Canada Once Again Addresses the Persecution of Falun Gong During United Nations Human Rights Council Meeting

October 27, 2013 | By Minghui correspondent Yingzi in Ottawa, Canada

(Minghui.org) The 17^th session of the Human Rights Council’s Universal Periodic Review (UPR) Working Group was held in Geneva on October 21, 2013, and will continue until November 1, 2013. China’s human rights record was reviewed on October 22.

Representatives from nearly 20 countries brought up the issue of China’s human rights during the three-hour session. Representative from Canada once again addressed the persecution of religious beliefs, including Falun Gong in China.

Canadian representative (1^st from right) speaks in the UN human rights meeting held on October 22, 2013 (network screenshot)

Andrew Bennett (middle), ambassador for Canada’s Office of Religious Freedom, has a photo taken with Falun Gong practitioners

All UN member states receive a universal periodic review (UPR) once every four to five years. During this meeting, each representative from several dozen countries was allotted 50 seconds to comment on China’s human rights report. Representatives from nearly 20 countries addressed China’s human rights issues. These countries included the United States, Canada, Germany, Sweden, Switzerland, Denmark, Japan, Finland, Poland, Norway, France, the United Kingdom, Italy and New Zealand.

Canada Mentions the Persecution of Falun Gong Once Again

Representative from Canada once again mentioned China’s persecution of religious beliefs. The issue was last mentioned during the 2009 UPR meeting.

The Canadian representative hopes that the Chinese government will take the following actions:

• Take steps to ensure lawyers and individuals working to advance human rights can practice their profession freely, including promptly investigating allegations of violence and intimidation impeding their work.

• Stop the prosecution and persecution of people for practicing their religion or belief including Catholics, other Christians, Tibetans, Uyghurs, and Falun Gong, and set a date for the visit of the Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief.

• Release all people being held in administrative detention for political reasons including bishops, priests, artists, reporters, dissidents, people working to advance human rights, and their family members, and eliminate extra-judicial measures such as forced disappearances.

• Accelerate reform of the administrative justice system so that all persons have access to legal procedures of appeal.

Four years ago, during the UPR meeting which examined China’s human rights record in the United Nations, Representative from Canada stated, “Canada is deeply concerned about reports of arbitrary detention of ethnic minority members, including Tibetans, Uyghurs and Mongols, as well as religious believers, including Falun Gong practitioners, without information about their charges, their location and wellbeing.”

For more detailed information on Canada’s concern over the persecution of Falun Gong in previous years, please read:

Canada Expresses Concern Over the Persecution of Falun Gong During UN Human Rights Council Meeting

Chinese version available

Category: Support/Recognition

The Persecution of Falun Gong: A Broad and Systematic Issue that Matters to Americans

(Minghui.org)

Greg Autry, author of Death by China, speaks to a crowd of over 3,000 at a public rally in Los Angeles on October 20, 2013.

Greg Autry, renowned entrepreneur, writer and educator, shared his insights about the persecution of Falun Gong and China at a public rally on October 20, 2013 in Long Beach, California.

Mr. Autry illustrated how the persecution of Falun Gong is a broad, systematic issue that affects Americans, the American economy, and the rest of the Western world.

The following is the transcript of his speech:

Thank you. I’m glad to be here today. What a beautiful day it is to be out here in a free country, expressing our first amendment rights to say what we want, to tell the truth, and to not be persecuted.

I’d like to talk not just to the Falun Gong [practitioners] here and the people who have suffered persecution in China, but to the other Americans who I hope are taking the time to know what’s going on here and get a better understanding of what’s happening in China.

I have spent a great deal of my time looking into this issue.

And I want to say to you that it matters to you more than just what’s happening to these people.

This is a broad, systematic issue.

The fact that the Chinese government is unethical, and so unethical that it would persecute people, place them in prison for their peaceful religious beliefs, and then execute them and sell their organs for profit is indicative of the systematic problem in China.

This is the way that regime works.

