(Clearwisdom.net) On 11th December 2002, Swiss Falun Gong practitioners held a press conference in Zurich City Hall and presented a petition letter signed by 20967 people to the Zurich City Council. The petition letter called for the Council to pass a resolution appealing for justice for the persecuted Falun Gong practitioners in the Kunming area of China, Zurich's sister city.

The director of ACAT emphasized that he was worried about the human rights situation not only in Kunming but also in the whole of China. He said that he was particularly worried about the plight of Falun Gong practitioners who are suffering torture, false imprisonment and death because they want to improve their health and moral standards. One Falun Gong practitioner talked about the situation in Kunming and asked for help for a practitioner Mr. He, who was arrested in Kunming and is presently being illegally imprisoned in a labor camp. Although Mr. He has been injured severely, the prison officials will not allow him to receive necessary medical treatment [details below]. The director was touched after hearing the practitioners talk about the situation in Kunming.

The practitioners who presented the petition letter to the council received a warm welcome from Ms. Romana Leuzinger, the Chairperson of the city council. She accepted the petition letter and thanked the practitioners for their efforts. She expressed her support and desire to help the practitioners and said that she would pass the petition letter to the rest of the council. Finally, she was delighted to accept leaflets that revealed more about how the Jiang regime is persecuting millions of innocent Chinese people because they want to conduct their lives by the principles of "Truthfulness, Compassion, Tolerance" [the fundamental principles of Falun Dafa].

One councillor attended the press conference especially to congratulate the practitioners for their hard work in obtaining so many signatures and to offer his support for the resolution. He emphasized that human rights should be stressed during the communication between the sister cities, otherwise it is unsuitable to continue economic cooperation. He also expressed that he felt it wrong for the Chinese authorities to use their relationships with European countries as an excuse to commit evil deeds.

Recently, some information days were held on the streets of Zurich to tell people more about the persecution of Dafa practitioners. These had a great impact. The signature collecting was featured in local newspapers and many people came to find the practitioners after reading these articles. Some people from political circles also came to express their support and find out more about Falun Dafa.

We would hereby like to appeal to the Zurich government as well as the governments, media and people worldwide.

Please help to stop Jiang's regime from violating human rights and committing huge crimes against humanity.

In Kunming, Falun Gong practitioners are being detained and tortured in labor camps and prisons. Reports from Kunming have told us that the persecution there is as severe as the rest of China, with reports of beatings, tortures and deaths. However, reports are scarce since the Jiang regime attempts to use any means to block information from leaving or entering China.

On 15th October 2002, we received a report about Mr. He, who is a Falun Gong practitioner from Chengdu city in Sichuan province. On 15th May 2002, he was arrested at Kunming Railway Station. He was arrested because he was carrying materials revealing how the Jiang regime is responsible for the deaths of thousands of Falun Gong practitioners. He was illegally sentenced to 21 months of brainwashing [known by the Chinese authorities as "re-education"] and is now in the No. 6 Team of the 2nd Yunnan Province Labor Camp, even though he has been severely injured.

There is a large, deep wound on Mr. He's right arm, and the doctor has said that it should be operated on. If operated on immediately, the chance of it healing well would be 60%; if the operation were postponed, the chance of healing would be drastically reduced and could lead to permanent disability. In order to undergo an operation on his arm, Mr. He asked to be released on bail many times. However, his requests were refused as the officials made various excuses each time. The labor camp even forced him to work despite his injury. In addition to his injured right arm, Mr. He has problems using one of his legs but the labor camp officials still subject him to forced labor.

Whenever practitioners phone the labor camp to enquire about Mr. He's situation, labor camp officials hang up immediately. Practitioners have phoned the leader of the labor camp, who has denied that Mr. He was imprisoned there. However, one of the guards confirmed that Mr. He was being detained there. When the labor camp leader was told that it was wrong to persecute and torture Falun Gong practitioners, he laughed gloatingly.

Based on these facts, Zurich Falun Gong practitioners have decided to begin a signature drive to call for the urgent improvement of human rights in Kunming as well as in the rest of China, and to appeal for people's help on this matter.

In Kunming, peaceful people are being detained, tortured and even killed simply because they practice Falun Gong to improve themselves physically and morally. Many people find the Jiang regime's persecution of good people unacceptable and have therefore signed their names to call for justice for the practitioners in China: these people can see that whoever persecutes good people must be evil.

20967 people signed a petition asking the Zurich city council to pass a resolution to:

• Call on the Kunming government to respect Chinese citizens' freedom of thoughts and belief, and honor the Universal Declaration of Human Rights signed by China.
• Call on the Kunming authorities to stop torturing and persecuting Falun Gong practitioners immediately.
• Appeal for the release of Falun Gong practitioners detained in labor camps and prisons in Kunming immediately.

http://www.clearharmony.net/articles/200212/9049.html