News and Events from around the World -- January 21, 2007

Issued by Clearwisdom Net

Content

  • Switzerland: Event in Zurich Raises Awareness of Persecution in China



  • Switzerland: Event in Zurich Raises Awareness of Persecution in China

    On January 13, Swiss practitioner held an Information Day at the Parade Platz in Zurich in order for more people to know about the ongoing brutal persecution of Falun Gong in China. In the past one year or so, local practitioners have been holding events of this kind once per month.

    The practitioners displayed eye-catching banners telling people that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is harvesting organs from living Falun Gong practitioners and appealing for public support to stop the persecution. They also set up a photo display contrasting the popularity of the practice in China before the persecution with the current brutal persecution of Falun Gong practitioners. At a petition table, they displayed photos with captions explaining why the CCP would persecute the practice: The CCP, which is notorious for persecuting its own Chinese people using violence and lies, does not tolerate people who are striving to be good citizens following the universal principles of "Truthfulness-Compassion-Tolerance."

    Several practitioners continuously demonstrated the Falun Gong exercises while others distributed truth-clarifying materials. Though many passersby turned a blind eye to them at the beginning of the event, gradually more and more people stopped to watch the demonstration, read persecution case stories and signed the petition to support Falun Gong and call for an end to the persecution.

    Some passersby chatted with practitioners for a long time and thanked them for holding such an event to help end the persecution. Some people said that they wanted to deliver the practitioners’ truth-clarifying materials to the Chinese Embassy. Many people said that more people should be informed about the persecution and indicated they will share their views on the persecution with Chinese people through the Internet.

    A western woman who once worked in China and speaks very fluent Chinese said she was very happy to take many materials in Chinese. She told this reporter that she had heard about the persecution before because one of her Chinese friends was detained for six months for practicing Falun Gong. Though her friend has fled to Switzerland, he is worried that his wife and daughter will be implicated.

    The woman said that she could not understand why such a brutal persecution is still happening and she hoped that more Chinese people can bravely step up to talk about the persecution.

    Another woman signed the petition immediately after she viewed the posters and materials at the petition table. She said, "Such a persecution of human rights shocked me. The organ harvesting reminds me the atrocities that happened in Europe during World War II."

    A member of Amnesty International passed by the information booth. She signed the petition and said that she will investigate allegations of organ harvesting from Falun Gong practitioners. She said, "I heard that the organ harvesting practice in China is real, and I feel that it is horrible from any perspective. I cannot accept it and don't know how other countries could allow such atrocities to happen with no protest. It is unbelievable. It seems that some people from political and business circles act like such atrocities have never happened. This is so disturbing. "

    Through the Information Day events, many people have learned about the beauty of Falun Dafa and the ongoing brutal persecution happening in China. The Swiss practitioners will continue to hold events of this kind until the persecution is stopped.