Letter from an NGO and FoFG to Canada's Minister of Citizenship and Immigration

(Clearwisdom.net)

August 22, 2002

Dear Minister:

Re: Falun Gong and Your Visit to China

I am writing in my capacity as acting chair of DAWN Ontario: DisAbled Women's Network Ontario and in my capacity as a member of the Friends of Falun Gong Association of Canada, regarding your upcoming visit to China in late August.

[...]

Friends of Falun Gong Association of Canada is a Canadian-based, non-profit organization of individuals who actively support freedom of belief and basic human rights that are being contravened currently in China. We have elected to make the persecution in China of Falun Gong practitioners the primary focus of our human rights concerns due to Falun Gong's peaceful nature and positive contributions to Canadian society and the world. Their admirable commitment to non-violence and to the principles of truthfulness, compassion and tolerance exemplifies the very best in human beings.

We join our colleagues at the Friends of Falun Gong Association of Canada, in writing to express our serious concerns over the three-year persecution of Falun Gong in China. We would particularly draw your attention to 11 new Canadians whose family members are currently imprisoned in Chinese forced labor camps for their belief (please see attached for their stories).

Minister Coderre, we respectfully request that you bring their cases up with Chinese officials during your visit. We would also urge you to ask our Prime Minister to clearly and publicly condemn the persecution when he meets with Jiang Zemin, the President of China, during the APEC meeting this October in Mexico.

Among the new Canadians' family members who are imprisoned is He Lizhi. Lizhi, 38, was a senior structure engineer with the Ministry of Construction in China who was regarded as one of the top six in his field in all of China and the winner of the Golden Award for National Outstanding Engineering Design in 1998. Lizhi and his wife Zhang Li received their Canadian landing status issued by your Department (Record of Landing Number of He Lizhi: W922532004) in 2000. Lizhi was arrested the same year for forwarding Falun Gong materials to his friends and was sentenced to three and a half years to a forced labor camp in Qianjin Prison in Tianjin, China. His wife Zhang Li, who was allowed to visit Lizhi briefly, found him extremely frail due to apparent torture. Zhang Li came to Toronto to avoid being arrested in 2001. Zhang Li, alone in Canada, has to struggle each day not knowing her husband's situation in the jail.

Lizhi, a young and outstanding engineer with a brilliant track record in his profession, could have contributed significantly to Canada if he had not been arrested by the Chinese government and allowed to come to the country. His family could have remained intact. His example highlights loudly and clearly of how insensible and brutal this persecution is. Yet, Lizhi is only one of the millions in every village, county, city and province in China who are tortured and oppressed because of their belief in Falun Gong.

As Canada is bringing in more immigrants from China, Falun Gong has long ceased to be a Chinese issue. It is in fact a pertinent and urgent issue facing many new Canadians from China who have yet to join the 11 brave Falun Gong practitioners who have publicized the stories of their loved ones.

We are writing to urge you as the Minister responsible for new Canadians to warn Chinese officials that the persecution does not only hurt Chinese people but also new Canadians. By putting these 11 known cases on the table with China, you can help send a strong message to President Jiang that this persecution is witnessed by the world and that Canada does not tolerate such brutality against Canadians or any other citizens. Your intervention through this visit will give hope to many both in Canada and China and will contribute significantly towards ending this persecution.

We look forward to hearing from you at your earliest convenience.

Yours truly,

Barbara Anello, OMC
Acting Chair, DAWN Ontario

Co-signed by Maisie Lo
Friends of Falun Gong Association of Canada