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On April 19, senators Robert Menendez and Frank R. Lautenberg jointly wrote to President Bush, requesting him to bring up the issue of the persecution and killing of Falun Gong in China during his meeting with Hu Jintao. The two senators also hoped that Bush would respond to this important human rights abuse issue promptly. Below is a scanned copy of the letter.
On April 26, Congressman John R. Kuhl, representative of the 29th district of New York, wrote a letter to President Bush. In the letter, Kuhl urged Bush to condemn the atrocities of harvesting and selling organs from Falun Gong practitioners and to investigate such atrocities. Below is a scanned copy of the letter.
At around noon on April 23, 2006, Turkey's largest TV station, SHOWTV, interviewed Falun Gong practitioners in Istanbul Park. Practitioners introduced the grace of Falun Gong and talked about how widespread it has become. They also explained the facts of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)'s persecution of Falun Gong and exposed the CCP's brutal crimes in harvesting organs from living practitioners in forced labor camps. The TV station broadcast this interview to all of Turkey on its evening news.
Turkey's largest TV station, SHOWTV, interviewed Falun Gong practitioners at the exercise site in Istanbul Park
The images shown by SHOWTV during the interview with Falun Gong
practitioners in
Turkey
This is the third time that SHOWTV has reported on Falun Gong in a positive way. In this new report, the host explained that Falun Gong originated in China in 1992 and has spread all over the world. In the past five years, Falun Gong has spread rapidly in Turkey, where people value and love the practice.
As practitioners introduced Falun Gong in the interview, the network broadcast the VCD Falun Dafa Spreads Around the World and many paintings from the "Truthfulness, Compassion, Forbearance International Art Exhibition" that exposed the CCP's persecution of Falun Gong, including why it started and some of the tortures such as hanging and the tiger bench. The images reflected the stark contrast between the peaceful practicing of the Falun Gong exercises and the bloody persecution by the CCP. In the painting entitled "Why", a little boy of about seven years old was shown behind bars. His hands held onto the bars and on his body were obvious wounds and traces of blood. On the ground behind him lay his mother, covered with wounds. Despite their dire situation, this little boy did not have hate or tears in his eyes. In his eyes there was only the question, "Why do my mother and I have to suffer such brutal persecution for practicing Truthfulness, Compassion, Forbearance?"
This is the first time practitioners in Turkey have exposed the CCP's torture and persecution of Falun Gong on nationwide TV in a comprehensive way.
In this interview practitioner Ms. Aynur said, "Falun Gong is a good practice. Practitioners not only gain a healthy body but also improve their character according to the principles of Truthfulness, Compassion, Forbearance and elevate their morality. Falun Gong has spread to many cities in Turkey."
Ms. Aynur also said that since the CCP launched the cruel persecution against Falun Gong in 1999, it has set up concentration camps for practitioners all over China. In these concentration camps and forced labor camps, the CCP has excised organs from living practitioners for lucrative profits and burned the corpses afterwards to destroy the evidence. She said, "Heaven will not tolerate these crimes of the CCP, and both people and gods are angry. We will continue to protest the persecution in China until it stops."
Ms. Aynur said that Falun Gong practitioners have sued Jiang Zemin,, the criminal responsible for this persecution, all over the world. "We call upon the Turkish government and its people to send a united message of justice to stop the persecution."
The program also showed interviews with two other practitioners. One practitioner in Turkey said, "After I started to practice Falun Gong, my whole body and mind have changed. I am healthy now." An 18-year-old Turkish girl said, "I treat others with more compassion and patience after starting Falun Gong practice. My health has been improved, too. I felt very lucky after learning about Falun Gong."
On April 25, 2006, Falun Gong practitioners in Toronto, Canada gathered in front of the Chinese Consulate to mark the seventh anniversary of April 25, 1999 when 10,000 Falun Gong practitioner went to Beijing's Zhongnanhai compound [outside the State Department Appeals Office] to peacefully appeal, and mourn Falun Gong practitioners who have died as a result of the persecution in the past seven years.
