Amnesty International: 2004 UN Commission on Human Rights

Repression of spiritual and religious groups

Rhetoric has intensified in the official media against the Falun Gong spiritual movement, which was banned as a “heretical organization” in July 1999, apparently exacerbating the climate of violence and intolerance against the Falun Gong. Detained Falun Gong practitioners, including large numbers of women, are at risk of torture, including sexual abuse, particularly if they refuse to renounce their beliefs.

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Amnesty International calls on the Commission to:

Urge the National People’s Congress and the State Council to abolish the system of re-education through labour and to ensure that all detentions are reviewed by the judiciary. The government should take urgent steps to reform the judiciary so that it is free from political interference; […]Urge China to cease repression based on ethnic, religious or spiritual identity, including the repression of Uighurs, Tibetans, the Falun Gong spiritual movement and unofficial religious groups, and ensure that members of such groups are able to exercise their rights in line with international human rights standards.

Full report: http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/asset/IOR41/034/2004/en/dom-IOR410342004en.html