Wednesday September 19, 9:26 PM

BEIJING (Reuters) - Six more adherents of the Falun Gong spiritual movement have died in Chinese custody following severe abuse, the group's U.S.-based information centre said on Wednesday.

The four women and two men were held in labour camps or police custody around China during or before their deaths, the Falun Dafa Information Centre said in a statement.

Police and government officials in most of the six cities where the deaths were reported to have occurred were not available for comment.

[...]

Relatives of the six reported they had been beaten or tortured, although the bodies of three of those who died had still not been recovered, the information centre said.

The information centre said local government officials gave 30,000 yuan ($3,625) to the family of a woman from the eastern province of Shandong in a cover-up attempt.

The family of the woman -- whose spine was broken and lower limbs paralysed -- was forced to sign a statement saying: "Li Mei died of suicide. Her death has nothing to do with others", the information centre said.

Chinese authorities have acknowledged several deaths of Falun Gong members in custody, but say most resulted from suicide or illness.

One of the victims was arrested for circulating Falun Gong material and the others for their beliefs, the centre said.

Falun Gong has said more than 50,000 practitioners have been sent to prisons, labour camps and mental hospitals since China banned the group in 1999.

The information centre says it has details of 278 Falun Gong adherents who have died from torture during detention in China and estimates the actual death toll exceeds 1,000.

[...]

http://sg.news.yahoo.com/010919/3/1hgx5.html