see more

This photo taken on April 5, 2019 shows two Falungong practitioners posing for a photo after an interview in an apartment in Beijing. - Sitting lotus-style on an apartment floor, two women quietly rotate their arms in front of them -- a rare sight in China where public displays of Falungong meditation have all but disappeared. It is a shadow of the spiritual movement's heyday in China, where the group once boasted more than 70 million followers before it was outlawed in 1999, giving police carte blanche to persecute members. (Photo by GREG BAKER / AFP) / TO GO WITH AFP STORY CHINA-RELIGION-RIGHTS-FALUNGONG,FOCUS BY EVA XIAO (Photo credit should read GREG BAKER/AFP/Getty Images)

This photo taken on April 5, 2019 shows two Falungong practitioners posing for a photo after an interview in an apartment in Beijing. - Sitting lotus-style on an apartment floor, two women quietly rotate their arms in front of them -- a rare sight in China where public displays of Falungong meditation have all but disappeared. It is a shadow of the spiritual movement's heyday in China, where the group once boasted more than 70 million followers before it was outlawed in 1999, giving police carte blanche to persecute members. (Photo by GREG BAKER / AFP) / TO GO WITH AFP STORY CHINA-RELIGION-RIGHTS-FALUNGONG,FOCUS BY EVA XIAO (Photo credit should read GREG BAKER/AFP/Getty Images)
Getty Images

AFP GREG BAKER