我们是生活在美国的法轮功学员。我们给您写这封信的目的是想让您关注中国政府镇压
法轮功的最新发展情况。
众所周知,中国政府从今年7月22日开始,在中国全面取缔法轮功。法轮功是中国传统的
一种气功修炼方法,在全世界拥有一亿的学员,绝大多数在中国。中国政府动用了大量
的警察,非法逮捕了几十位各地法轮功负责人,并且非法关押数万上访的法轮功学员。
过去一个月来,中国政府动用了所有宣传机构,不惜假造证据,颠倒黑白地在全中国范
围内对法轮功及其创始人李洪志先生进行了大肆的恶毒诬蔑和人身攻击。
8月24日,中国政府正式宣布要对法轮功的主要负责人判刑,依法制裁。然而,7月29日,
中国司法部给各地的律师事务所发出通知,通知说,在没有得到司法部的批准之前,任
何律师不得受理法轮功学员的投诉,不得为法轮功学员提供法律咨询服务, 律师所说的
话,也必须和中央保持一致。也就是说,法轮功学员将在法庭上受到审判而没有任何律
师给予辩护,法庭可以为所欲为地给法轮功学员定罪。如何可以想象,在世纪之交的今
天, 签署国际人权协定的中国居然做出这种公然践踏法律的事情,这难道不是否定中国
政府自己制定的“以法治国”原则的严重错误吗?
我们向您呼吁,向全世界善良的人们呼吁,在道义上给我们支持,帮助中国政府冷静下
来、阻止对法轮功学员以法律手段进行迫害行为的恶性发展,因为那样的行为无论对个
人还是对国家对社会都极其不负责任的,是严重违反国际人权公约的不文明行为。希望
全世界善良的人民和政府立即行动起来,帮助阻止执法枉法、严重践踏人权的事情在走
向二十一世纪的中国大陆继续发生。
我们谨代表所有受到不公正待遇的法轮功学员向您表示感谢,感谢您在人道上给予我们
的帮助。
美国法轮功学员
一九九九年八月二十五日
附录一:媒体关于司法部剥夺法轮功学员合法权益的报导
附录二:过去一个月来中国政府对法轮功镇压回顾
附录三:法新社报导
附录四:CNN 路透社报导:中国将制裁法轮功负责人
附录五:中国政府严重违反人权的报告
注:此信已由美国法轮功学员发往各界人士
August 25, 1999
Honorable Congressmen :
We are Falun Gong practitioners in the United States. We are writing to you to bring to your attention some new critical development in the continuing Falun Gong crisis in China.
Chinese government banned Falun Gong, a traditional Chinese meditation with millions of practitioners worldwide, on July 22. It mobilized thousands of riot police, paramilitary troops and other forces to illegally arrest over one hundred contact persons in China, and illegally detain thousands of practitioners who went to the government agencies to make clarifications since July 21. The government utilized all the state-run media to fabricate evidence and stage a nationwide campaign to slander and discredit Falun Gong and its founder Mr. Li Hongzhi in the past whole month.
On August 24, the Chinese government officially announced that key members of the banned Falun Gong are facing prosecutions. However, on July 29, Beijing Municipal Bureau of Justice issued a directive to all attorney offices stating that no one can sign contract with and give legal service to Falun Gong practitioners without the Bureau's pre-approval. This can be interpreted that when Falun Gong practitioners are prosecuted, they will not be able to find their own lawyers to defend them and the government can do whatever it wants to punish these innocent people. How can a country that signed International Covenant of Human Rights do such a thing? Chinese government's "Managing the country with laws" is simply a beautiful lie.
We are appealing to you to help stop Chinese government's absurd conduct against common legal practice and its severe violation of basic human rights as well as its own constitution.
