January 20, 2004

When [persecuted] Falun Gong practitioners gather in Ottawa this morning to unveil their working relationship with Canada's war crimes prosecutors, a Hamilton man will be there to witness the announcement.

"Even though freedom of belief is in the Chinese constitution, there is no freedom of belief in China," says Todd, one of a small handful of Falun Gong practitioners in Hamilton who feared for his safety if his last name was used.

Canadian practitioners of the exercise- and meditation-based spiritual movement will hold a joint press conference this morning on Parliament Hill. Along with representatives of the World Organization to Investigate the Persecution of Falun Gong, they will make public their recent co-operation with Canada's Crimes Against Humanity and War Crimes Program in bringing to justice the persecutors of the Falun Gong.

The program can bar from entry, deny a visa, deport and prosecute the perpetrators of crimes against humanity.

Falun Gong adherents will be seeking to have former Chinese president Jiang Zemin barred from ever entering Canada.

According to the Falun Dafa Information Center (Falun Dafa is another name for Falun Gong), the Chinese government has detained more than 100,000 Falun Gong practitioners while another 20,000 have been sent to labor camps.

In this area, Falun Gong members can be seen performing their exercises at Bayfront Park and at McMaster University.

Although not a religion per se, Falun Gong promotes the principle of "Truthfulness-Compassion-Tolerance."

Beginning in 1992, Falun Gong enjoyed media and government support in China. But in 1999, when a government survey revealed that some 70 million Chinese were practicing Falun Gong -- more than the Chinese Communist Party's 60-million membership -- the government outlawed it.