News and Events from around the World -- August 1, 2006

Issued by Clearwisdom Net

Content


  • UK: Grand Parade Held in London to Stop the CCP's Atrocities

  • France: Protest Against the Persecution of Falun Gong Held in Front of the Chinese Embassy in Paris

  • Singapore: Falun Gong Practitioners Request to Summon Lee Kuan Yew to Testify in Court

  • France: Falun Dafa Association Sends a Letter to President and Prime Minister Regarding the CCP's Organ Harvesting



  • UK: Grand Parade Held in London to Stop the CCP's Atrocities

    On Saturday, July 15th, 2006, Falun Gong practitioners from the U.K., Switzerland and several other countries held a press conference and a grand parade in London, aiming to expose the Chinese Communist Party's (CCP) atrocities of harvesting organs from living Falun Gong practitioners. They also called on people from all levels to work together to stop the Chinese regime's atrocities, so as to entirely put an end to the seven-year-long genocidal persecution against Falun Gong.

    A press conference exposing the Chinese Communist regime's atrocities is held before the parade sets off

    Over the past seven years, millions of Falun Gong practitioners have been persecuted by means of illegal incarceration, fines, beatings, cruel torture and other forms of abuse; nearly 3,000 practitioners in China are confirmed to have been persecuted to death. Even more shocking is the recently-exposed atrocity of the Chinese Communist regime harvesting and selling organs from living Falun Gong practitioners for profit, and incinerating their bodies to destroy the evidence. These persecution crimes have fully exposed the Chinese Communist regime's intrinsically evil nature. On July 15th, at 12:00 noon, Falun Gong practitioners held a press conference in front of the Chinese Embassy in London to protest against the Chinese Communist regime's atrocities and persecution of Falun Gong.

    The parade


    Submitting the petition to the government


    Exercise demonstration

    People signing their names to support Falun Gong

    Several Members of the European Parliament and the British Parliament sent statements or letters to express their support for Falun Gong practitioners and to wish them great success in the activities. In his statement, Mr. Edward McMillan-Scott, Vice President of the European Parliament, said that the Chinese Communist regime's evil atrocity of systematically harvesting and selling organs from living Falun Gong practitioners for profit is indeed extremely despicable and shameless. He said that the U.N. should conduct an investigation into these allegations. Mr. Helmer Roger, Member of the European Parliament, said that the Chinese Communist regime's persecution and torture against Falun Gong practitioners is extremely shameless, and that only after the CCP allows freedom of belief, can it be accepted and respected by the international community.

    Mr. Peter Jauhal, president of the UK Falun Gong Association, said in the press conference: "In the seven-year long persecution against innocent law-abiding citizens, the Chinese Communist regime has exposed its intrinsically evil nature to the world's people. Its barbarian, cruel and base act is indeed extremely evil. The Chinese regime's persistent trampling of the Chinese people's lives, regardless of the peaceful and rational appeal for an end to the frantic persecution, has tarnished China's image."

    He added: "After learning the seriousness of harvesting organs from Falun Gong practitioners, the whole world was shocked. That is a horrendous attempt to further annihilate innocent people. Canadian officials recently released a report of an independent investigation, concluding the organ-harvesting allegations were true. The report revealed that all levels in the Chinese Communist regime's governments, the people's courts, detention centers and hospitals are involved in this atrocious crime."

    Mr. Jauhal continued, "Civilized people and countries shall not ignore the crime and keep silent as onlookers, while the atrocity is still going on. We appeal to the British government to initiate an investigation and condemn the brutal act openly, so as to support Falun Gong practitioners' human rights in China."

    Democracy groups and advocates, such as the Chinese Alliance for Democracy, also gave remarks at the press conference to show their support for Falun Gong practitioners. The representative of the Chinese Alliance for Democracy said, "We would like to express our support for Falun Gong practitioners' freedom of belief and other basic legal rights, as these rights should have been protected by the Chinese Constitution and United Nations human rights conventions. Falun Gong practitioners are a social group with firm conviction and independent thinking. They also have the courage to strive for their belief at the cost of their lives. To defend freedom and human dignity through peaceful means, they have suffered tremendous tribulations. They indeed deserve our respect and admiration. Their spirit manifests the significance of the human pursuit of freedom and the value of life. Our sympathy and support for them is actually for ourselves, as they are defending human rights for all the people around the world. We would like to call on all the governments, civil groups and organizations around the world to take action together so as to protest against and stop the Chinese Communist regime's killing and inhuman crime of harvesting organs from living people."

