SCMP: Falun Gong followers mark human rights day with protest

Wednesday, December 10, 2003

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Falun Gong followers practise their meditation exercises in a Hong Kong park on Wednesday, at a demonstration to mark International Human Rights Day. Falun Gong claims it is persecuted in the mainland and wants Beijing to end its crackdown. The banner reads "Punish [former Chinese President] Jiang Zemin severely."

About 100 Falun Gong followers demanded an end to what they said was persecution by Beijing as they marked International Human Rights Day on Wednesday with a peaceful rally.

China's rapid economic growth has taken attention away from the torture, killings and unfair imprisonment of Falun Gong adherents, said Sophie Xiao, a Hong Kong-based spokeswoman for the meditation group Beijing has outlawed [and persecuted brutally.]

"Atrocities are still going on behind those high-rises and new buildings in China," Ms. Xiao said by telephone from a downtown park where Falun Gong staged its demonstration by practicing slow-motion exercises.

Falun Gong claims some 800 followers have died in Chinese police custody and many thousands more have been detained. [...]

Falun Gong remains legal in Hong Kong and frequently protests here against the crackdown that began under the regime of former Chinese President Jiang Zemin.

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http://hongkong.scmp.com/hknews/ZZZSIUDWXND.html