The "World Organisation to Investigate the Persecution of Falun Gong" hereby announces the establishment of the "Committee to Investigate the Crimes of Chinese Labour 'Re-Education' Camps in the Persecution of Falun Gong," to proceed to systematically and comprehensively investigate the criminal conduct of China's Labour Re-Education Camps in the persecution of Falun Gong.

'Falun Gong practitioners are often bound, beaten, brutally tortured and even disfigured with wooden batons and electric cattle prods. Brainwashing and mental tortures are also extensively used, and often, practitioners are force-fed toxic liquids, even those mixed with human feces and urine, when they protest with hunger strikes.'

An online petition for the release of UK practitioners' family and friends persecuted in China has been created. The three victims include the sister of a UK practitioner, Ms. Zhu Baolian who was jailed for 4 years in Bejing simply for handing out leaflets which explained the truth about Falun Gong, and Zhu Yongjie, the fiancee of another practitioner, who was arrested in November 2002.

Romanian practitioners have overcome the interference by the Jiang regime and established many local practice sites in their area. In addition, they have published the Romanian versions of Falun Gong and Zhuan Falun. The establishment of the Romanian Falun Dafa Association is truly a wonderful and joyous occasion, and merits celebration!

During the recent Christmas and New Year celebrations, Spanish Falun Gong practitioners received more than 20 greeting cards and letters, from many prominent figures, including the Spanish President. Here are some extracts from the cards received.

Hundreds of Falun Gong practitioners coming from various places around the world divided into two groups and practised the exercises at two locations in Hong Kong, expressing their opposition to the Article 23 legislation and urging the Chinese government to release all practitioners who are being detained in China.

As Falun Dafa practitioners in Hong Kong prepared to hold a Global Experience Sharing Conference on Saturday February 22, around 80 practitioners from Taiwan were rudely denied access to Hong Kong and were expelled from the region. Some local politicians recognise that every time the Hong Kong Falun Dafa Association holds global activities, the Hong Kong government denies some foreigners entrance into Hong Kong.

'Victim Lu Li-ching said she suffered bruises to her hands and mouth when she was escorted by force to the plane. "Eight riot policemen wrapped me up with a blanket," Lu told AFP. "A flight attendant witnessing the scene told me she had never seen police resort to such brutalities on civilians."'

Kan Hung-cheung, a speaker for the Hong Kong Falun Gong Association told reporters that it's hard to accept the reasons given by the Sheraton because Falun Gong has been well known for its peacefulness and has been praised by police in many other places around the world. Many government officials also know that Falun Gong practitioners are very orderly and self-restrained.

The evil guards pressed him onto the floor and cuffed his arms and legs to the table's legs. Three to four guards shocked him using electric batons. Soon the entire hallway was filled with the stench of burnt skin and thick smoke. Such frightening scenes occurred often. About 20 other practitioners were tortured in the same way.

If the practitioners were sent into the section due to hunger strikes and other reasons, the police would apply excruciating persecution and torture on them as long as they did not give up Dafa. The amoral police would force practitioners who were supposed to be released from the camp to guarantee that they would never tell anyone what had happened in the camp before releasing them from the "severe watch section."

They have used all sorts of base methods, such as lying, putting pressure on the practitioners, and using material gains as bait. After being brainwashed, some practitioners, sadly, succumbed to the intense pressure and torture and became accomplices to the police officers in their conspiracy against their fellow practitioners. This is a great tragedy in this vicious persecution of Falun Dafa.

Zhang Ruixia has been unjustly and undeservedly sentenced to 8 years in prison, though she has not yet recovered from previous torture. Both legs are injured, and her health has suffered from the long-term detention and bad food. In the detention centre she has difficulty standing, and sometimes has to crawl to the washroom.

After having been deceived by the Jiang regime's fabricated propaganda, a policewoman committed many wrongdoings against Falun Dafa practitioners. After she had the chance to get to know the practitioners, she began to feel guilty and started to treat them with kindness. One day near the beginning of winter, she heard that many practitioners may not have winter clothing, so she gave them her own coat.

Mrs. Liu, a Falun Dafa practitioner in her sixties who lives in Gansu Province, is faithfully diligent and never lets up in her cultivation. Through practising Falun Gong she now looks like she's in her thirties. Though her retirement annuity is only around 5000 Yuan, she understands the urgency in revealing the true facts about Falun Dafa and doesn't hesitate to help financially with the production of Falun Dafa materials.

In the past three years, we have held appeals through parades, hunger strikes, SOS walks, press releases and through the European Falun Gong Information Centre, we have persisted in disseminating cases of persecution in China. Even though these have brought some enthusiastic feedback, on the whole, the results have not reached our expectations, therefore, what shall we do?

February 14 was Valentine's Day. To rescue American citizen Charles Li, Falun Gong supporters in the Washington DC area held a press conference at the National Press Club urgently calling on the US government to rescue Charles Li from China as soon as possible.

Dafa practitioners in the Philadelphia area were invited to participate in the Chinese New Year celebrations at Temple university. They displayed the goodness of "Truthfulness-Compassion-Tolerance" to the university faculty staff and students, told them the truth about the brutal persecution against Falun Dafa in China, and gathered signatures for rescuing Charles Li.

'US Secretary of State Colin Powell said Monday the United States was concerned about "setbacks" in China's human rights record.'

"We are Falun Gong practitioners from Minghui School in Columbus, Ohio. Falun Gong is a practise that teaches how to be polite, not to steal, to be truthful...We are very peaceful, and won't hurt anything or anybody. We have a friend, Charles Li. We want to help him. However, if we went back to China and tried, they would detain us too. This is why we are writing to you to help Charles Li out of China's jail and into his rightful home."