(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
Posting date: 3/1/2005
Original article date: 3/1/2005
Category: News & Media Reports
Chinese version available at http://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2005/2/16/95622.html