Scotland: Personal Meetings with Human Rights Organizations to let them Know the Facts

As practitioners continue to make efforts to tell people about Dafa and the persecution, more people have come to understand the truth. However many people still have an impression of Dafa that appears correct but is actually wrong, whilst some even have misunderstandings. We have sent truth clarifying materials to various human rights organizations in Scotland but overall not much feedback was received. In order to clarify the truth further, Dafa practitioners in Scotland decided to meet various human rights organizations face to face.

We invited a practitioner from London who was brutally persecuted in China because he practices Falun Gong to talk about his experiences. Before he arrived, Scottish practitioners studied the Fa and exchanged insights the important significance of this activity from the perspective of the Fa principles. One after another, Dafa practitioners started to take action. From the 11th to the 20th of February, we participated in 6 conferences on invitation, met with Scotland’s Member of Parliament in charge of human rights affairs, as well as other parliament members, and were interviewed by a Scottish newspaper and a student newspaper. During these ten days, the effect was very good. Below are some excerpts of these activities:

Aberdeen Amnesty International

Aberdeen is the third largest city in Scotland. It is also the only city where there are no Dafa practitioners amongst the four big Scottish cities. On the evening of February the 11th, the practitioner from London and a Western practitioner living close to Aberdeen attended a routine conference by Aberdeen Amnesty International. The practitioner from London took an hour to speak on his experience of being persecuted in China and then answered people’s questions. As he had to rush to another city that night, he left the meeting before it ended. Later on, the Western practitioner told us that the response was very good. After the London practitioner left, members of the International Amnesty remained immersed in his story. They concluded any other matters hastily and returned to the topic of Falun Gong and kept questioning the practitioner. The Western practitioner said he had never seen them so moved before.

Glasgow Amnesty International

Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland. On February the 12th the city’s Amnesty International group held a meeting focused entirely on Falun Gong and lasting two hours. Several practitioners came from other cities to support this activity. A western practitioner first gave a brief introduction of Falun Gong, and then the London practitioner spoke about his persecution experience. A film was then screened revealing the truth of Falun Dafa followed by a question and answer session. During the entire process, everyone’s hearts were together, the atmosphere was very righteous, clarifying the truth proceeded very naturally and the response of the audience was very good.

Edinburgh Harmony and Justice Organization

On the evening of February the 15th, the Edinburgh Harmony and Justice Organization invited practitioners to discuss the persecution of Falun Gong in China. Practitioners were determined to let them know the truth. That night, before our programme started, there were only 6-7 people in the room. However, by the time a western practitioner started to introduce Dafa, more than 30 people had already filled the room. After the introduction, we used the big screen to play a film revealing the truth of Dafa. The moving and tragic deeds of Dafa practitioners touched everyone.

The London practitioner then made a speech. This practitioner, who is usually not particularly eloquent, delivered an outstanding narration outlining his own and his younger brother’s experiences of being persecuted in China because they practise Falun Gong. People listened intently and were touched. The question and answer session began with an audience member saying that they also used to practise Falun Gong and expressing disbelief at the Jiang regime’s lies about the practice. When a Dafa practitioner said, “Let us stop this persecution together”, he received a round of applause. Subsequently, people queued up to sign on the petition forms. Postcards promoting the campaign to rescue UK practitioners’ friends and family members who are unjustly imprisoned in China were quickly given out. This one and half hour event was a very successful “Falun Gong Night”.

Glasgow Student Branch of Amnesty International

This organization made advertising posters and placed them throughout the university premises after they invited us to give an introduction on Falun Gong. Consequently, 30 to 40 people attended the meeting on the evening of February the 17th. Many of them were not members of the organization. Our one hour speech moved the audience. After the meeting, some students were even reluctant to leave and followed us to another place where they raised questions for another half an hour. One student asked us for even more information on Dafa so that he could use this to write a letter to his Member of Parliament asking him to support Falun Gong.

Durham City Student Branch of Amnesty International

Durham is situated on the north of England. When we arrived from Scotland by car on the 18th of February, the organizer told us in embarrassment that there may not be many people attending the meeting although we had come such a long way. Perhaps there would only be about five attendees. We told her even if there was only one person, it was worthwhile for us to come. We could see she was very touched. In the end, over twenty people came to listen to us that night. The room was packed and the students were very inquisitive. After watching the video and listening to the speeches made by practitioners, they asked many questions. Not only were they interested in understanding about the persecution but they also wanted to know about the practice itself. Three practitioners tried to answer their questions. Everyone took a postcard promoting the “Rescue our Family Members” campaign. The 2 hour meeting ended with a demonstration of the five sets of Falun Gong exercise movements.