Reuters: Seven Falun Gong members die in China say HK group

Wednesday February 7, 2001

HONG KONG (Reuters) - Seven more members of the Falun Gong spiritual movement have died in China as a result of a crackdown by authorities, according to a Hong Kong-based human rights group.

The victims were in Anhui, Hebei, Jilin, Hunan provinces, the Information Centre for Human Rights & Democracy said in a statement on Wednesday.

Rights groups say that at least 112 Falun Gong members, including the seven, have died since China launched an official crackdown of the movement, which it outlawed in July 1999. Beijing accuses it of trying to overthrow the government.

The Centre said that officials beat four Falun Gong members to death while they were in custody and two others died after force-feeding when they refused to eat in detention.

It said that the seventh member died after falling accidentally from the roof of a building when trying to escape arrest.

The New York-based Falun Dafa Information Centre gives a toll of 143 people who died as a result of police torture and brutality since the launch of the crackdown.

Chinese authorities have acknowledged several deaths in custody, but say most resulted from suicides or illnesses.

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