Save the Persecuted Christians | October 20, 2020
Recap of Jubilee Campaign’s Side Event with the U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva; Plans for Second Event Nov. 16-20
WASHINGTON — Save the Persecuted Christians (STPC), which advocates on behalf of hundreds of millions of Christians facing heavy persecution worldwide, commends coalition partner Jubilee Campaign for hosting an eye-opening Side Event, “China Bans Faith for All Children,” with the 45th Session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, Switzerland.
Jubilee Campaign, led by executive director Ann Buwalda, Esq., in special consultative status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations, hosted the online event to shine a spotlight on this urgent human rights situation that requires the Council’s attention: the abuse of children’s religious rights in China.
“Jubilee Campaign’s presentation for the U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva and their subsequent report is very significant,” said Dede Laugesen, executive director of Save the Persecuted Christians. “Ann and her team have cast a stone at the Communist Party of China.”
Primary discussion in the Side Event focused on the fact that China bans faith for all children and calls for the People’s Republic of China to take immediate action. This ensures the right to freedom of religion and belief for all children in China. Event speaker, Emilie Kao, Esq., director of the Richard and Helen DeVos Center for Religion & Civil Society at The Heritage Foundation, said, “The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) must cease violence against children, taking the form of religious persecution that is perpetrated against children of all faiths.” [For a list of the Chinese Communist Party’s persecution policies that violate International obligations and norms regarding children’s rights to Religious freedom, see the Table of Contents in this document.]
“Birthed as the world went into lockdown, this concerted effort to uphold children in China and defend their right to learn and practice their faith according to their customs alongside their parents is moving hearts and minds,” said Laugesen.
“In the depths of winter, Ann Buwalda of Jubilee Campaign, Bob Fu of ChinaAid, Liz Yore of Yore Children, Dr. Sean Lin of Falun Dafa-DC, STPC Chairman Kevin Jessip, STPC President Frank Gaffney and myself came together to brainstorm what could be done to address the Chinese Communist Party’s unceasing and increasing persecution of people of belief, ethnic groups and most especially families.
“We knew that taking on China at the United Nations seems an impossible task. China’s vast influence in this international body has grown even as their own human rights and environmental abuses rank among the worst in the world. We saw ourselves as David facing Goliath. But Kevin reminded us that someone once said, ‘When David met Goliath he’d been told that Goliath was too big to hit.’ David answered, ‘No. He’s too big to miss.’”
The joint written statement, submitted to the United Nations General Assembly by Jubilee Campaign, ADF International (registered Alliance Defending Freedom), the ethics and religious liberty commission of the Southern Baptist Convention (ERLC), non-governmental organizations in special consultative status, contains the specific violations and proposed solutions addressed at the event.
The coalition’s next event will be held online the week of November 16-20, during the United Nations General Assembly’s Third Committee session, currently in session through November 20. Plans are underway for the Jubilee Campaign to host either a Side Event (which requires a State to sponsor) or a parallel event as an NGO in consultative status, to raise awareness about the genocidal violence occurring and to help ensure the right to freedom of religion and belief for all children in China. For more details, visit the Jubilee Campaign.
“Save the Persecuted Christians is proud of Jubilee Campaign, ChinaAid, Yore Children and all our courageous coalition partners for taking a step onto the field of battle against those who commit deplorable crimes against humanity and strip people of their universally recognized rights and liberties,” said Laugesen. “We believe that when we all work together, in faith, there’s no giant we can’t take down.”
The mission of STPC is to save lives and save souls by disseminating actionable information about the magnitude of the persecution taking place globally and by mobilizing concerned Americans for the purpose of disincentivizing further attacks on those who follow Jesus.
With so much of the world’s Christian population being imprisoned and/or harassed for their beliefs, including Christians in the Middle East, China and Nigeria, to name a few, the need has never been greater for the sort of grassroots campaign STPC’s SaveUs Movement is working to foster. Its efforts are modeled after a miraculously successful one that helped free another population suffering from heavy persecution—Soviet Jews—by penalizing those in the Kremlin responsible for such repression.
Through this movement, Save the Persecuted Christiansendeavors to provide American policymakers with the popular support they need to effect real change worldwide and alleviate systemically the suffering being experienced by so many of those following Christ.
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