Issued by Clearwisdom Net

Indonesia: Practitioners Hold Peaceful Appeal in Front of the Chinese Embassy in Jakarta

On June 13, 2005, Falun Dafa practitioners went to the Chinese Embassy in Jakarta, Indonesia to hold a peaceful appeal similar to the other two recent appeals at the same site. One of the previous appeals was held on April 25, 2005 during Chinese President Hu Jintao's high-profile visit. The other appeal was on May 6. Because the practitioners displayed banners with the words, "Respect Human Rights," and sat close to the embassy to hold a peaceful sit-in protest, twelve practitioners were detained by the Indonesian police on April 25, and six were detained on May 6. The police claimed that the practitioners violated the 11^th municipal law, a 1988 law about "Occupying the space in an area to grow trees." In actuality, the unreasonable police action resulted from pressure from the Chinese embassy.

After the incident, a practitioner who was unlawfully arrested consulted a human rights organization for details about conducting peaceful appeals. The answer he received was that the police violated the law by arresting practitioners who had carefully observed legal procedure. The organization has also written to the police asking for a legal explanation of the practitioners' arrest.

Upon hearing the practitioner's story, several reporters said that they then understood the situation: the Indonesian police acted on the attitude of the Chinese Embassy. The embassy wanted them to arrest practitioners, and the police acted accordingly. Several reporters also asked why the Chinese Embassy was so nervous when practitioners held such relatively small-scale protests, especially when compared to other organizations' protests.

The reporters also asked about the attitude of the embassy and the police toward this appeal. The practitioner said that he had conducted two peaceful appeals since his arrest in April. In neither case did the police resort to violent actions to interfere. He asked the police not to follow the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in their persecution of Falun Gong. The practitioner also told them that a former Chinese diplomat had denounced the regime and applied for asylum in Australia. As more and more people within the regime are now denouncing the party, the practitioners hope that the Indonesian police will not follow orders from the CCP any more.

On June 5, Florida Falun Gong practitioners held an anti-torture exhibition on Miami Beach to inform the public of the ongoing persecution of Falun Gong practitioners in China. Miami Beach draws visitors from around the world with its beautiful scenery and warm weather. The re-enactment of the torture methods used against practitioners in China allowed people from different nationalities get to know about the shocking facts of the persecution.

Practitioners in Florida realized that although Miami was not close to a Chinese embassy or consulate, holding anti-torture exhibitions in Miami would be significant, since it is an important tourist destination that draws millions of visitors from around the world each year. After listening to the facts about Falun Gong and the persecution, those visitors will take the truth of the persecution in China back to their home cities and countries.

The first step was to secure a permit. The police officer in charge of issuing permits stated that he had already read many Falun Gong materials and spoken to the City's attorney. He said that we were allowed to do the exhibition according to the First Amendment, but he imposed some restrictions. For example, the scene could not be too graphic, we should not make loud noises, and the number of participants would be restricted to 6 or 7. The practitioners had a discussion afterwards and realized that the police officer did not fully understand the facts. When the officer called back, the practitioner said, "Do you know that police officers have something in common with us practitioners? Our purpose in presenting the anti-torture exhibition is to stop violence, end the persecution, and promote peace to the public, and we are doing it for the sake of humanity. Your cause is the same; police officers try to prevent violence and maintain peace in the community. The only difference is that we practitioners don't wear police uniforms." Immediately, the officer's thinking changed. Instead of speaking of restrictions, he said, "Just do what you feel is best at the site. I have approved your application. You will get the permit soon."

During the anti-torture exhibition, through viewing the display boards or listening to the practitioners' introduction, people were shocked at the persecution going on in China. It's hard for people who live in a democratic country to imagine that such brutal things are actually taking place in today's society. Practitioners told them that the Chinese Communist Party's evil nature determined that it would not tolerate people's longing for "Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance". Some people asked how they could provide support, and some wanted to donate money to help rescue orphans of Falun Gong. Many local people asked about practice sites and schedules.

This was the first time for practitioners in Miami to hold an anti-torture exhibition. They did not have any previous experience. While setting up the exhibition, practitioners contributed their ideas that complemented the whole. From setting up the posters to displaying the worldwide spread of Falun Dafa, to the elegant exercise demonstration; from distributing truth-clarifying materials to collecting signatures opposing the persecution and calling for the rescue of orphans; from setting up the display boards showing the torture methods used against practitioners in China to playing the recorded explanations and to the live reenactment of the torture methods, everything was done orderly and smoothly.

Here are some of the experiences the practitioners recalled:

1. A couple took a truth-clarifying flyer and listened to the practitioners' introduction about Falun Gong and the Chinese Communist Party's (CCP) persecution. They also learned that the CCP abuses the media to deceive people. The husband said he would make a shirt with the words "I love Falun Gong" and show it to his Chinese colleagues.

