China's Falun Gong protests ahead of U.N. vote

BEIJING, April 13 (Reuters) - Defiant members of the outlawed Falun Gong spiritual group protested in Beijing's Tiananmen Square on Thursday to urge the United Nations to censure China on its human rights record, a Hong Kong-based rights group said.

Chinese police detained more than 200 Falun Gong members, at least 60 of whom raised banners, at various points on and around the square early in the morning, the Information Centre of Human Rights and Democratic Movement in China said in a statement.

Some protesters were beaten as they were taken away, it said.

An hour later there were no signs of a disturbance, but hundreds of plainclothes and uniformed police patrolled the vast plaza, questioning visitors and checking identification.

Several police vans and cars moved slowly among the crowds. The Falun Gong adherents wanted to protest against a brutal government crackdown on the group, to show their determination to defend their movement, and to attract the attention of the U.N. Commission on Human Rights meeting in Geneva, the Centre said.

Adherents said authorities had escalated their campaign this month ahead of the first anniversary of a demonstration on April 25 last year, when 10,000 Falun Gong members gathered outside Beijing's Zhongnanhai leadership compound, the Centre reported.

China banned Falun Gong, which combines elements of Buddhism, Taoism and meditation, after members demanded official recognition for their faith in a series of protests. In October the government declared it an illegal cult. But the group has defied the crackdown and kept up sporadic protests for almost an entire year.

MORE PROTESTS EXPECTED

Spokesmen for Falun Gong, which claims between 70 million and 100 million adherents, have accused China of arresting more than 35,000 people since the Communist Party banned the movement last July.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Sun Yuxi declined to comment on the reported protest, but said Falun Gong had caused the deaths of more than 1,000 people.

"The Chinese government's legal ban on Falun Gong is precisely to protect human rights to a greater extent," he told a news conference. "Our actions are to punish according to the law a small number of people who intentionally organise cults, and anti-social, anti-scientific, and anti-human extremists."

The Centre said hundreds more Falun Gong members were expected to demonstrate in the run up to the U.N. Commission's vote on a U.S.-sponsored resolution condemning China's human rights record on April 18.

The resolution accuses China of violating basic freedoms and urges Beijing to release political prisoners and permit all religious groups to worship. Last month, hundreds of Falun Gong followers meditated in silent protest outside the U.N. building in Geneva to urge the main U.N. human rights forum to take action.

CHINA LIKELY TO RALLY VOTES

At least 5,000 members have been sent to labour camps without trial and others have been sentenced to up to 18 years in prison after "show trials", according to Gail Rachlin, a U.S.-based spokeswoman.

Last month, police detained at least two dozen suspected Falun Gong followers, some of whom unfurled banners on the square near the Great Hall of the People where the National People's Congress - China's parliament - was beginning its annual session.

Beijing denies it represses political and religious groups, and is expected to marshal enough votes in Geneva to prevent any serious debate on its record, diplomats say.

(C) Reuters Limited 2000.