This unethical regime threatens not just the Falun Gong, and not just many other people in China including Christians, Uighur and Muslims, and of course the country of Tibet which is being subject to a slow-motion genocide, it threatens you too.

Because the instruments of repression the Chinese government uses to keep its foot down on the Falun Gong and on the other peoples of China are the same tools that it is exporting around the world to increase its influence at great risk to the American economy and to the rest of the Western world.

They are using the cyber espionage that they have developed internally and the tools of fear, political and thought manipulation to influence the way we think about China and perceive China in the world.

I want to congratulate the politicians who have taken the time to be here from the City of Long Beach for supporting this because there’s a great deal of pressure that gets placed on American politicians to not associate themselves with the Falun Gong or any criticism of China.

Because they will give you this impression that there is something special and delicate about the Chinese government and it can’t handle any criticism. It can never be criticized.

This is the first indication of an organization that is corrupt if it’s unwilling to accept any criticism.

When we allow the Chinese to manipulate our political process and they do this both directly with pressure on state, municipal and federal government, and through our major corporations who are making a great deal of profit by exploiting the Chinese workers and the Chinese environment to increase their quarterly profits, we give up our own freedom.

We cannot allow that to happen in the United States. This needs to be a place where people from all over the world can come to seek refuge and to find freedom. The Falun Gong members are perfect examples of this.

I am not a Falun Gong practitioner. But I can tell you that in the many years that I have spoken with Falun Gong [practitioners], I have never met with anybody who did not treat me with dignity, respect and sincerity.

This is the difference. If you go to China today and you meet with members of the communist party, they will treat Westerners with a great deal of respect, but there is no sincerity.

And you can feel the difference. You are being lied to, you are being manipulated, in order for them to increase their political power and wealth. This has to stop. We as Americans need to stand up for the truth.

Thank you very much for having me here today.

Category: Opinion & Perspective

Four Practitioners Tortured in the Qianjin Forced Labor Camp (Photo)

October 27, 2013 | By a practitioner in Heilongjiang Province, China

(Minghui.org) Ms. Xu Ying, Ms. Tian Qingling, Ms. Lin Peiyu, and Ms. Wang Dongli were among the Falun Gong practitioners tortured at the Qianjin Forced Labor Camp in Harbin City, Heilongjiang Province. The persecution intensified once they were transferred from Ward No. 1 to Ward No. 2 in late May 2012.

The following is a personal account of Ms. Xu Ying:

We decided to protest against the persecution by refusing to get water. Another practitioner poured a cup of water for us, but captain Zhou Muqi poured it out to prevent us from drinking it.

The next morning, we were not allowed to clean ourselves and brush our teeth, so we decided to go on a hunger strike.

Four days later, we refused to wear the prison uniform. The section manager ordered us to abide by the prison rules, but we refused. That night, the guards separated us and deprived us of sleep.

Tortured on the Iron Chair

I was forced to stand for the entire night. Captain Zhou Lifan and guards Cong Zhili and Li took turns monitoring me. However, I was able to sleep for one hour when Cong Zhili was on duty.

The next day, Ms. Lin Peiyu and I were tied to an iron chair.

Torture re-enactment: Iron chair

My hands and feet were cuffed to the chair. My body was secured tightly to the chair so that I could not move. When I moved, the handcuffs tightened and injured my wrists.

Zhou Muqi beat me four to five times. She tightened the handcuffs before she began to beat me. Then, she grabbed my hair and slapped my face. I couldn’t move throughout the beatings. She hit my face about five times, which resulted in swelling.

Ms. Tian Qingling was put in solitary confinement and force-fed. Ms. Wang Dongli stopped protesting and went back to work in the workshop.

Deprived of Sleep

Our restroom visits were curtailed: The first restroom visit was at 8 a.m. and the second one was at 8 p.m.

We were also deprived of sleep. Two inmates were assigned to monitor us during the day, and the guards monitored us during the night to prevent us from closing our eyes.

Because the light was dim in my cell, the guards could not see me clearly from the monitoring room. Guards Huo Shuping, Zhou Muqi, and Zhou Lifan set up a bright light that shone directly into my eyes. The minute I closed my eyes, they threatened me.

