German Mayor’s Speech at Opening Ceremony of Falun Dafa Photo Exhibition

Dr. Koester, Mayor of Wuppertal’s Speech at the Opening Ceremony of the Falun Dafa Photo Exhibition on March 12, 2002:

My most honoured ladies and gentlemen:

When you two ladies, dear Mrs. Ploetschke and Mrs.Yen, first came to see me in November in my capacity as mayor of Wuppertal, to speak with me about the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners, I must admit that I was somewhat at a loss.

At a loss, simply because I only had rudimentary knowledge of what you were reporting to me, but at the same time I was disbelieving, because I could not imagine that this mass persecution is happening, being conducted against a spiritual belief system and its followers, especially since this system is based on Truthfulness, Compassion and Forbearance, and is happening in a country that has won the right to hold the Olympic Games in 2008, the country of China.

You had told me that 70 million Falun Gong practitioners [in China] are in grave danger since the ban against the movement had been issued in 1999.

You further told me that more than 50,000 people are held in detention, that numerous Falun Gong practitioners are being kept in psychiatric institutions against their will and are being abused with drugs and electro-shock treatment under force.

You included the fact that 381 people had already been tortured to death and that more than 10,000 practitioners are enslaved in forced labour camps.

I must confess – I could hardly believe what you were telling me.

Speedy research, for which I am chiefly indebted to Amnesty International, verified and confirmed all your statements. I quickly located the Amnesty International Petition on the Internet, to see: “We the undersigned appeal to you, the president of the People’s Republic of China, to end the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners and other religious minorities in China.”

These vivid portrayals gave me consternation: how is it possible that there is covert mass persecution, hidden from the public, against a spiritual system? The explanation is simple: not merely are geopolitical power considerations at work here, verbalized as “don’t mix in our intra-political matters as outsiders” when intervening in another country’s behaviours that are considered immoral. Rather, the reasons can be found in an unawareness about the Falun Dafa movement here [in Germany], where these human rights violations are not given the public priority concern status they deserve and must have.

That’s why I had decided to grant the Dafa practitioners’ request to find a venue to spread Falun Dafa here and to provide a forum to introduce themselves and allow them to draw people’s attention to human rights problems, problems that concern all of us.

I sincerely thank the VHS Wuppertal, in this case particularly Dr. Vonde, for having stepped in and prepared this exhibition.

It is my aim to contribute to the introduction of Falun Dafa to the public through this exhibition, so that human rights violation that are perpetrated against a spiritual movement and give the movement a platform it deserves and needs, to brand these violations for what they are.

This exhibition must arouse curiosity and convey knowledge. I am looking forward to learn more in depth about this spiritual system through the exhibition called “The journey of Falun Dafa.” Falun Dafa is a meditation practice in which practitioners cultivate body and mind, and they all strive to apply the basic principles of Truthfulness, Compassion and Forbearance in their daily lives. I am certain that we all will discover more about these principles during this exhibition.

The journey of Falun Dafa is one of a mass movement, including 70 million followers in China since its inception in 1992. We have read reports that, prior to its ban in 1999, every morning at daybreak, people of all ages and all social classes would congregate in parks and public squares to jointly perform the exercises.

Falun Dafa has found a considerable following in the West. Washington, D.C., the U.S. Capital, had declared August 9th to the 13th, 1999, as “Falun Dafa Week.”

Independent of the consideration whether one views Falun Dafa as a religious or spiritual or merely a meditation movement, there is no doubt in our minds that freedom of belief, freedom of conscience, freedom of religious conviction and freedom of a world view must be looked upon as a fundamental part of the constitution, a basic right, which is protected and guaranteed by Article No. 4 of the German Constitution.

But we also must remember that our constitution, our basic law, had not existed prior to 1949 and that in times prior to that date we experienced a different era. Those were times when those people who thought and believed differently or contrary to the state, who lived by their own teachings or rules, were subjected to persecution and elimination. We Germans therefore have a particular relationship with freedom of a world view. But that is also the reason why we have an obligation to intervene.

Our memories of the past make it our duty and obligation to point out these present human rights violations.

In closing I want to say one more thing: During the past few years one often heard the expression “predominant culture.” I consider this an abhorrent term. It portrays a trend to subdue one culture for the benefit of another. I do hope that this term means something else altogether, something that I could support, which is the following: that our society needs dialogue about values and we need to reflect on those values and virtues that can guide a society that will bring a basis to our democratic order without which beneficial co-existence is impossible. Besides honouring human dignity, which includes freedom of religion as the foremost value, we must also include values such as broad-mindedness, affirmation of equal rights, a ban on discrimination, and we must also foster human values such as truth, kindness and tolerance, the very values represented by Falun Dafa.

That’s why I think and hope that today’s exhibition will benefit all of us to broaden our horizons. I hope that you all will be as curious as I am to learn more what Falun Dafa is all about and that together we will intervene in those areas where law and autonomy are tread upon, and that’s why I thank each and every one who have helped to bring this exhibition here.

Thank you kindly!

Dr. Koester, Mayor of the City of Wuppertal in Germany

(Original text in German)