News and Activities from Around the World -- November 9, 2005

Issued by Clearwisdom Net

NEW YORK (FDI) -- The Falun Dafa Information Center applauds the efforts of lawyer Gao Zhisheng to defend the rights of Falun Gong practitioners in China and expresses deep concern at the recent closure of his law firm by the Chinese Government.

In recent days international media have reported that the law firm of public interest lawyer Mr. Gao Zhisheng has been closed by authorities on a technicality. The closure follows Gao's refusal to withdraw an open letter (full text) to President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao regarding the violent repression of the Falun Gong carried out by the Chinese Government over the past six years.

Gao spends several pages of his open letter describing personal accounts of torture, death, and heartache that he personally investigated. He describes the persecution of Falun Gong in China as a "systematic, large-scale and organized persecution and a barbarian atrocity," and he tells his nations' leaders that China "cannot accept the fact that such kind of barbarian and inhuman violence is still occurring in China in the 21st century."

Gao also criticizes the leaders of free nations for their inaction, writing that governments around the world, "have shamefully remained silent in the face of this great calamity."

In 1999, lawyers and courts throughout China were instructed by China's Central Government in Beijing not to accept cases filed by Falun Gong practitioners. In recent years, some trials were conducted largely for show, with "verdicts" mandated by Communist Party officials.

For this reason Gao's work is critical.

"Falun Gong practitioners in China have been denied their most basic rights and have nowhere to turn," stated Falun Dafa Information spokesperson, Mr. Erping Zhang. "Mr. Gao's work to defend Falun Gong followers in China takes tremendous courage... his family has been threatened and now the government is aiming to take away his livelihood. He is the kind of lawyer that the Chinese people need most, but that the Communist government wants least," Zhang continued.

In 2004 Gao wrote to the Central Government about a Falun Gong case, but his client was persecuted further for seeking redress (see the U.S. Department of State's 2004 Annual Human Rights Report).

"The Chinese government's response to Mr. Gao is, sadly, typical," Mr. Zhang stated, "They don't investigate allegations of human rights but instead deny them across the board, attempt to silence voices of criticism, and when that doesn't work, use bully tactics and often extreme violence."

The Falun Dafa Information Center calls upon the international community to monitor the case of Gao Zhisheng and to voice its support for his heroic efforts to stop the persecution of Falun Gong in China and hold Chinese authorities accountable.

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NEWS - Nov. 09, 2005
Falun Dafa Information Center, www.faluninfo.net

FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT THE FALUN DAFA INFORMATION CENTER
Contacts: Gail Rachlin (+1 917-757-9780), Levi Browde (+1 646-415-0998), Erping Zhang (+1 646-533-6147), or Christina Chai (+1 917-386-5068).
Fax: 646-792-3916 Email: , Website: http://www.faluninfo.net/

In a Dear Colleague letter initiated by Rep. Christopher H. Smith currently being circulated in the US Congress, congressional representatives are calling on President Bush to have "human rights be made an integral part of our bilateral agenda" on his upcoming trip to China. The letter states,

"We are writing to request that the human rights concerns detailed in the letter be the center piece of your talks with Chinese President Hu Jintao during your upcoming visit to China. China continues to have a particularly poor human rights record and we believe that your trip to China provides an opportunity to express our grave concern regarding the lack of progress in China to protect human rights.

"There has been no overall improvement in human rights conditions in China. Chinese citizens are subject to severe government repression for exercising their rights to freedom of religion and thought."

The persecution of Falun Gong was a major topic discussed in the letter, with one of the action items being to "End the persecution of Falun Gong in China and abroad, and release Falun Gong practitioners from detention." Some other action items were "Stop the use of torture and other forms of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment" and "Lift all restrictions and obstacles to allow freedom to worship."

The unanimous passing of Congressional Resolutions 188, 277 and 304 over the past several years has signified the strong support of the US Congress towards Falun Gong. This Dear Colleague letter is yet another demonstration of the considerable support the US Congress has continuously given to Falun Gong.

The U.S. Department of State released the seventh Annual Report on International Religious Freedom, which examines the status of religious freedom around the world. The report is released by the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor on November 8.

The annual report to Congress is mandated by the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 and seeks to examine barriers to religious freedom in 197 countries and territories.

China and two other Asian communist states, North Korea and Vietnam, were designated among others as "Countries of Particular Concern" (CPC) for severe violations of religious freedom. The same countries were listed as CPCs in the 2004 report.

