Tuesday April 17

HONG KONG (Reuters) - Dozens of Falun Gong members staged a peaceful demonstration in Hong Kong on Tuesday, ahead of a United Nations vote on China's human rights record.

The Falun Gong movement - which combines meditation and exercise [...] - has been banned in China but permitted in Hong Kong.

[...]

Stationing themselves outside Hong Kong's Star Ferry piers in the Central and Tsimshatsui districts on Tuesday, the Falun Gong members distributed leaflets to passers-by and practised their moves behind banners that said: "Act now: Stop the killing in China."

They held up luminous light-sticks as darkness fell, maintaining a vigil for their mainland-based counterparts.

Falun Gong members allege that at least 189 people in mainland China have been tortured to death by police during Beijing's crackdown on the movement, with most of the deaths said to have occurred in the past five months.

Similar vigils would be held in other major cities worldwide, including Geneva, Paris, San Francisco and Toronto, the Falun Gong members said in a statement.

The Falun Gong movement claims to have millions of followers in China and has shocked the ruling [party name omitted] Party there by its persistence and ability to organise mass protests despite a nationwide crackdown.

The U.N. Commission on Human Rights is scheduled to convene this week to vote on whether to debate China's human rights violations.