Switzerland: 20,967 People Sign a Petition in Zurich Appealing for Justice for Falun Gong Practitioners (photos)
By a Swiss practitioner
(Clearwisdom.net) On 11th December 2002, Swiss Falun Gong
practitioners held a press conference in Zurich City Hall and presented a
petition letter signed by 20967 people to the Zurich City Council. The petition
letter called for the Council to pass a resolution appealing for justice for the
persecuted Falun Gong practitioners in the Kunming area of China, Zurich's
sister city. The director of ACAT emphasized that he was worried about the
human rights situation not only in Kunming but also in the whole of China. He
said that he was particularly worried about the plight of Falun Gong
practitioners who are suffering torture, false imprisonment and death because
they want to improve their health and moral standards. One Falun Gong
practitioner talked about the situation in Kunming and asked for help for a
practitioner Mr. He, who was arrested in Kunming and is presently being
illegally imprisoned in a labor camp. Although Mr. He has been injured severely,
the prison officials will not allow him to receive necessary medical treatment [details
below]. The director was touched after hearing the practitioners talk about
the situation in Kunming. Handing the petition letter
to Ms. Romana Leuzinger, the Chairperson of the city council The practitioners who presented the petition letter to the
council received a warm welcome from Ms. Romana Leuzinger, the Chairperson of
the city council. She accepted the petition letter and thanked the practitioners
for their efforts. She expressed her support and desire to help the
practitioners and said that she would pass the petition letter to the rest of
the council. Finally, she was delighted to accept leaflets that revealed more
about how the Jiang regime is persecuting millions of innocent Chinese people
because they want to conduct their lives by the principles of
"Truthfulness, Compassion, Tolerance" [the fundamental principles
of Falun Dafa]. One councillor attended the press conference especially to
congratulate the practitioners for their hard work in obtaining so many
signatures and to offer his support for the resolution. He emphasized that human
rights should be stressed during the communication between the sister cities,
otherwise it is unsuitable to continue economic cooperation. He also expressed
that he felt it wrong for the Chinese authorities to use their relationships
with European countries as an excuse to commit evil deeds. Activity during the
Information Day in front of the City Council Recently, some information days were held on the streets of
Zurich to tell people more about the persecution of Dafa practitioners. These
had a great impact. The signature collecting was featured in local newspapers
and many people came to find the practitioners after reading these articles.
Some people from political circles also came to express their support and find
out more about Falun Dafa. Please help to stop Jiang's regime from violating human
rights and committing huge crimes against humanity. In Kunming, Falun Gong practitioners are being detained and
tortured in labor camps and prisons. Reports from Kunming have told us that the
persecution there is as severe as the rest of China, with reports of beatings,
tortures and deaths. However, reports are scarce since the Jiang regime attempts
to use any means to block information from leaving or entering China. On 15th October 2002, we received a report about Mr. He, who
is a Falun Gong practitioner from Chengdu city in Sichuan province. On 15th May
2002, he was arrested at Kunming Railway Station. He was arrested because he was
carrying materials revealing how the Jiang regime is responsible for the deaths
of thousands of Falun Gong practitioners. He was illegally sentenced to 21
months of brainwashing [known by the Chinese authorities as
"re-education"] and is now in the No. 6 Team of the 2nd Yunnan
Province Labor Camp, even though he has been severely injured. There is a large, deep wound on Mr. He's right arm, and the
doctor has said that it should be operated on. If operated on immediately, the
chance of it healing well would be 60%; if the operation were postponed, the
chance of healing would be drastically reduced and could lead to permanent
disability. In order to undergo an operation on his arm, Mr. He asked to be
released on bail many times. However, his requests were refused as the officials
made various excuses each time. The labor camp even forced him to work despite
his injury. In addition to his injured right arm, Mr. He has problems using one
of his legs but the labor camp officials still subject him to forced labor. Whenever practitioners phone the labor camp to enquire about
Mr. He's situation, labor camp officials hang up immediately. Practitioners have
phoned the leader of the labor camp, who has denied that Mr. He was imprisoned
there. However, one of the guards confirmed that Mr. He was being detained
there. When the labor camp leader was told that it was wrong to persecute and
torture Falun Gong practitioners, he laughed gloatingly. Based on these facts, Zurich Falun Gong practitioners have
decided to begin a signature drive to call for the urgent improvement of human
rights in Kunming as well as in the rest of China, and to appeal for people's
help on this matter. In Kunming, peaceful people are being detained, tortured and
even killed simply because they practice Falun Gong to improve themselves
physically and morally. Many people find the Jiang regime's persecution of good
people unacceptable and have therefore signed their names to call for justice
for the practitioners in China: these people can see that whoever persecutes
good people must be evil.
20967 people signed a petition asking the Zurich city council to pass a
resolution to:
We would hereby like to appeal to the Zurich government as well as the
governments, media and people worldwide.
http://www.clearharmony.net/articles/200212/9049.html
Yearly Archive
Printer Version
feedback@clearwisdom.net