The Communist Chinese Party (CCP) authorities in recent weeks has included a focused oppression, arrest, and persecution of human rights activists and lawyers. CCP President Xi Jinping has increased his oppression to silence dissent, to persecute Chinese human rights groups, and to oppress freedom of religion. His CCP totalitarian oppressors have been monitoring social media and warning the public about against the spread of democratic ideas and influences.
In the past several weeks, over 200 lawyers and human rights activists have been detained or interrogated by the Communist totalitarians, which is run by CCP China’s Ministry of Public Security. The Communist-run People’s Daily has criticized human rights lawyers as “black hands” disrupting public order. The arrests were first noticed on July 9, 2015, when Beijing lawyer Wang Yu disappeared in the early morning, after power was cut to her apartment, and she sent a text that people were breaking into where she lived.
Of the 250 lawyers and staff arrested in the latest sweep, 27 are believe to still by in CCP custody. Amnesty International reports that “Lawyers Xie Yang, Sui Muqing, and activist Gou Hongguo are being held on suspicion of ‘inciting subversion of state power’, which could carry a prison sentence of up to 15 years.” Prominent human rights lawyer Li Heping is also reported to be in CCP police custody.
Lawyers held in the police raid starting on July 9-10 include (clockwise from upper left): Bao Longjun (包龙军), Wang Yu (王宇), Zhou Shifeng (周世锋), Sui Muqing (隋牧青) Huang Liqun (黄力群), Wang Quanzhang (王全璋) (Source: Chinese Human Rights Defenders)
Beijing-based Fengrui Law Firm has been singled by the Communist oppression for its support of human rights cases. Arrests of Fengrui human rights lawyers has included Wang Yu, her husband Bao Longjun, and her 16 year old son, among other lawyers, staff, and members of the public. The Chinese Human Rights Defenders (CHRD) group reports that Wang Yu is being held in a secret detention facility. CHRD also reports: “She has represented activists, scholars, Falun Gong practitioners, farmers, and petitioners in cases involving a wide array of issues, including women’s and children’s rights, and the rights to religion, housing, and freedom of expression, assembly, and association.” “Many who know and have worked with Wang Yu describe her as a courageous and fearless ‘warrior.’ She has raced to the frontlines of rights defense work in China to provide legal aid to those in need, regardless of how difficult or politically sensitive a case is.”
A well-known human rights lawyer, Wang Yu has defended many clients in politically sensitive cases, like those involving human rights activists or religious practitioners. She was forcibly taken from her home by police officers on July 9, 2015 (guonengbin/weibo.com
The CCP totalitarians seek to force the human rights activists and lawyers to “confess” to crimes they have not committed. Among those who have disappeared and are reportedly in some unknown CCP location (called “residential surveillance”) are: Xie Yang, Sui Muqing, Gou Hongguo, Chen Taihe, and Zhao Wei. Amnesty International reports “All three men are at grave risk of torture and other ill-treatment. Sui Muqing’s wife refused to follow a police demand to write a letter to her husband telling him to admit to his ‘crimes.'”
William Nee, China researcher at Amnesty International, has stated “The whole tone of the state-media reports presents the case against the alleged ‘criminal gang’ as established fact, rather than allowing a fair and impartial court process to decide this. The confessions that they’ve obtained seem like they are fitting the government’s pre-approved narrative.”
Currently in police custody
Lawyers:
王宇 Wang Yu
包龙军 Bao Longjun
周世锋 Zhou Shifeng
黄力群 Huang Liqun
王全璋 Wang Quanzhang
李和平 Li Heping
李向阳 Li Xiangyang
谢燕益 Xie Yanyi
Activists, academics, and law firm support Staff:
刘四新 Liu Sixin
望云和尚 Monk Wangyun
姜建军 Jiang Jianjun
陈泰和 Chen Taihe
赵威 （又名考拉）Zhao Wei (a.k.a Kao La)
Placed under residential surveillance:
隋牧青 Sui Muqing
谢阳 Xie Yang
勾洪国 （戈平） Gou Hongguo (Ge Ping)
徐知汉 Xu Zhihan
高月 Gao Yue
Whereabouts unknown:
Lawyer:
李姝云 Li Shuyun
Activists, family members and law firm support staff:
王芳 Wang Fang (law firm staff)
刘永平 Liu Yongping
胡石根 Hu Shigen
耿彩文 Geng Caiwen
王芳 Wang Fang (activist)
魏鹏 Wei Peng
尹旭安 Yin Xuan
The Chinese Human Rights Defenders have reported on a trial of three of those arrested for “subversion”: Tang Jingling, Yuan Xinting and Wang Qingying.
The Chinese Human Rights Defenders have posted a letter from one of the arrested lawyers, Wang Quanzhang, sent to his parents before his arrest. He said he hopes that his parents will appreciate the fact that he has lived his life on the principles instilled in him, namely honesty, kindness and integrity. Wang said he will continue with the difficult path of defending human rights in China.
Chinese Communist leader and President Xi Jinping plans a trip to the United States of America in September 2015. Activists are calling for the U.S. government to cancel Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to the U.S., after these continuing abuses on human rights and the mass roundups of Chinese lawyers. Responsible for Equality And Liberty joins the voices of such activists for freedom and the rule of law, and we urge you to sign the petition on this as well.
Responsible for Equality And Liberty joins Amnesty International’s call to the CCP authorities to disclose the whereabouts and status of those individuals they have detained, to ensure that they are given access to their lawyers and families, and that they are not being tortured or abused.
We stand with our brothers and sisters around the world to call for the support of our Universal Human Rights – everywhere, around the world.
Orange Ribbon for Universal Human Rights – Responsible for Equality And Liberty (R.E.A.L.)
As indicated in its 2015 Annual Report released on April 30, 2015, the The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) recommended that the U.S. Secretary of State re-designate Communist China as a “country of particular concern (CPC). The report stated that “unprecedented violations” against religious groups were a result of the Chinese government’s strategy to further its control.
Fushan House Church Attack — China Aid Report
Specifically the USCIRF stated: “In 2014, the Chinese government took steps to consolidate further its authoritarian monopoly of power over all aspects of its citizens’ lives. For religious freedom, this has meant unprecedented violations against Uighur Muslims, Tibetan Buddhists, Catholics, Protestants, and Falun Gong practitioners. People of faith continue to face arrests, fines, denials of justice, lengthy prison sentences, and in some cases, the closing or bulldozing of places of worship. Based on the alarming increase in systematic, egregious, and ongoing abuses, USCIRF again recommends China be designated a “country of particular concern,” or CPC, under the International Religious Freedom Act (IRFA). The State Department has designated China as a CPC since 1999, most recently in July 2014.”
