--Canada's Olympic broadcaster pulls film on Falun Gong after Chinese embassy complaint

By Joan Delaney and Matthew Little - Epoch Times Victoria and Winnipeg Staff


Filmmaker Peter Rowe gathering footage for his documentary Beyond the Red Wall at World Falun Dafa Day activities in Toronto, Canada, in May, 2005. (Jan Jekielek/The Epoch Times)

A CBC documentary about human rights abuses in China has been pulled from Canadian airwaves after the Chinese embassy put pressure on the nation's broadcaster.

"I'm pretty sure Stephen Harper is not happy about this," a government official said on condition of anonymity. "Last week, the prime minister stands up to Chinese threats and meets with the Dalai Lama. This week, the CBC kowtows to Chinese threats and brings Chinese-style censorship to Canada--one day after Harper's hand-picked CBC president is announced."

Peter Rowe, who wrote, directed, and produced Beyond the Red Wall: The Persecution of Falun Gong for CBC, said he received a surprise call Tuesday from CBC just hours before the program was to air.

"They said they had some bad news, and they were sorry but the film wasn't going to be shown," said Rowe.

Jeff Keay, CBC's head of media relations English communications, admitted a cultural representative in Ottawa's Chinese embassy had called CBC within the last week to complain about the film. Days later, the film was pulled.

CBC editors and lawyers approved the documentary in March. It aired last week in French Canada and has also been shown in Spain, Portugal, and New Zealand, with Ireland soon to follow.

Rowe questions why the film should be revised for English Canadian viewers.

"When you have a decision at the 11th hour like this you've got to wonder if it's a rational, measured decision about the quality of the film, or if it's a reaction to pressure."

CBC has denied it is giving into pressure from the Chinese regime.

"I wouldn't put it that way," Keay says. But Rowe says CBC editors asked him to change segments of the film that are particularly sensitive to the Chinese authorities.

One such segment deals with reports that the Chinese communist regime has been killing Falun Gong believers for their organs and selling the organs for profit, some to foreigners.

In the film, Rowe interviews former Canadian parliamentarian David Kilgour who together with human rights lawyer David Matas has investigated the organ harvesting claims.

Their report, released last year, confirmed the practice is taking place.

Rowe says CBC also asked for edits to a segment of the film that discredits an alleged "self-immolation" incident. In January of 2001, several people set themselves on fire in Beijing's Tiananmen Square.

The Chinese authorities widely propagated footage of the incident, claiming the immolators to be Falun Gong practitioners and alleging that Falun Gong had led them to burn themselves. The footage has been one of the regime's greatest justifications for its now-seven-year persecution of the group.

An analysis of the self-immolation video in Rowe's film supports that the incident was staged by the Chinese communists.

Cutting such content would amount to censorship, believes Rabbi Reuven Bulka, a doctor and co-president of the Canadian Jewish Congress. Bulka has supported investigation into the persecution of Falun Gong in China.

"Those things are true," said Bulka. "If you take that out you are not going to have an honest picture of what is going on."

Viewers in French Canada who saw the documentary said it offered information on a topic not often covered in mainstream media.

Ginette Collin, a 63-year-old nurse in Edmundston, New Brunswick, saw the documentary in French recently on RDI Reportage.

"It is very well done to the tee and a current topic, especially in the run-up to the Olympics," said Collin. "I had no idea that they were doing this and if it's true it's a real butchery, and I think that the people should boycott the Olympics."

Last week, Rowe had praised the CBC--Canada's broadcaster for the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing--for its courage to cover the persecution of Falun Gong despite its interests in China.

This week, he's wondering if his film will ever air on the CBC's national network, let alone CBC Newsworld.

CBC said it still intends to broadcast Beyond the Red Wall, but so far has given no date.

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I was held several times in the Changchun No. 1 Detention Centre for informing people about the true nature of Falun Gong and the persecution. One of the tactics officials in these detention centres use on detainees, including Falun Gong practitioners, is "sleep torture."

According to detention centre regulations, a 25-watt light bulb in each cell stays lit 24 hours a day. Detainees are ordered to go to bed at 7:00 p.m. and get up at 7:00 a.m.

