Issued by Clearwisdom Net
Content
On June 7, 2006 the World Cup France-China warm-up match was held at Geoffroy-Guichard in Saint Etienne in central France. Soccer is the favorite game of the French people, and the stadium, seating 40,000 people, was filled to capacity. Before the match, at the entrance of the stadium, French Falun Gong practitioners exposed the Chinese Communist Party's (CCP) seven-year-long persecution of Falun Gong and the harvesting of organs from living Falun Gong practitioners. Many French fans took balloons that read, "Falun Dafa Is Good" and, "The World Needs Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance" into the stadium.
The world needs "Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance" |
The Falun Gong practitioners' booth was set up at the stadium entrance, where the spectators lined up to enter the stadium. Western practitioners used a loudspeaker to explain to people about the persecution of Falun Gong in China, and many kind and righteous people walked out of the queues to sign the petition to call for an end to the persecution. A group of Chinese people also waited in the queues. Chinese practitioners used a loudspeaker to read the Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party to them. These Chinese people quietly listened until they entered the stadium.
Falun Gong practitioner Stephane is being interviewed by the French Station TV3
In a pre-game interview with French Station TV3, Falun Gong practitioner Stephane said that the soccer match was a good opportunity to talk about issues in China. "We aim to tell more people about the human rights abuses that Chinese Falun Gong practitioners suffer. We believe that the genocide and human rights situation in China has reached a point of crisis. There are a large number of Falun Gong practitioners in China suffering the atrocity of having their organs removed when they are still alive. We are here to call for an urgent rescue!"
When asked whether it was difficult to hold such an activity near the stadium, Stephane replied that during World War II, people's disbelief in the existence of the Nazi's genocide in concentration camps made it very difficult for witnesses to come forward with their own experiences. "Right now it is still a challenge for us to gain widespread support, especially since the French government is under tremendous economic enticement and pressure from the Chinese Communist regime."
A gentleman who took Falun Gong leaflets told the reporter that where there is totalitarianism there are death camps and concentration camps. But all these will collapse just as the former Soviet Union had done, he continued. He felt that the Falun Gong practitioners had done well in making people aware of what is happening in China. The CCP is more unscrupulous than the former Soviet Union, as the CCP holds onto its power through controlling the economy. Yet, this man is certain the CCP will crumble.
A French woman helped practitioners distribute truth-clarification materials. She said, "As I am a human rights defender, I think we must fight various barbaric acts that are against civilisation. Today the Chinese team is invited to play in this match. This is a good opportunity for us. Such protests are very important for maintaining human dignity."
She also said, "People's pursuit of spiritual beliefs should not be prohibited. This is a basic human right."
Many French fans had their photos taken with Falun Gong practitioners after obtaining balloons that read, "Falun Dafa Is Good" and, "The World Needs Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance." Practitioners Stephane and Mathieu went into the stadium wearing shirts that read, "36 Death Concentration Camps in China," and, "Stop Persecuting Falun Gong." After the game, they called out to the Chinese officials in the VIP section, "Falun Dafa is good. Stop persecuting Falun Gong!"
International human rights attorney
Mr. David Matas |
The Group requests an independent
investigation without the CCP's control
Mr. Kilgour and Mr. Matas wrote to the
Chinese Embassy on June 2. In their letter, they said that they hoped
to visit
China in June to investigate the CCP's harvesting organs from live
Falun Gong
practitioners, which has resulted in the death of many practitioners.
They stated that it is proper to
request a meeting with the Chinese Ambassador and other Chinese
government
officials before they applied for visas
to visit China. In their meeting, they would like to discuss with the
ambassador
about this visit and the conditions of their investigation in China.
Mr. Matas emphasized that they were requesting
an independent investigation free of the CCP's manipulations. Mr. Matas
said
that the investigation would be meaningless if the CCP decides who they
could
meet or talk to.
Mr. Matas hoped that when they are in
China, they will have the freedom to investigate the issues directly,
instead
of receiving evidence provided by the CCP.
The coordinator of "The
Coalition to Investigate the Persecution of Falun Gong in China
(CIPFG)"
in Canada, Mr. Yang Kaiwen said during an interview that, in order to
cover up
the truth of persecution and deceive the international community, the
CCP
always makes some arrangements before the international investigation
groups
come. The CCP arranges the itineraries and interviewees for the group.
The CCP
also forces the interviewees to answer the questions in a way that the
CCP pre-arranged.
According to the Minghui/Clearwisdom
website, on
Falun Gong practitioners Zhao Ming
and Chen Gang who were illegally imprisoned in Tuanhe Labor Camp,
testified
that the guards in Tuanhe Labor Camp always force Falun Gong
practitioners to
stand straight up, sit without moving, bow down for long periods of
time, or
run in the yard. They also lock practitioners on the bed for a long
time or confine
practitioners in the rooms where people boil water, in the summer time.
The
purpose of all the tortures that the guards applied to practitioners is
to break
down practitioners' will, so they use extreme methods. Falun Gong
practitioners
who were beaten or not allowed to sleep, or threatened, often develop
white
hair, weight loss, muscle pain, organs
dysfunction, depression, and memory loss. More importantly, although
the
physical pain due to the torture will often abate as time goes by, the
mental
and spiritual injuries will influence one's life for a long time.
Mr. Yang Kaiwen used the
investigation by United Nations Special Rapporteur on Torture, Mr.
Manfred
Nowak as an example. He said that the CCP interfered with the
investigation
badly. They spied on and monitored the investigators. They also made
trouble
with the investigators' plan. Moreover, they threatened the
interviewees and
witnesses and their family members. So, it is very important that the
investigation groups can conduct an independent investigation without
the CCP's
interference.
Publishing the investigating
report is the first step of the complete investigation.
Based on interviews with witnesses outside
of China, and a lot of collected evidences, two investigators are
working on an
investigation report. Mr. Matas said that no matter whether their
request is
approved or not, they will keep doing their work and finish the report.
Mr. Yang Kaiwen said that the
investigation by the two investigators is independent. They will draw
their own
conclusions based on the evidence they collect. According to the
evidence we
collected, it is undeniable that the CCP has been harvesting organs
from live
Falun Gong practitioners in labor camps and secret concentration camp.
But because
it is difficult to conduct a complete and independent investigation in
China,
we don't know exactly the degree and scale of the persecution.