(Minghui.org) Falun Gong practitioners from across New Zealand gathered on July 20, 2013 on Elizabeth Square in downtown Auckland. They peacefully protested the 14-year persecution of Falun Gong by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and called for justice and conscience. Labor Party leader David Shearer called to show his support for the practitioners' effort, and the Greens co-leader Dr. Russel Norman extended his most sincere wishes to the participants of the rally.

Practitioners demonstrate the Falun Gong exercises at a rally protesting the 14-year persecution in China

Human rights lawyer Kerry Gore speaks at the rally

People sign a petition to call for an end to the forced organ harvesting in China

Practitioners sit in meditation, holding portraits of practitioners who died as a result of the persecution in China

Passersby take in the display boards

The practitioners held banners at the rally, extending on both sides of the road for over one hundred meters. The banners conveyed such messages as, “Support Falun Gong Practitioners Persecuted in China,” “Stop Forced Organ Harvesting from Living Falun Gong Practitioners,” “The World Needs Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance,” and, “Disintegrate the CCP, Stop the Persecution.”

Justice Will One Day be Done

Renowned human rights lawyer Kerry Gore stated that Falun Gong practitioners have stayed steadfast in their belief amidst the unprecedentedly inhuman persecution. He said that the tolerance and spiritual strength they have demonstrated are admirable.

Over the past 14 years, practitioners in China have been subjected to arbitrary arrests, detention, physical abuse, brainwashing, mental abuse, and even rape, sexual assault and forced organ harvesting when they were still alive. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is not only undermining the freedom of belief and freedom of speech, but also violated a number of international conventions.

Mr. Gore believes that justice will one day be done. He said that history shows that any totalitarian regime will pay for persecuting its people, and the persecutors will certainly be held accountable and punished accordingly.

Right Choice Will be Made After People Understand the Truth

Ms. Lu, a participant in the rally, said that due to the CCP's information censorship in China, people outside of China do not know what has truly happened there. “The persecution is really unprecedented,” she said, “The methods used to torture practitioners are horrendous.”

Ms. Lu recounted her experience of being imprisoned in China in the Nanmusi Women's Forced Labor Camp in Sichuan Province. “The guards tried all means possible to physically abuse and mistreat us and mentally torment us. Some practitioners were tortured to death in the camp, and many practitioners died shortly after they were released from the camp.”

Ms. Lu said that the rally helps raise people's awareness about the brutality of the persecution. She believes that once people understand the truth they will naturally make a right choice between good and evil. Ms. Lu feels that greater awareness will also lessen the pressure on practitioners under persecution in China, and help them gain their freedom as soon as possible.

On the same day as the rally, in Wellington, the capital of New Zealand, another group of practitioners held a peaceful protest against the persecution in front of the Chinese Embassy. The protest included a candlelight vigil to commemorate the practitioners who died as a result of the persecution.