Press Statement: Call for Support to Help Stop the Persecution of Falun Gong in China

We are gathered here in Riga from all over the world including Germany, Sweden, Holland, Poland, USA, Canada and Australia. We have spent our own vacation and money to come here to appeal to the hearts of people in Latvia and help stop a senseless, brutal persecution against peaceful and innocent people who simply practise meditative exercises and follow the principles of "Truthfulness-Compassion-Tolerance".

Today, the Chinese president Jiang Zemin is in Riga on a state visit. China observers and international media say that Jiang personally started and is still intensifying the large scale persecution against Falun Gong practitioners.

Among the people present is Ms. Dai Zhizen, who flew for 25 hours with her 2-year old baby Fadu from Australia to Europe to share their tragic story. Jiang's regime tortured Ms. Dai's husband to death for practising Falun Gong. After revealing this news tothe world, Ms. Dai's sister-in-law was sent to labour camp for 2 years without a trial. After hearing of the death of his son and the imprisonment of his daughter, Ms. Dai's father-in-law committed suicide, leaving her to raise her daughter alone.

Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, is a practice of meditation and exercises with teachings based on the universal principles of "Truthfulness-Compassion-Tolerance". It was passed down to only one person for thousands of years before being made public in 1992 by Mr, Li Hongzhi. Falun Gong has roots in traditional Chinese culture. Since its introduction in 1992, it quickly spread by word of mouth throughout China, and is now practised in over 50 countries,

After hearing the Chinese communist regime's estimates of as many as 100 million practising Falun Gong, President Jiang Zemin outlawed the peaceful practice in July 1999, fearful of anything touching the hearts and minds of more citizens than the Communist Party. Unable to crush the spirit of millions who had experienced improved health and positive life changes from Falun Gong, Jiang's regime has intensified its propaganda campaign to turn public opinion against the practice while quietly imprisoning, torturing and even murdering practitioners.

Falun Gong is compassionate and peaceful. All the activities are open and public. People from all walks of life participate by their free will. There are never any activities that are against the law or harmful to society. Over 700 governmental proclamations around the world have been awarded to Falun Gong for its moral and health benefits.

However, in the People's Republic of China, tens of millions of ordinary people who practice Falun Gong are being treated ruthlessly. Human rights groups, including Amnesty International, report that these practitioners are being illegally jailed, beaten, tortured, raped, and even killed. All this, for simply doing a traditional spiritual practice that includes exercises and meditation.

The Falun Dafa Information Centre has verified details of over 422 deaths since the persecution of Falun Gong in China began in July 1999. Government officials inside China, however, report that the actual death toll is well
over 1,600 Over 100,000 have been detained with more than 20,000 being sentenced to forced labour camps without trial.

What is most alarming is that this persecution, ordered by China's own president, Jiang Zemin, only continues to escalate with pledges to intensify. Jiang has repeatedly declared his intention to "completely eradicate" Falun Gong, and will stop at nothing in his attempt to make good on his disturbing promise. In March, Jiang Zemin ordered to "kill without pardon" and "kill on sight" practitioners seen posting or giving out flyers on the street. Soon after, human rights group Amnesty International issued two URGENT ACTION calls for the situation in Changchun city, Jilin province, where 2,000 practitioners were arrested and up to 100 killed in just 10 days.

From day one this persecution has been in direct violation of China's own constitution, as well as the international human rights treaties it has signed. There can be no excuse whatsoever for the killings, the rapes, and the torture. Yet Jiang's regime has tried. It has contorted the legal system in bizarre ways to create an appearance of legality. It has published fictitious human rights papers, claiming these practitioncrs and their kin enjoy a golden age of human rights in China. It hits lobbies hard and pressures foreign nations, threatening them if they criticize the communist leadership's furious persecution. And now, with perfect regularity, the regime denies all deaths and human rights abuses, instead blaming the victims and labeling everything as suicide. Police guilty of murdering innocent people who practise Falun Gong are not punished; instead, many are promoted or rewarded for their brutality.

Clearly, the tens of millions of people who practise Falun Gong in China need our help, and need it now. Positive change can happen, and it begins with us.