Letter to Government Officials of Iceland from Member of the European Parliament Nelly Maes

To the President of Iceland,

To the Prime Minister of Iceland,

To the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Iceland,

To the Minister of Justice and Ecclesiastical Affairs of Iceland

Brussels, 12^th of June 2002.

Concerning: The detention of Chinese and Taiwanese citizens during Jiang Zemin's visit.

Dear President,

Dear Ministers,

With this letter I wish to express my fears as a member of the European Parliament and as a member of the Foreign Affairs Committee. Since a long time I have been following the Human rights situation in China and the harsh repression the government uses against the Falung Gong practitioners. Recently I visited China and government officials showed to be very anxious to give any information on the Falung Gong. In several countries there have been attacks on Falung Gong practitioners.

Today I was informed that all Chinese passport holders and Taiwanese passport holders are not allowed to enter Iceland during Jiang Zemin's visit in Iceland between 12th to 18th of June. More than 30 to 40 people, both Chinese and European citizens, have been detained at the airport. This terrifying step of the Chinese government, putting pressure on the European countries, has surprised a lot of governments and European citizens because they are not only violating the Chinese law and human rights but also the European and international laws and human rights.

We kindly request you to reconsider this measures taken because we consider them as a serious breach of Human rights.

With the highest respect,

Nelly Maes

Member of the European Parliament

President of the European Free Alliance

European Parliament, Wierzstreet 60, 1047 Brussels, 02/284.71.87, fax[phone] [e-mail]