1． Introduction
1.1 After the second cycle of UPR, China has turned down most of the recommendations concerning civil and political rights, including the recommendations calling for China to revoke extrajudicial and arbitrary detention.
1.2 Although several Christian groups are persecuted in China, we focus on the most blatant and dramatic case, concerning the Christians of The Church of Almighty God. In addition to others religious believers, human rights activists, and dissidents, during the span between 2014 and 2018, members of The Church of Almighty God have been subjected to continuous arbitrary detention and imprisonment in China.
1.3 The Church of Almighty God (CAG) is a new Christian Church established in China in 1991, whose core teaching is that Jesus Christ has returned to Earth and incarnated as Almighty God, who expresses teachings mainly collected in the book The Word Appears in the Flesh, promising the full salvation and purification of humankind. CAG Christians focus on reading Almighty God’s words and practicing them in daily life, proclaiming the Gospel in a peaceful way.
1.4 The authorities of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) have continued their consistent policy to persecute the CAG, just as they are suppressing many forms of religious belief. Upon information we received, and continue to receive, from China, so far, more than 400,000 CAG Christians have been subjected to arbitrary detention and imprisonment due to participating in peaceful religious activities, and nearly 50,000 members suffered torture during arbitrary detention.
2018 United Nations Human Rights Council Universal Periodic Review Chinasoteria international
