(Clearwisdom.net) On July 20 2008, Falun Gong practitioners in Vancouver, Canada, rallied in front of Art Hall in the center of the city, calling for an end to the persecution. Several practitioners from mainland China denounced the inhuman persecution by sharing their personal experiences of being persecuted in China. The rally was an effort to make the world more aware of the human rights situation in China and to help end the persecution.
Practitioners rallied in Vancouver to condemn the Chinese Communist Party's persecution of Falun Gong.
Reenactment of a torture used on practitioners in Chinese jails.
People signed the petition calling for an end to the persecution.
Practitioners demonstrated the exercises and reenacted a method of torture used in Chinese jails. Other practitioners handed out flyers and collected signatures on a petition calling for an end to the persecution. Many people stopped to watch and signed their names.
Practitioner Ms. Dong said that she could feel that the environment was quite different from before. "People are willing to know the truth about Falun Gong and the persecution and a large number listened to the truth-clarification. Some raised their thumbs and said, 'Keep going.' Others said.Falun Gong! Falun Gong' like cheering for a ball team. Some Chinese people signed their names and thanked the senior Falun Gong practitioners."
A senior photographer and reporter, Mr. Richard Paris from City TV, took photos and asked for interviews. After learning the purpose of the activity, he said the rally was very good and very effective.
Mainland Falun Gong practitioners share their own experiences of being tortured
Several practitioners from China revealed what goes on in Chinese jails by sharing their own experiences.
Ms. Anqi was illegally jailed five times in China, the longest stint for three years in a forced labor camp. She said, "Because I didn't comply with the brainwashing, I was separated from other practitioners for 13 months and deprived of sleep for a long time. I was tortured in many different ways. In 2002, I was locked in a basement with the lights on all day long and I was deprived sleep for over 40 days. The jailers ordered the people being brainwashed to curse me around the clock and force me to stand facing a wall for very long time. They poked my head with sharp objects, used nails to squeeze my skin, and tore out my hair to keep me awake.
"The vicious jailers ordered several inmates to beat me in turn. They kicked me around on the ground, slapped my face, threw me on the ground, and banged my head on the counter. Some used a wooden stick to beat me, picking on the bony areas such as m my knees. Others used a broom to strike me. Another one pinched my neck. They put rags used to clean the toilet in my mouth. My legs were all blued and bruised to the knee. For a while, I couldn't stand upright and could hardly walk."
Besides enduring these tortures, Anqi and her family were forced to comply with the Communist Party to create a propaganda program to deceive the public.
Mr. He said the CCP persecution of Falun Gong became more and more evil and brutal. "A few of my friends and classmates were repeatedly jailed and tortured for holding on to their beliefs. Mr. Li Changjun was my best friend and classmate. He held a master's degree in computer science. In 2001, he and I were arrested together, and he was tortured to death in a detention center. Many of my friends are still in Communist Party jails being tortured. For years, I saw many Falun Gong practitioners who refused to give their names disappear in custody. It confirmed the report that exposed the CCP's organ harvesting crime."
Ms. Lina talked about her experiences of being jailed in Huairou County Second Detention Center in Hebei Province in 2001. She was viciously beaten, not allowed to use the toilet, and brutally forced fed. In the winter, she was put in the snow outside to "cool down." At the same time, all the Communist Party media propagandized how prisoners were treated with care and love.
Other practitioners from China also talked about the torture and persecution they endured.
Rescue family members illegally jailed
Ms. Qiaoming Gao from Guangzhou appealed to the public to help rescue her two sisters, Suming Gao and Qianming Gao, who were both arrested in April 2008 and sentenced to one and a half years of forced labor in May. For four months, the family has had no information of their whereabouts and the authorities are not allowing any jail visits.
"In early 2008, the CCP began a mass arrest of Falun Gong practitioners in preparation for the Olympics." said Gao. "A report showed that over 8000 Falun Gong practitioners have been arrested since January 2008. On the same day my two sisters were illegally arrested, another 20 some practitioners were put in jail."
Ms. Gao called on people with conscience to be aware of the nine-year-long persecution of Falun Gong and speak out to call for an end to the tragedy.
Torture reenactment awakens conscience
Several elderly female practitioners demonstrated a torture commonly used on Falun Gong practitioners in jail. It was very uncomfortable in the hot sun, but they said it was nothing at all compared to what it is like inside Chinese jails and detention centers.
Ms. Chen demonstrated "hanging." "We are just showing how it is done. We can't do the real torture as in jails in Mainland China. Today I was merely grabbing the rope and you can see, here, there are marks on my hands. In reality, the police use steel handcuffs to hang you. Your hands turn black and if you are left hanging longer, both hands become disabled. A practitioner was once detained in Beijing. When she came home, she let us see her hands. They were both dark violet, almost black. The color didn't fade for a very long time."
Another senior practitioner said the torture reenactment gave the audience a visual, a true sense of the real torture that Falun Gong practitioners experience under CCP rule. "It can help touch people's hearts and more will help to end the persecution sooner.
Since July 20, 1999, when CCP started the persecution of Falun Gong, thousands of practitioners have died as a result persecution, and over 100,000 have been jailed and tortured in prisons, forced labor camps, detention centers, and brainwashing classes.
Now, the CCP is using "Olympic security" as an excuse to escalate the persecution of Falun Gong. This is a direct violation of the Olympic spirit.
The battle between righteousness and evil has raged for nine years. Falun Gong will prevail.
Category: Rallies & Protests
