Brutally tortured in China, Ms. Weixun Li
arrives in the U.S. as a UN refugee.
– With assistance and support from the U.S. State Department, Members of Congress
and several NGOs, Ms. Weixun Li arrived in the U.S. last week as a UN refugee.
Li had fled China where she had been tortured to the brink of death.
Li's
case marks the first Falun Gong practitioner without family or other ties to the
U.S. granted permission to stay in the U.S. as a UN refugee, and will open the
doors for others who are violently persecuted in their homeland simply because
they practice the traditional meditation discipline of Falun Gong.
“We
are grateful to the U.S. government that this channel is being opened to people
who face brutal persecution in China because they practice Falun Gong,” said Dr.
Larry Liu, a representative of the Falun Dafa [Gong] Association in Washington
DC. “The United States has always been a world leader in human rights protection,
and this action is yet another example of its leadership in this area.”
Human
Rights workers in New York and Members of Congress in Washington had previously
expressed concern over difficulty practitioners of Falun Gong may face gaining
official refugee status with the UN since China, ironically, sits on the Executive
Committee of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.
In
a letter to the U.S. State Department dated July 27, 2005 concerning Li's
case, Congressman F. James Sensenbrenner (R-WI), Chairman of the Congressional
Committee of the Judiciary, wrote: “The State Department has recognized religious
persecution of Falun Gong both in the Country Report Human Rights Practices for
China and the Annual Report on International Religious Freedom for China every
year since mass persecution began in July of 1999.” Congressman Sensenbrenner
continued, “As such, I believe it is important that the State Department carefully
examine the refugee claims of Falun Gong practitioners for refugee processing.”
The
relevant U.S. Government agencies did exactly that, making way for Li to arrive
in Washington DC last week as an official UN refugee with the hope of rebuilding
her life that had been shattered by the Chinese Communist Party.
“Our
Schindler” Gives Weixun Li Chance at Freedom
Like millions
of others throughout China, as a Falun Gong practitioner Li was harassed by police
who often use arbitrary detention, extortion and torture to force Chinese citizens
to give up their practice of Falun Gong. Police are given orders by leaders of
the Central Government in Beijing to use “any means necessary” to force citizens
to give up Falun Gong.
In early January 2002, Li was abducted
by police and tortured to the point where she was unable to move her limbs, talk
or eat. After repeated pleadings from her family, Li was eventually hospitalized.
Despite being monitored by four police during her hospitalization, she was able
to escape.
Soon after, her elder brother was able to secure
safe passage for Li and several other Falun Gong practitioners to Thailand where
she applied for refugee status. For his heroic efforts, Li's elder was picked
up by police and sentenced to prison for 8 years where he remains today.
Li
and those her brother helped escape refer to him as “Our Schindler” in reference
to Oscar Schindler who saved hundreds of Jews from death in Nazi concentration
camps.
Hunted in Their Homeland
On
September 23, Li met with several officials at the U.S. State Department and Members
of Congress to thank them for their support in giving her “a new life” in the
U.S. She also encouraged them to extend the same assistance to others who continue
to face persecution in China.
Describing her ordeal to U.S.
officials, Li said she personally witnessed many Falun Gong practitioners being
tortured by Chinese authorities.
Calling Hu Jintao's
recent speech before the UN about “building a harmonious society” a “farce,” Li
described how countless Falun Gong practitioners throughout China are hunted by
police and often must flee their homes to avoid being abducted and tortured.
Without
the ability to return home or go to work, they are forced to find alternative
means for securing food, shelter and other basic necessities. Most wind up in
very basic accommodations unknown to police, with often a dozen or more sharing
the floor of one room to sleep and live.
“It's eerily
reminiscent of what I have heard about the underground network that protected
Jewish people in Nazi-occupied Warsaw,” says Dr. Liu. “You have a group of people
that are targeted with extreme brutality simply because of their faith, and so
fellow Falun Gong practitioners and other people of conscience find a way to get
by, often hiding in the homes of friends or abandoned areas where the police wouldn't
know to look.”
“Sadly, this is the real state of China's
so-called 'peaceful rise' under the Communist regime,” says Dr. Liu.
For
detailed reports of Falun Gong-related cases brought before the United Nation's
High Commissioner for Human Rights, Refugees and other UN organs, visit: http://www.flghrwg.net/
For
interviews with Ms. Li or more information, contact: Tao Wang 202-422-8133
Posting
date: 30/Sep/2005
Original article date: 30/Sep/2005
Category:
World News