NDTV Reports: “While China’s notorious Re-education through labor system has finally ended its 57 years of practice, the over 14 year long persecution of the Falun Gong has not been terminated, and continues in the brainwashing centers and black jails. Minghui.org, which reports on Falun Gong and the persecution in China, reports that at least 76 Falun Gong practitioners are confirmed to have been persecuted to death in 2013 alone. According to data from Minghui.org, among the 76 Falun Gong practitioners who have been tortured to death in the persecution campaign, eight of them were tortured to death by police to extract confessions in detention centers. 10 were killed during violent mental and physical torture at brainwashing centers and labor camps. Twenty nine were tortured to death by prison guards, and 29 were killed after being repeatedly kidnapped by the regime. One third of those who were persecuted to death were young adults, many of whom were public servants, doctors, professors, and industrial managerial personnel. For instance, Deng Huaiying, who had a Masters of Finance from North China Electric Power University, was illegally abducted and detained by police on April 27, 2013. Within a month, he was tortured to death and the authorities secretly cremated his body. Yang Zhonggeng, a native of Zhejiang Province, was abducted by the police on June 24, 2013. He was beaten to death in just four days and died at the age of 38. His mother, suffering from mental trauma after seeing her son’s remains, has not been able to talk since. In addition, art teacher Huang Yuangren of Guangxi Teachers Education University at Changgang, and math teacher Zhang Yan of Bengbu City Middle School both died at young age, and their parents were left with suffering from the pain of losing their dear ones. Witnesses of the tragic scenes of the persecution have also been left with much sadness and trauma. Ms. Hu, Falun Gong practitioner in Chongqing: “While I was illegally detained in Chongqing Women’s Forced Labor Camp in 2011, there was a Falun Gong practitioner there named Xu Zhen. Because she refused to give up her beliefs, the guards ordered criminal inmates to tie her to a bed and brutally beat beat her. They ripped out her toenails, they force-fed water into her mouth and nose, and violently attacked her genitals with brushes, causing profuse bleeding. When she passed out, they woke her up to continue the torture. A few days before she died, we were awakened by her screams for two consecutive nights. Too horrible, I will never forget.” Data on Minghui.org shows that roughly 150,000 Falun Gong practitioners are confirmed to have been persecuted between January 2000 and August 2013. Among them, there were 6,889 Falun Gong practitioners killed by persecution. In fact, the regime’s blockage of the information and the authorities’ pressure on the victims’ families has left many more cases unexposed. The reported cases by Minghui.org are just the tip of the iceberg. Wang Zhiyuan, World Organization to Investigate the Persecution of Falun Gong spokesman: “The communist regime’s information blockade is extremely tight. What Minghui.org has reported are the ones that can break through numerous blockades and are confirm with real names. The ones that were kept unknown, untold, or unidentified are countless.” A conservative estimate by Zhengjian.org says that since the persecution of Falun Gong in China started on July 20, 1999, about 3.4 million practitioners have lost their lives. That equates to half of the Jews killed by the Nazi’s during World War II. Wang Zhiyuan: “The estimated data of Zhengjian.org is based on information collected from these many years of persecution, provided by multiple rescue organizations. These projected data are certainly very conservative, because there are many unclear situations in China. Since the persecution campaign began in 1999, large numbers of practitioners went on petitioning. When they were detained, they wouldn’t reveal their identities so as to avoid getting family and friends in trouble. Most of them have been imprisoned and then disappeared.” Many Chinese Communist officials, police, and thugs who were actively participating in the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners have suffered miserable and sudden deaths. For instance, many 610 Office (the office responsible for persecuting Falun Gong) officials throughout China have died of cancer. The 610 Office is thus also nicknamed, the death occupation.” See also NDTV video.
End the Torture and Human Rights Abuse of Falun Gong!
Gu Kailai (L), wife of the ousted Bo Xilai (R). The Epoch Times recently learned that Gu killed British businessman Neil Heywood because he had revealed information about organ harvesting in which he, Gu, and Bo were all involved. (New Epoch Weekly Photo Archive)
Gu Kailai is the wife of a former leader in the CCP, Bo Xilai. On March 15, 2012, Bo Xilai was dismissed from his Politburo post in the CCP. The major news media has reported on Gu Kailai’s conviction of the murder British businessman Neil Heywood. However, Chinese human rights activists also have obtained additional information for context on the motive behind this crime.
The recent Epoch Times report states a motive for Gu Kailai’s murder of Neil Heywood was his knowledge and “revealing information about organ harvesting,” stating “[r]evealing [h]er and Bo Xilai’s organ harvesting crimes led to Heywood’s murder.”
“The murdered British businessman Neil Heywood knew too much– and apparently talked about what he knew. That, according to a source familiar with the matter, was the motive for his being killed. Heywood’s involvement with former Chinese Communist Party heavyweight Bo Xilai and Bo’s wife Gu Kailai was far more extensive than has previously been reported. It apparently included profiting with them from the atrocity of forced live organ harvesting and from allegedly trading in dead bodies. It also involved his assisting them in plans for a coup. Heywood was found poisoned to death in the Lucky Holiday Hotel in the central-western megalopolis of Chongqing on Nov. 14, 2011. On April 10, Gu Kailai and her employee Zhang Xiaojun were reportedly in custody as suspects in the murder. Gu was originally described by state-run media as having murdered Heywood due to disagreements about financial matters. On July 25, in its first comment on the matter since April, the regime mouthpiece Xinhua elaborated on this motive: as a result of the disagreements over business matters, it was said Gu feared Heywood would harm her son, Bo Guagua, and so decided to murder the British businessman.”
“Allegedly Heywood was involved with Bo and Gu in the business of organ harvesting in Liaoning, according to The Epoch Times’ source, and this is what sealed his death warrant. Heywood had begun leaking information about their involvement in this atrocity. Heywood was also allegedly involved in the trade of dead human bodies. Beginning in 2000, two factories opened in Dalian that preserved human bodies for exhibition purposes. In 2003, ‘The Oriental Outlook Magazine,’ an affiliate of state mouthpiece Xinhua, reported that in 2003 China had already become the country exporting the largest number of human corpses, and that one of the companies in Dalian City was the largest human body mummification factory in the world. Earlier this year, The Epoch Times obtained reliable information from Dalian City that the vast majority of bodies made available to the mummification factories were murdered Falun Gong practitioners.”
Epoch Times reports that the CCP’s Bo Xilai and former CCP secretary of the PLAC Luo Gan were involved in the global organ and human body trafficking. The report states that Bo Xilai’s wife “Gu Kailai was a mastermind in financial management, international and domestic online advertisement, and the opening up of export channels for organ and human body trafficking. According to The Epoch Times’ source, Heywood assisted Gu.”
In April 2012, Beijing police reportedly detained a reporter Wang Xijing (a reporter at 21st Century Business Herald), and two other reporters who had been sharing a text message “that is related to the Bo Xilai and Neil Heywood investigation cases.” China Uncensored has a related report on Bo Xilai and organ harvesting. In February 2012, Epoch Times provided another report on organ harvesting atrocities, Bo Xilai, and former director of the public security bureau Wang Lijun. According to the February 2012 report, Wang Liju was aware of “several thousand intensive on-site transplants.”
