Switzerland: Exposing the Persecution with an Information Stall

The health resort of Saas Fee nestles beautifully between majestic mountains and is located in the rural area of Saasertal in Switzerland’s Wallis Canton. Tourists from all over the world come here for a peaceful and relaxing holiday.

Falun Gong practitioners visited this area just a few weeks ago and told the villagers about the persecution against people who practise Falun Gong in China. This large-scale campaign of genocide has already taken over 1260 lives and human rights organisations have documented over 38,000 cases of torture. Some of the hotel owners asked practitioners to return during the Christmas holidays and bring some leaflets. They thought it would be an excellent time for the practitioners to return because there would be so many foreign tourists around.

Just before the Christmas season started practitioners set up an information stall in Saas Fee. As soon as everything was set up, three little girls aged between ten and twelve years old visited the stall. After carefully studying all the posters, they signed the petition calling for an end to the persecution. As they said goodbye, one of the girls said that she intended to send her mother to the stall in the afternoon so she could also sign the petition too.

Many of the tourists and locals were shocked that such brutal violations of human rights are happening in China today. Pictures of re-enactments of the methods of torture used in attempts to force Falun Gong practitioners to give up their belief were instrumental in driving home the extent of the cruel persecution to all those visiting the booth.

The information stall was located near the local village school. The students surrounded the stall during their lunch break. Practitioners had brought some hand-made paper lotus flowers and these were soon gone. Some of the children sat down on the exercise mats and asked practitioners to teach them the Falun Gong exercises.

One of the teachers told practitioners that the information stall was an excellent opportunity for her to discuss the issue of human rights with her students. Later on, a practitioner took the opportunity to talk in greater detail to the teachers of Saas Fee’s elementary school about the persecution against Falun Gong.

After packing up the stall in the evening, practitioners paid another visit to Saas Fee’s hotels and restaurants. Many of the hotel owners remembered our earlier visit and gladly accepted newspapers and foreign language flyers for their many foreign guests.