Letter from University of Toronto Students' Administrative Council to the Canadian Prime Minister before his visit to China in October for the APEC forum

Note: At the Forum, the Prime Minister spoke out for Falun Gong directly in meetings with top Chinese leaders, according to a Voice Of America report.

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Rt. Hon. Jean Chretien
Prime Minister of Canada
180 Wellington St., #145
Ottawa, ON K1A 0A2

Dear Mr. Prime Minister,

As Executives of the Students' Administrative Council (SAC) at the University of Toronto, representing 33,000 full-time undergraduate students, we are writing to express our concern over the violent persecution directed at Falun Gong practitioners in China. We are requesting your attention to this issue on your upcoming visit to China, later this month.

Falun Gong is a recognized student group at the University of Toronto. The peaceful exercises of Falun Gong are a welcomed site at locations on and near the campus. Alarmingly, over the last two years, various media and human rights groups have reported a brutal suppression of Falun Gong practitioners in China, including arrests, torture, and even deaths. We are shocked to learn that this peaceful practice, which is devoted to the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Tolerance, is being targeted with such relentless persecution. As Canadian students we value and cherish these principles.

At least 289 Falun Gong practitioners have reportedly died during these persecutions, including an eight-month-old baby, a man with a disability, young women and senior citizens. The accounts of arbitrary arrests, forced labour camp sentences, tortures, rape, the incarceration and forced drugging of healthy people into mental hospitals, etc. are both alarming and unacceptable.

Over the last months, we have seen the illegal arrest, torture and detainment of Canadian citizen, Professor Kunlun Zhang, Canadian resident and Concordia University student, Ying Zhu, as well as Shenli Lin, the husband of Canadian Jinyu Li, who still remains in a labour camp--all simply for their practice of Falun Gong.

Despite facing arrest, torture, and potential death, it is commendable that Falun Gong practitioners have not turned to violence themselves, and have maintained peaceful legal appeal for an end to the persecution. We applaud and support the efforts of Falun Gong practitioners in informing the public of the persecution they have faced, often at the risk of their own jobs, freedom and their lives. This has helped earn world recognition, Nobel Peace nominations and the support of many Canadian MPs, MPPs, mayors and everyday citizens.

In February of this year, SAC voted to support Falun Gong practitioners as a way to express our will to help end this injustice. Since this time we have only seen an intensified effort from Chinese President Jiang Zemin and his regime to further persecute Falun Gong practitioners, in hopes of "exterminating" Falun Gong. As SAC executives we urge you to please make clear to Chinese leaders on your upcoming trip to China that Canadians cannot accept this vicious persecution against innocent Falun Gong practitioners and the state-sanctioned attacks on innocent Falun Gong practitioners must end. In particular, we request, as you will be visiting Shanghai, where Mr. Shenli Lin is currently being detained, that you may make every effort possible to obtain his just release and return him safely to Canada to reunite with his wife, Jinyu Li.

Sincerely yours,

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