On the forth day, they threatened to put me in solitary confinement if I didn’t comply with them. Because I hadn’t slept for four days, I agreed to stop my protest.

Ms. Lin Peiyu refused to comply with the guards’ wishes and was held in solitary confinement for another day.

We were still forced to do all kinds of slave labor at the camp.

Chinese version available

Category: Accounts of Persecution

Practitioner Arrested on Way Home from Mother-in-law’s Funeral, Sent to Forced Labor Camp

October 27, 2013 | By a Minghui correspondent in Liaoning Province

(Minghui.org) Falun Gong practitioner Ms. Huang Yaguang was illegally arrested a year ago, immediately after her mother-in-law’s funeral. She was later sentenced to one year at Masanjia Forced Labor Camp. Ms. Huang is from Xinbin County, Fushun City, Liaoning Province. The following is an account of her ordeal.

Abducted While Returning from the Cemetery

Ms. Huang Yaguang and her husband’s family were returning from the cemetery on the morning of April 15, 2012 when they were stopped and pulled over by four people in a black car. They opened the door on Ms. Huang’s side and forced Ms. Huang’s sister-in-law out of the car. No one knew what was happening so everyone got out. When Ms. Huang stepped out, policeman Gong Jian and two other officers grabbed Ms. Huang’s arms and handcuffed them behind her back. They pushed her into the car and covered her head with a heavy jacket so that she could hardly breathe.

The police took the 4,000 yuan in cash Ms. Huang had in her pocket. They also took her cellphone and keys. Everyone at the scene knew that the money was to pay for her mother-in-law’s funeral. The family reasoned with the police, and they finally returned the money to Ms. Huang’s husband.

Home Ransacked

Ms. Huang was taken to the third floor of the Xinbin County Police Department. Over a dozen officers then ransacked the Huang home. They confiscated a computer, DVDs, Internet card, modem, a picture of the founder of Falun Gong, and a Falun Gong exercise illustration poster, among other items. The director of the Fushun City National Security Bureau led the group.

Torture reenactment: Iron Chair

Interrogated and Charged

Ms. Huang was forced into a car and the police covered her eyes with a towel. They took her to a small dark room on the third floor of the Xinfu Police Station in Fushun City. She was handcuffed to an iron chair before the towel covering her eyes was removed. The police interrogated Ms. Huang, asking her why she practiced Falun Gong. She told them about the benefits she received from practicing Falun Gong, as well as the benefits that Falun Gong brought to her family and society. The police however turned a deaf ear and sent her to the Nangou Detention Center.

They arrived at the detention center after 8:00 p.m. During the admission procedure, the on-duty officer asked the police who brought her in whether Ms. Huang practiced Falun Gong. He then picked up a stack of paper and said, “These are all Falun Gong practitioners, over 20 of them. They all say ‘disturbing social order.’” Ms. Huang was detained with the crime of disturbing social order.

All inmates at the detention center are subjected to forced labor. Everyone is required to knit three hats every day. If one cannot achieve that quota, they are punished and forced to stand for two hours. Because there is a high possibility of suicide at the detention center, no one is allowed to go alone to the restroom. Ms. Huang was detained at the Nangou Detention Center for 38 days.

Sent to a Forced Labor Camp

Ms. Huang was brought back to the Xinfu Police Station and locked up in a small, dark room for two days. The room had only a shabby sofa and two chairs. Ms. Huang was wearing light clothing and it was very cold at night. The police had two women watching her. On the third day, she was taken to an office and was ordered to sign some paperwork. When she refused, the police called in a woman who was heard saying, “Send her there, even if she refuses to sign the paper.” Without any legal procedure, Ms. Huang was sent to Masanjia Forced Labor Camp for one year.

At Masanjia Forced Labor Camp, Ms. Huang was assigned to Cell #402. She was monitored by two other inmates, and forbidden from talking to anyone. The guards bombarded Ms. Huang with lies and propaganda in order to “transform” her.

Chinese version available

Category: Accounts of Persecution