    The parade set off at about 1:00 p.m. The procession passed busy shopping streets, Chinatown, and finally arrived at St. Martin Square. Dozens of female practitioners in white clothing held the portraits of Chinese practitioners who were persecuted to death, in a solemn and respectful manner. Over twenty banners and display boards not only disseminated Falun Gong's principles of "Truthfulness, Compassion and Tolerance" to the people along both sides of the streets, but they also exposed the atrocities of the Chinese Communist regime's persecution of Falun Gong practitioners. After seeing the photos of cruelly tortured Chinese Falun Gong practitioners on the banners and display boards, many passersby were shocked. Many of them approached practitioners and asked for flyers.

    After the parade ended, Falun Gong practitioners delivered a petition to the Prime Minister's residence, to call on the U.K. government to conduct an investigation into the atrocities of harvesting organs from living Falun Gong practitioners. Afterward, practitioners held activities to promote Falun Gong at several locations in London, to help more people understand the persecution so as to put an end to the CCP's evil atrocities. After learning the facts of persecution, many local people expressed their anger and indignation towards the Chinese Communist regime and their support for Falun Gong practitioners. The petition-signing table was often crowded with people. Many said that the practitioners should tell more people about the facts of the persecution, as the more it is exposed, the persecution will not be able to last long.

    Chinese version available at http://www.minghui.ca/mh/articles/2006/7/18/133313.html


    France: Protest Against the Persecution of Falun Gong Held in Front of the Chinese Embassy in Paris

    At 5 pm on July 20 2006, Falun Gong practitioners from Paris, together with some pro-democracy members and overseas Chinese people held a protest in front of the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) Embassy in France to condemn the seven years of persecution of Falun Gong by the CCP. They especially condemned the atrocities of the CCP in harvesting organs from live Falun Gong practitioners, and at the same time they appealed for the end of the brutal regime of the CCP and the end of the persecution of Falun Gong.

    It has been seven years since the beginning of the suppression of Falun Gong by the CCP since 1999. In these seven years of peaceful opposition to the persecution, Falun Gong practitioners have shown remarkable perseverance, and have shown to the world the remarkable effort of the practitioners of Truthfulness, Compassion and Forbearance in exposing the persecution and upholding justice amid great difficulties. This journey has awakened many people to the evil nature of the CCP and encouraged ten of millions to quit the CCP and its affiliated organisations. The recent exposure of the brutality of the CCP in organ harvesting from live Falun Gong practitioners will only speed up this process of the disintegration of the CCP.

    During the activity, the participants hung up banners, put up display board with factual pictures, gave out truth clarification materials and used a megaphone to expose these seven years of persecution and the atrocities of organ harvesting. Representatives of Falun Gong practitioners, Chinese Democratic Party, French branch, and the Paris Chinese community all gave speeches condemning the CCP's brutality at the gathering.

    Clarifying the truth rationally and sensibly until the end of the persecution

    The Falun Gong practitioner said that in these seven years of brutal persecution by the CCP, practitioners have carried out peaceful activities in exposing the persecution of Falun Gong by the CCP. Practitioners also sternly advised the people involved in committing these crimes to stop, in the hope that they can make up for their mistake so they would still have a better future.

    The exposure of the CCP concentration camps for organ harvesting from live Falun Gong practitioners has attracted a lot of attention recently. On July 6 2006, at a press release in Canada Ottawa, David Matas, international human rights lawyer, and David Kilgour, former Secretary of State (Asia-Pacific) for Canada issued their "Report into Allegations of Organ Harvesting of Falun Gong Practitioners in China" which shocked the media and political circles.

    Clarifying the truth is the most effective way of exposing the lies and ending the persecution. All the methods adopted by the Falun Gong practitioners in doing this have been peaceful, and all of these were done with the aim of upholding justice, and waking up the deceived Chinese people to the lies of the CCP, allowing them to see the evil nature of this autocratic regime. Falun Gong practitioners inside and outside China will continue this effort until the end of the persecution.

    The CCP will collapse

    The chairman of the French branch of the Chinese Democratic Party, Mr. Wu Jiang said: "After the exposure of the CCP's organ harvesting, especially with the release of the independent investigation of David Matas, international human rights lawyer, and David Kilgour, former Secretary of State (Asia-Pacific) for Canada, I believe that the CCP is really harvesting organ from Falun Gong practitioners on a large scale. This is really happening, and the CCP cannot deny it."

