(Clearwisdom.net) Invited by the French branch of the World Organization Against the Death Penalty (ECPM), the French Falun Gong Association held a truth-clarification activity in front of the Paris City Hall on December 10, 2005, International Human Rights Day. They received strong support from the public.

In front of City Hall, practitioners held banners reading ,"Falun Gong Truthfulness Compassion Forbearance," "Bring Jiang, Luo, Liu and Zhou to Justice," and "Rescue Orphaned Falun Gong Children." A practitioner used a megaphone to explain the facts of the persecution and also introduced Falun Gong, while other practitioners demonstrated the Falun Gong exercises. People in the square were attracted to the activity and stayed for quite a while.

The rally venue was on the square adjacent to the Paris City Hall. A number of human rights groups participated in the event.

Many people stopped to learn the facts of the persecution

Children earnestly read the display boards

More and more people came to learn the facts of the persecution and many different kinds of truth-clarification materials were taken by passers-by. People gathered to watch the Falun Gong exercise demonstrations and viewed the information on our truth-clarification display boards carefully, and many of them signed their names to oppose the Chinese Communist Party's persecution of Falun Gong. Just one hour into the event, nearly one hundred Parisian citizens had signed their names on our petition form to support Falun Gong.

Mr. Michel Taube, spokesman for ECPM France, the organizer of this human rights rally, was interviewed by the media. While talking about the human rights problems in China, Mr. Taube pointed out, "The total death penalties in China are 900f total numbers of the death penalties in the whole world. In China, many dissidents are sentenced to death. A large number of Falun Gong practitioners are imprisoned and many have died in prison. The death penalty is therefore the main factor of China's legal system. This should be strongly condemned. Now, more and more organizations, similar to our, are traveling to China to inspect certain aspects of their legal system. Especially before the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, now is the time to remind the world's people to pay attention to the Chinese human rights issue. International Human Rights Day is also a day for the Chinese people. The Chinese people should regard and firmly believe that the respect of human rights, equal opportunity of man and woman, freedom of the press, freedom of speech, freedom of association, as well as the abolishment of the death penalty... each individual should freely have those rights and be responsible for upholding those rights. These are the principles generally suitable for China, France, US, Africa and the whole world. I deeply believe that, in each Chinese person's heart, International Human Rights Day should be also a day for the Chinese people."