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Canadian House of Commons' Unanimous Motion Frees 3 Prisoners of Conscience FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE February 28, 2003
OTTAWA- A Private Member's Motion that was passed unanimously in the House on
October 24th was debated in the House of Commons today. By adopting
this motion last October, the House of Commons gave the impetus that resulted in
the freeing of three prisoners of conscience, the improvement in the conditions
of several others, and the rescuing of one Falun Gong practitioner who was about
to be deported to China where she faced renewed imprisonment.
The motion was introduced by Scott Reid, MP (CA, Lanark-Carleton). It has
been recognised as a pivotal factor in ensuring the safe release of these
individuals, and reads as follows:
That, in the opinion of this House, the Prime Minister should take advantage
of his upcoming meeting with President Jiang Zemin of China at the Asia-Pacific
Economic Cooperation (APEC) Conference to privately raise the issue of the
continued imprisonment in China of thirteen Falun Gong practitioners who have
close family ties to Canada, and to emphasize that Canadians would be more
willing to strengthen existing ties between Canada and China if these
individuals (namely, Lizhi He; Xiuzhen Lu; Tianxiong Peng; Zhanzhong Wu; Xiuchao
Huang; Bo Qiu; Yueli Yang; Yangtao Jin; Jiangang Huang; Guangshou Huang; Mingli
Lin; Zhou Zheng; and Changzheng Sun) were re-united with their families in
Canada.
"In adopting this motion, MPs of all parties provided the means to free
several innocent people, but there are still many Falun Gong practitioners with
direct family ties to Canada who remain in prison," Reid said. "We have to keep
up the pressure until each one is released and reunited with his or her family
in Canada."
Mr. Reid is available for comment on this issue.
Please contact (613) 947 2277 for further information. Posting date: 3/6/2003 |