The European Parliament Human Rights Branch Committee held a hearing on the human rights situation in China on November 26th 2007.

Falun Gong practitioners from China, Cao Dong, Niu Jinping and his wife Zhang Lianying, were invited to the hearing. On May 21st 2006, Niu Jinping and Cao Dong met with the Vice-President of the European Parliament Mr. Edward McMillan-Scott in Beijing, and informed the Vice President of the brutal persecution suffered by himself, his wife and other Falun Gong practitioners around him. Two hours after the meeting, Mr. Cao was arrested by Chinese Communist regime security agents and was charged with "accepting an illegal interview". Mr. Cao was sentenced to five years imprisonment and has been secretly detained in the No. 3 Prison in Tianshui.

During her imprisonment in the Beijing Women's Forced Labour Camp, Ms. Zhang was beaten mercilessly many times, hung up in the air, deprived of sleep and subjected to mental torture. On March 20th 2007, in the labour camp, Zhang Lianying was fiercely assaulted about the head while her neck was restrained with a rope. This torture resulted in massive hemorrhaging inside the skull and Ms. Zhang was on the verge of death. Nonetheless, the labour camp authorities continued to completely cut off her contact with the outside world and repeatedly refused requests by her family to see her.

Chinese lawyers Gao Zhisheng and Li Heping, who have spoken for Falun Gong and other human right activists in China, were also invited. Mr. Gao Zhisheng has been collecting the evidence that Falun Gong practitioners are persecuted. The CCP’s policemen have harassed him for a long time. On September 20th 2007, Mr. Gao wrote to the U.S. Congress, calling for attention to the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners. In the letter, Mr. Gao listed evidence of the persecution and how the CCP takes the chance of the Olympics to violate human rights. Two days later, Mr. Gao was taken away by the police. No one has heard from him since then.

The European Union is aware of the persecution against Falun Gong and it has been mentioned during every meeting between the EU and the CCP. On different occasions, the EU has asked the CCP to stop the persecution. The European Parliament passed a resolution to condemn the persecution on September 7th 2006 before the EU-China Summit. The Vice President of the European Parliament Mr. Edward McMillan-Scott has put in a lot of effort to rescue Falun Gong practitioners and Mr. Gao Zhisheng. He has written to the leaders of the EU, asking them to take action. On September 26th 2007, he expressed to the representatives from China that the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners and Mr. Gao is unacceptable. He expressed that he would exert more pressure until they are released.

The invitation of Falun Gong practitioners to the hearing shows that the European Parliament is concerned about the persecution and also shows their support for Falun Gong practitioners’ human rights. The hearing will be held right before the EU-China Summit on November 28th.

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(Clearwisdom.net) Falun Gong practitioners in the German town of Tuebingen exposed human rights violations in China by demonstrating the exercises to peaceful music, displaying poster boards and distributing fliers.

By publishing the following in the Swabian Daily newspaper on the day before the activities, the practitioners were able to inform local people about the event:

Informational activities will be held on Saturday October 13th between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. at the Tuebinger lumber market. According to the Tuebinger group, more than 3,000 people lost their lives from torture and abuse in China over the past eight years.

The practitioners erected an information booth on the north side of the Church of the Halls, at the church of Saint George. The area was bustling with people enjoying the beautiful autumn weather. Free classical and jazz concerts in the old town drew many visitors. Also, a church choir sang hymns.

To support the event, practitioners came from Stuttgart, Boeblingen and Leonberg. Passers-by enjoyed taking a flier in the hope that they would hear about the situation in China. At the same time, many discussions were held around the practitioners' information booth.

A number of people expressed that the persecution in China is hard to believe, especially in the face of the serene and peaceful Falun Gong exercises. One of the passersby recognized a former mountaineer friend doing the exercises and said in amazement, "What are you doing here? What is Falun Gong? I have not heard of it!" Also, other practitioners from Tuebingen met old acquaintances. One professor from a Tuebinger clinic greeted one of his nurses and gladly signed the petition.

A Chinese practitioner brought beautiful handmade paper lotus flowers. Passers-by happily accepted them. Many people heard the truth about the situation in China.

Interested individuals posed many questions about the horrible human rights situation in China during the rule of the Chinese Communist Party

Practitioners demonstrate the five sets of Falun Gong exercises

Chinese tourists hear the truth about Falun Gong

Originally published in German at http://de.clearharmony.net/articles/200710/40165.html

Source: http://clearharmony.net/articles/200711/42159.html

Posting date: 11/24/2007
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The Czech News Agency reported on the 19th of November, that the European Celestial Marching Band, consisting of over eighty European Falun Gong practitioners, performed at the Old Town Square in Prague on the 17th of November. After the performance, they started a parade in protest against the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) persecution against Falun Gong.

