'Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom...to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance.'

Article 18, Universal Declaration of Human Rights

On the first anniversary of the crackdown on Falun Gong practitioners, Rights & Democracy calls upon the Government of China to respect the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and to stop persecuting members of the movement.á

Despite systematic government repression, Falun Gong followers continue to practice peaceful resistance through spiritual discipline, disseminate information on the Web, and courageously protest the illegal detentions and harsh punishments of fellow practitioners.á

Rights & Democracy is deeply concerned at reports of violations suffered by Falun Gong members in the year that followed the ban on the movement: the harsh prison sentences of between seven and 18 years imprisonment of four members whose cases were heard in a sham trial; the secret trials which have sent hundreds more to prison; the illegal 'administrative detentions' of thousands of followers in forced labor caps and psychiatric hospitals; the torture of scores in detention centers and the death is custody of at least 10 practitioners. These abuses flagrantly deny the basic rights guaranteed to Chinese citizens by domestic legislation and by international instruments ratified by China including the Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the UN Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment of Punishment.á

Rights & Democracy deplores the Chinese government's manipulation of the country's judiciary, which has been instructed to fulfil its 'political duty' by punishing members of Falun Gong and other similar organizations. These instructions make a mockery of the universally espoused principle of an independents and impartial judiciary.á

Rights & Democracy calls on the Government of Canada to address these issues as part of its human rights dialogue with China and to provide support for Falun Gong practitioners as they struggle for their basic human rights.á

Rights & Democracy (International Center for Human Rights and Democratic Development) is a Canadian institution with an international mandate. It works wit citizens and governments in Canada and abroad and to promote human rights and democratic development through advocacy, capacity building, dialogue and public education. It focuses its work on four themes: democratic development, women's rights, indigenous people's rights and globalization and human rights.

Montreal, July 20, 2000 Information: Patricia Poirier (514) 283-6073