One key element of "sleep torture" is packing the inmates together tightly. Detainees are only permitted to wear their shorts and are compelled to lie on their sides, each one holding the ankles of the person in front him. This means that each person has someone else's feet on either side of his head. When the cell heads are still not satisfied, they hit the detainees with their shoes and kick them hard while yelling out, "Get moving and get closer!" Once I was made to lie down close to an inmate who had a festering sore the size of a pigeon egg on the back of his leg. It is common for inmates to develop scabies or contagious skin diseases in China's detention centres. On another occasion, we were squeezed so tightly together that I had a bad pain in my ribs for days. The inmates would often end up fighting with one another for space. If someone needed to go to the toilet during the night (with permission from the guards), he would find it nearly impossible to squeeze back into his original place.

After we are packed into these positions, four or five of us would have to share one quilt, using a second one as our mattress underneath. These quilts have not been washed for a long time. They are extremely filthy, and the cotton padding is threadbare in many places. Lice are crawling all over these quilts.

There are mosquitoes in the detention centre all year round. Some cell heads order others to drive off the mosquitoes while they sleep. If the cell heads get bitten, they would beat people violently.

When we were asleep, our feet and ankles were always exposed. We often caught colds and had pain in the abdominal area. If you happened to lie down where two quilts were supposed to connect, then you would no doubt be cold. Ordinary detainees had to sleep while packed against each other, while the cell heads each had a one-metre-wide space, and each of them had two to four layers of quilts. The quilts they used were warm and clean. There were usually five to six such cell heads in each cell.

After the detainees were packed in, they often still could not fall asleep right away because of hunger pangs. The small corn flour steamed buns and the tiny bit of vegetable soup with hardly any cooking oil in it had long been digested. In addition, the five or six cell heads would sit around and enjoy a hearty meal. They would eat and chat loudly until after midnight, and only then could people have some quiet.

Close to 6:00 a.m. when people were still sleeping, the person on duty would yell, "Get up!" Then everyone had to quickly get up, pick up their clothes that had been rolled up to serve as a pillow, jump up, and then squat. Two people on duty would then fold up the quilts. The cell heads could sleep for another hour.

Sometimes during the night when people were asleep, the metal door would make a noise. Whenever this happened, the cell heads would become excited, as they knew a new detainee had arrived for them to abuse.

Generally, the newcomer would be ordered to strip naked to check for contraband, even though he had already been checked a number of times earlier. Then the cell heads would pull the newcomer to the toilet and pour several basins of cold water on him. This was done regardless of the season. Afterwards, the heads would beat the newcomer violently before ordering him to squeeze into the middle of the tightly packed people on the floor.

Some detainees had connections who had secured good treatment for them. The guards would tell the cell heads to leave these people alone, while normal detainees were beaten without mercy, under the guards' full knowledge.

Sometimes, the guards would be told to try to get confessions from detainees. In such cases, the guard would call the cell heads to his office to give them instructions before he left his shift. At around 7:00 p.m. the cell would turn into a violent interrogation room. Some victims had their heads bashed against a wall; some had their eyeballs flicked forcefully; others were violently kicked in the back; some were deprived of sleep throughout the night and then forced to bend over, with the backs of their heads against a wall and their arms stretched out to the sides.

Because the Falun Gong practitioners had informed people about the true nature of Falun Gong, most inmates who had learned the facts would not do such cruel things to practitioners. They knew that the practitioners did not commit any crimes, and that the guards tortured the practitioners many times more brutally than themselves.

When I was detained there the first time, the police from the No.1 division of the city police department colluded with detention centre officials and tried to use the criminals to make me talk. However, because the cell head knew about Falun Gong, he did not hurt me and even shared his food with me. When we were forced to sit on a bench, he asked me to sit in front of him and passed me a newspaper to read after he had finished with it. When it was time to sleep, he asked me to sleep in a special place. Later on, many inmates became respectful of Falun Gong practitioners, saying that they would also start practising Falun Gong after they were released. During the day, when I sat on a bench, some of them near me learned how to do the sitting meditation.

