China: 120 Million Leave Chinese Communist Party (CCP) – Falun Gong Rally in DC

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.

(Photos of the parade and the rally are on a Picasa web site.) See also the report on this event by the Sound of Hope (reporter Wu Wei), a report on the rally published in Chinese (see Google Translate service), a report on the rally published in Chinese by the Epoch Times, and the report on the parade by the Epoch Times.

Falun-Gong-DC-071312-001 — July 13, 2012 - Rally to Quit the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) - Those Quitting CCP Speak Out

Falun-Gong-DC-071312-002 — July 13, 2012 - Washington Monument - in Washington DC where thousands gathered to protest

washingtonmonument-falun-gong-071312 — 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. R.E.A.L first met our friend, Lisa Tao, at our September 30, 2009 rally at the Chinese Embassy to protest the 60th anniversary of the proclamation of the Communist People’s Republic of China (PRC) at the Washington DC PRC embassy. Lisa Tao has also spoken out about oppression of the Falun Gong in China at R.E.A.L.’s National Press Club event on Universal Human Rights Day.

Lisa Tao - June 13, 2012 — 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

Prior to the Washington Monument Rally, Falun Gong, its supporters, and supporters of freedom and human rights in China were part of a parade throughout the streets of Washington, D.C. (Photos of the parade and the rally are on a Picasa web site.)

The Celestial Marching Band played in the Washington, D.C. parade and also between speakers at the rally.

Video of Celestial Marching Band at Washington Monument Rally –

Video of Celestial Marching Band at Washington, D.C. Parade

free-china-now-Jeffrey-Imm — 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 also spoken at previous Tuidang rallies. and Jeffrey Imm has led previous protests 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.

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Related Stories and Links

Chunmei Ma Statement of Oppression in Labor Camps in China – Torture for Practicing Falun Gong

July 13, 2012 – Jeffrey Imm Remarks at Falun Gong Freedom Rally

July 14, 2012 – Falun Gong Parade in DC Looks to China’s Future

July 12, 2012 – Members of U.S. Congress, NGO’s Call for Persecution of Falun Gong to Stop

July 13, 2012 – Photo Gallery of U.S. Congress and NGO Speakers Reject Persecution of Falun Gong

July 11, 2012 — Daughter of Detained Falun Gong Practitioner Visits Washington D.C. — Chung Ai Ting-pang

Event report by the Sound of Hope (reporter Wu Wei)

Report on the rally published in Chinese (see Google Translate service)

Falun Dafa / Falun Gong

Global Service Center for Quitting the Chinese Communist Party (Tuidang Movement)

China Democracy Party

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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 CCP

The Hope of the Future - as People Continue to Reject the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)

Communist China – We Remember the Tiananmen Square Massacre

Responsible for Equality And Liberty (R.E.A.L.) stands with the Chinese people in remembrance of the martyrs who died on June 4, 1989, in the Tiananmen Square Massacre. On June 4, 1989, I stood outside the PRC embassy in Washington DC in my first protest against totalitarianism. It was not and will not be my last.

Today’s reports:

Remembering the Tiananmen massacre

Anniversary of Tiananmen Crackdown Echoes Through Shanghai Market

China slams U.S. over Tiananmen statement

China Muzzles Online Talk of Tiananmen Anniversary

In addition, this year, we also have a statement from the U.S. State Department:

U.S. Department of State Message: “Message on the Twenty-Third Anniversary of Tiananmen Square”

Press Statement

Mark C. Toner

Deputy Spokesperson, Office of the Spokesperson

Washington, DC

June 3, 2012

On this the twenty-third anniversary of the violent suppression by Chinese authorities of the spring 1989 Tiananmen Square demonstrations, the United States joins the international community in remembering the tragic loss of innocent lives.

We encourage the Chinese government to release all those still serving sentences for their participation in the demonstrations; to provide a full public accounting of those killed, detained or missing; and to end the continued harassment of demonstration participants and their families.

We renew our call for China to protect the universal human rights of all its citizens; release those who have been wrongfully detained, prosecuted, incarcerated, forcibly disappeared, or placed under house arrest; and end the ongoing harassment of human rights activists and their families.

