Open letter to French Officials from Two U.S. Citizens Who Were Detained in Paris

Dear Sir or Madam:

This is a detailed account of a series of events that took place in Paris, on January 24th, 2004 and culminated in our arrests. We consider our detention to be illegal, an abuse of the authority of the French police and a violation of our rights. We hope that once you are aware of the serious violations committed by Paris police that you will communicate your concern to your government.

The parties making this statement are:

Dr. Viviana Galli

Dr. Sunny Lu

(Personal information like dates of birth and passport numbers are omitted.)

Dr. Galli's and Dr. Lu's Statement:

On January 23rd 2004, we arrived in Paris where we spent about 34 hours during a long layover on the way to Stockholm, Sweden. The purpose of our trip was to give a presentation at a human rights conference on genocide in Stockholm, January 26-28. A friend of ours, Ms ZhiZhan Li from Columbus, Ohio, joined us during our stay in Paris. On Friday, January 23, the three of us walked on the Champs d' Elysses to the Arch de Triomphe. We saw city workers hanging Chinese ornaments from the trees and posts along this avenue. The signs announced the Chinese New Year celebration that would take place the next day. Later, we went to the Eiffel Tower. Across the street from the tower, we joined hundreds of Falun Gong practitioners doing exercises. The majority of us were wearing yellow sweaters and jackets with the words "Falun Dafa." A practitioner confirmed the news of the Chinese celebration on the 24 of January.

The next day, at about noontime, the three of us went to the Champs D' Elysses to join the New Year celebration. After an hour of walking in the middle of the crowd, approximately ten or more armed policemen detained us on the street. It was 1:30 PM. They told us that we were arrested because we were wearing yellow sweaters with the words "Falun Dafa, Truthfulness, Compassion, Forbearance." They said, "Yellow is illegal in our country today."

Dr. Galli: I asked why they were arresting me, as I was not wearing any yellow clothing. A policeman said it was because, "You did something illegal." I asked, "What 'illegal' thing have I done?" Later, a policeman said I was arrested because I had a blue scarf with the words "Falun Dafa" on it.

Dr. Lu: I told the police that the day before we had all walked through the same area wearing the same sweaters and the same scarf, and nobody said anything. A policeman told us, "Yesterday yellow was legal; today it is illegal." I reminded them that France is a democratic country, a land of freedom, and that we are US Citizens. One of the policemen answered, "France is not a democratic country; France is France." (See photo posted with the article on the Falun Dafa Information Center web page at: http://www.faluninfo.net/displayAnArticle.asp?ID=8287 , he is the one on the far left) answered: The policeman is the one on the far left.) I asked one of the policemen, "Do you know of the persecution of Falun Gong in China?" He nodded his head. "Do you know Falun Gong practitioners are among the safest people. They are always peaceful, and they never use any violence even when they are tortured in China?" He nodded his head again. I said, "Police doing this will only hurt more people." He did not say anything.

Dr. Galli: I told the police that we were tourists staying in Paris for one day, that we were on our way to Sweden, that our plane would leave that evening at 7:00 PM. I explained that we needed to leave shortly after 2:00 PM in order to finish packing and get to the airport on time. The police said, "You are arrested." They gave no further explanation as to the reason of the arrest. I repeatedly asked them to let us go as we were going to miss the plane, but each time we got the same answer or no answer at all.

Later, we again told them about the persecution of Falun Gong and that practitioners are peaceful people. One of the policemen responded that they "had orders to arrest all people wearing yellow today."

We repeated that we were US citizens, that we had just arrived in Paris and did not know that wearing yellow would be a problem. Then one of them made a phone call. (See the Faluninfo web page noted above. This policeman is the one on the far right looking down at something he has in his hands.) Next they asked for our passports. Soon after that, another group of policemen walking fast and wearing helmets and bulletproof vests approached us. They came out of two police cars. Within a few minutes, they took us to a big white van with license plate # 75N-91900. The van was parked at Rue de Verne and Rue de Bassano, a few meters from the Champs d' Elysses. We were detained in the van until about 4:00 PM.

I asked to use the toilet. I was told I could not use the toilet since I was arrested. The second time I requested to use the toilet the policeman in the driver's seat closed the window in my face while I was still talking. We asked them several times to let us call the US embassy, but they continued saying that we could not talk to anyone or go anywhere as we were being arrested.

There was another Falun Gong practitioner in the van. I think she said she was from Germany and had been arrested for having some kind of small flag in her hand. Her husband, who is a native of Germany and is not a Falun Gong practitioner, was also arrested. He was arrested because he had her passport and some banners inside his backpack. There were also three Chinese college students who were not Falun Gong practitioners. They were arrested because they had a white banner that said something like "Beijing University Bicycle Club" in blue letters in both French and Chinese. The police told them that they could not read the Chinese, so they had to wait until someone could translate it for them. We overheard the Chinese students saying their names while making phone calls to the Chinese Embassy and their friends.

At about 4:00 PM the van took us to a police station. A policeman told me that they were taking us to a police station either on 16th street or to the 16th district. I could not understand clearly if it was a street or district, but the van drove for a while on The Invalides and then turned to the right onto Rue De Maune. After a while it stopped at the Central police station with a big number 116 on the door. I am not sure if the van took another turn after Rue de Maune or if it was still on this avenue when it stopped.

Inside the police station, we were told to line up and not to talk. They still refused to let us call the US embassy. They still made me wait to use the restroom. They recorded our passports, names and addresses in the US.

Dr. Lu: I was taken upstairs in the police station because I did not want to give them my passport a second time. I did not know what their intention was. I told them, "I did nothing wrong. I will sign nothing." A female officer took me upstairs to talk to someone who appeared to be a higher-ranking officer. He was wearing civilian clothes. He told me that they needed to examine my passport and that I did not need to sign anything. He said that since they had not used handcuffs, they had not arrested me.

After 3 ½ hours and still without any explanation of the reason for the arrest, the police let us go. It was 5:00 PM when we left the police station.

We feel that the actions of the police violated our rights: The freedom of movement, the right not to be detained except for just and right cause, the right to speak with a lawyer, the right to speak with the US ambassador in France, and the right to individual freedom. We feel our rights were violated by, but not limited to, not allowing Dr. Galli to go to the restroom after numerous requests, as well as treating us as if we were criminals.

As American citizens, we never imagined that this treatment could take place in France, a free country that values democracy and basic human rights. We hereby request that the French government initiate an investigation into our unjust detention and the degrading treatment meted out to those of us who were arrested because our apparel identified us as Falun Gong practitioners. We further request that France issue a public and formal apology to all Falun Gong practitioners. The violation of the rights of people who practice Falun Gong is a clear violation of internationally recognized laws and conventions and manifests a lack of respect for fundamental human values.

Sincerely,

Viviana Galli, MD US Citizen

Sunny Lu, MD US Citizen