PureInsight | March 20, 2018
The Senator of the Australian Parliament Janet Rice wrote to the Mayor of Xi’an in Shaanxi province urging him to pay attention to and promptly release Falun Gong practitioners Jia Ye and Liu Chunxia, relatives of Australian citizens.
After Senator Rice learned that Jia Ye, husband of Australian citizen Liu Li, was kidnapped to the Ximeng brainwashing class in Baqiao district, Xi’an in late September 2017 and Liu’s sister Liu Chunxia had been detained since March 22, 2017 in the detention center of Xi’an New City District, she sent a letter to the Mayor of Xi’an on November 21 demanding that he immediately and unconditionally release the two Falun Gong practitioners.
In her letter to Shangguan Jiqing, she wrote:
I wrote a letter urging you to immediately and unconditionally release Jia Ye and Liu Chunxia. I learned that they were detained solely for freedom of belief and freedom of expression.
In the meantime, please ensure that they have regular unrestricted meetings with their family members and lawyers.
Please ensure that Jia Ye and Liu Chunxia are not tortured or abused during their detention and that their treatment is in compliance with the UN Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners.
On December 21, Jia Ye returned home from brainwashing classes. On December 26, the trial court of Xincheng District, Xi’an illegally tried Liu Chunxia, who told everyone that Falun Gong is good and teaches people to cultivate their hearts and be compassionate. She also said she was innocent. Her lawyer pointed out that the kidnapping and trial were both illegal. There was no verdict in court that day.
Australian Foreign Ministry’s Attentiveness
In June 2017, Liu Li and her family in Australia submitted to the National Assembly a call for help to rescue their loved ones in China. In October 2017, the Australian Ministry of Foreign Affairs replied, “The tragedy of Ms. Liu's mother and sister described in the letter is worth noting.” “The CCP's ban on Falun Gong and its treatment of Falun Gong practitioners are in violation of international human rights standards. The Australian government often points out to China concerns about its human rights conditions.”
According to Motion No. 704 passed by the Australian Senate on December 1, 2003, Australia should support a public and effective human rights dialogue between China and Australia and raise the issue of continued detention of Australian citizens’ Falun Gong practitioner relatives as well as stress that religious beliefs should not be grounds for imprisonment of any individual.
Background
In March 2017, Liu Li's mother, Li Yuhua and her sister, Liu Chunxia, were abducted by police from their home in Xi'an. Liu Li's mother returned home from a new brainwashing workshop in Baqiao district, Xi'an on June 14. However, since August, the police have harassed them and conducted several visits to their home.
Li Yuhua went to the New City Detention Center to send clothes to her elder daughter Liu Chunxia on September 15. Upon learning the news, Yan Changyi, head of the Huxian National Security Brigade, conspired with Pan Li, head of the Xi'an new city national security superintendent department, to illegally detain Li Yuhua in the New City Detention Center. During this period, Li Yuhua was illegally arrested and illegally detained in the New City Detention Center. She coughed day and night, and her blood pressure rose to two hundred. Fearing that they would be responsible, the detention center released Li Yuhua on November 8 with a bail, pending trial. Liu Chunxia has been illegally detained since March.
In late September 2017, the Huxian National Security Brigade illegally arrested Liu Li’s husband Jia Ye again and sent him to the Xinhe brainwashing class in Xi’an for persecution. Jia Ye returned home on December 21.
Chinese version: http://www.zhengjian.org/node/241596
