July 23, 2004
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Nearly 1,000 Falun Gong practitioners gathered on the lawn of the U.S. Capitol to commemorate the fifth anniversary of their peaceful protest against the Chinese government's brutal persecution of the spiritual group. Participants in the rally came from Europe, Asia, South America and Canada.
U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, one of the keynote speakers, remarked, "It is the very duty and solemn obligation of the United States to protect freedom being held hostage by the tyrannical regime in Beijing." Ros-Lehtinen referred to House Concurrent Resolution 304, which she helped introduce. The resolution, which is waiting to be voted on by Congress, specifically calls for investigation into incidents of harassment on U.S. soil of Falun Gong practitioners by the Chinese government.
The rally was highlighted by 130 young bikers [cyclists], some of whom rode 750 miles from Canada to Washington, D.C. The bikers, mostly teenagers, arrived 15 minutes into the rally to long applause by the audience. They had been on the road for a month. The bikers were part of a "Pedals for Peace" campaign to bring awareness to the plight and suffering of children in China due to the Falun Gong persecution.
One of the riders, Erik Meltzer, 20, from Boston, was one of the original "Pedals for Peace" bikers last May. He trekked from Washington to Chicago on that trip. Meltzer said, "I'm riding again to help commemorate five years of persecution of children and to tell people this needs to end fast."
Ambassador Mark Palmer of Freedom House was also one of the speakers. Palmer told the applauding crowd that Jiang Zemin, former president of China and widely regarded as the architect of the persecution, "must go."
During the rally, the Falun Gong practitioners put on creative displays including anti-torture exhibitions. Live actors in makeup depicted scenes of actual torture suffered by practitioners in China in the exhibitions. A 40-member choir sang a song to the audience in Chinese and English. Chinese dancing teams also performed for the audience.
Five years ago, then Chinese leader Jiang Zemin initiated the persecution against Falun Gong, officially banning the extremely popular practice. Since then, hundreds of thousands of Falun Gong practitioners have been arrested and put into labor camps. More than 1,000 have died from torture or abuse by the authorities as documented by the Falun Dafa Information Center, although the group claims the actual figure is at least four times higher.
The group also expressed concern that China's regime is elevating the violence against Falun Gong outside of China. Last month, an Australian practitioner was seriously injured in a drive-by shooting in South Africa.
The rally, called "Uncompromising Courage: Stop Jiang's State-Terrorism," was sponsored by [human] rights groups Freedom House and Friends of Falun Gong.
http://english.epochtimes.com/news/4-7-23/22567.html