By Wu Sijing

(Clearwisdom.net) On August 25, 2007, a German couple, the Nehrings, travelled from Ruhrgebiet to Munich to attend the Human Rights Torch Relay ceremony. Mr. Nehring had written to the International Olympic Committee prior to this event, expressing his indignation about the human rights violations happening in China, particularly the Chinese Communist Party's (CCP) persecution of Falun Gong practitioners.

The letter is as follows:

Otto-Fleck-Schneise 12
60528 Frankfurt a.M.
D??sseldorf, August 16, 2007

To whom it may concern,

While I was watching the world championships for canoing in Duisburg on Aug. 11 and 12, 2007, I received a pamphlet imprinted with [the words] "Torch Relay." It talked about the global "Human Rights Torch Relay" and I remembered hearing about it in various media reports. As soon as I became aware of it, I started to search the Internet for more information about this topic. After three to four hours, I was better informed about what has been happening in China over the last few years with regard to human rights violations and forced organ harvesting.

I was shaken to the core about many reports that have lately appeared from various sources. I would like to avoid the grim details about the brutal methods used at this point. Suffice it to say, that I judged the reports to be authentic and credible.

I have ceased to look forward to the Olympics in Beijing. I have been an enthusiastic fan of the Olympics since 1964: I went to watch them in Munich in 1972, in Innsbruck in 1976, and I attended Lake Placid and Moscow in 1980 as well as Sarajevo in 1984. The IOC has a moral obligation to safeguard human rights in the chosen locations - and this goes for China, too!

We should not be holding the Olympics in Beijing without the appropriate rules and regulations, especially at times when people are being tortured, killed and forcibly robbed of their organs. Otherwise, we are turning the Olympic spirit of peace, fraternity and justice for all people into a farce.

Many of us hope that soon there will be proof for all of the brutalities and that everyone responsible will be called to justice. However, at that time, it will be too late for the Olympic spirit. The 2008 Games and their location will forever be a blight on the fabric of the Olympics. For example, remember Berlin 1936 and Sarajevo 1984.

The situation demands strict measures. I hope that soon, when the general public is aroused and the oppressed gather their courage, everything will come to light and the people who are responsible will be brought to account. Do you really want to wait this long?

I hope that the Olympic spirit will continue to survive and I ask the IOC to:

1. Issue an official statement condemning the forced organ harvesting from Falun Gong practitioners in China,
2. IClose the state institutions that were established through the '610 Office' to torture Falun Gong practitioners. Release all followers from psychiatric hospitals and forced labor campsRelease Jiang Renzheng and bring him and his family back to GermanyRelease Ms. Wang Xiaoyan, wife of Falun Gong practitioner Zhang Zhentong in Germany

Do you remember? Article 1 [Human rights, constitutional limits on the power of the state]

(1) The dignity of a person is of primary importance. The state's power must be used to respect and to defend it.

(2) The German people are committed to inalienable and constant human rights as a basis of every human society, and for peace and justice in the world.

I am most concerned and pray for all the people in China who are being persecuted and tortured. It is my deepest wish that the Olympic Games should continue in either Vancouver or London in 2010.

Posting date: 8/31/2007
Original article date: 8/30/2007
Category: Worldwide Support
Chinese version available at http://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2007/8/25/161508.html

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