Austria: An Open Letter from Dafa Practitioners to the Chinese Embassy in Austria on the 4th Anniversary of the “7.20”Event

On July 20 2003, Falun Dafa practitioners were deprived of their rights endowed by the Chinese constitution; former president, Jiang Zemin sent out the order to eradicate Falun Gong within three months.

To achieve what Jiang demanded, the Chinese government has irresponsibly inputted a great amount of resources and spread numerous lies over the past four years. However, the results have turned out to be exactly the opposite. Falun Gong didn’t disappear in China, but instead it has spread to more than sixty countries around the world and has come to be cherished by many people. Since being introduced to the public, Falun Gong has received a lot of awards and recognition including the nomination of Falun Gong's founder, Mr. Li Hongzhi for the Nobel Peace Prize. In contrast, Jiang Zemin and his followers are facing accusations in more and more countries for the violation of human rights and crimes against humanity.

Some of the accusations against Jiang are related to torture and genocide. The lawsuit for crimes against humanity filed in the court of Illinois United States against Jiang and the leading officials of the “610 Office”*, who persecuted Falun Gong, is now being legally processed. Other accusations include:

1. On October 21 2002, Jiang Zemin and another two high-level Chinese officials had a lawsuit filed against them in the United States;
2. The person in charge of the “610 Office”, Li Lanqing, had a lawsuit filed against him in France for violating the United Nations Convention against Torture;
3. The head of the “610 Office”, Ding Guangen, who is also the minister for the Department of Central Propaganda and a member for the Central Committee and Political Bureau, was charged in the USA for violating the human rights of Falun Gong practitioners.
4. The former city major of Beijing and chairman for the Chinese Olympics Committee, Liu Qi, was accused in the USA of supervising the torture of Falun Gong practitioners.

The evil actions of utilising the government-manipulated Chinese media to slander Falun Gong ended up in complete failure. Through the investigations conducted by international organisations and correspondents, many rumours fabricated by the Chinese government have been clarified, and the true facts have been revealed. The most outstanding example is the self-immolation incident that occurred in Tiananmen Square and which was staged by the Chinese government. The World Organization to Investigate the Persecution of Falun Gong has initiated a detailed investigation that will lead to the inescapable legal punishment of the criminals and instigators. Even in China, where the press is spreading lies unscrupulously, the facts cannot be covered up forever.

The Jiang regime has portrayed Falun Dafa practitioners as criminals, or people who partake in the act of committing suicide. In fact, some of the criminals quoted in the Jiang’s propaganda were bribed to do so. Some suffered from mental illness and some simply fabricated stories to smear the reputation of Falun Gong. The direct manipulator is the chairman of the Chinese Central Military Committee, Jiang Zemin.

What is worth mentioning is that Falun Gong practitioners have remained peaceful and rational throughout their appeals. The Chinese government has refused to admit that:

1. They brutally tortured Falun Gong practitioners;
2. They sent Falun Gong practitioners to forced labour camps;
3. They have torn apart many Falun Gong practitioners families, leading to the loss of both family members and friends;
4. There are more than 750 verified cases of death caused by torture since 1999;
5. The death toll recorded in the internal document of the Chinese government is as high as several thousand. In addition, there are hundreds and thousands of Falun Gong practitioners under arrest.
6. More than one hundred thousand practitioners were illegally imprisoned in forced labour camps.

Looking back at the persecution of Falun Gong over the last four years, it has been a series of merciless murders and blatant trampling of human rights. Among them, several examples are given below:

1. In July 1999 when the persecution started, there was a countrywide, large-scale arrest of Falun Gong practitioners in China. In a stadium at Beijing alone, more than 3,000 Falun Gong practitioners were illegally detained;
2. In late July 1999, the books of Falun Gong were burned in public;
3. All the persecution actions have been based on fabricated reasons. Without any form of legal procedure, more than one hundred million people were deprived of their basic human rights.

Although international organisations have tried to understand the situations, and have taken actions against the serious human rights violations committed by the Jiang Regime, e.g. a bill carrying acute criticism against the Chinese government’s persecution of Falun Gong was proposed in the European Parliament on Feb. 15, 2001, the Chinese government didn’t stop the unscrupulous torture and cruel murder. In the month of June 2002 alone, fifteen female Falun Gong practitioners were tortured to death at Wanjia forced labor camp.

We, the Falun Dafa practitioners of Austria and practitioners around the globe, will strive to make all of the governments, the general public, and the international organisations in the world understand this inhuman, unprecedented persecution until Jiang puts an end to the persecution on Falun Gong.

We demand the Chinese government stops the persecution of Falun Gong immediately and hands over the responsible persons to an independent international tribunal for trial leading to a just solution.

*The 610 Office is an agency specifically created to persecute Falun Gong, with absolute power over each level of administration in the Party and all other political or judicial systems.