United States: 22 US Congressmen Urge the Korean Government Not to Bend to Chinese Government Pressure and Deport Falun Gong Practitioners to China

On August 14th, 2009, a Dear Colleague Letter, initiated by Congressman Chris Smith from New Jersey and cosigned by 22 other Congressmen, was sent to Korean President Lee Myung-bak. The letter says: "According to news reports, the Chinese government is applying pressure on the South Korean government to deport these Falun Gong practitioners to China, and we have been informed that several of them have already been deported.......we urge your government not to deport Falun Gong practitioners to China, but to find an appropriate way, within the South Korean legal system and the international conventions on torture and refugees ratified by South Korea, to permit Chinese Falun Gong practitioners to remain in South Korea." Below is the text of the Dear Colleague Letter.

August 14, 2009

His Excellency President Lee Myung-bak

Office of the President

1 Cheongwadae-ro, Jongno-gu

Seoul, Republic of Korea (110-820)

PER FAX to: Office of the President, ROK: 82-2-770-7029

Ambassador Duck-soo, Republic of Korea Embassy, US: 202-797-0595

Dear Mr. President,

We wish to bring to your attention the plight of 33 Chinese Falun Gong practitioners who have applied for refugee status in South Korea. According to news reports, the Chinese government is applying pressure on the South Korean government to deport these Falun Gong practitioners to China, and we have been informed that several of them have already been deported.

As Members of the US House of Representatives concerned about human rights, we are well aware of the Chinese government's harsh persecution of Falun Gong practitioners. The Chinese government has banned Falun Gong and it implements the ban through an extralegal security force, the 610 Office, established not by the Chinese government but by the Chinese Communist Party. The "610 Office" and government forces implement the ban by means of the arbitrary detention, beating, torture and "transformation through reeducation" of Falun Gong practitioners--although practitioners seek only to exercise internationally-recognized fundamental human rights, including freedom of thought, conscience, and religion.

Falun Gong practitioners are among the most brutally persecuted groups in the world today. The total number of practitioners who have died or who have been killed while in Chinese government custody likely exceeds the 3,000 cases we understand to be well-documented. Cases of torture involving Falun Gong practitioners account for 66 per cent of all cases of torture in China, according to the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture. There reportedly are over 100,000 Falun Gong practitioners, both men and women, among China's total labor camp population.

In the past 50 years, few countries have made such rapid progress in respect to human rights as has South Korea, both as a government and as a society. It is with this in mind that we urge your government not to deport Falun Gong practitioners to China, but to find an appropriate way, within the South Korean legal system and the international conventions on torture and refugees ratified by South Korea, to permit Chinese Falun Gong practitioners to remain in South Korea.

For your convenience we include a list of Falun Gong practitioners currently in danger of deportation to China. Thank you for your attention to this matter.

Sincerely,

(Signatures)

Cc: Ambassador Han Duck-soo