GENEVA - Tuesday evening, thousands of Falun Gong practitioners and supporters will gather in cities around the world to pay tribute to the lives of those beaten or tortured to death by the Chinese government. In silent appeals, illuminated by candlelight, world citizens will ask the United Nations Commission on Human Rights to take action to prevent further killings. At least 189 people have been killed by torture and police brutality during the Chinese regime's illegal crackdown on Falun Gong practitioners. Most of these deaths have occurred in the past five months, while 12 deaths have been reported during the first four weeks of the Commission's current session in Geneva.The U.N. Commission on Human Rights is scheduled to convene on Wednesday to vote on whether to debate China's human rights violations.

Candlelight vigils are scheduled in major cities worldwide, including Geneva, Paris, Copenhagen, Brussels, Gothenburg, Frankfurt, Heidelberg, Hong Kong, Toronto, Vancouver, Ottawa, San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York, Atlanta, Houston, Chicago, Honolulu, and Washington, DC.

• The United States has advanced a resolution to censure China for its widespread and systemic abuses. China, as it has done at past commissions, is trying to block discussion of its human rights violations by issuing its own motion for "no action." On 18 April, the commission is scheduled to vote either to uphold or defeat China's motion.
• Falun Gong is a meditation practice for mind and body. It consists of five slow qigong exercises and teaches the practice of "truthfulness-compassion-tolerance" in everyday life.