Letter to UN General Secretary Kofi Annan

Dear Honorable General Secretary Kofi Annan:

We come here to the United Nations, with the hope that peace and freedom of belief will be realized for everybody. We come here to present this letter to you, with the trust that justice and the conscience of mankind will prevail. We come here after a 10-day hunger strike, with the understanding that the brutality of the ongoing persecution against Falun Gong has gone beyond the limits of forbearance.

We come here because we love life. The principle of "Truthfulness Compassion Tolerance" has helped us to understand the reason to cherish all lives. It enables us to better understand life, and to know "Being unselfish and selfless, putting others ahead of ourselves" represents the higher value of life.

In July 1999, Jiang Zemin's regime started a relentless persecution, with the means used during the Cultural Revolution, against the peaceful Falun Gong practitioners. So far, according to the incomplete statistics, there are 263 Falun Gong practitioners who have died as a result of the persecution. Over 500 were illegally sentenced; over 1000 were forced into mental hospitals; over 20,000 were sent to labor camps without any legal proceedings; over 100,000 were arrested and jailed. Countless Falun Gong practitioners have suffered brutal beatings and physical and mental abuse by the police. Their families are broken. Millions of family members, relatives, friends and colleagues are also implicated.

In particular, in the Masanjia labor camp in Liaoning province, China, there are over 130 Falun Gong practitioners on hunger strike to protest the illegal and prolonged detention. The hunger strike has lasted for 4 weeks now and their lives are in grave danger.

In order to urgently rescue these 130 Falun Gong practitioners in Masanjia labor camp, we chose the hunger strike, a strong way of calling for justice used by Mahatma Gandhi and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in history. The hunger strike for justice lasted from 7 to 10 days in front of the Chinese embassy in Washington DC. During this period, we tried to submit our appeal letters to the embassy on three occasions. However, the embassy groundlessly rejected all our letters. This is a vivid illustration of what is the so-called "best human rights period in China" alleged by Jiang's regime. Through the treatment by the Chinese Embassy during our own hunger strike, we understand much deeper what Falun Gong practitioners in China are going through every moment.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. said: "an injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere." Now, to call for the urgent rescue of Falun Gong practitioners persecuted in China, Falun Gong practitioners are staging hunger strikes in many countries and regions, such as U.S., Canada, United Kingdom, Germany, Japan, New Zealand and Australia. However, failing to show the slightest courtesy and sympathy for people's lives, no Chinese embassy or consulate in these countries has accepted the appeal letters from practitioners. Moreover, under the direct influence of Jiang's dictatorship, Hong Kong police even arrested 10 Falun Gong practitioners who are on hunger strike to appeal.

We call on the United Nations to show support to those Falun Gong practitioners who are on hunger strikes to call for justice with their lives; we call on the United Nations to send special work groups to China to investigate the inhumane persecution against Falun Gong practitioners in Masanjia and other labor camps; we call on the United Nations to urge Jiang's regime to unconditionally release all illegally-detained Falun Gong practitioners.

To ensure a better future for the entire human society and to safeguard "Truth-Compassion-Tolerance"--the fundamental virtue of humankind, we call on you to step forward and take action to stop the persecution against Falun Gong. Your courage and endeavor on this issue will be remembered by history.

Sincerely,

Eli Priore (Ft. Lauderdale, FL)
Zhang, Yu April; Lu, Zhaohui Sam; Cui, Jinran Eugene (Atlanta, GA)
Lin, Xiaoxu Shean; Chen, Zhi Mike (Birmingham, AL)
Wang, Jingwei; Jing, Huijuan (Washington DC)
He, Wei (Rhode Island)
Li, Pin (Connecticut)
Xiong, Shouyong (Virginia)