(Clearwisdom.net) On February 9, 2009, the United Nations Human Rights Committee will review human rights in China as part of its Universal Periodic Review (UPR). UPR is an unique process which involves a review of the human rights records of all UN Member States once every four years.

The persecution of Falun Gong in China has gone on for almost ten years. The Falun Gong Human Rights Working Group (FGHRWG) has submitted a powerful report to the UN regarding the Chinese government's persecution of Falun Gong. The report has been published on the UPR official website:

http: //www.upr-info.org/Documents-for-the-review¡A459.html

(search for: The Falun Gong Human Rights Working Group)

The Falun Gong Human Rights Working Group report points out that the persecution of Falun Gong violates every item of the the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The report discusses the following in detail:

1. Deprivation of Dignity and Personal Freedom, and All Basic Rights
2. Deprivation of the Right to Life, Liberty and Personal Security
3. Slavery
4. Torture and Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment
5. Deprivation of Protection of Law, Access to Legal Help, and a Fair Trial
6. Arbitrary Detention
7. Destruction of Families
8. Deprivation of Freedom of Movement, Right to Nationality, and Right to Asylum
9. Deprivation of Fundamental Civil and Political Rights
10. Deprivation of Basic Social and Cultural Rights, and Right to Personal Development

According to the information gathered from Falun Gong practitioners and their sympathizers in Mainland China, more than a million of practitioners were detained. Tens of thousands were put into forced labor camps. Thousands were put into mental hospitals and injected with unknown drugs. Almost all detained practitioners were physically abused. Most of the detained female practitioners were tortured, including sexual insults. Thousands were killed as results of tortures. A large number of the practitioners were subject to live organ removals. Since the Chinese Communist Party's (CCP) blocks all information, the actual number of these cases may be much higher. During the past few years, UN special human rights agents questioned the CCP officials regarding the persecution several thousand times, confirming the existence of a large-scale persecution. With the long period of time and a large number of victims, the CCP's persecution of Falun Gong practitioners becomes the most severe human rights disaster in the world.

The Chinese government's severe and extensive violations against Falun Gong are considered by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) to be "barbarous acts which have outraged the conscience of mankind." Such acts go against the letter and spirit of the UN Charter, and violate every article of the UDHR and all international human rights treaties and laws that are based on the UDHR. When China applied to be a member of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC), they promised to protect human rights. But their actual record on human rights is an insult to the wisdom and conscience of international society.

The report points out a similar systematic violation of human rights against Tibetans, Uyghurs, Mongolians, Christians, dissidents, and other victim groups, making the Chinese government the worst human rights offender in the world.

Links to Chinese and English versions of the report to UPR on the Chinese government's persecution of Falun Gong:

http://www.falunhr.org/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=1738&Itemid=0

http://www.falunhr.org/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=1737&Itemid=0

January 30, 2009