US Religious Freedom Commission Releases Annual Report, Censures China for Severe Violations in 2015/ENG

2016. május 3./CTA/TibetPress

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DHARAMSHALA: The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) released their annual report Monday, 2 May, and found that religious freedom worldwide “has been under serious and sustained assault” since their 2015 report.

“By any measure, religious freedom abroad has been under serious and sustained assault since the release of our commission’s last Annual Report in 2015,” the report said.

“From the plight of new and longstanding prisoners of conscience, to the dramatic rise in the numbers of refugees and internally displaced persons, to the continued acts of bigotry against Jews and Muslims in Europe, and to the other abuses detailed in this report, there was no shortage of attendant suffering worldwide,” it added.

Under the section titled ‘China’ in the report, the commission noted that China’s severe religious freedom violations continued in 2015. “While the Chinese government sought to further assert itself on the global stage, at home it pursued policies to diminish the voices of individuals and organisations advocating for human rights and genuine rule of law,” it said.

The report also said that Uighur Muslims and Tibetan Buddhists continue to be repressed, and the Chinese government has asserted its own authority to select the next reincarnation of His Holiness the Dalai Lama.

“In 2015, the Chinese government maintained tight control of Tibetan Buddhists, strictly monitoring and suppressing their cultural and religious practices. Government-led raids on monasteries continued, and Chinese party officials in Tibet infiltrated monasteries with Communist Party propaganda,” it said.

The report further highlighted increased government interference in the education and training of young Buddhist monks, the wave of self-immolation protests and the death in prison of Tulku Tenzin Delek Rinpoche, a prominent Tibetan social activist and spiritual figure.

“The past year was also marked by several notable anniversaries: the 80th birthday of the Dalai Lama, the 50th anniversary of Beijing’s control over the Tibet Autonomous Region, and the 20th anniversary of the disappearance of Gedhun Choekyi Nyima, also known as the Panchen Lama,” it said, raising concerns about China’s rampant arrests of ordinary Tibetans participating in these occasions.

China was re-designated recently by the US State Department as a CPC (countries of particular concern) following the commission’s recommendation last year. The commission recommended the US Congress to raise religious freedom concerns at the U.S.-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue this year. It also urged the Chinese government to release prisoners of conscience, and imposing penalties on officials who perpetrate religious freedom abuses.