United Kingdom: Anti-Torture Exhibition Tour Arrives in Birmingham

On the 5th of February 2005, Chamberlain Square in the centre of Birmingham became the focal point for local people. Not long ago, Falun Gong practitioners were invited to join an Art Festival there. Today, they came to expose five years of brutal torture against their fellow practitioners in China.

Although it was cold and raining, passers-by didn’t seem to be affected. They carefully read the poster displays introducing Falun Gong and exposing the persecution of the practice by the Chinese communist regime. People queued to sign a petitions calling for an end to the persecution and for the perpetrators behind these human rights atrocities to be brought to justice. One passer by said that such a major persecution should be known by more people and should be stopped immediately.

There was a gentleman who, after finishing the display boards, came forward to embrace one of the practitioners who were re-enacting torture. Some people took the leaflet. Some carefully listened to explanations from the practitioners. Many more passers-by were attracted to the peaceful and beautiful Falun Gong exercise demonstration. Practitioners patiently explained to people what Falun Gong is and why Falun Gong is practised by over 100 million people in sixty countries but is banned only in China. The communist dictatorial regime, led by Jiang Zemin and his own personal vendetta against Falun Gong, are making use of over one hundred torture methods to force Falun Gong practitioners to give up their belief in “Truthfulness, Compassion and Forbearance”. Human rights workers have documented over 38,000 specific cases of torture or severe abuse. The regime also used all of China’s state-run media to spread fabricated lies to defame Falun Gong and to confuse people who are not familiar with the peaceful practice. The anti-torture exhibition was held to expose these lies and to let the truth be known to the world.

During the preparation for the activity, Falun Gong practitioners visited local radio stations, TV stations, newspaper offices and police stations to let them know their plans and tell them about Falun Gong. The Mayor also sent a letter to practitioners apologising for not being able to attend the activity in person and wishing the anti-torture exhibition success. City councillor John Kardon asked his secretary to call practitioners wishing them success.

The anti-torture exhibition tour in UK started in July 2004. It was first held in front of the House of Parliament in London, before moving on to Cambridge, Oxford, Brighton, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Aberdeen, Dundee, Manchester and Southampton. The tour will continue until the persecution against Falun Gong finishes.