NEW YORK – The Falun Dafa Information Center (FDI) has learned of the November 25th rape in police custody of two Falun Gong women, ages 42 and 51. Shocking photos suggest the violent nature of at least one of the two rapes.
The rapes, occurring only three days after the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture arrived in China for investigation, took place at the Dongchengfang Town Police Station in Tunzhou City, Hebei Province.
The women’s abductions fit a pattern wherein Chinese authorities detain potential protesters or others who might expose abuses during “sensitive periods,” i.e., times during which prominent foreign visitors are in the country and/or foreign media are watching. Chinese Christians, for example, were arrested and held during President Bush’s recent visit. Activists are often detained during anniversaries of the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre.
“The tragedy of these rapes during the UN Special Rapporteur’s visit highlights a fundamental problem with how the international community addresses the CCP’s (Chinese Communist Party) human rights abuses. For the CCP, torture is not a ‘problem’ or ’scourge' to be stamped out, but rather, one of the primary ways in which it maintains control over people,” stated FDI spokesperson Levi Browde on Friday.
“Though the efforts of the Rapporteur should be applauded, we must be clear as to how deep this problem runs. To date Chinese authorities have yet to take action to hold perpetrators of torture and rapes such as these accountable, and have, in fact, on many occasions promoted them when their actions stifled demonstrations or prevented human rights abuses from being reported.”
