Canada: Toronto Falun Gong Practitioners Attend Human Rights Symposium, Call for Bringing Jiang to Justice (Photos)

By Toronto practitioners

(Clearwisdom.net, December 15, 2003) December 10 was International Human Rights Day, and it was also the first day of Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao's visit to Canada. At 7 pm on December 10, Toronto Falun Gong practitioners were invited to attend and speak at China's Human Rights Symposium sponsored by the "Global Coalition to Bring Jiang to Justice" (GCBJJ). During the symposium, many people from different circles spoke.

A spokesperson of "World Organization to Investigate the Persecution of Falun Gong" (WOIPFG), Mr. David Thompson talked about a series of investigations that WOIPFG has conducted since its establishment in January, 2003 and exposed the Jiang regime's persecution of Falun Gong practitioners by means of unlawful imprisonment, cruel torture, and spreading of slanderous lies. Jiang's regime has also harassed, threatened and persecuted overseas Falun Gong practitioners through Chinese Embassies or Consulates in other countries. They spread hateful propaganda defaming Falun Gong to other countries' government officials and communities. Mr. Thompson provided the attendees with evidence, including photos regarding how Chinese Embassies and Consulates harassed and persecuted Falun Gong practitioners. This evidence, recently published by the WOIPFG, drew much interest from the attendees. Many people carefully read this report and were astonished to learn that this kind of persecution has even been extended to Canada, a democratic country.

Canadian Falun Dafa Association spokesperson Ye Jilian also made a speech. Ms. Yi talked about Falun Gong practitioners' peaceful journey in following the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Tolerance and seeking for an end to the persecution during the more than four years of suppression. The persecution that was initiated by Jiang Zemin out of his own interests was built exclusively on lies and deceit. The persecution policy of "ruin their reputations, bankrupt them financially, eradicate them physically" clearly exposed its nature of genocide.

The symposium also invited Falun Gong practitioner Mr. Lin Shenli as a special witness to deliver a speech. Mr. Lin had been illegally imprisoned and tortured in a forced labor camp for two years and was later rescued by the international community. He revealed the persecution that he, his sister and brother and his wife's family members have experienced to expose the genocide and crimes against humanity committed by Jiang and his accomplices.

Falun Gong practitioner Mr. Lin Shenli speaks during the symposium.

Mr. Lin pointed out that there is no law being followed in the persecution of Falun Gong. It is genocide. His elder sister has been detained twice simply because she practices Falun Gong and spoke the truth to the government. His younger brother was also sentenced to 2 years in a labor camp because he is also a practitioner of Falun Gong and tried to explain the facts to people. During his imprisonment, his brother was recklessly force-fed, which caused damage to his esophagus. His sister-in-law is currently serving a sentence of one year and three month of forced labor. Shenli said that the persecution that he and his family encountered is just the tip of the iceberg. In China, millions of families have been torn apart for cultivating Falun Gong--more evidence of the genocide being committed by Jiang's regime.

After the symposium, one of the organizers, Ms. Lucy Zhou, a member of the Global Committee to Bring Jiang to Justice expressed that this symposium was held on the occasion that Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao visited Canada. She hoped that this kind of activity would allow the international community and the new Chinese government to pay attention to the severe situation of China's human rights, especially the suppression and persecution of Falun Gong that has lasted more than four years. She hoped that this kind of persecution and crisis would end soon.

Ms. Zhou said that GCBJJ was established in October 2003. It is a global organization composed of people with lofty ideals and a sense of justice, who care about the development of China and its future, plus international friends, and groups and individuals who are persecuted by Jiang's regime. The tenet of this global coalition is: Consolidate all forces of justice to expose all the crimes Jiang has committed and bring Jiang to justice in the court of morality, conscience and law. This symposium was only the start of a series of activities in bringing Jiang to justice that the Canadian chapter of GCBJJ plans to conduct. Similar activities will be carried out later on. In addition, legal action to sue Jiang for committing genocide and crimes against humanity is under consideration in Canada.

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