Hello, and welcome to the FGMtv news review. I'm Susan Mitchell.

Here at FGMtv we focus on programs and news that illuminate the truth of Falun Gong, which is also known as Falun Dafa; information that is having an impact on the international community of spiritual cultivators.

Falun Dafa is a traditional Chinese spiritual discipline that includes exercise and meditation. Its principles are based on Truth, Compassion, and Tolerance. The practice began in China in 1992 and quickly spread by word of mouth throughout the country. In 1998, a government survey concluded that the number of practitioners exceeded membership in the communist party. The next year, Jiang Zemin began a brutal persecution.

In this week's update from China…

§ 596 Falun Gong practitioners are confirmed to have died from torture while in custody, with 5 death reports received in the last week. Reliable sources inside China, however, put the actual death count in the thousands.

§ In the last 7 days, torture reports have come in from 15 provinces, and the cities of Shanghai and Dalian.

§ 1,024 people declared as null and void, statements saying they will give up Falun Gong that were made while undergoing torture as they were the result of extreme coercion. They say they will continue practicing Falun Gong.

Our top story this week:

§ Update on status of British Home Office order to deport Ms. Lili Lin, a pregnant Falun Gong practitioner back to China.

And some of our other stories:

§ Efforts continue in the U.S. to rescue Dr. Charles Li, a U.S. citizen illegally imprisoned in China

§ 2003 Falun Dafa Report to be presented at the U.N.

§ Torture continues in Chinese labor camps and the Jiang regime extends its persecution to other countries

§ Australian mother's lifelong sinus and asthma problems disappear one month after beginning to practise Falun Dafa.

§ The President of Latvia attends Ms. Cuiying Zhang's art exhibition in Riga.

First, our top story:

Update on the possible deportation of Ms. Lili Lin

§ Ms. Lili Lin, a Falun Gong practitioner who was wrongly detained and nearly deported by the British Home Office, is expected to be released soon.

§ Ms. Lin's lawyer has begun the appeal process on the basis of human rights in order to overturn the Home Office's decision to deport her. After the legal procedures of this case began, the deportation process ended on the same day. Ms. Lin is expected to be released in a few days.

§ Ms. Lin's case has caused great concern among many UK politicians, many organizations, the UK Falun Dafa Association, and Falun Dafa practitioners around the world. They all urged the British government not to deport Ms. Lin. Considering the brutal persecution of Falun Gong in China, especially the forced abortion of pregnant women, they requested that the British government protect Ms. Lin for humanitarian reasons.

Efforts continue to secure release of American citizen in China

§ Seventeen NGOs and organizations joined hundreds more traveling from across the United States for a rally in Washington DC to seek assistance from the State Department and Members of Congress to secure the release of Dr. Charles Li.

§ Charles is an American citizen who has spent more than 44 days in isolated detention inside China, though no formal charges have been brought against him. Many believe he is being held because of his spiritual beliefs.

§ Charles' friends delivered an appeal letter and over 20,000 signatures to Mr. Scott Carpenter, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State.

§ Amongst those in the crowd were the six member "Rescue Charles Li" car tour team who had driven through snow storms from Boston to hold media events in New York City, and Philadelphia.

"2003 Falun Dafa Report" to be presented at the U.N.

§ The Falun Gong Human Rights Working Group, a group of practitioners devoted to improving Human Rights in China, has carefully gathered and documented personal details from families of those practitioners in China who have been murdered, or whose human rights have otherwise been violated in contravention to international treaties signed by China.

§ This "2003 Falun Dafa Report" will be presented to the United Nations Human Rights Commission at its annual meeting in Geneva in March.

U.N. Criminal Court sentences former Bosnian-Serb President to 11 years for Crimes against Humanity

§ The U.N. criminal court in The Hague has sentenced former Bosnian-Serb President Biljana Plavsic to 11 years imprisonment for committing crimes against humanity.

§ Plavsic, dubbed the "Iron Lady" of the Balkans, was President of Bosnia-Herzegovina from November 1990 to December 1992 and was a prominent leader of the breakaway Serb part of the country throughout the civil war.

§ British sentencing judge Richard May said that during her time in power, Plavsic, a former biology professor "planned, instigated, ordered and abetted persecutions of the Bosnian Muslim, Bosnian Croat and other non-Serb populations" and "disregarded widespread reports of ethnic cleansing."

§ Jiang Zemin of China has also been charged with crimes against humanity and his case will be taken up by the same court in The Hague at some future date.

Torture continues in Chinese labor camps

§ The Baimalong Women's Forced Labor Camp in Zhuzhou City, Hunan Province has implemented a variety of brutal means of torture.