Falun Gong practitioners rally in front of the Chinese Consulate in Toronto to mark the seventh anniversary of the April 25 Peaceful Appeal
Seven years ago on April 25, 1999, more than 10,000 law-abiding citizens gathered outside the Appeals Office near the Zhongnanhai Compound to peacefully appeal, requesting that government officials release Falun Gong practitioners arrested in Tianjin City, and requesting a safe environment and the right to publish Falun Gong books. Premier Zhu Rongji and other high-ranking officials met with representatives of Falun Gong practitioners, and their requests were addressed. The April 25 Peaceful Appeal was resolved rationally and highly praised by the international community.
But Jiang Zemin and his gang spent three months plotting a huge scheme. They first set up a 610 Office dedicated to the persecution of Falun Gong on June 10, 1999, and then initiated a nationwide comprehensive persecution of Falun Gong.
Thinking back to the April 25 appeal seven years ago, spokesperson for Falun Dafa Association Zhang Zhaojin expressed that more than 10,000 quietly stood on the sidewalk in excellent order, and quietly left after representatives of practitioners came out from meeting with government officials. Practitioners participating in the appeal never expected that exercising their most basic rights would be distorted as an "organized siege of Zhongnanhai." The practitioners were even more surprised that placing their trust in the government's appeal system became the main excuse for Jiang Zemin's gang to persecute Falun Gong starting on July 20, 1999.
Zhang Zhaojin said, "During this frenzied persecution, Falun Gong practitioners have been peacefully resisting and doing so with dignity. Falun Gong practitioners were not 'eradicated within three months' as Jiang had thought; on the contrary, the practitioners have persevered and become more steadfast."
Falun Gong practitioner Zhang Yumin, who participated in the April 25 appeal, expressed that it has been seven years, but the memory still remains fresh. Tianjin police beat and arrested practitioners, and said only by going to Beijing could the problem be resolved. So practitioners from across China went to the State Department Appeals Office on Fuyou Street, near the west gate of Zhongnanhai. The police had closed up all road intersections, only leaving the one road to Zhongnanhai. The police deliberately led practitioners to divide into two groups, to surround the Zhongnanhai compound.
Zhang Yumin said that during the whole process, the practitioners were in excellent order. No slogans were shouted, and no signs were displayed. Citizens living nearby said that when others came to appeal, they cried and shouted, making a big racket. But the Falun Gong practitioners were so peaceful and quiet. In order not to block the traffic, we made way for passersby on the sidewalk. After waiting for over a dozen hours, more than 10,000 Falun Gong practitioners left only clean streets behind. Even the cigarette butts left on the ground by the police officers were cleaned up. The police were fierce and rude at the beginning, but later they gave us water to drink. They were also amazed by our rationality.
Representative of the World Organization to Investigate the Persecution of Falun Gong Yang Kaiwen said that the Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party inspired a great wave of quitting the CCP and its affiliated organizations. The number of withdrawals has gone over 10 million. Yang Kaiwen said, "Here, I'd like to advise staff at the Chinese Consulate. This has happened for seven years, and as Chinese people, as compatriots, if you still have conscience, you should stop all the slander and lies against Falun Gong practitioners overseas. Be quick to quit the CCP, and do not be buried together with it."
On the seventh anniversary of the April 25 Peaceful Appeal, Falun Gong practitioners in Houston held a rally in front of the Chinese Consulate to condemn the CCP's atrocities of persecuting Falun Gong and mourn fellow practitioners who have died a result of the persecution.
 Protesting the persecution in front of the Chinese Consulate |
 Protesting the persecution in front of the Chinese Consulate |
In front of the Chinese Consulate, practitioners hung up banners calling for an end to the persecution, sat on the lawn peacefully doing the exercises. A car stopped in front of the practitioners and asked what all this was about. People inside the car then parked nearby and came over to inquire further. They were puzzled by the words on the banners, such as "human organs" and "concentration camps"; it so happened that they were doctors specializing in heart transplants. The practitioners told them about the CCP's atrocities of harvesting organs from living Falun Gong practitioners in concentration camps. They asked very detailed questions, and after they learned what happened, they wanted to have the Falun Gong practitioner's yellow T-shirt to hang up in their clinic to help more people learn about the truth. Other passersby also came by to ask for more information.
