The Daily News
August 18, 2006 Friday

A photo of a smiling, healthy Chinese woman is contrasted by another photo of her brutalized and bloodied body.

As a Falun Gong follower, the woman is said to have been targeted by the Chinese government, tortured and killed for her beliefs.

The photos were taken inside Chinese labour camps, said Victoria resident and Falun Gong practitioner Joan Quain.

There are no photos of the thousands of Chinese Falun Gong believers who continue to be killed for their organs, she said. Those bodies are cremated and all evidence destroyed.

Quain and four of her fellow Falun Gong practitioners displayed gruesome photos of the dead or dying at City Hall on Thursday. The Nanaimo stop was part of a four-city awareness campaign on the persecution of Falun Gong believers in China.

"Some people, yes, are put off by it," Quain said about the photos. "We have to use shocking things like this to make people wake up."

The Chinese government is persecuting Falun Gong followers and harvesting their organs for sale, she said.

Backed by information pamphlets and books, the latest weapon in Quain's arsenal is a report by human rights lawyer David Matas and former MP David Kilgour.

Released July 6, the report concludes the allegations against the Chinese government are true.
China's government has denied allegations since it banned Falun Gong in 1999. The report lends legitimacy to the ongoing claims of human rights abuses, she said.

Conservative MP James Lunney (Nanaimo-Alberni) agrees.

"It presents some compelling evidence," said Lunney after meeting with Quain on Thursday.

Calling the allegations "troubling" and "very disturbing," Lunney said Canada can't ignore the issue.

"We can't afford to turn a blind eye," he said.

He's already raised the issue with the Conservative caucus and plans to discuss it again with the health minister in the fall. More evidence is still needed though, Lunney said, adding Canada should investigate the matter further.

"These allegations need to be checked on," he said.

Quain hopes Canada's interest in securing economic ties with China won't dissuade officials from calling for an end to China's human rights abuses.

"Where does money stop and human rights start?" she asked. "There has to be something done."