Toronto, Canada: Rally on Human Rights Day Calls for Release of Falun Gong Practitioner Imprisoned in China

(Minghui.org) A rally was held in front of the Chinese Consulate in Toronto on December 10, 2024, Human Rights Day, to protest the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) persecution of Falun Gong practitioners over the past 25 years. Those who spoke also demanded that the CCP authorities immediately and unconditionally release Mr. He Lizhong, a Falun Gong practitioner from Gansu Province and the younger brother of Canadian citizen Mr. He Lizhi.

Practitioners peacefully rallied in front of the Chinese Consulate in Toronto on Human Rights Day.

Practitioner He Lizhi addressed the rally.

Mr. He spoke at the rally about his brother who is imprisoned in China. His brother, Mr. He Lizhong, a farmer in Minqin County, Gansu Province, began practicing Falun Gong in 1999. That July, the CCP began a large-scale suppression of Falun Gong. Mr. He Lizhong cherished the opportunity to practice and was a good person in troubled times. In February 2010, he was falsely accused and sentenced to three years in prison because he told others how he had benefited from practicing Falun Gong. He was tortured in prison, including being forced to stand until late at night, being locked in an iron cage for several months, and being put in solitary confinement for days at a time.

On July 12, 2023, Gansu police broke into his home and took him away again in front of his parents, who were in their 80s, on the grounds that he had Falun Gong content on his mobile phone. They also emptied his bank passbook. His family hired a lawyer to defend his innocence and said that China’s constitution protects citizens’ freedom of belief, but the Minqin County Court did not respond. A few months later, his family learned after twists and turns that he’d been sentenced to seven years in prison.

After he was seized and sentenced to prison, the detention center and the prison prevented his family from visiting him for 18 months. One reason they gave was that he had not given up practicing Falun Gong. Because he’d been persecuted before, the prison did not allow his family to visit him.

Mr. He Lizhi pointed out in his speech, “It is not difficult to imagine that the prison authorities feel guilty and are afraid that the evidence of abuse and torture will be exposed.”

Imprisoned for Raising Awareness About the Persecution

Mr. He Lizhi, who now lives in Canada, was a senior engineer with the Ministry of Metallurgy and the Ministry of Construction of China. He won the National Excellent Engineering Design Award and a ministerial excellence award. Despite his outstanding talent, he was persecuted by the CCP. In 1999, after the regime began to persecute Falun Gong, Mr. He was arrested by the Beijing National Security Bureau and imprisoned for three and a half years for mailing letters telling about the benefits of Falun Gong and the truth about the persecution. He almost died from the torture and abuse he suffered in prison.

During the rally, Mr. He described how he was beaten, deprived of sleep, forbidden to use the toilet, kept in a fixed position for long periods of time, forced to work long hours, and shocked with high-voltage electric batons. When he recalls his experiences, he says he feels even more worried and distressed about his brother’s safety.

Mr. He’s wife Zhang Li was also arrested and imprisoned by the CCP several times for practicing Falun Gong. During her husband’s imprisonment, she was monitored by the police every day. In 2001, Ms. Zhang managed to escape to Canada and started to work with local Falun Gong practitioners to rescue her husband. Amnesty International said that Mr. He was a prisoner of conscience and demanded that the Chinese government release him unconditionally. In October 2002, the Canadian House of Commons unanimously passed a motion in support of Falun Gong, requesting the Canadian Prime Minister to ask the CCP leader to release 13 imprisoned Falun Gong practitioners and Canadian relatives, including Mr. He, when the minister attended the Asia-Pacific Summit in Mexico. In January 2004, Mr. He was released after serving his sentence. With the help of the Canadian government, he came to Canada in May of that year and reunited with his wife.

Now, however, Mr. He is not only unable to see his family in China, their communications are being monitored by the CCP, making it even more difficult for him to learn about his brother’s current situation.

The CCP Violates Human Rights

Mr. He (third from right) calls on the CCP regime to release his brother unconditionally.

Mr. He said at the rally, “In the persecution of Falun Gong, the CCP has pushed the public security, procuratorate, courts, and justice departments to the forefront in persecuting kindness and violating human rights through the manipulation of the Political and Legal Affairs Committees at all levels, from the central government to the local level.

“Driven by personal interests, the CCP rulers have lost their humanity and consciences and committed outrageous crimes. Mr. He is a farmer who works hard and supports his parents, but the CCP police ignore justice and morality and carry out cruel abuse and persecution in the name of the law. They use violence because Mr. He believes in Falun Gong’s principles of Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance and encourages people to be kind using mobile phone messages.”

Mr. He hopes that after witnessing the kindness of Falun Gong practitioners, the prison guards will think for themselves, distinguish between good and evil, and not sell their consciences out for the sake of profit. He also listed examples of police who, after persecuting Falun Gong practitioners, suffered from serious diseases and traffic accidents that caused injuries or sudden deaths. He hopes that will remind the perpetrators to stop persecuting Falun Gong practitioners.

He said, “Good will be rewarded and evil incurs retribution, which is heaven’s unchanging principle. Heaven casts a wide net, and nothing can escape it. The evildoers will eventually be brought to justice. Just like the war criminals who followed the Nazis to commit crimes of genocide during World War II—they were not be able to escape the fate of being pursued throughout their lives. Even if they are at the end of their lives, they won’t have a day of peace.”

The Persecution Is Mankind’s Tragedy

Rally organizer Zhang Peixin

Mr. Zhang Pixin, the organizer of the rally, said at the event, “Twenty-five years ago, the CCP launched an illegal and deadly persecution of the peaceful and once-praised Falun Gong group. In 2001, Amnesty International reported that the CCP’s smear campaign against Falun Gong was dangerous and full of political intentions. The CCP’s propaganda attacks on Falun Gong are systematic and planned and have no bottom line. It distorts facts, manipulates thoughts, and demonizes victims. The CCP has been infiltrating overseas for along time, instigating Western mainstream media to participate in covering up the persecution.”

Mr. Zhang said that, when the CCP’s propaganda makes people indifferent to the persecution, it can trample on any group’s human rights. Silence is not neutrality, silence is collusion. He said in his speech, “The persecution of Falun Gong is not only a tragedy for China, but also a tragedy for all mankind. It is time for the world to wake up and not be used by the CCP.”