United Kingdom: Exposing the Persecution of Falun Dafa at a Political Party Conference in Brighton

On the week of the 27th of September 2004, the Labour Party held its annual conference, which lasted for several days. On the final two days of the conference, a small anti-torture exhibition was held by a few Falun Gong practitioners just outside the entrance to the conference hall. The purpose of this activity was to use the opportunity to inform the delegates, public and media about the persecution against Falun Gong practitioners in China, which has already claimed at least 1059 innocent lives.

Although it used just a single torture exhibit, with a practitioner imprisoned in a small cage, the event was effective in drawing the attention of passers-by and giving a clear message about the way Falun Gong practitioners are treated in China. Over the two days, in addition to handing out many leaflets, over 600 people signed a petition calling for the chief instigator of the persecution against Falun Gong, former Chinese leader Jiang Zemin, to be brought to justice in a court of law. Many people stopped to talk with practitioners and to find out more about the situation, or to take their time in reading through the display boards which gave a shocking insight into the torture and abuse against Falun Gong practitioners in China.

One delegate, a councillor from Shropshire, returned to the display with a colleague who he encouraged to sign the petition. The barbaric nature of one torture method had stuck so strongly in his mind that he asked the practitioners to describe it to his colleague. On listening to the description of how bamboo sticks are driven under the nails into the tips of the fingers, they both shook their heads in disbelief and said that such forms of torture are draconian. People all over the world are now coming to see the truly evil nature of this campaign of genocide against people who merely want to practise meditative exercises and live their lives by following the principles of Truthfulness, Compassion and Tolerance.