All men are created equal. As citizens and legal residents of the United States, we feel proud to live on this land of freedom; we treasure the rights guaranteed by the Declaration of Independence. We firmly believe the principles of our nation will never be traded with economic and political gains, or anything in that regard. All Falun Gong practitioners in the United States appeal to you, our honorable representative, to make an official statement to urge the Chinese government to stop brutal suppression on innocent Falun Gong practitioners who demand only the very basic rights as humans. And help to establish a direct dialog between Mr. Li Hongzhi and the Chinese government to resolve this crisis in a peaceful way.
Sincerely,
Falun Gong practitioners in the United States
?Fax?
Contact Persons:
?
?
?
Attachment 1: "Some report about Beijing Municipal Bureau of Justice's
directive. "
Attachment 2: "A Re-cap of the happenings about Falun Gong in the past
month."
Attachment 3: "Chinese Lawyers Ordered Not To Defend Falungong Members",
A report from Agence France Presse.
Attachment 4: "China says it will prosecute Falun Gong leaders ", A
report from CNN (Reuters).
Attachment 5: "Chinese Government's Severe Violations Of Falun Gong
Practitioners' Human Rights", an article from http://www.minghui.ca/eng.html,
a web site maintained by Falun Gong practitioners in North America.
ATTACHMENT 1
A Report about Beijing Municipal Bureau of Justice's Directive
Falun Gong Practitioners in China Not Allowed to Consult Lawyers?
(Beijing, August 10)
It is reported that Beijing Bureau of Justice issued a notice on July 29, setting a reporting procedure for all requests of consulting and legal representation related to Falun Gong. The notice emphasized on requiring all units, including all attorney offices and Bureaus of Justice in all counties and districts, to immediately report, count and record all requests for consulting and legal representation related to Falun Gong. The notice set the regulation to disallow any contract for legal representation to be signed unless the case is pre-approved by the Office of Legal Administration. When litigants come to any attorney office for consulting services, the contents of all answers have to match the one from the Central Government.
Such a way of managing legal system really embarrassed legal professionals.
No wonder there is a popular saying that "Managing the country with Law"
is only a beautiful lie. The legal charges facing the one hundred plus
Falun Gong practitioners arrested earlier will be very hard to predict
and understand from the legal standpoint.
ATTACHMENT 2
A Re-cap of the Happenings about Falun Gong in the Past Month
Falun Gong, a traditional Chinese meditation with millions of practitioners
worldwide, was banned by the Chinese government on July 22. The government
used fabricated evidence and staged a nationwide campaign reminiscent of
the Cultural Revolution to slander and discredit Falun Gong and its founder
Mr. Li Hongzhi. It also mobilized thousands of riot police, paramilitary
troops and other forces to illegally arrest over one hundred contact persons
in China, and illegally detain thousands of practitioners who went to the
government agencies to make clarifications. The heavy-handed tactics employed
by the Chinese government and its defiant trampling of basic human rights
in its crack down on Falun Gong have invoked worldwide concern and attention.
For instance, Falun Gong practitioners outside of China recently carried
out various activities to call on the international community to assist
in a peaceful settlement of the crisis and help the practitioners in China
whose human rights had been egregiously violated. Many international organizations
and national governments have also expressed their concerns over the crisis
and urged the Chinese government to exercise restraint in dealing with
its legal citizens.
ATTACHMENT 3
Chinese Lawyers Ordered Not To Defend Falungong Members
BEIJING, Aug 24, 1999 -- (Agence France Presse) Chinese lawyers have
been ordered not to
defend members of the banned Falungong sect, a human rights group said
Tuesday, as the
government continued its campaign against the sect.
The order came in a circular from judicial authorities sent to lawyers' offices in several major cities, the Hong Kong-based Information Center of Human Rights and Democratic Movement in China said.
If approached "lawyers must write a report about the request and apply for special permission from judicial authorities," the group said in a statement.
They must also obtain details of the people making the request and pass these onto the authorities, it said.
"If people demand a legal explanation for the banning of Falungong, this explanation must conform to the party line," it added.
