Switzerland: Practitioners hold an Anti-torture Exhibition during a Parliamentary Meeting in Bern

During the United Nations Human Rights Convention, a meeting of the Swiss Parliament was held in the capital city of Bern. To let more people know about the campaign of genocide being waged against Falun Gong practitioners in China, Swiss practitioners held an anti-torture exhibition in the city centre on 17th March. A similar exhibition was held in front of the United Nations building on the 16th of March in Geneva.

The weather that day was clear, warm and pleasant; many people were out on the streets. What first met people’s eyes was a banner reading “This is happening now in China” and behind the banner were the simulations of the methods of torture employed in cruel attempts to force people in China who practise Falun Gong to give up their beliefs. A continuous flow of people came to the Falun Gong stand to find out more. They watched the anti-torture exhibition and read the posters that detailed how practitioners are persecuted. The posters clearly exposed the how the Chinese Communist Party uses violence and depraved forms of torture and persecution in their suppression of Falun Gong.

People’s attention was also attracted by demonstrations of the five sets of Falun Gong exercises. Some studied the exhibits carefully and listened to the practitioners for as long as two to three hours. From 8 am to 9 pm that day, more than 3,000 leaflets were given out and 800 petition signatures were collected. Throughout the day, there were many moving events:

“This kind of thing should not be allowed to happen in any country.”

After watching the anti-torture exhibition and seeing pictures of Falun Gong practitioners suffering torture, a middle-aged gentleman said with indignation, “In today’s 20th Century, this kind of serious violation of human rights should not be allowed to happen in any country...What you are doing is very good. You should let more people know the truth about the Chinese Government & Jiang Zemin’s regime trampling on human rights. I wish you success!”

“Put down your baton!”

Two ladies had been listening to practitioners tell people about the human rights abuses in China. They took various leaflets and signed the petition, showing a great deal of sympathy and support for Falun Gong. One of approached the practitioner playing the part of a policeman who was waving a baton: “Put down your baton. Do not beat that lady any more. I feel terrible. Really, I feel horrible. How can you trample on human rights like this?”

“I will help you collect signatures.”

One lady came to our stand and learned about the persecution against Falun Gong. Having signed the petition and taken a leaflet, she said: “We are holding a meeting with 200 participants. Please give me some more leaflets and some petition signature forms. I will help collect signatures and post them back to you.”

“We would like to pass information on to the Chinese”

A crowd of well-dressed youths came to the stand. They were very shocked after learning what is happening in China and all signed their names on the petition. They said they were there to attend an international professional competition and there would be Chinese people participating as well. Practitioners asked if they could tell what they had learned about Falun Gong and the persecution to these Chinese people. In unison, they quickly said “Yes!” They took some Chinese leaflets and Video-CDs from practitioners and said they would pass them on to the Chinese people at the competition.

”I will tell my students the truth about China and Falun Gong.”

One practitioner happened to meet his German teacher from years ago and he talked to her about Falun Gong. After learning about the human rights abuses against practitioners, the teacher showed a great deal of sympathy and support. She said, “Please give me some more leaflets. I will tell my students about Falun Gong being persecuted.”