The Power of One

To Chinese people and the Tiananmen martyrs, we will never forget you. We will never forget your sacrifice.

We will continue to fight for your freedom.

China Support Network – History

Video: Remember Tiananmen Square

News reports:

— Epoch Times: Tiananmen Square Commemoration, Hong Kong Suppressed By Beijing
— Wall Street Journal: Thousands Attend Tiananmen Vigil in Hong Kong
— AP: 21 years later, quiet day on Tiananmen Square
— BBC: Tiananmen marks 21st anniversary
— BBC: Chinese paper prints ‘Tiananmen’ cartoon
— AFP: US urges China to free activists on Tiananmen anniversary
— Tiananmen Square memoir claims China decided to ‘spill some blood’

An estimated 50,000 people, many of them students, gather in Hong Kong's Victoria Park for the annual candlelit vigil to commemorate the anniversary of the Tiananmen massacre. (Photo: AP)

Names of Known Tiananmen Square Victims
Per Remember64.org program

An Ji
Bai Jing Chuan
Bao Xiu Dong
Ben Yun Hai
Bian Zong Xu
Cao Zhen Ping
Chen Lai Shun
Chen Sen Lin
Chen Zhong Jie
Chen Zi Qi
Cheng Ren Xing
Cui Lin Feng
Dai Jin Ping
Dai Wei
Dong Lin
Dong Xiao Jun
Du Guang Xue
Du Yan Ying
Duan Chang Long
Gao Yuan
Gong Ji Fang
Guo Chun Min
Guo An Min
Han Jun You
Han Qiu
Han Zi Quan
Hao Zhi Jing
He Guo
He Jie
He Shi Tai
He An Bin
Hu Xing Yun
Huang Pei Pu
Huang Tao
Huang Xin Hua
Jiang Jia Xing
Jiang Jie Lian
Kou Xia
Kuang Min
Lai Bi
Lei Guang Tai
Li Chang Shen
Li Chun
Li De Zhi
Li Hao Cheng
Li Hui
Li Li
Li Meng
Li Ping
Li Shu Zhen
Li Tie Gang
Li Zhen Ying
Li Hui Quan
Liang Bao Xing
Lin Ren Fu
Lin Tao
Liu Chun Yong
Liu Feng Gen
Liu Hong
Liu Hong Tɑo
Liu Jian Guo
Liu Jin Hua
Liu Jing Sheng
Liu Jun He
Liu Qiang
Liu Yan Sheng
Liu Zhan Min
Lu Chun Lin
Lu Xiao Jun
Lu Jian Guo
Lu Peng
Luan Yi Wei
Luo Wei
Ma Chene Fen
Ma Jian Wu
Mu Gui Lan
Nan Hua Tong
Ni Shi Lian
Peng Jun
Pu Chang Kui
Qi Li
Qi Wen
Qian Hui
Qian Jin
Ren Jian Min
Ren Wen Lian
Shi Hai Wen
Shi Yan
Song Bao Sheng
Song Xiao Ming
Su Jin Jian
Su Sheng Ji
Su Xin
Sun Hui
Sun Tie
Sun Xiao Feng
Sun Yan Chang
Tao Mao Xian
Tao Zhi Gan
Tian Dao Min
Wang Chao
Wang Dong Xi
Wang Fang
Wang Gang
Wang Hong Qi
Wang Jian Ping
Wang Jun Jing
Wang Nan
Wang Pei Wen
Wang Qing Zeng
Wang Tie Jun
Wang Wei Ping
Wang Wen Ming
Wang Yao He
Wang Yi Fei
Wang Ying
Wang Zheng Sheng
Wang Zhi Ying
Wei Wu Min
Wen Jie
Wu Guo Feng
Wu Xiang Dong
Xi Gui Ru
Xia Zhi Lei
Xiao Bo
Xiao Jie
Xie Jing Suo
Xiong Zhi Ming
Xu Jian Ping
Yan Wen
Yang Han Lei
Yang Ming Hu
Yang Ru Ting
Yang Yan Sheng
Yang Zhen Jiang
Yang Zi Ping
Ye Wei Hang
Yin Shun Qing
Yin Jing
Yu Di
Yuan Li
Yuan Min Yu
Zha Ai Guo
Zhai Shun
Zhang Fu Yuan
Zhang Jia Mei
Zhang Jian
Zhang Jin
Zhang Lin
Zhang Luo Hong
Zhang Ru Ning
Zhang Wei Hua
Zhang Xiang Hong
Zhao De Jiang
Zhao Long
Zhao Tian Chou
Zheng Chun Fu
Zhonq Jun Jun
Zhong Qinq
Zhong Gui Qing
Zhou De Bao
Zhou De Ping
Zhou Xin Ming
Zhou Yong Qi
Zhou Yu Zhen
Zhuang Jie Sheng
Zou Bing
Zou Zuo Wu

