Practitioners appealing in front of the U.N. Headquarters in Geneva
(Clearwisdom.net) March 20, 2002, Geneva -- During the 58th session of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights, about 1,000 Falun Gong practitioners from North America, Europe, Asia, Australia and other parts of the world gathered in front of the United Nations Building in Geneva, Switzerland on Thursday and Friday to hold a 36-hour hunger strike. They were making an urgent appeal to stop the brutal persecution by the Jiang regime against Falun Gong practitioners in China.
The Falun Gong practitioners delivered a press statement at the beginning of the hunger strike. The statement recounted the atrocities committed against Falun Gong practitioners, especially female practitioners. The brutal persecution has resulted in at least 1,600 deaths, 100,000 arrests and countless tortures in China in the past two and a half years.
In particular, infuriated by the successful TV broadcast of the truth of Falun Gong by practitioners in Changchun City in Northeast China, Jiang's regime recently issued orders to "shoot and kill without mercy." Jiang's order has led to large-scale arrests and murder of Falun Gong practitioners in Changchun and other parts of the country in recent weeks.
The participants' press statement stated that, faced with the horrifying and escalating persecution each day, practitioners around the world have no choice but to conduct hunger strikes to call for urgent action to stop the killing in China.
By doing the peaceful hunger strike, practitioners are urging Jiang's regime to withdraw the order to kill practitioners in Changchun and other parts of China, and to and stop the widespread atrocities against women who practice Falun Gong.
The practitioners also urge the United Nations Commission on Human Rights to take constructive action to stop the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners in China so that the brutality of Jiang's regime can no longer escape the condemnation of the civilized world.
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| Hunger Strike to appeal for an end to the persecution | ||
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| Performing the Falun Gong exercises | Sending forth righteous thoughts | |
During the 2-day hunger strike, practitioners peacefully held up photos of those practitioners who have died in China due to brutal treatment and tortures for not giving up their practice of Falun Gong. They also distributed materials explaining the truth of the situation to passersby, performed demonstrations of the Falun Gong exercises, and sent forth righteous thoughts.
Many people who passed by were shocked upon hearing about the Jiang regime's brutality against Falun Gong practitioners and expressed their sympathy and support.
Category: Rallies & Protests