Responsible for Equality And Liberty (R.E.A.L.) Calls for the CCP and All Chinese Doctors to Reject the CCP Demands for Organ Harvesting on Chinese Prisoners, End Such Killings for Organs and Atrocities, and to End the Crimes Against Humanity Perpetuated against Falun Gong Practitioners (Photo: NDTV file photo)
The atrocities have previously been reported in a series of reports by human rights investigators and the United Nations:
July 13, 2012 - Washington, D.C. - Thousands of Falun Gong Members Rally for Freedom and Human Rights - Seeking Freedom from the Chinese Communist Party
August 7, 2012 - Taipei, Taiwan: Seeking release of prisoner Chung Ding-Pan - a young boy and his sister stand with placards as they join Falun Gong members and sympathizers gather in Taipei (Photo: Reuters)
We call upon the people of the world to educate themselves, speak out, and demand action from their governmental leaders and world power leaders to use their full power, and economic and global influence, to demand that the CCP halt these crimes against humanity against the Falun Gong and the Chinese people.
Choose Love, Not Hate – Love Wins.
Responsible for Equality And Liberty (R.E.A.L.) Supports the Universal Human Rights for Chinese People and All of Our Other Brothers and Sisters in Humanity
Epoch Times reports that “Free China: The Courage to Believe profiles the lives of two Falun Gong practitioners and the danger and pain they encountered in China in their quest for spiritual freedom. The absorbing documentary, to be shown at the upcoming Ottawa International Film Festival, begins with Chairman Mao’s elimination of culture, religion, and spiritual values in China so that the Communist Party would become all things to all people. It then moves on to how Falun Gong was introduced into this moral vacuum in the early 1990s, and explains why and how the persecution of the practice began in July 1999. Jennifer Zeng and Charles Lee are introduced early in the film. Zeng was a Communist Party member, wife, and mother who was arrested and sent to a labor camp because of her beliefs.” See the rest of their report here.
Responsible for Equality And Liberty (R.E.A.L.) will continue to provide information regarding the Free China film, including this link, and trailer below.
Taiwan protests call for the release of imprisoned Taiwanese Falun Gong practitioner Chung Ting-pang who was abducted by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) security on June 18 by police at the airport in Ganzhou City in southeastern China’s Jiangxi Province. This has led to combined protests in Taiwan by Tibetans and Falun Gong, and other human rights, supporters, as described by the Taipei Times.
Epoch Times reports that: “The police have since said Chung was in China because he planned on broadcasting information about the spiritual practice of Falun Gong on China’s cable TV system. The 53-year-old Chung is a Falun Gong practitioner. He is also a very friendly and highly respected businessman, an IT manager of a high-tech company in Hsinchu City, Taiwan.” See the complete Epoch Times Report here.
Taiwan: Chung Ai, the daughter of imprisoned Taiwanese Falun Gong practitioner Chung Ting-pang, speaks at a public event on July 23 in Taipei. She was unconvinced and highly unimpressed with Chinese state media's recent claim that her father had "admitted guilt." (Lin Shih-chieh/The Epoch Times)
On July 13, 2012 in Washington D.C., practitioners of Falun Gong / Falun Dafa, China Democracy Party, human rights activists, and other supporters of freedom in China held a parade in the streets and led a rally at the Washington Monument. At the rally, individuals who had renounced the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) spoke out about the abuses of the CCP and called for freedom for Falun Gong / Falun Dafa practitioners and for all people in China. The historic Tuidang (“Quit the Party”) freedom movement of the Chinese people has now led to 120 million people leaving the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)!
The July 13, 2012 rally was to praise the courage of those who have sought to support human rights, human dignity, and respect for the Falun Gong practitioners and all other people in China, and to call for an end to the human rights abuses against them by the CCP. The courageous Tuidang movement has continued to encourage people in China, every year to abandon the CCP and to reject the CCP’s tyranny.
Speakers told of their oppression for being practitioners of Falun Gong, and their subsequent harassment, imprisonment, and torture in prison camps by the CCP. The oppression of the Falun Gong continues daily, with families being divided, women beaten and tortured, and Falun Gong practitioners killed. Speakers also told of the inhuman practice of organ harvesting of Falun Gong prisoners in CCP prisons. The Falun Gong have been violently oppressed by the CCP since 1999 – for 13 years. The CCP persecution on the Falun Gong began on July 20, 1999.
July 13, 2012 - Rally to Quit the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) - Those Quitting CCP Speak OutJuly 13, 2012 - Washington Monument - in Washington DC where thousands gathered to protest July 13, 2012 - Thousands of Falun Gong Members Rally for Freedom and Human Rights - Seeking Freedom from the Chinese Communist Party
Speakers told of their personal suffering and abuse in CCP-managed prison camps in China, with efforts by the CCP to seek to force them to renounce their support of the Falun Gong practice.
Speakers included: Chairman of the Overseas Democracy Coalition, Wei Jingsheng, the China Democratic Party Chairman Wang Jun, president of Democracy University Tang Baiqia, Dr. Dayong Li – Director of the Global Service Center for Quitting the Chinese Communist Party, Chung Ai Ting-pang (daughter of a Taiwainese Falun Gong practitioner arrested by the CCP), CCP prison camp survivor Chunmei Ma, and Responsible for Equality And Liberty (R.E.A.L.)’s Jeffrey Imm.
Dr. Dayong Li, the Director of the Global Service Center for Quitting the CCP Service Center, stated: “Falun Gong has not only a symbol of the persecution of Chinese people, became a symbol of a symbol of hope for the future, justice, dignity, the great strength of the symbol.” In our discussions with Dr. Dayong Li, he believes that China is on the verge of a historic sweeping change by people who will not tolerate the CCP’s continuing human rights abuses, attacks on human dignity, and denial of human freedom.
Chunmei Ma told her story of how, as a practitioner of the Falun Gong, she had been persecuted by the CCP. She stated she “had been arrested four times, sentenced to forced labor camps twice, and had been through so many mental and physical tortures. I was almost killed.” Chunmei Ma had gone to appeal to the Chinese government for constitutional rights for herself and the Falun Gong – and she was arrested in Tiananmen Square. In November 1999, she was taken to a forced labor camp. There she was beaten and tortured with electronic batons and other forms of cruelty. She described how the CCP used electronic batons as a form of “force tranformation” to get people to leave the Falun Gong, along with beatings, tied down to a “death bed,” forced drug administrations, and other cruel practices. She reported how some prisoners vanished after torture, and how she suspected that some were murdered. The CCP guards beat her mother who came to visit her in prison, and the CCP’s coercion and threats sought to divide her and her husband. After being released from the forced labor camp, Chunmei Ma was continually oppressed by local CCP agents. In October 2006, helped by the United Nations, she fled the People’s Republic of China (PRC), and became a refugee in the United States. Chunmei Ma has also spoken of the abuse of the Falun Gong at other events.
