09/06/2000 Agence France-Presse

WASHINGTON, Sept 6 (AFP) - US followers of Falun Gong urged Chinese President Wednesday to halt a crackdown against their spiritual movement that boasts millions of followers around the world.

"We appeal to you as a worldwide voice of conscience," the followers said in a full-page advertisement in the New York Times.

"Release innocent people and stop shaming China with these uncivilized and inhumane practices," the appeal read. "Your government has made a terrible mistake. As a global leader, you must have the courage to correct it."

The Chinese government, which banned Falun Gong last year after branding it "an evil cult," has sent 450 movement supporters to prison, 600 to mental hospitals, placed 10,000 in labor camps and locked up another 20,000 in temporary detention centers, according to the Hong Kong-based Information Center for Human Rights and Democracy.

The crackdown began soon after Falun Gong, which mixes elements of Buddhism, Taoism with meditation and physical exercise, shocked the government when 10,000 members conducted a silent protest outside a government compound in Beijing in April 1999.

The appeal said the Chinese president must be aware of the many Falun Gong practitioners "who have been killed in police custody, who have been illegally arrested, imprisoned, and tortured."

US Falun Gong supporters said they would like to meet with [Chinese president] not to debate with him but rather "to explore a peaceful solution for a crisis that is setting up your own citizens as enemies of the state and bringing your nation ill repute worldwide."

The Chinese president is currently in New York where he is taking part in the UN Millennium Summit.

The ad features photographs of alleged torture victims and police conflicts as well as a large photo of meditating Falun Gong practitioners.