Story from AFP
[Editor's note: In this media article Falun Gong practitioners are refered to as "members". This is a common misunderstanding, there is actually no such thing as membership in Falun Gong]
JOHANNESBURG, Sept 1 (AFP) - Members of the spiritual group Falungong staged a protest at the Earth Summit in Johannesburg Sunday to call for the release of practitioners held in Chinese jails.
Four Falungong members meditated on yellow prayer mats under two large protest banners, one reading "Justice for Falungong" and the other "SOS! Urgent -- Rescue the Falungong Practitioners Persecuted in China," as others
handed out leaflets to passing delegates.
The peaceful protest took place outside a library that is within the sprawling venue for the Earth Summit, but outside the closely-guarded core of the zone, where political leaders are meeting.
Nancy Chen, a Falungong member from Australia, said [15]Falungong [practitioners attended] the Earth Summit, all of them living in countries other than China and Hong Kong, to represent the group and to lobby for detained followers.
"All the world leaders coming here should be informed about the persecution of Falungong in China," she told AFP.
China officially branded Falungong an "[slanderous term emitted]" on July 22, 1999. Since then, authorities have thrown thousands of followers into labour camps or
prison, with a sizeable number dying in custody, according to human rights groups.
Falungong's New York headquarters claim at least 200,000 followers have been detained for varying amounts of time, while more than 20,000 have been sent to "re-education through labour" camps, and 450 to prison.
More than 450 people have been confirmed as having died in police custody, while the real figure could be much higher, it says.
Source:
http://www.ptd.net/webnews/wed/dp/Qun-earth-china.RQor_CS1.html
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