UK: Judge Exposes the Jiang regime’s Persecution of Falun Gong Practitioners

Following a court hearing in September 2002 in the Birmingham, a UK judge reported the following details in a legal document:

"Though the [Chinese] Constitution provides for Fundamental Human Rights they are often ignored in practise. The authorities attach high priority to maintaining public order. Arbitrary arrest, long periods of detention and torture in detention have been reported and the authorities are intolerant of dissent [..].

"Although apparently originally encouraged by the authorities, Falun Gong is now regarded as a challenge, probably because it threatens the Party's monopoly on power. Falun Gong, which appears to combine elements of [..] self-cultivation with traditional Chinese physical [..] exercises may be better described as a philosophy of personal development and discipline, than as a religion. There is no formal administration but there are thought to be as many as 75 million adherents from people of many different backgrounds in China. The Movement was banned by the Chinese authorities on 22nd July 1999. There are 5 main exercises for Falun Gong. Li Hongzhi, now living in the United States, is regarded as a key figure and as the principal teacher. Technically there is no formal organisation. [..]. It is reported that 450 [practitioners] had been sent to prison and 10,000 practitioners sent to re-education through labour camps. 600 practitioners are held in psychiatric units. Trials are rare. Torture occurs in accounts of interrogation and police detention, including accounts of the treatment of foreign nationals. There are numerous reports of deaths in custody of Falun Gong adherents."