In a truly disturbing move, the United Nations has denied official status to the Dynamic Christian World Mission Foundation after its refusal to give the names and addresses of its members in China. Dynamic, an L.A.-based, non-governmental organization (NGO), submitted the information on its members in other countries, but feared for the safety of those in China, a country known for its religious persecution.
The Economic and Social Council, which is composed of 54 UN members, decides whether to admit NGOs to attend meetings and submit arguments. When a subset of the Council met last May, China argued that the group’s application was not in compliance with 1996/31, a resolution adopted in 1996 calling for NGOs to submit certain member information. It was decided at that time, by a 12-4 vote, not to admit, with the U.S., England, Israel and Romania voting in favor of the group, and religious persecutors China, Cuba, Egypt, Sudan and Pakistan voting to exclude (no surprises there). Since then, the U.S. has been lobbying for Dynamic, but to no avail. When the Council met on Monday for the final vote, it sided with China.
In that meeting, U.S. delegate John Sammis asked not for the Commission to automatically grant status but for it to simply look at the application again to gauge whether in fact it complies with the resolution. China’s representative, Wang Qun, argued that to revisit the issue would undermine the Commission’s “credibility.” Cuba seconded the objection, saying Dynamic is employing “evasive tactics.”
The decision has been decried by UN Watch, a Geneva-based watchdog. “Today’s vote is a setback for religious freedom,” said executive director Hillel Neuer, “and could set a dangerous precedent at the UN for repressive regimes to launch frivolous objections, or demand sensitive information, in order to obstruct the important work of civil society organizations in the areas of religion, education and human rights.” Amen.