"Death Bed" or "Dead Person's Bed" used by CCP Labor Camps to Torture Prisoners Such as Refugee Chunmei Ma - Prisoners are stretched out, tied down, not allowed to move to eat, drink, or go to the bathroom
Our good friend, Lisa Tao, and others received statements by Montgomery County, Maryland government in recognition of their speaking on behalf of liberty and freedom for the Falun Gong and the people of China
July 13, 2012 - R.E.A.L.'s Jeffrey Imm Praises the Courage of Those Who Choose Freedom from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) for the Falun Gong and the Chinese People
R.E.A.L.’s Jeffrey Imm also spoke at the rally, praising the courage of those who have left the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the Tuidang movement, while reminding the world we must continue to end the human rights abuses against the Falun Gong and the Chinese people. He stated: “To the oppressed Falun Gong practitioners and to all of the oppressed people in China, my message to you is that you do not stand alone. Many people, ranging from human rights activists, U.S. Congressmen, international leaders, and people around the world stand with you today. We recognize and condemn the cruel practices against human rights and against human dignity that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has inflicted against the Falun Gong and the Chinese people. We have seen the endless human rights abuses of the CCP over the years. We have seen the rejection of freedom and human dignity by the CCP to the Falun Gong and the Chinese People. We know about the Laogai prison camps. We have seen the imprisonment of Falun Gong for refusing to renounce their spiritual practice. We have seen the arbitrary arrests, the persecution, the killing and torture of Chinese people by the CCP, with thousands of Falun Gong tortured to death. We have seen the many reports of criminal organ harvesting of Falun Gong practitioners who have been imprisoned by the CCP. We have seen Falun Gong practitioners abducted while trying to leave China. Most recently, we have seen the CCP’s “transformation” campaign to coerce Falun Gong practitioners to renounce their practice.”
He stated: “We cannot and we MUST not accept the dictatorship of Communism in China to oppress our brothers and sisters in China. When 20 percent of the world’s population is under Communist dictatorship, this is not just the Chinese people’s problem; this is the world’s problem. We must send a message of compassion that we will not accept the CCP denying freedom and human rights to the Chinese people. We must send a message to the world that we will not accept the CCP denying freedom of conscience, human dignity, and human rights for the practitioners of the Falun Gong! We must tell the world: Free China Now!” Free the Practitioners of the Falun Gong! (his complete remarks are at this PDF link, link to comments translated in Chinese, and at the end of this blog posting. Jeffrey Imm has alsospoken at previous Tuidang rallies. and Jeffrey Imm has led previousprotests at the Chinese embassy in support for freedom and human rights.)
The Falun Gong also held a rally at the U.S. Capitol on Thursday, July 12, 2012, which included speakers representing Congress and other groups, including: Congressman Dana Rohrabacher, Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, Congressman Ted Poe, Congressman Sam Farr, Congressman Chris Smith, Ryan Sellinger – Legislative Correspondent for U.S. Senator Robert Menendez, Rev. Clark Lobenstine – the Executive Director of the InterFaith Conference of Metropolitan Washington, Kristopher Keating, Dan Fefferman – Coalition for Religious Freedom, Dr. Sue Gunawardena-Vaughn – Director of the International Religious Freedom and the Southeast Asia programs at Freedom House, Suzanne Scholte – the President of the Defense Forum Foundation, Delphine Halgand – Reporters Without Boarders, Annette Lantos – Chairman on the Board of Trustees for the Lantos Foundation for Human Rights and Justice, and Faith McDonnell – Institute on Religion.
Speaking for Responsible for Equality And Liberty (R.E.A.L.), Jeffrey Imm had the following statement: July 13, 2012 Falun Gong Event Remarks – Jeffrey Imm, Responsible for Equality And Liberty (R.E.A.L.)
My name is Jeffrey Imm, and I am the founder of the human rights group, Responsible for Equality And Liberty. Our mission is to support the struggle for human rights and freedom for all people around the world. Thank you for inviting me to join this Falun Gong event to support freedom, human rights, and human dignity in China.
To the oppressed Falun Gong practitioners and to all of the oppressed people in China, my message to you is that you do not stand alone. Many people, ranging from human rights activists, U.S. Congressmen, international leaders, and people around the world stand with you today. We recognize and condemn the cruel practices against human rights and against human dignity that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has inflicted against the Falun Gong and the Chinese people.
We have seen the endless human rights abuses of the CCP over the years. We have seen the rejection of freedom and human dignity by the CCP to the Falun Gong and the Chinese People. We know about the Laogai prison camps. We have seen the imprisonment of Falun Gong for refusing to renounce their spiritual practice. We have seen the arbitrary arrests, the persecution, the killing and torture of Chinese people by the CCP, with thousands of Falun Gong tortured to death. We have seen the many reports of criminal organ harvesting of Falun Gong practitioners who have been imprisoned by the CCP. We have seen Falun Gong practitioners abducted while trying to leave China. Most recently, we have seen the CCP’s “transformation” campaign to coerce Falun Gong practitioners to renounce their practice.
But in the midst of all this oppression, the Falun Gong practitioners have held fast to their beliefs, their support in human freedom, and their support for human dignity, and their support for Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance. Their example has given courage to others who would reject the tyranny of the CCP, and who would seek freedom.
While we remember and condemn the tyranny of the CCP, we also must recognize the courage of those to publicly reject and renounce Communism and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). We must thank the courageous men and women who work daily in the Tuidang movement to seek spread the word about the hope of freedom to others in China, and who give courage to people to Quit the Chinese Communist Party! They have had such great success and we thank them for their leadership. As of today, nearly 120 million Chinese people have left the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)! This is a great achievement and a great day for the Chinese people and for the world!
For the past 23 years, one of my great concerns is freedom and human rights for the people of China. In 1989, when the CCP ordered the massacre of innocent Chinese people in Tiananmen Square, I want you to know how the people in Washington D.C. responded. People stopped everything. In the office buildings all around this city, people walked out of their office and started marching up Connecticut Avenue to protest at the old Chinese embassy. The protesters were diverse people: young and old, men and women, and people of every race and religion. They loved freedom and they wanted the Chinese people to be free.
In the continuing struggle against the tyranny of the CCP, I want you to know that the American people still deeply care about the freedom and human rights of the Falun Gong and all of the Chinese people. America has fought Communism around the world. My brother went to war to fight the Communist Party. I work with people across our nation to help educate people on how the Chinese people are rejecting Communism again today. Every day a Chinese citizen rejects the CCP is a great day for the Chinese people and the world.
Americans care for the Chinese people and all people oppressed by Communism. Americans care because we know how important it is to be free. It is great to have freedom. We want freedom for all of our brothers and sisters in humanity, especially the Chinese people. We are so proud of the 120 million Chinese people who have rejected the CCP and found the courage to seek their freedom and human rights!
A week ago, Americans across the country celebrated the national Independence Day, and celebrated our freedom. But what we really want now is to celebrate the Chinese people’s freedom, and celebrate the Chinese nation’s independence from the CCP! We want freedom and independence for the Falun Gong! In China, we want every day to be a new Independence Day for the Chinese people, as one person after another demonstrates their courage to reject the tyranny of the CCP.
Like you, I also speak to the Chinese people visiting here in the United States about the CCP. At American universities, I have met with other Chinese students who are studying in America. Some Chinese students have told me that they support Communism and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). They have told me that I am wrong to criticize the CCP. I ask them questions to help them free their minds.
So I ask them if they support human rights, women’s equality, justice, human dignity, and courage. They tell me that they do. Then I tell them about CCP’s abuses in human rights. I tell them about how the CCP has demanded forced abortions and mistreatment of women. I tell them about the CCP’s Laogai prison camps. I tell them about the selling of body parts of prisoners. I tell them about the courage I have seen of Chinese students standing up against soldiers and tanks, when the CCP leaders told the soldiers to attack the Chinese people in Tiananmen Square. I tell them if they are true to their beliefs, then they cannot support the CCP. This makes them stop and think about the propaganda the CCP has told them.