According to the 2005 report, the Chinese Communist Government's respect for freedom of religion and freedom of conscience remained poor, for many unregistered religious groups and spiritual movements such as the Falun Gong. Communist Party officials restated that party membership and religious belief were incompatible. For example, authorities have required clergy to publicly endorse government policies or denounce Falun Gong. Party and PLA military personnel have been expelled for adhering to the Falun Gong spiritual movement.

The Government continued to seek to manage religious affairs by restricting religious practice to government-sanctioned organizations and registered places of worship and to control the growth and scope of activities of religious groups to prevent the rise of possible competing sources of authority outside the control of the government. Unregistered religious groups continued to experience varying degrees of official interference and harassment. Members of some unregistered groups were subjected to restrictions, including intimidation, harassment, and detention.

The report states, in some areas, security officials used threats, demolition of unregistered property, extortion, interrogation, detention, and at times beatings and torture to harass leaders of unauthorized groups and their followers. The arrest, detention, and imprisonment of Falun Gong practitioners continued, and there have been credible reports of deaths due to torture and abuse. Practitioners who refuse to recant their beliefs are sometimes subjected to harsh treatment in prisons, reeducation-through-labor camps, and extra-judicial "legal education" centers.

According to the report, there were continuing revelations about the extra-legal activities of the Government's 610 office, implicated in most alleged abuses of Falun Gong practitioners.

The report states, during the period covered by this report, government repression of the Falun Gong spiritual movement continued. At the National People's Congress session in March 2004, Premier Wen Jiabao's Government Work Report emphasized that the Government would "expand and deepen its battle against [CCP's slanderous term deleted]," including Falun Gong. There were credible reports of torture and deaths in custody of Falun Gong practitioners.

"According to Falun Gong practitioners in the United States, since 1999 more than 100,000 practitioners have been detained for engaging in Falun Gong practices, admitting that they adhere to the teachings of Falun Gong, or refusing to criticize the organization or its founder. The organization reports that its members have been subject to excessive force, abuse, detention, and torture, and that some of its members, including children, have died in custody. For example, in 2003, Falun Gong practitioner Liu Chengjun died after reportedly being abused in custody in Jilin Province. Some foreign observers estimate that at least half of the 250,000 officially recorded inmates in the country's reeducation-through-labor camps are Falun Gong adherents. Falun Gong places the number even higher. Hundreds of Falun Gong adherents were also incarcerated in legal education centers, a form of administrative detention, upon completion of their reeducation-through-labor sentences," says the report.

"According to the Falun Gong, hundreds of its practitioners have been confined to psychiatric institutions and forced to take medications or undergo electric shock treatment against their will", the report continued.

The report also mentioned a Beijing attorney's open letter in December 2004 to the National People's Congress highlighting legal abuses in cases involving Falun Gong. The letter focused on the April 2004 detention and subsequent administrative sentencing of Huang Wei of Shijiazhuang, Hebei Province. It described how Falun Gong cases are handled outside normal legal procedures by a special Ministry of Justice office, known as the 610 office. The letter alleged that mistreatment is typical of the ongoing campaign against Falun Gong. After the open letter was published, Huang's wife disappeared, and her whereabouts remain unknown. The asylum request of a Chinese diplomat and other former government officials allegedly involved in the Government's campaign against Falun Gong overseas brought additional scrutiny and negative attention to the extra-legal activities of the 610 Office, including allegations that it sought out Falun Gong practitioners abroad and forcibly returned them to the country.

Since 1999, the Secretary of State has designated China as a "Country of Particular Concern" under the International Religious Freedom Act (IRFA) for particularly severe violations of religious freedom.

The report concludes with an overview of U.S. efforts to promote and support international religious freedom through public advocacy and support of active monitoring of religious freedom conditions.

"The pursuit of religious liberty supports other freedoms, including speech, assembly, and conscience," according to the report. "When the cause of religious freedom is furthered, so is the pursuit of democracy."

Full text of the 2005 Annual Report on International Religious Freedom can be found at: http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/irf/2005/51509.htm

The 2005 Asia-Pacific Falun Dafa Cultivation Experience Sharing Conference was held on November 6, 2005 at the Istana Hotel in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia with nearly 1,200 Falun Gong practitioners in attendance. The practitioners came from eleven countries and regions, including Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand, Philippines, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea, Australia and India. This was the first time Malaysian practitioners had hosted the Asia-Pacific Falun Dafa Cultivation Experience Sharing Conference. The aim was to create an opportunity for local practitioners to exchange thoughts and share experiences with practitioners from other areas.

