(Clearwisdom.net)

It has been four years since the Jiang regime began its suppression of Falun Gong. This year, Falun Gong has launched a global "Bring Jiang to Justice" campaign and is suing Jiang in the courts of several countries for his crimes of genocide. Taiwan Falun Gong is also joining in the global events around July 20, and will hold a memorial gathering and candlelight vigil in Taipei and a major parade in Gaoxiong City.

At least 748 Falun Gong practitioners have been tortured to death from July 20, 1999 to July 6, 2003.

However, it is indicated, in a study done at the end of October 2001, that quite likely more than 1,600 Falun Gong practitioners have died in detention. In addition, over 10,000 have been illegally sentenced to forced labor camps, several thousand have been forcibly sent to mental hospitals where they are subjected to injections harmful to the central nervous system. Others have been sent to brainwashing centers where they suffer both physically and spiritually, and many more practitioners have been subjected to beatings and other forms of corporal punishment, rape and financial extortion.

In October 2002, Falun Gong changed from being a victim and passively enduring the persecution, and took major steps to bring Jiang Zemin to justice and to restore and uphold justice. For the first time, a lawsuit was brought against the former dictator and the "610 Office" for torture, crimes against humanity and genocide at the U.S. Federal District Court in Illinois. [Note: the "610 Office" is an agency specifically created to persecute Falun Gong, with absolute power over each level of administration in the Party and all other political and judiciary systems.]

On January 20, 2003, the World Organization to Investigate the Persecution of Falun Gong was established. Its main task is to "investigate the criminal conduct of all institutions, organizations, and individuals involved in the persecution of Falun Gong; to bring such investigation, no matter how long it takes, no matter how far and deep we have to search, to full closure..."

Memorial and Candlelight Vigil to be Held in Taipei

Zhang Qingxi, President of the Taiwan Falun Dafa Association, announced that on the four-year anniversary of the brutal suppression of Falun Gong under Jiang's regime, the Taiwan Falun Gong practitioners and other human rights supporters will hold a memorial gathering on July 20. The memorial is to expose the brutal persecution of Jiang's regime to the Taiwanese people and to make public the current situation and development of the lawsuits against Jiang presently underway in many countries.

The gathering will be held in the Da'an Forest Park in Taipei. Between 4:30 p.m. and 5:50 p.m., the five sets of Falun Gong exercises will be demonstrated and taught to the public free of charge, as usual. The memorial itself will take place from 6:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. Representatives from each political party and the media are expected to be present at the memorial. From 7:00 p.m. to 8:50 p.m. there will be a candlelight vigil, with poetry readings, music, and a film viewing.

Gaoxiong Falun Gong practitioners will protest against the four years of persecution by means of a signature collection for human rights, exercise demonstrations, a parade with over a thousand practitioners in attendance, and an evening party.

Yuan Shuzhen, contact person for the activities in Gaoxiong, said that this persecution had led to the breakup of thousands of families in China. Additionally, the persecution has extended into more than 60 countries throughout the world, because Jiang Zemin not only persecutes Falun Gong in China, but he also actively attempts to deceive people all over the world by spreading lies and defaming Falun Gong. As the persecution undermines and damages the human pursuit of noble moral principles and conscience, it has caused immeasurable losses to society. Ms. Yuan appealed to the Taiwanese people to support the lawsuit against Jiang Zemin and to help make this issue of basic human rights and freedom move beyond the boundary of one country, to become a worldwide issue.

The signature collection to support Falun Gong has also been launched in different areas of Taiwan, starting on July 12 and ending on July 20. On July 20, Falun Gong exercise demonstrations will be held from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. at City Hall in Gaoxiong City. From 2:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. on the same day, a parade with a thousand people will be held. The parade will start from Wufu Zhonghua Road, travel down Wufu Road, then to Chenggong Road, Sanduo Road, Guanghua Road, and back to Wufu Road and then to the Cultural Center.

The second major event of the day, an evening party, will be held in Laogong Park. The party is scheduled to go from 6:30 p.m. until 9:10 p.m.