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Amnesty calls on
members to plead for Chung¡¦s release
FREEDOM OF RELIGION: A Falun Gong practitioner
and human rights lawyer said the Ma government had ignored rights issues during
cross-strait talks
By Loa Iok-sin / Staff Reporter
Chung Kuang-jen, center, the
brother of Taiwanese Falun Gong practitioner Bruce Chung, talks during a press
conference yesterday in which they urged the public to help them find Bruce
Chung, who was arrested in China last month and whose condition and whereabouts
remain unknown.
Photo: George Tsorng, Taipei Times
Amnesty International is calling for
urgent action from its members worldwide to rescue a Taiwanese Falun Gong
practitioner, Bruce Chung (Á鹩¨¹), who was arrested in China last month and whose
condition and whereabouts remain unknown.
¡§Amnesty International headquarters in London has officially issued a statement
calling on its over 150 sections and more than 3 million members around the
world to take action to urge China to release Chung,¡¨ Amnesty International
Taiwan secretary-general Yang Tsung-li (·¨©v¿C) told a news conference at the
Legislative Yuan yesterday. ¡§This is not the first time that China has engaged
in acts violating the human rights of Taiwanese. Human rights issues must be
discussed in cross-strait talks.¡¨
Amnesty International has asked its members to write letters in English,
Chinese, or their native languages to Chinese officials, urging Chinese
authorities to clarify the charges against Chung and ¡§to release him unless he
is charged with an internationally recognizable criminal offense,¡¨ the statement
said.
The human rights organization also called on Chinese authorities to guarantee
that Chung is not ¡§tortured or otherwise ill-treated¡¨ in custody, and grant him
¡§access to lawyers, his family and medical attention¡¨ as required.
Chung frequently travels to China to visit his relatives in Jiangxi Province.
However, during his last visit to China, he was arrested by authorities at
Ganzhou Airport when he was about to return to Taiwan on June 18.
¡§This is not a legal case; it¡¦s a political case. It¡¦s repression of the
freedoms of religion and of expression,¡¨ said Theresa Chu (¦¶°ûµX), a Falun Gong
practitioner and a rights attorney. ¡§If we remain silent, then we¡¦re encouraging
evil.¡¨
¡§If we don¡¦t do something, any one of you could be the next Chung Ting-pang
[Bruce Chung] when you travel to China,¡¨ she added.
Chu also accused the administration of President Ma Ying-jeou (°¨^¤E) of ignoring
human rights issues in cross-strait negotiations.
¡§We¡¦re now in the dark age of human rights, because the current government is
not very concerned about democracy and human rights,¡¨ she said. ¡§When the
freedom of religion that Taiwan¡¦s 23 million people enjoy in their own country
is violated in China, our government is so weak that it does not dare say
anything,¡¨ she said.
Chu said she and Chung¡¦s family in Taiwan tried to seek help from the Ministry
of Justice and the Mainland Affairs Council, ¡§but they said that according to
the cross-strait agreement on crime-fighting, they can only keep in touch with
the police. Since Chung is in the hands of [China¡¦s] National Security Bureau,
they cannot do anything about it.¡¨
Besides attempting rescue efforts in China, some of Chung¡¦s family members are
in the US, trying to seek help from members of the US Congress.
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