Falun
Gong is freely practiced in more than 50 countries around the world, but
relentlessly persecuted in China. The peaceful courage of practitioners there
has shocked their oppressors and moved the people of the world. While China
continues to block all information, FGMtv brings you the stories you may not
hear anywhere else.
Hello,
and welcome to FGMtv on February 12th, 2002.
I’m
Susan Mitchell.
Our
top story this week:
·
Beijing authorities expel 59 Falun Gong practitioners from
many countries after they shout 'Falun Gong' is good in Tiananmen Square.
And
some of our other stories:
·
Photos and stories from the 59 people from countries other
than China who were detained in Tiananmen Square
·
How Chinese practitioners went to Tiananmen Square and
returned home safely
·
Human Rights Watch Report on Falun Gong Exposes China's
Brutal 2.5-Year Terror Campaign. 117-Page Report Details China's Tactics of
Violence and Slander
In
this week's update from China:
·
Luo Gan, in charge of the persecution against Falun
Gong, is shocked to see Falun Dafa practitioners in Tiananmen Square on January
1st.
·
Details of authorities committing theft against a
43-year-old
·
Those who tortured others are suffering and dying
·
Daqing Petroleum Research company severely persecutes
employees who practice Falun Gong
and
finally…
·
Traffic police want to practice Falun Gong after seeing
survivors of a traffic accident
According
to a statement issued by Chinese authorities, everyone who was arrested in
Tiananmen Square was treated humanely.
·
Here's a photo of Los Angeles' practitioner Mark Gardner
with his black eye after receiving 'humane' treatment by Beijing police.
"I was trying to say 'Falun Gong is good,' but they kept hitting me over
and over again," he said.
·
24-year-old Court Pearman from Orlando, Florida arrived in
Detroit shoeless, dirty and
bruised. There were no buttons left on his stained white shirt. Pearman was
also left with a large scratch on his lower back after being tackled and beaten
repeatedly by Chinese authorities.
·
Many of the 25 who were flown to Detroit from Beijing were
literally kicked onto the plane without luggage, money, passports or tickets
for connecting flights. Said Keith Ware, of Washington, D.C., "It scared
the other passengers. It was unnecessary."
·
Ware continued, "We went to let the Chinese people know
... that Falun Gong is practiced openly in many countries. The Chinese
government tells their citizens that it's persecuted around the world."
·
Chinese officials insisted the tourists weren't prisoners
but guests – even though they were locked into filthy prison cells in police
stations. Ware said, "We were hostages."
·
Authorities offered food and water, but no one was allowed
to call their Embassy. Personal items were also stolen by police. These
included cell phones, cameras, pagers,Palm Pilots, and more than a thousand
dollars cash.
Western
Practitioners were caught and detained, but Chinese practitioners returned home
safely
·
Many journalists have asked practitioners why they would go
to Tiananmen Square when they know they would be arrested. Most have replied
that they didn't expect to be arrested, or didn't think about that aspect of
their appeal. They said they wanted to go to let Chinese people know the truth:
that the propaganda being spread by their government under Jiang Zemin's
personal orders is false.
·
There have been many reports of Chinese practitioners going
to Tiananmen Square, unfurling banners and/or shouting out short messages, and
returning safely to their homes.
·
Minghui Net, the Chinese-language Web site that publishes
personal stories of Falun Dafa practitioners, recently received this account.
·
8 people from one city were not questioned either while
travelling, while walking through the Square, or while shouting their messages:
"Falun Dafa is Good! Restore the reputation of our righteous
Teacher!" They all returned safely to their homes.
FGMtv
interviewed two of the Toronto Falun Gong practitioners on their return from
Beijing.
Adrian
Sturdze thinks he suffered broken ribs after police stomped all over him. He
now has difficulty breathing.
David
Thomkinson was treated better because he did not resist arrest, even though he
had done nothing wrong.
On
Chinese New Year, many beautiful performances were held. Here are some photos
from an event in New Zealand.
Human Rights
Watch Report on Falun Gong Exposes China's Brutal 2.5-Year Terror Campaign.
