Persecution Case of Falun Gong Practitioner Mr. Zhang Xingwu and His Wife Ms. Liu Pinjie Submitted to United Nations

The persecution case of Falun Gong practitioner Zhang Xingwu and his wife was recently submitted to the United Nations. The document detailed the involvement of the 610 Office, the local labour camp and public security bureau in the arrest of the couple and listed the responsible individuals.

Zhang Xingwu is a retired associate professor of Jinan Education College. His wife, Liu Pinjie, is a retired worker at the Semiconductor Research Institute. They are both Falun Gong practitioners. At 10 p.m. on July 16th, local police ransacked the couple's home and confiscated many valuable belongings as well as cash and debit cards. Moreover, they arrested Zhang and Liu. While in custody, Ms. Liu developed symptoms of an acute disease. After their relatives paid 10,000 yuan, Ms. Liu was released 24 hours after her detention. However, she was arrested again on August 6th and is still in custody. Professor Zhang has been in custody since July 16th.

On August 19th, practitioner Zhang Shuangying, the couple's daughter, held a press conference in front of the Chinese consulate in New York City to inform media about the plight of her parents and call for help. (see http://www.clearwisdom.net/emh/articles/2008/8/21/100013.html) Ms. Zhang also wrote an appeal letter to President Bush. Her appeal has received support from several assembly members.

Falun Gong Human Rights has urged the UN human rights agencies to pay close attention to this case.