United States: Student Organization from California State University in Chico Passes Resolution against the Silencing of Falun Gong in China

According to a report from the Orion Online, the online newspaper of California State University, Chico, on April 20, 2005, the Associated Students passed a resolution against the silencing of Falun Gong practitioners in China at the Government Affairs Council meeting Monday, April 18. Falun Gong practitioners practise meditation and exercise to achieve inner peace. The A.S. resolution will be distributed to local, state and national leaders to let them know Chico State does not support the Chinese restrictions on freedom. Similar resolutions have been passed at the University of California in Berkeley and San Jose State.

The text of the resolution is below.

Resolution expressing opposition of the Chinese Communist Government's persecution and acts of atrocity against Falun Gong practitioners.

Whereas, at numerous colleges and universities in California and across the United States, the student body includes Falun Gong practitioners, and student organizations include Falun Gong Associations;

Whereas, Falun Gong is a peaceful self-cultivation practice deeply rooted in traditional Chinese culture, with tens of millions of practitioners in over 60 countries; and

Whereas, Falun Gong practitioners aspire to have inner peace and physical health through qigong exercise, meditation, and adherence to the principles of Truthfulness, Compassion and Tolerance; and,

Whereas, Falun Gong is non-religious, completely voluntary, and free of charge; and,

Whereas, the Constitution of the People's Republic of China provides to the citizens of that country freedom of speech, assembly, association, and belief; and,

Whereas, on July 20, 1999, former Chinese Communist Party leader Jiang Zemin, in spite of much opposition from within the Chinese government, officially banned the practice of Falun Gong and initiated a brutal campaign of brainwashing, torture and murder, which continues today; and,

Whereas, former Communist Party leader, Jiang Zemin threatened the entire country of China with a genocide of conscience, exercised power over all parts of society to force the persecution on the government and the people and tried to exercise the genocide of conscience overseas; and,

Whereas, demonstrations by Falun Gong practitioners in the People's Republic of China and the United States have always been peaceful, meditative sessions; and,

Whereas, the 2003 US Department of State Annual Human Rights report that, police often used excessive force when detaining peaceful Falun Gong protesters, including some who were elderly or who were accompanied by small children; and,

Whereas, Falun Gong practitioners in China have suffered a horrific persecution in which tens of thousands of people have been tortured while confined to labor camps, prisons, and mental hospitals, and hundreds of thousands have been forced to attend brainwashing classes; and,

Whereas, the number of verified deaths from torture has reached 1583 as of April 6th, 2005; and,

Whereas, there has been daily slander and defamation from the Chinese state media, which enjoys a monopoly on newspapers, television, radio and Internet; and,

Whereas, the Jiang Zemin Regime has additionally been using illicit means to harass, intimidate and physically assault Falun Gong practitioners in the United States; and,

Whereas, Dr. Charles Lee, a United States citizen and Falun Gong practitioner, has reportedly been mentally and physically tortured since being detained by Chinese authorities on January 22, 2003; and

Whereas, The persecution of Falun Gong and control of thought has been particularly harsh at universities across China, where at least 61 professors and students have been murdered, thousands have been sentenced to prisons and brainwashing camps and many more have been fired from there jobs or expelled from school because of their affiliation with Falun Gong; and

Whereas, in one incident, Chengdu University Associate Professor Zhang Chuansheng died in prison after being arrested for his involvement with Falun Gong. Prison authorities claimed he died of a heart attack, but witnesses who saw his body claimed he had been severely beaten; and,

Whereas, the 2004 US Department of State Annual Human Rights report that China's human rights violations have also extended to religious practices such as Christianity and others within China; and,

Whereas, millions of Christians in China continue to live and worship in fear and uncertainty, despite the communist government's denials that persecution is taking place; and

Whereas, Christians who are not affiliated with a state-sanctioned church institution face harassment, fines, job discrimination, imprisonment, torture, and sometimes death; and Therefore be it resolved, that we the Associated Students Government Affairs Committee opposes the persecution and human rights violations of Falun Gong practitioners in Mainland China and abroad; Therefore be it further resolved that we condemn the persecution and human rights violations of Christians and other religious/spiritual practices by the Chinese Communist Government in mainland China and abroad.