R.E.A.L. Postings on Communist China

R.E.A.L. Postings on Totalitarianism

April 2010 Reports:

DC: Tibet and Falun Gong Activists Protest Outside Nuclear Summit for China Freedom

Washington DC: 150 Chinese Americans and Supporters Rally for Chinese Freedom

April 11, 2010 – Tuidang Rally, “Freedom Plaza,” Washington DC, USA – Jeffrey Imm

May and June 2009 Reports:

DC: China Embassy – Responsible for Equality And Liberty Challenges Chinese Govt

DC: Capitol Hill Rally Remembers Tiananmen Martyrs

Washington DC: Many Attend Candlelight Memorial Remembering Tiananmen Square Martyrs

The Power of Many United

May 30, 2009 Candlelight Vigil for Tiananmen Square Martyrs - DC's Washington Monument

April 11, 2010 - Washington DC - China Freedom Activists Banners Recognizing Chinese People Leaving Chinese Communist Party

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“I Have A Dream for Freedom for the Chinese People”

April 11, 2010 – Tuidang Rally, “Freedom Plaza,” Washington DC, USA – Jeffrey Imm

MP3 Audio Version Link

Good afternoon. My name is Jeffrey Imm, and our group’s name is Responsible for Equality And Liberty (R.E.A.L.).

I appreciate all of you here today fighting for freedom.

We share your fight for freedom around the world.

Today is “Holocaust Remembrance Day.” Around the world, people say “Never Again.”

But “Never Again” is not just history. In the People’s Republic of China (PRC), “Never Again” is now.

On Holocaust Remembrance Day, people talk about concentration camps.

But that’s not just history, in the PRC that’s now.

On Holocaust Remembrance Day, people talk about cultures being destroyed.

But in the PRC, “Never Again” is now.

So when we stand in solidarity with those that remember the Holocaust today, we say to them that in the PRC, “Never Again” is now.

Compassion is passion. We share your passion for freedom.

This is “Freedom Plaza.” It was named after Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Near here, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. worked on a speech called “I Have a Dream.”

I have a dream – that the people in China will be free.

I have a dream – that the Tuidang – will be remembered as heroes.

I have a dream – that the 71 million who have left the Chinese Communist Party – are just the start of waves of freedom – that will Free China Now!

Share with me: Free China Now, Free China Now, Free China Now! (crowd chants in unison).

We have a dream, but we also have a responsibility.

President Obama, you have a responsibility, under House Resolution 605, to meet with the people fighting for freedom and the Falun Gong.

President Obama, you have a responsibility, to have a foreign policy where human rights are our first priority, not our last.

(Holding up poster of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights)

These represent the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. They were signed by the Republic of China on December 10, 1948.

Less than a year later, the People’s Republic of China broke these (speaker tosses sign of Declaration of Human Rights to the ground, indicating the PRC’s rejection of them).

We must pick this Declaration of Universal Human Rights up. We fight for these human rights.

We fight for universal human rights for China.

With its original signature of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, China has signed a promissory note, a promise guaranteeing human rights.

We tell the PRC government today – Free China Now!

Chant with me: Free China Now, Free China Now, Free China Now! (crowd chants in unison).