    This fascist brutality is a crime against all Chinese people, and a crime against people of the whole world. This organ harvesting by the CCP is inhuman, and displays a total contempt of human life and man's dignity. We strongly condemn this fascist crime of the CCP!"

    The whole world knows that more and more people are supporting Falun Gong. I believe that the power of righteousness is becoming stronger and stronger. The CCP will die out. I believe the day will come."

    The genocide the CCP has committed shocks the world's people

    The vice-chairman of the Chinese democratic party's French's branch, Jiang Youlu, said that to reveal the brutal behaviour is to let people know that the CCP has really reached their dead end, they have failed completely in persecuting Falun Gong. The CCP harvested Falun Gong practitioners' organs and sold them for huge profits around the world. They have committed the crime of genocide, which shocks the people of the whole world."

    Chinese version available at http://www.minghui.ca/mh/articles/2006/7/22/133700.html


    Singapore: Falun Gong Practitioners Request to Summon Lee Kuan Yew to Testify in Court

    The eleven Falun Gong practitioners who were charged respectively by the police with "assembly without permit" and ""harassment by displaying insulting writings - with common intention" appeared in court once again on July 28, 2006.

    On the morning of July 28, ten of the practitioners involved in the two cases had invited the same counsel to represent them in court, and one practitioner decided to defend herself.

    The prosecuting attorney originally proposed to open a court session for trial of the case of "assembly without permit" on July 31, and the judge approved his suggestion. But the defense counsel expressed that she just accepted the invitation to represent the defendants on July 27, and it was impossible for her to prepare for the trial beginning on the next working day. She hoped to be given a four-week extension; otherwise she would have to quit the case.

    In the afternoon, at the pre-trial meeting, the judge proposed to open the court session for trial of the case of "assembly without permit" on August 21, and the case for protest in front of the Chinese Embassy on August 28.

    As the times given for the court sessions for the two cases are so close, the defense counsel felt it impossible to give proper attention to the two cases in such a short period of time. She requested that the second case be postponed, but the judge did not approve. Therefore, the counsel decided to withdraw from the first case. The nine accused practitioners had to defend themselves without the counsel's assistance.

    Falun Gong practitioner Shen Jian stated in court that it was not easy for them to find a counsel to represent them, and as a result, they had to defend themselves. She said, "This is against our will."

    One of the practitioners involved in the nine-person case, Wang Yuyi, requested the prosecution to provide names of the witnesses and evidence. The judge said the police's video tapes were the only evidence, and that the prosecution would have two witnesses. One was the police officer who videotaped at the scene, and the other was the investigator in charge of the incident at the Tanglin Police Division.

    The judge then asked the nine practitioners if they had their witnesses. Dr. Wang Yuyi stated that she requested to have eight witnesses testify in court, including Lee Kuan Yee and Deputy Prime Minister Wong Kan Seng and six other police officers from Tanglin Police Division.

    The judge reminded Wang Yuyi that the defense witnesses should be able to defend her, but not the ones who will be cross-examined for her own purposes.

    Wang Yuyi said, "I see your point. These witnesses are well-trained, and they are supposed to know clearly the meaning and requirement of testifying in court. I won't require them to intentionally testify either in my favor or to my disadvantage, but only require them to tell the truth. So long as they tell the truth, so long as the court can be impartial in handling the case, so long as the judge can make a fair decision, finally everyone will see that the case is not at all tenable."

    Wang Yuyi finally explained that they only exercised their rights, but had no intention to create trouble.

    Wang Yuyi said, "We clarify the facts and pass out flyers on the streets. We only want to help people learn the truth, that Falun Gong is suffering persecution. We do not want to go to court, but this thing happens here (in court), we have to exercise our rights. When people hear what we tell them, they will understand. We hope the court will give us this opportunity to clarify the truth. When everyone truly understands how brutal the persecution is against Falun Gong practitioners, they will show sympathy and support us, because everyone has a kind heart and kind intention."

    The judge finally decided the case of "assembly without permit" will be on August 14 to 18, and the protest case in front of the Chinese Embassy will be from August 28 to September 1.

    Why Summon the Eight Witnesses?

    After the court session on July 28, 2006, Falun Gong practitioner Wang Yuyi, who requested to summon Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew and Minister Wong Kan Seng and six other police officers from the Police Force, told of the reasons for summoning the eight witnesses in an interview.

