HONG KONG, June 26 (Reuters) - Followers of the controversial Falun Gong spiritual movement rallied in heavy rain in Hong Kong on Tuesday and urged the United Nations to conduct an independent probe into China's crackdown on the group.
Clad in yellow t-shirts bearing the slogan "China, stop persecuting Falun Gong," about 100 members of the group sat in lotus positions and meditated for an hour outside Beijing's Liaison Office in the territory's western district.
A spokeswoman for the group said it wanted the United Nations to set up an independent investigation into the crackdown on its members in mainland China, where the movement is banned and branded an "evil cult."
To mark the United Nations International Day in Support of Victims of Torture, the group also held a separate photo exhibition showing what they said were injuries inflicted by Chinese police.
In a petition letter which they left outside the Liaison Office, they urged Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji to end the persecution.
Despite the mainland ban, the movement has remained legal in Hong Kong. The former British colony was promised a high degree of autonomy when it reverted to Chinese rule in mid-1997.
But the territory's leader Tung Chee-hwa recently called the Falun Gong in Hong Kong an "evil cult," echoing Beijing for the first time.
The Falun Gong said 233 practitioners have been tortured to death in China so far this year versus 22 in the same period last year. At least 10 members had died in police custody in the past week, it said.
05:21 06-26-01
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