On the afternoon of March 17, the opening day of the United Nations Human Rights Convention, reporters interviewed Mr. Wu Wenxi, representative of European Falun Dafa Association at La Place des Nations. Mr. Wu said that since 1999, when Falun Gong was banned by the Chinese government, every year Falun Gong practitioners from all corners of the world have gathered at La Place des Nations during the Human Rights Convention to protest the Jiang regime's brutal persecution of Falun Gong and clarify the truth to human rights organizations, government officials, and NGOs about the persecution of Falun Gong by the Chinese government.

Wu Wenxin from European Falun Dafa Association at the UN Square

This year is different from previous years in that the verified number of Falun Gong practitioners who have been persecuted to death last year was less than 400 and this year this number has climbed to over 630. In addition, many residents of western countries were kidnapped when they returned home to visit their family members. Each year during the Human Rights Convention, officials from different countries condemn the persecution of Falun Gong. Last year, the German foreign minister, Holland, UK and other governments called upon the Chinese government to stop the persecution. We hope that all kind people and organizations around world will come to help Falun Gong practitioners that are being persecuted in China.

When asked why Falun Gong could have the large-scale activity and parade when the Geneva city government did not issue permission on Monday when the convention opened, Mr. Wu responded that Falun Gong practitioners had submitted their application for permission to peacefully appeal quite early, giving Geneva sufficient time to make preparation. Moreover, over a thousand Falun Gong practitioners from more than 40 countries around the world had long prepared to come to Switzerland to appeal. Some of their family members or good friends have been persecuted, and some have even been tortured to death. Some are still suffering brutal torture, and some have their lives in constant danger. So the peaceful appeal is very important for them. Furthermore, the Swiss people and government have come to learn that Falun Gong is very peaceful and they all support Falun Gong. This morning, the mayor of Geneva, André Hédiger, talked about Falun Gong while accepting an interview from a Broadcasting Station of Switzerland. He said Falun Gong is very peaceful and there would be no problem for them to parade. Falun Gong holds a parade every year and the police would not interfere with them.