— AP reports: “Five Sikh men who fled their hometown on the Afghan border were making a quick trip back home when masked men blocked their way with a pickup on a mountain road not far from the Khyber Pass. There were no houses, no buildings, no other cars in sight. The kidnappers covered their faces with black scarves and carried machine-guns.”
— “In a country beset by a powerful Islamist insurgency, where suicide bombings are commonplace and government offensives widely dismissed as ineffective, anyone can become a victim. But for the nation’s minorities — its small communities of Hindus, Christians and Sikhs — life is particularly precarious. Thousands have fled their villages, crowding into urban slums. Thousands more have fled the country.”
— “‘With the rise in militancy in our society in general, and in the northwest in particular, minorities are feeling more threatened,’ said I.A. Rehman, a senior official with Pakistan’s Human Rights Commission. He noted many Sikhs have been driven from their homes, and those who remain are now often forced to pay militants a ‘jizya’ — a traditional tax for non-Muslim.”
AP: "In this photo made on March 19, 2010, Surjeet Singh, from Pakistan's Sikh community, sits with family members after his release in Peshawar, Pakistan. Singh, who had been kidnapped for ransom by alleged militants, was freed after 42 days as a result of a crackdown operation by security forces" (AP Photo/Mohammad Sajjad)
— “Singh’s journey, which began on a cold morning in January and ended 42 days later with a March 1 bloody gunbattle, underscores the threats to those minorities, as well as the lawlessness of Pakistan’s frontier regions.”
— “Two months later, it’s still not clear exactly why the Sikhs were targeted: Were the bandits waiting for them? Would they have kidnapped anyone who came by? Certainly their religion made them easier targets, since it is more difficult for them to make use of the region’s informal power networks, the tribal and religious leaders who can protect people in the semiautonomous areas.”
— “On that day, though, as armed men swarmed toward their car, shouting for the five Sikh men to move quickly, all Singh and his friends were thinking about was survival.”
— “Two of them managed to slip away amid the chaos, but three — all sharing the same common Sikh surname, Singh — were quickly captured.”
— “‘They held us at gunpoint, immediately dragged us out of our car,’ said Surjeet Singh, a quiet composed man. He and his friends were blindfolded and driven for about an hour. Then they began walking.”
— “They could see nothing through their blindfolds. They could only feel cold pressing in as they climbed higher into the Hindu Kush mountains.”
— “After hours of walking, they were brought to a set of rooms carved into the mountainside. It would be their home for the next 42 days. There they would be kept chained and often blindfolded. Occasionally, they were beaten. The prisoners never saw their captors’ faces — which were always covered with scarves — and even now they do not know who they were.”
— “They clearly were militant Muslims, forcibly cutting their prisoners hair. Keeping hair uncut is a deeply important religious precept for Sikh men.”
Middle East Online reports on the views of ICC prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo who states that the elections planned for April 11 through 13, 2010 in the Sudan are similar to a “monitoring a Hitler election.” Middle East Online also reports that ICC prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo told them ” it was the duty of the Sudanese government in the first place to arrest” President Omar al-Bashir.
Middle East Online reports:
— “The International Criminal Court’s chief prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo on Tuesday likened Sudanese elections scheduled for next month to ‘a Hitler election.'”
— “The comment came the day after Sudan threatened to expel foreign observers after rejecting their call to delay the country’s first multi-party polls in 24 years over concerns about the way they are being organised.”
— “President Omar al-Beshir issued the warning in an address to supporters in the eastern city of Port Sudan on Monday after the electoral commission decided to press ahead and stage the elections next month as planned.”
— “The EU’s observers on the ground are facing ‘a big challenge,’ Moreno-Ocampo told a press conference in Brussels.”
— “‘It’s like monitoring a Hitler election,’ he added.”
— “The ICC has issued an arrest warrant for the Sudanese president on five counts of crimes against humanity, including genocide, and two of war crimes committed in Darfur — its first-ever warrant for a sitting head of state.”
— “Moreno-Ocampo said it was the duty of the Sudanese government in the first place to arrest Beshir.”
— “An ICC appeals chamber last month ordered a review of Beshir’s arrest warrant for alleged atrocities in the war-torn western Sudanese province of Darfur.”
— “It directed judges to reconsider their decision to omit genocide from the warrant issued in March last year, saying they had made ‘an error in law.'”
