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Before the arrival of Chinese Communist Party (CCP) leader Hu Jintao to Canada, the Chinese human rights issue, especially the CCP's six-year-long persecution of Falun Gong, has again caught the attention of Canadian political circles and citizens.
On September 1, 2005, practitioners held a large rally in front of Parliament to call on Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin to urge Hu Jintao to end the persecution of Falun Gong during his meeting with Hu. Three senior Members of Parliament, David Kilgour, Ed Broadbent, and Scott Reid, Alex Neve, Director of Amnesty International Canada, and Chairman Warran Allmand of World Federation Movement Canada attended the rally and gave speeches. As of September 1, 2005, over 85,000 letters of appeal were collected from across Canada.
 MP Ed Broadbent |
 MP Scott Reid |
 Practitioner spokesperson |
At the press conference on the same day, the three MPs and practitioners answered questions from Canadian Press, CTV and Central News Agency. Practitioners also explained the facts of the persecution to people through a signature drive and anti-torture exhibitions in front of Parliament, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Immigration. In the afternoon, about 200 practitioners from eastern Canada held a march in Ottawa.
 March to call for an end to the persecution |
 March to call for the end of the persecution |
MP Urges Prime Minister Martin to Place Human Rights above Trade
MP Scott Reid said in the press conference that the systemic persecution of Falun Gong is not only documented by Falun Gong practitioners, but also by three of the world's leading human rights organizations, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, Rights and Democracy. The victims in the systemic persecution are not just dozens or hundreds, but number in the tens of thousands of Chinese citizens who peacefully practice Falun Gong. Prime Minister Paul Martin should not only talk about trade with Hu Jintao; he has the important responsibility to make human rights a top priority.
MP Ed Broadbent said, "The violation of the right of conscience, violation of freedom of association, violation of freedom of expression, systematic torture, the total abuse and ignoring of the principle of having an independent judiciary as in a democracy particularly underlined the fact that the Chinese government has sent instructions to their own courts at one time and said it was the "political duty" of members of the judiciary in China to punish members simply for being members of Falun Gong. That in itself is a total abuse, a total mockery, of the principle of having an independent judiciary." He further said, "Prime Minister Martin should insist, certainly, that China live up to its obligations as a member of the United Nations and its Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the Covenant of Political and Civil Rights."
MP David Kilgour said, "First of all, as I said, Truth, Compassion, and Forbearance are Canadian values and the world needs more of these things obviously. But if the government of China wants to be part of the rule of law nations of the world, they must stop the persecution of Falun Gong immediately."
MP Kilgour said, "Risking trade agreements, fears of offending guilty regimes, and a preference for non-committal policies of conceptive engagement cannot hinder our efforts to ensure that everyone is accorded the individual and independent human rights."
Director of Amnesty International Canada: Brutal Repression of Falun Gong Practitioners in China is a Human Rights Catastrophe
Director Alex Neve of Amnesty International Canada said, "There's no question that the ongoing brutal repression of Falun Gong practitioners in China is a human rights catastrophe by any measure. And it is unacceptable that it has been allowed to continue and deepen over the past many years. Canada needs to redouble its efforts to press for an end to the human rights violations against Falun Gong practitioners in China."
MP Scott Reid proposed the motion in the House of Commons in 2002 to rescue Falun Gong practitioners who were persecuted in China and had family links to Canada. He said in his speech that he hoped Prime Minister Martin will speak out to Hu Jintao to release the18 Falun Gong practitioners with links and family ties to Canada who are suffering in China.
He also put forward the issue of stopping the CCP's hate propaganda and harassment, intimidation and surveillance of practitioners in Canada.
During recent the days, MPs who have written to Prime Minister Martin asking him to call for the end of the persecution of Falun Gong include Scott Reid, Libby Davies, Rob Anders, Peter Julian, Bill Siksay, Pierre Poilievre, Tony Martin, and Alexa McDonough. Peter R Coffin, a pastor in Ottawa also wrote to the Prime Minister to urge him to help end the persecution.
Prior to the visit of Chinese President Hu Jintao to the United States, Falun Gong practitioners in Washington, DC held a rally in front of the Chinese Embassy on September 1, to call for an end to the persecution of Falun Gong. They held banners worded, "Bring to Justice Jiang Zemin, Luo Gan, Liu Jing and Zhou Yongkang," "Bring to Justice the Ruthless Police and Others Who Persecute Falun Gong," and "Hu Jintao: The Time Given to You by Heaven's and the People's Mandate is Limited"
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The press conference site
The Chinese Communist Party's (CCP's) persecution of Falun Gong has lasted for six years. More than 2,800 practitioners are verified to have died from the persecution. The actual death toll is likely to be much larger. Hu Jintao took power two years ago. During these two years, the persecution of Falun Gong has not stopped but rather, has continued and is ongoing, although the means are more covert.
