Czech Republic: Prague Anti-torture Exhibition Helped People Learn about the Persecution in China

The Czech Republic has a population of over 10 million people, including a great number of Roman Catholics. It broke loose from the iron curtain in 1989 and resumed freedom. Together with Slovakia, it became an independent nation in 1993.

Since Falun Gong was introduced to the public in 1992, it has brought deeper meaning to the lives of millions of people and it moral teachings have had a strong impact on society. In Falun Gong, many Czechs who are yearning for healthiness and kindness have found what they have yearned for. Now seventy-eight countries have Falun Gong practitioners and a Falun Gong Association has been set up in the Czech Republic.

On 18th of June 2005, practitioners from the Czech Republic and Slovakia held an activity in front of the famous statue of Pomnik Jana Husa in the old town area of the capital city of Prague. The practitioners set up around the statue: on one side were big pictures introducing the five sets of Falun Gong exercises along with an exercise demonstration; on the other side were paintings exposing the methods of torture employed by Chinese Communist Party officials in their attempts to force Falun Gong practitioners to renounce their beliefs, along with a simulated anti-torture exhibition.

Practitioners acted out scenes from prisons and labour camps in China where officials abuse and torture Falun Gong practitioners using a variety of methods, such as shocking with electric batons, sleep deprivation and being forced to remain in a tiny cage where it is impossible to stand or lie down for long periods of time. The main goal of the officials is to force Falun Gong practitioners to renounce their beliefs and betray their consciences.

Before the anti-torture show, a wall of people had been sitting all around and many now began stretching their necks to obtain a better view. A lot people could not bear to watch but neither could they tear themselves away, and some were only watching the show from a long way off, silently and sadly. Others were filming the show using cameras and mobile telephones. One after another, people signed the petition showing their support, including tourists from different countries.

Cesha Televise 1 (CT1), the main television station in the Czech Republic, screened a report about the Falun Gong practitioners’ appeal. They also produced a special culture programme about Xiong Wei, a practitioner from Germany who was abused in Chinese labour camps before being rescued back to Germany.