— “The Sudanese legislative, regional and presidential elections, is scheduled for April 11-13.”
The New York Daily News reports that “A uniformed police officer was shot three times in a Bronx apartment Monday by a man furious that his elderly mother’s home health aide was rejecting his advances. After health aide Yesenia Rodriguez asked him to stop propositioning her, Santiago Urena pulled a gun and threatened her. She called police. Urena, 57, then opened fire without warning on arriving Officer Robert Salerno, 25, police said. Salerno, a three-year veteran from the 44th Precinct, was hit twice below the stomach and taken to Lincoln Hospital in serious condition, officials said.”
For defending this health care worker for an elderly woman and getting shot in the process, the “hate group” “Westboro Baptist Church” (WBC) cheered on this attack on a U.S. police officer, claiming that this was their view of God “repaying” American police officers who “have been mistreating WBC now for years.”
“You USA cops have been mistreating WBC now for years, violating your sworn duty and allowing miscreants to access our peaceful members while they picket. God will get you for that, and here’s how we know that’s so:God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent; hath he said, and shall he not do it? Or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good? Numbers 23:19. That’s right, you scoffers and mockers, God talks! And he says he will repay you TO YOUR FACE for what you do to the apple of his eye. Too bad, so sad for you!”
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Responsible for Equality And Liberty (R.E.A.L.) urges all Christians to reject and condemn this message of hate from the “Westboro Baptist Church.” Moreover, we urge all Christians to convey to “Christian-named” “hate groups” such as the “Westboro Baptist Church” that John 13:34 “A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.”
For all those who hate, whether their rationale is based on racial or religious supremacy, R.E.A.L. urges you to
Hissal Hilal has since received death threats. The National reports that “The Saudi newspaper Al Watan reported that a member of the Ana al Muslim (I am the Muslim) website – which has previously posted videos about al Qa’eda operations – called for Ms Hilal’s death. One member was quoted by the newspaper as posting the message: ‘Can anyone tell me her address?'”
NDTV also reported that “Her poem got loud cheers from the audience and won her a place in the competition’s finals, to be aired on Wednesday.”
"Hissa Hilal performing on Millions Poet" (Photo: Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture & Heritage)
Hissa Hilal’s poetry reading on television has been translated to include the following verses:
“I have seen evil from the eyes of the subversive fatwas in a time when what is lawful is confused with what is not lawful;”
“When I unveil the truth, a monster appears from his hiding place; barbaric in thinking and action, angry and blind; wearing death as a dress and covering it with a belt [referring to suicide bombing];”
“He speaks from an official, powerful platform, terrorizing people and preying on everyone seeking peace; the voice of courage ran away and the truth is cornered and silent, when self-interest prevented one from speaking the truth.”
AP reports:
— “Protesting in verse: A Saudi woman criticizes Muslim clerics’ in a TV poetry contest”
— “It was a startling voice of protest at a startling venue. Covered head-to-toe in black, a Saudi woman lashed out at hard-line Muslim clerics’ harsh religious edicts in verse on live TV at a popular Arabic version of ‘American Idol.'”
— “Then last week, Hissa Hilal, only her eyes visible through her black veil, delivered a blistering poem against Muslim preachers “who sit in the position of power” but are “frightening” people with their fatwas, or religious edicts, and ‘preying like a wolf’ on those seeking peace.”
— “Her poem got loud cheers from the audience and won her a place in the competition’s finals, to be aired on Wednesday.”
— “It also brought her death threats, posted on several Islamic militant Web sites.”
— “Her poem was seen as a response to Sheik Abdul-Rahman al-Barrak, a prominent cleric in Saudi Arabia who recently issued a fatwa saying those who call for the mingling of men and women should be considered infidels, punishable by death.”
— “But more broadly, it was seen as addressing any of many hard-line clerics in Saudi Arabia and elsewhere in the region who hold a wide influence through television programs, university positions or Web sites.”
— “‘Killing a human being is so easy for them, it is always an option,’ she told the AP.”
Google Stops Censoring Results, Making Block by China Likely
— Bloomberg reports:
— “Google Inc., following through on a pledge to stop censoring search results in China, began serving mainland Chinese users via its unfiltered Hong Kong site, a move that could prompt the government to block the service.”
— “The company began redirecting traffic from its China Web page, Google.cn, to Hong Kong, a part of the country that isn’t subject to censorship laws. The move, which escalates a two- month dispute with the government over censorship, was ‘totally wrong,’ the official Xinhua news agency said.”