When I was detained there the second, third, and fourth times, I was covered with injuries from torture. The fourth time I was detained there, I was bleeding from severe injuries, which even shocked the cell heads. They said, "The guards would not torture even a murderer like this." "We are all from Changchun. Don't they care how they would feel when they bump into you again in the future?" "When I get out and do big things, I will employ Falun Gong practitioners. They are capable, sincere, and honest." Some inmates simply shouted, "Falun Gong is great!" Each time I was detained, there were inmates who learned to recite Falun Gong poems.

When I was brought in one night, a cell head ordered me to squeeze into the middle of the packed inmates. He asked about the injuries on my hands and legs and said viciously that he would "deal with me" the next day. The next day, when he saw me on a hunger strike, he came up and beat me violently. When I had difficulty walking, he said that I was putting on a show and began beating me and pulling me along. He physically abused me for a few days. When he saw that he could not get me to change my mind, he changed his tactics, telling other inmates to kneel down to feed me milk made from powder.

Later, the police dispatched a special agent. He was just over 20 years old and looked rather good-natured. When it was time to sleep, the cell head arranged for the two of us to sleep near him so that we would have more room. We were also allowed to chat freely. For the next few days I conducted myself well and did not fall into their trap. I could tell that he was a police agent, and he could not get anything from me. Instead, I took the opportunity to explain the facts about Falun Gong to him. It went on like this for several days. Gradually he lost patience and left.

The second time I was detained there, I was force-fed with corn paste mixed with a large amount of salt. Five inmates did this under instructions from the guards. I almost choked to death during the process.

Using criminal detainees to persecute Falun Gong practitioners is just one of the Chinese Communist Party's (CCP) tactics. Especially during the night when the guards have gone home and there are only a few on duty, the criminal inmates are even more vicious in carrying out their persecution.

Chinese version available

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By Luona and Xinyu in Sydney, Australia

(Clearwisdom.net) At a press conference in front of the New South Wales Supreme Court in Sydney on November 7, 2007, Falun Gong practitioners announced that the Supreme Court of NSW had issued a default judgment on November 5, recognizing that the defendant, Chinese Minister of Commerce Bo Xilai, had failed to provide a defense for the case brought against him by Mr. Pan Yu. The judgment was in favor of the plaintiff, Falun Gong practitioner Pan Yu.


Plaintiff Pan Yu's legal assistant Newton Xu and witness Ms. Liu Yaqin display the verdict issued by the Supreme Court of NSW

Pan Yu's legal assistant, Newton Xu, showed the verdict that was issued by the Supreme Court of NSW. He said that the court made a default judgment against the defendant, Bo Xilai. The court ruled that plaintiff Pan Yu had won the case, and that he may ask for compensation for injuries caused by the defendant. Mr. Newton stated that for the next step he will assist the plaintiff in preparing additional information, and submit it to the court. This will require Bo Xilai to pay compensation for the plaintiff's tremendous physical and mental suffering caused by the persecution of Falun Gong. The court will issue the final amount Bo Xilai will have to pay.

When the Chinese Minister of Commerce Bo Xilai accompanied Hu Jintao to Australia for the Asia-Pacific Summit on September 4, 2007, he was served a summons in person at his hotel the first day he arrived in Canberra, the capital of Australia. When the court opened for a hearing on October 8, it accepted the testimony submitted by the plaintiff's lawyer, but Bo Xilai did not appear in court, nor send a lawyer on his behalf. The court then ruled against Bo Xilai in the second hearing held on November 5.

The Supreme Court of NSW's judgment against Bo Xilai has a profound meaning

The legal assistant of the plaintiff, Newton Xu, believes that the victory in this case has significant meaning. China's legal system is unable to provide people with a guarantee of their basic rights, while in Australia and other democratic countries, this is the court's basic duty; the court is a symbol of justice and fairness. This case can also encourage more people in China to seek their basic human rights. Bo Xilai is the highest ranking Chinese Communist Party official to be found guilty in an overseas lawsuit. This case also serves as a potent reminder to other CCP officials who have participated in the persecution of Falun Gong.

That the defendant Bo Xilai was served a summons but did not dare to appear in court or make any response shows that he is very clear about his active role in the persecution of Falun Gong, that it is against the law and a violation of human rights. If he were to respond, he would have to submit to the court's cross-examination, and accept the verdict. Mr. Newton stated that attempts by high-ranking officials who participated in the persecution to evade trial will fail, and that they will not escape just punishment. Today's judgment against Bo Xilai is a good example.


