More Than 100 House Church Leaders Arrested in Henan
(Aug. 07, 2004)
Philadelphia (CAA)-August 6,2004 (boxun.com)
On August 6, 2004, more than 100 house church leaders have been arrested in Tongxu County,Kaifeng City,Henan Province. (CAA apologizes to readers for mistakenly putting Luoyang city instead of Kaifeng city in our previous report yesterday). According to an eyewitness report who managed her escape from the arrest scene,the group was just starting their first day meeting for a two-week retreat when they were surrounded by more than 200 military police,Public Security Bureau (PSB) and other officers,who arrived at the scene in about 20 police and military vehicles along with 6 minibuses. No arrest warrants or even official identification papers were shown by officers as they carried out the assault.
The meeting was being held at the house of one of the retreat organizers whose name is unavailable. His family members including his wife,Ms. Xiang Zi and three 8-11 year-old children were also arrested. "These children were crying a lot when being dragged away",this eyewitness said.
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This cross-provincial meeting was sponsored by Henan House Church,a non-denominational large house-church network headquartered in Henan Province. The arrested are from different provinces including Heilongjiang,Liaoning and other parts of Cities throughout Henan province. Some known leaders among the arrested are Mr. Zhang Wanshun(Sanmenxia city,Mr. Zhang Tianyun(Nanyang city) and Mr. Yu Guoying(Tongxu county).
Meanwhile,a house church leader from Yima county,Sanmenxia City,Henan was also arrested on his way to the same meeting. He was to carry some Christian literatures including Christian Life Quarterly Magazine to the retreat attendants. His house was raided and lots of Christian literatures were confiscated.
"These cases show irrefutable evidence of the worsening situation on religious persecution in China," said Bob Fu,CAA's president. "We urge people of all faith to take actions to address your concerns."
Letters of protest can be sent to the Chinese Embassy in Washington DC at the following address:
Ambassador Yang Jiechi
Embassy of the People's Republic of China
2300 Connecticut Ave NW, Washington DC 20008
Tel:(202) 328-2500 Fax:(202) 588-0032
Director of Religious Affairs: (202) 328-2512
(boxun.com)
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