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Amnesty International Australia Representative Addresses Falun Gong Issue at Human Rights Day Seminar (Clearwisdom.net)
I'd like to thank Falun Gong for inviting Amnesty International to be part of
this seminar on Human Rights Day -- a designated day by the United Nations to
commemorate the signing of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which was
signed and ratified right back in 1948. Drawn up from the ashes of World War II,
it was hoped we would have a set of principles that would make the world a
better and fairer place-- but to many, including the practitioners of Falun Gong
in China --it is still just an idealistic document.
I know most of you are probably familiar with Amnesty International, but I
always think it is good to recap. Amnesty is a worldwide movement of people who
campaign for human rights. We work for observance of all human rights as
enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other international
standards. All our work is based on careful research and the standards agreed by
the international community. Amnesty International is independent of any
government or religious creed. We take action on some of the gravest human
rights violations. The focus of our campaigning is:
Amnesty also calls on armed opposition groups to respect human rights and
works for the rights of refugees.
I lived in Hong Kong for eighteen and a half years and was very aware of the
human rights abuses meted out by the Chinese authorities.
Amnesty International in a briefing released in September 2001 expressed
concerned at developments in the human rights situation in China. Amnesty
International feels the current situation represents a major set back for human
rights and the 'rule of law' in China, and a new step backwards since the
deterioration in human rights which started in late 1998.
In particular, the authorities have launched a new "strike hard" campaign
against crime which led within a few weeks to a record number of executions,
many of them believed to have been carried about out after summary trials. They
have stepped up the crackdown on the Falun Gong spiritual movement, reportedly
sanctioning for the first time the widespread use of violence against its
members. They have also launched a new wave of arrests and forcible repatriation
of North Korean asylum seekers, denying them access to any refugee determination
procedures. In addition to these major developments, repression of dissent has
continued, new restrictions have been imposed on the media, and numerous
incidents of arbitrary detention, torture and other human rights violations have
been reported across the country.
Over the past few months, Falun Gong sources in China and abroad have alleged
that violence against Falun Gong practitioners detained over China is now
systematic and officially sanctioned. They describe this as a new pattern and
claim that a special government task force set up in Beijing to lead the
campaign against the Falun Gong, the "610 office", has issued unwritten
instructions allowing police and other officials to go beyond legal constraints
in this campaign, discharging them of legal responsibility, if a Falun Gong
practitioner dies in detention due to beatings. According to these sources, of
over 250 practitioners reported to have died in custody since Falun Gong was
banned in July 1999, about half have died this year and many of the deaths which
are due to ill-treatment are officially reported as suicides.
Allegations that violence against the Falun Gong practitioners is now
officially sanctioned have also been reported in August 2001 in a detailed
article in the Washington Post, which cites unidentified government
sources. According to the article, the central authorities devised a new
approach to eradicate the group in February 2001, after eighteen months of
mitigated success due to uneven or reluctant enforcement of the campaign by
local officials. The new approach was reportedly based on three elements
designed to produce results, the first being the sanction by the central
leadership of the widespread use of violence against the practitioners who
refuse to renounce their beliefs. The article cited the sources as saying there
was previously no systematic campaign of violence to break Falun Gong, and that
practitioners had previously suffered only the "normal amount" of police
brutality, in the same way as other detainees.
Amnesty International is gravely concerned by the allegations of state
sanctioned violence against Falun Gong practitioners. The organisation's
concerns about the government's campaign against the group include the arbitrary
detention of thousands of practitioners -- whether in "study classes," regular
detention centers or labour camps -- unfair trials, and numerous allegations of
torture of detained practitioners. Amnesty has documented these concerns in
several reports. In these reports Amnesty has documented alleged active attempts
by officials to cover up or destroy evidence in a large number of cases. This
includes reports of hasty cremation of the victims before relatives could see
the bodies or before autopsies could be performed, and the detention of people
who sought to publicise information about the death in custody of relatives or
friends.
Amnesty International has repeatedly called on the Chinese government to stop
all violence against Falun Gong practitioners and provide convincing evidence
that all evidence and all allegations of torture of detained practitioners are
being investigated, in line with Chinese law. It also calls on the government to
release all practitioners arbitrarily detained in "study classes" and other
places of detention.
I think it is appropriate on human rights day to quote from a man who
contributed so much inspiration to those involved in the struggle of human
rights and continues to do so to this day.
"There is little hope for us until we become tough minded enough to break
loose from the shackles of prejudice, half truths and downright ignorance." That
was said by Martin Luther King -- and would seem to epitomize the current struggle of
the Falun Gong practitioners in China who are continually struggling with the
Chinese authorities for their most fundamental freedoms.
Robyn Kilpatrick
Amnesty International Australia,
Victorian Branch Representative
December 10th, 2001
Posting date: 4/15/2002 |