Media Article from Germany: Activity Held for Human Rights - Collecting Signatures in Downtown Uelzen

The following report about a human rights activity was published in “Uelzen Advertisement News” on February the 15th 2004:

Falun Gong practitioners caught people’s attention in downtown Uelzen on Saturday February the 14th. Through this activity, B.G. and other enthusiastic attendants wanted to draw the public’s attention to the ongoing human rights infringements in China. Falun Gong is a peaceful cultivation practice based on truthfulness, benevolence and forbearance. In the past, Falun Gong was passed down to disciples by the Master. Its wide spread began in 1992. Within a few years, more than one hundred million people started practising Falun Gong in China alone.

B.G. said, “Owing to the Chinese government’s fear of group activities, Falun Gong practitioners have been persecuted in China.” She explained the situation of a Chinese lady called Xiong Wei who used to study in Berlin. Ms. Xiong Wei returned to China from Germany for a job and was imprisoned in a forced labour camp because she distributed Falun Gong leaflets. B.G. is a human rights advocate. She continued, “Rarely known to the public is the fact that most toys exported from China were manufactured in this forced labour camp.” The prisoners are abused like slaves. They also suffer brutal torture. Although the aforementioned lady has been released, B.G. stated, “We don’t have any information about her current situation or her whereabouts.” Many of the people who get released from the forced labour camps are “on the brink of death”. Recently, the Chinese Government has applied pressure to other countries just like they did to the French Government during the Chinese Spring Festival.

B.G. and other supporters hope to raise the public’s attention to the human rights violations occurring in China. The facts of the persecution in China are unimaginable; people are persecuted because of their beliefs. Petition signatures were collected in this activity, which will be passed onto the Human Rights Committee of the German Parliament.