By Shida

(Clearwisdom.net) The Chinese have a saying, "When you have principles on your side, you're not afraid of anyone, anywhere."

Recently, some Falun Gong practitioners have brought charges of genocide against Jiang Zemin in a United States District Court.

One of the most well known crimes of genocide was the killing of millions of Jews in Germany during World War II. A few years ago, instances of genocide also took place in Africa and South America.

Genocide exists when members of a national, ethnic, racial, or religious group are killed, tortured, and/or inhumanly treated because they belong to the group. The intent to commit genocide is precisely described in the language used by the "610 Office" (an agency specifically created to persecute Falun Gong, with absolute power over each level of administration in the Party and all other political and judiciary systems) in China in its persecution of Falun Gong: "Defame them politically, destroy them economically, and eliminate them physically." We can see that humanity's barbaric history is being mercilessly repeated.

Some people feel that Falun Gong should not have brought this case to the courts; however, when we see what they have been through by looking at the unbiased media coverage, we can clearly see that they exist in the same state of persecution as the Jewish people in Germany who were stripped of their clothing and lined up for the gas chamber!

The means that are often employed during the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners are various types of brutal torture, including electrical shocks, "tiger bench" (Practitioners are forced to sit on a small iron bench that is approximately
20 cm (6 inches) tall with their knees tied together. With their hands tied behind
their backs or sometimes placed on their knees, they are forced to sit straight up and look straight ahead. They are not allowed to turn their heads, close their eyes, talk to anyone or move at all. Several inmates are assigned to watch over and force the practitioners to remain motionless while sitting on the bench. Usually some hard objects are inserted underneath the practitioners' lower legs or ankles to make it harder for them to tolerate this abuse http://www.clearwisdom.net/emh/articles/2001/11/24/16156.html), "water dungeon" (a torture in which one is forced to wear a cotton coat and pants and sit on the cold cement floor of a very small, dark compartment. The police will then pour water ice cold water into the compartment until it is chest deep), sleep deprivation, baking under the scorching sun, freezing with ice water, burning the flesh with red-hot rods, forced intensive labor etc. Healthy people are even committed to mental hospitals, and forcibly injected with drugs that caused severe impairment to the central nervous system. All of this, though inconceivable in this civilized age, is actually taking place in China. It is especially hard to believe, when Chinese culture has always championed the principle of "never doing to others what you don't want done to yourself."

I feel that mankind can no longer continue to ignore such atrocities.

Actually, I very much admire Falun Gong's consistently peaceful ideology and principles. Without it, Falun Gong practitioners and their family members could not have resisted the temptation to retaliate with violence. However, they have not resorted to that, nor have they lost their rationality and given up their belief in "Truthfulness, Compassion and Forbearance." Of course, there are other ways than litigation to deal with such barbarity. Besides legal action, humanity also allows violent means for justifiable defense. However, Falun Gong practitioners did not choose the latter. It is because of their forbearance that they have always chosen a peaceful route, and I applaud them for their choice, which again demonstrates their spiritual strength.

Posting date: 1/25/2003
Original article date: 1/26/2003
Category: Open Forum
Translated on 1/20/2003
Chinese version available at http://minghui.ca/mh/articles/2003/1/15/42821.html

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