BEIJING (Reuters) - China has given police in a north-eastern province the go-ahead to arrest followers of the banned Falun Gong spiritual movement without warrants in a crackdown ahead of the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, a U.S.-based rights group said.
The Free China Movement faxed a copy of what it said was a document issued by the Public Security Bureau and Supreme Court of Jilin Province to Reuters late on Thursday, outlining the campaign which is to last from May 20 until the end of 2007.
The Free China Movement said the document showed that the International Olympic Committee had been "hoodwinked" into awarding the 2008 Games to China and that human rights conditions in China would only worsen.
"While the IOC decided to award China the 2008 Olympics based in part on the assumption that the human rights conditions in the country would improve as a result, this document clearly demonstrates that the reverse is happening -- that China is using the international games to launch a new wave of oppression against all forms of dissent in China," it said.
It was not possible to independently verify the authenticity of the document, which was stamped with the official seals of the Jilin public security apparatus and top court. Police in Jilin contacted by Reuters said they had not seen the document.
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It was to be sent to every city and county security bureau and court in the province, said the document, which authorised particularly harsh punishments for Falun Gong followers.
"Once they are found, they should be arrested first before making up the other arrest procedures," it said of the group's members.
Others who gather illegally in groups of 15 or more are subject to up to 15 days in detention and fines up to 1,000 yuan ($120). Those who attend and "do not show any remorse" can get three years in jail and be fined 10,000 yuan, it said. [...]
China was awarded the 2008 summer Games last July to the chagrin of some rights groups. Others said the games would encourage greater scrutiny of China's rights record and be a catalyst for change for the better.
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http://sg.news.yahoo.com/reuters/asia-103273.html
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