Husband Previously Taken from His Home in China and Tortured, Wife Detained
(Read Full Text
of Letter Here)
GENEVA (FDI) — Falun Gong practitioners from 20 different countries will deliver
1000 personal letters to the Australian Mission to the U.N. today, asking Australian
officials to cease deportation proceedings of an elderly couple back to China.
Mr. Wang Juntao (66) and Ms. Wang Liluan (62) were due to be deported on March
11 after their application for asylum was rejected by Australian officials.
Due to Mr. Wang’s medical condition, deportation was rescheduled for later
today.
Over 1,000 Falun Gong practitioners have gathered this week in Geneva to bring
attention to the nationwide persecution of Falun Gong in China during the United
Nation Commission on Human Rights’ annual meeting.
Persecution of Falun Gong Permeates All Sectors of Chinese Society
According to reports from Australia, the main reason given for rejecting the
Wangs’ asylum application was the belief that “ordinary” Falun
Gong practitioners would not face persecution if they practiced only at home.
“This is a misconception stemming from the information blockade that the
Chinese regime has put in place regarding the Falun Gong issue,” explains
Jason Loftus, spokesperson for the Falun Dafa Association in Canada who is in
Geneva this week. “But the blockade is not entirely effective, as a number
of media, organizations and government leaders have been able to document the
pervasive and systemic nature of the persecution and how it directly affects
each and every person who practices Falun Gong in China.”
On July 4, 2001, Australia’s own ABC TV reported that “close to half”
of all those held in China’s forced labour camps are Falun Gong practitioners.
The United States Congress unanimously passed a resolution on July 24, 2002,
condemning the persecution of Falun Gong in China (news). In the resolution,
the systematic nature of the persecution was highlighted: “the campaign
of persecution has been generated by the Government of the People’s Republic
of China, is carried out by government officials and police at all levels, and
has permeated every segment of society and every level of government in the
People’s Republic of China”
Mr. Loftus concludes, “the overwhelming evidence that has been documented
over the last three and a half years points to one simple fact: Regardless of
who you are, if you practice Falun Gong in China, you are a target of a nationwide
persecution campaign.”
Dark Days in China Still Haunt the Wangs.
The Wangs have previously been victimized by the persecution of Falun Gong in
China.
Mr. Wang was arrested in his home in September 1999 while having a meal with
his brother and son. While in detention, Mr. Wang was beaten and shocked repeatedly
with electric batons until he lost consciousness. In October 1999, when Ms.
Wang arrived at the detention center to appeal for her husband, she too was
arrested.
A month later, Mr. Wang’s brother-in-law was detained, and then tortured
to death several months later. Two of Mr. Wang’s brothers have also been
sent to labor camps without trial, simply for practicing Falun Gong.
Unfamiliar with Democratic Freedoms, Elderly Couple Baulks after Asylum Rejection
Upon rejection of their application for asylum in Australia, the Wangs retreated
to their place of residence and made no further contact with Australian officials.
They did not follow the proper follow-up steps nor initiate an appeal.
“Having been raised and lived for so long under China’s Communist
regime,” explains Ms. Lucy Zhou, a native of China who is actively working
to secure the Wangs’ safety. “They really don’t have the concept
of ‘appealing’ or taking any further steps to have their case heard.
In China, appeals and similar matters are all very symbolic…once the ‘higher-ups’
have ruled, there is really no channel for a legitimate appeal.”
Ms. Zhou says this upbringing — combined with the confusion and fear at the
prospect of being sent back to China — caused the elderly couple to not pursue
the matter further, and instead, confine themselves to their residence.
The Question of Asylum: Principle vs. Protocol
As Ms. Zhou points out, however, this failure to engage in follow-up asylum
application steps is no grounds to send the couple back to China. “The
real issue here is the fundamental principle of asylum,” says Ms. Zhou.
“The laws and procedures for asylum application exist to help people who
face persecution. If we send people back to face persecution for not following
the application procedures — especially under these circumstances — has the
law upheld its own founding principle or has it actually been used to violate
that principle?”
Ms. Zhou says that only Cambodia, under the pressure from Chinese authorities,
has deported Falun Gong practitioners back to China, an action that was condemned
by the United Nations High Commission on Refugees. These practitioners were
arrested upon returning to China and their current status is unknown. They have
had no communication with the outside world.
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NEWS – Mar. 17, 2003
Falun Dafa Information Center, www.faluninfo.net
