PRESS RELEASE - 08/20/2001: Hunger Strike in Front of the Chinese Consulate in Berlin

"We want to mirror the situation of the persecuted Falun Gong practitioners in China and are appealing to the German government to pledge their cooperation for a resolution to this crisis which concerns millions of people in China."

Yesterday morning at 6 am. Mrs. Yi-Wang-Hammelgarn and Mr. Bruno Schamber began their hunger strike in front of the Chinese Consulate in Berlin. "We wish to mirror the situation of the persecuted Falun Gong practitioners in China and show our sympathy, a sympathy that goes beyond skin color and national borders and continents, to show the plight of those people in peril. This hunger strike is our silent appeal to the German government, to do all it can to bring about a resolution to this crisis, which affects millions of persecuted Chinese citizens. We are hoping for dialogue with Chancellor Schroeder," the two told the German Falun Dafa Information Center.

Grounds for this hunger strike is the more than two-year-long, brutal persecution of Falun Gong practitioners in China. Due to this persecution, at least 268 people have already lost their lives.

The acute reason for this hunger strike is the alarming situation of 130 Falun Gong practitioners who are incarcerated in the notorious Masanjia forced labor camp. These individuals have to face a choice -- lie and comply with the ruling government party's ideology and live, by writing and signing statements the government requires; or, face daily torture for living by the truth and not earn release from the camp, even though the allotted term has expired. As long as they refuse to lie, they will be tortured. To protest this unjust circumstance, the 130 practitioners at Masanjia went on a hunger strike.

Yi Wang-Hammelgarn, a forty-three-year-old woman, has practiced Falun Gong since 1996. Since July 9, 2001, she has written more than twenty letters to German Chancellor Schroeder and foreign minister Joschka Fischer, and has also been present at the human rights watch gathering in front of the Chinese Consulate for the last forty days. "I have discovered that the response of the German people is huge. They support Falun Gong, they sign our petitions and offer their help. The persecution in China now has touched millions of people. The regime tries to intimidate the population through the use of brutal torture methods. As of now, there are at least 267 deaths among the Falun Gong practitioners, caused by the authorities. And yet, the perpetrators are not punished. On the contrary, they are rewarded for their 'meritorious deeds.' The situation is very serious and every minute counts for saving a human life. We can no longer wait. I appreciate life and, with my hunger strike, I wish to point out the dire need of the Chinese Falun Gong practitioners and the urgency of their circumstances. Now we are asking the German government for help," she told the information center.

Bruno Schamber, who is 46 years old, has practiced Falun Gong since March of 2000. He is gravely concerned for his fellow practitioners in China. "Since I have lived in Russia for many years, I can well imagine how a totalitarian system manipulates its citizens. The Falun Gong practitioners have to face the total state apparatus and its propaganda machine. They are being suppressed by force, their voices are ignored, and other citizens are lied to with the propaganda and are intimated by the police. Their homeland offers them no help. We want to magnify their voices and urgently point out in our own country how serious their situation really is. Martin Luther King Jr. said: "he who is silent in the face of evil is as guilty as the one who commits the deed!" We cannot afford to be silent, because we live by the principle of Truthfulness. We are hunger striking to declare our solidarity with the persecuted members of Falun Gong, and to jolt the public and the government into an awareness, to break their silence. We ask for a speedy reaction of the German government and a public condemnation of the Chinese government's actions against Falun Gong."

Location of the hunger strike: in front of the Chinese Consulate; address: Maerkisches Ufer 54, 100179 Berlin, S-Bhf Jannowitzbruecke.