(Clearwisdom.net) Nearly one hundred Falun Gong practitioners and their supporters held a candlelight vigil in front of the Chinese Consulate in Los Angeles to commemorate practitioners tortured to death by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). On July 20, 1999, Jiang Zemin, the then head of CCP initiated the brutal persecution, leading to imprisonment and torture of hundreds of thousands Falun Gong practitioners in China. The persecution is still going on.

Falun Gong practitioners hold a candlelight vigil in front of the Chinese Consulate in Los Angeles to commemorate fellow practitioners tortured to death by the CCP

Dr. Ye, host of the commemoration event, said, “We come here every year to protest the persecution of innocent Falun Gong practitioners. It is unacceptable and intolerable. It is a disaster for China in terms of morality and humanity.”

Dr. Zheng Qu said in his speech, “Jiang Zemin initiated the persecution just because the number of Falun Gong practitioners was huge. Since Falun Gong was spread in 1992, more and more people practice it and follow Truth-Compassion-Forbearance. Jiang could not stand it, as it shone a light on the CCP's evil nature.”

Practitioner Zhenhua Shi from Tianjin talked about her personal experience in the persecution. In February 2001, she was arrested and sentenced to a 9-year term of imprisonment for practicing Falun Gong. She was released in February 2010. She was beaten and tortured during detention. During her imprisonment in Tianjin Women's Prison, she was forced to do labor and after work, was forced to stand until 10:30 p.m. She became anemic and fainted, and almost lost her life in the prison.

Practitioner Zhenhua Shi (left) from Tianjin talked about her personal experience in the CCP’s brutal persecution

Ms. Shi is just one case in the persecution. More than 3000 practitioners have been tortured to death. The actual number is likely to be much higher due to the CCP’s extensive information blockade. Since 2006, the CCP’s atrocities of harvesting vital organs from living Falun Gong practitioners have been disclosed.

The candlelight vigil and exercise music drew the attention of a couple of young passers-by. Warren Dickson, 25, and his girlfriend Rhonda Phillips are local residents who moved here recently. After hearing about the CCP’s persecution of Falun Gong in China, Warren said that he supported the Falun Gong practitioners’ effort against the persecution. He said everyone should have freedom of belief and hoped that Chinese people would enjoy the same freedom.

Rhonda Phillips said she wishes to learn Falun Gong after hearing the facts

Rhonda is interested in Oriental medicine and meditation. She became fascinated about China after seeing the event, and pointed out that the CCP wants to interfere with the promotion of Chinese traditional culture.