§ They torture Falun Dafa practitioners by forcing them to stand or sit on small stools for long periods of time, handcuffing and hanging them up in mid-air, using them as punching bags, using electric batons to shock the sensitive parts of the body, forcing them to do hard labor in the mountains, locking them up in isolation, force-feeding them, forced brainwashing, and so on.

§ Some practitioners have died from being force-fed and suffocated, while some have been disabled by the cruel torture.

Jiang Regime Extends its persecution to countries outside China

§ According to incomplete statistics, more than sixty Falun Gong practitioners in Japan have suffered from different forms of persecution.

§ These include the following cases: eleven practitioners had their Chinese passports cancelled; twenty-eight were denied entry to China and were forcibly expelled; twenty-eight were forcibly detained after entering China, and were later expelled; twenty were illegally arrested and detained; four were sentenced to heavy prison or forced-labor camp terms; seventeen had to apply for asylum overseas. Yoko Kaneko, the wife of a Japanese businessman is still in detention in China.

§ For telling her relatives in Japan about her sister's hospitalization after being tortured, police arrested Yoko Kaneko's elder sister, Zhen Luo in Mudanjiang City of Heilongjiang Province and her whereabouts is unknown.

§ Over 170 cases of direct persecution have been documented. This is a persecution against a peaceful spiritual practice and it violates both the Chinese constitution and international treaties.

During her recent visit to Washington, FGMtv's Christine Loftus interviewed U.S. practitioner Amy Lee.

Amy was forced to leave her daughter in China when she immigrated to the U.S. about two years ago.

Thanks, Christine.

Canadian Parliament discusses amendment of Falun Gong Motion M-236

§ Before closing for March break, Canadian Members of Parliament discussed the amendment of Falun Gong Motion M-236.

§ The whole session demonstrated strong support from the MPs, with representatives from all four major political parties speaking out in support of Falun Gong.

§ They requested that the Canadian government issue a Minister's Permit to allow entry to Canada for persecuted relatives of Canadian Falun Gong practitioners.

§ The discussion will continue when Parliament resumes after its two week recess.

Lifelong sinus problems disappear a month after beginning to practice Falun Dafa.

§ Many millions of people around the world have experienced better health after starting to study the teachings of Falun Dafa and to practice the exercises.

§ The Australian mother of a teenage son recently shared the following: "I had suffered continual and severe sinus all my life. Every day I had a blocked nose and was continually swallowing . At night I was up 4 or 5 times trying to clear the nose and throat. I would take numerous sinus tablets which also kept me awake at night. I lived with constant headaches, eye pressure.

§ As often as 6 times a year I had to have antibiotics due to sinus infection. Very often two to three courses. I was so used to all this I didn't realize how wonderful it is to be "normal". I even had the sinus operation about 4 years ago. This didn't help at all. The asthma was not as severe but on-going.

§ Both these problems disappeared about a month after starting the exercises. I was even doing some of them incorrect for about 3 months, until I went to a practice site and was shown correctly. This goes to show the power of Falun Dafa.

§ My life has turned around, I have not had a sinus headache or problem since. I have been practicing about 10 months now.

§ Also I have just found out that my blood pressure has normalized. I always had low blood pressure and about 4 months ago for the first time in my life it is normal."

President of Latvia attends Falun Dafa Artist's Exhibit in Riga

§ Following a successful four-day exhibition of her work in Tallinn, Estonia, Ms. Cuiying Zhang brought her collection of traditional Chinese painting to Latvia.

§ The exhibit opened in the art gallery Vagnera in Riga on March 5, 2003. Local media, government officials, artists and art lovers by the hundreds attended the opening.

§ President Vaira Vike-Freiberga was one of the special guests who enjoyed the peacefulness and beauty of the paintings. Madam President is a firm supporter of human rights around the world.

§ With the help of an interpreter, Ms. Zhang described her love for painting and the great benefits she has received from practising Falun Dafa.

§ The art exhibition coincided with a celebration of the 200^th anniversary of the gallery's first opening. The administrators of the gallery were so impressed with the high quality of the exhibition that they waived the usual fee for using the gallery. In addition, they provided free advertising also presented Ms. Zhang with flowers.

§ Ms. Zhang revealed how Falun Dafa saved her from crippling arthritis and therefore allowed her to continue fulfilling her passion for painting. She expressed her deepest concern for the lives of Falun Dafa practitioners in China, who are still being tortured, beaten and killed under the Jiang regime's orders.

§ She asked all kind hearted people to help to end this inhuman suppression. Finally, Ms. Zhang thanked the people in Riga, Latvia for making her art exhibition such a success.

Thanks for watching the FGMtv weekly news review.

See you next week!