Practitioners' thoughts and concerns
Falun Gong practitioner Ms. Tang said, "This is the seventh time that I have participated in the anniversary of April 25, and every time, my heart is very heavy. On April 25, 1999, Falun Gong practitioners peacefully appealed outside Beijing's Appeals Office, displaying the demeanor of Falun Gong practitioners. April 25 is a historical monument, and people will remember it." She also said, "During the seven-year persecution, many Falun Gong practitioners have died as a result of the CCP's persecution, but their lives have awakened people's conscience. I hope that by next year when it is the eighth anniversary of April 25, there will be no longer any persecution and no more heavy hearts."
Falun Gong practitioner Ms. Feng said, "More and more people have a clearer understanding of the April 25 incident. People have said to me that April 25 does not just symbolize Falun Gong's appeal, but is a symbol of people's universal rights. In these seven years, people have seen through the CCP's evil nature, and as a result, 10 million people have withdrawn from the CCP and its organizations."
Ms. Feng added, "I'm working in the lab of a medical center, engaging in lab research on Immunology and Nephrology, and Renal Pathology. Prompted by the CCP's persecution policies, some morally bankrupt doctors in China harvest organs from living Falun Gong practitioners for profit." "If you take others' lives for granted, the next life to be threatened may be you. I prepare to write an open letter to doctors who perform organ transplant operations in China to stop such killings. I also will work with doctors of Nephrology in the U.S. to condemn such atrocities."
We are now marking the seventh anniversary of the April 25 Appeal. In the past seven years, with Falun Gong practitioners' persistent efforts, more and more people have learned about facts, and more and more countries and governments have learned about the truth. Stopping the CCP's persecution of Falun Gong is not only a concern for Falun Gong practitioners but for all people of conscience in the world.
At around 2 p.m. on April 27, 2006, Ms. Zhang Fen, investigator of the Coalition to Investigate the Persecution of Falun Gong in China (CIPFG) and reporter of NTDTV in San Francisco, went to the Chinese Consulate in San Francisco to inquire about her visa application to go to China to investigate the persecution of Falun Gong.
CIPFG investigator Zhang Fen receives no verdict from her meeting with
the visa
official on April 27
CIPFG investigators and reporters of NTDTV Zhang Fen and Xu Zhen met with the Chinese visa official on the afternoon of April 25, the seventh anniversary of the April 25 Appeal. The visa official said that he had known about their request to go to China for investigation. However, he didn't have the authority to make a decision on their visa applications. He would have to ask his higher-ups in China before he could reply. He refused to give his name. He only told Ms. Zhang to call for follow-up and said that employees of the consulate would know about her application.
Zhang called the Chinese Consulate many times on the afternoon of April 26, but nobody answered.
On the afternoon of April 27, Zhang went to the visa department of the Chinese Consulate in person. She was asked the same question again, "Do you have an invitation from China?" She answered that her application was in response to an open invitation by Qin Gang, spokesperson for the CCP's Foreign Affairs Department, to investigate the concentration camp where Falun Gong practitioners' organs were harvested.
The visa official who refused to tell her his name met with Zhang alone. He said that he had reported everything, including the content of her request to investigate the persecution of Falun Gong, to China. When Zhang asked if she could be given a definite timeframe because of the urgent situation, the visa official said he couldn't answer this question. He said he had done everything he could at his level.
Zhang indicated that she hoped to go to China as soon as possible to conduct an independent investigation on the live harvesting of Falun Gong practitioners' organs charged by several witnesses and to stop such an inhuman atrocity. She called for all Chinese people of conscience to do whatever they could to provide assistance and cooperation.
The CIPFG was initiated by the Falun Dafa Association and Minghui website, and have started taking action. Investigators of the CIPFG not only include Falun Gong practitioners, but also organizations, media and individuals who are concerned with the persecution. Renowned attorneys Gao Zhisheng and Yang Zaixin and Professor Jiao Guobiao are among them.
Two weeks before Hu Jintao's visit, the Yale Falun Dafa Club started a series of truth-clarification projects to expose the persecution, especially the recently revealed atrocities of harvesting organs from living practitioners. They collected 2,513 signatures, and news of their activities was reported by several Connecticut media outlets.
