According to Amnesty, China can be called the "Gold Medallist in Human Rights Abuse". This was stated at the first public seminar for Amnesty International in Australia on Falun Gong. The seminar was held on Thursday 8th August at the University of Sydney.
This event was opened by Dr Marie Clugston, editor of the Religious Network Newsletter, who chaired the seminar by quoting the relevant section of the Universal Declarations of Human Rights particularly mentioning "...everyone [having] the right to freedom of thought.."
Professor Fred Teiwes, a specialist in politics, presented an outline of Chinese modern history and politics. He provided the progression of the country's political system and strategies and reaction to Falun Dafa. Although Professor Teiwes noted he was not a specialist on Falun Gong -- he did provide some background information, which demonstrated that information is being unveiled about the Government directed persecution against Falun Gong. For instance, he mentioned the torture and "re-education" campaigns that are extremely violent.
A Falun Dafa practitioner was also able to talk about the teachings of the practice, as well as the events that led up to the Zhongnanhai event. Of course the subsequent illegal Government ban of Falun Gong was also documented.
Amnesty's Australian spokesperson Damien Spry provided an analysis of the current climate of human rights in China in relation to the abuse of Falun Dafa practitioners. Spry described the torture and overall treatment of Falun Gong practitioners as widespread rather than "systematic" as explained by Professor Teiwes.
Details were explained of cruel torture techniques used by the Chinese authorities, such as the Dilao (translation is "Dungeon in Hell" whereby individuals are chained and handcuffed in a manner that prevents them from sleeping, standing, or using the bathroom facilities." In fact in some instances the more movement, the tighter the restraints become, which produces more pain and injuries".
Spry particularly mentioned the moving personal testimonies of abuse of Australian practitioners. For instance, Mr Yu's experience in a Chinese detention centre where he received repeated jolts of 40,000 volts from an electric baton, and Mr Wiegerinck who's mother in law -- Mrs Li, aged 56, has been sent to a labour camp for 3 years for distributing flyers and has not had a proper legal trial.
There was indeed skepticism raised during Spry's discussion about comments from the Head of the Olympic Committee in China -- who announced that by Beijing winning the games he had only "hoped" human rights issues would improve.
Australia's commitment to human rights was also questioned. The fact that the government chose not to participate in multi-lateral talks was seen to be inadequate in addressing issues such as Falun Gong.
The official figures confirmed by Amnesty regarding those in labour camps and prisons were in the tens of thousands; however Spry commented that he believed that it was more likely to be in the "hundreds of thousands." Moreover the quoted number of deaths in custody was considered by Spry to be conservative. He estimated the number of deaths to be higher in reality and ever-increasing.
Most importantly, in reference to the allegations that China claims, Spry reiterated Amnesty International's official position - calling it propaganda. In other words, the alleged claims of Falun Gong being an "xx," [slanderous term respectfully omitted] and a "threat to political stability" were discredited because there was no concrete evidence to prove such declarations. There were "no legitimate reasons" according to Spry on behalf of Amnesty. On the other hand, there were no negative comments from Amnesty about the practice of Falun Dafa.
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