Falun Gong practitioner Pan Yu who sued Chinese Minister of Commerce for torture

Plaintiff Pan Yu said in an interview that he was very pleased about winning the case. He thanked the Australian court for upholding justice and issuing a judgment against the criminal. He believed that this showed that the CCP's persecution of Falun Gong is against the people's will, and has roused indignation of the world's people. A very recent open letter was addressed to Hu Jintao and Wen Jiabao by a standing member of Anhui Province's Political Consultative Commission, Wang Zhaojun. It requested political reform, and called for an end to the persecution of Falun Gong; this also shows that people have a sense of natural justice.

NSW Falun Dafa Association President Ms. Zhao said that the verdict is encouraging. This is the first example in which an Australian court made a judgment in favor of Falun Gong practitioners regarding the crimes committed by the CCP officials in the persecution of Falun Gong. This will play a positive role in pushing forward other lawsuits filed by other Falun Gong practitioners in Australia, such as the lawsuit against Jiang Zemin, the lawsuit against the secretary of the Guangdong Provincial Party Committee Zhang Dejiang, and the lawsuit against Chen Shaoji. In addition, the victory in this case is also encouraging to millions of Falun Gong practitioners suffering persecution inside China. At the same time, she hoped that this case will also serve as a timely warning to police officers and government officials who continue persecuting Falun Gong in China. She hoped that they will stop their crimes before it is too late.

Spokesperson for the NSW Falun Dafa Association John Deller said the case helps more people learn what Falun Gong is and therefore understand the CCP's real purpose in the persecution of Falun Gong.

Bo Xilai, active accomplice of Jiang in the persecution of Falun Gong, has committed numerous crimes


Mr. Deller said that Bo Xilai has committed numerous crimes in the persecution of Falun Gong

He pointed out at the press conference that when Bo was Governor of Liaoning Province, he actively participated in and implemented the genocidal persecution of Falun Gong. Pan Yu was detained at the Longshan Forced Labor Camp in Liaoning Province in 2000 for practicing Falun Gong. During the detention, he suffered all kinds of physical torture and mental torment. On one occasion, the policemen fully charged the electric batons to 40,000 volts and shocked him continuously for around 10 minutes. He was mentally devastated, and nearly lost his life.

When Chinese Minister of Commerce Bo Xilai worked as Deputy Secretary of Liaoning Provincial Party Committee, Governor of Liaoning Province, former secretary of the Dalian City Party Committee and Dalian Mayor, he controlled and directed the persecution of Falun Gong, making Liaoning Province one of the provinces where the persecution of Falun Gong was the most severe. As of April 19, 2004, verified by the international human rights organizations, the number of Falun Gong practitioners who have died as a result of the persecution in Liaoning Province was 103, ranking No. 4 across China.

In his role as governor, Bo Xilai actively built large-scale prison facilities and employed extremely brutal and inhumane methods to brainwash and persecute Falun Gong practitioners.


Witness Liu Shuqin in the lawsuit against Bo Xilai

One of the witnesses, Falun Gong practitioner Ms. Liu Shuqin from Dalian, Liaoning Province, said at the press conference that she personally witnessed many of the crimes committed by Bo Xilai, who has been actively participating in the persecution of Falun Gong. Ms. Liu was arrested and detained numerous times after July 1999 for practicing Falun Gong. She was also illegally sentenced to two years of forced labor. When she was detained at the Dalian Forced Labor Camp, she suffered both physical torture and mental torment, including being forced to give up her belief in Falun Gong. She was incarcerated in a small cell for seven consecutive days, and forced to do slave labor to make products for export overseas. She and other Falun Gong practitioners were forced to have their blood tested, a procedure used by the CCP to select victims for live organ harvesting.

The people are against the persecution, and support the lawsuit against chief culprit, Bo Xilai

During the press conference, Australians who saw the banners which were imprinted with messages and displayed outside the court, stopped to watch from the side, and carefully read the truth clarifying material distributed to them. Many people expressed their feelings against the Chinese Communist regime's brutal persecution of Falun Gong practitioners, and voiced their support for the lawsuit against Bo Xilai.

