Falun Gong protest takes to the road - Women to walk to UN headquarters in New York

Alison Korn

Ottawa Citizen

Four female Falun Gong practitioners plan to leave Ottawa today to walk about [780] kilometres to the United Nations headquarters in New York.

"We appeal to the United Nations to condemn the Falun Gong crackdowns in China," said Ying Zhu, who was detained for 35 days in China this summer.

Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, is described by its practitioners as a self-improvement practice for the mind and body. Calling the movement a [slanderous word omitted] and a threat to stability, the Chinese government banned it in 1999.

According to Amnesty International, tens of thousands of people have been arbitrarily detained and hundreds tortured in prison or forced labour camps. Others are forced to take drugs in psychiatric hospitals and at least 10 people have died in police custody under suspicious circumstances.

Last week, the four women now headed for New York arrived in Ottawa after spending 10 days walking from Montreal along the St. Lawrence. Sleeping in tents, carrying backpacks and eating bagels, they collected signatures and support along the way.

"It was hard, many of our team members got blisters on the feet," Ms. Zhu said. "Every step was difficult, but we are determined to keep going and gather support."

With another team that walked from Toronto, they arrived on Parliament Hill last Thursday and delivered 95,000 signatures to the prime minister's office.

At the news conference, MP Yvon Charbonneau condemned China's persecution. "I consider that this form of terrorism practised against Falun Gong practitioners in China is no more acceptable than any other form of terrorism," he said.

Prime Minister Jean Chretien will visit China next month and the group urges him to raise this issue.

The group plans a news conference today at 1 p.m. at Confederation Park before the women depart, said spokeswoman Lucy Zhou. "The lives of the Falun Gong practitioners in China are at stake," she said. "It's a self-sacrifice. They want to speak for them."

http://www.canada.com/ottawa/story.asp?id={B4632F33-AB7F-4688-83ED-EC4AF091EAB7}

(reporting mistake on # of deaths)

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