(Minghui.org) Falun Dafa practitioners gathered outside the Chinese Embassy in Ottawa on July 18, 2019, to peacefully protest the Chinese Communist Party's (CCP) 20-year-long persecution. They also appealed for the release of illegally detained practitioners, including those who are Canadian citizens and their family members.
Alex Neve, Secretary General of Amnesty International Canada, and acclaimed Jewish scholar Rabbi Dr. Reuven P. Bulka gave speeches at the rally.
Practitioners held a rally outside the Chinese Embassy in Ottawa on July 18, 2019 in peaceful protest of the CCP's 20-year persecution.
Alex Neve, Secretary General of Amnesty International Canada, and acclaimed Jewish scholar Rabbi Dr. Reuven P. Bulka encouraged practitioners to continue their efforts.
Alex Neve, Secretary General of Amnesty International Canada, addressed the crowd at the rally.
Mr. Neve said in his speech: “Twenty years of arbitrary and unlawful arrest.Twenty years of illegal imprisonment.
Twenty years of torture and cruel treatment.
Twenty years of deaths in custody.
Twenty years of unfair trials.
Twenty years of disgraceful human rights violations on a massive scale against hundreds of thousands of people, numbers that defy belief or understanding. All because people have been steadfast in the commitment to the practice of Falun Gong.Arrest, imprisonment, torture, death, injustice, because women and men, young and old, in all corners of China follow and practice Falun Gong.”
“That is 7,300 days. And there has most certainly not been one single one of those 7,300 days that has not been marked by an act of cruelty, repression and violence against a Falun Gong practitioner. And throughout those twenty years, Falun Gong practitioners here in Canada have felt the brunt of this relentless crackdown firsthand.”
Mr. Neve said that he is deeply worried for the safety of imprisoned Canadian citizen and Falun Dafa practitioner, Ms. Sun Qian, as well as Mr. Li Xiaobo and Ms. Chen Huixia, who are family members of Canadian citizens.
He looked across the street towards the Chinese embassy, and directly appealed to those behind the embassy walls. He said, “Please free them and free them now. Free all those imprisoned because they practice Falun Gong.”
Acclaimed Jewish scholar Rabbi Dr. Reuven P. Bulka speaks at the rally.
Dr. Bulka censured the CCP for the brutal crime of organ harvesting. He said in his speech that he has been involved in many human rights causes and this ranks right at the very top.
He said the 20 years of torture and the atrocities that are going on in China are horrific beyond belief. He asked the Chinese embassy to “end this atrocity right now. Not tomorrow, and not the day after tomorrow, but right now!”
In his speech, Mr. Neve praised practitioners for their 20-year-long persistence in working to end the persecution. He said, “Twenty years of sorrow and suffering. But twenty years as well of resilience, determination and a deep commitment to human rights. Twenty years of coming back here, no matter what, to make the simple, compelling and irrefutable demand.”
Dr. Bulka encouraged practitioners to continue their efforts, and said, “We are just a handful of people. You have on the other side a fenced in embassy that is representative of a government of a billion people more. But don’t underestimate the power that you have, the power of your voice, and the insistence that what is going on has to stop.”