(Clearwisdom.net) On July 17, 2004, an event entitled, "Respect Life and
Remember July 20" was held on Chanyang Avenue in front of the Chiang Kai-Shek
Memorial Hall located in Taipei. This was to memorialize the Falun Gong
practitioners who have died from the ruthless persecution for upholding their
belief in "Truthfulness-Compassion-Tolerance" since July 20, 1999, when Jiang's
regime stated suppressing Falun Gong. About 5,000 Falun Gong practitioners from
across Taiwan participated in the event.
Eleven methods of torture used against Falun Gong practitioners were
re-enacted by practitioners. During the event, a press conference and play were
held to expose to Taiwan and the international society the Jiang regime's
atrocities in oppressing Falun Gong. Attorney Su You-Chen, Deputy Director of
the President's Office's human rights consulting committee, Mr. Wu Hao-Ren,
President of Taiwan Human Rights Advocate Association and other representatives
of Taiwan human rights organizations also attended the event to condemn the
brutal persecution of Falun Gong. The event was concluded with a candlelight
vigil to commemorate those Falun Gong practitioners who have sacrificed their
lives in upholding their belief.
 
1500 Falun Gong practitioners forming the Chinese characters of "Fa
rectifies Heaven and Earth". |
Candlelight vigil |
Candlelight vigil |
Candlelight vigil |
- "Remembering July 20" press conference
Press conference |
Attorney Su You-Chen, representative of the President Office's human rights
consulting committee, expressed that as a member of the human rights committee,
Vice-President Lu Hsiu-lien is very concerned about the Falun Gong
practitioners' human rights and asked him to attend this memorial ceremony. Mr.
Su expressed his support and respect towards Falun Gong practitioners for their
brave and persistent endeavor to oppose the persecution and uphold justice in
defiance of the violence perpetrated against them.
Mr. Su pointed out that on February 21 and 22, 2003, more than 400 Falun Gong
practitioners who held legal visas to Hong Kong were deported by the Hong Kong
authorities in the name of ensuring security. In response to this incident, Vice
President of Taiwan, Ms. Lu Hsiu-lien, head of the President Office's human
rights committee formally protested to the Hong Kong government. She was very
happy to learn that the lawsuit filed by Taiwan Falun Gong practitioners against
the Hong Kong immigration office at the territory entrance recently gained
qualification at the Hong Kong court.
Mr. Wu Hao-ren, President of the Taiwan Human Rights Advocate Association,
said that as attorneys, "We cannot accept the fact that the Chinese government
arbitrarily defines crimes and overrides the Presumption of Innocence to arrest,
detain and even torture (Falun Gong practitioners). This kind of behavior has
violated the world's most fundamental safeguards for human rights. It is
unforgivable. We fully support bringing Jiang Zemin to justice."
Professor Wu Hui-lin from the China Human Rights Association called upon all
kind-hearted people to stand up and condemn this persecution and to safeguard
justice together.
At the same time, the press conference sponsor announced that in June, the
"Taiwan Mission to Rescue the Persecuted Falun Gong Practitioners" was formally
established. Professor Ming Chu-cheng from the Department of Politics, National
Taiwan University, is the director. The mission secretary Mr. Liu Bing-hua said
that the purpose of this mission is to respect life, belief and freedom, and to
safeguard the Taiwanese people's human rights. He said, "Based on lofty morals
and principles as well as real concerns, our safeguarding human rights is
absolutely not a slogan, we will put them into action through rescue
activities."
The Taiwan Falun Dafa Association expressed that since the Jiang regime
started the cruel oppression of Falun Gong, millions of kind people have been
persecuted. More than 1000 steadfast practitioners have been confirmed to have
died from the suppression. In October 2002, Jiang Zemin was sued in a U.S. court
for committing "torture, genocide and crimes against humanity". According to
reports from the "World Organization to Investigate the Persecution of Falun
Gong", as of May 2004, Jiang Zemin and his followers from the "610 Office" have
been sued in the U.S., Canada, Germany, France, Belgium, Taiwan, Korea, Spain
and Iceland.
After the press conference, Mr. Su encouraged attorney Chu Wan-chi to bring
Jiang to justice. He said that he was especially concerned about the development
of the lawsuit regarding Taiwan Falun Gong practitioners being deported by the
Hong Kong authorities. He asked the practitioners to keep in touch. He pointed
towards practitioners and said, "These people are really remarkable!"
