Belgium: A Member of Parliament Interrogates the Minister of Foreign Affairs about Sujiatun Concentration Camp

Mr. Guido Tastenhoye, a member of the Belgian parliament, interrogated the Minister of Foreign Affairs about the imprisonment of Falun Gong practitioners in the Sujiatun Concentration Camp. The following is his oral interrogation:-

From the Falun Gong’s Dutch website, we are aware that Falun Gong is a cultivation way that can improve the health of mind and body. Falun Gong is passed down from prehistoric China and therefore has a long history. It incorporates slow, smooth moving exercises as well as sitting in meditation. The most important part of practicing Falun Gong is to learn the characteristics of the cosmos Truthfulness, Compassion and Tolerance. There have been more than one hundred million people practicing Falun Gong in China and other parts of the world.

However, Falun Gong practitioners, children included, are now suffering from a brutal persecution in communist-ruled China. Many cases of torture, imprisonment, rape and forced labour are known to the world. The systematic persecution against Falun Gong practitioners in China was instigated by former Chinese President, Jiang Zemin in July 1999. Since then, lawsuits against the genocide and torture on Falun Gong practitioners have been filed in several countries.

On Wednesday, March 8th, European Falun Gong Information Centre received shocking information from a Chinese reporter, who has worked for the overseas Chinese media for years. The information indicates that a concentration camp has been established in Shenyang City, Liaoning Province to imprison Falun Gong practitioners. Shortly before the news broke out, US’ State Department released its annual world human rights report, in which China’s continuous, systematic persecution against Falun Gong was mentioned.
The information about the concentration camp in Shenyang was disclosed via the voice-recording of a former Chinese intelligence agent. This is the first piece of publicised information regarding this secret concentration camp. It is said that more than six thousand Falun Gong practitioners are imprisoned in the concentration camp, and nobody has come out alive so far. According to the information source, there is an incinerator and an extraordinary number of medical doctors work there, reflecting the murder of the prisoners to harvest and sell their organs for extravagant profits. The concentration camp is located in the Sujiatun District of Shenyang City and, therefore, identified as the Sujiatun concentration camp. The camp is encircled by a wall three meters in height. On top of the wall are electrified barbed-wire meshes. The camp is intensively guarded and kept confidential. Imprisoned in the camp are Falun Gong practitioners kidnapped from northeastern and central China.

Therefore, my questions are: Are the Belgian authorities aware of the systematic persecution against Falun Gong practitioners in China? Do the Belgian authorities know the existence of the Sujiatun Concentration Camp? Does Belgium plan to request for an international investigation, and what can Belgium do to uphold human rights in China?

Guido Tastenhoye.
Member of Parliament
March 15th, 2006