(Clearwisdom.net) Central News Agency reported on November 23, 2006 that the president of the Falun Dafa Association of Canada, Li Xun was invited by the Subcommittee on International Human Rights, House of Commons to provide testimony on the Chinese Communist Party's (CCP) persecution of Falun Gong practitioners over the past seven years.
Li Xun said that lawyer Gao Zhisheng has been called "the conscience of Chinese lawyers." He is not a Falun Gong practitioner, yet he is currently under arrest for defending human rights in China, in particular for his three open letters to the Chinese government leaders calling for an end to the persecution of Falun Gong.
Li Xun cited the statement of Mr. Gao Zhisheng in his open letter to the CCP leaders in 2005, "among the records of the government's inhuman torture of its own people, the immoral acts that shocked my soul the most were the lewd yet routine practice of attacking women's genitals by '610 Office' staff and the police. Almost every woman's genitals and breasts or every man's genitals have been sexually assaulted during the persecution in a most vulgar fashion... "
Li Xun gave two accounts of the cases of brutal tortures suffered by Falun Gong practitioners in the past seven years. The majority of the brutal cases remain unreported. Revealing such information constitutes the severe crime of "leaking state secrets."
Li Xun said that Yao Yue, wife of Canadian resident Liu Wenyu in Calgary, is one of 14 jailed practitioners with Canadian ties. In 2001, she was sentenced to 12 years in prison for downloading information from Falun Gong websites and printing leaflets for distribution.
Li Xun further discussed Falun Gong and the CCP's persecution of Falun Gong with the members of the committee on human rights. He said that Falun Gong follows the principles of "Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance," while the CCP advocates violence, deception and the destruction of traditional moral values and beliefs. As of today, more than 2,980 death cases of Falun Gong practitioners have been verified.
Li Xun mentioned the CCP's crimes of harvesting organs from living Falun Gong practitioners. He said that recently the Hon. David Kilgour and Mr. David Matas concluded in their independent investigation report that "there has been and continues today to be large scale organ seizures from unwilling Falun Gong practitioners" by the government of China and its agencies in numerous parts of the country... Li Xun said that the policy of repression of Falun Gong means that practitioners are deprived of any rights in prisons and are subject to the disposition of the corrupt authorities.
Li Xun believed that these vital findings of organ harvesting from living Falun Gong practitioners warrant a formal hearing by the committee.
Regarding the bilateral human rights dialogue between Canada and China, Li Xun cited the findings from an expert on China issues, Professor Burton's report, and emphasized that the Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs' mandate is to defend China's interests abroad. It has no institutional interest in promoting respect for China's human rights domestically. Li Xun said that the persecution of Falun Gong in fact was launched and has continued to escalate after the bilateral human rights dialogue process began in 1997. The systematic eradication of Falun Gong through hate incitement, torture, and killing constitutes severe crimes against humanity.
Li Xun recommended that the Canadian government call on the CCP to stop the persecution of Falun Gong and release all practitioners being held in custody, suspend the bilateral dialogue until the critical conditions of Prof. Burton's report are adequately addressed, and put human rights at the forefront of Canada's China policy, using every opportunity to promote respect for human rights in China. Li Xun urged the government to speak publicly against human rights abuses in China, and recommends that other representation, such as Falun Gong, is included in any future human rights engagement with China.