Canada: Falun Gong Practitioners Clarify the Truth in Toronto Ahead of Hu's Visit

On June 21st, 2010, Falun Gong practitioners launched a seven-day Anti-Torture Exhibition in front of the Chinese consulate in Toronto, exposing the brutal persecution to the public.

Hu Jintao, the Chinese president, will visit Canada from June 23rd to 27th to attend the G8 conference. Mr. Zhang Zhaojin, chair of the Falun Dafa Association in Toronto, said that Falun Gong practitioners would take this opportunity to inform Canadians about the persecution. Practitioners have been collecting signatures and will ask Canadian politicians to bring up the Falun Gong issue when they meet Hu. They will ask the politicians help to stop the persecution. So far, they have collected tens of thousands signatures.

Among the Falun Gong practitioners currently imprisoned and being tortured in China, 12 are relatives or immediate family members of Canadian citizens.

Ms. Song Yufei, a practitioner that attended the activity in front of the Chinese consulate, said she was arrested in 2001 and force-fed in a detention centre. "Two people held my arms and one held my head, while another sat on me and force-fed me," she said.

She was sentenced to a forced labour camp for one year and four months. She was required to do heavy labour every day from six in the morning to ten at night. The labour camp tried to force her to renounce Falun Gong. "They didn't allow me to sleep for several days. I was dizzy and had hallucinations. They tried to force me to give up my belief. The torture is very painful; it aims to murder one's soul," she said.

Ms. Song stated that the Canadian government has been helping Falun Gong practitioners, and she hopes that the government can continue to do so.

Mr. Zhang Zhaojin said that practitioners will hold a series of activities during Hu's visit. They will try to let the Canadian society know about the brutal persecution and ask the Canadian government to bring up the Falun Gong issue with Hu.