The Power of the International Language of Freedom

Washnigton DC: Replica of Tiananmen Square "Goddess of Democracy" — Washington DC: Replica of Tiananmen Square "Goddess of Democracy"

U.S. Department of State Message: “Message on the Twenty-Third Anniversary of Tiananmen Square”

Press Statement

Mark C. Toner

Deputy Spokesperson, Office of the Spokesperson

Washington, DC

June 3, 2012

China slams U.S. over Tiananmen statement

Human Rights Day Event 2011 – Activists Call for Rights, Dignity for All

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.

* Jeffrey Imm, Responsible for Equality And Liberty (R.E.A.L.)

* Ahmar Mustikhan, Senior Journalist and Area Expert, Balochistan

* Carolyn Cook, United for Equality

* Jared Pearman, Spokesperson of Falun Dafa Association of Washington DC

* Husain Abdulla, Americans for Democracy and Human Rights in Bahrain (ADHRB)

* Niemat Ahmadi, United to End Genocide

(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-300x200 — 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.”

A more detailed description of Jeffrey Imm’s remarks can be found at this web link.

A YouTube video of his remarks is online.

Jeffrey_Imm_HR_Day_2011 — 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.

A more detailed description of Ahmer Mustikhan’s remarks can be found at this web link.

A YouTube video of his remarks is online (Part 1, Part 2).

Ahmar_Mustikhan_HR_Day — 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.

A more detailed description of Carolyn Cook’s remarks can be found at this web link.

A YouTube video of her remarks is online (Part 1, Part 2).

Carolyn_Cook_HR_Day_2011 — 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.”

A more detailed description of Jared Pearman’s remarks can be found at this web link.

A YouTube video of his remarks is online.

Jared_Pearman_HR_Day_Falun_ — 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.

A more detailed description of Husain Abdulla’s remarks can be found at this web link.

A YouTube video of his remarks is online (Part 1, Part 2).

Husain_Abdulla_HR_Day_2011 — 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.

A more detailed description of Niemat Ahmadi’s remarks can be found at this web link.

A YouTube video of her remarks is online (Part 1, Part 2).

Niemat_Ahmadi_HR_Day_2011 — 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.

real_ribbon_v — Orange Ribbon for Universal Human Rights – Responsible for Equality And Liberty (R.E.A.L.)

Human Rights for Falun Gong Addressed at Human Rights Day Event

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 at the 2011 Human Rights Day Event held at the National Press Conference in Washington DC. Below are his remarks. R.E.A.L. has been reporting on Falun Gong human rights issues.

A YouTube Video is also available to provide the full video and audio of Mr. Pearman’s remarks on this issue.

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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.

2011 Human Rights Day Remarks – R.E.A.L.’s Jeffrey Imm

2011 Human Rights Day Event Remarks, National Press Club, Washington DC

December 8, 2011

Jeffrey Imm, Responsible for Equality And Liberty (R.E.A.L.)

(Full Remarks on YouTube)

December 8, 2011

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…

We are Responsible for Equality And Liberty.

R.E.A.L. Supports Human Rights for Falun Gong

Responsible for Equality And Liberty (R.E.A.L.) stands united with practitioners of the Falun Gong, who seek our universal human rights and dignity. For over 12 years, there has been a continuing effort to deny human rights to practitioners of the Falun Gong in the People’s Republic of China (PRC).

R.E.A.L. has reported a number of these incidents, as well as efforts to protest such human rights abuses. The Epoch Times provides a comprehensive reporting.

Too much of the world has remained silent at this abuses of the Falun Gong. This includes their recent protests in Hawaii at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), which the PRC media will not report. This includes the abuses in Communist Vietnam on November 8, where 50 Falun Gong were beaten and arrested for non-violent protest outside the PRC embassy in Hanoi.

However, we also seen many, many instances of human rights courage and solidarity, including protests throughout Washington D.C., which R.E.A.L. has been honored to join. Ten years ago in the PRC on November 20, 2011, human rights activists made an appeal to the conscience of human beings in the PRC and around the world to end the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners.

The persecution of the Falun Gong has continued. In addition, PRC representatives have sought the harassment of PRC representatives around the world.

