(Clearwisdom.net) On October 27, 2007, a large scale activity marking the "World Human Rights Torch Week" was held in Dusseldorf, as similar activities were held concurrently in other major cities in Germany. These activities were to get the message out to the German people that "Crimes against Humanity Cannot Coexist with the Olympic Games in China." The objective of the activity was to expose the Chinese Communist regime's atrocities of human rights abuse, in particular the persecution against Falun Gong. The activity attracted a lot of people's attention and was supported by many individuals and groups. Many people were shocked to learn of the regime's harvesting of organs from living Falun Gong practitioners. Many signed the petition calling for an end to the regime's atrocities. The following is the text of some of our interviews:

Falun Gong practitioners Liu Wei (left) and Wang Zhen (right) recount the torture they personally experienced to expose the Chinese regime's persecution against Falun Gong practitioners. Wang Zhen demonstrates how he was tortured by other inmates in the Chinese forced labor camps. Other inmates kicked his legs and forcibly split them far apart. The ligaments and joints in his hip were seriously damaged, which caused him to be unable to stand up, but he still had to mop the floor on his hands and knees.

	The conductor of a choir says that he hopes his efforts can awake Chinese official's intrinsic conscience so that they are able to discern good from bad, and truly understand what kind of things they have done.

Members of the choir of O-Town Gospel singers sing songs to support the Human Right Torch Relay

In his remarks at the rally, Mr. Dierk Koch, director of the Humanitarian Association's branch office in North-Rhine-Westphalia, said that he hoped the Global Human Rights Torch Relay would awaken leaders in the political, economic and sporting circles, so that they would step forward and help put an end to this atrocious persecution immediately. When interviewed, he stressed that as a humanitarian, upon hearing of the Chinese regime's harvesting of organs from living Falun Gong practitioners, he was infuriated and dumbfounded, and he even became nauseated when thinking of those perpetrators. That's why he came out to express his views on this matter.

Falun Gong practitioners Liu Wei and Wang Zhen recounted the torture they personally experienced to expose the Chinese regime's persecution against Falun Gong practitioners. Liu Wei is a Chinese student studying in Dortmund, Germany. Because she practiced Falun Gong, she was once imprisoned in Beijing's Dongcheng Forced Labor Camp without any legal proceedings. Back then, over one hundred Falun Gong practitioners were illegally imprisoned there and many medical staff members were sent there with a variety of instruments to undertake physical examinations of Falun Gong practitioners. This included blood tests and examinations on their internal organs--but none of the practitioners ever received any report of these examinations.

Wang Zhen was illegally jailed in the Qingpu Third Forced Labor Camp in Shanghai from 2001 through 2003 because he upheld his right to practice Falun Gong. Here he was subjected to high intensity labor, brainwashing, cruel torture and abuse by other inmates. In the labor camp, other inmates kicked his legs against the wall to forcibly split them maximally apart. His ligaments and the joints in his hip were completely damaged, which caused him to be unable to stand up, but he was still forced to mop the floor on his hands and knees. He underwent blood tests and electrocardiograms (ECG) twice in the camp. At that time, only Falun Gong practitioners were subjected to physical examinations in the labor camp. Other inmates never had physical examinations, even if they asked for them. The labor camp authorities told Falun Gong practitioners that the physical examinations were indicative of the Chinese regime's concern for Falun Gong members, but they never received any reports of the examinations. At that time, Wang Zhen even mistakenly thought that the Chinese regime wanted to analyze Falun Gong practitioners' blood to see if there were any special qualities in it. It wasn't until he arrived in the West that he realized the Chinese regime intended to harvest their organs for profit.

The O-Town Gospel Singers Choir gave a wonderful performance during the outdoor concert. They were highly acclaimed by the spectators with tumultuous applause and were encored time and again. Stefan Bechstein, conductor of the choir, perceived the wonderful interaction between the performers and the audience. He told the audience that although choir belonged to the church, they were pleased to participate in this human rights activity, as it was part of the mission of the choir.

When interviewed, Stefan Bechstein stated, "I cannot imagine how a government would do such a thing as harvesting organs from living humans, and how medical doctors could remove internal organs from human bodies while they were still alive. I'm not an important person, but I hope through our endeavor, the intrinsic conscience of those who work with the Chinese government can be awakened, so that they are able to discern good from bad, and realize what kinds of things they are doing. I must emphasize that I still love China very much."

Among the bands coming to support the "Global Human Rights Torch Week" activity was the Black Alley Rock Band. When interviewed, lead singer Andreas Strott stated that it is nonsense to hold the Olympic Games in countries without human rights like Chinese Communist Party-ruled China. As a result, upon hearing of the news about the outdoor concert marking "Global Human Rights Torch Week," his band was pleased to join the activity.

When it comes to the Chinese regime's persecution against Falun Gong, Andreas Strott stated that it was indeed ridiculous. He said, "Personally, I may not be able to do much in this regard, but I think all of us should step forward to expose this kind of thing. It is very meaningful to participate in the activity here today. Through participating in this activity, we are able to help the general public know that the Chinese regime's persecution of Falun Gong has something to do with them." He also urged the people in China, "Never give up, and be steadfast! Though the government is cruel, you still need to have the courage to stand up."

Greek singer Mr. Ant. Pinreniokz, who lives in the suburbs of Cologne, said that as a Greek, he felt it was meaningful for him to participate in the "Global Human Rights Week" activity, since Greece has much to do with the Olympic Games. Because he feels that harvesting organs from living Falun Gong practitioners is indeed terrible, he decided to participate in the activity.

After the rally came to an end, participants proceeded on a three-kilometer walk. Many people took the initiative to join the activity along the way, including some international students from the U.S. When bumping into our reporters, one of the students by the name of Emily, who majored in political science, said she had heard of something about the Chinese regime's atrocities of human rights abuse and the persecution against Falun Gong in her Asian Politics class in the U.S. and she felt very fearful. She has also read the open letter to President Bush written by lawyer Gao Zhisheng, and felt that what he wrote was very good. She hoped that Mr. Gao could get out of danger as soon as possible.

A politician who requested to be kept anonymous told our reporter that besides sending her an email, the organizer also made four phone calls to her. She was so touched by what the organizer had done that she came to the rally. In terms of the Chinese Communist regime's harvesting organs from living Falun Gong practitioners, she told the reporter that in addition to the material she read, she also listened to the testimonies given by two Falun Gong practitioners at the rally, and that she felt too terrible to express the degree of her fear. She added, "Given that, we must stand up and do something. As the world is moving towards globalization nowadays, there have been many contradictions within China's political system. In the past, what I heard about Falun Gong was quite negative, therefore I didn't pay much attention to things relating to Falun Gong. Now I have understood the facts about Falun Gong, and found that it is completely different from what I thought before. In this regard, the Chinese regime's defamation of Falun Gong did cause some significant damage to Falun Gong. To reverse this situation, Falun Gong practitioners must do something more. My attitude towards Falun Gong has been entirely changed over the past several days, and I will try my best to tell others what I have experienced."

Source: http://clearharmony.net/articles/200711/41962.html

Posting date: 11/9/2007
Original article date: 11/8/2007
Category: Falun Dafa Worldwide