France: China Human Rights Forum in Dole

On Tuesday, December 11th, 2007, from 8:30 pm to 11 pm, China Human Rights Forum was held at a conference room in Dole City Hall in Jura Province, France, which was highly supported by the Mayor and some members of Parliament. In their remarks, representatives from various human rights organisations illustrated, analyzed and exposed the Chinese Communist regime’s evil nature and the atrocities it has perpetrated along its economic development. They intended to bring to the general public’s attention that the Chinese regime’s on going genocidal persecution of Falun Gong practitioners and the crimes against humanity. They pointed out that what the evil regime has done at the run-up to the 2008 Olympic Games was compared to what happened before the 1936 Berlin Olympic Games. Among others, Mr. Wu Baozhang called on the French people to differentiate between China and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), so that they we would not fall into a trap similar to the one used by the regime during the Great Cultural Revolution. In particular, he hoped that French people would not be regarded as accomplices to the crimes committed by the Chinese Communist regime in the history some day in the future.

In her remarks, Ms. Marie-Francoise Lampertie, chair of the Agir Pour Les Droits De L'homme, said that as nowadays many people thought that China has become stronger and stronger, it is imperative to pay more attention to the human right situation in China.

When interviewed, she said, “As one of the countries that initiated the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, French democracy advocates have long endeavored to make human rights a core issue in the world. Many human right and democracy advocates held that during President Nicolas Sarkozy’s recent visit to China, he didn’t put emphasis on human right issues, which have been of concern mostly by many human rights advocates and they really wanted the President to regard them as the core topics.
Many French human rights and democracy advocates have spared no effort to promote and helped non-democratic countries around the world to develop democracy. In those countries, democracy movements are very difficult to be initiated, as democracy is not respected. However, they have never given up their endeavor in making democracy issue an international focus.”

In his speech at the Forum, senior journalist and former director of the Radio France International Chinese Programme Mr. Wu Baozhang, clearly exposed to the audience the spiritual and physical persecution the Chinese Communist regime has perpetrated against its people since the regime first founded. He also pointed out that the most serious problem overshadowed by China’s economic development was the regime’s trampling on human rights. He further concluded that the heinous crimes committed by the regime were not simply the issues of trampling on human rights, as what it has committed were the crimes of genocide and the crimes against humanity.

The China Human Rights Forum

Participants speak at the China Human Rights Forum

Chairman of the French Falun Gong Association, Tang Hanlong said, “we are not getting political, and what we have demanded is a free environment for practicing the Falun Gong exercises.”Former director of the Radio France International Chinese Program, Mr. Wu Baozhang, say that the culprits and the accomplices of the persecution must be brought to justice as soon as possible.”Ms. Marie-Francoise Lampertie, chair of the Agir Pour Les Droits De L'homme gives remarks at the Forum.

He further reminded the world people to pay more attention to the Chinese regime’s intrinsic nature, as the regime has been relegated to host the next Olympic Games. He also said, “I know that the Olympic Games meant a huge amount of money. Have you ever heard that a Hong Kong TV Station sponsored by the Chinese regime once broadcast, ‘We are only concerned about something we can benefit from the Olympic Games, and we don’t care anything other than that.’ The world people are simply insignificant players in a show which will be used by the Beijing administration to make ill-gotten money through the legal event. So, the event should be compared to the Berlin Olympic Games in 1936.”

Finally, Mr. Wu Baozhang stressed, “if there is persecution, there must be anti-persecution. The historical wheel is turning very fast. Some Chinese victims of the Communism announced the establishment of a democratic transitional government in New York not long ago. We are now living on the eve of an epoch-making incident. I sincerely hope that the French friends who love China are able to differentiate between China and the CCP, so that they would not fall into a trap similar to the one used by the regime during the Great Cultural Revolution. In particular, I hope that we would not be regarded as accomplices to the crimes committed by the Chinese Communist regime in the history some day in the future.”
When interviewed, Mr. Wu said, “Being a journalist, I clearly witnessed all the political movements launched by the Chinese regime in the past, and the tremendous sufferings Chinese people have undergone. That’s the main reason for me to devote myself to democracy and human rights movements, though I was a journalist.”

