A/55/280 9 December 1999 before the district court, without obtaining satisfaction. Following the decision of the district court, the persons in question applied to the court of cassation in Baku against the decision; that case has not yet been decided. In addition, the former employees of the plant applied to the district court to be reinstated in their jobs at the plant. The civil proceedings are now in progress. Even before the case is considered by the court, however, the director of the refinery, at his own initiative, had reinstated the employees, who are now back at work. 14. The Special Rapporteur, while noting the need to ensure respect for legal provisions regarding working conditions, wishes to recall the international rules on freedom of religion and belief and to underline that restrictions on freedom to express one’s religion or belief should be in line with international law. China 15. In October 1999, Father John Gao Kexian, of the Diocese of Yantai, was reportedly taken into custody in Shandong for refusing to accept the control of the Catholic Patriotic Association. On 23 November 1999, Father Jiang Sunian, of the Diocese of Wenzhou, was reportedly arrested in Zhejiang in the context of a campaign by the Catholic Patriotic Association aimed at compelling Catholics to join it. In Hebei, late in November 1999, Bishop John Han Dingxiang was reportedly arrested in Shijiazhuang. Father Guo Yibao, Father Wang Zhenghe and Father Xie Guolin were also reportedly arrested in Hebei in 1999. Bishop James Su Zhimin, of Baoding, and Auxiliary Bishop Francis An Shuxin, of Zhengding, reportedly disappeared as long ago as 1996, while Bishop Julius Jia, of Zhengding, has reportedly not been seen since August 1999. In Zhejiang, in January 2000, Catholics were reportedly compelled, after having been kept in detention for several days, to sign Catholic Patriotic Association membership forms. The police reportedly threatened to have their children expelled from school if they refused. Non-official Catholic properties, including two churches, were reportedly destroyed. On 25 May 2000, Father Jiang Sunian (see above) was reportedly sentenced by a court in Wenzhou to a six-year term of imprisonment for unlawfully printing Bibles and other religious materials. 6 16. In December 1999, in Beijing, four Falun Gong leaders, Li Chang, Wang Zhiwen, Ji Liewu and Yao Lie, were reportedly sentenced to imprisonment, officially on charges of having organized and practised an unlawful cult, having caused the deaths of various persons, and having obtained and unlawfully disseminated State secrets. On 11 May 2000, 200 members of Falun Gong who were demonstrating in celebration of the birthday of the founder of the movement were reported to have been arrested immediately by the police. In mid-June 2000, a total of 35,000 Falun Gong members had reportedly been arrested and 84 of them officially sentenced to prison terms. In addition, 5,000 Falun Gong members were reportedly sent to re-education camps without having been tried. 17. In December 1999, Trinley Dorje, the seventeenth gyalwa karmapa, one of the most important Buddhist spiritual leaders, is reported to have left the Tibet Autonomous Region and gone to join the Dalai Lama in Dharamsala, India. His decision to leave is said to have been the result of restrictions imposed by the Chinese authorities in religious matters. Egypt 18. On 31 December 1999, in El-Kosheh, following a Christian merchant’s refusal to sell fabric on credit to a Muslim, the Muslim in question, with the help of his family, allegedly tried to provoke a fight. The merchant and his relatives reportedly decided to avoid confrontation, and went to lodge a complaint with the police. However, a police officer reportedly fired on the complainants and proceeded to arrest them. On 1 January 2000, Muslim clerics reportedly called upon the faithful to fight the Christians. Nineteen Christians and two Muslims are said to have died in the ensuing rioting. 19. Egypt has provided: (a) First, a newspaper article on the events in El-Kosheh and a copy of the decision of the Office of the Attorney-General of Egypt containing the charges as finalized after investigation by that office. The decision involves 96 persons charged with various crimes, including murder, theft and sabotage; (b) Second, an extract from a document, taken, apparently, from a statement indicating, far too briefly, the main forms of action taken by the Government in