German Media reports on a Seminar exposing Human Rights Violations in China

On January 27th 2005, Falun Gong practitioners from Cham city in Germany and a local representative from the International Society for Human Rights held a seminar entitled “The Current Situation of Human Rights Violations in China” in Robert Schumann High School. Local newspapers reported on this event, including an article entitled “Lies cannot withstand exposure” in Chamer Zeitung and another entitled “Experiencing Injustice” in Bayerwald-Echo.

The reports mentioned that Truthfulness, Compassion and Tolerance are the cultivation principles of Falun Gong, which is also called Falun Dafa. They quoted a remark made by Falun Gong practitioner Ms. Min Teng-Schwaegerl in the ethics class at Robert Schumann High School during the seminar. She said, “Falun Gong originates from China. It can lead people to achieve harmony within themselves and with the environment. However, the cultivation principles go against the nature and ruling measures of the Chinese Communist Party. That is why Falun Gong suffers systematic discrimination and persecution by the Communist regime in China, and this is why Falun Gong practitioners are tortured or even killed.” In the same seminar, Mr. Roemer, who represented the International Society for Human Rights, reminded the audience to pay attention to the situation in Tibet.

Mr. Roland Hein is the senior teacher at the Robert Schumann High School. He wanted to demonstrate cases of human rights infringements in his Ethics class so he invited Falun Gong practitioners and the International Society for Human Rights to give accounts of their persecution experience under China’s communist system. Min Teng was originally from Shanghai and she came to Germany two and a half a years ago. She heard about and experienced Falun Gong after she completed her German language course in a university. Driven by the contrasts between the Communist Party’s propaganda about Falun Gong and the peacefulness of the practice she had seen, she was determined to take part in public activities to raise awareness. “Lies cannot withstand exposure,” Min stated firmly. “People have to understand the actual situation in China because what is happening there will impact the future of the whole world.”

Mr. Roemer described China as “the most infamous country for torture” not only because China suppressed Falun Gong ruthlessly but also because it persecutes other religious groups. According to an estimate, the total number of religious believers, Christians, Buddhists and Muslims, in China ranges from 60 to 90 million. “Ever since the birth of the Chinese people, their human rights have been deprived,” said Mr. Roemer.

After giving an overview about the human rights situation in China, Min Teng began to talk about Falun Gong’s situation. Falun Gong is actually a practice of self-improvement; practitioners can achieve spiritual inner peace, as well as harmonious coexistence with the outside environment. Min Teng said there are 70 to 100 million people practising Falun Gong in China.

Because Falun Gong was welcome widely and spread fast, it was considered a threat to power by the rulers of the Chinese Communist regime. Therefore, Falun Gong has been brutally persecuted in China for the past five years.

“It is very sad that the media has been astoundingly indifferent to this issue, in which millions of people have become victims and the degree of impact is far worse than the tsunami in Asia,” stated Min Teng. Mr. Roemer mentioned Tibet, another area in China where human rights have been denied. Tibet has been occupied by the Chinese Communist regime ever since a military invasion in 1950. The communist regime has attempted to destroy the Tibetans and their Buddhist culture. It is estimated that 1,200,000 Tibetans died from starvation, shortage of medicine, capital punishment or in attempts to escape from the country.

Can young people in Germany do anything against these persecutions? Yes, Min Teng and Mr. Roemer commented, They can collect petition signatures and ask the German Government to pay attention to these human rights violations.