincarnated successor will be. The Dalai Lama will be 90 years old at that time. However, China has reiterated its claim that the government has the sole only authority to choose the reincarnation of the Dalai Lama.
The Dalai Lama has lived in exile from Tibet since 1959 when he escaped the country in fear of his life, nine years after China conquered the territory. The Dalai Lama is considered a criminal terrorist and separatist Chinese authorities.
The Dalai Lama, who has been in Japan since early this month, said in an interview with Japanese news Asahi Shimbun that he will participate in further discussion before finalizing his decision. He also said that he will keep close watch on China’s reaction to his offers to resume talks.
The officially atheist Chinese government last month reiterated its claim, however, that the government has the sole responsibility to decide the Dalai Lama’s successor, criticizing the Dalai Lama for not “showing a serious or respectful attitude on the issue.”
Both parties have already picked contrary reincarnations of the Panchen Lama, the “second holiest” monk in Tibetan Buddhism. In 1995, the Dalai Lama chose a 6-year-old Tibetan boy as the reincarnation, while the Chinese government chose a different child. The choice of the Dalai Lama and his family have not been seen since, although the Chinese government later admitted that it was holding the Dalai Lama’s choice in “protective custody” in Beijing at the request of his parents.
A Tibetan nun self immolated April 8, becoming the 140th known self immolation in protest of Chinese rule over the Himalayan region.
The nun, Yeshi Kandro, who was in her 40s, was known to be a serious practitioner of meditation and deeply concerned with Tibetan issues, according to sources of International Campaign for Tibet. Yeshi may have participated in peaceful protests in Tibet in 2008.
Yeshi was from Draggo, Kardze, and she attended Nganggang monastery in the region.
On April 8 she set went to a location near the monastery and the police station in Kardze town. She called for the long life of the Dalai Lama, for the Dalai Lama’s return to Tibet, and for the freedom of Tibet, and self immolated.
Police extinguished the flame, which was reported to have been particularly intense, with fire extinguishers, and took the woman’s body away.
Yeshi is the 140th person known to have self immolated in protest of Chinese rule over Tibet, and the 138th person to have done so within Tibet. She is the second woman to have self immolated for this cause in 2015.
Mexico is in a deep human rights crisis as a result of its continuing mistreatment of Central American immigrants. The government has started a campaign with the objective of reducing the number of immigrants who attempt to cross the southern border of Mexico.
Thousands of officials from the National Institute of Migration (INM), the federal police forces and even military personnel have been deployed along the southern border, managing to significantly reduce the flow of immigrants who attempt to cross the border in order to reach the United States of America.
The constant presence of checkpoints along the roads and railways has left immigrants without many options apart from displacement. “Now we have to walk for miles and miles to avoid checkpoints,” Alejandro Maldonado, a 49-year-old migrant from Honduras said. He has made the trip four times.
Public transportation is always stopped by the INM and the identity of each passenger is checked. Trains are also halted and immigrants on board are persecuted and apprehended by the authorities.
Despite knowing the risks and dangers involved in riding the Beast (the name of the train which the immigrants use to cross into Mexico), there are still many individuals who are willing to make the attempt. The Beast remains the best way to reach the center and north of Mexico. Though it is the fastest way, it is certainly not the safest.
Several NGOs and religious organizations that offer help and assistance to immigrants have become an oasis on the road for those wishing to obtain the American dream. These shelters provide housing, food, medical care, and legal assistance, and provide what is by far the best treatment that immigrants receive on their journeys.
“La 72,” for example, is a shelter which was set up in honour of the 72 immigrants brutally killed by an organized crime group in San Fernando, Tamaulipas in August 2010. The shelter is located in Tenosique, Tabasco, 80 kilometers away from the Southern border.
The center is run by Fray Tomás González, who has helped to provide safety and rest to thousands of Central-American immigrants for over 20 years. “Every immigrant arriving to ‘La 72’ is allowed to stay for three days to a week or even longer, depending on the condition and status of the immigrants. They are fed three times a day and are encouraged to participate in different activities organized by the volunteers working there. In return, they only have to behave, contribute to the cleaning tasks and the stronger ones are able to help with the maintenance of the shelter,” Tomás explained.
