(Clearwisdom.net) Clearwisdom correspondents Xiao Yan and Zheng Ziyan report: July 20, 2004 marked the fifth year of the Jiang group's persecution of Falun Gong. Falun Gong practitioners in Montreal held a rally and a candlelight vigil in Chinatown's Zhongshan Park from 7:00p.m. to 10:00p.m. to expose the persecution and commemorate the practitioners who have died as a result of the persecution for persisting in their belief in "Truthfulness-Compassion-Tolerance."

A candlelight vigil

A practitioner exposes the persecution

A practitioner exposes the persecution

Young practitioners commemorates fellow practitioners who died as a result of the persecution

The public learns the truth

People join the practitioners

Falun Gong practitioners exposed to the audience at the rally that since Jiang's group began the persecution of Falun Gong in July 1999, they first utilized the media to slander and incite hatred among those who did not know the truth about Falun Gong. They also mobilized the army, police, and special agents to arrest Falun Gong practitioners, and at the same time, they deprived Falun Gong practitioners of the right to appeal. Hundreds of thousands of practitioners have been detained in detention centers, forced labor camps, prisons and mental hospitals to be subjected to over a hundred torture methods that forced them to give up their belief in "Truthfulness-Compassion-Tolerance. Jiang made a policy of "defaming their reputation, bankrupting them financially, destroying them physically" to attempt to eradicate Falun Gong, leading to 1009 deaths of Falun Gong practitioners and countless becoming homeless. Outside China, Jiang's group controlled the media overseas through Chinese Embassies and Consulates to slander Falun Gong. Jiang also adopted diplomatic and economic methods, and used the country's economic power to barter for other governments and groups' to ignore his persecution of Falun Gong. Jiang's group has also hired thugs to harass and threaten and even has hired gunmen to kill Falun Gong practitioners.

As for resisting the persecution, Falun Gong practitioners emphasized that practitioners all over the world follow the principle of "Truthfulness-Compassion-Tolerance." They bear no resentment or regret while facing hatred caused by lies. They have been exposing the evil and clarifying the truth. Over the past five years, Falun Gong practitioners around the world, rain or shine, have been distributing Dafa truth clarification materials and condemning the persecution outside the Chinese Consulates and calling upon governments and groups to condemn the persecution. They also have filed lawsuits against Chinese officials who should be held accountable for persecuting Falun Gong, including Jiang on the charges of genocide, torture and crimes against humanity in the US, Germany, Belgium and several other countries.

A Canadian citizen, senior engineer Mr. Fan, said that when he was working at an American Company in Tianjin, because he practiced Falun Gong, Jiang's group used the national public security system to monitor him and illegally arrest him. Ms. Zhu said that when she visited her parents in China in 2001, the Chinese police illegally detained her for 33 days because she practiced Falun Gong in Canada. Both of them expressed thanks for Canada's support and felt sad for those fellow practitioners who are suffering brutal persecution and have no way to obtain help from the outside.

As Falun Gong practitioners kept clarifying the truth, they have obtained over 1000 proclamations from governments and groups. At present, not only has the western society learned the truth about Falun Gong, and opposed the Jiang group's persecution of Falun Gong, more and more Chinese people have been freed from the lies. Falun Gong practitioner Ms. Sun said, "When the persecution began, I was still in China. Influenced by lies and propaganda, many people in my work unit hoped that I stopped practicing Falun Gong. But recently, when my colleagues saw that my father-in-law no longer suffers from heart problems, they said to my mother-in-law, 'Thanks to your daughter-in-law's practicing of Falun Gong.' So we can see that people have gradually realized the benefits of practicing Falun Gong."

Chinese people in Montreal have also gradually learned the truth about Falun Gong. Mr. Z who is active in cultural activities in the community said to practitioners, "I've met with many Chinese people and they all talk about Falun Gong. Their opinions are that there is nothing wrong with Falun Gong, and people should be allowed to practice it. Jiang's suppression of Falun Gong is absolutely wrong. Compared with five years ago, the Chinese people have indeed changed a lot. At that time, the propaganda from the Chinese Embassies and inside China misled many Chinese people. Later, they could see Falun Gong every day in Chinatown, and didn't find anything wrong with them. Now, the embassies' propaganda is reduced, and even if there are some articles from the embassies, nobody believes them."

Ms. P from told practitioners that she often explained to people the truth about Falun Gong. Some Chinese people believe that Falun Gong clarified the truth in Chinatown because someone gives them money. She said to them, "I have friends who practice Falun Gong; they are all good people. Nobody gives them money, and this is not an issue that can be resolved with money. For instance, if I ask my employees to work overtime, I have to pay them, but most of them don't want to do it. It was even worse on weekends. If I ask them to stand on the street in freezing cold weather, nobody would go no matter how much you pay them, so it is not an issue of money. There must be another reason why Falun Gong practitioners do what they do. Do not suspect others of getting paid before you find the reason. People felt what I said is right."