When the practitioner learned that they were from Ireland, he told them about Zhao Ming's story. The story brought tears to the husband's eyes, and he put his sunglasses on to cover his eyes. His wife also cried. They signed their names and left.

2. After hearing about the atrocities happening in China, a lady shed tears. When she signed the petition, her tears left a big wet place on the paper.

3. Another lady said she was very supportive of our peaceful protest. In the winter, she had brought hot coffee to practitioners in front of the Chinese Embassy.

4. A visitor from Germany said that the Berlin Wall had collapsed overnight. The Soviet Union also disintegrated very quickly. She said she firmly believed our effort to stop the persecution would succeed.

5. Many visitors to the exhibition were from Cuba and had had personal experiences living under Communist tyranny. Upon seeing the banner, an older couple stopped by on their bicycles and offered to donate some money to help the victims of persecution. Many people wanted to donate money. When they learned that Falun Gong does not accept donations, but they could get related information from a website to provide donations to help rescue children orphaned in the persecution, a gentleman suggested that we could prepare stamped and addressed envelopes so that they could directly send their donations.

6. When a visitor learned that a practitioner's relative was sentenced to eight years in jail just because he had distributed some flyers, the visitor said, "Because of that, please give me more flyers. I will let my friends know about the persecution."

7. In the afternoon, two security persons wearing Internal Intelligence insignia showed up. A gentleman who had been talking with practitioners for quite a while went to talk to the security personnel to make sure they understood the persecution in China and to ask them not to bother the practitioners' exhibition. The security personnel gladly accepted flyers and said that we practitioners could do whatever we needed to do.

(Clearwisdom.net) From June 9 to 10, the "Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance" art exhibit was held at Kwantlen University College in the city of Surrey. The artworks of more than 10 Falun Dafa practitioners from different countries deeply touched every person who came to the exhibition. While presenting traditional Chinese and Western art, the works also revealed the true stories of Falun Gong practitioners persecuted in China. A woman named Marcella who is an Italian immigrant learned about this art exhibit and saw a photo of the painting, "Pure Lotus" in a newspaper. She was moved by the serenity and beauty of the painting and decided to come to the exhibit. As the exhibit day was also the date that her mother went back to Italy, the whole family packed up her luggage and came to the university very early. To help her mother understand each painting, Marcella interpreted the practitioner's introduction and translated all the descriptions into Italian for her mother. She said that she was a Christian, and that she believed that everyone had to be responsible for everything they did, according to the principle that "good will be rewarded and evil will be punished".

University students view the paintings

Marcella and her mother viewing the painting "Why"

An Indian student and her friend

Marcella said that she hadn't known about the persecution against Falun Gong practitioners who practice the principles of "Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance." She supported the effort of practitioners in introducing the beauty of Falun Dafa and revealing the persecution through the medium of art, and believed that these efforts were very necessary. Before the family left, her mother asked seriously, "Why would the Chinese government persecute such a peaceful practice?" She couldn't understand why the Chinese Communist Party would persecute Falun Gong, and she took all the materials that the practitioners provided and said that she would study them back in Italy. Marcella left her contact information and told the practitioners repeatedly that many of her friends couldn't come to this exhibit and that the practitioners should let her know of the next exhibition so that she could send them over. "The exhibit is so beautiful and valuable," she said.

Many staff and faculty members also came to the exhibit during class breaks. One man wrote in the reception book, "Thank you all so much for bringing this beautiful art exhibit to our campus. In this world, people sometimes forget the existence of human rights violations. However, no one should be persecuted for believing in 'Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance.'" A Taiwanese person wrote, "I wish for justice and peace to prevail in Mainland China."

An Indian representative of the Student Union came to the exhibit hall in a hurry, and she was exceptionally absorbed by the paintings. She delightedly told practitioners that she was attracted to the exhibit hall by a special energy and she saw a white radiance around all the paintings. As she had only very limited time, she rushed to the practitioners and asked if she could buy these paintings so that she could hang some in her room. She left her phone number and email address and told us repeatedly to send her more materials so that she could learn more about Falun Gong and the persecution. She also expressed her interest in learning the practice.

When the exhibit was about to close, three little Western girls came and they exclaimed at the paintings which were leaning against the walls for packing up. Pointing to a canvas entitled "Justice," one girl said: "This is an angel punishing evil."

There were many touching stories that took place during these two days, and we sensed that, despite the differences in race, culture and religious beliefs, everyone could feel the energy and sense the connotation of the paintings as well as the beauty, purity and hope brought by practitioners. With invitations from many faculty members and students, the art exhibit will be touring all four campuses of the university.