FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - 7/5 http://www.faluninfo.net/

Fifteen innocent women have died in a labor camp in China. Some groups have said that they committed mass suicide, while the Falun Dafa Information Center has spoken to family members of the victims who indicate they were tortured to death. With all channels for independent investigation blocked and authorities actively trying to cover up the facts, the truth is hard to know. What we do know is that this entire incident is a tragedy. We know for a fact that these women all died in a labor camp under police custody. We know that they were being held not for any crime but for their beliefs, in direct violation of the Chinese constitution and that they were forced to endure psychological and physical torture in an effort to "reeducate" them. There can be no question that the responsibility for the deaths of all these women must fall squarely on the shoulders of Jiang Zemin's regime.

Calling a death a suicide has become just another way for the Chinese authorities to cover up torture and mistreatment of Falun Gong practitioners. In a spate of violence and torture at the Wanjia Labor Camp in Harbin City, Heilongjiang Province, fifteen female practitioners died. Indeed, one of the families who had been allowed to see the body of the victim before cremation reported visible signs of torture. It was not until later when an information clampdown in China was enforced surrounding this incident that alternative stories began to emerge.

Over the past month, we have seen an alarming increase in the reports of torture and brutality, including 35 deaths of Falun Gong practitioners in custody. With Jiang Zemin putting the pressure on local officials to "resolve" the Falun Gong issue, and in doing so, removing the possibility of legal repercussions against the perpetrators, the Chinese regime is likely to continue to use the claim of suicide as a way to cover up more and more casualties of this persecution. To date, this regime has classified all deaths of Falun Gong practitioners in custody as resulting from either suicide or death from natural causes. Yet, Amnesty International and other human rights organizations have fully documented numerous accounts of the torture and deaths of Falun Gong practitioners at the hands of Chinese police. Clearly, the truth is not being told.

Unless the Chinese communist regime can be persuaded to end the two-year crackdown on Falun Gong, we can expect worse days to come. More inhumane torture. More rape, beating, and psychological abuse. More deaths. More cover-up and information blockage by Jiang Zemin's regime.

Chinese president Jiang Zemin has specifically ordered that Falun Gong be eradicated. What does a policy like this mean? For the millions of practitioners in China, that means they must either renounce their faith or ultimately face death. Anywhere else this would be called a policy of genocide.

We send out an urgent call for the international community to rescue the Falun Gong practitioners persecuted in China. Fifteen women are dead. How many more must follow?

FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT THE FALUN DAFA INFORMATION CENTER- Contacts: . Gail Rachlin 212-501-8080, Adam Montanaro 917-405-4507, or Feng Yuan 917-912-3301. Email: faluninfoctr@nycmail.com, Website: http://www.faluninfo.net/