The New Haven Register reported on the practitioners' efforts in its front page on April 19 and 21. On April 21, in his article titled "Listen carefully, President Hu, to hear the voices of freedom" commentator Randall Beach spelled out the persecution of Falun Gong.
He also interviewed Harold Hongju Koh, Dean of Yale Law School and former Assistant Secretary of State for democracy, human rights and labor on human rights issues in China.
Koh was sure that Hu would hear the voice of protest.
"He's not going to think everyone welcomed him without raising their voices." Koh said. If he had a chance, Kosh said that he would tell Hu: 'It's in your self-interest as a leader who wants to be remembered for bringing China into the 21st century to modernize the legal system and make sure it's up to international standards. You can't have 19th century attitudes toward human rights and personal freedom if you want to be a player in the global marketplace."
When asked about the Chinese Communist regime's record of suppressing freedom of speech and arresting dissidents, Koh said: "It's really a dinosaur. If they want to encourage foreign investment, they'll have to install a 21st-century legal system, and they're far from it."
According to Beach's report, Koh also noted China officials practice "rule by law instead of rule of law. For them, rule by law is a code for members of the (Communist) Party setting the law."
On April 20, the Falun Gong club delivered more than 2,000 signatures to the Yale University President's office, requesting President Richard Levin to request Hu to open up all Chinese labor camps for independent investigation of claims of harvesting organs from living Falun Gong practitioners. On April 21, the New Haven Register and the Yale Daily News both reported this story on their front pages.
Channel 8, FOX 61, CNN, NBC and New England Cable reported on the practitioners' press conference in their afternoon or evening news on April 21. They specifically mentioned the CCP's atrocities of harvesting organs from living Falun Gong practitioners detained in labor camps.
On April 22, the newspaper, radio and TV stations once again ran reports on the practitioners' appeal activities. During Hu's visit, the Chinese Embassy organized about 300 people from New York and other cities to welcome Hu. These people tried to attack and block practitioners' banners, and some of them also repeated the CCP's propaganda to reporters, while a few even alleged that practitioners' persecution claims were fabricated. While reports published some of those allegations, they were overshadowed by coverage of facts about the persecution and true stories from persecuted Falun Gong practitioners, as well as comments from passersby.
Steve Piserchia, a massage practitioner in New Haven, said that he felt the "combat and struggle" of the communist party had arrived when he saw the red color and noisy music of the welcoming troupe.
On April 20, the Hartford Courant, the largest newspaper of Connecticut, reported on the organ harvesting practice inside Chinese labor camps. On April 22, a number of articles were published that included interviews with practitioners. One article featured the story of Dr. Charles Li, who was released in January from a Chinese jail. He was tortured and forced to do slave labor to assemble Christmas lights and Homer Simpson slippers.
Another report by the Hartford Courant highlighted the story of Jane Dai and her daughter, who came from Australia to protest. Dai's husband Chen Chengyong was persecuted to death in China for practicing Falun Gong. Dai wanted to isolate herself from others in her sorrow. However, she said that Falun Gong teaches practitioners to position others' interests first. "All of my best friends have been detained in labor camps for practicing Falun Gong, I can't remain silent." She said.
At the end of the report, the reporter wrote: "A woman from Munich,
Germany, stopped a reporter and said, 'You're from America. I need your
support.
I'm from Germany. I need your support.'
She was holding a poster with a picture of an emaciated prisoner
tortured in a
Chinese prison, with the words 'Chinese Concentration Camp Sells Human
Organs
for Huge Profit.'
As she spoke, tears began rolling down her face."
On April 23, 2006, Malaysian Falun Gong practitioners held a rally and parade in the bustling commercial and tourist center, the Bukit Bintang District. They urgently called on Malaysians to help stop the Chinese Communist Party's (CCP's) atrocity of harvesting jailed Falun Gong practitioners' organs and selling them for profit.
A press conference was held at 2:00 p.m.. Falun Gong practitioners staged a reenactment of the CCP's organ harvesting from living practitioners to expose the atrocity in front of the people.
