Issued by Clearwisdom Net

On the 26th of June 2005, the UN International Day In Support of Victims of Torture, Falun Gong practitioners held an activity in Pjatigorsk city center to raise awareness of the ongoing brutal persecution of Falun Gong by the Jiang regime and Chinese Communist Party and call for support for practitioners persecuted in China.

While banners and leaflets let people know the overall situation of the persecution, practitioners' paintings and some first-hand photos of the persecution let people see more clearly the methods of torture used in attempts to force Falun Gong practitioners to renounce their beliefs. Practitioners also told people in person about the genocide that the CCP has carried out against Falun Gong practitioners using the whole governmental machine and state-controlled media. In some 4 hours, more than 1000 leaflets were distributed. Many people expressed their sympathy for practitioners after they heard the truth about the persecution.

Truth-clarification event on UN Anti-torture day

When a young man was told about the human rights abuses, he sat down and tried to copy the practitioners doing the meditation exercise. He said, "I'm trying hard to do it. I am here with you".

There were 5 police officers on duty who were sitting under the shade nearby. A large number of Pjatigorsk citizens already knew about Falun Gong and found our peaceful way of calling for justice easy to accept. In contrast to the brutal persecution by the CCP, practitioners' peaceful activities make it so simple for people to distinguish between good and evil.

On June 23, 2005, the Chinese Consul General to Germany visited Frankfurt. Opposite the consulate, people from human rights organizations and Falun Gong practitioners held a protest activity to remind the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the German officials who were attending the opening ceremony to pay attention to the many human rights abuses that are happening in China. They also called attention to the over one hundred thousand prisoners of conscience detained in the country's prisons and forced labor camps, as well as the persecuted Falun Gong practitioners.

The president of the International Human Rights Association, headquartered in Frankfurt, said, "We think today is a very good opportunity to remind people to pay attention to the Chinese prisoners of conscience. In China, there is a lack of human rights, lack of freedom of the press, freedom of information and freedom of speech.

German Falun Gong practitioner explains to a police officer about Gao Rongrong's case

The protestors opposite the Chinese Consulate General

A Falun Gong practitioner from Heidelberg also took this opportunity to tell people about the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners in China. According to the latest news, Falun Gong practitioner Gao Rongrong was tortured to death after being disfigured. The report from the Clearwisdon/Minghui website said that, at the beginning in May 2004, Gao Rongrong's face was severely disfigured from seven continuous hours of electric shock torture in Longshan Forced Labor Camp.

After photos of Ms. Gao's disfigured face were publicized, her case shocked people and received a lot of attention in the international community. Her case was also the first case study in the "2004 United Nations Human Rights Report on China's Persecution of Falun Gong." The exposure of Gao Rongrong's case made the CCP extremely angry. On March 6, 2005, Gao Rongrong was re-arrested and imprisoned. On June 16, 2005, Ms. Gao died from the atrophying of her internal organs. Before she died, all news concerning Gao Rongrong was strictly blocked by the CCP.

The media conduct an interview

Mr. Wu, who was participating in the protest, hoped that Chinese officials could take Mr. Chen Yonglin, the former 1st Secretary of the Chinese Consulate in Sydney, Australia, as an example, consider the Chinese nation's interest as the first priority and step forward to expose the CCP's persecution of Falun Gong. Mr. Wu said to a reporter, "We hope that staff members of all Chinese embassies can uphold their conscience like Mr Chen Yonglin has done, and take their own initiative to expose the crimes of the CCP. This is not challenging the Chinese Government but helping the Chinese people to be rid of the CCP's persecution."

The mayor of Frankfurt, who was participating in the opening ceremony of the Consul General, also expressed that, although the economic interactions between China and Germany are very close, China's human rights conditions should still be improved. She hoped that human rights will be respected more.

This reporter also hoped to be able to interview the Chinese Ambassador to Germany, Ma Canrong, but was rudely prohibited by staff members at the consulate. Ma Canrong was then escorted into the consulate by security guards, without making any more public appearances.

