E/CN.4/1998/6
page 17
(c)
In Georgia and Singapore, Jehovah's Witnesses literature has
allegedly been confiscated. In Mongolia and Uzbekistan, the authorities are
said to have confiscated bibles. In Nepal, Christian religious material has
apparently been destroyed by Hindus. In Singapore, Jehovah's witnesses have
reportedly been convicted for possession of their literature, which is banned.
65.
The sixth category concerns violations of physical integrity and health,
and even the right to life.
66.
There have been many reports of harassment and threats (Azerbaijan,
Romania, Uzbekistan); mistreatment (Afghanistan, Bulgaria, Iran, Pakistan,
Romania, United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan); arrests and detentions (Angola,
Bulgaria, China, Iran, Pakistan, Uzbekistan, Viet Nam), and even
disappearances (China, Russian Federation, Uzbekistan) and murders (Iran,
Iraq, Pakistan). In the case of China in particular, besides the urgent
appeal, communications have been sent concerning the situation of
Ghedün Nylmo, an eight-year-old boy recognized by the Dalai Lama as the
eleventh reincarnation of the Panchen Lama, and concerning allegations of
prison sentences for “conspiring to split the country” and “leaking State
secrets” imposed on Chadrel Rimpoche (a Tibetan monk), his assistant
Champa Chung and another Tibetan named Samdrup, who allegedly communicated
with the Dalai Lama during the search for the child reincarnation of the
Panchen Lama. In the case of Iraq, there have been allegations that security
forces attacked Shi'ite pilgrims in Karbala', and that two Assyro-Chaldean
Christians, suspected without proof of murdering a Muslim who had abducted
their daughter or sister and forced her to marry him and convert to Islam,
were murdered. The two Christians were reportedly detained, and later taken
from their prison and tortured to death by 200 people following a fatwa issued
by an imman calling for such action. In the case of Viet Nam, communications
have been sent concerning the bonzes Thich Tri Tuu, Thich Mai Chanh and Thich
Hai Thinh, who are said to be under house arrest, and the Buddhist monk Thich
Nhat Ban, who is reportedly being held in solitary confinement in a
re-education camp.
67.
In the context of the analysis of communications, the Special Rapporteur
wishes to draw attention to the two urgent appeals addressed to China and the
United Arab Emirates in the course of the period covered by the present
report. The urgent appeal to China constituted a reminder about information
concerning the detention of Yulo Dawa Tsering, a Tibetan monk, whom the
Special Rapporteur interviewed during his visit to China in 1995
(E/CN.4/1995/91, para. 115). The Chinese Government replied that that monk
had been conditionally released for good conduct on 6 November 1994, after
having been sentenced to 10 years' imprisonment for having taken part in
uprisings. It added that Yulo Dawa Tsering had enjoyed all the civil rights
set forth in the Chinese Constitution since the end of the period of
conditional release on 15 December 1995.
68.
The urgent appeal to the United Arab Emirates was also a reminder
concerning the case of Mr. Elie Dib Ghalib, a Christian who had been arrested
and reportedly maltreated because of his marriage to a Muslim woman. On
29 October 1996, a court annulled the marriage and sentenced Mr. Ghalib to
39 lashes and a year's imprisonment for immoral marital relations. The
United Arab Emirates replied that the trial had been conducted in accordance