 The parade procession |
 Parade procession passes stores, and people stop to watch. Later, many people signed the petition calling for an investigation of the CCP's atrocities |
At 2:30 p.m., the parade started. Practitioners held display boards and pictures of Falun Gong practitioners who had been murdered by the CCP. They marched in streets of the Bukit Bintang district and handed out truth-clarification flyers along the way. Many people and drivers slowed down to read the display boards and flyers. The parade finished at Golden River Shopping Center, where participants formed a "Great Wall of Truth."
People gave the parade a lot of support. A tourist from Sweden asked if this was the same issue as that of the recent "White House matter." When he received an answer to the affirmative, he signed his name to support ending the persecution.
Practitioners collected signatures along the parade route. People were very supportive and many asked for truth-clarifying materials. When the parade passed stores, practitioners went into the stores to clarify the truth to customers and storekeepers. They listened seriously and many signed their names to the petition.
Ever since the CCP's organ harvesting atrocity was exposed, every week Malaysian Falun Gong practitioners have been going to places where there are a lot of people, to stage reenactments exposing the CCP's evil nature. This time, the activity was held in conjunction with the Malaysia Quitting the CCP Center, to help more people know about the evil nature of the Chinese Communist Party, and together, to stop its atrocities.
Several organizations held a rally and parade at the Jongmyo Shrine of Seoul, Korea at noon on April 23, 2006, to support 10 million people quitting the CCP, the Youth League and the Young Pioneers. Participants said the people who had quit the three organizations had seen clearly the evil nature of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and have chosen a bright future for themselves. Participants also condemned the genocidal persecution of Falun Gong by the CCP and called for more people to quit the evil party.
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Organizations attending the activity included the Committee to Stop Genocide in the CCP's Forced Labor Camps, Falun Dafa Association in Korea, the Epoch Times in Korea, New China Human Rights Promotion Association, Traditional Chinese and Korean Culture Research Association and others. Many people stopped to watch the rally and parade, and warmly applauded the speakers.
Speakers said that as many as 10 million people had quit the CCP within the 16 months since the Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party was published.
Participants of the rally strongly condemned the CCP's monstrous crime of harvesting organs from living Falun Gong practitioners. They said that if we ignored this evil conduct and kept silent, where is our conscience? The collapse of the CCP is inevitable. Rally participants called for all citizens to denounce the CCP's tyranny and to support more people quitting the CCP.
It started pouring down rain before the rally ended, but the practitioners persisted in the rally in spite of the rain.
The march started from the Jongmyo Shrine and ended at Ming Dong, a business district where the Chinese Embassy is located. The procession was as long as one kilometer. The oldest participant was in his seventies. The youngest was only ten. They held banners stating, "The CCP Is Doomed." "Ten Million Chinese Have Quit the CCP and Its Organizations." Their display boards exposed the murder of Falun Gong practitioners by the CCP. Some practitioners demonstrated the atrocity of harvesting Falun Gong practitioners' organs.
Many people at Ming Dong read display boards that exposed the genocidal persecution of Falun Gong.
When the parade reached Ming Dong, some Chinese people asked Falun Gong practitioners questions and asked for truth-clarification materials.
 Photo displays expose the persecution |
 Demanding an immediate investigation into the CCP's atrocities |
On the afternoon of April 23, 2006, more than 200 people held a rally in Tokyo, supporting 10 million brave people quitting the CCP and its affiliated organizations. They protested the CCP's organ harvesting from living Falun Gong practitioners for profit, and called upon the international community to stop the CCP's persecution of Falun Gong practitioners.
The activity was jointly sponsored by the Global Service Center for Quitting the CCP Japan Branch, the Yokohama Chinese Street Service Center for Quitting the CCP and the Japanese Epoch Times. Japanese Diet members, Tokyo city councilors, Chinese democracy activists in Japan, Chinese people in Japan and ordinary Japanese people showed their concern during this event.
At around 1:00p.m., the rally began in Central Park in downtown Tokyo. Participants unfurled banners reading, "Support 10 Million People Quitting the CCP," "Stop the CCP from Killing Falun Gong Practitioners and Harvesting and Selling Their Organs," "Urgent Call for an Direct Investigation into Atrocities of Organ Theft from Falun Gong Practitioners," "Immediately Stop the Persecution of Falun Gong," and "Without the CCP, There Will Be a New China."
