Falun Gong Human Rights Working Group Appeals to UN

First spotted at The Optical

Falun Gong Human Rights Working Group Appeals Unjust
Verdict in Singapore to UN (Epoch Times, 2 May 2005)

The Falun Gong Human Rights Working Group submitted a formal appeal to the United Nations regarding the violation of two Singapore Falun Gong practitioners’ basic human rights by the Singapore police and the unjust verdict against the practitioners by the Singapore court.

Singapore Falun Gong practitioners Mrs. Ng Chye Huay and Mrs. Cheng Lujin received unjust accusation by the police because they practiced Falun Gong exercises in the Singapore Marina City Park, introduced Falun Gong and explained the cruel persecution of Falun Gong in China to passersby. The court found both women guilty and punished them with heavy penalties.

Mrs. Huay and Mrs. Cheng were simply exercising their basic rights as world citizens. They were exercising their rights to freedom of belief and freedom of speech as well as helping people understand the real situation in China.

The Singapore court’s discrimination and persecution of Mrs. Ng Chye Huay and Mrs. Cheng Liujin has tainted the good name of Singapore – the Switzerland of the East, and it also hurt Singapore’s standing in the international community of free nations.

First, the Singapore police claimed practicing meditation together was a gathering, and then they claimed Mrs. Ng Chye Huay and Mrs. Cheng Liujin was part of the gathering. Subsequently, the police claimed that Mrs. Huay and Mrs. Cheng did not practice the meditation, but only introduced Falun Gong and China’s persecution of Falun Gong to people. Finally, they used the excuse of “assembly without permit” to
prosecute these two innocent housewives.

Later, the judge in the Singapore court used reasons such as “freedom of speech is not absolute” to give an unjust verdict. Such public indifference and trampling of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights already violates the two Falun Gong practitioners’ human rights and discriminates against all Singapore Falun Gong practitioners.

Due to the seriousness of this case and many suspicions during the process, Falun Gong Human Rights Working Group has issued a formal appeal to the Special Rapporteur on the Independence of Judges and Lawyers, the Special Rapporteur on the Right to Freedom of Opinion and Expression, the Special Rapporteur on Religious Intolerance, and the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention.

The unjust verdict against Falun Gong practitioners may be an opportunity for the world and international human rights organizations to review Singapore’s legal system and institutions, especially Singapore’s practice and protection of United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights.