Germany: Information Day in Berlin Raises Support and Awareness

Berlin Falun Gong practitioners set up an information booth on the Breitscheidplatz, downtown Berlin, during the bright sunshine on Saturday April 15th. Berlin practitioners chose the day between Good Friday and the Easter holidays, because many out-of-town people were expected to visit Berlin and many of Berlin’s locals would walk or shop that day.

Passers-by stopped to see a demonstration of the five sets of Falun Gong exercises and find out more by reading the information boards or talking with practitioners. People found it hard to believe that such a peaceful and beneficial practice could be persecuted, especially in such a brutal manner.

Berlin practitioners talked with many people about the persecution of Falun Gong in China. Some had never heard of Falun Gong. But people understood very well why practitioners use their spare time and energy to raise awareness about the persecution, especially since the media reports so little on human rights abuses taking place in China. Two young Chinese women looked for a long time at the scenes depicting the torture methods used against Falun Gong practitioners imprisoned in Chinese forced labour camps.

The information day was a success with many flyers distributed and petition signatures collected, which will be presented to the German government. One German woman said about Germany's business relationship with the Chinese Communist Party: “These are all criminals. It is hard to believe that we have business relationships with such criminals.” She may have spoken what many people were already thinking.

Originally published in German at http://de.clearharmony.net/articles/200604/30884.html