According to official numbers from the House of Immigrants in Tecum Uman, Guatemala, the flow of immigrants has been reduced to less than 50 persons per week, of which most were young and adult males, compared with 700 immigrants per week in 2011, when children and woman represented over 50 percent of the immigrant population.
Even though the numbers have dropped dramatically, there are still women and children trying to cross into the country with the hope of a better life, the illusion of joining their families or just running away from the poverty and violence that certain communities in Central America are subjected to.
There are very few support services for immigrants in Mexico apart from support homes run by NGO’s and religious organizations.
Another organisation that does exist, however, is in Veracruz state, where a group of women run “Las Patronas.” They gather every day together to prepare food, wrap it up and throw it to the immigrants travelling on the rooftop of the beast.
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The road remains a hostile place full of dangers, where the possibility of being attacked by organized crime, officers from the INM, the Federal Police, or the army is very high. Kidnapping, rape or even murder are examples of the horrendous things that the immigrants face daily.
A 38-year-old Salvadoran immigrant who refused to give his name was brutally beaten after being robed while he was walking to Arriaga, Chiapas.
For many, the American Dream has faded away, which has meant some immigrants have begun to choose Mexico as a second option. They try to find a job and start a whole new life, as described by one of the immigrants I met in the district of Pakal-na in Palenque.
Apparently, the effort of the Mexican State to reduce the flow of immigrants to the country has been successful.
However, it has been the target of strong criticism due to the violent measures used to enforce it and the rising toll it has on human lives — families, women and children included.
The tactics and policies of the Mexican government have been compared to those performed by the Border Patrol further north in the United States which is not by any means an example of success either politically, economically or socially.
Photos and text by David A Córdova M
Immigrants makes the line to receive food from the shelter.Rafts are used to cross immigrants from Guatemala to Mexico in The Suchiate River; A natural border between those two countries.A Honduran immigrant is getting ready to cross the Suchiate river.Immigrants are crossing the Suchiate river in rafts, which are also used to cross merchandise illegally.Rafters from Guatemala are waiting for immigrants or merchandise to cross.Immigrants are having a rest in Pakal-na district in Palenque.Immigrants arriving to Mexico.One of the bedrooms of the Shelter for immigrants “Jesus the good shepherd” in Tapachula, ChiapasA volunteer of the shelter for immigrants “La 72” heals an immigrants feet after walked over 80 kilometers from the border to the shelter.Fray Tomás González giving a speech to the immigrants staying at the shelter.Immigrants help volunteers to put tables and chairs for lunchA father and his 2 years old daughter waits in the tracks for the beast to come.A child walks around the facilities of the immigrant shelter “La 72” a wall with dates of tragedies occurred to immigrants can be seen.Central American immigrants are recovered in the center for immigrant Jesus the Good Shepherd after suffering an accident on the Train “The Beast”.An old immigrant woman smokes a cigarette while she is making crafts to sell and get some money for the travel.A 21 years old immigrant mother holds her child while she is looking for clothes to wear in the shelter for immigrants “La 72”Immigrants waits in the shelter “La 72” for the train to departure.Salvadoran immigrant; He was beaten and robbed of all his belongings during a walking course to ArriagaImmigrant women are washing their clothe before continue their journey north.Immigrants clothes; For most of them, their only belongingsA immigrant child helps to clean the dining hall after being usedA immigrant waits the departure of the Beast in Arriaga, Chiapas.Immigrants are ready to ride the beast in Arriaga, ChiapasImmigrants are waiting in the train tracks in Palenque, Chiapas.Immigrants get’s ready to catch the beast in Arriaga, Chiapas.
RUMBEK, South Sudan — Lakes State Minister of Agriculture Philip Kot Job has received 31,000 liters of fuel for tractor cultivation for 2015.
“I have informed the farmers of Lakes State that we have received our fuel, which had been in Juba for over a year,” the minister said.
“We have received now 31,000 liters and we are trying to put this quantity into a deposit so that it is kept until April 2015.”
Farmers will be organized and will be supported with this fuel, the minister said.
He added that this fuel is mainly to deal with issues of food security because we are the region is trying to improve the lack of food and is bound to bring food items from outside into the state.
“The policy of national government — which says agriculture comes first — that is why we are serious to see that this year is for cultivation,” he explained.