In my experience with the Falun Gong, they have remained the spirit of non-violent peaceful protest that those of us in America look up to and respect. They protest with spirit, but with dignity. They express their defense of human rights, but remain compassionate.

The United States Congress has recognized their plight and called for action on this in House Resolution 605 in March 16, 2010, which recognizes that Falun Gong practitioners and their family members have “suffered persecution, intimidation, imprisonment, torture, and even death for the past decade solely because of adherence to their personal beliefs.”

But R.E.A.L.’s support does not end in our solidarity and shared anguish over the plight and the human rights injustices of the Falun Gong. Sympathy is not enough.

We also call for action. We call for real courage of the United States government to make this and other human rights abuses in the PRC a priority in discussions and meetings with the PRC. It has been nearly two years since the passing of H.R. 605.

Where does the United States government stand on its objectives to call “upon the Government of the People’s Republic of China to immediately cease and desist from its campaign to persecute, intimidate, imprison, and torture Falun Gong practitioners, to immediately abolish the 6- 10 office, an extrajudicial security apparatus given the mandate to ‘eradicate’ Falun Gong, and to immediately release Falun Gong practitioners, detained solely for their beliefs, from prisons and re-education through labor (RTL) camps, including those practitioners who are the relatives of United States citizens and permanent residents”? Respectfully, I ask if President Obama and our leaders can let us know where they stand on this in discussions with the PRC? There are many Americans whose hearts go out to the Falun Gong practitioners around the world and seek to support their human rights and human dignity.

All of us involved in human rights are grateful and appreciative our every effort to stand in solidarity and leadership on human rights issues. But we also know that good intentions and noble words need the sacrifice and seriousness to make changes. They are complex, difficult issues to be certain, given many international issues and the world economy.

But as Americans, we stand first and foremost on the truths that we hold self-evident on such inherent human rights and dignity. That is not just a promissory note to future Americans, but it is also a declaration of our identity as a nation; they may be large shoes to fill, but the American vision is based on such large goals and aspirations. Furthermore, as world citizens, we have an obligation to defend the Universal Declaration of Human Rights for all people around the world.

July-22-Falun-Dafa-DC-Imm — Responsible for Equality And Liberty's Jeffrey Imm Joins Candlelight Vigil (Jeff Nenarella / The Epoch Times)

Chinese Pro-Democracy Group Protests Kennedy Center Hosting of Chinese Ballet Promoting Message of Communist Violence

My good friends in support of Chinese democracy, freedom, and dignity sent me this article below in Epoch Times about the Kennedy Center hosting of performances of the Chinese National Ballet organized by the Communist Chinese government. They protest the ballet’s history of glamorizing Communist violence and oppression. They have organized 25 human rights groups to join them in an Open Letter which will be published stating their protest on this.

We fully respect the rights of the Kennedy Center and all private businesses to chose what and who they will have at their establishments. We respect their freedom of expression, including that we disagree with. We support our universal freedoms and human rights for the Chinese people and all people around the world.

But we also have our freedom to protest and to speak out against messages that glorify violence against others, and we have the freedom to speak out for democracy and freedom for the Chinese people.

We reject the glorification of Communist violence, and we reject glorification of a message of oppression by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). We reject the messages of violence and oppression which have been part of this ballet’s performances.

We support freedom, democracy for the Chinese people.

We reject the totalitarianism of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

041110-Images-AFP-1 — Freedom Plaza Rally Speakers for China Freedom

We call for the end of the Laogai concentration camps.

We call for the end of the forced abortions and abuses against women and children.

We call for the end of the oppression of all minority groups, religious minorities, Falun Dafa, and all those oppressed by the CCP.

fushan-house-church — Fushan House Church Attack -- China Aid Report

We will do so in the streets of Washington DC, we will do so in the streets of Hong Kong. We will do so everywhere around the world, someday in the streets of Beijing – when the Chinese people are free at last….

The pain of the Chinese people who seek democracy and freedom is a voice the world cannot ignore.

So we stand with our brothers and sisters in support of Chinese democracy, freedom, dignity, and justice – because we are all Responsible for Equality And Liberty.

