(Clearwisdom.net) One Free World International, an international human rights organization, held a premiere screening of the documentary “Freedom Fighter” on March 27, 2011, in Toronto, Canada. The film depicts the global persecution of religious beliefs, including the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners in mainland China, which has been ongoing since 1999. Thousands of people attended two screening sessions of the film.
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Majed El Shafie, president of One Free World International, spoke at the premiere of the documentary “Freedom Fighter” on March 27, 2011, saying that all persecuted and people who don't want to see persecution are united, and they will be able to conquer evil. |
In the film, Majed El Shafie, president of One Free World International, interviewed Falun Gong practitioner Mr. He Lizhi who had previously suffered the persecution in China; David Kilgour, former Canadian veteran politician who has been investigating the Chinese Communist Party's (CCP) crimes of harvesting organs from living Falun Gong practitioners, and others.
Mr. He Lizhi recounted his three and a half years of prison life in China due to his telling others the facts about Falun Gong. During his detention, he was subjected to electric shocks and sleep deprivation. He was stripped of his clothes and doused with cold water on winter days, which resulted in him having a high fever for several months. But the prison authorities didn't give him any medical treatment. Mr. He said, “Torture almost took my life.”
David Kilgour talked about the evidence uncovered during an investigation of the CCP's crimes of organ harvesting from living Falun Gong practitioners. Human rights lawyer Chantal Desloges said that the CCP has employed labor camps similar to the former Soviet Union in its persecution of Falun Gong practitioners and other religious believers.
After the screening, the audience gave Rev. Majed EI Shafie a standing ovation. In attendance for the premiere were the Minister of Immigration, the Honorable Jason Kenney; Member of Parliament, Pierre Poilievre, Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister; and Mario Silva, Deputy Chair of the Human Rights Subcommittee of the Canadian Government. They each stressed in their speeches that Canada attaches great importance to human rights.
Falun Gong practitioner Ms. Huang Xin was illegally sentenced to eight years in China for practicing Falun Gong before she came to Canada in 2010. She said there are many Falun Gong practitioners detained in China's prisons. In addition to being subjected to electric shock and other tortures in prison, she was forced to take psychiatric drugs for more than four years. As a result she experienced slowness in moving, lack of appetite, mental dullness, persistent fatigue, and uncontrolled drooling. After watching the documentary, Ms. Huang said she was moved that the Canadian government attaches such importance to human rights.
Joel Chipkar, spokesperson for the Canadian Falun Dafa Association said, "The Communist government is trying very hard to silence Falun Gong and its supporters. The Chinese government has spies everywhere, Falun Gong is the No.1 enemy of the Communist government, because Falun Gong is the No.1 persecuted group from the Communist government, and Falun Gong is the evidence that the Communist government is guilty for major crimes against humanity. They are guilty of murdering tens of thousands of people, organ harvesting, torture and death."
It took Rev. Majed El Shafie over four years to complete the documentary. He traveled on fact-finding missions to investigate and document human rights abuses against religious minorities around the world, focusing on Egypt, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iraq and China. When he learned about the atrocity of harvesting organs from living Falun Gong practitioners in China, he said, “It broke my heart that it's happening in China.” “No matter how strong the Chinese government is, no matter how powerful the Chinese government is, you can stand up for justice, you can stand up for your rights. We are always with you, don't think you're alone,” he said.
