More than a Thousand Falun Gong Practitioners Converge in Chicago to Expose the Persecution (Photos)

(Clearwisdom.net) Clearwisdom correspondent Su Jing reports: On May 22, 2004, more than a thousand Falun Gong practitioners converged in Chicago and held a series of large-scale peaceful appeal activities in Chinatown and downtown Chicago. They exposed Jiang and his followers' brutal persecution of Falun Gong practitioners over the past five years. The activity included a parade of a thousand people in Chinatown and downtown Chicago, and an exhibition entitled "Persecution and Principle" held in Chicago's Federal Plaza. The exhibition used live models to illustrate the persecution against Falun Gong.

On May 22, a parade entitled "Falun Dafa is great" in Chinatown

On May 24, more than two thousand Falun Gong practitioners hold a parade in downtown Chicago

On Federal Plaza, practitioners expose the Jiang regime's brutal torture of Falun Gong practitioners

A press conference regarding torture exhibition is held in Federal Plaza

Practicing the exercises and sending righteous thoughts outside the Chinese Consulate General

More than a thousand Falun Gong practitioners doing the exercises together

On May 24, 2004, the exhibition named "Persecution and Principle" exposed the horrific and inconceivable torture against Falun Gong practitioners to the public. Organizer of the torture exhibition, post PhD candidate of life science at the University of Chicago and Falun Gong practitioner Mr. Liu said, "Our activity coincides with the oral arguments to take place in the 7^th Circuit Court on May 27 regarding the Falun Gong practitioners' lawsuit against former Chinese president Jiang Zemin on charges of torture, genocide and crimes against humanity. We hope to use this activity to vividly depict how Jiang's group uses inhuman methods to torture and abuse Falun Gong practitioners, including women, the elderly, children and even pregnant women. We hope that people, after viewing the exhibition and learning about the truth, can take a righteous stand."

The practitioners displayed examples of slave labor, forced abortion, injections of harmful psychotropic drugs, stuffing a person under a low bed, electric shock, burning, hanging up and beating practitioners, being forced to sit still on a tiny bench for long periods of time, being tied spread-eagled to a metal frame, bamboo spikes hammered into one's fingernails, force-feeding, handcuffing, confining in a metal cage, dragging on the ground and other forms of torture.

Mr. Chen Gang, who once suffered torture and abuse in China, said in his opening remarks at the torture exhibition press conference, "We, as survivors of the persecution, have a responsibility to expose it to the public." After that, Mr. Chen stood in front of one of the displays, telling people passing by about his ordeal while being held in Tuanhe Labor Camp. Once, the guard ordered more than a dozen inmates in his cell to beat him. His whole body was covered with bruises and his face was deformed. In order to prevent him from shouting, they sealed his lips with adhesive tape. They tied him up with rope, with both arms behind him and his neck and legs tightly tied together. He almost suffocated. After that, they put him in a washbasin, and they kicked it so forcefully that he and the washbasin were pushed under the bed. The bed boards were pushed up while he was under the bed. People sitting on the bed forcefully pressed down. It felt like his spine was about to snap, and he could not breathe. After this torture, he was unable to walk for two weeks. The torture almost paralyzed him. (Another practitioner named Lu Changjun was paralyzed from this torture.)

Lawyer Terri Marsh, who represents Falun Gong practitioners in the lawsuit against Jiang, said at the press conference, "On May 27, the 7^th Circuit Court will hold an oral argument regarding the Falun Gong practitioners' lawsuit against former Chinese president Jiang Zemin on charges of torture, genocide and crimes against humanity. In this lawsuit, Jiang is accused of devising, implementing and directing a campaign that attempts to eliminate Falun Gong in China. Jiang's behavior has led to the murder and torture of tens of thousands of Falun Gong practitioners. "

The torture exhibition caught many passersby's attention. After viewing the exhibition, people were shocked, and they kept shaking their head and sighing with emotion. Some people shed tears. One person said, "If such atrocities were not stopped, such things could happen to any of us. They may happen in any place in the world. What can we do for these persecuted people? " A child, after learning that Falun Gong practitioners who are being held in labor camps are forced to work overtime to make toys for export, put the toy in his hands into the cage that detained a practitioner. He said he no longer wanted the toy, because it was too brutal.

Talking about the plan for the torture exhibition, an elderly Chinese practitioner who came from New Jersey to show his support said, "When a Western artist suggested using real people to simulate Jiang's persecution of Falun Gong practitioners, everyone felt like it was a good idea. We can display to the public the torture and abuse that is going on in China, and it will be easier for people to have a strong memory of Jiang's crimes." Some torture instruments were bought from shops, and some were made by Falun Gong practitioners. The torture devices were mainly selected from the many torture techniques exposed on Clearwisdom.net and some related photos. Some of the photos were drawn by Falun Gong practitioners who have suffered the same kind of torture in China, and some were drawn by artists after listening to practitioners who suffered the torture came abroad and described their experiences. The torture exhibition will last for three more days.

After the press conference, more than 2,000 Falun Gong practitioners held a parade in downtown Chicago to call for an end to the persecution and continued the exhibition to expose the torture. The parade ended outside the Chinese Consulate General in Chicago.