Speeches Delivered by Falun Gong Practitioners at the UN Forum on Human Rights in China

On the afternoon of April the 2nd, the American delegation attending the meeting of the U.N. Commission on Human Rights organised a seminar regarding the resolution condemning China’s human rights abuses. Those attending included representatives of the United Nation’s member states, human rights organisations, Falun Gong practitioners and members of Family Church etc. The auditorium did not have a vacant seat. Australian artist Zhang Cuiying and student Zhao Ming from Ireland spoke first. They talked about the inhuman persecution they suffered in Chinese prisons and labour camps because they practise Falun Gong. Zhao Ming explained that four of his friends were tortured to death because they practised Falun Gong. He expressed his thankfulness and support for this resolution. He also hoped that the persecution of Falun Gong could be written into the resolution.

Australian lady Zhizhen Dai held her daughter and said with tears in her eyes: “This is my three year old daughter. When she was just a few months, her father was tortured to death in China, because he practised Falun Gong. I represent my daughter in thanking you for this resolution. There are thousands upon thousands of families suffering the same experiences in China as my family. I believe that all Falun Gong practitioners who suffer from the persecution will appreciate your resolution.” When she got to this point, she was sobbing.

At the same time, Mr. Williamson, the American ambassador to the United Nations said, “To listen to the persecuted speak from their hearts is very important when we formulate the policy. Now everyone should be very clear about why we raised this resolution.” Mr Williamson also stated, “The Chinese Government claim that now is the best period for human rights in China, but we know that human rights in China have fallen way behind. Some people question why we do not carry on using the way of dialogue between America and China to improve human rights. We believe that we should not have a dialogue just for the sake of dialogue. The dialogue must achieve results."

Mr Williamson also said, “Last year, the Chinese Government promised to improve human rights, so we did not raise the condemnation resolution. During last year’s dialogue, we reminded the Chinese government again and again and hoped to see substantial progress. However, human rights in China were not only without any improvement but have also seriously fallen behind. So we raised this resolution this year. The purpose is still to accelerate the Chinese Government's improvement of human rights."

Shizhong Chen from the Falun Gong human rights group said, “Here in my hand is a report by the United Nation’s special commissioner regarding Falun Gong. The document is more than one hundred pages. The contents of the report about this area have increased this year. In fact, the cases related to the persecution of Falun Gong have already far exceeded the handling ability of the United Nation human rights organisation. In view of this I suggest to add one article about setting up regulations of China’s human rights special commissioner in order to actually supervise and accelerate China’s human rights.　

Mr Fu and Mr. Xu from the China Family Church made speeches one after another. They represented eighty million Christians to support the resolution. They said: “Two years ago America asked for the opinion of Family Church when considering whether or not to support China in joining the WTO. At that time Family Church decided to agree to support. Regarding the current resolution, we have discussed with the responsible person of the Family Church and because of justice and intuitive knowledge, because of human dignity, we support you wholeheartedly.” The persecuted members of Tibet and human rights organisations also made speeches to support this resolution and condemned the Chinese for their appalling persecution and violation of human rights.