Canadian Government and People Call For the End of the Persecution of Falun Gong before the Visit of Chinese Leader Hu Jintao (Photos)
By Dong Na, Clearwisdom.net correspondent from Canada
(Clearwisdom.net) Before the arrival of Chinese Communist Party (CCP)
leader Hu Jintao to Canada, the Chinese human rights issue, especially the CCP's
six-year-long persecution of Falun Gong, has again caught the attention of
Canadian political circles and citizens. On September 1, 2005, practitioners held a large rally in front of Parliament
to call on Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin to urge Hu Jintao to end the
persecution of Falun Gong during his meeting with Hu. Three senior Members of
Parliament, David Kilgour, Ed Broadbent, and Scott Reid, Alex Neve, Director of
Amnesty International Canada, and Chairman Warran Allmand of World Federation
Movement Canada attended the rally and gave speeches. As of September 1, 2005,
over 85,000 letters of appeal were collected from across Canada. At the press conference on the same day, the three MPs and practitioners
answered questions from Canadian Press, CTV and Central News Agency.
Practitioners also explained the facts of the persecution to people through a
signature drive and anti-torture exhibitions in front of Parliament, the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Immigration. In the afternoon,
about 200 practitioners from eastern Canada held a march in Ottawa. MP Urges Prime Minister Martin to Place Human Rights above Trade MP Scott Reid said in the press conference that the systemic persecution of
Falun Gong is not only documented by Falun Gong practitioners, but also by three
of the world's leading human rights organizations, Amnesty International, Human
Rights Watch, Rights and Democracy. The victims in the systemic persecution are
not just dozens or hundreds, but number in the tens of thousands of Chinese
citizens who peacefully practice Falun Gong. Prime Minister Paul Martin should
not only talk about trade with Hu Jintao; he has the important responsibility to
make human rights a top priority. MP Ed Broadbent said, "The violation of the right of conscience,
violation of freedom of association, violation of freedom of expression,
systematic torture, the total abuse and ignoring of the principle of having an
independent judiciary as in a democracy particularly underlined the fact that
the Chinese government has sent instructions to their own courts at one time and
said it was the "political duty" of members of the judiciary in China
to punish members simply for being members of Falun Gong. That in itself is a
total abuse, a total mockery, of the principle of having an independent
judiciary." He further said, "Prime Minister Martin should insist,
certainly, that China live up to its obligations as a member of the United
Nations and its Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the Covenant of
Political and Civil Rights." MP David Kilgour said, "First of all, as I said, Truth, Compassion, and
Forbearance are Canadian values and the world needs more of these things
obviously. But if the government of China wants to be part of the rule of law
nations of the world, they must stop the persecution of Falun Gong
immediately." MP Kilgour said, "Risking trade agreements, fears of offending guilty
regimes, and a preference for non-committal policies of conceptive engagement
cannot hinder our efforts to ensure that everyone is accorded the individual and
independent human rights." Director of Amnesty International Canada: Brutal Repression of Falun Gong
Practitioners in China is a Human Rights Catastrophe Director Alex Neve of Amnesty International Canada said, "There's no
question that the ongoing brutal repression of Falun Gong practitioners in China
is a human rights catastrophe by any measure. And it is unacceptable that it has
been allowed to continue and deepen over the past many years. Canada needs to
redouble its efforts to press for an end to the human rights violations against
Falun Gong practitioners in China." MP Scott Reid proposed the motion in the House of Commons in 2002 to rescue
Falun Gong practitioners who were persecuted in China and had family links to
Canada. He said in his speech that he hoped Prime Minister Martin will speak out
to Hu Jintao to release the18 Falun Gong practitioners with links and family
ties to Canada who are suffering in China. He also put forward the issue of stopping the CCP's hate propaganda and
harassment, intimidation and surveillance of practitioners in Canada. During recent the days, MPs who have written to Prime Minister Martin asking
him to call for the end of the persecution of Falun Gong include Scott Reid,
Libby Davies, Rob Anders, Peter Julian, Bill Siksay, Pierre Poilievre, Tony
Martin, and Alexa McDonough. Peter R Coffin, a pastor in Ottawa also wrote to
the Prime Minister to urge him to help end the persecution.
MP Ed Broadbent
MP Scott Reid
Practitioner spokesperson
March to call for an end to the persecution
March to call for the end of the persecution
MP Ed Broadbent
Chinese version available at
http://minghui.ca/mh/articles/2005/9/3/109704.html
Yearly Archive
Printer Version
feedback@clearwisdom.net