Belgian Falun Dafa Association Writes to the Mayor of Brussels

Re: Arrest of Falun Dafa practitioners in Paris

Dear Mr Mayor,

We write to you, Mr. Mayor, because we would like to talk to you about an event that happened last weekend in Paris: tens of Falun Dafa practitioners were arrested during the Chinese New Year parade on the Champs Elysee.

Under the framework of the ‘year of China in France’, a cultural exchange event between France and China, a big New Year parade was organized last week in Paris on the Champs Elysee. Falun Dafa practitioners, people who practise an ancient Chinese cultivation method, were refused to join the parade. Under enormous pressure from China – ‘if they join the parade, then we cancel the event’ - the French government not only didn’t allow the Falun Dafa practitioners to join the parade, but didn’t even allow them to hold any other form of demonstration near the events on that day.

As you know, Falun Dafa practitioners regularly hold peaceful manifestations and demonstrations to inform the world about the persecution of Falun Dafa in China. Falun Dafa is an ancient meditation method and a way of living, based on Truthfulness, Compassion and Forbearance. Being spread in China since 1992, Falun Dafa became very popular in a very short period of time. Jealous of this popularity, Jiang Zemin, former Chinese state leader, outlawed Falun Dafa and started a ruthless persecution against Falun Dafa in 1999. Since then thousands of people were killed, tens of thousands were tortured and hundreds of thousands were arrested. During the past four years practitioners all over the world have been exposing this persecution. Also in Belgium, often in Brussels, we have held several peaceful manifestations and demonstrations to inform the people about this persecution.

Certainly you have been informed by your police department about the absolutely peaceful nature of these manifestations and about the serene and dignified atmosphere that exists during the demonstrations organized by Falun Dafa practitioners. All over Europe, and also in Brussels, police officers and city officials know that wherever Falun Dafa practitioners come to demonstrate, it is sure that no problems, violence or any other disturbance will arise. However, it is also known that wherever Falun Dafa practitioners come to expose the persecution, Chinese ‘officials’ will come to cause trouble, trying to influence local police and city officials by spreading hate propaganda against Falun Dafa.

Most of the time city officials do not listen or bow to the pressure created by the Chinese Government and they allow Falun Dafa practitioners to exercise their rights of freedom of belief and freedom of expression, they allow them to defend a good cause. Also in Brussels this has been the case over the past years, we sincerely want to thank you for that. However, last week in Paris, because of the magnitude of the events that were to take place – events that were to be broadcast life on Chinese TV – the pressure from the Chinese government became particularly big. The French government and the city of Paris were put under tremendous pressure to not allow Falun Dafa practitioners to join the activities. Even worse, they forced the French government to at least partly take over their methods of complete intolerance towards Falun Dafa practitioners.

All of this led to the events of last Saturday on the Champs Elysee that we want to bring to your attention. During the parade a number of people wearing yellow scarves with Falun Dafa logos were arrested by the police in Paris. The reason they were given was that ‘yellow is forbidden in Paris’. Yellow is the colour of Falun Dafa. Since the persecution started Chinese officials try to ban the Falun Dafa yellow from the streets wherever they go. Also in Paris they gave an order: no yellow (read: no Falun Dafa practitioners) on the street allowed. Sadly, the French government and the city of Paris obeyed this order and demanded that the police repress Falun Dafa in Paris wherever the Chinese officials would go.

Mr Mayor, these people were arrested for wearing a yellow scarf. They were not demonstrating, not holding banners, not walking around in big groups, not shouting nor screaming. Also in Paris the city officials previously heard about and personally witnessed the peaceful reputation of Falun Dafa practitioners. Yet they still gave in to the pressure from the Chinese government and arbitrarily detained peaceful European citizens.

Because what happened in Paris last week is not righteous, we contact you about this. We would like to come to talk to you to further explain the things that happened in Paris last week and to ask you to contact the mayor of Paris about those events. Several European VIPs have already reacted on what happened in Paris. An example of such a reaction, writing from a European Member of Parliament – Mr. Marco Cappato – to the mayor of Paris, Mr. Delanoë, is attached to this letter for your reference.

If Mr. Bertrand Delanoë, Maire de Paris, is contacted by the Mayors of other European capitals expressing their concern about the treatment that peaceful Falun Dafa practitioners, citizens of several European cities and countries, received, maybe he will come to realize the profound implications of last week’s events and understand that those events are very unfortunate. Maybe he will then be willing to help make sure that something like this doesn’t happen again. Not in Paris and not in any other city in Europe.

Mr Mayor, please accept our request for a hearing, so that we can further explain this matter to you and that we can correct this wrongful situation.

Yours respectfully,

Belgian Falun Dafa Association