Mr. Wu Hao-ren said that before he came to attend the activity, his father
tried to hold him back and asked him not to get involved in the Falun Gong
issue. He told his father that although he does not practice Falun Gong, he
could not ignore the human rights violations against kind people and he had to
join the activity. He emphasized that Falun Gong practitioners are totally
peaceful and look so kind. He asked attorney Chu Wan-chi to pay attention to her
personal safety.
During the event, 11 methods of torture used against Falun Gong practitioners
were re-enacted. These included slave labor, being tied to a "dead person's
bed", confinement in a small iron cage, digging bamboo sticks under the
fingernails, burning with heated irons, force-feeding, injecting unknown drugs,
hanging up, tightly tying and pressing, and the "tiger bench." The re-enactment
drew quite a number of tourists' attention. People were shocked at such inhuman
torture existing in the 21st century. Many people took photos or
videotaped the torture scenes. Many people also signed the petition against the
persecution.
While watching the torture re-enactment, a pair of westerners was surprised
and asked, "Are these real? How could it be possible? They're so brutal!" They
asked why they were imprisoned. Falun Gong practitioners told them that all of
these demonstration were real. Since Jiang's regime started persecuting Falun
Gong practitioners in 1999, at least 1006 practitioners have died as a result of
the suppression. Countless practitioners have been beaten and tortured. Many
practitioners were forced to leave their homes and became destitute to avoid
being arrested. They were expelled from the Party, school and fired from their
jobs.
While Mr. Wang, a government official and a Falun Gong practitioner, was
watching the anti-torture exhibition, a TV reporter asked him about what he felt
as he watched the exhibition. He told the reporter that the demonstration
covered only a tiny part of the torture applied to practitioners. There are many
more torture methods that are not re-enacted. He truly felt their pain and hoped
that everyone who loves freedom will pay close attention to the situation and
try their best to put a stop to the senseless persecution.
Three police officers came to visit the exhibition. They asked for updates on
efforts to rescue the imprisoned Falun Gong practitioners. A young officer said,
"Previously, I read the introduction of Falun Gong and was aware of the
persecution of practitioners in China. Today, when I watched the exhibition, I
can see that it is indeed brutal."
A reporter from a Taiwan TV station interviewed the torture re-enactment
narrator, "Are these appalling tortures real? How do you know about them?" The
narrator picked up a copy of the United Nations' human rights report and showed
several pages to the reporter. The reporter said with his eyebrow wrinkled, "So
what's being demonstrated here is just a tip of the iceberg!"
After listening to an introduction of Falun Gong and the benefits it has
brought to people, a person from Malaysia who works in Taiwan left his phone
number and expressed his desire to learn Falun Gong.
Seeing so many people practicing the Falun Gong exercises on the plaza, a
western couple asked a lady by their side about what they were doing. The lady
told them that they were practicing Falun Gong, which is very good for mind and
body. The couple asked, "Are you with them?" The lady answered, "If possible, I
hope I will be."
So far, Falun Gong practitioners have held anti-torture exhibitions in New
York, Chicago, San Francisco, Las Angeles, Seattle, Sacramento, Brunswick and
Savannah of Georgia, Toronto, Ottawa, Seoul, Hong Kong, Tokyo, Osaka, and
Vienna.
Force-feedings |
Burned by heated irons |
Slave labor |
Confined in a small iron cage |
Digging bamboo sticks under the fingernails |
Acting out the persecution in a play |
- Exporting state-run terrorism to other countries
The Jiang regime's suppression of Falun Gong is not limited to China. During
Jiang's followers Zeng Qinghong and Bo Xilai's visit to South Africa from June
27 to 29, Australian Falun Gong practitioners were shot at on their way to an
appeal. Their second vehicle was hit by at least 5 gunshots. Driver Mr. David
Liang suffered gunshot wounds to both feet, requiring hospitalization and
surgery.
From July 10 to 17, in order to raise awareness of the shooting perpetrated
by Jiang's followers, Falun Gong practitioners from across Taiwan initiated a
signature collection campaign. So far, more than 100,000 Taiwanese people have
responded to call for a stop to this form of state-sponsored terrorism.
- Young practitioners from Minghui school demonstrate the Falun Gong
exercises
Young children's demonstration of Falun Gong exercises always draws people's
attention. About 50 young practitioners from the Minghui School performed the
Falun Gong exercises and sang songs composed by practitioners to extol Dafa.
A first grader and young practitioner said that she felt the tortures were
really horrible after she watched the exhibition. Her older brother said that he
would work even harder to distribute Falun Dafa literature so as to allow more
people to know about the unjust persecution and the beauty of Dafa.
