AFP writes that the recently released 2002 US report on human rights in China stated that China’s "human rights record throughout the year remained poor, and the government continued to commit numerous and serious abuses". These abuses are most tellingly portrayed in the persecution against Falun Gong practitioners who have been suffering vicious and brutal suppression for almost four years. The last few months have seen a rapid increase in the deaths of Falun Gong practitioners at the hands of the Chinese regime with the death toll topping 650. The AFP report also talks about the US government’s plans to sponsor a resolution critical of China at the UN Human Rights Commission in Geneva.