The organisers of the event expressed that they chose the anniversary of Czechoslovakia’s overthrowing of the Communist regime in 1989 as the date for the event. A participant of the event told journalists that a lot of countries are still waiting for the day when Communist powers will be completely disintegrated. Eighteen years ago, the Czech Republic used peaceful ways to change the political situation in their country, so now some Chinese people are using the Czech Republic as an example.

Falun Gong started spreading in 1992, with millions of practitioners following the principles of Truth, Compassion and Tolerance. The Communist regime started persecuting Falun Gong in 1999. Since then, tens of thousands of practitioners have been arrested. Falun Gong practitioners’ organs are also harvested for transplants. Practitioners hope that people over the world can pay attention to the happenings of the persecution.

According to reports, the European Celestial Marching Band formed at the end of last year, consisting of 160 Falun Gong practitioners. Around half of the members of the Band performed in Prague. The organisers of the event expressed their opinion that political activists in other countries and the Czech Republic should speak out and oppose the violating of human rights in China.

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Comet 17P/Holmes has brightened nearly a million times in the past 2 days and can be seen as a point of light with the naked eyes in Perseus.

October 24, 2007
A nearly unprecedented outburst has raised Comet 17P/Holmes from a 17th-magnitude object visible only through large telescopes into plain view without optical aid. The comet lies in Perseus the Hero and will remain visible all night from most of the Northern Hemisphere.

(Total Story:Astronomy)

Amazing! The comet is so bright that I had to do a short exposure not getting the comet overexposured in the photo! A really surprise!

(Total Story:Comet 17P/Holmes Photo Galllery)

E. Holmes (London, England) was a regular observer of the Andromeda galaxy (M31), so he knew the region very well. On the evening of 1892 November 6, with skies that were not very favorable, he finished making a few observations of Jupiter and some double stars with his 32-cm reflector, and then decided to take a quick look at the faint companions of Mu Andromedae and the nearby galaxy M31 before quitting for the night.

(Total Story: C&MS 17P/Holmes)

By Jason Loftus and Joan Delaney

Epoch Times Toronto and Victoria Staff

Nov 21, 2007

CBC Newsworld aired a highly anticipated documentary on the persecution of Falun Gong Tuesday night following a media storm over the controversial pulling of the film two weeks ago.

CBC admitted that it pulled Beyond the Red Wall: The Persecution of Falun Gong , five hours before it was to air on Nov. 6 after being contacted by the Chinese embassy in Ottawa. CBC denied it was giving in to Chinese pressure. Some segments of the film dealing with reports of organ harvesting against Falun Gong practitioners by the Chinese authorities were removed, as well as some of the strongest statements regarding the Beijing Olympics. CBC holds the rights to broadcast those Games in Canada.

However, human rights lawyer Clive Ansley, who appears in Red Wall , says that while the impact of the film was "blunted to some extent" by omitting these segments, it was still "very hard-hitting."

"It's probably the first exposure most people have ever had to this issue, and think most Canadians will be shocked and will have heard things they haven't heard before." Ansley says he regrets the CBC "took things out that would have added to the film," including his quote comparing the Beijing Olympics to Hitler's 1936 Berlin Games. "That particular quotation was innocuous really except that it was one of the most upsetting things to Beijing because it dealt with the Olympics."

The Epoch Times learned Monday that CBC reporters in Beijing had also been pestered about the documentary, which details the harsh persecution suffered by Falun Gong practitioners at the hands of the Chinese authorities. The edited version of Red Wall aired on CBC Newsworld's documentary program The Lens. The program bills itself as a platform for independent documentaries with independent perspectives.

However, although the documentary was still highly critical of the persecution of Falun Gong, CBC editors appear to have made a number of changes to the original version of the film circulated to media weeks ago. That version of the film had been approved by CBC editors and lawyers, and has already been shown in French Canada, New Zealand and Spain. Lucy Zhou, spokesperson for the Falun Dafa Association of Canada (FDAC), says that while FDAC is pleased the CBC aired a film that will help Canadians understand the realities of the persecution, the group regrets the "watering down" of certain segments.

"We are disappointed the CBC made cuts in three important areas: the self immolation, the organ harvesting, and the message that the Olympics and crimes against humanity cannot coexist."

"We still hope the CBC will have the courage-in spite of intimidation from the Chinese Communist Party-to air the producer's independent work one day," says Zhou. More details to follow.

Posting date: 11/21/2007
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