Italian Media Report: Peaceful Meditation Group Undergo Beijing's Brutal Torture

Recently, an Italian nationwide daily newspaper Il Giornale carried an article regarding the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners in China. This newspaper has carried similar reports several times in the past. The latest news coverage was entitled “Beijing persecutes people practising peaceful meditation with brutal torture” and was written by Manila Alfano.

Over 1,600 people have been persecuted to death with brutal torture; more than one hundred thousand people have been imprisoned; some twenty-five thousand people have been detained in forced labour camps and one thousand plus people were forcibly sent to mental hospitals. Falun Gong is a peaceful meditation practice originated in ancient times, but it has been outlawed by the Beijing government since 1999.

Since Falun Gong was first made public in 1992, it was quickly loved by the general public. Perhaps it is because its five sets of simple exercises can bring people physical health and mental wellbeing; perhaps it is because it is free of charge; perhaps it is because there’s no registration requirement. One way or another, Falun Gong has become very popular around the world in a span of only eight years. However, it was regarded as a threat by the Chinese government because it was practised by a tremendous number of people. Based on his studies, Professor Thomas Bernstein at the East Asian Institute of Columbia University, pointed out: “The Chinese authorities are worried about the factors that may lead to uncertainty for the government as they are afraid of chaos. However, Falun Gong has something special that make them feel afraid: This cultivation practice is widely accepted by people from all walks of life, including farmers, soldiers, even government officials, etc.

When it was outlawed, there were about seventy to eighty million people practising Falun Gong. To suppress Falun Gong, Jiang Zemin ordered the guidelines for persecuting Falun Gong practitioners: "defaming their reputation, bankrupting them financially and destroying them physically." The intimidation and heavy fines initiatives taken by the Chinese government have made tens of thousands of people lose their jobs, become destitute and homeless. Tens of millions of Falun Gong books were destroyed in public. State-controlled media broadcast slanderous lies all day long to deceive the general public. People’s accesses to Falun Gong websites were blocked. What’s even worse is, that even talking about or taking pictures of the brutal torture against Falun Gong practitioners are subject to prison terms or even capital punishment on charges of leaking national secrets.

Amy Lee used to live in Beijing. Refusing to give up practising Falun Gong, she was incarcerated and inflicted with cruel torture. After fleeing to the U.S., and regaining freedom, she explained the persecution she experienced: “I used to have a happy family and a career in clothes designing, but I lost everything after I refused to sign a repentant statement renouncing my belief. I was imprisoned first, and was then detained in a psychiatric hospital where I was forced to watch the video and listen to police’s words slandering Falun Dafa. I was almost tortured to death as I was often hit by electric batons on my head. Given that, my head is still full of scars. Afterwards, I was released since I was on the verge of death. And then I fled overseas. Like others who fled overseas after being persecuted by the Chinese government, I would like to reveal the tragedy I experienced. All the practitioners arrested by the police are dealt with by the “6-10 Office,” an organisation that the police can do things at will regardless of laws and the Constitution. Security guards will be rewarded should they successfully coerce Falun Gong practitioners to renounce their belief, or they will be fined. It’s hard for people to get rid of the control by this system.”