Japan: Practitioners Call for Support During Attorney Convention on Human Rights

From November 10th to 11th in Tottori, the Japan Federation of Bar Associations (JFBA) held its 48th convention on the protection of human rights. Nearly 2000 human rights lawyers attended the convention. On November 10th, they hosted a forum that was open to public. It was estimated that several thousand people attended the forum, including lawyers and the general public. Practitioners held an anti-torture exhibition outside the convention, and with banners and posters exposed the ongoing persecution in China and told people about Falun Gong. They also demonstrated the Falun Gong exercises and sent forth righteous thoughts. They called on the lawyers and the public to pay close attention to the ongoing tragedy in China and the lawsuits against the chief perpetrator of the persecution Jiang Zemin and other accomplices, including the Chinese Embassy in Japan.

Anti-torture exhibition	Practitioners demonstrating the exercises	Practitioners and their attorney hold a press conference

A lawyer who attended the convention said that the persecution is wrong and he supported the lawsuits against Jiang and other high-ranking Chinese Communist Party officials. He commented that China had no freedom of expression or belief, as during his visit to China he ran into a number of Chinese who didn't even know that former Chinese President Liu Shaoqi had been persecuted to death. The lawyer said that he would definitely read the "Nine Commentaries on Chinese Communist Party."

Falun Gong practitioner Yoko Kaneko participated in the torture reenactment during the exhibit. She said that she wanted to let the Japanese people know that such brutal persecution is still happening in China. Having experienced torture in China for appealing for justice for Falun Gong, she knows the suffering of practitioners in China and wants to take every opportunity to call on the public to pay attention to this unprecedented persecution.

At 4:30 p.m. on November 10th, some practitioners and their Osaka attorney held a press conference at the Tottori County Reporters Club. They detailed how Japanese practitioners had been persecuted by the Chinese regime, including entry denial, passport renewal cancellation, arrest during family visits and intimidation.

Yoko Kaneko recounted her experience in a Chinese forced labour camp. During the one and a half years of detention, she was subjected to the "dead-person's bed," force-feeding, and other abuse. She also took the opportunity to thank the public and the international community for rescuing her.