The scene of the Asia-Pacific Falun Dafa Cultivation Experience Sharing Conference

The conference formally started at 10:00 a.m., and concluded at 5:00 p.m. Twenty-four practitioners from Asia-Pacific countries read papers. The practitioners' experience sharing included why one takes the path of practice, personal practice experiences, how to do the three things well, how to break through human notions and barriers to clarify the truth to people from all walks of life, (including government officials and lawyers) to expose the Chinese Communist Party's brutal persecution of Falun Gong, and how to extensively spread the truth to the precious Chinese people.

In order to help more people learn the wonderfulness of Falun Dafa, and the brutal persecution of Falun Gong happening in China, the Malaysia Falun Dafa Research Center held an "International Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance Art Exhibit" the day before the experience sharing conference. That same afternoon, practitioners also held a word formation activity. The words and Chinese Characters practitioners formed included "Falun Dafa" (in English), "Sejati, Baik, Sabar (Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance)" and "Falun Dafa" and "Fa-rectification" (in Chinese).

Practitioners form words and Chinese characters

International Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance Art Exhibit

The Malaysia Falun Dafa Research Center also invited government officials and the media to attend the series of activities. Practitioners held a press conference at noon on the same day of the conference, and played a video about the staged self immolation at Tiananmen Square to further spread the truth of Falun Dafa to the public.

Since 1999, Falun Dafa has been subjected to persecution and slander by the CCP, and many people inside and outside China have developed misunderstandings of Falun Gong. Through the Asia-Pacific Falun Dafa Cultivation Experience Sharing Conference, many government officials, the media and regular citizens had an opportunity to truly understand Falun Gong. Many people were moved by seeing so many people from different races and countries hold a group practice. There are still so many people practicing Falun Gong, even though Falun Gong has been persecuted in China for over six years. Many people took materials and learned the exercises.

Falun Gong practitioners in the countries neighboring China have been facing pressure from the CCP over the past six years, yet still steadfastly strive to stop the persecution of Falun Gong in China.

On November 4, Judge Michael Hartmann of the Court of First Instance ruled in a written document that, based on the public's interest, the Hong Kong Immigration Department must explain why the four Falun Gong practitioners were put on a blacklist and denied entry to Hong Kong, and when and which government official put them on the blacklist. The hearing is still ongoing.

On October 20, the Hong Kong High Court opened its first session in the case in which Taiwanese Falun Gong practitioners were denied entry to Hong Kong and were violently deported. Four Taiwanese Falun Gong practitioners and Hong Kong Falun Gong spokesperson Kan Hung-cheung held an appeal before the court opened.

In February, 2003, four Taiwanese Falun Gong practitioners were barred from entering Hong Kong when they arrived to attend a Falun Dafa conference. They were illegally deported. The four practitioners and Hong Kong Falun Dafa Association spokesperson Kan Hung-cheung filed a judicial review of the incident with the high court. They requested the Immigration Department to explain why they were included on a "watch list".

One of the plaintiffs, Taiwanese Falun Gong practitioner Ms. Theresa Chu Woan-chyi, who is also an in-house lawyer with a US insurance company, was among the nearly 80 Taiwanese Falun Gong practitioners who were violently deported in February 2003 by the Hong Kong Immigration Department for "security concerns". The Hong Kong Immigration Department said that she was also included on an "Immigration Watch List".

Ms. Chu said that the four Taiwanese practitioners were all well-educated. Chu is an attorney, two practitioners are government officials, and the other one is an engineer. None of them has any criminal record. The Hong Kong government's so-called "security concerns" can hardly be justified. In addition, all of them entered Hong Kong in 2001. Take Ms. Chu as an example. She had entered Hong Kong in 2001 but was denied entry in June 2002. In January 2003, she was allowed to enter Hong Kong, but was barred from entering the city again in February 2003.

Paul Harris, legal counsel who represents the Falun Gong practitioners, thinks that the Hong Kong government must have other reasons besides the "security concerns" for barring Falun Gong practitioners from entering the territory. He believes that the authorities created a blacklist ("watch list") targeting Falun Gong practitioners. He requested that the government release the watch list to the public and explain the rationale for compiling it. Government counsel Daniel Fung Wah-kin SC opposed the request. He said that should the judge order the release of security information, he would consider an application for "public interest immunity" to refuse the release.

Nonetheless, Judge Michael Hartmann of the Court of First Instance ruled in the November 4, 2005 written document, that based on "public interest", the Hong Kong Immigration Department must explain why the four Taiwanese Falun Gong practitioners were included on the watch list and denied entry to Hong Kong, and when and which government official put them on this list.