Germany: Anti-Torture Exhibition in Frankfurt

On August 13th 2005, tourists from all over the world were stunned by the anti-torture exhibition on Frankfurt’s Roman Square on International Youth Day , which exposed the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP’s) persecution of Falun Gong practitioners.

In the centre of the anti-torture exhibition were re-enactments of torture scenes with bruised and bloodstained practitioners tied up to a “Tiger Bench,” chained to cages, and with bamboo sticks pushed under their fingernails. A “Truth, Compassion, Forbearance” Art Exhibition was set up on the left, while practitioners demonstrated exercises on the right. Further on was a table with leaflets and a petition. As a backdrop, a line of large banners proclaimed in both Chinese and German, “Please help stop the persecution of Falun Gong”, “The CCP Blatantly Commits Torture and Murder” and, “This Is Happening In China Right Now”.

Since the CCP’s crackdown of Falun Gong, which cultivates mind and body following the principles of “Truth, Compassion, and Forbearance”, 2781 Falun Gong practitioners have been verified via relatives or eyewitness accounts or victims’ photos, etc, as being persecuted to death. Most lost their lives after enduring prolonged inhumane torture, e.g. continuous beating, electric shocks, sleep deprivation, force-feeding, injection of nerve damaging drugs, in labour camps, jails and brain washing classes all over the country. The United Nation’s 2004 Report on Human Rights Persecution of Falun Gong pointed out that the brutality and cruelty of the torture “defies description.”

Currently in Germany, many Falun Gong practitioners from Beijing, Shanghai, Heilongjiang, Liaoning, and Yunnan experienced persecution first hand in labour camps, jails and detention centres. Some were brutally beaten, some were forced into intensive labour, some were locked up in iron cages and deprived of food, drink or toilet facilities, some were stripped naked and electrically shocked, some female practitioners were even raped.

At Longshan Labour Camp in Shenyang, a practitioner from Shenyang, Gao Rong Rong, who was once rescued, was electrically shocked with high voltage batons on her face for six to seven hours. As a result, her face covered with blisters, the skin completely burned and her face disfigured. A seventy-year-old practitioner from Hebei, Shi Zhi Min, was kidnapped at the end of 2004. Seven months later he was tortured until his body became a bag of bones, hanging on to his last breath.

After learning these facts, Falun Gong practitioner Ms. Gao felt she would speak up for justice. Since she started practising Falun Gong, everything changed for the better. She even got rid of her allergy to pollen, which no doctor could cure. In her opinion, if people are not free to believe in what they want to believe in, there is no point in life. If people can be persecuted for believing in “Truth, Compassion, and Forbearance,” there is no morality in human society. The day before the anti-torture exhibition, she drove from the south with a homemade banner and “tiger bench.”

Ms. Gao came from Taiwan, where more than four hundred thousand people practise Falun Gong. Falun Gong practitioners are spread throughout seventy-eight countries of the world. Be it large cities or small towns, there are Falun Gong practitioners all over Germany, most of whom are westerners. They are often seen on weekends and information days in the city and at anti-torture exhibitions.

Shock mixed with anger and sympathy on the face of onlookers. The Art Exhibition with the theme of torture was often surrounded with several rows of people. A continuous flow of tourists signed in front of the material stand. A number of children bent close to the cage and tiger bench. Many took photos and recorded videos. Thousands of people took leaflets, newspapers, bookmarks and CDs. Countless also talked with practitioners.

Among messages on the comment book, “I understand very well your activities. Angels are everywhere. Thank you! – Thomen;” “It is so good to hold protest activities here. Our democracy allows everything. Wish you success! God bless! – Gappelle;” “I revere your founding principles. The worthless brutality of those who persecute you will only serve to debase themselves. – Andrea.” A German colleague of a practitioner’s commented after watching the anti-torture exhibition, “Such courage reminds me of Jesus!”

Wang Wenrong