Mar 8, 2000
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Mar. 7, 2000
Contact:
Lawrence J. Goodrich, Communications Director, (202) 523-3240
What:U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom field hearing on religious freedom in China. The purpose of the hearing is to gather information for the Commission's annual report to the Administration and Congress, due May 1.
Where:Los Angeles Unified School District, Board Room, 450 North Grand Avenue
When:March 16, 2000, 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Who:Among well-known witnesses scheduled to appear:
Wei Jingsheng, Chinese dissident and former political prisoner;
Frank Lu, Information Center for Human Rights and Democracy, Hong Kong;
Agya Rinpoche, a high-ranking Tibetan Buddhist leader who will be speaking out for the first time since fleeing China;
Bob Fu, a leader of the underground Christian church who fled China after several arrests;
Erping Zhang, a spokesman for and practitioner of the Falun Gong spiritual movement;
Harry Wu, a critic of China's human rights record;
a representative of the Uighur Muslim community.
The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom was created by the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 to monitor the status of freedom of thought, conscience, and religion or belief abroad, as defined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and related international instruments, and to give independent policy recommendations to the President, the Secretary of State and the Congress."
Rabbi David Saperstein,Chair