German Media Reports on a Seminar Exposing Human Rights Violations in China (Photos)

(Clearwisdom.net) On January 27, 2005, German Falun Gong practitioners from the city of Cham and a local representative from the International Society for Human Rights held a seminar entitled, "The Current Situation of Human Rights Violations in China," at Robert Schumann High School. Local newspapers reported on this event, including an article in the Chamer Zeitung, entitled "Lies cannot withstand exposure" and another in the Bayerwald-Echo entitled, "Experiencing Injustice."

The reports mentioned that Truthfulness, Compassion and Forbearance are the cultivation principles of Falun Gong, which is also called Falun Dafa. They quoted a remark made by Falun Gong practitioner Ms. Min Teng-Schwaegerl during the seminar in the ethics class at Robert Schumann High School. She said, "Falun Gong originates from China. It can lead people to achieve harmony within themselves and with the environment. However, the cultivation principles are not in accordance with the nature and ruling methods of the Chinese Communist Party. That is why Falun Gong suffers systematic discrimination and persecution by the Communist regime in China, and this is why Falun Gong practitioners are tortured or even killed."

Mr. Roland Hein is a senior teacher at Robert Schumann High School. He wanted to demonstrate cases of human rights infringements in his Ethics class, so he invited Falun Gong practitioners and the International Society for Human Rights to give accounts of persecution under China's Communist system. Min Teng-Schwaegerl was originally from Shanghai and she came to Germany two and a half a years ago. She heard about and experienced Falun Gong after she completed her German language course in a university. Driven by the contrasts between the Communist Party's propaganda about Falun Gong and the peacefulness of the practice she had experienced, she was determined to take part in public activities to raise awareness. "Lies cannot withstand exposure," Min stated firmly. "People have to understand the actual situation in China, because what is happening there will impact the future of the whole world."

Mr. Roemer described China as "the most infamous country for torture," not only because China suppresses Falun Gong ruthlessly, but also because it persecutes other religious groups. According to one estimate, the total number of religious believers, including Christians, Buddhists and Muslims, in China ranges from 60 to 90 million.

After giving an overview about the human rights situation in China, Min Teng-Schwaegerl began to talk about Falun Gong's situation. She explained that Falun Gong is a practice of self-improvement; practitioners can achieve spiritual inner peace, as well as harmonious coexistence with the outside environment. Min Teng-Schwaegerl said that there are 70 to 100 million people practicing Falun Gong in China.

"It is very sad that the media has been astoundingly indifferent to this issue, in which millions of people have become victims," stated Min Teng-Schwaegerl.

When asked if young people in Germany could do anything against this persecution, Ms. Teng-Schwaegerl answered, "Yes," and Mr. Roemer commented, "They can collect petition signatures and ask the German Government to pay attention to these human rights violations."

http://www.clearharmony.net/articles/200502/25093.html

Chinese version available at http://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2005/2/16/95622.html

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