News and Events from around the World -- Sepetember 7, 2006

Issued by Clearwisdom Net

Content

  • Sweden: Joint Declaration of Members of Parliament in Sweden Across Parties: CCP Must Stop Live Organ Harvesting

  • Exposing the CCP's Live Organ Removal Atrocity in Front of the Brooklyn Supreme Court

  • Singapore: Falun Gong Practitioners Are Denied Fair Treatment - Local Lawyer Calls on United Nations to Intervene



  • Sweden: Joint Declaration of Members of Parliament in Sweden Across Parties: CCP Must Stop Live Organ Harvesting

    On the morning of September 4, in Sergel Hotel at downtown Stockholm, Sweden, Helena Bargholtz, representative of Swedish People's Party and Member of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, and Gran Lindblad, member of the Council of Europe, hosted a forum with a theme "Investigating the allegation about CCP's live organ harvesting from Falun Gong practitioners". Members of Parliament across the parties attended the forum.

    The Sound of Hope reported on September 4 that TV stations, radio broadcasting stations, newspapers, representatives of each party, members of Parliament, lawyers, specialists, professors, human rights organizations and non-governmental organizations attended the forum.

    Falun Gong practitioners Dai Ying from Norway narrated her suffering due to torture in China's labor camps. Her left eye was shocked to blindness with electric batons and her right eye was rendered near blindness.

    Dai Ying said, "One day in May 2004, all of approximately 160 Falun Gong practitioners were gathered in a conference hall. All equipment brought from Fushan Hospital was set up in a bus. Doctors from the hospital conducted forceful physical examination and injection of all of the practitioners. When a doctor did a electrocardiogram for me, he asked me in detail whether I had anything wrong with my health." Blood was drawn from each practitioner.

    After the examination, some practitioners disappeared and nobody knew where they went. One camp guard said, "If you don't give up practicing Falun Gong, you will be transferred to other places." No one knows what happened to those practitioners that were transferred.

    David Kilgour, former Secretary of State (Asia-Pacific) for Canada and international human rights lawyer David Matas introduced their "Report into Allegations of Organ Harvesting of Falun Gong Practitioners in China". They called on everyone to pay attention to the new form of evil on this planet and help stop the crime of live organ harvesting. They also answered questions from the participants.

    A press conference was held after the forum.

    At the end, Helena and Gran proposed a joint declaration, "CCP must stop stealing organs", which was co-signed by the Swedish Christian Democratic Party, Leftist Party and Environmental Party. The declaration stated that initiators of the declaration requested the Swedish government take up a position with other countries in the European Union, Council of Europe, and UN to force the CCP regime to immediately allow investigation of all Falun Gong practitioners and other prisoners of conscience held in prisons, labor camps, detention centers, hospitals and mental facilities. They also requested the Swedish government to help stop the crime of organ stealing in China.


    Exposing the CCP's Live Organ Removal Atrocity in Front of the Brooklyn Supreme Court

    On the morning of August 28, 2006, two people sat meditating in front of the Brooklyn Supreme Court in the drizzling rain. Behind them, banners and pictures protested the Chinese Communist Party's (CCP) brutal persecution and murder of Falun Gong practitioners.


    A Falun Gong practitioner speaking to passersby with a megaphone


    Falun Gong practitioner Frank spoke to the passersby through a megaphone. He said they had no other choice but to rally here because they needed to be a voice for the people on the other side of the Earth, their friends and family members in China. The Chinese Communist Party has persecuted Falun Gong for seven years and the persecution is still continuing.

    Frank said that his grandmother, an 83-year-old Falun Gong practitioner from Jiangsu Province China, was frequently harassed and threatened by the local police, forcing her to give up practicing Falun Gong.

    He said that even more frightening information was heard six months ago, when it was learned that the Chinese Communist Party has been harvesting organs from living Falun Gong practitioners on a large scale and selling them for profit since 2001. These Falun Gong practitioners died in extreme pain.

    Frank continued, "Recently, former Secretary of State (Asia-Pacific) for Canada, David Kilgour, and human rights attorney David Matas published their independent investigation report about the CCP removing organs from living Falun Gong practitioners. In their report, they said that the evidence gathered during their two month investigation led them to believe that the claim is true. They believe a large-scale organ harvesting crime exists and is still happening today in China. Kilgour said that more evidence is to be published in October.

    "We call on everyone to help stop this massacre. Please write letters to your congressperson, senator, city council member, and state representatives. Tell your family, your friends, and everyone you know.

    "This massacre is more than just about belief and human rights. It is a question to everyone's soul, it requires every person, every government to make a choice between self-interest and conscience. This choice, in turn, will decide every person's own fate."