=====================================

By Matthew Robertson
Epoch Times Staff

September 23, 2011

Chinese Ballet at Kennedy Center Extols Violent Revolution
Epoch Times

Chinese Ballet at Kennedy Center Extols Violent Revolution

By Matthew Robertson Epoch Times Staff

September 23, 2011

A scene from “The Red Detachment of Women,” where women wield rifles and knives in pursuit of the landlord villains. Hundreds of thousands of innocent people were violently killed in the Party’s land reform campaigns, which are glorified in the ballet. (Maopost.com)

WASHINGTON—Audiences at the prestigious Kennedy Center are being asked to applaud a ballet that celebrates a movement that went on to murder hundreds of thousands. The Chinese National Ballet is performing on Sept. 22-24 “The Red Detachment of Women,” which glorifies the history of the communist land reform campaign in China, while concealing the reality of the violence that suffused it. In 1931 Mao Zedong, head of the communist-controlled regions, signed off on a policy of land reform that would “Rely on the poor peasants and hired laborers, make allies of the middle-peasants, exploit the kulaks and exterminate the landlords.” What followed in the 1930s, 40s, and into the 50s, was mass violence directed at “class enemies”: torture, arson, live burials, smashing and theft—a reign of terror designed to impose the political will of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) on villages across the country. Hundreds of thousands were killed. Acts I and II from “Red Detachment” performed at Kennedy precede a scene from “Swan Lake” and the Chinese nationalist favorite “Yellow River.”

“They used this play to trick the Chinese people, and now they’re tricking Americans,” says Wu Fan, editor of China Affairs and co-author of an open letter that opposes the performance.

“They’re bandits and arsonists attacking wealthy people, taking their property and splitting the profits, and they’re portrayed as heroes,” he said in a telephone conversation. “Americans would not stand for a ballet that made Hitler seem glorious. Why should they accept one that makes Mao heroic? Both are mass murderers.”

The “Red Detachment” is a flagship of the CCP’s revolutionary operas, infamous in China because eight of them were the only operas permitted in the country during the Cultural Revolution, from 1966-1976. It is most well-known for being performed for President Nixon when he visited China in 1972.

The open letter, sent to media, politicians, and the Kennedy Center, argues that the performances are part of the CCP’s comprehensive approach to Western nations, which conceals hostility and a desire for dominance, while engaging in spying, propaganda, and infiltration.

A landlord from the ballet cowers as one of the revolutionary woman soldiers hardens her face and strikes a pose with her pistol. Land owners were a class to be struggled against and mercilessly eliminated in the early years of communist insurgency and rule in China. (Maopost.com)

Organizations that signed the letter include Washington Forum, the United League for Democracy in Laos, and the Non-Violent Movement for Human Rights for Vietnam—all groups opposing communism in one way or another.

The thrust of the activists’ complaints is echoed by academics. As Xing Lu, a China scholar, writes in her book: “Hatred permeates every model opera.” The basic message of these operas, Xing Lu writes, is that those designated as villains must be eliminated through violent struggle so a new society can be established.

The plays are meant to foster a “deep hatred for all class enemies and love for the Communist Party,” Xing Lu writes. The “Red Detachment” is the epitome of the genre. It eulogizes communist ideology and showers hatred on class enemies.

The “Red Detachment” is adapted from historical events during the early 1930s, telling the story of how a victimized peasant girl joined a woman’s detachment in the CCP’s red army and overthrew the landlords on Hainan Island, off the south coast of China.

The sinologist Simon Leys explains what land reform, carried out in various regions from the 1930s until the early 1950s, entailed: “By the fall of 1951, 80 percent of all Chinese had had to take part in mass accusation meetings, or to watch organized lynchings and public executions,” he writes.

The crowd was expected to roar in unison when the accusations were read out. “These grim liturgies followed set patterns that were once more reminiscent of gangland practices,” he says, with the purpose being to “ensure collective participation in the murder of innocent victims.”

The airbrushed version of one such history, on which the “Red Detachment” ballet is based, went from novel to ballet to film and then into ballet as commissioned by Jiang Qing, Chairman Mao’s wife.