·
In a press statement available on the Human Rights Watch Web
site, Sidney Jones, executive director of the Asia division of Human Rights
Watch was quoted as saying, "The charge that Falun Gong threatens the
stability of China does not hold up.... Its claim that belief in Falun Gong is
a public health menace is equally bogus. The danger to health comes from the
treatment its practitioners receive at the hands of the police and prison
officials."
·
Human Rights Watch also urged multinational corporations to
avoid complicity in human rights abuses by preventing the dismissal of workers
whom local cadres have accused of Falun Gong membership. It also urged the
international community to speak out against China's human rights record,
including its treatment of Falun Gong practitioners, through a resolution at
the meeting of the UN Commission on Human Rights beginning in Geneva March 16,
2002.
On February 7,
2002, to celebrate the first "Wuhan City Falun Dafa Day," Falun Dafa
practitioners hung over 100 banners along the highway from Wuhan City to Gedian
City as well as in small towns along the highway
Approximately
10,000 self-sticking messages were also posted along streets or roads in the
three suburbs of Wuhan City. Some of the messages read, "Abolish the
"610 Office" and "Bring Jiang Zemin and Luo Gan to
Justice."
·
The police told a Falun Dafa practitioner at Miyun County
Detention Center that Luo Gan, went to Tiananmen Square on the morning of
January 1st, 2002. He was very shocked to see that practitioners
were still holding banners in the Square after 2 ½ years of persecution.
·
Forty-three year old Ms. Jingyun Liu, lives in Nanqingtuo
Village, Xiaozhanggezhuang Town, Fengrun County of Hebei Province.
·
On June 27, 2000, she went to Beijing to appeal and was
detained for 40 days.
·
Within a month, her house was ransacked and all of her
valuable appliances and furniture were taken away. The person primarily
responsible for the theft was Alcalde Dong.
·
On December 24, 2001, her home was ransacked again, and authorities stole personal possessions
worth 5,800 Yuan. Her monthly salary is about 500 Yuan.
Many
Chinese authorities who have inflicted tremendous suffering on Falun Gong
practitioners are now suffering themselves. Some are dying suddenly …
·
Fifty-year-old
Mr. Guozhong Yang, secretary of the Political and Judiciary Committee in Nanming District of Guiyang City in
Guizhou Province, is in charge of illegal brainwashing classes there where
practitioners are tortured.
·
At the end of November, 2001 he paid a visit to each work
unit and threatened, "Even if you only have one person practicing Falun
Gong in your work unit, it does not matter how excellent your work performances
are, you cannot pass the test."
·
A few days later, Mr. Yang fell when he was playing
basketball and died instantly.
Daqing
Petroleum Research Company severely persecutes those employees who practice
Falun Gong.
·
Many work units across China are intimately involved in the
persecution of Falun Gong.
·
FGMtv recently received a report from an anonymous employee
of the Petroleum Research Company of Daqing Oil Field that employs 200 people.
·
He details how practitioners there have been demoted, fined
many thousands of Yuan, forced to undergo re-training, sent to labour camps,
and forced to pay airfare for themselves and others when being transported home
from Beijing under illegal arrest.
·
Although this is not good news, it is encouraging to know
that more people are stepping forward to let the world know about illegal
persecution in their own areas.
·
The anonymous reporter also provided names and telephone
numbers of the Party Secretary, Mr. Yubin Sun, and the factory director, Mr. Gang Wang, who were responsible for
the persecution. These numbers are on your screen if you wish to telephone and
express your opinions about their illegal activities.
·
A few months ago, my friend's entire family--five people in
three generations--were driving from Shenzhen City to Guangzhou City for their
vacation.
·
Suddenly, one of the wheels came off while the car was
moving at a very high speed on the highway. The car went out of control and
eventually came to a stop.
·
When police arrived to write up a report on the accident,
they were really surprised that nobody had been hurt, even though the car was
badly damaged.
·
My friend told the police: "My wife practices Falun
Gong. When one practices, everybody in the family benefits." The traffic
police were shocked and said: "That's incredible! We want to practice
Falun Gong, too."