(Clearwisdom.net) On December 10, World Human Rights Day, Falun Gong practitioners from Sydney, Australia, participated in human rights activities in Manly.

People view the truth-clarifying banners.

Practitioners' banners expose the brutal persecution in China.

Practitioners' banner

Adele Heasnan, a city council member of Manly, and Michael Regan, the mayor of Warringah, along with other human rights activists, gave speeches at the rally. They said that because human rights violations are happening in some parts of the world, it is meaningful to hold such an activity in Australia, a free and wealthy country.

Xinxin, a Falun Gong practitioner from Dalian, China, gave a speech at the rally. She told the public her personal experience of being persecuted in China. She started practicing Falun Gong in 1997 when she was 7. After the persecution of Falun Gong started in July 1999, her family went to the government to appeal on behalf of the practice, but they were all arrested and jailed for a day. In October 2000, her parents were arrested for clarifying the truth of Falun Gong in public. Her uncle, who does not practice Falun Gong, came to look after Xinxin, but he was arrested too. The police told her family to pay 10,000 yuan before they would release her uncle. The police also exerted pressure on Xinxin's school, telling the school to expel her, but the school refused. Xinxin's teacher said that she was a good kid because she practiced Falun Gong. The teacher took Xinxin to her home, and looked after her for two and a half years, while Xinxin's parents were jailed.

After her parents were released in 2003, her family was monitored by the authorities. The police even paid her neighbors to watch her. The neighbors knew that they were good people, so they protected Xinxin's family.

In 2006, the Chinese Communist Party's crime of harvesting organs from living Falun Gong practitioners was exposed to the public. Xinxin's family was worried about her safety, so they tried their best to send her to Australia. Now, she is a student in Sydney.

At the rally, Xinxin called on Australians to help stop the persecution. She said that thousands of Falun Gong practitioners in China are being tortured every day. The persecution not only violates human rights, but also destroys humanity.

Many people attended the rally. Several human rights groups gave dance performances. Falun Gong practitioners also performed traditional Chinese dances.