We cannot and we MUST not accept the dictatorship of Communism in China to oppress our brothers and sisters in China. When 20 percent of the world’s population is under Communist dictatorship, this is not just the Chinese people’s problem; this is the world’s problem. We must send a message of compassion that we will not accept the CCP denying freedom and human rights to the Chinese people. We must send a message to the world that we will not accept the CCP denying freedom of conscience, human dignity, and human rights for the practitioners of the Falun Gong!
We must tell the world:
— FREE CHINA NOW!
— FREE THE PRACTITIONERS OF THE FALUN GONG!
Thank you for your time.
Every day is a good day to be Responsible for Equality and Liberty for all of our fellow human beings.
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Other images from the parade and event
Speaker Talks of Oppression of Falun Gong by the CCPThe Hope of the Future - as People Continue to Reject the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)
At the National Press Club in Washington DC, Responsible for Equality And Liberty (R.E.A.L.) coordinated a Human Rights Day event on December 8, inviting co-sponsors from various groups to speak on behalf of human rights issues important to their organizations. The groups remembered the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) by the United Nations on December 10, 1948 and the inherent human rights, human dignity, respect, and social justice that all of our fellow human deserve – of any identity group and in any part of the world.
(For each individual, we have provide Internet links to their Human Rights Day Event remarks.)
The speakers discussed the need to consistently show respect, compassion, dignity, and human rights to people in different parts of the world and in different identity groups.
Human Rights Day – Remembering the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR)
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R.E.A.L.’s Jeffrey Imm spoke on the need to emphasize respect, instead of arrogance, in recognizing human rights, stating that it was arrogance by those who believe that they had superior rights to others that is a key problem in human rights around the world. He urged the world to make a “declaration of love” towards their fellow human beings, and to Choose Love, Not Hate, in our lives and the lives of others in our communities, our nations, and our identity groups. Jeffrey Imm spoke of the dire situation of poverty around the world and the impact on such poverty on human rights, stating that such poverty can undermine human rights for many, including individuals in the United States of America who he was working to support. He urged people to give to charities and to people in need.
R.E.A.L.’s Jeffrey Imm also spoke on the future of human rights being defined by the example we set, and the way we treat our children. He spoke on the continuing disgrace of abuse, rape, kidnapping, and murder of children around the world, as well as by those in institutions and society who have not made chidren’s rights a priority. Jeffrey Imm urged the United States to adopt the Convention on Rights of the Child.
He also spoke on atrocities against children in the United States of America (the murder of 7 year of Jorelys Rivera, the murder of children in Texas), in Pakistan (the brainwashing of children by terrorists, the rape and murder of young girls, and the killing of Christian minority girls, including the recent killing of Amariah Masih), in Sudan and Dafur (rape of young girls, killing of children, and loss of their culture and innocence), in Balochistan (over 168 children have “disappeared” with teenage boys killed by authorities in a “kill and dump” campaign), in People’s Republic of China (the lack of concern of about a 2 year old child killed in the street, the government-sponsored forced abortions and infanticide, and the killing or abandonment of minority children such as children of Falun Gong practitioners), and in Bahrain (five children killed and hundreds of children subjected to excessive force by anti-protest authorities). Jeffrey Imm also spoke on the institutional willingness to accept such abuses of children, including an Afghan girl released from prison on the condition she marry her rapist, and the reports of child abuse at the Pennsylvania State University and other institutions in America. He also decried the so-called “honor killings” of young girls and boys by those who believe their cultural or religious views justified abuse and murder of children, and called for an end to these, noting that there were 3,000 such cases in the United Kingdom alone, according to stophonourkillings.com. He spoke of the oppression against children in the United States of America, and his own efforts to stop such abuses.
Jeffrey Imm stated that these “are all OUR children,” who “are our common bond and bridge to the future.” He suggested that in this season of reflection and gift-giving in much of the world, that we should first reach out to help the children and the less fortunate among us. He stated that our greatest gift to children from adult human beings must be in making a renewed commitment to protect our vulnerable children around the world. Jeffrey Imm stated, “We must give the gift of our courage, our consistency, and our commitment for the universal human rights and dignity to all of our children around the world…. We must set an example for our children. We must provide a beacon and symbol of hope for our children. We must show that by our words and more importantly by actions, in the United States and around the world – to our children – and to each other… We are Responsible for Equality And Liberty.”
Jeffrey Imm, Responsible for Equality And Liberty (R.E.A.L.), Human Rights Day Event 2011
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Ahmer Mustikhan, a senior journalist and Balochistan area expert, spoke on the issue of supporting democracy and human rights for the Baloch people, and called the end to abuses against Pakistan minorities. Regarding the challenges within the Pakistan government, Ahmer Mustikhan called for the United States and the nations of the world to prevent the Pakistan military from interfering with the democratic government in Pakistan. “It is true the democratic government of President Asif Ali Zardari gave the Baloch 300 bodies in the last four or so years, but still we would support it against the military generals. Democracy does make a difference in the lives of people and we can not remain oblivious to this fact,” Mustikhan said. Mustikhan, who founded the DC-based American Friends of Balochistan and co-founded the International Voice for Baloch Missing Persons, also asked the world community to intervene in Balochistan on the same lines as they did in Libya to stop the genocide there and safeguard the right to self-determination of the Baloch people. He said scores of Baloch teenagers have been made victims of enforced disappearances and killed. He narrated the story of a Baloch minor boy Abdul Wahid Baloch, aka Balaach Baloch, who gained fame after his picture showing him clad in a Balochistan flag was posted on social websites last year. Ahmar Mustikhan also spoke on the issue of Pakistan minorities, including Pakistan Christians, and urged the Pakistan government to free Asia Bibi, who has been imprisoned on trumped-up charges of the “blasphemy law,” which has been used to target and oppress religious minorities in Pakistan.
Ahmar Mustikhan, Senior Journalist and Area Expert, Balochistan – regarding the oppression and abuse of the Baloch people and Pakistan minorities on Human Rights Day Event 2011
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Carolyn Cook, founder and CEO of United for Equality, spoke at the National Press Club in Washington DC on December 8, as part of a Human Rights Day Event, calling for a renewed commitment by Americans in support of the Constitutional rights for all American women, as part of our global human rights goals. United for Equality is a social justice enterprise seeking the ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment (E.R.A.) by 2015. Carolyn stated that we must change the way people think and what we tolerate in our culture regarding the rights and dignity of our fellow Americans and fellow human beings. Carolyn spoke out against the discrimination and the efforts to deny full equality to women in America, in every aspect of their lives. She stated that we need to take our system back and make it ours. Carolyn Cook stated that United for Equality’s coalition successfully introduced a bill to the 112the session of the United States Congress calling for Congress to remove the time limit on the Equal Rights Amendment (E.R.A.), as the United States previously had the ratification of the E.R.A. in 35 states, and it requires ratification in 38 states and by 2/3s of the House and Senate. She pointed out how previous U.S. government officials sought to halt the efforts to ratify the E.R.A. after 10 years when nearly all of the required states but 3 had ratified this Constitutional Amendment, and pointed out that women have no desire to “start over” the ratification of the E.R.A.