After touring over 30 large cities in America, Canada, Indonesia and some other countries, the "Truthfulness Compassion Forbearance" International Art Show began in Chaozhou Township, Pingdong County, in south Taiwan on June 26, 2005. This was a four-day art exhibition. The local Falun Gong practitioners performed the "Drum of Fa" at the opening ceremony. The director of Chaozhou Township and the director of Kending National Park cut the ribbon and gave speeches.

Guest giving a speech

Ribbon cutting

"Drum of Fa" performance

A retired art teacher, Ms. Zhu Meiniang, gave tours at the exhibition. The exhibit is made up of Falun Dafa practitioners' art works. Besides illustrating the beauty of Falun Dafa, some of the paintings expose the persecution and tortures endured by Chinese Falun Dafa practitioners, and these works touched the hearts of the visitors the most. The visitors were shocked at the cruelty of the persecution. One senior gentleman repeated the words again and again, "How can one be so cruel?"

Two days earlier, a broadcasting truck drove in the streets to announce the exhibition in Mandarin, Taiwanese, Cantonese and to pass out flyers. On the evening of June 27, Falun Gong practitioners formed four groups to distribute flyers in the crowd near a commerce show.

Candlelight vigil to commemorate practitioners who died in the persecution

Protesting the killing Ms. Gao Rongrong by the CCP

A truck drives around town to announce the exhibition

Outside the exhibition hall, a display board told the story of how Ms. Gao Rongrong was tortured to death. The visitors saw it and couldn't believe such things could even happen in the 21^st century. Many expressed their sympathy and others signed their names to support the petition to end the persecution. In the evening, a candlelight vigil was held to commemorate Ms. Gao. Practitioners called on all the people to be aware of the persecution that has lasted over five years, appeal to the Chinese Communist Party to end the persecution immediately and bring to justice the criminals responsible for Ms. Gao's death.

Many people came to see the art show. People asked questions such as "Are these paintings inspired by things that have actually happened?" "Do these tortures really exist?" and one child asked, "Why [is the guard] beating him?" The guide patiently answered their questions and clarified the truth in the process.

On June 18-19, 2005, practitioners from Nordrhein-Westfalen in Germany held an anti-torture exhibit in front of Cologne Cathedral to expose the Chinese Communist Party's (CCP) brutal persecution of Falun Gong. An anti-torture exhibit involves re-enactments of the torture methods used in attempts to force Falun Gong practitioners in China to renounce their beliefs. Here I'd like to share with everyone several things I experienced and saw during the activities on June 18.

On June 18, the weather changed from cloudy to fair with scorching sun. Our exhibition booth was visible to all cathedral visitors and the area was crowded with tourists.

At around 11:30 a.m., one practitioner demonstrated the small cage torture, where the victim is kept in a cage that is too small for him or her to stand up or lie down. After about one hour, I suddenly saw a westerner gently place two red roses in front of the cage. His touching action originated from the fact that he was moved by the practitioners' great efforts to clarify the truth to the world's people after listening to a practitioner explain the facts to him and several other western tourists.

When practitioners talked to a middle-age German lady, she found it hard to believe that such terrible human rights abuses are occurring, even though she had already heard about the CCP's persecution of Falun Gong. After accepting some leaflets in German, she still said, "Please give me some Chinese materials as well. My baby sitter is Chinese. I will give her the Chinese materials to read." She then took her child to watch the anti-torture exhibit and to view the information display boards.

The practitioners handed out a lot of leaflets and collected many petition signatures calling for an end to the persecution. At some points, many people crowded around the petition table and waited to sign their names and sometimes people actually had to queue up for a while before they could sign.

Towards the end of the afternoon, at about 3:00 p.m., a person appeared holding a big video camera and started to film our anti-torture exhibit. He also shot close-ups of the practitioner who was trapped in the small cage. I noticed there was a press card with a photo hanging in front of his chest, and a few people around him were also wearing the same card. The team revealed that they were actually from a TV station in Mexico.

I was really pleased to see more and more people show concern over the persecution of Falun Gong in China. After learning the truth, almost all of them condemned the persecution and signed the petition calling for it to end.