SPECIAL REPORT FROM THE UN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION IN GENEVA

Contact Rachlin Management and Media Group: 212 501-8080
  • 900 PRACTITIONERS APPEAL FOR HUMAN RIGHTS AT U.N. IN GENEVA
  • US OFFICALS: "UPBEAT," CHINA UNMOVED, EUROPE WARY
  • AS THE U.N. COMMISSION HEARS TESTIMONY, ABUSES CONTINUE

900 FALUN GONG PRACTITIONERS APPEAL TO THE U.N. HIGH COMISSION

GENEVA (Reuters) - Members of the Falun Gong spiritual movement Monday accused China of persecuting their banned movement and called on the main U.N. human rights forum to take action. Hundreds of Falun Gong followers meditated in silent protest outside the U.N. building in Geneva to mark the opening of the annual session of the U.N. Commission on Human Rights.

Spokesmen for the popular movement, which claims between 70 million and 100 million adherents, accused Chinese officials of arresting more than 35,000 people since the ruling Communist Party banned Falun Gong last July. "Eleven cases of death by torture have been reported thus far, and tens of thousands have lost their homes, jobs, schools, pensions and even Party membership,"' Rachlin told a news briefing.

(Falun Gong sources report that 900 practitioners appealed in an orderly manner to the United Nations with exercises and meditations outside UN headquarters. "Delegates told us how impressed they were by the meditations, our dignified presentation and the importance of the issues we raised," reports Gail Rachlin, spokeswoman for Falun Gong. "This is the first time that we've had a chance to present concerns to the international community." It was also significant that China, which has sought to ignore Falun Gong concerns, sent official representatives and journalists to Falun Gong's press conference. Falun Gong's perspective was not reported in China's state controlled media.)

CHINA REACTS: CONDEMNS FALUN GONG (AGAIN), AND THE UNITED STATES

GENEVA (Reuters) - China Tuesday accused the United States of using the issue of the banned Falun Gong spiritual movement to politicize the main U.N. human rights forum and score points in a U.S. presidential election year. But Qiao Zonghuai, China's ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva, said that any country which presented a resolution on China in support of the "evil cult" would be humiliated. The United States has announced it will present a resolution criticizing China for "deteriorating human rights conditions," including repression of the popular Falun Gong, banned last July. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright is expected to seek support for the U.S. resolution when she addresses the 53-member forum in Geneva Thursday. China has defeated Western attempts to rebuke it every year since 1990, the Commission session held after student protesters were killed in Beijing's Tiananmen Square in June 1989. Beijing denies it is repressing political and religious groups.

BUT--THE US IS "UPBEAT," BELIEVES HUMAN RIGHTS BODY WILL REBUKE CHINA

(Reuters) Harold Koh, Assistant Secretary of State and the top U.S. human rights official, was upbeat Monday about the prospects for putting China in the Commission's dock. Koh, speaking to a news briefing in Washington, said the mood had shifted against China in the past year, creating the best chance in years for a vote on its human rights record. The UN commission votes in April. The United States has announced it will present a resolution criticizing China for "deteriorating human rights conditions," including repression of the popular Falun Gong, banned last July. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright is expected to seek support for the U.S. resolution when she addresses the 53-member forum in Geneva Thursday.

EUROPE IS WARY: CRITICAL OF CHINA, CONCERNED ABOUT TRADE - HOW WILL IT VOTE?

(Reuters) European Union foreign ministers, meeting in Brussels on Monday, criticized China's record but did not say what the bloc's stand would be at the Geneva forum. The EU, seven of whose 15 states are members of the U.N. rights body this year, is facing American pressure to back a resolution. The EU ministers expressed concern about "continuing and widespread restrictions on fundamental freedoms," singling out freedoms of assembly, expression and association. ... In recent years, China has managed to quash all critical Western resolutions by winning a vote on its own "no-action motion," which prevents debate on the resolution itself.

MEANWHILE IN CHINA, REPORTS OF ABUSE CONTINUE

(Falun Dafa websites) Eyewitness Report: Detention Center in Jinan City At 6 AM on February 24, while practicing the exercises, Gao was beaten by officer Xing. When Gao was in the conjoined-hands position, officer Xing clenched his fist and struck Gao's right arm. Gao maintained her posture without fighting back. She simply put her hands back to the conjoined position when her hands were knocked apart. Later, maybe officer Xing's hands became painful, so he tried to use a stick to beat Gao instead. Gao told officer Xing that even if her arms were broken, she would still practice Falun Gong. Officer Xing stopped beating her... Human Rights Alert: Xie Yu-Feng, a Beijing Falun Dafa practitioner, was detained on January 6, 2000 for his appealing for Falun Gong, an act in accordance with the rights of citizens specified in the Constitution of People's Republic of China. Xie is still in custody to date. The detention period has far exceeded the time allowable by law. For over two months, Xie has been on a constant hunger strike and he is injected with glucose by force. His life is severely endangered. ...

MEDIA ADVISORY: NATIONAL PRESS CLUB NEWS CONFERENCE ON MARCH 27th

National Press Club "MORNING NEWSMAKER" News Conference will be held Monday, March 27, at 9:00 AM at the National Press Club Lisagor Room. Spokesperson Erping Zhang will discuss persecution of Falun Gong and suppression of human rights in the People's Republic of China.

Contact: Peter Hickman at 1-301-530-1210 (H) or 1-202-662-7593 (Press Club).

FOR MORE INFORMATION: Please call for background on the spiritual practice and the crisis in China. Contact Rachlin Management & Media Group: 212 501-8080. Also visit http://www.falundafa.org. News stories and reports from China at http://www.minghui.ca/eng.html

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Category: Falun Dafa in the Media