A Letter to UN General Secretary Kofi Annan from Norwegian Practitioners Regarding the Hunger Strike of 130 Practitioners in Masanjia Labour Camp

Mr. Kofi Annan
UN General Secretary

Oslo, August 17, 2001

Dear Mr Kofi Annan,

We want to draw your attention to the human rights situation in China. This harms many groups. Permit us to focus on the Falun Gong practitioners.

Around the beginning of this month some 130 practitioners went on a hunger strike while being illegally held in the Masanjia Labour Camp of Liaoning Province, China. The practitioners are being detained even after their sentence has finished. This incident has also been reported by the official news agencies.

Authorities say that "we would rather violate the law [than set practitioners free]; we absolutely do not release these persons." Reportedly this instruction has led to even crueller treatment of practitioners who have not renounced Falun Gong.

The Masanjia Labour Camp is notorious for its extreme, violent measures employed to "re-educate" Falun Gong practitioners. Last October it was reported that camp officers stripped naked 18 female Falun Gong practitioners and threw them into the cells of male convicts; the abuse they suffered was terrifying.

This is only the tip of the iceberg of unworthy treatment of kind-hearted people. Because of their cultivation practice, a fundamental human right in civilized countries, they lose their jobs, are illegally arrested and sent to labour camps for re-education. Many are tortured to death. These deaths are officially reported as suicide.

The only goal for these people is to become better persons and live according to Truthfulness -- Benevolence -- Forbearance. In so doing they keep normal jobs and have a productive life in the society. Yet they are heavily persecuted. The Chinese government now admits to using violence in the persecution. Please see more details in the attached article from the Washington Post.

The actions set forth by the Chinese authorities does not comply with a civilized country.

Up to now more than 260 Falun Gong practitioners have died after incarceration in Chinese prisons, most of them were tortured to death. More than 1000 have been sent to mental hospitals, where they are forcefully given medicine that damages their nervous system.

Amnesty International confirms these cruel actions from Chinese authorities.

This is a matter of great concern for the world community. In this we refer to Lisa Raphael, who is a Holocaust survivor. She says:

"The persecution in Europe could never have happened if the rest of the world had not stayed blind to it. Most countries, including this one (US), ignored the reports and accounts of these persecutions, out of short-sightedness. 'What has this to do with us?' we said.

"The principle behind ... programs that honour Holocaust Victims is 'never again.' But it is happening again, and has continued to happen. We must not stay blind this time. We must not kid ourselves into thinking that what happens elsewhere in the world is not our business."

We urge you, Mr Kofi Annan, UN Secretary General, and all good people of the world to help stop this cruel treatment of innocent people in Mainland China.

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Sincerely,

Falun Gong practitioners in Norway