— “By relying on Hong Kong, Google is trying to find a way to fight censorship laws while still keeping a presence in mainland China. The approach may not work for long because the government is probably going to block the site, called Google.com.hk, just as it has before with the main Google.com page, said Ben Schachter, an analyst at Broadpoint AmTech Inc. in San Francisco.”
— “‘It’s very likely that Google.com.hk will be blocked at least as aggressively as Google.com was, and more likely, probably more aggressively,’ he said.”
— “The company challenged the government of the world’s most populous country in January by threatening to allow all search results to be shown on its China Web site, including references to Tibet and the Tiananmen Square crackdown. Google has about 600 employees in the country. Google.cn included the search engine, Google News and Google Images.”
Communist China - Flowers laid at the entrance to Google's China headquarters in Beijing (Wall Street Journal - Photo by Josh Chin)
— on Wednesday April 7 in New York, Nigerian Christian supporters will be holding a press conference and rally in NYC, regarding the massacre of Christians in Nigeria on March 7 and on March 17
— Date: Wednesday April 7
— Location: Permanent Mission of Nigeria, 2nd Avenue and East 44th Street, New York City, NY
— Note: street address for the Permanent Mission is: 828 Second Ave, New York, NY 10017
— Press conference will take place at 4:30-5:00 PM
— Rally from 4:45 PM to 7:00 PM
— For more information follow web site: http://april7rally.wordpress.com/
"Scenes from a mass burial organised for the victims of the sectarian violence in Jos...on Monday." (Photo: Punch)Mass Grave in Jos After Attack (Photo: AFP/Getty Images)
On March 12, 2010 at the Washington DC National Press Club, the Voice of the Copts held a press conference to address the subject of ongoing Egyptian Coptic Christian oppression and the oppression of Pakistani Christians.
The Voice of the Copts’ Ashraf Ramelah spoke on the human rights issues regarding the Copts in Egypt. He addressed the attack on Coptic Christians on the Coptic Christmas Eve in January 2010, which resulted in 6 Copts and a Muslim police officer were killed. He also discussed the case of Mohammed Bishoy Hegazy, an Egyptian Christian who converted to Christian from Islam, and who has asked the Egyptian government to allow his Egyptian identity card (which describes a person’s religion) to be changed from Muslim to Christian.
On January 22. 2010, the Voice of the Copts announced that the European Centre for Law and Justice (ECLJ) submitted application into UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights “seeking judgment against the Egyptian government for refusing to recognize the fact that Mr. Mohammed Bishoy Hegazy and his family members are Christians converted from Islam.” The Voice of the Copts stated that Mr. Hegazy’s Egyptian attorney was Mr. Ashraf Edward.
Attorney Ashraf Edward was supposed to be at the March 12, 2010 press conference, but Ashraf Ramelah stated that his visa application to come to the United States was stalled by government officials, even though it was filed on a timely basis. Voice of the Copts’ Ashraf Ramelah stated that some U.S. government officials questioned why the Copts even needed to have such a press conference in the United States to speak on behalf of Coptic freedom, equality, and liberty in Egypt.
In attorney Ashraf Edward’s prepared remarks, he states that “the case of Mohamed Hegazy, which was to take its first steps before the United Nations will be the first step to the issues of converts from Islam to Christianity in Egypt in particular and the Arab society in general.” Ashraf Edward’s prepared remarks also stated that the Egyptian Constitution’s definition of Islam as the state religion and Sharia as the source of all legislation is the cause of the “suffering of all minorities within Egyptian society… [violating] all freedom proclaimed by the international conventions and treaties” as well as the International Covenant of Human Rights.
Voice of the Copts’ Ashraf Ramelah also spoke of his and the Voice of the Copts’ support for religious freedom, and that “I would be against anyone that would be creating any hate or pointing his finger just because this person is not a Christian or this person is a Muslim.” Ashraf Ramelah concluded that “each one has the right to believe whatever he wants to believe… I don’t accept to be forced to be follow that belief.”
