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allegedly being held without trial. It was also reported that at least 907 practitioners
had died in detention.
19. Reports indicate that the campaign against the Falun Gong continued unabated
across China. Practitioners of Falun Gong continued to be subject to ill-treatment
and torture by State officials in their attempts to force the practitioners to renounce
their belief in Falun Gong. It was also reported that individual practitioners who had
been subjected to torture and other inhuman and degrading treatment while detained
had not been provided with appropriate and effective remedies. In particular, the
system of administrative detention referred to as “Re-education Through Labour”
(RTL) reportedly continued to be imposed on Falun Gong practitioners. It was
reported that RTL involves detention without charge or trial, and without judicial
review, for between one and three years — which could be further extended by one
year. People receiving terms of RTL allegedly had no right of access to a lawyer and
there was no hearing where they could defend themselves. As an illustration, the
Special Rapporteur referred in his letter to a number of individual cases including
the ones of Ms. Yiewen Tang, Ms. Zhao Fengyun, and Mr. Zhang Guoqing.
20. The Special Rapporteur also mentioned the allegedly serious state of health of
detained Pastor Gong Shengliang of the South China Church.
Egypt
21. On 16 March 2004, the Special Rapporteur sent to the Government of Egypt
information according to which the St. John the Beloved Coptic monastery was
under continuous threat of demolition. In addition to being a church, the monastery
is a residence for handicapped children and orphans. It was reported that the
monastery had been attacked nine times in the last six and a half years by members
of the local army unit encouraged by high-ranking officers. Most recently, on
5 January 2004, 600 soldiers and two bulldozers reportedly attacked the monastery,
partially destroying the fence and setting fire to structures on the premises. One staff
member of the monastery was reportedly killed during the attack and several other
staff members and clergy were injured.
22. The Special Rapporteur also referred to the case of Mr. Bolis Rezek-Allah, a
Christian, who was reportedly arrested at the border with the Libyan Arab Republic
on 28 November 2003 while trying to leave the country. He was reportedly held for
12 hours before being released. On 3 December 2003, Mr. Rezek-Allah was again
detained and taken to the headquarters of the Security Police in Cairo for
interrogation. He had originally been arrested in the summer of 2003 on the charge
of marrying a Muslim. Ms. Enas Badawi, his wife, had reportedly converted from
Islam to Christianity before the marriage. Mr. Rezek-Allah was initially held in
prison for three months, during which time he was reportedly also accused of
helping Muslims convert to Christianity.
23. The Special Rapporteur also mentioned in his communication that, on
7 November 2003, the Christian village of Girza Ayiat Giza was allegedly attacked
by a group of 5,000 persons. Eleven persons were reportedly hurt and significant
material damage was incurred as a result of the attack. It was reported that the attack
followed attempts by local Christians to extend their church building in the village.
24. Finally, the Special Rapporteur submitted information according to which
Bahá’ís are not allowed to indicate their religion in the birth certificates of their
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