Chinese Security Forces Mistreat Western Falun Gong Practitioners

Interview with a Swiss Falun Gong practitioner who took part in an appeal on November 20th, 2001 at Tiananmen Square in Beijing

What happened on November 20th?

36 citizens from 11 different countries – from Australia, Finland, Germany, England, France, Indonesia, Israel, Canada, Sweden, the USA and four from Switzerland – were seated in the meditation position and held a banner with the wording Truthfulness, Compassion and Forbearance, written in English and Chinese.

Why did you decide to take part in this effort?

To take a stand for freedom and human rights for millions of people; to lodge a protest against the State-sanctioned persecution with our peaceful meditation; and to let all Chinese know that Falun Gong is practised everywhere in the world, is treasured and supported.

The situation in China has worsened since the September 11th attacks. Daily there is a murder of a practitioner and the tortures are becoming more horrendous.

That’s why our hearts demand that we support the practitioners in China and must raise our voices for them, since they are barred from any kind of a peaceful protest.

Besides that, we wanted to see with our own eyes the surroundings, to get a first-hand impression of the situation.

How did this action come about?

A woman practitioner decided to visit a newspaper correspondent after having read an article in a Chinese newspaper from Beijing. Spontaneously, some other practitioners decided to accompany her. After she mentioned her plan to a few other practitioners from different countries with whom she had been in contact, the group grew to 36 people within a short time.

How did the Chinese Police React?

Immediately the police force vehicles arrived, sirens and horns blaring and encircled us so rapidly that the tourists and journalists had a hard time witnessing what was happening. After the police officers dragged and shoved us Westerners into the police busses they arrested us, incarcerated and abused us. Several of us were mishandled and injured.

An Australian practitioner had a bloody mouth and a broken bone in his hand. A second Australian sustained a broken nose from a hefty hit in the face upon his arrest;
a German woman was dragged into the van by her hair.

In the bus itself, several officers beat a Swedish practitioner so severely that he collapsed on the van floor, semi-conscious. The police officers continued to hit his head and face.

They put a strangle-hold on the neck of a woman practitioner from France.

A Swiss subject was dragged into the bus by his sweater, causing him to be strangled to the point of being unable to breathe. His ribs were bruised. Once inside the bus he was pushed to the floor and beaten on his back.

At the police station people had their personal belongings and identification papers forcefully confiscated. They tried to psychologically intimidate us by attempting to separate one or the other of us from the group.

We demanded again and again to make contact with our respective consulates, a demand that was refused. Some police officer declared later that our consulates did not wish to have contact with us, a lie.

Two young Swedish women practitioners had hematomas from being pushed down a flight of stairs. They were then incarcerated in a room with several others into a space of 2 meters by 5 meters, which resembled a dungeon. Later on they were moved to a different area and individually interrogated. A police officer forcefully grabbed a woman’s cell phone and in the process brutally groped her in the genital area. The police used force and pressure when many of us refused to sign the interrogation statements, which were written in Chinese. Again the practitioners were beaten, and they even threatened one male practitioner with death.

The whole time we were under physical and psychological duress. They refused to tell us what they planned to do with us. We were strictly monitored, even when we used the toilet. The police did not leave us alone. We were permanently photographed and video-taped and given only one meal and also were deprived of sleep during these 24 hrs of incarceration.

What Made the Deepest Impression on You?

When I saw that latticed dungeon-like cell I knew that Falun Gong practitioners were being abused tortured there. Whoever is unlucky to land down there is open to willful, brutal abuse at the hands of Chinese authorities, without any protection. I was shocked at the readiness of the Chinese police to commit violence. I was somewhat clear that, because of our nationality, we would have certain recourse. But I was also aware of the risks, because the Chinese authorities have for the past 2-1/2 years demonstrated their incalculable and unscrupulous behaviour for all the world to see. In retrospect, I shudder to think of the possibilities what could have happened to us had we not been Westerners and the whole world would not have soon found out about our arrest.

What Did You Learn From This Undertaking?

That is vitally important for the Chinese practitioners to get help from abroad, since they have been deprived of all their autonomy and freedom in their home country and because they are forced to bear unimaginable suffering.

And Your Wish For the Future of China?

Freedom and justice for all Chinese citizens, whom I experienced to be so understanding and warmhearted during this trip.

(Original text in German)