An official from the justice department in Beijing, Cui Yuqi, confirmed a circular was sent, but said it was intended to "gather statistics on the victims of Falungong who want to take action against the movement."
Despite a massive campaign in the official media attacking the sect some people still believed in the sect's leader Li Hongzhi, the official China Daily newspaper admitted Tuesday.
The government and the party have called for "further educating Falungong practitioners in a bid to persuade them to change their former convictions and extricate themselves from the cult," it said.
The Center said more than 50 leaders of the sect had been arrested since it was banned on July 22. Immediately after it was banned, authorities temporarily detained thousands of members.
Earlier this month Hong Kong newspapers reported the government was preparing to charge the leaders of the sect and hoped to complete the campaign against the sect before the 50th anniversary celebrations of the formation of the People's Republic of China on October 1.
The Center said the government had "not yet decided what sort of sentences to hand down to the sect members and has asked courts to postpone action" pending a decision.
Falungong took the authorities by surprise on April 25 when it rapidly gathered more than 10,000 members for a rally outside the government headquarters in Beijing.
Chinese military officials have compared the protest to the 1989 Tiananmen
Square democracy uprising -- which was brutally suppressed -- as one of
the most significant challenges to Chinese communism in recent times. ((c)
1999 Agence France Presse)
ATTACHMENT 4
China says it will prosecute Falun Gong leaders
August 24, 1999
Web posted at: 8:29 a.m. EDT (1229 GMT)
BEIJING (Reuters) -- China said for the first time on Tuesday that key members of the banned Falun Gong spiritual movement faced prosecution.
The Communist Party and the State Council, or cabinet, had issued a circular saying core members of Falun Gong "must be punished in accordance with the law," the official Xinhua news agency said.
It did not say how many people would be prosecuted, or on what charges,
but said it would be a "tiny minority" of Falun Gong adherents.
Those convicted could face a life sentence.
Falun Gong -- a mishmash of Buddhism, Taoism and a form of martial arts known as qigong that involves breathing exercises based on the theory of inner energy -- claims 100 million members, but the government says two million is more accurate.
China banned Falun Gong on July 22, calling it an illegal organization that corrupted the people's minds, sabotaged stability and sought to replace the government.
Chinese authorities have rounded up thousands of Falun Gong adherents since then.
The circular said "a majority" of Falun Gong practitioners would be forgiven if they promised not to take part in the movement's future activities.
Key members who admit their mistakes voluntarily and "exposed" Falun Gong's secrets would be spared prosecution, it said.
The circular said those who "plotted from behind the scenes and deliberately sabotaged social stability" faced prosecution.
Government sources said the movement's key leaders faced charges ranging from disturbing public order to subversion and leaking state secrets.
Classified official documents were found in the homes of key leaders,
the sources said.
If charged with subverting the government or leaking state secrets,
they face up to life in prison.
The circular did not say when indictments were expected.
The sources said Li Chang, a former deputy director at the Ministry of Public Security, and Wang Zhiwen, a former Railways Ministry official, were likely to be prosecuted.
State media reported this month that Li orchestrated a protest outside state-owned Beijing Television in May last year without seeking prior police approval.
Li and Wang are lieutenants of Li Hongzhi, the movement's U.S.-based leader who says Falun Gong is apolitical and poses no threat to China.
The movement first stunned China's rulers when more than 10,000 members besieged Beijing's Zhongnanhai leadership compound on April 25 to demand official status for their faith.
State media have said Li Hongzhi masterminded the illegal April protest. Li has admitted he was in Beijing on the eve of the protest but denies involvement.
China has put a price on the head of Li, who preaches that science has created an immoral world on the brink of disaster. But the United States and Interpol have ruled out extradition.
The Communist Party and the military have moved to clean their ranks, banning cadres and their families from practicing Falun Gong.
The authorities have destroyed millions of Falun Gong publications in
a campaign that international human rights watchdogs say flouts basic rights.