China sends five house church leaders to labor camp

Beijing - China has sentenced five organizers of an illegal house church to two years at a labor camp, after accusing them of "gathering people to disturb the public order," a US-based Christian support group said on Wednesday. Public security officials in the northern city of Linfen, Shanxi province, sent the four women and one man to a "re-education through labor" camp after they led Christians who were protesting the demolition of church buildings by local authorities, the China Aid Association said in a statement.

Last week, a local court sentenced five other leaders of Linfen's Fushan house church to between three years and seven years in prison last week after they were convicted on similar charges.

Sentences to labor camps are "administrative" and are normally passed by a local judicial committee without any court hearing or right of appeal. They are often used to silence local dissidents, rights activists and religious activists, as well as for minor criminals.

"To arbitrarily send five innocent citizens to labor camps is in direct violation against the international human rights covenants and norms the Chinese government has signed and even ratified," Bob Fu, China Aid's president, said of the Fushan church leaders.

Fu accused the ruling Communist Party of using such measures for "suppressing the basic freedom of religion and conscience for Chinese citizens."

The church leaders organized some 1,000 people who protested on September 14, the day after 400 paramilitary police enforced the demolition of church buildings, the group said.

China officially has about 16 million Christians, but activists claim the true figure is at least 40 million.

All religious organizations must register with government supervisory bodies, but many Christian groups refuse to do so, claiming their religious freedom is too restricted within China's official churches.

Police and officials forcibly disband house churches and other illegal Christian groups. Their leaders face criminal charges, and buildings used for underground religious activity are often demolished.