(Clearwisdom.net) On the morning of April 25, 2011, Falun Gong practitioners gathered in front of the Chinese Consulate in Hamburg, Germany, to commemorate the 12th anniversary of the April 25 appeal.

Practitioners commemorate the April 25 appeal and protest the persecution in front of the Chinese Consulate in Hamburg, Germany

In the afternoon, practitioners moved to the Resendammbruecke, the busiest place in the downtown area. They hung banners and display boards to explain to tourist from around the world about the April 25 appeal, and to expose the Chinese Communist Party's (CCP) persecution of Falun Gong. Practitioners called upon more people with a sense of conscience and justice to support Falun Gong practitioners and help stop the persecution soon.

Tourists sign the petition to support Falun Gong

Peaceful appeal on the Resendammbruecke

Many people stopped in front of the display exposing the CCP's harvesting of organs from living Falun Gong practitioners. A woman in her 60s stood in front of the display for a long time. She kept saying, “It's terrible, really inconceivable.” She expressed her support for the practitioners and for their efforts to expose and end the persecution.

A young couple and their two sons were surprised upon seeing the photos on the display. The father finished reading the information of the display, and squatted down to explain to his sons in a soft voice about the content of the pictures.

A young woman asked the practitioners if they were appealing for a dissident that the CCP has recently arrested. When she was told about the inhuman wrongdoings that the CCP has committed, such as harvesting organs from living Falun Gong practitioners, she said that the CCP is a beast, and she signed the petition to support Falun Gong.

Many local residents said that they have witnessed Falun Gong practitioners' peacefulness and rationality over the past years, and they hope that the senseless and brutal persecution of Falun Gong will end soon.

Background:

On April 25, 1999, over 10,000 Falun Gong practitioners in China gathered outside the State Council Appeals Office to peacefully demand their basic rights of belief and the immediate release of 45 fellow practitioners who had been unlawfully arrested. Though as a result of the appeal the Chinese Communist regime promised to protect the practitioners' rights and released the arrested practitioners, three months later, the regime started a nationwide persecution to "eliminate Falun Gong." The brutal persecution has continued for 12 years.