When it came to the Chinese regime’s persecution against Falun Gong, Mr. Wu emphasised, “All of the political movements launched by the regime in the past were not as serious as the persecution of Falun Gong. It is by far the cruelest one, as the atrocity of harvesting organs from living humans to sell for profit had never happened in these political movements in the past. The persecution is so cruel and despicable that it must be ended immediately, the culprits as well as the accomplices must be brought to justice.”
As to the impact of the huge wave of over thirty million Chinese people’s withdrawal from the CCP and it affiliated organisations on world people and the CCP, Mr. Wu said, “These thirty million withdrawals from the CCP revealed that the CCP should not exist in the world any longer. It must put an end to the persecution against its own people immediately, and take full responsibility for the crimes it has committed in history.”

Afterward, chairman of the French Falun Gong Association, Tang Hanlong, explained the evil regime’s cruel persecution of Falun Gong as well as the peaceful and rational anti-persecution activities staged by Falun Gong practitioners. As to the reasons for this group of cultivators who are cultivating their body and mind at the same time would be concerned about democracy and human right issues, Mr. Tang said, “The Communist regime’s persecution of Falun Gong has been going on over the past eight years or so; Falun Gong practitioners have persistently clarified the truth to the world. What we are concerned about is the persecution of Falun Gong, and hope that it can be ended immediately. That’s why we held various activities and took advantage of different occasions and approaches to let the world people know that the persecution Falun Gong practitioners are being suffering is absolutely unreasonable and illegal and it must be stopped immediately. As a cultivator, we are not getting political, and what we have demanded is a free environment for practicing the Falun Gong exercises.”

Ms. Chen Ying, a female Falun Gong practitioner who had been persecuted by the Chinese regime in China, exposed the cruelty of the persecution by sharing her personal experience with the participants. She also witnessed various cruel torture methods and inhumane approaches employed by the Chinese regime to torture peaceful Falun Gong practitioners. She had suffered such cruel torture both mentally and physically and the cruel torture is still going on in China’s prisons, forced labour camps and brainwashing centres. In particular, the atrocity of harvesting of organs from living Falun Gong practitioners is still proceeding in China covertly. Chen Ying said, “During my illegal incarceration, many Falun Gong practitioners were woken up at midnight, by calling the number assigned to them, to pack up their belongs. They were taken away by armed policemen in the early morning and usually the policemen wouldn’t be back for several days. According to some criminal inmates there, the Falun Gong practitioners who were assigned a number respectively were sent to a concentration camp established exclusively for the confinement of Falun Gong practitioners. Both the Chinese police and criminal inmates said that some concentration camps have been built in Xingjing, Hebei and other provinces in northeast China to incarcerate Falun Gong practitioners.”

Chen Ying’s experience in the Chinese prisons and forced labour camps bore witness to the Chinese regime’s atrocities concluded in investigation report written by the Canadian independent investigator David Kilgour. She said, “What was concluded in David Kilgour’s report is the same as what I experienced in the prison and the forced labour camp where I was illegally incarcerated. I was forced to undergo physical check ups several times. At the end of September 2000, I was given a number by the police as I refused to tell them my name. One day, I was called upon by the police. After I was handcuffed and shackled, I was taken to a hospital for a physical examination, including a heart check up, an electrocardiogram examination, blood tests, vision check, etc. I was injected with unknown drugs, which made me lose my memory. My memory was not recovered until one day in March, 2003, when I was so shocked at the sight of photos of Falun Gong practitioners afflicted with cruel torture, after I arrived in France. I was so lucky to be able to come to France and resume my cultivation of Falun Gong that I regained my health.”

The next speaker was a representative from Amnesty International, who re-affirmed the importance of paying close attention to human rights. He also introduced the activities to be held by Amnesty International in the near future to defend human rights. He especially mentioned the open letter they wrote to urge the general public to help rescue Falun Gong practitioner Cao Dong, who was illegally imprisoned.

The last speaker was Ms. Marshall Hu, who briefed the participants, with PowerPoint slides; on the Chinese Communist regime’s human rights persecution against Tibetans as well as the crisis Tibetan culture is facing. Throughout the forum, not only were the remarks very touching, but the atmosphere was very good. The speakers also had very good interaction with the audience, which had effectively exposed the Chinese regime’s atrocities of trampling on human rights and various crimes it has committed.