Human Rights Are Based on the Religious Viewpoint That Human Beings Are Children of God

A Chinese human rights lawyer who had been detained by the Chinese authorities was subjected to torture during questioning, an attorney who met him revealed. Asahi Shimbun and other media reported the detailed story on February 7th.

The tortured lawyer is Xie Yang, a 45-year-old human rights activist from Hunan Province. He had worked on many cases involving human rights, such as defending a blind civil rights activist, Chen Guancheng. On July 9th of 2015, he was arrested in the so-called “709 crackdown,” a nation-wide crackdown on human rights lawyers and activists. It is estimated that the number of lawyers who were detained stood at more than 228, with some released.

In December of 2016, Xie was indicted on charges of attempting to subvert state power by criticizing the Chinese government, the judicial organization and the legal system online, by inciting people to rebel against the government. The Changsa police (Hunan Province) did not allow Xi’s fellow lawyers to meet him on the grounds that he was under investigation for endangering national security. However, with the trial approaching, the authorities permitted attorney Chen Jiangang and other lawyers to meet Xi in January. Chen posted the contents of the five-day interview with Xi online.

Xi Was Coerced into Making a False Confession Under Tremendous Mental Pressure

According to the website of Bowen Press that posted the transcript of the interview, Xi was questioned for more than 30 hours on end. He was quoted as saying, “I was forced to sit in a torture device called ‘dangling chair’ with his legs dangling above the ground for more than 20 hours every day. My lower body hurt, went numb, and then swelled up.” The agents punched him in the stomach with their fists, kneed him in the stomach, and kicked him with their feet. When he asked for water, they placed some before him, but he was not allowed to touch it. He was only allowed to sleep about two hours a day, and what was worse, the agents intimidated him, suggesting that his wife and child might be killed. The transcript quoted Xi as saying that under tremendous mental pressure, he was coerced into signing the confessions that the agents presented.

According to the Asahi Shinbun, when Chen, Xi’s lawyer, was asked whether he was scared, he answered, “Of course, I am scared, but I cannot ignore the problem. I do not know how long I can bear if I am detained, but I can speak up as long as I am on the outside. This is the most fundamental right as a person.”

China’s Human Rights Situation Is Getting Worse

The new Trump administration also sees China’s human rights abuse as a serious problem. President Trump appointed Peter Navarro, an economist who is known for taking a hard line against China, to serve as director of the National Trade Council. In his documentary film, “Death by China,” Navarro harshly criticized the Chinese government’s crackdown on human rights activists, organ harvesting from Falun Gong practitioners and making profits from selling the organs.

The reports released by Canadian human rights activists in June of 2016 revealed that there had been between 60,000 and 100,000 organ transplants from political prisoners each year in China. The forced organ harvesting is being performed mainly on those whom the Chinese Communist Party considers political offenders, that is, Uighurs and Tibetans who join the independence movement, Falun Gong practitioners, and human rights activists who are struggling for freedom and democracy.

Human Rights Are Based on the Religious Perspective That Human Beings Are Children of God

China has been criticized for its crackdown on human rights activists, torture and organ trade. As the American Declaration of Independence says, human rights derive from the spiritual perspective that human beings are created by God. China is a materialistic country that denies the spiritual viewpoint that human beings are children of God, where human rights easily get stomped on and people are being treated inhumanly like machines.

It is our sincere hope that drawing global attention to the human rights issues in China will exert pressure on the Chinese government to end its human rights violations as soon as possible.