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Falun
Gong Today
- news
from Australia and around the world.
1.
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What is Falun Gong?
Falun Gong, also known as
Falun Dafa, is a practice of meditation and exercises based on the
principles of Truth-Compassion-Forbearance. All activities are non-political,
non-religious and non-commercial. Falun Gong has roots in traditional
Chinese culture, the practice of refining the body and mind brings
effective health improvement and harmonious mind. Since its introduction
in 1992, it quickly spread by word of mouth throughout China, and
is now practiced in over 50 countries by more than 100 million practitioners.
In July 1999 the persecution
of Falun Gong began in China. The Falun Dafa Information Centre
has to date verified details of over 399 deaths from persecution.
Government officials inside China, however, report that the actual
death toll is well over 1,600. More than 100,000 have been detained
illegally, thousands have been tortured, sent to labor “re-education”
camps without trial, illegally incarcerated in mental institutions,
and millions have been left homeless, jobless or expelled from school.
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2.
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Amnesty International Issues Urgent
Action Bulletin Regarding Current Situation in Changchun
Amnesty International has
released an updated Urgent Action Bulletin about the unfolding situation
in Changchun, China, where "scores" of people have been arrested
after several alleged Falun Gong practitioners interrupted the signal
of a state-owned cable television station and broadcast programs
revealing facts about the government's persecution. The bulletin
listed the names of a number of Falun Gong practitioners who are
being linked directly to the broadcast and that all of them are
at "serious risk of torture or ill-treatment."
It goes on to state that many
people seem to have been detained "purely for being members of Falun
Gong," and quoted an official from the Changchun "Re-education through
Labour" Bureau who said that [the detained] would probably be sent
to a labour camp for between one and three years where they would
"attend classes encouraging them to denounce Falun
Gong."
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3.
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Human Rights Watch Report on Falun Gong Exposes
China's Brutal 2.5-Year Terror Campaign
117-Page Report Details China's Tactics of Violence
and Slander
Human Rights Watch issued
a new report in Feb. 2002 detailing China's brutal campaign to eradicate
Falun Gong in China. The 117-page report, entitled "Dangerous Meditation:
China's Campaign Against Falungong", provides analysis and background
for how and why the Chinese government has targeted a spiritual
practice which the government itself has acknowledged has one hundred
million practitioners.
In a press statement available
on the Human Rights Watch website, Sidney Jones, executive director
of the Asia division of Human Rights Watch was quoted as saying,
"The charge that Falungong threatens the stability of China does
not hold up.... Its claim that belief in Falungong is a public health
menace is equally bogus. The danger to health comes from the treatment
its practitioners receive at the hands of the police and prison
officials." The HRW statement also reveals that, "The Chinese government
has used increasingly violent tactics as Falungong followers have
mounted peaceful demonstrations against the crackdown. It has also
used administrative detention procedures to hold followers in re-education
camps and psychiatric facilities. The Chinese judiciary has reinterpreted
existing law to facilitate arrests of Falungong supporters."
One of the world's leading
authorities on human rights, on the basis of its own investigation,
has confirmed that the persecution of Falun Gong violates multiple
provisions of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other
international human rights instruments. Freedom of belief and freedom
of expression, among others, are international values, and values
upon which many free countries were established.
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4.
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An Australian Story - A Child Cries For the Father
She will Never Know (By Michael Patt)
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Due to Chinese President
Jiang Zemin's campaign of terror against practitioners of
Falun Gong, another baby girl will never know her father.
Little Fadu is just a toddler, but one day she will come to
understand that her father, Chen Chengyong, was a brave man.
His faith stood strong, even when the Chinese government stripped
him of his job, his only means of support.
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Unwilling to be forced to
attend the state-sponsored "re-education" classes, and unwilling
to renounce his beliefs, Chengyong was forced to wander, homeless
and destitute.
About the only bright spot
in Chengyong's ongoing nightmare must surely have been the knowledge
that his wife and little girl were safe in Australia, where his
wife, Dai Zhizhen, had obtained citizenship. Zhizhen tried often
to explain to little Fadu why she could not be with her father.
How does a mother console a child who kisses her father's picture
at night, though she cannot remember his touch?
Zhizhen tried to stay in communication
with her husband, but it was a nearly impossible task. Finally,
the awful news arrived- news that left Zhizhen shaken with grief.
Fadu's brave father had been found dead in an abandoned hut- alone,
and far from the family he loved with all his heart. But the Jiang
administration was not yet done with Chengyong's family. His sister-in-law
was called into identify the remains. While she was still shocked
and grieving over the loss of her brother, government authorities
demanded that she too renounce her practice of Falun Gong. When
she refused, she was arrested and sentenced to 2 years of hard labor.
Chengyong's father, his heart torn by the death of his son and the
imprisonment of his daughter, passed away in sadness and grief.
Little Fadu was left with
a family filled with loss. After a 2-month struggle, and with the
assistance of the Australian government, Fadu now has Chengyong's
ashes as a last link to the father she will never know.
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>Update |
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To date, 399
Falun Gong Practitioners have been verified that
have died from Police Torture in China.
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Local Event |
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April 25 2002, the 3rd Anniversary of the 10,000 practitioners
of Falun Gong peaceful appeal at the Zhongnanhai, Chinese leaders'
compound.
A map of China with
statistics of deaths due to the persecution will be displayed in
front of the Chinese Consulate in Sydney along with a candle light
vigil.
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Europe |
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[Excerpt]...Chinese president Jiang Zemin, this past week
guest of Germany, is a strange man. Every time his eyes perceive
the color yellow, he sees red. Yellow is the color of clothing Falun
Gong followers wear. And he sees red because this Communist does
not tolerate any form of opposition. So far, so bad. Even on German
soil, Chinese guardians of the protocol have taken every step to
shield their state chief to the greatest extent. That is really
a bold deed!...
By Stefan Niemann, ARD-Correspondent
in Beijing, 12/4/02
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Ireland |
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Tortured Falun Gong Practitioner Released Under International
Pressure.
Zhao Ming, a student
at Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland was released from prison in
China on Tuesday 12 March 2002 following pressure from the Irish
Government, the students at Trinity College, other politicians and
non-government organisations in Europe and around the world.
March 14, 2002 (European Falun
Gong Information Canter)-
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Australian Say |
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Former Australian Olympian Jan Becker
"I am a former
Australian Olympic Swimmer - Tokyo, 1964..... I have always been
proud of my Olympic background and all that being an Olympian stands
for. I am a professional Human Resources Manager with a reputable
Project Engineering Company. I am also proud to have been a Falun
Dafa practitioner for over two years and cannot speak highly enough
of the practice and its positive benefits".
Note: Jan
Becker went to Beijing in March 2002 along with 9 other Falun Gong
practitioners from Australia to peacefully appeal to the Chinese
government to stop the persecution.
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Useful Links |
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