On December 7, Los Angeles practitioners gathered in front of Chinese Consulate to strongly condemn the rape of women practitioners Liu Jizhi and Han Yuzhi by Chinese police. Those at the rally demanded punishment of policeman He Xuejian and related persons and called on the international community to pay attention to the human rights of Falun Gong practitioners and help end the persecution.

Banner in photo 1: Punish the policeman for raping women practitioners

The incident occurred on November 25. Policeman He Xuejian from the Dongzhengfang Police Substation in Zhuozhou, Hebei Province, China forcefully took practitioners Liu Jizhi (51 years old) and Han Yuzhi (42 years old) to the substation, brutally beat them and shocked them with an electronic baton. He then proceeded to rape them. After the rape, the practitioners were subjected to forced labor. The atrocious rape led to physical and mental suffering by the practitioners.

Several practitioners pointed out in their speeches that the incident was not an isolated case. Police atrocities were happening because of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)'s policies in encouraging law enforcement officials and criminals alike to physically and mentally persecute Falun Gong practitioners. Though practitioners have been tortured brutally, including rape, sexual assault and disfigurement, so far no police have been punished. Instead, many policemen and guards have been rewarded for their role in the persecution.

Practitioners further pointed out that the persecution in China had lasted for more than six years and at least 2,790 deaths of practitioners due to police brutality have been documented. Among the deaths, 54.7% were women. Under the ruthless persecution policy, incidents of rape and sexual assault of women practitioners by police occurred frequently. The practitioners called on officials inside the Chinese Consulate to stop following the persecution policy.

Practitioner Li Bin exposes the CCP's brutal and inhuman persecution with her own experiences

Li Bin came to the U.S. last year and exposed the CCP's brutal and inhuman persecution with her own experiences. After July 20, 1999, Ms. Li was sent to labor camps and mental hospitals. She experienced and saw the inhumane persecution. She was tortured to the brink of a mental breakdown.

Ms. Lin said, "Near 2,800 deaths of practitioners have been documented on the Minghui website. The actual death toll is most likely much higher. Four of my acquaintances were tortured to death. They are all women, including my friends Ding Yan and Sun Lianxia, my high-school teacher Zhou Jie and my classmate's mother Ma Yejin. Many friends were sent to prisons, labor camps, mental hospitals, and brainwash sessions. I recall that more than 1,000 practitioners were imprisoned in the Xinan Women's Labor Camp. The oldest one was in her 70's and the youngest one was only 18 years old. Under the instigation of the CCP, even criminals can beat practitioners at will. The practitioners were forced to knit sweaters under dim light. They were even tortured with electric baton shock, sleep deprivation and being locked in a tiny isolated cell."

Ms. Lin further pointed out, "In more than 2000 counties and cities in China, each area has a detention center, labor camp and prison. The CCP has fully mobilized the state machinery to persecute Falun Gong."

Mr. Yinquan Liu, contact person for the Chinese Social Democracy Party U.S. West gives a speech

Mr. Pinchao Jiang from Chinese Overseas Free Poet Association gives a speech

Mr. Yinquan Liu, contact person for the Chinese Social Democracy Party U.S. West, exposed the CCP's persecution in his speech, "The CCP does not admit to the persecution of Falun Gong, but it is occurring every day. In my hometown, Changyi, Shandong province, my high-school teacher Mr. Wu Dajun was tortured for persisting in practicing Falun Gong. He is a very kind man. He was retired. He was humiliated and paraded through the streets with a board hung from his neck. During last year's Spring Festival, he was forced to stand in front of the city government building with a board hung from his neck. Later he was sent to a mental hospital."

Mr. Liu pointed out, "The CCP has committed countless crimes. Only the end of the CCP's ruthless rule can ensure China's future."

Mr. Pinchao Jiang from the Chinese Overseas Free Poet Association gave a speech. He said that the rape was another crime that the CCP has committed against the Chinese people. The CCP is the source of Chinese society's many problems and the Chinese people's suffering. He called on everyone of conscience and who are yearning for a better life to step forward to get rid of the CCP.

Based on documented death cases on the Minghui website, there were 67 deaths of practitioners due to police brutality in Baoding City, where Zhuozhou is located. It was listed as number one in Hebei Province. There were 379 practitioners tortured to death in Hebei Province, the highest total for a province in China.

