(Clearwisdom.net) On the occasion of the United Nations International Day in Support of Victims of Torture, practitioners in Toronto held an anti-torture exhibit entitled, "Persecution Meets Principle" on June 28, 2004 in a busy downtown area. The exhibit was held to expose Jiang's group's atrocities targeting Falun Gong. A stream of people passed by to view the exhibit and many lingered around for quite a long period of time, even reluctant to leave. The exhibit was so successful that it stayed open 2 hours longer than originally planned.
Anti-torture exhibit reveals only tip of the iceberg of the persecution
Seven torture methods were reenacted on the square: hanging up by handcuffs and beating, tiger bench, tying up, hammering bamboo sticks into fingernails, torturing force feeding, Dead Person's Bed and being held in a small metal cage. Beside each reenactment of torture method, an explanation and true example of the torture Falun Gong practitioners suffered in China were provided on a board.
Several Western Falun Gong practitioners took turns explaining to the visitors, "Today's 'Persecution Meets Principle exhibit is offered to let more people understand the brutal persecution of innocent Falun Gong practitioners in China. The facts have been strictly covered up in China. The torture methods reenacted today are only the tip of the iceberg. Right now in labor camps and prisons in China, innocent Falun Gong practitioners suffer torture daily, and it has been five years. These Falun Gong practitioners are the same as ordinary citizens passing by this torture exhibit today. They are professors, engineers, managers, students, elderly people and women. Merely for insisting on their belief in "Truthfulness-Compassion-Tolerance" and practicing the five sets of exercises, they would be subjected to brutal torture and inhuman persecution. As of today, at least 996 Falun Gong practitioners have died as a result of the persecution, and many died from brutal torture methods portrayed today. If you are moved by today's exhibit, please help end the persecution and express your support for a Canadian citizen, sculpture professor Zhang Kunlun, who once suffered persecution in China for practicing Falun Gong and now is filing a lawsuit against Jiang Zemin and his accomplices. We also hope that the Canadian government allows the law to extend justice for the professor."
Among practitioners who reenacted the torture methods today was He Lizhi, who was recently rescued by the Canadian government and people and just arrived in Toronto. Falun Gong practitioner Mr. He, who once won gold medal for outstanding project design, is the husband of Toronto resident Ms. Zhang Li. Because he sent letters related to Falun Gong truth to his friends, Mr. He was arrested by China's National Security Department on July 21, 2000 and detained in Qianjin Prison in Tianjin. The incarceration lasted for three years and six months. Mr. He was released one day before 2004 Lunar New Year and was reunited with his wife in Ontario on May 20 this year. He Lizhi stated that he could not forget the screaming he often heard in prison when the guards tortured other Falun Gong practitioners there, but today, the anti-torture exhibit reminded him of the physical tortures and mental brainwashing he suffered during over three years' prison life, as well as the brutal persecution he witnessed that other Falun Gong practitioners who were illegally detained there suffered.
Another practitioner who came from Beijing and has been in Toronto for over a month once was sentenced to two years of forced labor for practicing Falun Gong and held in Beijing's Xin'an Female Labor Camp. She suffered inhuman torture including being forced to take anti-psychotic drugs. Once the practitioner entered and sat into a small metal cage used for reenactment, she could not help thinking of the persecution she suffered in the past few years, especially the brutal torture she endured for two years of forced labor. Tears were running down her face.
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During the ten-hour exhibit, groups of people passing by stopped and watched. People could not imagine that there exists such brutality and atrocities in the 21st century. Facing these atrocities, some people were dumbfounded, and some shook heads and sighed. Many people took pictures for a record, and some people shed tears while taking photos. Some asked practitioners questions and requested truth clarification materials, eager to know why such brutal torture exists in today's world. Many people learned the truth, and signed their names on petition letters and post cards in support of the lawsuits against Jiang, and expressed their condemnation of the persecution and called for an immediate end to this persecution.
One of the coordinators, Mr. Joel Chipkar, expressed that though the torture methods portrayed today were limited, only a tip of an iceberg, they were enough to shock the world's people. Many people showed respect to Falun Gong practitioners' spirits, some commented that Falun Gong is remarkable. Today's exhibit is the best among what they have visited.
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Atrocities extend overseas
Shortly after the torture exhibit, we heard that during two of the members of Jiang's political group, and major perpetrators who bear direct responsibilities of the persecution of Falun Gong- Zeng Qinghong and Bo Xilai visited South Africa. They hired gunmen to shoot and injure Australian Falun Gong practitioners who traveled to South Africa to call for an end to the persecution.
Ms. Ou, who participated in the torture exhibit, stated that hiring gunmen to kill others is a very serious matter. Another practitioner expressed that we should let the Canadian government, the media, and more governments learn and pay attention to such incidents. Shouldn't they express concern before such terrorist atrocities happen to Canadian people? Ms. Zhao, who also participated in the torture exhibit, expressed that the torture reenactment allowed many people to witness the state terrorism of genocide against Falun Gong practitioners in China, and experience how brutal the persecution is.
Toronto practitioners decided to hold a peaceful appeal outside the Chinese Consulate and South African Consulate in Toronto, calling for an end to such terrorism
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Category: Rallies & Protests
