NEW YORK, December 10, 2002 (Falun Dafa Information Center) -- As the world marks the 10th annual International Human Rights Day, the human rights situation in China is worse than ever, but a change is unfolding.

For more than three years, basic human rights have been denied to millions of Chinese citizens and especially the 100 million practitioners of Falun Gong (about). The Falun Dafa Information Center has verified details of 525 deaths (reports / sources) since the persecution of Falun Gong in China began in 1999. Government officials inside China, however, report that the actual death toll is well over 1,600, while other sources estimate that figure to be much higher. Hundreds of thousands have been detained, with more than 100,000 being sentenced to forced labor camps, typically without trial.

Inside China: A Tale of Two Women

On February 21, 2000, 58-year-old Ms. Zixiu Chen was beaten and tortured to death by her captors in a Chinese detention center because she refused to renounce her practice of Falun Gong. Ms. Chen's story was reported by Mr. Ian Johnson of the Wall Street Journal, and was the first in a series of articles by Mr. Johnson awarded the Pulitzer Prize for International Reporting in 2001.

"Two days of torture had left her legs bruised and her short black hair matted with pus and blood," Johnson's article reported, "the local officials ordered Ms. Chen to run barefoot in the snow...She crawled outside, vomited and collapsed. She never regained consciousness, and died on Feb. 21"

That was almost three years ago.

Ms. Yuzhi Wang, a 46-year-old businesswoman from Harbin City, China, was sent to the Wanjia Forced Labor Camp on November 6, 2001, where she was tortured and beaten so badly, pus and blood filled her nasal passages and protruded from her eyes. Ms. Wang also witnessed harrowing torture and reports on those who have died from such torture inside the Wanjia Forced Labor Camp.

On May 8, 2002, Ms. Wang was released from the labor camp when officials feared she would die in their custody. Ms. Wang, however, recovered and was rescued to Canada where she has reported her story to Canadian government officials and the media.

Traces of Ms. Wang's injuries are still visible around her eyes.

The stories of Ms. Chen and Ms. Wang are not just a few of the extreme cases. They are an all-too-common example of how Falun Gong practitioners in China are persecuted behind the walls of the forced labor camps and detention centers. Ms. Wang says she witnessed many methods for torturing practitioners: "The practitioners were hung up and whipped; stripped naked and shackled to an iron chair for long periods of time, while being deprived of sleep and shocked with electric batons. They were hung up with hands shackled beyond their bodies for as long as several days. Female practitioners were thrown in cells with violent male criminals. Under such torture, many people were on the verge of death."

Still, Ms. Wang is one of the lucky ones. Hundreds of thousands more, including Ms. Chen, are not so lucky. Ms. Wang's "luck," however, is not fortuitous.

The World Weighs in on the Falun Gong Issue

When Ms. Chen was tortured and killed by Chinese police in 2000, much of the world still knew relatively little about Falun Gong. Chinese Communist anti-Falun Gong propaganda still dominated the world's media reports on the crisis in China largely because it was the information most readily available. Ian Johnson's Pulitzer-Prize winning articles broke the information block. For the first time on the world media's stage, Johnson's articles not only revealed the violent and systematic nature of the persecution, but also provided a glimpse into the hearts and minds of the Chinese people who -- grounded in a solid faith in the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance -- resolutely exercised non-violent appeal to end the persecution and restore the rights guaranteed in the Chinese constitution to freedom of assembly, freedom of speech and freedom of belief.

Over the last three years, grassroots efforts throughout China to assemble and distribute information about the persecution to the people have flourished, breaking the tight grip Chinese officials hold on the flow of information within China.

Dr. Shiyu Zhou, spokesperson for the Falun Dafa Information Center, explains why this is so important: "The propaganda machine serves a dual purpose: 1) It seeks to hide all traces of the persecution from people in China and around the world so no one will take action against the Chinese leaders who are behind it and 2) It seeks to defame Falun Gong to such an extent that people will lose interest in investigating the persecution further."

There are now many regions in China where residents wake up each day to new Falun Gong materials exposing the persecution placed on their doorsteps. Banners and posters exposing Jiang's lies and clarifying the facts can be seen in public walkways, and even TV signals have been tapped in order to expose the facts of the persecution Jiang has targeted against the Chinese people.

Over the last three years, efforts outside China have also brought tremendous pressure upon those carrying out the persecution, and that pressure has literally saved lives. At least twelve people have been released from Chinese forced labor camps and detention centers due to international pressure. Many others have reported better conditions after international pressure was brought to bear on their cases. Congressional bodies and leaders from governments around the world have publicly spoken out on the issue, condemning Jiang Zemin's regime for the persecution of Falun Gong.

Jiang's Regime Vows to Tighten Its Grip

Today, CNN's senior China analyst, Willy Wo-Lap Lam, reported that Beijing is tightening its grip even further and ordering its 1.6 million strong police force to "take a tough line on groups the government sees as threatening." Falun Gong is mentioned in the article as a prime target of this "tough line."

As the stories of Ms. Chen, Ms. Wang and hundreds of thousands like them indicate, the past three years have already demonstrated Jiang's very reprehensible and inexcusable "tough line." That the regime would seek to tighten its grip further is chilling.

As the world's awareness continues to grow, and as more people in China are able to read about the facts of the persecution, if Jiang only continues to tighten his grip and intensify this evil persecution, who will continue to follow him?

Today, on International Human Rights Day, we call upon world government leaders, human rights organizations and concerned individuals around the world to speak out against this policy of hatred and violence in which Jiang Zemin has engulfed the nation of China. As U.S. President George W. Bush said in a May 3, 2001, speech, "...adherents of the Falun Gong spiritual movement have been singled out for arrest and abuse. This persecution is unworthy of all that China has been...and all that China should become."

The persecution of Falun Gong is destroying the moral fabric of Chinese society, and destroying the hope of the Chinese people.

This persecution is torturing and killing people.

The last three years, however, have seen an inevitable turn of the tide as the world increasingly expresses its outrage against this persecution. Soon the day will come when Jiang can no longer hide the extent of this persecution and no longer conjure up the support to carry it out.

Today, on International Human Rights Day, we applaud those in China and around the world who have peacefully and resolutely defended basic human rights, and we ask the international community to remain peacefully and compassionately vigilant until these basic human rights are fully restored.

Background

Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa (about), is a practice of meditation and exercises with teachings based on the universal principle of "Truthfulness-Compassion-Tolerance." It is a practice that was taught in private for thousands of years before being made public in 1992 by Mr. Li Hongzhi. Falun Gong has roots in traditional Chinese culture, but it is distinct and separate from other practices such as the religions of Buddhism and Taoism. Since its introduction in 1992, it quickly spread by word of mouth throughout China, and is now practiced in over 50 countries.

With government estimates of as many as 100 million practicing Falun Gong, China's President Jiang Zemin outlawed the peaceful practice in July 1999 (report), fearful of anything touching the hearts and minds of more citizens than the Communist Party. Unable to crush the spirit of millions who had experienced improved health and positive life changes from Falun Gong, Jiang's regime has intensified its propaganda campaign to turn public opinion against the practice while quietly imprisoning, torturing and even murdering those who practice it.

The Falun Dafa Information Center has verified details of 525 deaths (reports / sources) since the persecution of Falun Gong in China began in 1999. Government officials inside China, however, report that the actual death toll is well over 1,600, while expert sources estimate that figure to be much higher. Hundreds of thousands have been detained, with more than 100,000 being sentenced to forced labour camps, typically without trial.