Statement at Embarking on a Cycling Tour across Ireland in Support of "SOS! Urgent Rescue The Falun Gong Practitioners Persecuted in China"

Ladies and Gentlemen:

Falun Dafa, an ancient spiritual practice and form of meditation, was introduced to the public in 1992. Since then, Falun Dafa, also known as Falun Gong, has become popular in over 40 countries around the world with more than one hundred million practitioners. It has received awards and recognition in many countries. It is applauded by the public worldwide due to its beneficial effects in improving people's physical and mental health, while also raising people's moral standards.

However, from 20^th July 1999, Jiang Zemin's regime in China has outlawed Falun Gong out of his own fear of its popularity. After making it illegal to hold the values of "Truthfulness, Benevolence and Tolerance" in one's heart, a brutal, nationwide crackdown was initiated and it has continually intensified for two years. According to human rights groups, over 250 practitioners have been tortured to death, over 10,000 have been sent to labor camps, over 600 healthy practitioners sent to mental hospitals, and numerous practitioners have been arrested and detained. Millions of families have been broken. In particular, two mass killings have been reported in the past few weeks. Fifteen female Falun Gong practitioners were beaten and tortured to death in the Wanjia Labor Camp and over ten male practitioners of Falun Gong were beaten to death at Changlinzi Labor Camp in northeast China. The persecution is still escalating. The latest reports indicate that Jiang Zemin's regime is systematically killing Falun Gong practitioners.

Zhao Ming, a postgraduate student at Trinity College Dublin, went to China in 1999 to visit his family. He never returned to Ireland. He was sentenced to one year in the Beijing Tuanhe labour camp and later transferred to Xin'an labour camp without trial. He was severely tortured in the labour camps by both prisoners and his captors. On May 12 this year, Ming was supposed to be released. However, the police took him away a few days later. Ming's current whereabouts are unknown.

To draw the awareness and attention of the international community to the on-going and systematic slaughter of innocent people, and to end this inhuman and brutal tragedy, we Falun Gong practitioners in Ireland announce that today, we will join the worldwide campaign entitled "SOS! Urgent Rescue the Falun Gong Practitioners Persecuted in China" by embarking on a Cross-Ireland Cycling Journey.

We appeal to the Chinese government to:

• Stop the persecution and immediately release all unlawfully detained Falun Gong practitioners;
• Lift the ban of Falun Gong and reinstate the reputation of its founder, Mr. Li Hongzhi;

We call on the world to urge China to respect the UN Covenant on Civil & Political Rights that they have signed and to end the crisis through peaceful dialogue.

Thank you.