Jiang was czar of the arts and guardian of revolutionary ideology in China during the Cultural Revolution, and personally made sure the performances were sufficiently red. She added rouge to the cheeks of the female lead and ordered that red flannel be used for collar tabs. She also made a Party representative the protagonist of the play, ensuring it would “present correctly the relationship between the army and the people.”

The Kennedy Center at night. (Lisa Fan/Epoch Times)

The depictions of females engaging in violence (in the play they wield rifles and large knives, strike aggressive poses, and kill landlords without mercy, for example) were anathema to prevailing notions of femininity in China at the time.

Scholars have suggested that such imagery may have contributed in no small part to a culture that saw young female Red Guards run rampant during the Cultural Revolution, torturing and killing their school teachers, ransacking houses, and brutalizing other supposed “class enemies.”

Along with the ballet format, acting techniques are pulled from Beijing opera and Chinese folk dances, and the music is meant to be clear and simple so as to communicate the message effectively. The dumbed down messages also had the useful outcome of “enforcing the uniformity of thought characteristic of… totalitarian societies,” Xing Lu writes in her book.

As simple messages are repeatedly drilled into people’s minds through performances like “Red Detachment,” “the range of word choices became smaller and smaller, the Chinese worldview became narrower and narrower,” Xing Lu says. “Especially when singing became automatic, lyrics and music exercised a hypnotic power to take away the ability to think.”

According to a number of scholars who have written about the play, the story finishes with the protagonist vowing to follow Mao’s motto that “political power grows out of the barrel of a gun.”

Chinese Pianist Plays Propaganda Tune at White House (Video)

The play will be performed in the theater named for former president Dwight D. Eisenhower. Perhaps it is best that this staunch anti-communist is not around to hear the refrain “Communist ideology is the truth, the Party leads the way” sung in the theater that bears his name.

The Kennedy Center could not be reached at press time.

Tennessee: Mosque Protester Attacks Falun Gong

Responsible for Equality And Liberty (R.E.A.L.) supports our universal human rights of freedom of religion, freedom of conscience, and freedom of worship for ALL people — without exception.

In Murfreesboro, Tennessee, anti-mosque protester Kevin Fisher has joined with others in seeking to deny an expansion of an existing house of worship by the Murfreesboro Islamic Center, as Responsible for Equality And Liberty (R.E.A.L.) has previously reported.

Anti-mosque protest leader Kevin Fisher was one of 20 speakers and a primary organizer of the anti-mosque protest event. Kevin Fisher is a former candidate for the local school board and the state legislature, according to APB.

Murfreesboro, Tennessee: Politician Kevin Fisher Leads Anti-Mosque Protest (Photo: John A. Gillis/DNJ)

Kevin Fisher has also expressed his opposition to other belief and spiritual systems, including the Falun Dafa / Falun Gong, who have been oppressed by the Communist Chinese party for 11 years, and which in March 2010 received a U.S. Congressional resolution opposing their oppression in the Communist nation. Falun Gong, a spiritual discipline consisting of moral principles and slow-motion physical exercises, has been persecuted in Communist China since 1999.

R.E.A.L. has regularly reported on the brutal and violent oppression by the Communist Chinese government against Falun Dafa / Falun Gong practitioners, as also attested to by the United States Congress and repeatedly by global human rights organizations. One does not have to be a practitioner or believer of Falun Dafa to stand behind our Universal Human Rights for all people – everywhere. There is no “right wing” or “left wing” side of supporting basic human rights for all, and opposing concentration camps.

According to the Daily News Journal (DNJ), protest leader and politician Kevin Fisher stated that his opposition to the Murfreesboro, Tennessee mosque was comparable to his opposition to the Falun Gong, oppressed in Communist China. Kevin Fisher told the Daily News Journal that “We wouldn’t want Falun Gong building out there. We wouldn’t want any kind of extremist entity in that area.”

Responsible for Equality And Liberty (R.E.A.L.) contacted Kevin Fisher to get an explanation on his opposition to the Falun Gong.

