UN Rebuts China for its "Cult" Stigmatization

UN Rebuts China for its "Cult" Stigmatization

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http://www.falunhr.org/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=1828&Itemid=

On Thursday, October 21, 2010, the U.N. Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief, Prof. Heiner Bielefeldt drew the world's attention, once again, to China's persecution of Falun Gong. He specifically denounced China's stigmatization of Falun Gong and some other "small communities" as "cults," during his presentation at the 65th U.N. General Assembly, held in New York.  Special Rapporteur Bielefeldt said, "Small communities, such as Jehovah's Witnesses, Baha'is, Ahmadis, Falun Gong and others are sometimes stigmatized as 'cults' and frequently meet with societal prejudices which may escalate into fully fledged conspiracy theories."  This is Prof. Bielefeldt's first report to the U.N. General Assembly since he took the position as Special Rapporteur in August 2010. Ms. Asma Jahangir previously held the position. In his 15-minute presentation to the 192 member states, he criticized the government of China for its systematic persecution of and attitude of "intolerance" towards belief groups, including Falun Gong. His speech was reported to have "irritated" the delegation of China. The delegate responded with their usual demanding tone and repeated the communist party's position that the "correct response" is to eradicate Falun Gong.  The international media described China as being "irritated" yet again. This reaction accords with former reports of this kind. For example, after the U.N. Committee against Torture (CAT) published their China torture report on November 21, 2008, news media including the New York Times, BBC, VOA, and RFI unanimously described the government of China as being "irritated." Through this, the raspy and aggressive nature of the Communist party has been well exposed to the international community.