Saturday, March 16, 2002
Dear Mr Straw,We are writing to you to express our grave concern regarding the severe persecution of Falun Gong practitioners in China by the Chinese government.
The persecution has been going on for nearly three years and has included all forms of torture, both physical and mental, imprisonment without trial and even murder - so far at least 385 practitioners have been tortured to death while in custody.
The situation in China has recently become even more serious, as President Jiang Zemin has ordered a 'Kill Without Mercy' policy to be carried out by the authorities. Hundreds of Falun Gong practitioners have been rounded up during the last 2 weeks, many to be given prison sentences up to 15 years and sentences of 3-5 years are being handed out merely for distributing leaflets.In Changchun city alone, over 200 practitioners have been arrested and imprisoned. Four shooting incidents have been reported and 2 practitioners were wounded, and it is reported that the authorities have enlisted other criminals to help round up practitioners, as the authorities turn their resources 100% against Falun Gong to the exclusion of real criminals. The police are on duty 24 hours a day to arrest practitioners.
Britain must therefore not allow the Chinese government to perpetrate this state terrorism against its own people any longer. We urge you to carry the protest in the strongest possible terms to the Chinese government, and to impress upon Jiang Zemin that his policy is wholly unacceptable both to the British government and its people.
Furthermore, we would urge you to make very clear Britain's deep concern over China's appalling human rights record during the forthcoming UN Commission on Human Rights in Geneva. The persecution, although mainly confined to Chinese citizens, has also dragged in several foreign practitioners in recent months, including some from Britain, who went to Beijing to appeal directly to China to stop the persecution, but were immediately arrested, maltreated and deported.We look forward to your reply on this issue.
Yours sincerely
John Dee (Vice-Chairman)