AI Fact Sheet on ongoing Falun Gong Persecution in China (November 2006)
FALUN GONG PERSECUTION FACTSHEET
AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL HAS APPEALED TO THE CHINESE AUTHORITIES TO STOP THE CAMPAIGN OF PERSECUTION OF FALUN GONG, INCLUDING BY RELEASING ALL THOSE DETAINED SOLELY ON ACCOUNT OF THEIR PEACEFUL RELIGIOUS OR SPIRITUAL BELIEFS AND PRACTICES.
Repression of Spiritual and Religious Groups in China # Religious observance outside official channels in China remains tightly circumscribed. In March 2005, the Chinese authorities promulgated a new 'Regulation on Religious Affairs' aimed at strengthening official controls on religious activities.
# Unregistered Catholics and Protestants associated with unofficial house churches were also harassed, arbitrarily detained and imprisoned.
# Freedom of religion continues to be severely restricted in Tibet and other Tibetan Areas of China, including the arrests and torture of many Buddhist monks and nuns.
# The authorities continue to use the global 'war on terror' to justify harsh repression of the mainly Muslim Uighur community in the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region (XUAR). Repression resulted in the closure of 'unofficial' mosques and arrests of imams.
Persecution of Falun Gong # When the Falun Gong spiritual movement was first banned in July 1999, police rounded up thousands of practitioners in a Beijing stadium.
# The crackdown on the Falun Gong spiritual movement was renewed in April 2005. A Beijing official clarified that since the group had been banned as a "heretical organisation", any activities linked to Falun Gong were illegal.
# Amnesty International has raised concerns that the official campaign of public vilification of Falun Gong in the official Chinese press has created a climate of hatred against Falun Gong practitioners in China which may be encouraging acts of violence against them.
# A large but unknown number of Falun Gong practitioners remain in detention where they are at high risk of torture.
# More than 250,000 people in China are being detained in camps known as 'Re-education through Labour', on vaguely defined charges having never seen a lawyer, never been to a court, and with no form of judicial supervision. It is unknown how many Falun Gong members are detained in these camps.
# Falun Gong members are at a high risk of torture while in detainment. Torture and ill-treatment is endemic and widespread in a wide variety of state institutions. It is frequently used as a punishment against those deemed to be "subversive" or "resisting reform".
# Common methods of torture include kicking, beating, electric shocks, suspension by the arms, shackling in painful positions, and sleep and food deprivation. Gender-specific forms of torture, including rape and sexual abuse, have also been reported.
Report on alleged live organ harvesting of Falun Gong practitioners # A report published by independent researchers David Matas and David Kilgour on 6th July 2006, concludes that large numbers of Falun Gong practitioners are victims of 'systematic' organ harvesting, whilst still alive, throughout China.
# Amnesty International is continuing to analyse sources of information about the Falun Gong organ harvesting allegations, including the report published by Canadians David Matas and David Kilgour.
# There is, however, a widely documented practice of the buying and selling of organs of death penalty prisoners in China. The lack of transparency surrounding such practices makes it impossible to determine whether written consent was obtained.
# It is unknown how many Falun Gong practitioners are being executed by the Chinese authorities. While Chinese authorities conceal national statistics on the death penalty as a "state secret", various sources indicate China may be executing between 10,000 -15,000 people a year.
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Human Cost
Gao Rongrong, who died in custody in June after being detained in Longshan Reeducation through Labour facility in Shenyang, Liaoning province. Officials had reportedly beaten her in 2004, including by using electro-shock batons on her face and neck, which caused severe blistering and eyesight problems, after she was discovered reading Falun Gong materials.
Deng Shiying reportedly died on 19 July 2003, the day after her release from Jilin Women's Prison in Changchun City, Jilin Province, where she was serving a seven-year prison sentence in connection with producing and distributing information describing human rights violations against Falun Gong practitioners in China. According to Falun Gong sources, she was beaten by other inmates, apparently prompted by prison officials, shortly before her release.
