Reuters: Falun Gong calls for U.N. probe into China's crackdown

Tuesday June 26, 6:57 PM

HONG KONG (Reuters) - Followers of the controversial Falun Gong spiritual movement rallied in heavy rain in Hong Kong on Tuesday and urged the United Nations to conduct an independent probe into China's crackdown on the group.

Clad in yellow t-shirts bearing the slogan "China, stop persecuting Falun Gong", about 100 members of the group sat in lotus positions and meditated for an hour outside Beijing's Liaison Office in the territory's western district.

A spokeswoman for the group said it wanted the United Nations to set up an independent investigation into the crackdown on its members in mainland China, where the movement is banned and branded an "[Jiang Zemin government's slanderous term omitted]".

To mark the United Nations International Day in Support of Victims of Torture, the group also held a separate photo exhibition showing what they said were injuries inflicted by Chinese police.

In a petition letter which they left outside the Liaison Office, they urged Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji to end the persecution.

Despite the mainland ban, the movement has remained legal in Hong Kong. The former British colony was promised a high degree of autonomy when it reverted to Chinese rule in mid-1997.

But the territory's leader Tung Chee-hwa recently called the Falun Gong in Hong Kong an "[Jiang Zemin government's slanderous term omitted]", echoing Beijing for the first time.

The Falun Gong said 233 practitioners have been tortured to death in China so far this year versus 22 in the same period last year. At least 10 members had died in police custody in the past week, it said.

http://sg.news.yahoo.com/010626/3/1691j.html

AP: HK Falun Gong Protests Alleged Torture By Chinese Police

June 26, 2001

HONG KONG (AP)--Members of the Falun Gong meditation movement staged a sit-in amid pouring rain Tuesday to protest against Beijing's campaign to eradicate the group on the Chinese mainland.

More than 90 Falun Gong adherents sat in meditation poses outside China's representative office in Hong Kong to mark the U.N.'s international day for torture victims.

As the rain abated, a larger group of about 200 performed meditation exercises at a downtown public park, Charter Garden, where the group was holding an exhibition of about 20 grisly photos of bruised and beaten members allegedly tortured by the Chinese authorities.

The group said an escalation of China's campaign to eliminate Falun Gong prompted the demonstration.

"We're appealing for an immediate stop to the brutal crackdown," said Hui Yee-han, a spokeswoman for the group.

"S.O.S.: Save Falun Gong practitioners from being killed in China," said one banner displayed during the protest.

The Chinese government outlawed Falun Gong almost two years ago, accusing it of being a threat to public well-being and to [party' name omitted] Party rule. It remains legal in Hong Kong, whose residents enjoy broader freedoms than those living on the mainland.

Falun Gong members alleged Tuesday that at least 20 members had died in police custody in mainland China during the past month, raising the total number of members who died have while in detention during the past two years to 233.

Independent sources say more than 100 have died. China denies allegations of abuses, and says some followers committed suicide while in police custody.

Chinese authorities on June 10 announced harsher punishment for Falun Gong practitioners, allowing courts to try followers who spread information about Falun Gong for subversion, separatism and leaking state secrets - all crimes punishable by death.

On Tuesday, protesters attempted to deliver a petition to the Chinese representative office, but no officials emerged to receive it. The letter was left outside the front gate, soaking in the rain.

According to a copy of the letter supplied by protesters, the petition was addressed to Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji. It contended that the Chinese government's failure to completely eradicate Falun Gong proved that "any effort to suppress righteous faith won't succeed."