The third Israel Falun Gong Practice Experience Sharing Conference was held in Jerusalem on December 4, 2005. Some practitioners from the United States, Sweden, Greece and other countries also participated in this conference. Sixteen practitioners shared their practice experiences on stage.

Conference hall

During the conference, Master's congratulatory letter was received. Practitioners were excited and read it out loud in Hebrew, English, Russia and Chinese.

The conference received two sharing articles from a Swedish practitioner and a Japanese practitioner. The former recounted that practice of Falun Gong has made her become a confident and healthy person. She stopped having to take medicine to treat insomnia. The other practitioner shared that the practice improved her life and made her relationships with her friends and relatives smooth. At the same time, she met and married her husband. They read Falun Gong books and practiced exercises together, and clarified the truth together.

A practitioner shares his practice experience

A practitioner shares his practice experience

A Greek practitioner said that she practiced Chinese martial arts for seven years but did not understand the real meaning of life. After she practiced Falun Gong, she became to understand that nothing in life can compare with practice of Falun Gong. She followed the principles of Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance in her daily life.

A practitioner in Israel is an engineer. Before practice of Falun Gong, he wondered why people became worse and engaged in harming each other. After reading Zhuan Falun, he came to understand the universal principles described in the book.

Another practitioner from Israel is a university student. He shared his experience of improving xinxing while doing media work. He said, "If practitioners can cooperate well and put Falun Gong first, we can have many good things happen."

Another practitioner from Israel works at a corporation. She shared her experience in working as a coordinator. Coordination is not an easy work and requires great compassion on the part of coordinator. A good coordinator should consider others first even for tiny matters, and tolerates criticizing comments, which will help his improvement.

Parade

Before the conference, the practitioners held a Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance art exhibition in Tel Aviv on December 2-3 and a parade to demonstrate the grace of Falun Gong. In the evening, some practitioners continued a peaceful petition in front of the Chinese Embassy.

Peaceful petition in front of the Chinese Embassy

On a train to Hanover, a medium-built but energetic young man was handing out leaflets about Falun Gong and the persecution in China. Glancing over the content, a passenger commented, "I know about Falun Gong. I saw them every day at the Old Town Hall Square in Goettingen." Coincidentally, the leaflet distributor came from Goettingen. From 2001 to 2003, several young Falun Gong practitioners from Goettingen had been demonstrating the exercises and telling people about the persecution at the Old Town Hall Square every single day. He happened to be one of them.

The practitioners' perseverance brought about a series of changes and events in Goettingen. These included the University offering a Falun Gong course for a whole semester, Falun Gong practitioner Zhang Cuiying holding a painting exhibition on the city government's invitation, the Mayor paying attention to China's persecution of Falun Gong, and positive media coverage. In addition, a human rights organization with headquarters in Goettingen filing a claim against the chief perpetrator of the persecution, Jiang Zemin, during his visit to Germany at the Supreme Court of the Confederation.

Goettingen is a famous university town in Germany. It is home to one of the top ten universities in Germany, which has produced no fewer that forty-three Nobel Peace Prize laureates.

Falun Gong has spread around the world and Goettingen is no exception. For several years, the weekly group practice site had been at the university gymnasium. In 2001, a few young practitioners came to Goettingen. They felt that even though people could see the time and place of practice from the gym program, most of the public would miss out. Therefore, they decided to do the exercises at the city center every afternoon.

At the center of the Old Town Hall Square is the famous century-old symbol of Goettingen, a statue of a girl holding a goose. German people will immediately think of her when Goettingen is mentioned. Daily commuters as well as sightseeing tourists cross the square every day.

Concerned about obtaining permission to practice, the practitioners initially went to only relatively out-of-the-way places in the city center. Later, they felt that the purpose of practicing outdoors was to expose the Chinese government's evil persecution of Falun Gong and to further bring the benefits of Falun Gong to everyone. Therefore, they felt that the practice site should be in the busiest place in the city. After realizing this, the practitioners went straight to the city center, Old Town Hall Square. Interestingly, the police never asked any questions about their activities, even though there is a police bureau right at the edge of the square. Indeed one policeman came over once to ask where the practice site was, saying he would like to learn in his spare time.

The practitioners practiced there for nearly a year and a half until they left Goettingen one after another.

