Press Release: Chinese Labour Camp Detainees Forced to Write Letters to UN’s Kofi Annan

When Ms. Yanying Wu was released from Tianjin’s Jianxin Labour Camp earlier this month, she revealed that detainees are being forced to write letters slandering Falun Gong and declaring complete support for Jiang’s persecution of the practice.

According to Ms. Wu, all Falun Gong practitioners detained in the Jianxin Labour Camp must write UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan a letter acknowledging that they had been “deceived” by the founder of Falun Gong and that Falun Gong is an “evil cult.” In addition, their letters must contain language supporting the government’s ban and completely renouncing Falun Gong.

Any letter failing to meet these four requirements must be re-written, and practitioners such as Ms. Wu who refuse to write such letters are subject to further punishment, including torture.

This is not the first Jiang-sponsored letter writing campaign to the UN. Last year, he launched the “million signature” drive in an apparent attempt to convince the United Nations Human Rights Commission that the Chinese people approved of his persecution of Falun Gong. However, after reports surfaced that anyone who refused to sign the document in the workplace would be subject to severe criticism, demotion, or loss of job, and that even small schoolchildren were forced to sign their names to avoid ridicule or punishment, the document became more of an embarrassment, than a propaganda victory.

“Throughout the over three-year campaign against Falun Gong, the Jiang regime has used various means to extract statements and signatures from Chinese citizens in an apparent attempt to demonstrate support for this brutal persecution,” notes European Falun Gong Information Centre spokesperson Peter Jauhal. “Given the fact that these pressure tactics are applied to all members of society, what does this tell us about how the Chinese people really feel? The truth is, from the beginning, this persecution has not been an expression of the people’s will, but rather has been driven from the top through the use of conscience-deadening propaganda, intimidation and brute force.”

The European Falun Gong Information Centre has verified details of 480 deaths since the persecution of Falun Gong in China began in 1999. Government officials inside China, however, report that the actual death toll is well over 1,600. Over 100,000 have been detained, with more than 20,000 being sentenced to forced labour camps without trial.