(Clearwisdom.net) Co-hosted by Reporters Without Borders, the Liberal Party group in the European Parliament and the Taiwan Democratic Foundation, the 2008 International Conference on Human Rights in China convened at the European Parliament Headquarters in Brussels on October 2. The main goal of the conference was to appraise the human rights situation in China after the Olympic games, and to adopt a report for the United Nations to examine the human rights abuses by the Chinese Communist regime. Twelve International Human Rights organizations and several veteran European Parliament members attended the conference. In the seminar on the topic of freedom of religion and belief, representatives from the Coalition to Investigate the Persecution of Falun Gong in China (CIPFG), Friends of Tibet, the Uyghur World Congress and other organizations made speeches exposing the recent abuse of religion and belief by the Chinese Communist regime. The subject of Falun Gong received wide attention.
In the seminar on the freedom of religion and belief, the subject of Falun Gong received wide attention
Mr. Eve from CIPFG speaks during the conference
Mr. Graham Watson, leader of the liberal Party group in the European Parliament, said in his opening speech: "If you happen to be in Washington DC on a Sunday afternoon, you could go to the Chinese Embassy and you would see many Western and Chinese Falun Gong practitioners there doing Falun Gong exercises and striving for the freedom of belief." He pointed out that over sixty percent of torture cases in China are related to Falun Gong. An independent investigation in 2006 further confirmed the Chinese Communist regime's atrocities of harvesting organs from large number of Falun Gong practitioners.
Mr. Eve from CIPFG said in his speech that in December 2007, the same conference on China's human rights problem that convened here was mainly to appraise the human rights situation before the Olympics and to demand that China improve human rights. However from that time, at least eight thousand and thirty seven Falun Gong practitioners have been illegally detained in China. He specifically mentioned the Chinese Communist regime's persecution of Falun Gong practitioners during and after the Olympic games, such as the persecution against Falun Gong practitioners Ms. Xu Nei and Mr. Liu Jin. Xu Nei is a musician. She is the wife of Falun Gong practitioner Mr. Yu Zhou. Because of his practicing Falun Gong, Yu Zhou was persecuted to death by the Chinese Communist regime early this year. On November 25, Xu Nei was illegally sentenced by the Chinese authorities to three years of imprisonment. Amnesty International called Xu Nei a prisoner of conscience and initiated an urgent rescue action. Falun Gong practitioner Mr. Liu Jin was illegally sentenced to three and a half years of imprisonment on November 3 because he downloaded and gave out materials related to Falun Gong.
Mr. Eve pointed out that the Chinese Communist regime always used "crime of using an evil sect to hinder the execution of the law" to convict Falun Gong practitioners. However according to the defense lawyer, this crime has absolutely no legal basis in Chinese laws. It is also not true. Moreover the Chinese Constitution guarantees the freedom of religion and belief. Therefore the cases against Falun Gong practitioners are themselves illegal. The Chinese Communist regime also convicted the defense lawyers who represented Falun Gong practitioners, including renowned attorneys Gao Zhisheng and Li Heping. Mr. Eve also mentioned that the Falun Gong Human Rights Working Group has delivered a report on human rights in China to the United Nations. The United Nations anti-torture committee has already demanded that China allow involvement by the independent investigation group in investigating the action of harvesting organs from living Falun Gong practitioners and to bring those responsible to justice. At the end of his speech, Mr. Eve appealed to the United Nations' anti-torture committee to urge China to allow the international independent investigation group to investigate its persecution of Falun Gong practitioners.
The vice president of the European Parliament, Mr. Edward McMillan-Scott, who chaired the seminar, said, "The biggest persecution in China now aims against religious groups, especially the persecution against Falun Gong. This is a kind of genocide. The international court should set up a case about this."
Mr. Willy Fautre, the director of Reporters Without Borders said during his summary of freedom of belief problems in China, "China has no freedom of belief now. Moreover there is no improvement whatsoever after the Olympics."
Category: Rallies & Protests
