LONDON (EFGIC) – As the United Nation's Commission on Human Rights convenes in Geneva this week, the European Falun Gong Information Centre (EFGIC) joins the growing chorus of voices urging the Commission to censure China for the horrific and widespread abuses of human rights against Falun Gong practitioners throughout China.
As the U.S. State Department “Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2003” says, the situation in China has been “backsliding” in the past year, and the persecution against Falun Gong has been “particularly harsh.” (news)
To this end, on March 8th the U.S. Congress passed resolution H. Res. 530 (full text) urging the international community to rebuke the People's Republic of China for a litany of human rights abuses. (news) Additionally, last week 40 non-governmental organizations adopted a resolution of their own, urging a resolution to be introduced in Geneva “to call upon the People's Republic of China to end its human rights violations and meet internationally recognized standards for human rights.” (news)
Atrocities Abound in China against Falun Gong
For the last four years, the EFGIC has received daily reports from China documenting arbitrary and cruel detentions, horrific torture as well as deaths from torture. To date, there are more than 28,000 cases of serious human rights violations documented, and these are merely the cases that have been uncovered by Chinese citizens despite a strict information blockade imposed by the Chinese regime on all cases related to Falun Gong.
The EFGIC continues to receive numerous reports of atrocities each day. In February 2004, 30 deaths and scores of severe torture cases were uncovered and reported from throughout China.
These atrocities are not the acts of a few areas or a few corrupt officials. The campaign against Falun Gong is a directive handed down by former Chinese leader Jiang Zemin, and forced upon the entire country...upon officials of all levels. (special report)
Many legal experts classify Jiang’s “eradicate Falun Gong” campaign as a genocide, and to date, lawsuits have been filed in more than a dozen countries against Jiang and/or a few senior officials who followed Jiang in implementing the campaign. (news)
Tokens of Deception
The international community should not be appeased by so-called tokens of good will such as the strategic release of a few prisoners or the introduction of a human rights clause into the Chinese Constitution.
Most would say that the prisoners who have been released should never have been incarcerated to begin with.
As for introducing a human rights clause into the Chinese Constitution, for the past nearly five years the persecution of Falun Gong has been in direct violation of virtually every relevant article within the Chinese Constitution. How meaningful would an additional clause be in light of the fact that Jiang’s standing orders that “no measure is too extreme” to wipe out Falun Gong remains official policy?
It seems such tokens of good will are merely bargaining chips tossed out to the international community to divert attention from the true issues of human rights atrocities in China. At the same moment that these tokens are extended, severe human rights violations not only persist throughout China, but continue to be authorized and enforced from Jiang down through the ranks.
The world should also not be content to allow the current abuses to continue with the hope that economic reform will “eventually” bring about change with respect to human rights. In fact, over the last few years, the very opposite has occurred. Corporations doing business in or with China have been coerced into adopting policies towards Falun Gong practitioners that violate international law. Indeed, the campaign against Falun Gong is forging international businesses into implements of persecution rather than fostering improved respect for human rights in China.
The Crux of the Matter
By 1998, a Chinese government survey discovered that more than 8% of the entire Chinese population was practicing Falun Gong, an ancient practice of exercise and meditation rooted in traditional Chinese culture. (website) But in July 1999, they became illegal persons simply by virtue of their beliefs.
The campaign to wipe out Falun Gong was orchestrated by Jiang Zemin and a few key supporters within the government. It is not the action of the Chinese government as a whole, yet Jiang’s power and influence while he was head of the Communist Party, Central government and military allowed him to commandeer the entire state apparatus to this end and now the campaign’s web of complicity is stunningly vast.
While the situation in China remains as severe as it does today, it is the responsibility of the international community to step in.
As the most important international forum for discussing human rights issues and expressing international support for human rights improvements, we urge the UN Commission to take a decisive and effective position on the genocide of Falun Gong in China.
NEWS – Mar. 17, 2004
European Falun Gong Information Centre, www.clearharmony.net
Background
Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa (about), is a practice of meditation and exercises with teachings based on the universal principle of "Truthfulness-Compassion-Tolerance." Practiced in over 50 countries world-wide, Falun Gong has roots in traditional Chinese culture. With government estimates of as many as 100 million practicing Falun Gong, China's Communist leader Jiang Zemin outlawed the peaceful practice in July 1999 (report). Since that time, Jiang's regime has intensified its propaganda campaign to turn public opinion against the practice while imprisoning, torturing and even murdering those who practice it. The European Falun Gong Information Centre has verified details of 907 deaths (reports / sources) since the persecution of Falun Gong in China began in 1999. In October 2001, however, Government officials inside China reported that the actual death toll was well over 1,600. Expert sources now estimate that figure to be much higher. Hundreds of thousands have been detained, with more than 100,000 being sentenced to forced labor camps, typically without trial.
FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT THE EUROPEAN FALUN GONG INFORMATION CENTRE
Peter Jauhal + 44 (0) 7719 508 268 Nicolas Schols +32 47 98 75 734
More contacts. http://www.falungonginfo.net/europe.htm
Email: [email protected]
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