Ashraf Ramelah also summarized some of Christian convert Mr. Hegazy’s remarks in Arabic stating “sisters and brothers freedom is the most noble thing that we fight for and one of those freedoms that we fight for is the freedom of religion, as defined in article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.” Mr. Ramelah stated that Mr. Hegazy said that he was arrested for preaching for Christianity, and has been oppressed and discriminated against for converting from Islam to Christianity. Mr. Ramelah also read that Mr. Hegazy stated that fatwas had been issued against him due to his conversion to Christianity. Ashraf Ramelah also described Mr. Hegazy’s struggle to get his Christian identity recognized, as well as the situation in Egypt where those who convert from Christianity to Islam are widely accepted, whereas the religious freedom to convert from Islam to Christianity was met with oppression and threats.
(See also video of Ashraf Ramelah’s statements, part 1, part 2, part 3).
Voice of the Copts' Ashraf Ramelah Speaks at DC National Press Club on Coptic and Christian Oppression in Egypt
Jordan Sekulow provided a description of the ACLJ’s mission as a partner to the European Centre for Law and Justice (ECLJ) that submitted Mohammed Bishoy Hegazy’s application to the U.N. human rights group seeking to have Egypt recognize Mr. Hegazy as a Christian. Mr. Sekulow described how the ACLJ and the ECLJ sought to defend the human and legal rights of Christians around the world. (See also video of Mr. Sekulow’s statement.)
ACLJ's Jordan Sekulow
The American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ)’s Shaheryar S. Gill also addressed the press conference, discussing details of Mr. Hegazy’s case. Mr. Gill worked on Mr. Hegazy’s petition submitted to the United Nations in January 2010. Mr. Gill also addressed the oppression of Christians both in Egypt and in Pakistan, as part of a global refusal by some nations to accept religious plurality. (See also video of Mr. Gill’s statement, part 1, part 2).
ACLJ's Shaheryar Gill
Dr. Nazir Bhatti of the Pakistan Christian Congress and Pakistan Christian Post further described the oppression of Pakistani Christians today. Dr. Nazir Bhatti spoke about the rape and murder of a 12-year-old girl, Shazia Bashir, on January 23, who was employed as a domestic in Lahore, Pakistan by a powerful Muslim lawyer Chaudhry Muhammad Naeem who is the primary suspect in this crime. He spoke about how Pakistan Muslim League and others offered financial compensation to Shazia Bashir’s family, believing this would ensure “justice.” Dr. Bhatti also described the formation of a medical board comprised of Muslim doctors who stated that Shazia Bashir was not raped, but claim that she died of a “skin infection.” He also told of how the Lahore Bar Association passed a resolution that would call for the cancellation of lawyers’ membership who would follow the Shazia Bashir case. Dr. Nazir Bhatti also spoke about the attack on Pakistan Christians attacked by a mob in Gojra, and how the accused parties were readily dismissed. (See also video of Dr. Bhatti’s statement).
Dr. Nazir Bhatti of the Pakistan Christian Congress and Pakistan Christian Post Speaks of Oppression of Minority Christians in Pakistan
Faith McDonnell, of The Institute on Religion and Democracy (IRD), spoke about oppression of women under Sharia. She described her focus of seeking to change the witness of churches towards “the persecuted church and human rights in general.” Faith McDonnell spoke about the release of the DVD of the film “The Stoning of Soraya M.,” which was released on the week of International Women’s Day. She stated that the film reminds the world that “under Sharia, [for Muslim women] it is a struggle for women to stay alive,” and described how the rights for non-Muslim women under Sharia were even worse. She spoke of the double standards and abuse of women under Sharia, as a “religiously sanctioned form of misogyny.”
IRD's Faith McDonnell Speaks on Oppression of Women
Jeffrey Imm of Responsible for Equality And Liberty (R.E.A.L.) spoke on “Egypt and the Undiscovered Country,” stating that America once also had to find the courage to live up its human rights commitments. He stated that America did so by the majority of whites who once oppressed black Americans realizing that they had the responsibility to change. He urged Egyptian Muslims to “don’t look to just the Coptic victims of oppression for the solution to peace and human rights in Egypt. Don’t expect only the Copts and their diaspora around the world to deal with this problem.” He urged Egyptian Muslims to take responsibility for changing the oppression of Copts in Egypt.
“To both the Copts and to their oppressors, I invite you to consider seeking a path to a new Egypt, to an Undiscovered Country, where freedom of religion, where freedom of conscience, where our universal human rights of equality and liberty, are not just special privileges, but are guaranteed rights for all human beings. I invite you to pursue a path where human rights and peace are not considered as opposite choices, but are recognized as equal priorities. And I invite you to pursue a path where we leave hate in our past, and choose love for our future.” (See also video, part 1, part 2).
