August 19, 2002
Ouch Borith
Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
Of the Kingdom of Cambodia
Permanent Mission to the United Nations
866 U. N. Plaza
Suite 420, 4th Floor
New York, New York 1007
Dear Ambassador Borith:
We are writing to you regarding an urgent matter and to correct a grave injustice that was carried out in your country against two Chinese citizens living under UN refugee status as "persons of concern". The matter that we speak of is the unlawful deportation of Mr. Li Guojun and Mrs. Zhang Xinyi to Mainland China at the behest of Chinese authorities.
On August 2, 2002, Li Guojun, 46, and his wife Zhang Xinyi, 39, were arrested at their Phnom Penh apartment by the Cambodian police and deported to Mainland China on August 9, 2002, to a detention center in Hunan Province. Before their deportation, it was reported that the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees sought the couple's immediate release from the Cambodian authorities. First the authorities denied that the couple was in their custody. Later when the UNHCR Regional Office in Bangkok sent a letter to the Cambodian officials they were told that the Chinese couple had already been deported back to China on the same day. The couple's friends have not heard from them and are very concerned for their safety.
The arrest occurred less than a month after the couple was granted "persons of concern" status by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. This is clearly a violation of the 1951 Global Convention on Refugees, which both China and Cambodia ratified.
The couple arrived in Phnom Penh from China in 1998, taught Chinese in a school and was known to practice the Falun Gong meditation and exercises several times a week at their home with a small group of friends.
Last June Zhang Xinyi received a package in the mail from Taiwan containing Falun Gong books. Later, on July 3, 2002 the couple was summoned by the Cambodian Department of Foreigners who informed them that "Cambodia and China enjoy friendly relations" and that the couple was damaging those relations. Near the end of July, Zhang Xinyi went to the Chinese embassy to have her passport renewed. The Chinese authorities confiscated her old passport and refused to issue her a new one. By the end of July, Zhang and her husband were dismissed from the Chinese school where they had been teaching.
With six more deaths of Falun Gong practitioners held in Chinese detention centers and labor camps at the hands of the authorities, reported just this week, we have grave concerns for the safety of Zhang Xinyi and her husband Li Guojun.
Falun Gong practitioners reside in over 60 countries around the world and have always acted peacefully and in accordance to the principle of Truthfulness, Benevolence and Forbearance in their every action. Committing this act of deportation in order to appease the desire of the Jiang Zemin regime and gain a short-term benefit can never outweigh the tragedy if harm should come to these two people now being detained in China. For the good future of yourselves and your country we sincerely ask you to reconsider your actions in this matter. The time is coming soon when the persecution against Falun Gong will be fully exposed for what it is. We call upon you as the Ambassador from Cambodia to the United Nations to intercede on behalf of Zhang Xinyi and her husband Li Guojun to insure their safe return to their family and friends. We implore you to conduct yourselves honorably in this matter. The entire world is watching this issue very closely.
Thank you for reviewing our concerns, we look forward to a positive response from you soon.
Sincerely
New York Falun Dafa Association
Category: Perspective
