Falun Gong asks for the Persecution of Practitioners in China to be Discussed in the EU-China Human Rights Dialogue

Bilateral talks on human rights between the European Union and China were recently held in Ireland’s capital, Dublin. Human rights organisations asked the Irish government to pay attention to China’s persecution of Falun Gong practitioners, along with China’s Internet censorship and information blockade. Falun Gong practitioners also took further steps in filing a lawsuit against the Chinese officials who persecute Falun Gong.

On February the 28th, Radio Free Asia reported that the Irish Government, on behalf of the European Union, held a two-day dialogue with the Chinese Government about human rights issues on February the 26th and the 27th in Dublin. Reacting to the upcoming dialogue, Irish Falun Gong practitioners and international human rights associations also held a series of activities in Dublin. At noon on Friday February the 27th, a journalist interviewed Mr. Zhao Ming, who participated in these activities.

Mr. Zhao said, “We are now holding a peaceful appeal at the Irish Department of Foreign Affairs in Dublin, where a human rights dialogue between EU and China is currently taking place. The dialogue is conducted between China and the European country that holds the Presidency of the EU Council to improve China’s human rights. It is held alternatively in China and in the European country that holds the presidency of the EU. The present dialogue started yesterday. The Chinese delegation consists of seven or eight persons. Before the dialogue commences, we held a press conference with several officials associated with Amnesty International and a human rights lawyer from Belgium. During the press conference, Ms. Anne Marlborough of Amnesty International called upon the Irish Government, which holds the Presidency of the EU Council now, to urge China to improve human rights in China, especially the persecution against Falun Gong and the monitoring of the Internet.

According to the report, Mr. Zhao identified the Belgian human rights lawyer to be Ms. Karin Zidelmal. She and her colleague, Mr. Georges-Henri Beauthier, represented Falun Gong practitioners in filing a lawsuit against Jiang Zemin, Luo Gan and Li Lanqing in Belgium. The report said Falun Gong practitioners had initiated legal consultation, and looked into the possibility of filing a lawsuit in Ireland according to international law against the Chinese Government officials who persecute Falun Gong practitioners.

The report also said that in the two-day long activities, Falun Gong practitioners requested the Irish Government to raise the cases of Mr. Liu Feng and Ms. Yang Fang, who cannot return to Ireland to continue their studies because they are under house arrest by the Chinese Government. They called upon the Irish Government to request that the Chinese Government immediately releases Liu Feng and Yang Fang.