Monday, July 9, 2001

Advocates for the Falun Gong stopped in Utah on Sunday to bring attention to the Chinese government's persecution of the meditation [group].

"We are seeking every means -- diplomatic, legal and humanitarian -- to stop further killing of innocent people in China," said Estelle Morgan, one of 11 Falun Gong practitioners headed for a national rally next week at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington.

Just over a dozen practitioners did their stylized exercises during a morning news conference at the City-County Building in downtown Salt Lake City. This [...] exercises offered a peaceful contrast to the posters behind them, which showed the cuts, scars and bruises of torture victims.

Chinese pediatrician Yang Li told about her harrowing month in a Chinese work camp. The Falun Gong practitioner told of sleeping on the floor, eating two daily meals of cabbage, showering in basin water and being punished for doing the spiritual exercises during captivity.

"I don't know how I survived," she said through a translator.

Advocates say there are about 100 million practitioners. The Chinese government estimates about 2.5 million. Others have put the number of practitioners worldwide at tens of millions.

July 22 will be the second anniversary of the Chinese government's official crackdown on Falun Gong, [...] Since then, it has become a crime punishable by jail, institutionalization or commitment to "re-education through labor" camps.

The government has killed 250 Falun Gong practitioners as part of this swift and unrelenting crackdown, the advocates said. Their allegations have been difficult to substantiate because of government secrecy and a ban on information-sharing. But some atrocities have been confirmed by the U.S. State Department.

One man was beaten by police then dragged to death behind a motorcycle. A 60-year-old woman died of a heart attack, according to authorities, but her family claimed a body covered with bruises and marred with a broken nose and teeth. An 18-year-old woman, traveling home in the custody of authorities, reportedly jumped to her death from a moving train.

The most recent Falun Gong victims died last month at Wanjia Reeducation Labor Camp in Heilongjiang Province. The government said three hanged themselves in protest, while Falun Gong activists say 15 were tortured to death.

The crackdown has been condemned by the State Department and the human-rights group Amnesty International. [...]

http://www.sltrib.com/07092001/utah/112150.htm