Carolyn Cook also spoke on the paradigm of options we have as activists and participants in defending human rights. Carolyn urged a more holistic approach towards addressing human rights as lifelong causes. She discussed lessons learned from the Occupy movement and other social activist efforts to bring change to the world. Her discussion on lessons from the Occupy movement are detailed in the YouTube video of her speech beginning at 6:36 minutes in on Part 1 and continuing and concluding in Part 2 of her remarks.
Carolyn Cook, CEO and Founder of United for Equality, Speaks on Behalf of American Women’s Constitutional Rights – on Human Rights Day 2011 Event
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Jared Pearman, Spokesperson for the Falun Dafa Association of Washington, DC, spoke on behalf of human rights and human dignity for the Falun Gong / Falun Dafa. He provided information about the Falun Gong as “a peaceful spiritual practice rooted in traditional Chinese culture,” which “consists of meditation, five gentle sets of exercises, and a moral philosophy centered on the values of truthfulness, compassion, and tolerance.” While pointing out that Falun Gong is not political, Mr. Pearman stated that “as Falun Gong grew in popularity throughout the 1990s, China’s communist leaders began to view the practice and its moral philosophy as ideological competition.” For the past 12 years, he indicated that “China’s rulers began a campaign to eradicate Falun Gong. Since then, like underground Christians and Tibetan Buddhists, millions of Falun Gong adherents have been denied the right to peacefully practice their faith.” Despite massive arrests, torture, killings and denial of human rights for the Falun Gong by the Chinese Communist Party, Mr. Pearman stated that “Falun Gong has not been crushed, and reports from China indicate that the number of practitioners is instead growing. Ordinary citizens are increasingly standing up in defense of Falun Gong and are refusing to participate in the persecution.” He called for the Chinese government and the world to recognize and defend the human rights of the Falun Gong. Mr. Pearman offered “an alternate vision of what China could be — an alternative way of conceptualizing Chinese national identity”…. that “connects with China’s moral and spiritual traditions of Confucianism, Buddhism, and Daoism, and holds that the cultivation of virtue, honesty, and humanness are the true sources of national greatness.”
Jared Pearman, Spokesperson of Falun Dafa Association of Washington DC, oppressed in the PRC and denied their most basic human rights and dignity by those who view their practice and support for traditional Chinese values as a threat to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) – Speaking at 2011 Human Rights Day Event
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Husain Abdulla, leader of Americans for Democracy and Human Rights in Bahrain (ADHRB), spoke on behalf of Bahrainis oppressed by government forces that seek to deny democracy. He spoke of the initial protests on February 14, 2011, of those who sought to join the “Arab Spring” movement for democracy, and the brutal oppression of the Bahrain government. Since March 2011, Husain Abdulla stated that Bahrain protesters have been subjected to torture and death. 45 were killed, over 2,000 arbitrary arrests, 1,866 cases of documented torture, 5,000 prisoners of conscience, destruction of 40 places of worship, and 3,000 fired from their jobs, 500 forced out of Bahrain, 3 on death row, 477 students expelled from universities, and 300 students had scholarships taken away — all in retaliation for the willingness to protest against the Bahrain government. He stated that over 500 doctors have been detained. He noted that Bahrain is a close ally to the United States, and he urged Americans to call for the American government to end the “blind eye” to Bahrain human rights violations.
Husain Abdulla, speaking at National Press Club on Human Rights Day Event – Americans for Democracy and Human Rights in Bahrain (ADHRB) — speaking on behalf of Bahranis oppressed by government forces that seek to deny democracy
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Niemat Ahmadi spoke at the National Press Club Human Rights Day Event on December 8, 2011, to address the abuse of Darfuris and Sudanese. Niemat Ahmadi represents the United to End Genocide group. She spoke about the Genocide in Sudan which has been ongoing for over 8 years, and that have driven 4,000,000 out of their homes. Niemat Ahmadi spoke on the need for Americans to call for justice regarding Omar Al-Bashir. She noted that the efforts of Al-Bashir regime have changed their tactics and seek to use rape against women as a weapon of war against the Darfuri people. Niemat Ahmadi spoke of the continuing attacks on Darfuri cities, homes, and attempts to stop safe travel of people of African nationalities who have been fleeing to displaced persons camps. Niemat Ahmadi urged those in Arab nations seeking democracy in their nations to stand up to dictatorial Arab regimes who have supported the brutal Al-Bashir regime.
Niemat Ahmadi, with United to End Genocide, Speaks Out on the Darfur Genocide in Support of Human Rights – at Human Rights Day Event 2011
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In R.E.A.L.’s Jeffrey Imm’s concluding remarks, he urged the human rights activists to continue to work together in the coming year on joint activists. He noted that after the winter comes the spring, and in the spring, he often goes to the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum during Holocaust Remembrance Days to participate in the reading of the names. Even if there is only one or two people there, Imm noted, there is someone to remember, and it is done simply because it is the right thing to do.
He urged human rights activists to remember that in their work of spreading hope, reaching out to offer dignity, justice, freedom, and consistent universal human rights to all. That is the vision and the mission of being collectively…
Responsible for Equality And Liberty….
Choose Love, Not Hate, Love Wins.
Orange Ribbon for Universal Human Rights – Responsible for Equality And Liberty (R.E.A.L.)
Jared Pearman, Spokesperson of Falun Dafa Association of Washington DC, oppressed in the PRC and denied their most basic human rights and dignity by those who view their practice and support for traditional Chinese values as a threat to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) - Speaking at 2011 Human Rights Day Event
Statement by Jared Pearman, Spokesperson for the Falun Dafa Association of Washington, DC, at the National Press Club on December 8, 2011
Hello Everyone, It’s an honor to be here today to mark World Human Rights Day. I’d like to especially thank Jeffrey and everyone at Responsible for Equality And Liberty for putting today’s event together.
Some people here may be familiar with the persecution of Falun Gong in China, but perhaps for others, this is the first you’ll be hearing about this in-depth. So let me begin with a brief introduction to the issue followed by some of the key developments we’re seeing in China today.
Introduction
Falun Gong, which is often also called Falun Dafa, is a peaceful spiritual practice rooted in traditional Chinese culture. It consists of meditation, five gentle sets of exercises, and a moral philosophy centered on the values of truthfulness, compassion, and tolerance. Practitioners of Falun Gong aspire to live in accordance with these principles in their daily lives. It’s a very simple, very effective method of achieving a healthy mind, body, and spirit.
Although it is rooted in ancient Chinese spiritual tradition, Falun Gong was first taught publicly in China in 1992. It spread quickly through word-of-mouth as tens of millions of Chinese citizens took up the practice. By the mid 90’s every park in every city of China had people practicing the graceful movements of the exercises. Today, Falun Gong is practiced in over 80 countries worldwide by people of all ages and backgrounds. It is always taught free of charge by volunteers, and can be practiced individually or in groups.
Unfortunately, as Falun Gong grew in popularity throughout the 1990s, China’s communist leaders began to view the practice and its moral philosophy as ideological competition. Although Falun Gong is peaceful and possesses no political aspirations, the Communist Party of China does not tolerate large independent religious or spiritual practices. Thus, on July 20th, 1999, China’s rulers began a campaign to eradicate Falun Gong. Since then, like underground Christians and Tibetan Buddhists, millions of Falun Gong adherents have been denied the right to peacefully practice their faith.
