A very important meeting took place on October 11, 2000 between the Chinese Ambassador and a group of UK politicians from all parties and the Bishop of Oxford.

The delegation consisted of:

Ms Glenda Jackson MP (Labour)

The Rt Hon Sir Peter Lloyd MP (Conservative)

The Bishop of Oxford, the Rt Rev Richard Harries

Lord Hylton (Cross-Bench)

Lord Avebury (Liberal Democrat)

The delegation expressed concern about reports of brutality and torture of Falun Gong practitioners, particularly women. They referred to the separation of children from their parents, detention in psychiatric hospitals as a form of punishment, deaths in custody, and threats made against students and others living in the UK with relatives in
China. They referred to the report of the Special Rapporteur on Religious Intolerance, Mr Abdelfattah Amor, and specifically asked whether the Chinese Government would consider inviting him to China, to look into the many allegations made, that appeared to indicate violations of China's obligations under article 18 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (dealing with freedom of thought, conscience and religion), which China had signed in October 1998.

The delegation said that as there was a wide gulf between their perception of the Falun Gong's treatment, and the description of the situation given by the Ambassador, greater transparency was essential. They asked for copies of the laws said to have been broken by those convicted; they urged that China cooperate fully with the mechanisms of the Human Rights Commission such as the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention and particularly the Rapporteur on Religious Intolerance, and they asked for investigations to be conducted, and their conclusions made public, where serious violations of human rights were alleged to have taken place, such as deaths in custody. They reiterated that freedom of belief under the Covenant was absolute, and that any limitations on the right to manifest belief had to be provided by law, and to be shown as necessary to protect public safety, order, health, or morals, or the fundamental rights and freedoms of others. They were not convinced that the behaviour of Falun Gong practitioners warranted invoking these conditions to ban the whole movement.

Finally, it was agreed that the exchange of views had been useful, and that it would be good to have further exchanges, either in writing or face to face, in the future.

A report on the discussion was sent to Mr. John Battle MP, the Minister at the Foreign & Commonwealth Office who deals with China, so that the concerns expressed can be dealt with at the annual UK-China Human Rights Dialogue, which is to be held on October 17, 2000.

U.K. Practitioners

October 12, 2000