“So our people must really concentrate on cultivation, starting from H.E. the Governor to the lowest citizen in the state here,” the minister added.
“This is information for all the citizens of Lakes State that we are now serious that this year is good for digging so that we can free ourselves from salvation.”
He added that those who have their own tractor should come and have fuel up at any time.
Job also advised Lakes State’s citizen to concentrate on agriculture rather than fighting.
“We will not be friend to hunger this year, but if we are not serious it will get away from us because our thinking is too low in terms of farming,” he explained.
“The first priority in my plans as Minister of Agriculture is cultivation; we will not be stable if agriculture is not reorganized in this country,” he said.
SEOUL, South Korea — North Korean defector Dong-Hyuk Shin has revealed photos of scars on his body, which he says were suffered in a prison camp in the hermit kingdom. Shin published the photos to his Facebook page last week after admitting to several inaccurate accounts in his autobiography in January.
Shin is famous for being the only survivor to have escaped from a North Korean political prison camp.
Between Feb.27 and Mar. 3, he posted photos to his Facebook page of scars and other marks on his ankles, back, left hand and fingers, which he says he received during his time in the camp.
Ankle scars
He wrote in the first post that he showed these wounds because he decided not to be afraid of fighting against North Korea any longer. He wrote that the scars on his ankles were received due to being handcuffed and hung upside down.
Shin’s burned back
The following day, he continued to post photos, displaying his back, also burned from during torture. He added that, “I feel embarrassed to show such a photo and it’s shameful. But I must reveal the evil of the dictator and his regime.” Shin’s reference to North Korea’s leader as “the evil of the dictator” was notable, as such an utterance is an unthinkable remark for ordinary citizens of the secretive state.
In the last post, he concluded that, “If I don’t share these photographs, I have no other way to explain how horrible and vicious the N. Korean regime is!” This message was accompanied by photos of his left hand and little finger, still bearing the aftereffects of mistreatment by prison guards.
The photos could support Shin’s testimony about the violation of human rights in North Korea, regardless of the accuracy about “which prison camp” he was tortured in.
Shin acknowledged his inaccurate details in his autobiography, “Escape from Camp 14,” in January. According to the book, he underwent torture in the most notorious political prison camp, no. 14, at the age of 13. He however later corrected this to say that it was in Camp 18, known to be less controlled, when he was 20 years old, after moving out of Camp 14 at age six.
The writer of the book and former Washington Post journalist Blaine Harden told the Washington Post that “he is still saying that all of this [torture] happened at different times and places.” He added that Shin’s confusion about experiences is totally understandable, as he has suffered from trauma for a long time.
Despite the controversy, Harden will not fix the story, because, he said, “Even the new disclosures in the revised forward may not reveal the whole truth.”
Escape from Camp14
Shin made a public apology about the errors in his accounts on his Facebook page on Jan. 18. He also alluded to discontinuity in North Korea’s human right campaign, writing that, “These will be my final words and this will likely be my first post.”
He restarted activity on his social media page last February, and indicated his will was to keep it up until the day when the regime would be overthrown, amid continuous refutation of him from North Korean authorities.
North Korea has been strongly denying Shin’s story and the existence of Camp 14. Its propaganda television channel Urimizokkiri produced a video, “Lie and Truth,” at the end of October 2014, and showed interviews of his father and relatives who still remain in the country, in order to contradict Shin.
“We never lived in a so-called ‘political prison camp’,” his father said in the video. “You [Dong-Hyuk Shin] will regret forever if you don’t come back to your country.”
The video described Shin as a criminal who fled to South Korea to avoid punishment for his crime. Moreover it strongly blamed him for taking the initiative in fabricating the human rights situation in North Korea.
Who is Dong-Hyuk Shin?
His real name was In Gun Shin. He was born inside Camp 14. He made his escape from the prison camp in 2005. He arrived South Korea via China in August 2006 with the aid of a South Korean journalist. Later, he changed his first name to Dong-Hyuk, named after the journalist.
In 2013, he gave evidence of North Korea’s human rights violations, based on his memoir in the prison camp, in front of the UN Commission of Inquiry. He became a key witness who fostered calls for the North Korean government to be charged with crimes against humanity.