The House Resolution 605 bill was titled: “Recognizing the continued persecution of Falun Gong practitioners in China on the 10th anniversary of the Chinese Communist Party campaign to suppress the Falun Gong spriritual movement and calling for an immediate end to the campaign to persecute, intimidate, imprison, and torture Falun Gong practitioners.”
Now, therefore, be it Resolved, That the House of Representatives —
(1) expresses sympathy to Falun Gong practitioners and their family members who have suffered persecution, intimidation, imprisonment, torture, and even death for the past decade solely because of adherence to their personal beliefs;
(2) calls 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; and
(3) calls upon the President and Members of Congress to mark the 11th anniversary of Chinese official repression of the Falun Gong spiritual movement appropriately and effectively by publicly expressing solidarity with those practitioners in China persecuted solely because of their personal beliefs, and by meeting with Falun Gong practitioners whenever and wherever possible to indicate that support for freedom of conscience remains a fundamental principle of the United States Government.
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AFP reports on U.S. Congressional Resolution calling for an end to Communist China’s persecution of Falun Gong:
— “WASHINGTON (AFP) – The US House of Representatives on Tuesday urged China to end its ‘persecution’ of the Falungong and rejected Beijing’s charge that the banned spiritual movement is an ‘evil cult.'”
— “In a nearly unanimous vote, the House called on China to free thousands of practitioners who are said to be imprisoned and to abolish an office tasked with fighting the Falungong.”
— “The House expressed ‘sympathy to Falungong practitioners and their family members who have suffered persecution, intimidation, imprisonment, torture and even death for the past decade solely because of adherence to their personal beliefs.'”
— “The resolution asked China to ‘immediately cease and desist from its campaign to persecute, intimidate, imprison and torture Falungong practitioners.'”
— “The measure expresses the sense of lawmakers but is not binding on Washington policymakers. China has bristled at previous resolutions on its human rights record, calling it interference in its internal affairs.”
— “Falungong — a movement loosely based on Buddhist, Taoist and Confucian philosophies that features spiritual exercises — enjoyed growing popularity among Chinese in the 1990s.”
— “China’s communist government banned the movement in 1999 and later branded it an ‘evil cult’ after thousands of practitioners silently converged in Beijing to air their grievances, showing their organizational might.”
— “‘Chinese authorities have devoted extensive time and resources over the past decade worldwide to distributing false propaganda claiming that Falungong is a suicidal and militant ‘evil cult’ rather than a spiritual movement which draws upon traditional Chinese concepts of meditation and exercise,’ the resolution said.”
— “Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, who led the legislation, called China’s treatment of the Falungong ‘one of the most flagrant examples of systematic persecution against a particular group taking place in the world today.'”
— “‘The Beijing regime of today engages in the barbaric repression of some of its own people simply because they seek to practice a peaceful spiritual discipline,’ said the Florida congresswoman, the top Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee.”
— “Ros-Lehtinen, a longtime critic of China, pointed to allegations that Beijing has harvested organs from Falungong prisoners.”
— “‘It seems incomprehensible that in the 21st century such barbaric acts could occur — a cruelty comparable to imperial Romans throwing Christian martyrs to be eaten by lions,’ she said on the House floor.”
— “‘The stark reality which this resolution addresses gives new meaning to the phrase ‘Butchers of Beijing,'”‘ she said.”
— “A former Canadian cabinet member in 2006 authored a report that found that China harvested organs from live prisoners, mostly jailed Falungong members.”
— “China denounced the report as inaccurate and biased, saying the information came from Falungong supporters overseas.”
— “A total of 412 lawmakers voted for the resolution. Only one voted against — Republican Representative Ron Paul of Texas.”
— “Paul, a maverick former presidential candidate, routinely opposes measures which he considers interference in another nations’ internal affairs.”
