(Clearwisdom.net) Clearwisdom correspondent Su Jing reports:
On May 22, 2004, more than a thousand Falun Gong practitioners converged in
Chicago and held a series of large-scale peaceful appeal activities in Chinatown
and downtown Chicago. They exposed Jiang and his followers' brutal persecution
of Falun Gong practitioners over the past five years. The activity included a
parade of a thousand people in Chinatown and downtown Chicago, and an exhibition
entitled "Persecution and Principle" held in Chicago's Federal Plaza.
The exhibition used live models to illustrate the persecution against Falun
Gong.
On May 22, a parade entitled "Falun Dafa is
great" in Chinatown
On May 24, more than two thousand Falun Gong
practitioners hold a parade in downtown Chicago
On Federal Plaza, practitioners expose the Jiang
regime's brutal torture of Falun Gong practitioners
A press conference regarding torture exhibition
is held in Federal Plaza
Practicing the exercises and sending righteous
thoughts outside the Chinese Consulate General
More than a thousand Falun Gong practitioners
doing the exercises together
On May 24, 2004, the exhibition named "Persecution
and Principle" exposed the horrific and inconceivable torture against
Falun Gong practitioners to the public. Organizer of the torture
exhibition, post PhD candidate of life science at the University of
Chicago and Falun Gong practitioner Mr. Liu said, "Our activity
coincides with the oral arguments to take place in the 7th
Circuit Court on May 27 regarding the Falun Gong practitioners' lawsuit
against former Chinese president Jiang Zemin on charges of torture,
genocide and crimes against humanity. We hope to use this activity to
vividly depict how Jiang's group uses inhuman methods to torture and abuse
Falun Gong practitioners, including women, the elderly, children and even
pregnant women. We hope that people, after viewing the exhibition and
learning about the truth, can take a righteous stand."
The practitioners displayed examples of slave labor,
forced abortion, injections of harmful psychotropic drugs, stuffing a
person under a low bed, electric shock, burning, hanging up and beating
practitioners, being forced to sit still on a tiny bench for long periods
of time, being tied spread-eagled to a metal frame, bamboo spikes hammered
into one's fingernails, force-feeding, handcuffing, confining in a metal
cage, dragging on the ground and other forms of torture.
Mr. Chen Gang, who once suffered torture and abuse in
China, said in his opening remarks at the torture exhibition press
conference, "We, as survivors of the persecution, have a
responsibility to expose it to the public." After that, Mr. Chen
stood in front of one of the displays, telling people passing by about his
ordeal while being held in Tuanhe Labor Camp. Once, the guard ordered more
than a dozen inmates in his cell to beat him. His whole body was covered
with bruises and his face was deformed. In order to prevent him from
shouting, they sealed his lips with adhesive tape. They tied him up with
rope, with both arms behind him and his neck and legs tightly tied
together. He almost suffocated. After that, they put him in a washbasin,
and they kicked it so forcefully that he and the washbasin were pushed
under the bed. The bed boards were pushed up while he was under the bed.
People sitting on the bed forcefully pressed down. It felt like his spine
was about to snap, and he could not breathe. After this torture, he was
unable to walk for two weeks. The torture almost paralyzed him. (Another
practitioner named Lu Changjun was paralyzed from this torture.)
Lawyer Terri Marsh, who represents Falun Gong
practitioners in the lawsuit against Jiang, said at the press conference,
"On May 27, the 7th Circuit Court will hold an oral
argument regarding the Falun Gong practitioners' lawsuit against former
Chinese president Jiang Zemin on charges of torture, genocide and crimes
against humanity. In this lawsuit, Jiang is accused of devising,
implementing and directing a campaign that attempts to eliminate Falun
Gong in China. Jiang's behavior has led to the murder and torture of tens
of thousands of Falun Gong practitioners. "
The torture exhibition caught many passersby's
attention. After viewing the exhibition, people were shocked, and they
kept shaking their head and sighing with emotion. Some people shed tears.
One person said, "If such atrocities were not stopped, such things
could happen to any of us. They may happen in any place in the world. What
can we do for these persecuted people? " A child, after learning that
Falun Gong practitioners who are being held in labor camps are forced to
work overtime to make toys for export, put the toy in his hands into the
cage that detained a practitioner. He said he no longer wanted the toy,
because it was too brutal.
Talking about the plan for the torture exhibition, an
elderly Chinese practitioner who came from New Jersey to show his support
said, "When a Western artist suggested using real people to simulate
Jiang's persecution of Falun Gong practitioners, everyone felt like it was
a good idea. We can display to the public the torture and abuse that is
going on in China, and it will be easier for people to have a strong
memory of Jiang's crimes." Some torture instruments were bought from
shops, and some were made by Falun Gong practitioners. The torture devices
were mainly selected from the many torture techniques exposed on
Clearwisdom.net and some related photos. Some of the photos were drawn by
Falun Gong practitioners who have suffered the same kind of torture in
China, and some were drawn by artists after listening to practitioners who
suffered the torture came abroad and described their experiences. The
torture exhibition will last for three more days.
After the press conference, more than 2,000 Falun Gong
practitioners held a parade in downtown Chicago to call for an end to the
persecution and continued the exhibition to expose the torture. The parade
ended outside the Chinese Consulate General in Chicago.
