Correspondent from minghui.ca
(Clearwisdom.net) On her young-looking face with fine skin, Ying (pseudonym) wore thick make-up. She looks as if she was beaten and bleeding. In one spot on her face, her skin seems to burst open and her flesh hangs in shred. Her hair is disheveled and her clothes are tattered. Both of her arms are hung up and tied with thick ropes to a cross bar that is more than one foot above her head. Lin, who is dressed in police's uniform, carries a baton in his hands and pretends to be beating Ying. Each time when his baton touches Ying's clothes in front of her abdomen, he stops with great care. Ying is positioned as if she is being beaten. Unlike the dripping blood from the make-up on her face, her painful expression is real. This becomes obvious with a glimpse at her wrists, which have turned black and blue from the rope.
Passersby stopped and were shocked at the above scene. The posters by the side explained their questions. These two persons were demonstrating one method of torture suffered by Falun Gong practitioners in China's labor camps and prisons. The torture method being re-enacted is a relatively light one among various kinds of torture methods. During the 61st Session of the United Nations' Commission on Human Rights which began on March 14, 2005 and will last for six weeks, the torture re-enactment can be seen each weekend in downtown Geneva and by Lake Geneva. At the beginning of the UN Commission on Human Rights meeting, attendees also saw Falun Gong practitioners' peaceful exercise demonstration at Place des Nations in front of the UN building.
On weekends during the 61st Session of UN Commission on Human Rights, by Lake Geneva, Falun Gong practitioners from Switzerland demonstrate a method of torture suffered by fellow practitioners in China.
The young couple, Ying and Lin, come from the German district of Switzerland. When they gave the demonstration, other Falun Gong practitioners helped them to take care of their less-than-one-year-old son. Over the past year, they have re-enacted the torture methods a number of times across Switzerland. The most unforgettable time for Ying occurred some time ago. When she was just "hung up," her son, who was only six-months old at the time, suddenly began crying. She felt as if her heart had been cut by a knife. It was not because of her son, for she knew that someone was taking care of him. Instead, she thought about Ms. Wang Lixuan, a young Falun Gong practitioner in China and her eight-month-old son Meng Hao. Ms. Wang Lixuan had been to Beijing to appeal on behalf of Falun Gong. In November 2000, Ms. Wang and her son were tortured to death. As a mother, Ying felt as if she personally experienced that atrocity. During that demonstration, Ying could not help shedding tears. It was the most unforgettable experience for her, and allowed her to have a deeper understanding that fellow practitioners' suffering in China is far beyond what the word "hardship" can express.
Re-enacting the torture methods in summer and winter can be very difficult for the practitioners. In the hot summer, they have to stand on the burning hot ground with bare feet. In winter, they cannot wear gloves. Switzerland is a well-known place for skiing. One can imagine how cold it is there in winter. One will not feel comfortable under the summer's scorching sun at noontime either. Once, an elderly Chinese couple from Switzerland demonstrated the torture methods. Onlookers watching them felt something strange: Why would the "police officer" hold his baton without putting it down? Looking carefully, they could see that the shadow of the baton fell across the face of the elderly lady who was performing as victim. The baton was used to shield her from the sun.
Usually, during a one-day demonstration, it is hard for one person to play the victim for several hours in a row. Practitioners thus take turns giving the demonstration and one's re-enactment usually lasts at least 30 minutes before the shift changes. Practitioners are all willing to re-enact the most uncomfortable postures and leave the easier ones for others. Ying remembered one method of torture in which a practitioner is confined in a short cage. It is so short that one cannot sit with one's back straight. On the other hand, the cage is so small that one is unable to lie down. One would soon feel very painful in the back, and that posture is the most uncomfortable among the methods of torture that are re-enacted. Nevertheless, practitioners vied to re-enact this torture method and they tried to hold the position for as long as they could endure. On a winter day, Ying saw an elderly woman practitioner sitting in the cage for 30 minutes, so she opened the cage to switch with her. The elderly practitioner said, "I'm not tired at all. See, my hands are still warm." Ying touched her hands and was amazed that her hands were indeed warm without wearing gloves in such a cold winter day.
Ying felt really uncomfortable when she put the red and black make-up on her face for the first time. However, she thought about her fellow practitioners in China. They were beaten so badly that one could not even recognize them. In order to help them and to allow more people to learn about the truth of the persecution, practitioners outside China do not hesitate to put on the make-up. In fact, almost all practitioners who participated in the live re-enactments thought about what their fellow practitioners suffered in China, especially when their arms felt painful after hanging by them for a period of time, when their wrists were cut by the ropes, when their backs bent forward and could not straighten up, and when they sat there for a long time feeling pain throughout their bodies.
The problems encountered by Lin, who played the role of a police officer was different. Passersby often said to him, "You should not treat her this way! It is too brutal!" Someone even directly rushed toward him and seized the baton from his hands. Although he was often accused, Lin felt happy in his heart because he witnessed that their demonstration touched people and awakened their goodness from the bottom of their hearts. Lin, the "fake" police officer had an encounter with a real police officer. One time, a Swiss police officer would not allow them to display photos which exposed the torture and brutality of the persecution, saying that they look too "bloody and terrible". Lin told him that displaying those photos was to allow people to learn the real story about what has been going on in China and to call upon people to help those innocent victims. Many people did not know that the persecution is so severe until they viewed those photos. They signed the petition calling for an end to the persecution after they realized its brutality. After carefully listening to Lin, the police officer said, "You've convinced me. Please go ahead and continue."
Last year, anti-torture exhibitions have been successively held throughout the world: from the U.N. Building in Geneva, Switzerland to the European Union building in Strasbourg, France; from Northern Europe to Australia; from Taiwan which shares the same culture of China, to Italy where almost all citizens are Christians. People outside China know that the anti-torture exhibitions provide them with an opportunity to have a deeper understanding about the brutality of the persecution launched by Jiang's faction against Falun Gong. After viewing the anti-torture exhibitions, more and more people are shocked and ponder: Why is such a cruel thing still happening to mankind in the 21st Century? What can we do?
In March and April, 2005, during the 61st Session of the UN Commission on Human Rights, by Lake Geneva, Falun Gong practitioners from Switzerland demonstrate a method of torture suffered by fellow practitioners in China.
During the 61st Session of the UN Commission on Human Rights, Falun Gong practitioners in Switzerland hold anti-torture exhibition every week to expose the Jiang regime's inhuman persecution of Falun Gong practitioners. This has become a unique scene in the busy downtown area.
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Category: April 25 Events
