United States: Practitioners Rally in New York to Protest the Murder of Gao Rongrong

Upon hearing the shocking news that practitioner Gao Rongrong was persecuted to death on June 16th, on the evening of June 21st, several hundred practitioners in the greater New York area rallied in front of the Chinese Consulate to condemn the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) for murdering Ms. Gao. The practitioners demanded the immediate punishment of the murderers.

Practitioners in the Greater New York area rallied in front of the Chinese Consulate

To many residents in the New York area who have seen the practitioners' anti-torture exhibitions, Gao Rongrong is by no means a new name. Because of her unshakable faith in Falun Dafa, Ms. Gao, 37, was severely persecuted. In May 2004, prison guards shocked her face with several electric batons for about 7 hours, severely disfiguring her face. Ms. Gao's story and her photos before and after the disfigurement have been widely spread and displayed in the streets of Manhattan in order to raise awareness of the severity of the persecution. Many New Yorkers were outraged by the atrocities the CCP committed against such a young woman.

Connie Chipkar, a Canadian practitioner who came to New York City to clarify the truth about the persecution, said, "I was shocked by the disfigurement of Ms. Gao and couldn't believe the regime could be so cruel to a young lady. Later, I learned that Ms. Gao managed to escape from custody and I was so hopeful for her. I have been hoping that she could be rescued to overseas. However, I realised that she could never be rescued when I saw her name in the death list of practitioners on June 16... The atrocity is still ongoing in China and it is even more rampant."

Ms. Chipkar said, "I have a strong wish: I am going to persist [in clarifying the truth] until the atrocity ends. I will tell every person about the CCP's atrocities and let them know how the CCP is coercing the police and many other Chinese citizens to commit such evil crimes. I will pray for the Chinese and hope that they will follow the lead of the three former Mainland officials in Australia, and denounce the party. I feel that everyone, whether Chinese or Western, needs to read the Nine Commentaries on the Chinese Communist Party. The CCP is just another name for evil."

A Chinese practitioner said, "To avoid pressure from the international community over human rights issues, the CCP typically doesn't sentence practitioners to death directly. Rather, the regime takes a more vicious approach-- torturing and beating practitioners to death and then accusing them of having committed suicide." Ms. Hong continued, "The CCP not only persecutes Falun Gong rampantly in China, it has also extended the persecution overseas through the Chinese Embassy and Consulates, as well as through extensive spy networks in many countries."

"After the persecution started on July 20, 1999, one of my relatives who had access to internal news, told me and my husband that I shouldn't go out after dark as the CCP might hire thugs to kill me at any time," Ms. Hong said.

"The former Chinese diplomat and two security officials who have defected to Australia recently revealed internal documents which showed that the CCP has been systematically murdering practitioners as well as monitoring and harassing overseas practitioners in order to silence them." Ms. Hong stated, "In New York City alone, a good number of practitioners have been followed and their phones have been tapped by spies. Some practitioners were even assaulted in public."

Practitioners in the greater New York area plan to hold a press conference in front of New York City Hall to condemn the CCP for murdering Gao Rongrong and to expose the CCP's overseas activities in the persecution of Falun Gong.