During this year and a half, they did the exercises on the Old Town Hall Square every day, rain or shine. Sometimes a handful, sometimes just one person would start the exercises after laying out the informational materials. A Chinese youth demonstrating beautiful, gentle Falun Gong exercises and calling for China to stop persecuting Falun Gong had become a fixture at the Old Town Hall Square. Practitioners who could not make it to the exercise site would take to the streets to collect signatures and call on professors, politicians, and clergymen, to tell them about the persecution. As time went by, more and more people took notice. Even in the worst weather, people would come to ask, "What is this?" "Why does the Chinese government persecute these peaceful practitioners?" "Good luck!" Often, as soon as passer-by raised a question, others who had learned the truth would explain it to them before the practitioners could even answer.

On January 28, 2002, Falun Gong practitioners successfully held a symposium with professors from Goettingen University. Through this symposium, students gained a better understanding of Falun Gong, the contents of Falun Gong's main text, Zhuan Falun, and the facts of Jiang Zemin's persecution. During the winter term that year, Falun Gong was offered for a whole semester as one of the courses at the College of Theology.

During the annual St. Nicholas Day celebrations in 2001, the Falun Gong practitioners happened to meet a person who worked for Amnesty International. Subsequently, through him, practitioners gained Amnesty International's support in planning various joint activities, which played a positive role in exposing the evil and stopping the persecution.

On April 5, 2002, prior to Jiang's visit to Germany, the Goettingen City Council and Amnesty International jointly invited Falun Gong practitioner Zhang Cuiying to hold a painting exhibition and a press conference, which attracted media attention.

Deputy Mayor Wilhelm Gerhardy commented at the press conference, "We also have the special duty of drawing people's attention to human rights abuses. Such acts of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) leader is simply absurd against such a spiritual movement, a Buddha School meditation method which teaches people to follow the principles of 'Truthfulness, Compassion and Forbearance' in their daily lives and improves both mind and body through five gentle exercises... Since 1999 the CCP leaders have been persecuting Falun Gong on such a large scale. What exactly are they afraid of? ... Human rights and democratic systems do not come easily. Therefore it is necessary for us to talk about values, to think about the values that drive our society, the basic rights of a democratic system. Human dignity, religious freedom, tolerance, and equality are all these kind of values. 'Truthfulness, Compassion and Forbearance' as advocated by Falun Gong are also such values."

On April 8th, 2002, during Jiang's visit to Germany, the Association for Threatened Nations, a human rights organization headquartered in Goettingen, indicted Jiang Zemin at the Supreme Court of the Confederation of Germany.

The indictment charged Jiang with four cases of persecution deaths, including Falun Gong practitioners. According to the Chairperson, Mr. Tilman Zulch, China violates time and again the anti-torture convention it signed. If one violates such convention in Germany, it is punishable by law.

On August 17, 2002, German Falun Gong practitioners held a series of activities with the theme, "Stop the Persecution of Falun Gong Together." Churches, the Green Party, Amnesty International, and the Association for Threatened Nations were among the organizations invited to participate. This was the first time in Germany where representatives from churches and political parties gave public speeches during a Falun Gong activity. The media gave this event positive coverage.

Mr. Ungerer from the Green Party of the City Council said, "We cannot tolerate political persecution of a peaceful group." He highly praised the spirit of "Truthfulness, Compassion and Forbearance" and the magnificent feat of Falun Gong practitioners courageously appealing against the persecution. Dr. Delius from the Association for Threatened Nations warned in his speech, "We cannot turn a blind eye to the worsening of human rights conditions in China in order to gain more business from China. Germany should not keep silent." Father Lahmann from a Christian Church pointed out, "Falun Gong represents the Chinese people who long for democracy and freedom, and will become the new hope of China. The German government and other democratic countries should not put economic policies ahead of human rights." Mr. Schmalzried from the Goettingen branch of Amnesty International condemned this persecution of human rights in China and overseas alike, and its negative impact on democratic countries. Asking the German public not to favor economics over human rights, he called for the entire international community to work together to stop this persecution.

In March 2003, the Student Union of Goettingen University invited Falun Gong practitioners to give a lecture. Once deceived by the slanderous lies of the CCP, they had cancelled Falun Gong's participation in Student Union activities. Since then, they have gained a new understanding of Falun Gong. Practitioners were invited to introduce Falun Gong and talk about the reasons for the persecution and how to help practitioners in China.