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United Kingdom: Falun Gong Practitioners Hold Press Conference and Candlelight Vigil, Call for Bringing Jiang, Luo, Liu and Zhou to Justice (Photos)
By practitioners from UK (Clearwisdom.net, February 16, 2004) On February 14, Falun Gong
practitioners from the United Kingdom held a press conference and candlelight
vigil to protest the Chinese authorities' brutal persecution in the recent three
months. Practitioners called to bring Jiang Zemin, Luo Gan, Liu Jing and Zhou
Yongkang to justice. Former UK diplomat, Lord Thurlow said in the press
conference that only when more people understand the truth of the persecution of
Falun Gong, can this unprecedented inhuman violation of human rights be
ultimately stopped. According to reports from Clearwisdom Net, from November 2003 to January
2004, 26 Falun Gong practitioners were confirmed to have been tortured to death
in China. These Falun Gong practitioners were from nine different provinces and
municipalities. The tortures that they suffered included beatings, electrical
shocks, force-feeding*, and injection of drugs that damage the central nervous
system. The practitioners who were tortured to death include a 65-year-old woman
and 32-year-old man. As of February 14, 2004, at least 884 practitioners were
confirmed to have been killed during the persecution against Falun Gong. During the press conference held at 4:pm, some practitioners sat in front,
holding in their hands portraits of the practitioners who were tortured to
death. Some practitioners standing behind them unfurled banners imprinted with
eye-catching words in both Chinese and English, "Bring Jiang Zemin, Luo Gan,
Liu Jing and Zhou Yongkang to Justice." These four people play the most
malicious role in this persecution. They suborn the 610 Office, the Ministry of
Public Security, labor camps and other institutions to persecute Dafa
practitioners with extremely cruel means. They also issued the order that Falun
Gong practitioners can be beaten to death, and their deaths are counted as
suicide. They even assign a death quota to each labor camps. During the press conference, a representative from the UK Falun Dafa
Association said, "Jiang and his follower's persecution of Falun Gong
violates both the Chinese Constitution and international laws. No mater what
roles the evildoers play in the persecution, they will be eventually brought to
justice." During the candlelight vigil, practitioners held in hands lotus-shaped
candles and quietly sat in front of the Chinese Consulate. Accompanied by the
peaceful music, "Pudu", they mourned for fellow practitioners who have
died in the persecution and called for justice and conscience. *Force-feeding is the number one cause of death for Falun Gong practitioners.
The purpose of police force-feeding is not to nourish, but rather to torture
practitioners and to cause so much pain that they will renounce the practice of
Falun Gong. To that end, the police have used many different means to cause
excruciating pain and injury, including inserting and withdrawing the feeding
tubes repeatedly, leaving the feeding tubes in the stomach, knocking out teeth
while attempting to force-feed, force-feeding saturated salt-water,
vinegar/liquor, or urine/feces, etc.
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