One Falun Gong practitioner who was handing out materials at the time met a friend from Shanghai. This man was very curious about the press conference outside the Supreme Court, and expressed his gratitude upon discovering that Bo Xilai had lost the case. He felt the persecution was wrong to begin with, and it was a very good move to sue Bo and those who played a main role in the persecution. Recently he had also read about the open letter addressed to Hu Jintao from Wang Zhaojun, that called for an end to the persecution of Falun Gong. He said that this showed righteous people inside China have gradually become more willing to speak out.

One cannot escape the condemnation of justice, Investigations and lawsuits follow the will of people and the heavens

Spokesperson for the New South Wales Falun Dafa Association, Mr John Deller said, Bo Xilai has committed serious crimes in the persecution of Falun Gong. He faces lawsuits from Falun Gong practitioners not only in Australia, but in more than ten countries including America, Canada, Spain, New Zealand, Switzerland, Germany, Ireland, Russia, and South Korea. The atrocious crimes he has committed have caused him to be unwelcome in many places of the world.

According to reliable sources, there are forty-seven lawsuits worldwide against Chinese Communist government officials for their roles in the persecution of Falun Gong. Aside from the recent judgment on Bo Xilai in Australia, a number of other lawsuits have been judged in favor of Falun Gong practitioners; these include, lawsuits in America against the Mayor of Beijing, Liu Qi, former deputy mayor of Liaoning Province, Xia Deren, former Minister for Public Security in Hubei Province, Zhao Zhifei, and a lawsuit in Canada against Toronto Chief Consular of the Chinese Embassy, Pan Xinchun, for the crime of libel.

President of the New South Wales Falun Dafa Association, Ms Zhao, hopes these lawsuits will remind people to keep a watchful eye on the severity of the persecution of Falun Gong by the Chinese Communist Regime. She also hopes more and more people will come to understand the truth of the persecution, and stand together to end these crimes of genocide. She feels the main culprits who instigated this large-scale persecution campaign, including Jiang Zemin, Luo Gan, Liu Jing, Zhou Yongkang, and those officials who closely follow the orders of Jiang Zemin, such as Bo Xilai, will be unable to escape history's judgment.

Posting date: 11/8/2007
Original article date: 11/8/2007
Category: News & Media Reports
Chinese version available

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By a practitioner from Italy

On October 25th and 27th 2007, the Coalition to Investigate Persecution of Falun Gong (CIPFG) held two rallies in Rome and Turin to support the Human Rights Torch Relay.

The Human Rights Torch Relay, organized by the Coalition to Investigate the Persecution of Falun Gong (CIPFG), was launched on August 9th 2007 in Athens, Greece. Its purpose is to raise awareness of the persecution of Falun Gong in China as it goes through 150 cities in 37 countries.

The rally was supported by the Roman government. On the morning of October 25th, representatives of CIPFG submitted an appeal letter to the Italian Olympic Committee. Representatives talked to the officials of the Olympic Committee, and clarified the purposes of the Human Rights Torch Relay.

CIPFG also submitted materials to the Holy See, the Italian Prime Minister, President and Congress.

At 3:00pm, CIPFG held a press conference. Senator Sergio D'elia, the chair of Hands Off Cain, Antonello Brandi, the chair of the Italian Labour Camp Foundation, representatives from Tibetan Association and representatives from the Falun Dafa Association gave speeches. Three senators sent letters of support to the rally. More than 20 non-governmental organizations attended the rally.

Senator Sergio D'elia stated that the rally was very important because it let people in the free world know what is happening in China. He said that one of the reasons that human rights violations take place in China is because the international community doesn't pay enough attention to them. He pointed out that what we need to do is to let the free world know what is going on and then ask them to exert pressure on the dictators.

A similar rally was held on October 27 in Turin, Italy. Claudio Tecchio, the representative from the Cisl Union, and senator Lucio Malan attended the rally and gave speeches. They condemned the persecution and called on the Chinese government to respect human rights. Senator Malan proposed a resolution which would require the Italian media to report on human rights issues in China when reporting on the 2008 Olympics.

The 17th Olympic Games were held in Rome and the Winter Olympics of 2006 were held in Turin.

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Published: Monday 5th November 2007