(Clearwisdom.net) On Thursday, April 8, Chinese human rights groups and Chinese human rights activists held a rally in front of the United Nations in New York City. They are calling on the world body to support a U.S. draft resolution urging China to allow investigations of reports that it is repressing freedom of expression and religion.

According to a report from Times of Tibet on April 9, Alliance to Oppose Persecution in China (ATOPIC), an NGO based in New York hosted the gathering. There were as many as sixty different organizations gathered together voicing against the violation of Human
Rights by the Chinese government. Participating organizations included Global Coalition to Bring Jiang Zemin to Justice, Committee for Investigation Persecutions of Religion in China, Chinese Democracy Alliance, Taiwan Association of America, Transitional Radical Party and Activist in Democracy.

Voice of America also reported the event. It said that several hundred people gathered in front of the United Nations to show their support for the resolution, which the United States has presented to the U.N. Human Rights Commission in Geneva.

The report quoted Mr. Haiying He, one of the rally's organizers, who pointed out that condemning China's human rights violations is a top priority, followed by a call for the release of religious and political prisoners. He added, "Number two is to call for immediate release of all those millions of persecuted Falun Gong practitioners, underground church members, Tibetans, democracy activists who are imprisoned or tortured or persecuted because of their conscience."

According to the VOA report, human rights advocates say China is persecuting its citizens based on their religious and political beliefs.

Representatives from several organizations delivered speeches.

According to the VOA report, Yufeng Liang, another rally organizer, feels demonstrations like these give hope to those persecuted in China. "Here we give encouragement for people in China fighting for democracy and also for those people persecuted," he said. "They will see so many people support them, to help rescue them and also we will let more and more people know the persecution in China."

The 53-member U.N. human rights commission will decide this week whether to vote on the draft resolution.

Reference:

http://www.voanews.com/article.cfm?objectID=E81A9979-7C75-42AC-B20720DB9D2EF504

http://www.clearwisdom.net/emh/articles/2004/4/11/46937.html

http://www.timesoftibet.com/artman/publish/article_1285.shtml