(Clearwisdom.net) On August 14 and 15, practitioners held an anti-torture exhibition at a busy intersection on Broadway in downtown New York City. The exhibition attracted attention from the tens of thousands of people passing by. People stopped to watch the live torture re-enactment and condemned the persecution.

Live torture re-enactment

A hundred million Falun Gong practitioners have been subjected to persecution in China for five years. The suppression is still going on. However, there are still many people in the world who are not aware of this. When people personally saw an elderly person who was bleeding and was tied and hung in a cage, they severely condemned the persecutors.

The demonstrated methods of torture used against Falun Gong practitioners in China included: a police officer force-feeding a bleeding woman who was tightly tied, an elderly person bound up in a small cage, and a police officer digging bamboo sticks into a practitioner's fingernails. Posters illustrating the torture methods were also set up for people to view. People were shocked at the horrible scenes. Many people asked: "Are these truly happening? Where does it occur? Why are they persecuted?" People could not believe that there is still such brutal persecution in today's world and that the persecuted are a group of kind people who simply do meditation and practice "Truthfulness-Compassion-Tolerance".

Some people shed tears while reading the descriptions on the posters, which introduced the torture suffered by Falun Gong practitioners in China. One after another, people signed the petition condemning the Jiang Zemin group's persecution of Falun Gong and calling for an end to the suppression.

Many people had a sense of justice. They could not bear to see the torture. When two young men saw a demonstration of an elderly gentleman tied to a "Tiger Bench," with his clothes stained with blood, they came over to untie the rope, disregarding the "vicious police officer" standing by his side. They asked, "Who is bullying you? How could they do such thing?" A lady told us that after she saw the exhibition yesterday, she sent e-mails to her friends and told them about the persecution that Falun Gong encountered in China. A president of an NGO to protect Tibet's culture and spiritual heritage signed the petition and expressed his willingness to help stop the persecution of Falun Gong. A lady signed the petition while praying that the persecution would end as soon as possible. Many people knew for a long time about the Chinese ruling party's suppression of spiritual belief.

A practitioner who played the role of "vicious police officer" said, "It's really horrible to imagine that if I just use some force when I hold the electrical baton on the elderly gentleman's neck, he could die. I really want to tell the police officers in China, please don't be hatchet men for Jiang Zemin anymore. People all have consciences. Everyone has his parents, children, wife or husband. Please think about your family and yourself. What goes around comes around."

The elderly gentleman who played a victim tied and hung in a small cell stood there for more than one hour. His son has been imprisoned for more than two years for his practice of Falun Gong. His son has suffered many kinds of torture.

The man said, "Indeed, I felt a little tired. My arms, shoulders and legs feel numb. But this is only a demonstration. The real torture in prison is much more painful. One is unable to squat or stand straight while he is hung in the cell and the torture often lasts for several days, or even years in a row."

He said, "The U.S. is a democratic country and we are permitted to demonstrate here. In China, most people are not even aware of the torture. Only family members and friends of victims have a chance to learn about it. What we demonstrate here is only a tiny part. The purpose of the exhibition is to allow the American people to visualize the Jiang Zemin group's suppression of Falun Gong, to let them learn about the facts so as to uphold justice, to have people's conscience awakened, to tell more people about the facts, and to remember that the suppression has been going on for five years and it must not continue! We can not allow the crazed Jiang's group to kill tens of thousands of good people."

Holding an electric shock baton, Mr. Xia acted as a "police officer." He is 71 years old. One cannot tell that he used to be a sick person who took medicine with his meals before he started practicing Falun Gong. He suffered from angina pectoris and liver problems. He was unable to walk without a crutch. After he started practicing Falun Gong, he became healthy and has not had to go to the hospital or take any medicine for six years.

Mr. Xia said, "(Conducting this anti-torture exhibition) is to raise public awareness that Jiang Zemin group's brutality has surpassed all previous persecutions in history, including those of the fascists. Jiang Zemin's purpose is to break people's will. He secretly ordered the head of the "610 Office," Luo Gan and others that they could apply any means to transform Falun Gong practitioners (To transform a practitioner means to use any means to force the practitioner to renounce his belief even if it means to lie about the renunciation). Police or jail guards may be rewarded as much as 10,000 Yuan if they transform one practitioner, but may be fined up to 15,000 Yuan if they fail. The more brutally one persecutes a Falun Gong practitioner, the better his chance of becoming rich or being promoted. Alternatively, if he fails, he may be fired and it will be hard for his entire family to survive. I hope police officers in China will not be deluded by Jiang's lies. Compassion is human nature and I hope they will not lose it."

Lots of passersby pulled out cameras to take pictures of the display. After seeing the anti-torture exhibition, a photographer returned to his shop to fetch a camera. He later came back to show us the photos he took, which clearly showed the tortures and will allow more people to learn the facts by viewing them. He said that as early as two years ago, he saw Falun Gong practitioners' peaceful appeal in front of the Chinese Consulate in New York. Later, in Paris, he saw more practitioners participating in similar activities.

If all people become aware of how cruel this persecution is, the persecution will definitely be stopped, because Jiang Zemin's group will have no place to hide.

Union Square

Times Square

Washington Square

Broadway avenue and Houston street

Broadway avenue and the 72 street