Following the arrest of a Belgian Falun Gong practitioner on Tiananmen Square last week, Amnesty International wishes to condemn the grave human rights violations that adherents to spiritual movements like Falun Gong and officially recognized religions are often subjected to. "The human rights violations appear in many forms: arbitrary arrests and confinements, torture, unlawful processes, long term confinements without conviction or hearing, administrative penalties without a process of law, and frequently applied death penalty," Amnesty states.

Recent regulations, stipulated so to speak for the protection of religious activities, are increasingly being used to restrict these activities. The actions against Falun Gong are part of a general repression of religious and spiritual movements. The Chinese government also takes action against other "Qi Gong" practices and leads systematic "campaigns against superstition" that have Buddhist, Islamic, and Catholic characteristics. [...]

The suppression of Falun Gong, however, has become a political priority of the Chinese government. Amnesty International is concerned that the actions against the movement will go hand in hand with serious human rights violations and excessive violence.

Since 22 July 1999 thousands of Falun Gong practitioners have been arrested and sentenced to prison, given administrative penalties in "re-education camps," or confined in psychiatric institutions. Once detained, Falun Gong practitioners are often victims of torture and maltreatment. Torture is used as a means to intimidate adherents to force them to abjure their faith and stop their meditation practice. Out of protest to their situation and the miserable conditions of their detention, Falun Gong adherents regularly go on hunger strikes. Because of that, they become extremely vulnerable to maltreatment, such as force feeding or forced heavy labor.

For a long time Falun Gong practitioners kept going to Beijing to protest by way of practicing exercises and meditation in front of official buildings. The Chinese government reacted to this with even more repressive actions against the movement. Recent reports indeed suggest that a "strike hard" campaign was launched to finish this spiritual practice once and for all. During such a "strike hard" campaign it's important to book results as quickly as possible. As a result, thousands of Falun Gong practitioners were harshly arrested and forced into "re-education." Since then the number of Falun Gong practitioners that have died in prison has risen exponentially from 124 in the beginning of 2001 to more than 350 now. Most of the adherents have collapsed from injuries inflicted by severe torture.

Amnesty International is also worried over the report that the torture of Falun Gong practitioners has, since the beginning of 2001, been officially condoned. This means that such brutalities are no longer seen as a crime when they are committed against a Falun Gong practitioner who refuses to give up his belief, and that the torturer goes free. As a result, Falun Gong practitioners are now systematically subjected to torture in prisons and re-education camps, which explains the high death rate in 2001.

Amnesty International would like to encourage the Belgian government to call upon the Chinese government to:

1. Respect fundamental freedoms, such as to express one's opinion freely, the right of freedom of religion and belief and the freedom to form associations.
2. Immediately end the numerous human rights violations to adherents of Falun Gong and supporters.
3. Respect for cultural rights and religious freedom in Tibet and Xinjiang.

Respect the human rights of all prisoners, including prisoners of conscience, and immediately stop all forms of torture within prisons.