Practitioner Emerges Unscathed After a Traffic Accident By Assimilating to Truthfulness-Compassion-Tolerance
(Clearwisdom.net) I am from Cangzhou City, Hebei Province, and am an employee of a state-owned enterprise. On May 1, 1999, at around 8:00 p.m., I was riding my bicycle home. It was a rather cold day, and I was not wearing warm clothes. I was riding at a good pace, hoping to get home quickly. Close to home, all of a sudden out of nowhere, a high-speed motorcycle crashed into me head-on. Everything happened so fast, and I did not have time to react. The impact sent me flying through the air, and my head smashed into the ground when I landed. During the few split seconds that everything happened, I was not conscious of anything. However, very quickly when I regained consciousness, the first thought that ran through my mind was "I am a Falun Gong practitioner. I must treat other people kindly. I cannot frighten other people." With these thoughts, I hurriedly got up off the ground, and didn't have the slightest thought about whether I was injured or not--all I thought about was conforming to the requirements of the Fa, and being a good person.
It was a young fellow that struck me. He was shocked and frightened. I said to him, "Do not be afraid, I am all right. How about you?" The young fellow responded, "Please let me take you to the hospital for a check up, I will take care of all medical expenses for you." Quickly I explained, "I am a Falun Gong practitioner, everything should be fine and normal." I urged him not to worry. I also asked him to leave since he was in such a rush. He must have an urgent matter to take care of. The young fellow was afraid to leave. Just then, another factory colleague passed by and recognized that the young fellow was also an employee of our factory. After he saw I was hit, he became worried and urged the other to take me to the hospital immediately.
I asked the colleague not to frighten the young guy, and told him that there was nothing wrong with me, and that I was fine, and just needed to go home. I turned around to pick up my bicycle, I was shocked to see the twisted and deformed bike on the ground. The wheels were twisted almost into the shape of a figure "8," and the handle bars were distorted beyond use. One of my shoes was also thrown at least ten meters away.
After reaching home, I sobbingly narrated the whole incident over the phone to a fellow practitioner. I said, "Had it not been for my practicing Falun Dafa and the protection of Master's fashen, I would either be seriously injured or dead by now. Before practicing cultivation, I had a sick body. Master not only took away all of my ailments, but also taught me how to be a good person. Today Master saved my life. I do not understand why people fabricate rumors to defame such a good practice--why are we being arrested for being good people?"
In 1996, around the time when the persecution was slowly starting, the Chinese Propaganda Department banned the publication of "Falun Gong" and other related materials. During the same year, "Guangming Daily," "Qilu Evening News," and a dozen other newspapers launched attacks on Falun Gong. In 1998, the Ministry of Public Security branded Falun Gong as a [slanderous term omitted], and in April 1999, under the pretext of "science," academic He Zuoxiu published another politically-motivated article in a Tianjin magazine, which slandered Falun Gong. The incident led to many practitioners visiting government offices to clarify the truth. This was followed by the Tianjin Public Security Bureau unreasonably arresting more than 40 practitioners. This pattern of unfair treatment finally triggered the April 25 peaceful appeal, leading more than ten thousand practitioners to visit the State Appeals Office in Beijing to appeal for justice for Falun Gong.
That very evening, the young fellow that crashed into me felt uneasy. He came to visit me with another friend and insisted on taking me to the hospital for a check-up. I then clarified to him that I was a cultivator of Falun Gong, that I should be fine, and that I wouldn't accept any compensation from him. Later I learned that he also had to go to work that night, so I asked him to go home to rest, and urged him not to worry too much. I asked him to pay attention to safety while working.
In the evening after the crash, when I took off all my clothes, I saw that my body was swollen and covered with purple and blue bruises. Luckily my husband was at work that night and didn't come home. The next day, in order to prevent other family members from seeing my injuries, I went to stay temporarily with my mother. After around a week's stay, I had fully recovered, and all the bruises and injuries disappeared.
