Issued by Clearwisdom Net

On January 14, nearly 100 Falun Gong practitioners rallied in front of the Chinese Consulate in Toronto to protest the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) for exporting "The Same Song" to the Canadian community. The song has been used by the CCP to mentally break practitioners in the CCP's attempts to "transform" them. As practitioner Zhaojin Zhang said, "What's behind the song is the bloody violence of the persecution; it is the torture theme song."

Zhang said, "Under the threat of torture and death, Chinese guards in forced labor camps use this song to brainwash practitioners and to force them to trade belief and dignity for so-called 'freedom.'"

Practitioner Ms. Ding recounted how "The Same Song" was used by the CCP to trample on human rights: Whenever a practitioner is unlawfully sent to a forced labor camp or brainwashing class, the practitioner is given a copy of the "The Same Song." "They then force you to sing; if you don't open your mouth, they will beat you." Another form of persecution is to force you to stand in the corridor and then have a group of people sing the song to you. In addition, after torture, they also sing the song to you when they force you with stick and carrot to sign a guarantee statement claiming not to practice Falun Gong anymore.

"The guards often torture practitioners at night. Once, a guard instigated a criminal inmate to not allow a practitioner to sleep. In the morning, they started to play the song to break the exhausted practitioner' will."

Ms. Sun, once arrested in China, now lives in Canada. She recounted her experience in China. "I was sentenced to a forced labor camp in July, 2001. Due to the brutal torture, my jaw was dislocated. Even so, they still didn't allow me to sleep and didn't take me to see a doctor until the next day. On the third night, I couldn't bear the suffering and pressure anymore as my brain became numb due to lack of sleep. Eventually, I was forced to sign a guarantee statement to promise that I wouldn't practice Falun Gong anymore. After I signed the letter, they started to sing 'The Same Song.'

"When I read the news that a concert entitled, 'The Same Song' is to be held in Canada, my temples started to ache and I felt that my jaw was about to come off again. Such pain and especially the humiliation that comes from being "transformed" came back like an insect biting my heart. It caused me to once again experience the feeling of mental collapse and unbearable sorrow. I never want to hear 'The Same Song' again!"

Ms. Gan, from North York, said that she was also illegally detained in a forced labor camp in China. "The labor camp had about 130 detainees and more than 120 were Falun Gong practitioners. We were forced to do slave labor for more than 10 hours a day and to watch slanderous videos against Falun Gong. Various communist songs we were forced to listen to included 'The Same Song.' One day at noontime, I heard someone singing the song and then she cried. The weeping lasted near two hours, pouring out the helplessness, regret and deep pain from her soul. The authorities had not only deprived us of our physical freedom but also our free will!" Ms. Gan said, "They have used the most despicable, shameless and dirty means to deprive our basic free will as a human being."

Toronto practitioner Xin Li said, "Through all the hardships, I finally was able to come to the free land of Canada. Whenever I remember the persecution that I went through in China, it is always so painful. In my memory, 'The Same Song' is tightly linked to the distortion of human nature and tremendous trauma. I think you can understand that the song will bring tremendous pain to me and all Falun Gong practitioners."

Chinese version available at http://minghui.ca/mh/articles/2006/1/15/118718.html

From January 6th to 8th, 2006, practitioners from Moscow, St. Petersburg, Pjatigorsk, Yekaterinburg, Vladimir State and Ukraine held a group Falun Gong book reading and experience sharing gathering during the New Year holiday. To introduce Falun Gong to the public and let them know about the persecution happening in China, they also held an anti-torture exhibition on the streets.

People sign a petition in support of Falun Gong

Practitioners spent two days focusing on reading Falun Gong literatures and exchanged thoughts on how to let the Chinese people in their local areas know the truth about Falun Gong and the persecution. Practitioners learned a lot from each other and the whole sharing created a unique, peaceful atmosphere.

On January 6th, practitioners held gatherings at two subway stations in St. Petersburg's city center. They displayed truth-clarifying boards and staged anti-torture exhibits with actual practitioners reenacting the torture methods, to disclose the cruel persecution that Falun Gong practitioners have suffered over the past six years. Practitioners talked to people about the persecution and distributed leaflets. Many people signed the petition to help stop the persecution.

After one woman, who was a Christian, learned the truth, she asked practitioners for extra leaflets, as she wanted to give them to her friends. In a short time, she came back again with a couple of people. They walked directly to the petition table to sign the petition.

When a practitioner went to talk to a passerby who just stopped to watch, the gentleman did not take the persecution seriously at the beginning. He asked, "Does what you are doing here have anything to do with me?" The practitioner answered, "If someone in Russia was put into prison simply for believing in the Orthodox Church, would you agree with it?" He replied, "I am against it, there should be freedom of belief." Then the practitioner asked him again: "In China, people are ruthlessly persecuted simply for believing in 'Truthfulness, Compassion, Tolerance,' do you support it?" He said, "No, I do not." He nodded his head signaling that he then understood the truth.

Later on, a local official who granted practitioners the space for this activity came with a policeman. When a practitioner tried to hand a leaflet to them, the official opened his document case and told him that he had seen it long ago. The policeman asked for a flier to read. When they were talking with practitioners, they said, "This is Russia, it's not China. You don't need to worry anything while you're holding activities here." The practitioners expressed their sincere gratitude for their righteous support.

Chinese version available at http://minghui.ca/mh/articles/2006/1/11/118445.html