(Clearwisdom.net) On May 13, 2005, Falun Gong practitioners in Malaysia walked from Independence Square to the Malaysian Human Rights Committee Office, to submit a memorandum in the hopes that the authorities will show concern about the issue of Malaysian Falun Gong practitioners being deprived of their rights of freedom of association and expression.
Falun Gong practitioners also held a press conference. Reporters from the newspapers of three languages in Malaysia and the largest electronic medium, Malaysiakini, attended the press conference.
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Falun Gong practitioners in Malaysia followed the legal procedures in applying for registration as a legal association. But the relevant authorities rejected their applications three times, without giving any reason. After the registration as an association was rejected for the third time, practitioners had no other choice but to register as a company. Finally, the Falun Dafa Research Center was set up in May 2003.
We believe that it was the Chinese Embassy that is interfering with the authorities' decision-making, resulting in our application being repeatedly rejected. Several media in Malaysia have touched upon this point as well, in various news stories. One report specifically pointed out that the Registration Bureau rejected the Falun Gong practitioners' application because of protests from the Chinese Embassy.
In addition, Falun Gong practitioners' right to freely express their opinions, for example, the right to disseminate information through handing out flyers and other materials, has also been curtailed. Falun Gong practitioners have received several warnings from the Civil Affairs Department, ordering practitioners to stop distributing materials and flyers "against China" and "interfering the China's internal affairs."
The materials that practitioners disseminated are downloaded freely from the Internet, and they have also quoted reports from Amnesty International and other human rights organizations. The contents of all flyers and materials consist of general information about Falun Gong and the facts of the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners in China. The information is all based on substantiated facts, and is absolutely not "instigating opposition" or "opposing China."
The practitioners called on the Malaysian Human Rights Committee to show concern about the Falun Gong incident in Malaysia, and hoped that they would investigate the issue of human rights deprivation of Falun Gong practitioners, especially the issue of the application for registration as an association being rejected. The practitioners also suggested that the relevant authorities allow Falun Gong practitioners to exercise their freedom of expression and association, because such freedoms should be carried out without any interference.
Attorney Yun Dashun also spoke at the press conference. He said that it is a very serious issue that a group's registration application was rejected three times without any appropriate reason given. He also expressed that Amnesty International and the United Unions and other organizations have verified that the persecution of Falun Gong in China is on the level of genocide. Therefore, it is very reasonable that Falun Gong practitioners in Malaysia bring these facts to the people in Malaysia. "Malaysian people can freely talk about the war between the US and Iraq; why can't they talk about the persecution of Falun Gong in China?"
Malaysian Human Rights Committee representative, Natuk Xihua accepted the memorandum. He expressed that he would look at the issue of deprivation of Falun Gong practitioners' freedom of expression and association, and at the same time, he would take appropriate steps and actions.
