News Release For Immediate Release: January 31, 2002

Ottawa, January 31, 2002 -- On the occasion of the release of Shenli Lin, husband of Canadian citizen Jinyu Li, from prison in China, Professor and M.P. Irwin Cotler, international legal counsel to Jinyu Li, Mr. Alex Neve, Secretary General of Amnesty International, and M.P. Scott Reid held a press conference with Ms. Jinyu Li to call on the Chinese authorities to facilitate her husband's departure and reunification with her in Canada, and to end the "alarming" increase in torture, imprisonment, and death cases in custody of Falun Gong practitioners.

They also call upon the Canadian government to take the lead in pressing for action at the annual meeting of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights starting on March 18 in Geneva.

Ms. Jinyu Li expressed her gratitude to those who have worked hard for her husband's freedom. "Over the last two years, Amnesty International repeatedly launched nation-wide letter-writing campaigns to appeal for Shenli's release, I received over 50 letters from M.P.s and Senators, including the Prime Minister and the Minister of Foreign Affairs, I received over 100 letters from professors, and more... I thank you all from the bottom of my heart. ".

"Over two years of imprisonment as a 'prisoner of conscience' have come to an end and we now await his arrival in Canada and eagerly anticipate his reunion with his wife," said Mr. Alex Neve.

"Shenli is not the last, unfortunately, who remains in prison in China," said Mr. Scott Reid. "Lizhi He is still imprisoned in China, serving a 3.5-year prison term for sending Falun Gong materials. He and his wife Li Zhang are permanent residents of Canada." "It is important for ...the Chinese authorities to realize that the negative publicity that is the fallout of the kinds of activities the Chinese government carries on in relation to Canadians and Canadian residents in China, the negative publicity is not going to go away unless China embraces the quality that Falun Gong speaks to of 'Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance.' " "I strongly urge the Chinese authorities to release Lizhi He," added Mr. Reid.

Mr. Irwin Cotler calls the dramatic increase in the persecution of Falun Gong "alarming." "We would be remiss if we did not make mention of, and indeed sound the alarm about, the dramatic increase in the persecution of Falun Gong in China, including the increase in the rates of arrest and detention, and the increasing number of deaths of practitioners in detention. In the past month alone, 30 Falun Gong practitioners were tortured to death. We would be remiss if we did not mention the pervasive torture of Falun Gong detainees and the use of atrocity propaganda to demonize Falun Gong practitioners in the eyes of their fellow citizens. They are a group of people whose commitment is to nothing else but the ancient Chinese and humanistic values of "Truth, Compassion, Forbearance."

"The repression of Falun Gong in China continues to be a particularly pressing human rights concern," said Mr. Neve. "One critical opportunity will soon be upon us. On March 18, this year's session of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights begins its annual round of meetings. The United States has in past years been one of the only states willing to raise these concerns at the Commission. With the U.S. absent this year, the importance of Canada taking the lead in pressing for action, rather than the silence that has marked Canadian policy in this area for the past 5 years, is evident and pressing."

Posting date: 2/2/2002
Original article date: 1/31/2002
Category: News & Media Reports

 Yearly Archive  Printer Version

_____Related Articles_____ Statement to the Press Outside the Chinese Consulate in Chicago Concerning the Murder of Falun Gong Practitioners in China [1/12/2002] International Human Rights Day: SOS -- Stop State-Sanctioned Terror Against Falun Dafa in China! [12/10/2001] BBC Monitoring: China - RSF says foreign journalists still persecuted for covering Falun Gong  [12/6/2001] Friends of Falun Gong Press Release [12/5/2001] MP Joe Higgins T.D Calls on the Irish Government to Intensify its Efforts to Gain the Release of Zhao Ming and End the Persecution of Falun Gong in China [12/2/2001] MP and Canadians Back from China Express Concern over Police Violence for Their Appeal for Falun Gong [11/30/2001] Media Advisory: Falun Gong Prisoner to be Released Today by China [11/22/2001] Press Statement by Midwest Practitioners on John Nania's Return from China [11/22/2001] An American Falun Dafa Practitioner from Minnesota: Statement Regarding My Trip to Beijing [11/22/2001] European Falun Gong Information Centre Press Release - 21 November 2001 [11/21/2001]