Rome, September 26, 2001; excerpt from page 14

Truthfulness, Compassion and Forbearance are the Chinese words, which were repeated over and over again yesterday by followers of Falun Gong at Montecitorio Plaza. They also came from Emma Bonino, Sergio d"Elia, secretary of "Nobody touches Cain!" and Alfredo Biondi, vice president of the House of Representatives.

This unique protest began at 9:00 A.M. in front of the Parliament Building. It was pointed out that China might attempt to use the events of September 11th in New York as an excuse to intensify the suppression against members of the movement.

In barely two years, since July 1999 until today, more than 286 people in China have died while in custody as a result of torture; 100,000 are incarcerated; 20,000 are slaving in forced labor camps. Beginning this October, the government has ordered a sharper crackdown and intensified methods. [...]

The movement began in 1992, by the secretive and charismatic Li Hongzhi, [...] from Manchuria who now lives in [New York].

In the spring of 1999, Falun Gong declared to have 100 million followers worldwide [...]. As a response to the Chinese government's attempt to curb the movement's numbers, 13,000 of the followers assembled outside the seat of government in the heart of Beijing. Since then the persecution has intensified, though at that time not yet officially. July 22, 1999 saw the ratification of a special law [against the group].

Today, followers are found in more than 40 countries around the world and websites abound. At least fifty of them demonstrated the five meditation exercises. Intermittently, Falun Gong spokesman Erping Zhang, a victim, and of Chinese heritage himself, and Sergio d'Elia, reminded people that today is October 1st, China National Day, a festival, which will be used as an occasion to begin a new campaign against Falun Gong practitioners.

Emma Bonino said that Falun Gong has been persecuted since 1999. [...] The great uniting efforts against terrorism, which is fomenting at the moment, must not become a cover-up for those who tamper with human rights and make legal those practices that rile against political opposition. We cannot let them legalize regimentation against undesirables, as for instance [...] the Chinese against the [...] practitioners of Falun Gong.

[...]