Falun Gong in 2011
Now, let’s talk a bit about what’s happening with Falun Gong today. In the last year, Falun Gong practitioners in mainland China continued to be the targets of a severe, centrally-coordinated suppression at the hands of the Chinese Communist Party. Hundreds of thousands of practitioners are estimated to be detained extrajudicially in detention centers, labor camps, prisons, and in the network of ad hoc “transformation-through-reeducation” centers. In all these facilities, adherents of Falun Gong are subjected to varying degrees of psychological and physical torture and coercion as authorities seek to force renunciations of their beliefs. In the last several years, we’ve received verifiable reports of over one hundred deaths due to torture, and this year’s numbers sadly look to be on par with that, bringing our confirmed total to 3427. The real number could be many times higher.
The campaign against Falun Gong continues to be coordinated by what’s known as the 610 Office—an extrajudicial, Communist Party-based security agency named for the date of its creation on June 10, 1999. The 610 Office is overseen by the Central Leading Group for Dealing with Heretical Organizations, headed by Politburo member Zhou Yongkang. Corresponding local 610 Offices exist at the provincial, municipal, district, and neighborhood levels, as well as in some large workplaces and universities. Although they possess no legal authority, the 610 Office wields substantial influence in coordinating the anti-Falun Gong campaign, as well as the power to direct media entities, courts, and the state-based security forces.
In 2010, the central 610 Office ordered the launch of a three-year campaign to intensify the coercive “transformation” of Falun Gong practitioners nationwide. Transformation here refers to a process of ideological reprograming, the objective of which is to force the Falun Gong practitioner to renounce their belief in Falun Gong. If they fail to renounce their beliefs, they are sent to labor camps or sentenced in sham trials to lengthy prison terms.
In February, the Jiamusi Prison in Northeast China established a special unit to increase the transformation rate of incarcerated Falun Gong practitioners. Within two weeks of the unit’s establishment, three middle-aged, male Falun Gong practitioners were tortured to death in custody at the prison.
Although the majority of Falun Gong adherents unlawfully detained are held in reeducation-through-labor camps, in recent years a greater proportion of practitioners have been sentenced in sham trials to prisons. Most are tried under a vaguely worded provision that outlaws “using a heretical religion to undermine the implementation of the law.” Which laws are being undermined is never made clear. Moreover, as lawyers have pointed out, there are actually no laws in China that formally ban the practice of Falun Gong.
Lawyers who have sought to defend Falun Gong clients continue to face harassment by security agencies and the 610 Office. These lawyers have reported being denied access to clients, barred from entering courtrooms, or facing harassment, detention, imprisonment, and even torture for their advocacy on behalf of Falun Gong. Dozens of lawyers who have taken Falun Gong cases have been either disbarred or have been unable to renew their licenses to practice law.
Chinese authorities, under the direction of the Communist Party, have also continued to intensify the response to Falun Gong’s efforts to disseminate information to the general populace of China. This includes cracking down on underground “material sites” run by Falun Gong practitioners, which produce literature and information on the practice and its suppression. Ongoing crackdowns on black market satellite equipment, on the internet, and on shortwave radio broadcasts are also strongly linked in official literature to the anti-Falun Gong campaign.
Although the central 610 Office and Communist Party continue to pursue the eradication campaign as a national priority, grassroots opposition to the persecution has been steadily increasingly since approximately 2005, as has the efficacy of Falun Gong’s resistance to suppression. As I said, human rights lawyers continue to risk their careers and personal safety to defend Falun Gong adherents. In a series of wonderfully surprising events, thousands of ordinary Chinese citizens in multiple locales have openly petitioned for the release of imprisoned Falun Gong practitioners—something that would have been inconceivable only a few years ago. Anecdotal reports from across China speak of local 610 Officers and public security agents who have grown resentful of the central orders to crack down on Falun Gong, and who secretly protect the Falun Gong practitioners they are charged with persecuting. Similarly, many judges and prosecutors participating in anti-Falun Gong cases now do so with disdain, and sometimes openly express admiration for Falun Gong (though they still comply with 610 Office directions).
Perhaps the best evidence of the waning support for the party’s anti-Falun Gong campaign comes from official documents themselves. Publicly available documents published online in recent years describe Falun Gong’s resistance efforts as a potential existential threat to the party—a “matter of life or death.”
This erosion of grassroots support for the anti-Falun Gong campaign is significant. As with other political “douzheng” (struggle) campaigns launched by the Communist Party, the anti-Falun Gong campaign has been carried out with the support and participation of the citizenry, co-opted through propaganda. Although many citizens do continue to participate actively in the suppression, a growing proportion now refuse to be complicit. Some of these—perhaps tens of millions of people—have gone so far as to symbolically disavow their affiliations with party organizations in a movement known as Tuidang, which literally translates as “quit the part.”
Outlook
The trend lines are now clear: Falun Gong has not been crushed, and reports from China indicate that the number of practitioners is instead growing. Ordinary citizens are increasingly standing up in defense of Falun Gong and are refusing to participate in the persecution. At the same time, however, it is vitally important to make it clear that the Communist Party has not given up its campaign against the practice, and in all likelihood, it never will; to do so would be a potentially fatal admission of fallibility, one that would lay bare the truth of a campaign that has taken thousands of lives, costs billions of dollars, ruined innumerable families, and deceived a nation.
It is important to state here, that Falun Gong does not seek political power in China or elsewhere. The pursuit of worldly influence is viewed as being inconsistent with the transcendental objectives of our practice. Falun Gong has never prescribed what kind of system of governance China should adopt, nor participated in unrelated social or policy debates. Falun Gong is, and has always has been, apolitical. Our interest is purely to secure basic human rights.
Yet in the course of our efforts, we have presented an alternate vision of what China could be—an alternative way of conceptualizing Chinese national identity. Like Falun Gong itself, this vision connects with China’s moral and spiritual traditions of Confucianism, Buddhism, and Daoism, and holds that the cultivation of virtue, honesty, and humanness are the true sources of national greatness. Put simply, Falun Gong is challenging the Communist Party’s hegemony over what it means to be Chinese, and has done so in a manner that is credible, accessible, and inspiring to the Chinese people. If this vision gains momentum over the Leninist / Legalist paradigm currently in place, it is our belief that the Chinese people will enjoy greater freedoms and security, and China will become a more transparent, cooperative, and stable partner for the world.
Welcome and thank you for coming today!
It is another good to be Responsible for Equality And Liberty.
That is the name of our human rights coalition, Responsible for Equality And Liberty, and we are here today to invite our fellow human rights activists in a joint event where we remember the December 10, 1948 adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) by the nations of the United Nations.
People around the world remember this human rights accomplishment as Human Rights Day, and there events going on around the world.
Here in Washington DC, Responsible for Equality And Liberty, has sought to also celebrate Human Rights Day here at the National Press Club, as we have done over the several years, with speakers on various human rights campaigns, to share our common bond together in our efforts to be responsible for our universal human rights for all people around the world.
