Czech Republic: The Czech People March to Prague Castle in Protest against Organ Harvesting Atrocities in China

PRAGUE: Stop feeding the Red Dragon”, “Beijing 2008 Olympics behind barbed wire”, “Stop live organ harvesting”.

On Friday November 17th, just under a hundred human rights activists from the Czech Republic, as well as concerned people from Canada, Germany, Poland, Russia, Slovakia, Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine, United Kingdom and USA traveled to Prague to take part in a rally and protest march. They carried banners and shouted slogans, spotlighting human rights violations and bringing attention to “large scale forcible organ harvesting” from the prisoners of conscience in China today.

NGO Human Rights without Borders sponsored the rally in the Old Town Square where the main speaker, former Canadian Secretary of State for Asia and Pacific Mr. David Kilgour outlined the results of his recent investigation into the organ harvesting from living adherents of Falun Gong meditation practice in China.

According to Mr. Kilgour, the adherents of Falun Gong are the most endangered group in today’s China because they can be murdered at any time by the prison guards and even by doctors who are involved in the illegal organ harvesting trade.

Among others who spoke were Czech Green Party MP Mrs. Katerina Jacques, independent journalist, dissident and NGO director Mr. Jan Sinagl, the spokeswoman for the Falun Gong Association of the Czech Republic Mrs. Jana Kalivodova and the director of the Czech NGO Human Rights without Borders Miss Jana Novotna.

Supporters read messages of unreserved support for the rally from the directors of the Olympic Watch, Confederation of Czech Political Prisoners, the Catholic bishop of Prague Mr. Vaclav Maly, Czech Amnesty and the prominent former political prisoner, dissident and a human rights NGO director Mr. Jiri Gruntorad.

After the rally protesters distributed leaflets in Czech and English as the VIPs, flanked by a police escort, marched through the historical centre of Prague to the residence of the Czech President - Prague Castle.

From the Czech media reporters and journalists from CTK - the Czech Press Agency, Radio Free Europe, Czech Radio, Czech Radio Christian Weekly Report, Radio Journal the most popular Radio newscast, Czech Radio German Broadcast, The Internet Czech Daily and Aktualne the largest internet news daily walked with the march, interviewing the rally speakers and people from the eleven countries who took part.

Many journalists remarked on the wonderful and peaceful atmosphere of mutual support and friendship during the event. As the march made its way through tourist packed streets of the picturesque Old Prague over the Charles Bridge to the Lesser Town and the Castle, many people greeted the marchers and those who remembered the horrors of the communist regime in the former Czechoslovakia congratulated the marchers wished them well and thanked them.