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Denmark Media Carry Condemnation of China's Persecution Against Falun Gong
(Clearwisdom.net) Denmark's second largest city Aarhus is considering
severing its sister city relationship with China's Harbin City. The reason is
the fact that forced labor camps in Harbin City have perpetrated a large-scale,
cruel persecution against Falun Gong practitioners and the allegation that these
forced labor camps and hospitals have harvested organs from living Falun Gong
practitioners. Recently, a leading national daily newspaper "Jyllandsposten"
carried a statement submitted to the Aarhus City Council, entitled "The
atrocities perpetrated in Aarhus' sister city--Harbin." The statement was
made by Mr. Christoffer Brekne, chairman of the Network for Human Rights in
China. On January 23, 2007, the Network for Human Rights in China sent a letter to
the mayor of Aarhus City, Mr. Nicolai Wammen, to call on him to freeze cultural
exchange with Aarhus' sister city Harbin until the Harbin city authorities stop
the cruel torture and killing of Falun Gong practitioners in the forced labor
camps and detention centers in Harbin. We were pleased to learn that the mayor
has taken this case seriously and asked the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to
investigate into this matter, and that many City Councilors are also concerned
about this case. It is an undeniable fact that the Chinese Communist regime has perpetrated
the atrocities of genocidal persecution against Falun Gong practitioners. Over
seventy million Chinese citizens, the official figure of Falun Gong
practitioners released by the Chinese authorities in 1998, are the direct
targets of the persecution in the past eight years. Hundreds of thousands of
innocent people were illegally arrested and subjected to cruel torture, and many
people were forced to leave their home and become destitute. As of today, 3,013
people have been confirmed to be tortured or persecuted to death. Nonetheless,
many experts agree that the actual death toll is far higher than the figure
released by the Chinese regime. It is estimated that the figure may be as high
as tens of thousands. The persecution has been extensively reported by media
around the world and can be confirmed by the archives of the United Nations, the
U.S. Department of State, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and other
human rights organizations. Harbin is a major city in Heilongjiang Province, in which the death toll
resulting from the persecution of Falun Gong in Heilongjiang ranked as number
one in the country. Harbin is the worst city in the persecution of Falun Gong
practitioners in Heilongjiang. Many appalling forced labor camps and prisons are
involved in the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners, including Wanjia Forced
Labor Camp, Zhanglinzi Forced Labor Camp and Harbin Women's Prison, among
others. In recent years, human rights organizations have collected concrete
testimonies revealing the information about the dates, times and locations that
the persecution was perpetrated, as well as names of perpetrators and witnesses.
The testimonies of the persecution in Harbin are 500 pages long in A4 size
paper. These testimonies indicate that atrocities of shocking Falun Gong
practitioners with electric batons, forced feeding them with human excrement and
various other cruel torture methods have been employed by the Chinese Communist
regime, aiming to completely eliminate innocent Falun Gong practitioners. In July 2006, Mr. David Kilgour, former Canadian MP and Secretary of State
for Asia-Pacific, and renowned human rights lawyer Mr. David Matas released an
investigation report on China's harvesting of organs from living Falun Gong
practitioners. In the conclusion, the report pointed out that the atrocities of
harvesting organs from living Falun Gong practitioners are carried out
extensively in various places in China. On January 31, 2007, they released a
revised report detailing additional concrete evidence of the persecution. It is
estimated that there were some 41,500 organs, or even more than that figure,
being harvested from living Falun Gong practitioners between 1999 and 2005.
Similar conclusions were drawn by Vice-President of the European Parliament, Mr.
Edward MacMillan Scott, and Belgian Senator Mr. Patrik Vankrunkelsven, after
conducting independent investigations. Interviews with some victims conducted by
Mr. Gao Zhisheng, renowned human rights lawyer, have revealed facts about the
harvesting of organs from living people, and the atrocities have astonished the
international community. In the revised report released by Mr. David Kilgour and Mr. David Matas, a
witness exposed her horrendous experience in Harbin's Wanjia Forced Labor Camp,
which is often referred to as a place having much to do with organ harvesting
cases. She had undergone organ-matching tests four times to make sure her
physical condition was sound. However, her internal organs were disqualified for
transplantation, as they were severely damaged during the cruel torture.
Ironically, it was her poor health that saved her life. Why did those working in
forced labor camps want to check the condition of organs of someone who was
almost on the brink of death due to persecution? Why were Falun Gong
practitioners subjected to the tests? These are very important issues. The report indicated that the persecution in
Harbin City is a top-down practice, and the mayor and many local officials are
directly responsible for the genocidal atrocities. The persecution against Falun
Gong not only takes place in those notorious institutions, but also infiltrate
in the city government's various departments at all levels. Mayor Shi Zhongxin's
speech at the Chinese central government is quite telling: "Harbin has
successfully 'defeated Falun Gong.'" The mayor and other officials are even
proud of having employed these terrible atrocities to deal with Falun Gong
practitioners. Given that Harbin is Aarhus' sister city, the Aarhus city authorities must
face this fact. Harbin City's evil persecution of its innocent citizens is
totally against the values promoted by Western democratic societies. As the
autocratic Chinese Communist regime is on the brink of collapse, the appalling
despicable atrocities will be exposed one after another as what had happened
after the end of the World War II and the Berlin Wall fell. When the day comes,
what people have done at present will be judged by the world's people and
history. Posting date: 3/17/2007 |