April 1, 2006 Saturday

GENEVA: The United Nations is looking into allegations by the Falun Gong group that thousands of its followers are being held at a Chinese "concentration camp" and some have been killed.

The spiritual movement, banned in China, has alleged up to 6000 people at a time are being kept at a state-run camp in the Sujiatun district of the northern city of Shenyang, where it said some had been killed and their organs sold.

''The allegation is Falun Gong practitioners are being used for the sale of organs and human tissues,'' the UN's Manfred Nowak said yesterday.

Mr Nowak is the world body's special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.

"According to the allegation nobody has so far left this concentration camp,"he said.

"I am presently in the process of investigating, as far as I can, these allegations...if I come to the conclusion that it is a serious and well-founded allegation, then I will officially submit it to the attention of the Chinese Government."