United Kingdom: Falun Gong Practitioner Gives a Speech at a Seminar on Stop Violence to Women Hosted by Amnesty International

On November 30th, Amnesty International hosted a seminar entitled ‘Stop Violence to Women’ at the London School of Oriental and African Studies. Falun Gong practitioner Mo Zhengfang was invited to give a speech about her own experience of the persecution by the Chinese Communist regime. Some artworks from the “Truthfulness, Compassion and Forbearance” International Art Exhibition were also displayed at the seminar. After learning the truth of the persecution, many seminar participants signed the petition calling for the United Nations Human Rights Council to assist in rescuing the persecuted Falun Gong practitioners in China.

Falun Gong practitioner Mo Zhengfang pointed out that many female Falun Gong practitioners in China have been illegally and brutally persecuted by the Chinese Communist regime; torture methods used against them include sexual harassment, sexual abuse and forced abortion. She was beaten up and kicked by the police when she was eight months pregnant. In December 1999 Mo, a British resident, attended the Falun Gong experience sharing conference in Hong Kong. She then went to Beijing with three other Falun Gong practitioners to appeal for Falun Gong, trying to tell people the facts of the persecution and the beauty of Falun Gong. Unexpectedly when they were preparing the banners in the hotel, police broke into their room and arrested all of them. When they started the sitting meditation, police kicked her two legs despite her eight months pregnancy. She was then detained in a detention centre in Beijing for one week.

She told the participants that the Chinese Communist regime’s persecution against female Falun Gong practitioners is extremely wicked. An example is the persecution against pregnant women. Although the Chinese law prohibits pregnant women from being sent to forced labour camps, many women had forced abortions and were then sent to labour camps. There were also pregnant women who had miscarriages in the labour camps because of the heavy physical workload, even women seven or eight months pregnant could not escape that fate.

In the seminar, Friends of Falun Gong provided some art works from the “Truthfulness, Compassion and Forbearance” International Art Exhibition for display. These included paintings depicting torture of practitioners being hung up high with both arms stretched and torture against women, and also pictures showing Falun Gong practitioners’ efforts in revealing the facts of the persecution and appealing for justice. Practitioners explained the backgrounds and the stories behind each art work. Some students who passed by the seminar room also stopped to look at the artworks. Many participants signed the petition calling for the immediate end to the persecution and asked for information about Falun Gong and the art exhibition.

A seminar participant said that as described in the Amnesty International’s posters, violence against women is the most shameful crime in today’s world. The facts she heard today about the Chinese Communist regime’s persecution against women and Falun Gong practitioners are intolerable. She hoped that this persecution could be stopped immediately.

This seminar was organised by the student union at the School of Oriental and African Studies as part of Amnesty International’s world-wide efforts to stop violence against women. This worldwide activity will end on International Human Rights Day on the 10th of December.