Dr. Liu, Associate Professor at American University said, "Much of the two-year-long persecution of Falun Gong was conducted by Jiang's faction, but Hu Jintao has his responsibility as well. We know that in the CCP environment, he may be participating involuntarily and that he objected the motion of persecution when Jiang Zemin first initiated it. We think he is being given more opportunities [to end the persecution], but it cannot last forever because heaven's principle, 'Good is rewarded with good and evil meets with retribution' is an eternal truth and anyone committing wrongdoing will be punished by the heavenly principle."
Appeal to Hu Jintao: "Hu Jintao: The Time Given to You by Heaven's
and
the People's Mandate Is Limited" and "Stop persecution of Falun
Gong"
"The persecution of Falun Gong is becoming more and more unpopular," said Chen Jun, a computer engineer in Virginia. "For the CCP officials at each level, the six-year persecution has made many officials tired of this kind of meaningless struggle. Many of them have contact with Falun Gong practitioners and know the truth, making them sympathetic to Falun Gong and to object to the persecution. The three former CCP officials, Chen Yonglin, Hao Fengjun and Han Guangsheng, who recently renounced the CCP, are good examples. Mr. Chen was a former CCP diplomat in the Chinese Consulate in Sydney in charge of surveillance of practitioners in Australia. Mr. Hao was a former 610 Office policeman. Mr. Han was the former Director of the Shenyang Judicial Bureau of Liaoning Province. They were all former CCP officials involved in the persecution of Falun Gong."
Mr. Chen further stated, "The persecution will end in the near future. Falun Gong practitioners do not beg or depend on anyone, but before the persecution ends, it is an opportunity for CCP officials and leaders. The best choice for them would be to end all aspects of the persecution immediately and to spread the truth of Falun Gong worldwide, bring the chief perpetrators of the persecution - Jiang Zemin, Luo Gan, Liu Jing and Zhou Yongkang - to justice, bring to justice the ruthless police officers and others who persecute Falun Gong, and compensate all practitioners who have been persecuted."
Mr. Jared Pearman gave an address urging President Bush to protect America's values and not to slacken on our mission of safeguarding human rights, for any temporary economic returns.
Children appeal to rescue orphans of persecuted Falun Gong
practitioners
Keith Ware, representative of the Global Coalition to Rescue Falun Gong Practitioners, said that in China many practitioners are tortured to death or imprisoned in labor camps. Their children thus become orphans. He called upon President Bush to urge the CCP regime to allow these orphans to be rescued out of China and have them grow up in a free country like the U.S.A. Mr. Ware said that ending the persecution of Falun Gong is an opportunity for Hu Jintao to redeem himself and to leave a good name in history.
Among the officials accompanying Hu to visit the U.S.A. is Bo Xilai who has been sued in many countries for his crimes in the persecution of Falun Gong. Practitioners in the U.S. have requested the State Department to deny Bo entry. Mr. Jason Dzubow, a human rights lawyer in Washington, DC said that the request was based on a law passed seven years ago, which stipulates that foreign officials involved in religious persecution cannot enter the U.S.A. Bo Xilai committed countless crimes when he was Mayor of Dalian, Secretary of the Dalian City Party Committee and Governor of Liaoning Province. Lawyer Dzubow said that he was helping Falun Gong practitioners because he is Jewish and his relatives were persecuted during World War II. He said that people learned from this tragedy in which so many innocent people died under the hidden persecution. Mr. Dzubow said that Falun Gong practitioners had done well in exposing the CCP's persecution, and he felt honored to contribute his efforts.
 Anti-torture exhibition in front of the Chinese Embassy |
 Banner calling for the rescue of Falun Gong practitioners |
 Banner to bar Bo Xilai from entry into the U.S. |
American citizen Charles Li was unlawfully arrested by Chinese police at Guangzhou Airport and sentenced to three years in prison when he returned China to visit his parents on January 22, 2003. He has spent two years and eight months in prison, where he has been beaten, subjected to brainwashing attempts and forced to perform slave labor. He is deprived of reading Falun Gong books. The organization, Friends of Falun Gong, wrote to President Bush and asked him to urge Hu Jintao to release Charles Li. Ms. Laura Hatton, a representative of Friends of Falun Gong, read a letter to Hu Jintao from Ms. Yeong-Ching Foo, fiancée of Charles Li.
 Jared Pearman gives a speech |
 Lawyer Jason Dzubow gives a speech |
 Ms. Laura Hatton reads a letter on behalf of Charles Li |
At the end of the press conference, Dr. Liu hoped that Hu Jintao would cherish the very precious opportunity to break away from the control of the CCP and make a good choice for the future.