(Clearwisdom.net, July 25, 2003) Epoch Times -- Washington DC. After going through four years of persecution, Falun Gong practitioners have not succumbed. Today, more than 2,000 practitioners from all over the world gathered on Capitol Hill in Washington DC to hold a peaceful rally. More than 10 U.S. Senators and Congressmen as well as over 20 non-governmental organizations came to show their support.
The persecution of Falun Gong has become the biggest stain on China's human rights record during the recent years. Both the U.S. State Department and Amnesty International have strongly condemned the persecution in their human right reports. Congresswoman Ros-Lehtinen said that Falun Gong practitioners have encountered severe persecution, including beating and electrical shocks. Practitioners were burned with cigarettes, handcuffed and hung in extremely painful postures. Women were openly raped or gang-raped.
Thousands of Falun Gong practitioners have lost their lives as a result of the four years of persecution. About 230,000 practitioners were put into labor camps. On the other hand, Falun Gong practitioners have never stopped their peaceful appeals. Falun Gong spokesperson Mr. Erping Zhang said that the spirit of this kind of peaceful appeal manifested practitioners' tremendous courage and virtue. The persecutors' vigor is dwindling day after day. "We will continue until the persecution ends."
Congresswoman Ros-Lehtinen said that she would continue to make efforts with Falun Gong practitioners, connect with more international organizations until Falun Gong practitioners have the freedom to practice their beliefs without any form of fear or menace. "This is the vow of the U.S. Congress."
U.S. Senators, Congress members and NGOs who attended the rally all highly praised Falun Gong practitioners' courage and strongly condemned the persecution. They also actively seek for ways to further help end the persecution of Falun Gong. As for the initiator of the persecution, Jiang Zemin, Mr. McGuire from China Electronics said, "You can pretend to retire now, but you still have to bear the consequences for what you have done. You can hide behind your corrupt judges, but you have no way to escape from our judge. You can hide yourself behind your so-called laws, but you won't be able to escape from the justice that we know."
Today, representatives of Falun Gong practitioners from different countries held signs imprinted with their own countries' names. The four years of persecution has not eradicated Falun Gong; on the contrary, Falun Gong has spread to more than 60 countries including Peru, Ethiopia, Venezuela and Dominica, while four years ago, Falun Gong was practiced in 30 countries. Speeches given by U.S. Senators, Congressmen and representatives of NGOs also expressed the government and the people's support towards Falun Gong.
The rally concluded with the song, "Falun Dafa is good."
