Labor Leader's Letter to Canadian PM: "Discussion on Human Rights Cannot be Complete without an Unequivocal, Public Statement against the Persecution of the Falun Gong"

By Minghui reporter Wang Mei

(Clearwisdom.net) On August 21, 2007, Mr. Fred Muzin, President of the 46,000 member British Columbia Hospital Employees' Union (BC Health Services Division of the Canadian Union of Public Employees), wrote to Stephen Harper, the Prime Minister of Canada, requesting Prime Minister Harper to "urge Chinese leader Hu Jintao to end the brutal persecution of Falun Gong, stop the killing and organ seizure of Falun Gong practitioners, and press for the release of all imprisoned practitioners" during the upcoming APEC meeting.

In the letter, Mr. Fred Muzin said: "We are encouraged by our Canadian government's outspoken stance on human rights in China, but we strongly believe that this discussion on human rights cannot be complete without an unequivocal, public statement against the persecution of the Falun Gong."

The letter was also delivered to the Provincial Executive, the Global Justice Committee, Deputy Speaker of the House of Commons, Hon. Bill Blaikie, MP Mr. Wayne Marston, MP Ms. Alexa McDonough, Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Hon. Mr. Maxime Bernier, Amnesty International Canada, and others.

On August 4, 2007, Mr. Fred Muzin spoke at a rally in front of the Chinese Consulate, in Vancouver, protesting the violent assault on a Falun Gong practitioner.

In 2002, Mr. Muzin wrote to the Canadian government on behalf of 46,000 members of the union, urging the government to take action to stop the persecution of Falun Gong in China.

In November 2004, Mr. Fred Muzin wrote to the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada, the Honourable Irwin Cotler, to support a request from Canadian practitioners of Falun Gong to commence an investigation and proceedings under Canada's Crimes Against Humanity and War Crimes Act against the former leader of China, Jiang Zemin, and other top ranking Chinese officials.

Below is the text of the letter from Mr. Muzin.

Dear Prime Minister:

We are encouraged by our Canadian government's outspoken stance on human rights in China, but we strongly believe that this discussion on human rights cannot be complete without an unequivocal, public statement against the persecution of the Falun Gong.

In March 2006, the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture reported that 66 percent of the victims of alleged torture and ill-treatment in China were Falun Gong practitioners. "The Cruelty and brutality of these alleged acts of torture defy description," he said. The U.S. State Department's 2006 annual report stated that "Falun Gong adherents constitute at least half of the 250,000 officially recorded inmates in reeducation-through-labor-camps," while the real number could be even higher.

The Honorable David Kilgour and Mr. David Matas concluded in their independent investigation report that in numerous places across China, the Chinese government regime is harvesting the organs of Falun Gong prisoners of conscience and killing them during the process.

Therefore, on the occasion of the upcoming APEC meeting, I request that you urge Chinese leader Hu Jintao to end the brutal persecution of Falun Gong, stop the killing and organ seizure of Falun Gong practitioners, and press for the release of all imprisoned practitioners, including the 16 who have family members living in Canada.

As a democratic nation with a long and proud history of honoring human rights, Canada must take a lead in this matter.

Sincerely yours

(signed )

Fred Muzin
President

FM/dm

Cc:

Chinese version available at http://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2007/8/27/161629.html

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