A Tokyo city councilor made a speech, expressing his thoughts over the ten million withdrawals from the CCP and praising the Falun Gong practitioners' courage and sense of mission. A reporter from a private art school made a speech and said that he has been paying attention to The Epoch Time's publication of the Nine Commentaries. After learning about the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners and the recent revelation of brutal persecution facts of live organ harvesting, he hoped to help stop the atrocities.
 Tokyo city councilor praises Falun Gong practitioners' courage and sense of mission |
 A reporter demands an end to the atrocities of live organ harvesting |
A Representative of the Japanese Falun Dafa Association said that it
is good
that ten million people have renounced the CCP and its organizations,
but right
now, the lives of Falun Gong practitioners in Mainland China are in
jeopardy,
and we call for an immediate end to the CCP's mass killing of Falun
Gong
practitioners.
Representative of Japanese Falun Dafa Association calls for an immediate end to the CCP's killing
Reporter from the Japanese Epoch Times made a speech and said that when Bush and Hu Jintao made speeches on the south lawn of the White House, Falun Gong practitioner Ms. Wang Wenyi cried out to Hu [to stop persecuting Falun Gong]. He understood Ms. Wang's action, because Falun Gong practitioners have been suffering brutal persecution and she had to protest this way. Besides Sujiatun, other concentration camps and forced labor camps throughout China are also killing Falun Gong practitioners [by harvesting their organs while they are still alive.]. The Epoch Times first broke the story to the public, and more media followed up. The persecution facts will be exposed one by one.
Overseas Democracy Movement Coalition Asia representative Xiang Lin made a speech, praising Wang Wenyi's courageous act. He said that we must protest against the CCP's persecution, and at the same time, call upon Japanese society to make efforts to stop the CCP's persecution of Falun Gong.
Representative of the Japanese Service Center for Quitting the CCP read letters from several Diet members, city councilors, representatives from Japanese Democratic Party and Falun Gong Refugees Supporting Committee. They supported the ten million withdrawals, and felt indignant at the CCP's brutal persecution of Falun Gong practitioners by mass killing and live organ harvesting.
After the rally, the participants set off from Central Park and started a march supporting the ten million withdrawals from the CCP and its affiliated organizations. At the front of the procession was a waist drum troupe in traditional Chinese clothing. Behind them were people holding huge banners reading, "Without the CCP, There Will Be a New China." Other than display boards regarding quitting the CCP, people also held banners reading, "Support 10 Million People Quitting the CCP," "Demand the CCP to Stop Killing Falun Gong Practitioners and Harvesting and Selling Their Organs," "Nine Commentaries Expose the CCP's Evil Nature." The messages on the banners expressed the people's concerns. In the middle of the parade procession were more than 30 Falun Gong practitioners who were holding photos of Falun Gong practitioners who had died as a result of persecution. They called upon the international community to stop the CCP's persecution of Falun Gong. At the back of the parade was a huge banner reading, "Falun Dafa is Wide Spread around the World."
The leading car of the parade kept broadcasting related information, and participants distributed The Epoch Times' special edition on the ten million withdrawals from the CCP. Passersby took the newspaper and read it carefully. Many people stopped to watch the parade. Some took pictures using their cell phones, and some tourists took pictures with cameras and video cameras. Staff from shops along the streets also came out to watch and asked for materials.
The reporter interviewed several Japanese people, who expressed that the photos depicting Falun Gong practitioners being tortured to death are appalling. One of the young people said that he would put all of this information on his personal web page and call for an end to this atrocity. After the parade was over, he requested to interview several Falun Gong practitioners who suffered brutal persecution when they were in Mainland China and listened to their experiences.
Falun Gong practitioner Yoko Kaneko, who once suffered persecution in the CCP's forced labor camps, was also in the parade, holding a poster depicting a Falun Gong practitioner who was tortured to death. She expressed a strong protest against the CCP's barbaric atrocities and called for an end to the persecution as soon as possible.