The U.S. Department of Justice has opened an investigation on discrimination by a hotel against the Falun Gong spiritual practice, a legal advocacy group announced on Tuesday.

During an October 2002 visit to Houston by Chinese president Jiang Zemin, 72 Falun Gong practitioners were denied accommodations in the Homestead hotel next door to where Jiang was staying. They planned to join two thousand others who were peacefully appealing the persecution of Falun Gong that was ordered by Jiang.

“Under federal law, private hotels and restaurants may not engage in religious discrimination against anyone,” said Hiram Sasser, director of litigation for Liberty Legal Institute.

Liberty announced the suit as part of its role in assisting with bringing the case to the Department of Justice. The Liberty Legal Institute is a Texas-based legal organization committed to the defense of religious freedoms and First Amendment rights.

Those who practice Falun Gong say it is a traditional Chinese practice of self-cultivation and a form of belief. While they don’t call it a religion, they recognize that it falls under the category of religion for purposes of legal definitions.

The U.S.Department of Justice has taken notice of Homestead Hotel's violations.

In 2003, the plaintiffs had announced their own lawsuit against Homestead for civil rights violations and conspiracy with the Chinese Communist Party. Communist party officials have been the subject of numerous lawsuits in the U.S. and other countries for their role in torturing and killing Falun Gong practitioners.

“We welcome the Dept. of Justice’s investigation of this case,” said Levi Browde, spokesperson for the Falun Dafa Infocenter, a non-profit organization. “This is just a sample of what’s been going on all over the world in the CCP’s campaign to export the persecution of Falun Gong outside China. We hope this is the first in a series of investigations looking into the CCP’s criminal activities.”