Finian McGrath (Dublin North Central, Independent)
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Question 1036: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs if it is correct that 3,000 Falun Gong practitioners have been killed in China; and if he will give an accurate update on the situation. [1446/07]

Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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I am deeply concerned by the situation of Falun Gong practitioners in China, including the number of documented cases of deaths in custody. Ireland, with our EU partners, takes this matter very seriously, and the situation of the Falun Gong, within our wider concerns about human rights in China, is a constant and important point of dialogue with the Chinese authorities at both bilateral and European Union levels.

On a bilateral level, Ireland has taken every opportunity to raise human rights issues with the Chinese authorities, including my meeting with Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing in Beijing last May where I stressed the importance we attach to freedom of speech and freedom of religion. The Tánaiste raised human rights issues and concerns during his meeting with Chinese Vice-Premier Zeng Peiyan during official talks in Dublin last September.

The EU-China Human Rights Dialogue is the agreed formal framework through which the EU raises human rights issues and concerns with China. Through this dialogue, the EU has raised issues such as the protection of freedom of religion and expression, which have a particular impact on Falun Gong practitioners. The EU has also raised its strong concerns about the persecution of persons on grounds of their peaceful expression of belief, in particular members of the Falun Gong.

At the latest round of the Dialogue in Beijing in October, the EU took note of the commitment of China to ratify the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights as soon as possible and, in that context, to reform its criminal justice system. The EU urged China to continue cooperation with, and implementation of the recommendations of, the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture, including the rapid abolition of the "re-education through labour" system. The EU expressed its deep concern over the continuing restrictions on freedom of expression in China, including on the use of the internet. The EU further expressed concern at the high number of human rights defenders, lawyers and journalists in prison and urged China not to harass or punish individuals exercising their right to freedom of expression in a peaceful manner.

The EU continues to raise the individual cases of a number of Falun Gong practitioners with the Chinese side.