My main purpose in sharing this incident at this time is to tell Cangzhou citizens that Falun Dafa is good, and at this special historical time, they should correctly distinguish between good and evil, right and wrong, and to clearly recognize that the persecution of Falun Gong is ridiculous and absurd.
Composer: Fu Yin Lyrics by: Ke Bei Singer: Bai Xue Arrangement: Chen Yian
Coming from far away,
Again and again, I come for you,
I come with love for you.
Precious Chinese people, please listen to my heart-felt voice,
Wonderful Falun Dafa, Falun Dafa Hao!
See the truth behind those lies.
Facing violence and danger,
Again and again,I come for you,
I come with love for you.
Precious Chinese people, do you know that the whole world says,
“Wonderful Falun Dafa, Falun Dafa Hao!”
Do not miss this precious chance.
Do not miss this precious chance, this precious chance!
Story of the song:
36 Western Practitioners Appeal at Tiananmen Square
36 Western practitioners send righteous thoughts during peaceful appeal for Falun Gong at Tiananmen Square, 2001.
Content
Tiananmen Square, can you tell me:
How many disciples came here for Dafa?
Clouds in the sky, you could see most clearly:
Facing evil, they were compassionate and serene.
Kind-hearted people are shedding tears for them,
Voices of justice are speaking out for them:
Oh!
For the sake of revealing the truth, for your sake,
your sake, they're enduring torture.
Flagpole on the square, can you tell me:
How many banners were raised up high?
Magnificent monuments, you heard most clearly:
Sounds of "Falun Dafa is good," are still
reverberating in the air.
Kind-hearted people are shedding tears for them,
Voices of justice are speaking out for them:
Oh!
For the precious people, for you, for you,
they can never come back here again.
Lu Yuqin, a Dynasty's Founding Member That Was Free of Self-Interest and Jealousy
By Qing Yan
(Clearwisdom.net) In traditional Chinese culture, it is
believed that every person has his own fate and his fortunes are
predestined according to what he has done in previous lives. Such a
belief is also prevalent in the world of cultivation practice. It is
believed that a person who harms other people out of jealousy or
feeling unjustly wronged will not change his situation. Instead, this
creates karma for him and results in worse fortune in his next life.
With this in mind, a person should try to be more generous and
forgiving, and let go of jealousy, as it will only cause endless harm
to others and himself.
Lu Yuqin was an important political advisor to Emperor Taizu, the
founder of the Song Dynasty. Lu Yuqin was known to be a generous and
virtuous man who was never jealous of others.
Before Emperor Taizu founded the Song Dynasty, Lu served under the
Late Zhou Dynasty, and Taizu was known as Zhao Kuangyin. When Zhao
Kuangyin heard of Lu Yuqin's talents, he recommended Lu to the
government and made Lu one of his advisors. Lu then followed Zhao
Kuangyin as a close advisor during his subsequent posts.
After Zhao Kuangyin founded the Song Dynasty and became Emperor
Taizu, Lu Yuqin became one of the founding members of the Song Dynasty.
Except for Lu, all the founding members, such as Zhao Pu and Li Chuyun,
were given high-ranking positions. An average person might have held a
grudge against Emperor Taizu, but Lu bore no bitterness towards Taizu.
Shortly afterwards, Li Chuyun was demoted to a post in the state of
Zizhou, and when Lu Yuqin returned from a trip, Emperor Taizu summoned
Lu to ask him about Li Chuyun. Had Lu Yuqin been jealous of Li Chuyun,
he could have taken the opportunity to speak ill of him. Instead, he
reasoned with Emperor Taizu and defended Li based on facts. In the end,
Emperor Taizu agreed with Lu's defense of Li.
Later Zhao Pu offended Emperor Taizu because of a difference of
opinion. His peers at the royal court distanced themselves from Zhao Pu
and denounced him eagerly, hoping to use this as a chance for
advancement. Lu was the only one who reasoned with Emperor Taizu on
behalf of Zhao Pu, until Taizu's anger subsided.
Hence, Lu Yuqin became famous for his magnanimity, frankness, and lack of jealousy. He was highly praised as a virtuous elder.
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