    For two hours, Frank talked to passersby, asking people to help stop the most evil crime on the earth. Several Falun Gong practitioners were passing out truth-clarification materials including "Falun Gong Today" to passersby. Some people talked to the practitioners to ask for more details, and they signed their names to the petition form calling for an end to the persecution.

    The couple doing the meditation were 69-year-old Mr. Zhao and 57-year-old Mrs. Zhao. Mrs. Zhao immigrated to the United States in 1982. In 1996, she was diagnosed with diabetes and hypertension and she became very weak. Mr. Zhao took her to visit doctors and they tried many qigong exercises in an attempt to find a cure. Finally, a friend introduced Falun Gong to them, and after only three months of doing the exercises, all of Mrs. Zhao's diseases were gone. Since then, the couple has practiced Falun Gong diligently. In 1999, Chinese Communist Party began to persecute Falun Gong. Shortly after, Mrs. Zhao began to clarify the truth and protest in front of the Chinese Consulate, Monday through Friday, year round.



    Singapore: Falun Gong Practitioners Are Denied Fair Treatment - Local Lawyer Calls on United Nations to Intervene

    Defense counsel Mr. Ravi, who represents Singapore Falun Gong practitioners in their protest case in front of the Chinese Embassy, held a public hearing on September 1, 2006 at the Furama Hotel in Singapore. He elaborated the many kinds of unfair treatment against Falun Gong practitioners in the court.

    Mr. Ravi believes that the court deprived his two clients of a fair trial. He will mail the video of the public hearing to the United Nations. He hopes the United Nations will intervene and require Singapore to stop the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners.


    Defense counsel Mr. Ravi at the public hearing details the unfair treatment against Falun Gong practitioners in the court and hopes the United Nations will step in


    Public hearing was held on September 1, 2006 in Furama Hotel in Singapore

    This is reportedly the first similar public hearing held by a local lawyer.

    There were three agendas at the hearing: First, discrimination in the procedure of the court. Second, Singapore media’s misleading reports. Third, illegal treatment of an innocent elderly woman.

    1. Discrimination in the Procedure of the Court

    When more than 100 Falun Gong practitioners from seven countries went to the Singapore High Court to attend a hearing on the mornings of August 30-31, 2006, they had all their belongings related to Falun Gong, including books and other materials withheld at the entrance to the Supreme Court Building. The security guards also took down their particular information or passport numbers and contact numbers.

    Mr. Ravi said that withholding Falun Gong practitioners’ books in the Supreme Court is tantamount to withholding Christians’ bibles. It is a serious discrimination.

    Falun Gong practitioners from all these countries went to the embassies and consulates of their respective countries in Singapore to clarify the truth and hoped that they would pay attention to this issue.

    2. Misleading Reports in the Singapore Media

    Falun Gong practitioners pointed out the serious errors appearing in reports on the case in the two largest circulation newspapers in Singapore, The Straits Times (English newspaper) and Lianhe Zaobao (Chinese-language newspaper).

    Falun Gong practitioners said that both newspapers incorrectly reported the content of the banner displayed outside the Chinese Embassy. The writing on the banner actually says, "Hunger Strike on July 20 to Protest the CCP’s Inhumane Persecution of Falun Gong Practitioners (in Chinese) / Stop Persecution of Falun Gong in China (in English)." However, the Lianhe Zaobao’s report on August 29 replaced ‘CCP(Chinese Communist Party)’ with ‘China,’ and ‘inhumane’ (灭绝人性) persecution with persecution of "annihilating tolerant hearts/destroying tolerance (灭绝忍心)." While in The Straits Times’ report on August 29, the word, "inhumane" was left out, and "Stop persecution" was replaced with "Stop prosecution."

    Falun Gong practitioners said that the focal point of the case is whether or not the writing on the banner regarding the persecution of Falun Gong is factually correct. The banner, as the evidence of the prosecution, was displayed twice in court to all the media present. Therefore, there should not be such incorrect reports.

    It is learned that Falun Gong practitioners went to the reporter of The Straits Times, requesting a correction of the error in the key words. The reporter agreed to make the correction in his report the next day. But the report (by a different reporter) on September 1, The Straits Times still used "prosecution" instead of "persecution."

    The differences are small, but the implications of these changes are huge. The entire context of the articles is changed in a way grossly misleading to the reader.

    3. Illegal Treatment of an Innocent 73-year-old Woman

    Seventy-three-year-old woman Mdm. Chen Peiyu recounted the unfair treatment against her before and after she was expelled at the public hearing. Mdm. Chen Peiyu told the reporter that the Chinese Communist Party exerts pressure to the Singapore Government to oppress Falun Gong, so that she was targeted by the Singapore government for actively distributing materials telling people about the brutal persecution of Falun Gong practitioners in China.

    Mr. Ravi said he will hold several more public hearings, and Singapore is the first stop. He will go to Malaysia, Thailand, Philippines and Indonesia to hold public hearings.