Falun Gong Human Rights Working Group Submits Appeal Letter to the United Nations on Behalf of 535 Hunan Falun Gong Practitioners' Families

Recently, the Falun Gong Human Rights Working Group submitted an appeal letter to the United Nations on behalf of 535 Hunan Falun Gong practitioners' families. The letter calls on the UN to pay attention to the detention and persecution suffered by Falun Gong practitioners at the Baimalong Women's Forced Labour Camp in Xhuzhou City, Human Province.

On September 1st, 2005, a Falun Dafa website published a joint appeal letter from 535 Hunan Falun Gong practitioners' family members. The letter exposed the inhuman torture that Falun Gong practitioners are suffering at the Baimalong Women's Forced Labour Camp. They filed complaints against the guards at the labour camp, managed by Huang Yongliang and Zhao Guibao, through all channels of the Chinese justice system. Unfortunately, Falun Gong practitioners' rights were not respected; on the contrary, what they achieved was just the opposite. Many family members have now been persecuted and the families have been broken up. Under such circumstances, the only hope they have now is to ask for help from the international community. They wrote an open letter to international human rights organisations, international mental health organisations, and all people of the world to call upon the entire world to condemn, resist, and stop the atrocities at the Baimalong Women's Labour Camp under the Chinese Communist Party's tyranny. They urged the unconditional release of all Falun Dafa practitioners who are being illegally imprisoned or detained.

Since 2001, at least six Falun Gong practitioners have died as a result of persecution in the Baimalong Women's Labour Camp. Many people were beaten, and suffered tortures such as being hung up by their handcuffs, shocked repeatedly with electric batons, force-fed, and injected with unknown drugs. As a consequence, a number of practitioners were disabled or lost their mental clarity. Guards at the labour camp not only persecute practitioners themselves, but they also incite criminal inmates to torture Falun Gong practitioners. Some practitioners were directly murdered by criminal inmates.

The 535 practitioners' family members stated in their appeal letter, "Since 2001, the Baimalong Women's Forced Labour Camp has been designated as an 'advanced civilized work unit' for persecuting Falun Gong. Li Lanqing, the head of the 610 Office, is in charge of the forced labour camp. Jiang Zemin, the former leader of the CCP, allocated several tens of millions of yuan to this labour camp to build a few office buildings and lodgings for the guards, who have become like animals. The labour camp is awarded 10,000 yuan for "transforming" each Falun Gong practitioner. The labour camp then gives 1,000 yuan to the guard who most cruelly persecutes practitioners. Guards are given promotions based on how much they persecute Dafa practitioners. The CCP also offers an overseas trip to the most ruthless evildoer. In order to satisfy their selfish desires, the guards have become barbaric. They have completely lost their human nature.

As this case involves a large number of people and the persecution is extremely serious, the Falun Gong Human Rights Working Group sent an urgent call for rescue to the Special Rapporteur on the Independence of Judges and Lawyers, the Special Rapporteur on the Right to Freedom of Opinion and Expression, the Special Rapporteur on Religious Intolerance, and The Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, hoping that the international community and the United Nations will take action to stop the persecution and killing at the Baimalong Women's Labour Camp.

Provided by the Falun Gong Human Rights Working Group.