Our common bond is our humanity. This includes the inherent human dignity and human rights for all people of all identity groups everywhere in the world that represent our universal human rights. We come from the nations of the world, from different races, different ethnic groups, different religions, different genders, and different identity groups – but our universal human rights apply equally to all – without exception, without reservation.
Our universal human rights are also based on our shared respect for one another as human beings. Such respect is essential in our human society. We find those who seek to be superior or arrogant in seeking rights for themselves that they would deny to others. But our universal human rights are based on shared respect for all people of all identity groups everywhere in the world. Our universal human rights require a commitment to being responsible for BOTH equality and liberty for all.
In our individual campaigns, we struggle with those who would seek to deny such universal human rights. We see extremist groups, totalitarian governments, and those with hate in their hearts seeking to deny human rights to others. Let us never forget this problem is one of human respect, first and foremost. If we are to RESPONSIBLE on this matter, we must treat all human beings with respect, even those with whom we disagree. The challenge we see in human rights is not only a challenge for individual campaigns, but it is a challenge for humanity itself.
So our combined campaigns for human rights must begin with a declaration of love and respect for our fellow human beings. The view with Responsible for Equality And Liberty is that we offer an outstretched hand, not an upraised fist – to all of our brothers and sisters in humanity.
Our common bond is our humanity and our common legacy must be one where we show our love and respect for one another, even as we challenge those who oppress, and even as we challenge those deny human rights and dignity to others. We must set an example. We must set a standard. We must offer a vision of the future based on hope.
We urge others to Choose Love, Not Hate. But we are not preaching about our own perfection, rather we are setting a goal for our society and ourselves with humility.
Our goal in our human rights campaigns must also be finding and building for the future of human society together.
That future must begin with a commitment to the most vulnerable among us, whether they are minorities in the race, religion, gender, ethnic background or other identity groups. It is easy to ignore those who are different. But the global danger is that we become arrogant and fail to respect their human rights. We have seen this around the world: in the United States, in Asia, in the Middle East, in Africa, in Europe. We have individuals who will speak today on campaigns to defend the human rights of minorities and other groups who are denied human rights based on perceptions in culture, including women in America.
Our future in human rights must also address the issue of the terrible poverty around the world, and the impact of this poverty on effectively denying the human rights of people. I also urge Americans to address this issue as well. Just a short drive from where we meet today, you can see some of the most dire circumstances of poverty and neglect. There are those who would seek to leverage such poverty to abuse the vulnerable in our society in America and around the world. To challenge the poverty in human rights around the world, we cannot also neglect the need to challenge the issue of poverty itself. Give where you can, help where you can. Use your declaration of love and respect to help those who need help.
If our commitment to the future must address the most vulnerable among us, then the most important part of that commitment is our children. Without our children, there is no future for human society. Our children are the future leaders of Earth, and we must set an example on human rights, respect, and love for one another – not just for our own sake – but also for our children’s future. I say “our children” because they are our shared responsibility and our shared future. We cannot just only expect the parents of our children to look out on their behalf, no more than only our parents looked out on our behalf. All of human society has a responsiblity to equality and liberty for our children, and all of human society has an obligation to safely protect and preserve our children, so that can live and grow to become the future leaders of our Earth.
But if we were to assess human society based on how its most vulnerable, we would a sorry story. Too few nations, including the United States of America, are signatories to the United Nations’ Convention on the Rights of the Child. A few weeks ago there was a separate event where people remember the ratification of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) on November 20, 1989.
If we are committed to human rights, we must first and foremost be committed to human rights for our children. Yet an endless parade of violence and abuse against children and young people continues throughout America and throughout the world.
On Monday of this week a 7 year old girl, Jorelys Rivera, was found murdered, sexually abused, and left in a trash bin. (Lifting her photo to the audience). This is the face of human rights in America and the world today. Our children are abused, raped, tortured, and killed in America and around the world with impunity. In Texas, children were killed by their own mother, after putting a Facebook posting warning of threats against them. In Pennylvania, institutional leaders ignored reports of repeated attacks and rapes of young boys for over a decade at the Pennsylvania State University, of which I myself am an alumnus.
This week in Afghanistan, a teenage girl who had been raped and imprisoned by the Aghan government as a result of being a victim, was finally given an oppportunity to be released from prison after 2 years, if she married her rapist.
Our disgrace in human rights for children are not just by criminals and extremists, it is by governments, it is by institutions, and it is by too many in society. This disgrace in human rights for children is only a reflection of the state of our society on human rights. We see extremist views from people who claim that they represent religious or cultural views justifying pedophilia and honor killings. On regular basis, such so-called “honor killings” frequently of young girls are reported at the international human rights group’s web site stophonourkillings.com. In the United Kingdom alone, there were 3,000 so-called honor killings last year.
This threat to our children affects all of us and all of in this room and the individual human rights campaigns represented here.
In Sudan and Darfur, children are killed, young girls are raped, children are starved, authorities refuse to let children learn about their culture, and some children are taught to become soldiers.
In Pakistan, we see an endless and horrifying oppression of young children, brainwashing by extremist of young minds, tying bombs onto children for terrorist acts, the abuse, rape, and murder of young Christian girls and other religious minitories, including a young girl Amariah Masih, who was murdered resisting an attempted rape and reported forced religious conversion.
In Balochistan, we have seen over 168 children who have “disappeared” and teenage boys killed as part of a brutal “kill and dump” campaign by authorities.
In China, only two months ago, the world saw heartless people continue to walk by as a two year old girl Yue-Yue was run over by a vehicle and left to die in the street. At the U.S. Congress a short drive away, I have sat and listened to testimony from young Chinese women forced into having abortions and heard reports of how the government instructed doctors to kill young babies. The Falun Gong, here with us today, could tell the story of how the children of their supporters are also oppressed, tortured, killed, and others left to be orphans or without parent as the Chinese Communist Party takes their parents away for their beliefs.
In Bahrain, I have a report from a few weeks ago of 5 children killed and hundreds of children subjected to excessive force by a brutal government that seeks deny democracy and human rights.
We such abuses too regularly, and it is easy to view such disgraces as statistics rather than as human beings, who are precious, unique, and loved.
My friends have also been asking why Responsible for Equality And Liberty has had less press conferences this year. One of my own personal focus has been dealing with people suffering in dire poverty in this nation and seeking to help them from their difficult living environment. This has included a teenage girl who came to me with her own story of abuse and I have been intervening to protect her and other American girls suffering from abuse as a result of their poverty, by those who seek to take their hope, dreams, and their innocence away.
They are all OUR children. They are all OUR responsibility for equality and liberty. Every one.
In the month of December, we see some people celebrating holidays of various sorts and some providing gifts to children.
I believe we can give them a special gift this year.
We must give the gift of our courage, our consistency, and our commitment for the universal human rights and dignity to all of our children around the world.
Some believe that abuses against our children are simply a law enforcement issue. Nothing could be further from the truth. If we are to be responsible as individuals in a human society, each of us must be responsible for the children that are our common bond and bridge to the future.
We must set an example for our children.
We must provide a beacon and symbol of hope for our children.
We must show that by our words and more importantly by actions, in the United States and around the world – to our children – and to each other…
