To: Human Rights Section Representatives
Department of Foreign Affairs
Australia

Dear Sirs/Madams,

How are you?

We are Falun Dafa practitioners. As Australia is meeting with China to talk about human rights issues, we would like to take this opportunity to express our voice in this respect.

China has persecuted Falun Dafa for over one year. They used fabricated materials to defame Falun Dafa. They twisted facts to mislead the public. They control all the news media and use all of them to attack Falun Dafa.

They do not allow people to practice Falun Dafa. People who continue to practice Falun Dafa are subject to persecution in many different ways. Some were arrested and detained. Some were sentenced to long prison terms as long as 18 years. Some were tortured. Some were sent to mental hospitals with forced injections affecting them mentally and physically. Some were beaten to death or died under police custody. Some lost job or pensions. Some lost studentship. Some lost home or all properties. Some paid heavy fines. Some lost privacy.

Their persecution of Falun Dafa extends to overseas. Australian news media were interfered if they reported positive news of Falun Dafa so that most of them were reluctant to publish our news and activities. Some bookshops discontinued to sell Falun Dafa books as a result of the China's influence.

Australian Falun Dafa practitioners are also subject to persecution. Tens of Australian Falun Dafa practitioners were arrested and detained in the past few months while they went to China and tried to tell the Chinese authorities that Falun Dafa is good, not an evil cult. Right now, two Australian Falun Dafa practitioners have been detained in China for over five months. Their names are Ms Zhang Cui-ying and Ms Feng Xiao-mei.

Ms Zhang has been inhumanely treated. Her health is deteriorating. She is losing hair. She was beaten badly and is on shackles. She is not allowed to sleep in bed and has to sleep on the floor. The official of Australian Foreign Affairs visiting her expressed that she was not in good shape and her condition made them worry. As a foreign citizen, Ms Zhang could not even execute her basic human rights in China to improve her situation in jail or to have a fair trial of her case. Therefore it is hard to imagine how the Falun Dafa practitioners living in China could have any say on all the persecutions that violated their basic human rights.

We knew very little the situation of Ms Feng. It is really worrying.

We are aware that Australian government has done a lot to try to help China to improve their human rights record. We really appreciate it. However, it is very sad that despite all your efforts, their human rights record has been worsening. We consider that it is necessary once again to condemn their severe violations of human rights, particularly in the past year, in your current human rights talk with them.

We earnestly request you to ask the Chinese government to respect all the international covenants they have signed in respect of human rights; to stop persecuting all Falun Dafa practitioners; and to release all of them.

Yours truly,

Falun Dafa Practitioners
Australia

14 August, 2000