United Kingdom: Practitioners in Manchester Commemorated Six Years of Persecution with an Appeal at the Chinese Consulate

The 20th of July 2005 marked exactly six years since the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), led by Jiang Zemin, illegally launched the persecution against Falun Gong in 1999. This brutal suppression of innocent people is still on-going. In remembrance of more than 2,700 fellow Falun Gong practitioners who have lost their lives in the CCP’s human rights abuses, practitioners from Manchester and surrounding cities gathered at the Chinese Consulate on this anniversary to hold a press conference, to appeal for the public’s concern and to urge the CCP to stop the persecution of Falun Gong immediately.

Practitioners hold a press conference to expose the human rights abuses

After the press conference, Western and Chinese practitioners demonstrated the five sets of Falun Gong exercises and gave out leaflets to passers-by. Many people stopped to view pictures exposing the truth of the persecution and chat with practitioners. A Chinese man, who had believed some of the false information about Falun Gong spread by the CCP, saw a photo of a practitioner who was tortured with an electric baton for seven hours and whose face was grossly disfigured. The man was shocked and left speechless.

Falun Gong practitioners appeal outside the Chinese Consulate in Manchester on a daily basis. In the last few years, many people have had the chance to learn about Falun Gong, particularly those who visit the consulate on business.