Responsible for Equality And Liberty (R.E.A.L.) Asks Kevin Fisher Why He Seeks to Deny Freedoms to Falun Gong in America

We have never received a reply from Kevin Fisher on his opposition to the Falun Gong.

Just a few days before anti-mosque campaigner Kevin Fisher’s comments to the Daily News Journal against the Falun Dafa / Gong, thousands of its practitioners had gathered together in Washington DC to remember the oppression, torture, brutality, and murder of its supporters in the Communist People’s Republic of China.

Two Falun Dafa practitioners hold a candle at the candle light vigil in Washington, DC on July 22nd -- marking 11 years of persecution in China. (Jeff Nenarella / The Epoch Times) — Two Falun Dafa / Falun Gong practitioners hold a candle at the candle light vigil in Washington, DC on July 22nd -- marking 11 years of persecution in China. (Jeff Nenarella / The Epoch Times)

We ask those in support of the anti-mosque campaigns if this is the direction that they want to take America, to openly seek to deny our Constitutional and Universal Human Rights for all Americans and all human beings, and to follow a course to openly seek to deny freedom of conscience to others, as the Communist People’s Republic of China has done.

In January 2010, R.E.A.L. attended a news conference at the National Press Club in Washington DC, where Shen Yun performers and Falun Dafa practitioners were shocked that Hong Kong had blocked one of their performances, based on perceived influence against their freedom of expression and conscience by the Communist People’s Republic of China.

Leeshai Lemish Speaks at Shen Yun Press Conference — January 2010: Falun Gong Practitioner Leeshai Lemish Asks Americans to Stand Up for Human Freedoms at Shen Yun Press Conference, Condemning Communist Influence to Block Hong Kong Freedom of Conscience and Expression

But now we see Americans who are leading anti-mosque campaigns that share the same perspective of a totalitarian nation such as Communist China to seek to deny freedom of conscience in America.

Americans can and must do better.

Americans can and must collectively become Responsible for Equality And Liberty.

Choose Love, Not Hate – Love Wins.

Falun Gong Hold DC Event on Oppression, Killings

On July 22, 2010, the Falun Dafa / Falun Gong practitioners from around the world joined together in Washington DC, to hold a night time candlelight vigil remembrance of the oppression of the Falun Gong in China that started 11 years ago in the Communist People’s Republic of China.

The Epoch Times reported on this candlelight vigil of thousands of Falun Gong members from around the world in their report “Captivating Candlelight Vigil at the Washington Monument (Photo Gallery) – Glowing candles commemorate 11 years of the Falun Gong persecution in China” and in their report “Falun Gong Vigil Touches the Heart.” Falun Gong, a spiritual discipline consisting of moral principles and slow-motion physical exercises, has been persecuted in China since 1999.

Washington DC: July 22, 2010 - Falun Dafa / Falun Gong Gather for Candlelight Vigil in Washington DC to Remember Persecution and Lives Lost (Photo: Dai Bing/Epoch Times Staff)

Responsible for Equality And Liberty (R.E.A.L.)‘s Jeffrey Imm joined the Falun Dafa / Falun Gong Candlelight Vigil.

Responsible for Equality And Liberty's Jeffrey Imm Joins Candlelight Vigil (Jeff Nenarella / The Epoch Times)

Responsible for Equality And Liberty (R.E.A.L.) supports the right of all people to have their freedom of conscience and freedom to believe.

On March 26, 2010, the United States Congress passed House Resolution 605, which acknowledges the oppression and suffering of the Falun Gong in Communist China and advises the U.S. President to meet with Falun Gong leaders.

On April 11, 2010, supporters of human freedom stood by the Falun Gong and Falun Dafa in a protest that called for the Chinese government to respect their freedom of conscience, including Responsible for Equality And Liberty (R.E.A.L.)’s Jeffrey Imm.

Responsible for Equality And Liberty (R.E.A.L.) has continued to support the Falun Gong and Falun Dafa in their struggles for freedom in China for the past year. See our reports on this subject. To find out more on the importance of Chinese culture and traditions and those struggling to preserve such culture, see the Shen Yun Performing Arts.

Choose Love, Not Hate – Love Wins.