Austrian Falun Dafa Association

Press Release from December 7, 2001

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On the occasion of International Human Rights Day, about 100 Falun Gong practitioners from various countries around the world will travel to Vienna to participate in a spate of activities for the worldwide SOS-action.

With these activities we commemorate the countless thousands of victims who have lost their freedom and some their lives during the already more than two-year-old persistent persecution in China. We also remember the countless thousands who are unwilling to give up their belief in and practice of Falun Dafa and are losing their jobs, families and homes.

This ever-harsher persecution in China puts the upright conduct and peacefulness of dozens of millions of people to the test who continue to live unerringly according to the peaceful principles of Falun Dafa, Truth, Compassion and Forbearance, in spite of the fact that these good people are constantly exposed to acute life-and-death dangers and torture.

While the Chinese rulers speak of "success" in their effort to crush Falun Gong, there is another side to the story. This year alone, over 40,000 Falun Gong practitioners in China, who under duress had written so-called "non-practice guarantees," published on the Internet their public statements that they had acted under extreme duress, that they will not give up Falun Gong and will further continue the practice. With these declarations they show the strength of their faith and the power of Falun Gong. "Coercion cannot change people's hearts."

During the time when human rights abuses against Falun Gong and the practitioners in China have been exposed more and more to the outside world, the number of those increases who will no longer keep silent in the face of those bad deeds [at the hands of government enforcers] and want to extend a helping hand.

On November 8, 2001, police invaded the home Liao Qinying, a woman farmer from Wujin City, Jiangsu Province, and took her away for practicing Falun Gong. An hour later she died, still in the police vehicle. Her family members report that they discovered a hole at the back of her head where there was also hair torn off. Another hole was found at the front of her head. When the news about her death spread, 500 citizens from Wujin City and its surroundings gathered on November 10 at the headquarters of the local government to appeal for justice.

On November 12 from news over the Internet we found out about the arrest and incarceration of a young woman in China. The same article had details about the detention center and the responsible functionaries. Many people who had read the report appeared shocked about this incident and took it upon themselves to make telephone calls to that detention center. Local police officials were surprised to discover that even people abroad knew about their locally perpetrated deeds. As a result, the young woman was released.

Another case is that of the Italian businessman, Alfredo Fava Minor, a Falun Gong practitioner, who had been refused entry into China in October 2001 because of being a practitioner. It took one month of appeals in China from the Italian government to restore Mr. Minor's rights of re-entry into China.

Everyone is able to help, and every little bit of help can make a difference, as the above examples show.

Outside of China it is the thousands of Falun Gong practitioners who appeal to the world community to end the persecution in China. Those people freely spend personal money, sacrifice their sleep, and give up their weekends and more often than not their vacation time. They stage sit-ins, hunger strikes and long marches to inform the world community of Falun Gong and the persecution in China.

On November 20, 2001, thirty-six practitioners from more than ten Western nations gathered at Tiananmen Square to speak out against the brutal persecution in China. They sat quietly in the meditation pose and showed a banner with the lettering "Truth, Compassion and Tolerance." Those are virtuous values and no kind-hearted individual ought to be exploited for their suppression.

As do the practitioners in China, so do we treasure these values of Truth, Compassion and Tolerance. With today's peaceful undertaking of the SOS-march and the candlelight vigil we appeal to the public:

SOS! Stop the state-sanctioned terror against Falun Dafa in China! The world needs "Truthfulness, Compassion and Forbearance."

For questions and interview requests, please contact:

Engineer Mr. Martin Schrott; mobile: 0699-12122025

Diploma-Engineer Mr. Igor Jancev; mobile: 000699-1956-4282

E-Mail: faluninfo_austria@yahoo.com