公民力量等六个机构和个人荣获山达基教会颁发的“2019人道奖”
Deyu Wang
2019年10月9日，山达基教会在位于华盛顿的国家事务办公室大楼，举办了“2019人道奖”颁奖典礼。山达基教会第七届“人道奖”颁给了国际宗教自由圆桌会议中国联盟成员：公民力量、对华援助协会、全能神教会、法轮大法华盛顿协会和维吾尔人权项目等，以表彰这五家机构在推进宗教自由方面的卓越工作。获得“2019人道奖”的还有非裔美国人400年历史委员会主席约瑟夫·格林博士。
公民力量华盛顿团队的部分成员参加了颁奖典礼，中国前政治犯杨子立，代表公民力量受奖并致辞。杨子立在致辞中提到，作为无神论的共产党在人口最多的中国执政70年，虽然把宗教自由写进了宪法，但从来没有计划实现它。杨子立曾因批评中国人权状况而被判刑8年，其中一条罪名，就是他在2000年写文章捍卫法轮功学员的人权，包括他们信仰自由和免于酷刑的权利。约瑟夫·格林博士在讲到美国黑奴历史时说，美国之所以美丽是因为，她虽然开始时实行奴役，但后来结束了奴役，并成为了自由的守护者！国际宗教自由圆桌会议主席格雷格·米切尔在致辞中，在各信仰族群中建立互信与尊重，向中国政府发出强大的声音。对华援助协会华盛顿办公室主任洛根，2018年在中国受到直接迫害的基督徒比2017年提高348%，达到100万。全能神教会的范雪莉提到，超过100名全能神教徒在中国被迫害致死。法轮大法华盛顿协会的林晓旭，中共政府非常善于控制媒体，甚至控制外国媒体，宗教自由圆桌会议中国同盟，需要一起努力来让中国人看到真相，了解真正的中国文化的魅力。维吾尔人权项目主席奥玛提醒，新疆集中营仍然关押着150-300万维族人，这是种族屠杀行为。
山达基（英语：Scientology），是一套信仰与修行活动的体系及宗教，由L·罗恩·贺伯特所创立。山达基教会始于1952年，山达基的前身是贺伯特更早期的一套自我帮助的系统──戴尼提。为宣传教义，贺伯特于1953年于美国新泽西建立了山达基教会。1955年，贺伯特在华盛顿特区建立了山达基创始教会。山达基教会积极支持并亲自推动中国及全球的人权和宗教自由工作！
附件：杨子立代表公民力量所作的致辞（英文）
Acceptance Speech at the 2019 Humanitarian AwardsCeremony hosted by Church of Scientology National Affairs Office
Zili Yang
(Citizen Power Initiative for China)
Good evening, ladies and gentlemen，
On behalf of Citizen Power Initiative for China, I am honored to be invited to this ceremony, and have the opportunity to give the speech. It’s also our honor to be standing here side by side with human rights advocater Dr. Joseph Green and other China related human rights defending groups to accept the human rights awards from Church of Scientology.
More than 70 years ago, US president Roosevelt had a famous Four Freedoms Speech, in which the second is the freedom to worship God in one’s own way. This principle of freedom of religion had also been written in the Charter of the United Nations and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights later on.
However, Freedom of religion is far from being realized in the world today. China, with the biggest population in the world, has been ruled by the Chinese Communist Party for 70 years, which enshrines atheism from its foundation. Although freedom of religious belief is also an article in China’s constitution, the CCP has never planned to implement it. So, only the four official managed religious systems were acknowledged, and all other religions or branches are under suppression.
I was once a political prisoner, and spent 8 years in China’s prison because I criticized CCP’s policy on human rights abuse. One of my crimes was that I wrote an article in 2000 defending the Falun Gong practitioners’ human rights, including their right to believe their own religion and their freedom from torture.
Before I became a human rights activist, one of my Muslim friends was arrested and imprisoned into labor camp for 3 years because he gave Islamic lectures at his home. I am a member of Huizu, an ethnic group in China, which believe in Islam. So his arrest touched me a lot. This is one of the events which inspired me turning to the road of democracy.
I had many Christian friends when I lived in Beijing. Most of them worshipped God at family church, but they were warned by police to stop worship together out of the government sanctioned church. In January 2014, 14 of my Christian friends were imprisoned for one month, only because they worshipped God in family Church.
From the internet, people know millions of so called evil cult members, including practitioners of FalunGong and the Church of Almighty God, suffered and are suffering from cruel persecutions.
Today, more than a million Uighur people are under illegal custody by the CCP in China. Many of Christian Churches and Mosques are being demolished daily.
I came to the US only one year ago, but I am happy that I can meet so many human rights activists in Washington DC. Although I also met several international human rights organizations when I was in China, but those meetings had to be careful and avoid surveillance of secret police. So people in the free world should unite together to fight against despots of those totalitarian states.
Thank you for Church of Scientology again of all your contributions for human rights.
