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Statement Read at the New York Press Conference Regarding Cambodia's Deportation of Falun Gong Practitioners Under Pressure by Jiang's Regime
PRESS STATEMENT FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE August 19, 2002 FALUN GONG PRACTITIONERS DEPORTED FROM CAMBODIA IN VIOLATION OF UN REFUGEE
CONVENTION OF 1951 NEW YORK, NEW YORK, August 19, 2002 -- Li Guojun and his wife Zhang Xingi were deported to
Mainland China by Cambodian authorities on August 9, 2002, and are now being held in a detention
center in Hunan province. They were arrested by the Cambodian authorities on August 2, 2002, after
the Cambodian Department of Foreigners warned them that their presence in the country was damaging
the friendly relations between Cambodia and China. Li and Zhang's life changed considerably after Zhang received some Falun Gong books in the mail
from Taiwan last June. First Zhang was denied a new passport by the Chinese Government after her old
one expired during the first week of last July, a few weeks later both she and her husband were
abruptly dismissed from teaching positions they had held at a Chinese school since they had arrived
in Cambodia in 1998. Both Li and Zhang were Falun Gong practitioners. They were also documented as "persons of
concern" under the protection of the United Nations High Commissioner on Refugees and awaiting
official refugee status before they were abruptly deported to China on August 9, 2002 in direct
violation of their status. The Cambodian authorities reportedly denied they were holding the couple when approached by the
UNHCR shortly after the couple was arrested in early August. Later, when a letter arrived from the
UNHCR Regional office in Bangkok requesting the couples' immediately release, the Cambodian
authorities revealed that Li and Zhang had already been deported to China earlier that same day. The deportation of this couple is an outright violation of Cambodia's international obligation to
protect such people under the laws of the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees to
which they are a signatory. Since the persecution of Falun Gong in China began in 1999, over 450 deaths of Falun Gong
practitioners have been verified, however reliable sources in China report that the actual death
toll is well over 1,600. Over 100,000 have been detained, with more than 20,000 being sentenced to
forced labor camps without trial. With six more deaths of Falun Gong practitioners held in China's
forced labor camps and detention centers reported this week alone, we have cause for serious
concern. Will this be the fate that awaits the two Cambodian residents with UN-refugee status, who were
arrested and deported to a Chinese detention center last week simply for practicing their personal
spiritual belief in another country? Can we stand silently by as Jiang Zemin escalates his
persecution against Falun Gong practitioners by exerting pressure on foreign governments to do his
bidding? We call upon all organizations and individuals to voice their concerns to the Chinese
authorities and help us avert another tragedy at the hands of the Jiang Zemin Regime. On August 19, 2002, letters will be delivered to the following after the press conference: Kofi Annan Sadako Ogata Cambodian Mission |