Falun Gong Practitioners Petition the Nordic Foreign Ministers Meeting in Oslo, Norway

The Nordic Falun Dafa Association delivered a petition to theáForeign ministers during theirárecent meeting in Oslo. The petition urges the ministers to raise the issue of human rights abuses in China, particularly towards Falun Gong practitioners, during the UN Human Rights Commission in Geneva in March and April of this year. Practitioners were also present at the press conference following the meeting. The ministers confirmed that human rights are of high priority for all the Nordic countries. The petition is below:

Petition to Nordic Foreign Ministers 14^th of February 2002

China -- Human Rights -- Falun Gong -- UN Human Rights Commission in Geneva

We appeal to you to help stop the persecution of spiritual and religious groups in China. We hope that you will raise this case during the UN Human Rights Commission, which will take place in Geneva in March and April this year, and that you will co-ordinate your efforts with each other and also with other countries.

The brutal Chinese persecution is widely known. It targets on one side different Christian, Muslim, Tibetan and other religious groups; on the other side several Qi-gong groups. Permit us to focus on Falun Gong, the group of which we have personal knowledge.

According to Amnesty, Falun Gong is the largest group in the world today which is severely persecuted and tortured. It is official Chinese policy to "crush" Falun Gong with all means, even measures that are illegal according to Chinese law and incompatible with international agreements, supported by China.

Government officials have revealed to the Washington Post that China relies on a combination of brutality, re-education and propaganda to exterminate Falun Gong. Practitioners are sent to forced labor camps, mental hospitals and prisons. It is unofficially estimated that around 1600 practitioners up until now have died following torture. We have detailed knowledge of more than 360 cases.

The deaths are officially reported as "suicide", "natural causes" or "sickness", and the authorities claim improvement of human rights in China. The truth is that during the two and a half years since the persecution started, the situation has become much worse (also for other groups). The authorities stop information about Falun Gong practitioners, who have been arrested. It is estimated that as of now

• More than 1600 dead after torture, of which we have details of more than 360 cases
• More than 500 sentenced to long prison terms
• More than 1000 abused in mental hospitals
• More than 20?00 sent to forced labour camps
• More than 100?00 arrested or detained

In addition there are thousands, maybe millions of practitioners, who have lost their jobs, homes, and families.

The practitioners in camps are exposed to re-education without sleep, brutality, and torture to make them sign statements renouncing Falun Gong. Thousands of practitioners have later withdrawn their statements. They are also forced to labour, and the goods they produce are sold in the West.

The authorities also use massive propaganda to create an opinion against Falun Gong, both in China and abroad. Best known is the self immolation episode on Tiananmen Square which later was revealed as staged by the authorities; see copy of article from The Washington Post. The authorities also link other criminals to Falun Gong, for instance claiming that a mass murderer is a Falun Gong practitioner.

More information on our home page (below), www.clearharmony.net, www.amnesty.org, or the new report from Human Rights Watch http://hrw.org/reports/2002/china/

You may also call the contact persons attached.

Nordic Association for Falun Dafa

Peder Giertsen/ proxy

Attached: Torture Methods, Articles from Washington Post, Extract from AP, CD-rom, Compassion.

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(From http://www.clearharmony.net/articles/3320.html)