Press Statement on the Opening of the 60th Annual U.N. Human Rights Commission
NEW YORK (FDI) – As the United Nation’s Commission on Human Rights convenes
in Geneva this week, the Falun Dafa Information Center (FDI) joins the growing
chorus of voices urging the Commission to censure China for the horrific and widespread
abuses of human rights against Falun Gong practitioners throughout China.
As the U.S. State Department “Country Reports on Human Rights Practices
for 2003” says, the situation in China has been “backsliding”
in the past year, and the persecution against Falun Gong has been “particularly
harsh.”
To this end, on March 8th the U.S. Congress passed resolution
H. Res. 530 urging the international community to rebuke the People’s Republic
of China for a litany of human rights abuses. Additionally, last week 40 non-governmental
organizations adopted a resolution of their own, urging a resolution to be introduced
in Geneva “to call upon the People’s Republic of China to end its human
rights violations and meet internationally recognized standards for human rights.”
Atrocities Abound in China against Falun Gong
For the last four years, FDI has received daily reports from China documenting
arbitrary and cruel detentions, horrific torture as well as deaths from torture.
To date, there are more than 28,000 cases of serious human rights violations
documented, and these are merely the cases that have been uncovered by Chinese
citizens despite a strict information blockade imposed by the Chinese regime
on all cases related to Falun Gong.
FDI continues to receive numerous reports of atrocities each day. In February
2004, 30 deaths and scores of severe torture cases were uncovered and reported
from throughout China.
These atrocities are not the acts of a few areas or a few corrupt officials.
The campaign against Falun Gong is a directive handed down by former Chinese
leader Jiang Zemin, and forced upon the entire country…upon officials of all
levels.
Many legal experts classify Jiang’s “eradicate Falun Gong” campaign
as a genocide, and to date, lawsuits have been filed in more than a dozen countries
against Jiang and/or a few senior officials who followed Jiang in implementing
the campaign.
Tokens of Deception
The international community should not be appeased by so-called tokens of good
will such as the strategic release of a few prisoners or the introduction of
a human rights clause into the Chinese Constitution.
Most would say that the prisoners who have been released should never have
been incarcerated to begin with.
As for introducing a human rights clause into the Chinese Constitution, for
the past nearly five years the persecution of Falun Gong has been in direct
violation of virtually every relevant article within the Chinese Constitution.
How meaningful would an additional clause be in light of the fact that Jiang’s
standing orders that “no measure is too extreme” to wipe out Falun
Gong remains official policy?
It seems such tokens of good will are merely bargaining chips tossed out to
the international community to divert attention from the true issues of human
rights atrocities in China. At the same moment that these tokens are extended,
severe human rights violations not only persist throughout China, but continue
to be authorized and enforced from Jiang down through the ranks.
The world should also not be content to allow the current abuses to continue
with the hope that economic reform will “eventually” bring about change
with respect to human rights. In fact, over the last few years, the very opposite
has occurred. Corporations doing business in or with China have been coerced
into adopting policies towards Falun Gong practitioners that violate international
law. Indeed, the campaign against Falun Gong is forging international businesses
into implements of persecution rather than fostering improved respect for human
rights in China.
The Crux of the Matter
By 1998, a Chinese government survey discovered that more than 8% of the entire
Chinese population was practicing Falun Gong, an ancient practice of exercise
and meditation rooted in traditional Chinese culture. (website) But in July
1999, they became illegal persons simply by virtue of their beliefs.
The campaign to wipe out Falun Gong was orchestrated by Jiang Zemin and a few
key supporters within the government. It is not the action of the Chinese government
as a whole, yet Jiang’s power and influence while he was head of the Communist
Party, Central government and military allowed him to commandeer the entire
state apparatus to this end and now the campaign’s web of complicity is
stunningly vast.
While the situation in China remains as severe as it does today, it is the
responsibility of the international community to step in.
As the most important international forum for discussing human rights issues
and expressing international support for human rights improvements, we urge
the UN Commission to take a decisive and effective position on the genocide
of Falun Gong in China.