    Reporter: The charge in the case is whether you had a permit or not. Are the witnesses you mentioned related to the case?

    Wang Yuyi: We only passed out flyers on the streets. It is so common in Singapore, there should be no such a question of whether we had a permit or not. For so many years, we have heard from the police officers and officials from government departments that they have no way but only follow the order from the higher authorities; therefore, we hope Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew and Home Affairs Minister Wong Kan Seng and others to clarify all this in court. The purpose of the trial is to make the case clear, and the lack of major witnesses will not make this possible. The criminal case takes witnesses' testimony very seriously . It is a prerequisite for the court to conduct an impartial trial by summoning essential witnesses.

    Reporter: Do you think that the eight witnesses will appear in court as requested?

    Wang Yuyi: So many of us feel that we have been illegally charged, but we fulfill our duty as citizens [to appear in court]. Several of us have lost jobs due to this case. As defendants, summoning essential witnesses is also our right. They should also fulfill their duty as citizens to testify in court. Certainly, considering that some of them are seniors in age and have a busy schedule, we will cooperate with them in terms of time, and provide convenience for them to appear in court.

    Since 1999, we have sent numerous letters to them, in hopes that they can understand the truth of the Chinese Communist Party's persecution of Falun Gong, but they have never given us a positive reply. Instead, they have charged practitioners in court time and again. Since they believe the court is a channel for solving all problems, let us go to court together to make it clear face to face. Perhaps they have a misunderstanding, and perhaps they think what they have done is reasonable, then let them clarify all this in court.

    Reporter: Do you think the case has something to do with the recent visit of Li Lanqing?

    Wang Yuyi: Following the announcement of the Singapore media on 28 May 2006 that Li Lanqing, head of the persecution office in China, would be in Singapore to receive an honorary degree on July 6, 2006, there occurred a series of incidents, including an attempt to deport a Falun Gong practitioner to China, banning Falun Gong practitioners' truth clarification activities, and for the fourth time, bringing Falun Gong practitioners to court.

    Chinese version available at http://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2006/7/30/134347.html



    France: Falun Dafa Association Sends a Letter to President and Prime Minister Regarding the CCP's Organ Harvesting

    When the Minister for Foreign Affairs in France held a garden cocktail party on 13th July 2006, the Falun Dafa Association of France sent a petition to the President, Prime Minister, and Minister for Foreign Affairs. The Falun Dafa Association urged the French government to pay attention to the organ harvesting from living Falun Gong practitioners now happening in China. They asked that France, as a democratic country, take action urgently to stop it. The independent Canadian investigation report into the atrocities was attached to the letter. The following are the contents of the letter:

    Mr. Jacques Chirac, President of France,

    Please allow me to ask you to pay kind attention to a human rights problem that is of extreme concern to us and other international groups.

    Recently, many international media (including French newspapers Le Figaro, Le Monde, and TV station, TF1) have responded to the organ-selling in recent years in China. Their reports started from the evidence collected by the Epoch Times. The evidence exposed the secret organizations existing among hospitals, the army, jails, and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in China. The organizations harvest not only live prisoners' organs, but especially Falun Gong practitioners' organs, to make huge profits by stealing and transplanting the organs. As China's official policy, the illegal trade lets them make a profit and simultaneously eliminate the Chinese people who they are the targets for them to persecute.

    One of the witnesses is the ex-wife of a doctor who harvested organs from Falun Gong practitioners. The witness is under political asylum in the USA now. She said that the value of organs from living people is higher than from dead ones. Many Falun Gong practitioners were still alive when their organs were harvested. Some were directly thrown into a corpse incinerator after the surgeries when they were still alive so that no evidence would be left. An independent investigation group in Canada composed by former director of the Asian Pacific Division of Canada's Foreign Affairs Ministry, also a former Member of Parliament, Mr. David Kilgour, and human rights lawyer David Matas, published an investigation report on 6th July. The report includes interviews of overseas witnesses who are under political asylum. Related information is attached in the letter.

    Bastille Day, July 14 is France's national holiday. July 20 marks seven years since the CCP started persecuting Falun Gong. We appeal to the French government, and especially to you, Mr. President, to stop the terrible persecution. It reminds people of the most terrible days during World War II. We hope that you can condemn the barbaric act and help to put an end to it.

    My Best regards,

    The chairman of French Falun Dafa Association

    Attached is information about the harvesting of Falun Gong practitioners in China.

    Chinese version available at http://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2006/7/24/133830.html