Statement from the European Falun Dafa Association Regarding EU-China Human Rights Dialogue
29 April 2007 The next EU-China dialogue on human rights is due to be held on 15 and 16 May
2007. On behalf of the millions of people being persecuted in China today, we
are compelled to remind the EU that we have not seen any positive results from
this process. In fact we have seen China's human rights deteriorate since the
start of the dialogue. We ask the EU to review its whole approach to China's
human rights. In particular we ask that the EU and each member state publicly
condemn China's worsening human rights and open the dialogue process to
attendance by the media and non-governmental organisations so that it is
transparent and accountable to the people of Europe. The EU-China dialogue on human rights was initiated in January 1996, but was
interrupted by China after Denmark and nine other EU Member States tabled a
critical resolution at the 1997 UN Commission on Human Rights (UNCHR) session.
Later in 1997, China decided to resume the dialogue. Since then, the dialogue
has been held twice a year. The persecution of Falun Gong continues unabated in its scale and
viciousness. The death toll continues to mount. Up to the end of April 2007,
3000 deaths of Falun Gong practitioners were verified. The deaths were mostly
attributed to the severe torture practices of Chinese detention centres and
labour camps. Torture techniques usually include severe beatings, electrocution,
force-feeding, physical torture and forced drug injections. The actual figure is
of course much higher and in the tens of thousands. Over 100,000 were verified
to have been illegally sent to labour camps and more than 500 have been
sentenced to prison terms of up to 18 years. A recent report of the independent
investigation led by David Kilgour and David Matas of Canada shows that a large
number of Falun Gong practitioners have been killed for organ harvesting. At
least 41,000 cases of organ transplants have been carried out since the year
2000, with organs harvested from Falun Gong practitioners, an atrocity in which
state-owned hospitals, the military and the people's court are involved. We sincerely appreciate the support that the EU has given in the past for the
human rights of Falun Gong practitioners in China and the efforts it has made
through the policy of behind-the-scenes dialogue. It is clear from the
persecution figures, continuing death toll and verifiable information coming out
of China, that this has not had any impact in preventing the Chinese authorities
from continuing to flagrantly violate international human rights laws. Indeed,
the closed-door human rights dialogues avoid overt and public condemnation of
the persecution, which is exactly what the Chinese authorities would like to
avoid at all cost. As long as such strategies continue, so will the persecution.
If such methods were actually helping to prevent further torture and deaths, it
would be helpful to continue in this way. But, it is all too tragically clear
that the Falun Gong practitioners in China continue to suffer and endure
horrific abuses. We sincerely urge the EU to take this valuable opportunity to
openly and publicly speak out against the human rights abuses. The EU's efforts
and public condemnation of this senseless and unrelenting persecution can
significantly contribute to lessening the pressure that the practitioners in
China are currently enduring and take us one step closer to ending their
suffering. It has now been over 8 years since the crackdown began. Every day, we
receive more news of yet another torture victim, another family torn apart,
another human rights crime. Yours sincerely Mr Peter Jauhal Mr Man Yan Ng European Falun Dafa Association European Falun Dafa Association
Co-Chairman
Co-Chairman
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