A Portuguese member of the European Parliament (MEP) has sent a letter to the Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji with regard to the labour camp sentence and torture of Falun Gong practitioner Zhao Ming, as well as the human rights of other Falun Gong practitioners in China. He expressed his deep concern about the reported cases of torture and appealed to Premier Zhu Rongji to ensure that the right of expression of peaceful beliefs is upheld. The MEP signed this letter drafted by Amnesty International Dublin immediately after it was brought to his attention. The full text of the letter is as follows:

Premier of the People's Republic of China

Zhu Rongji

9 Xihuangchenggenbeijie

Beijingshi 100032

People's Republic of China

Dear Mr. Prime Minister,

A matter of very serious concern has come to my attention and this is why I write to you now.

I have heard that Zhao Ming, a 30-year-old post graduate student of computer science at Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland, was arrested during a return visit to China and sent to the main labour camp in Daxing County, Beijing. I am told this happened because he is a practitioner of Falun Dafa, also called Falun Gong. I have also heard reports that Zhao Ming is being tortured in this labour camp to make him renounce Falun Gong. Reports of arrests of thousands of Falun Gong practitioners in China are also of great concern.

It seems that these people are being detained solely because of their expression of their peaceful beliefs. Many detainees have reportedly been tortured and in some cases deaths are said to have occurred because of torture and ill-treatment by police. China signed up to the UN Convention Against Torture in 1988 and is therefore obliged to investigate all allegations of torture and bring those responsible to justice.

I strongly urge you Mr. Prime Minister, to ensure that independent investigations are carried out into these allegations of torture of Zhao Ming and other Falun Gong practitioners. I also urge you to ensure that no one is persecuted by state authorities for the expression of their peacefully held beliefs.

Yours sincerely,

Paulo Casaca

22 November 2000

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Category: People in China Awaken to the Truth