(Clearwisdom.net)

Brussels 2001-11-20

Foreign Minister Anna Lindh Department for Forreign Affairs 103 33 Stockholm

Dear Anna Lindh,

In the media today we have heard that about 40 demonstrators, of whom six are said to be from Sweden, have been arrested by the Chinese police after having demonstrated against the treatment of Falun Gong practitioners in China. According to the information, several of the demonstrators have been beaten by the Chinese police.

The communist one party regime in China is continously violating human rights. They brutally crack down on each slightest grievance or protest. Precisely, the continous assaults and the comprehensive persecution against the Falun Gong movement is a sign that the regime cannot tolerate any expression over which it does not have full control.

Today's event is extraordinarily serious and demands a forceful statement from the Swedish government saying that Sweden will not in any way accept the way in which the Chinese regime handles peaceful demonstrators. The fact that innocent Swedish citizens have lost their freedom and were beaten makes the question even more serious.

Regarding your strong and well-known committment to human rights, I urge you to act as soon as possible to free the Swedish citizens and to request that the Chinese regime fully accepts fundamental human rights.

With kind regards

Cecilia Malmstr m (liberal party )

Member of the European parliament