Washington DC's Leon Chao to Americans: "I ask Americans to take a stand and not take our freedoms for granted"
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每 小時雜誌。605605 In the House of Representatives, US,在眾議院，美國， March 16, 2010. 2010年3月16日。
Whereas Falun Gong is a traditional Chinese spiritual discipline founded by Li Hongzhi in 1992, which consists of spiritual, religious, and moral teachings for daily life,鑑於法輪功是一個傳統的中國精神紀律李洪志創立於1992年，它包括精神，宗教，道德 說教的生活， meditation, and exercise, based upon the principles of truthfulness, compassion, and tolerance;冥想，運動，依據的原 則，堅持真理，同情和容忍;
Whereas according to the 2008 Annual Report of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China, “tens of millions of Chinese citizens practiced Falun Gong in the 1990s and adherents to the spiritual movement inside of China are estimated to still number in the hundreds of thousands despite the government’s ongoing crackdown,” and other estimates published in Western press place the number of Falun Gong adherents currently in China at the tens of millions;而根據2008 年年度報告國會執行委員會的中國，“幾千萬的中國公民修煉法輪功，在90年代和信徒的精神運動在中國境內，估計數目仍然在數十萬人，儘管政府正在進行的打 擊，“和其他估計西方媒體發表的地方有多少法輪功信徒在中國，目前在幾千萬;
Whereas in 1996, Falun Gong books were banned in China and state media began a campaign criticizing Falun Gong;而在1996年，法輪功的書籍都被禁止在中國的官方媒體開始批判法輪功 的運動;
Whereas in 1999, Chinese police began disrupting Falun Gong morning exercises in public parks and began searching the homes of Falun Gong practitioners;而在1999年，中國警方開始破壞法輪功晨練的市民公園，並開始搜 索家園法輪功學員;
Whereas on April 25, 1999, over 10,000 Falun Gong practitioners gathered outside the State Council Office of Petitions in Beijing, next to the Communist Party leadership compound, to request that arrested Falun Gong practitioners be released, the ban on publication of Falun Gong books be lifted, and that Falun Gong practitioners be allowed to resume their activities without government interference;而在1999年4月25日，1萬多名法輪功學員聚集在國務院信訪辦公室在北京，旁邊共產黨的領導化合物，請求抓 捕法輪功學員被釋放，禁止出版法輪功的書籍被取消，而法輪功學員被允許恢復他們的活動沒有政府干預;
Whereas on the same day, immediately after then-Premier Zhu Rongji met with Falun Gong representatives in his office and agreed to the release of arrested practitioners, Communist Party Chairman Jiang Zemin criticized Zhu’s actions and ordered a crackdown on Falun Gong;而在同一天結束後，當時的朱 鎔基總理會見了法輪功學員代表在他的辦公室，並同意釋放被逮捕的人士，共產黨的批評江澤民主席朱的行動，並下令鎮壓法輪功;
Whereas in June 1999, Jiang Zemin ordered the creation of the 6-10 office, an extrajudicial security apparatus, given the mandate to “eradicate” Falun Gong;而在1999年6月，江澤民下令設立的610辦公室，法外安全機構的任務是“剷除”法輪功;
Whereas in July 1999, Chinese police began arresting leading Falun Gong practitioners;而在1999年7月，中國警方開始逮捕法輪功學員的領導;
Whereas on July 22, 1999, Chinese state media began a major propaganda campaign to ban Falun Gong for “disturbing social order” and warning Chinese citizens that the practice of Falun Gong was forbidden;而在1999年7月 22日，中國官方媒體開始了大規模宣傳活動，禁止法輪功“擾亂社會秩序”，並警告中國公民的做法法輪功被禁止;
Whereas in October 1999, Party Chairman Jiang Zemin, according to western press articles, “ordered that Falun Gong be branded as a ‘cult’, and then demanded that a law be passed banning cults”;而在1999年10月，黨主席江澤民根據西 方報刊上的文章，“下令法輪功被命名為1’邪教’，並要求通過一項法律，取締邪教組織”;
Whereas Chinese authorities have devoted extensive time and resources over the past decade worldwide to distributing false propaganda claiming that Falun Gong is a suicidal and militant “evil cult” rather than a spiritual movement which draws upon traditional Chinese concepts of meditation and exercise;而中共當局投入了大量的時間和資源在過去10年全球範圍內傳播虛假宣傳，聲稱法輪功是自 殺，好戰的“邪教”，而不是一種精神運動，借鑒了傳統觀念的冥想和運動;
Whereas on October 10, 2004, the House of Representatives adopted by voice vote House Concurrent Resolution 304, which had 75 bipartisan co-sponsors, titled “Expressing the sense of Congress regarding oppression by the Government of the People’s Republic of China of Falun Gong in the United States and in China,” and that the text of this resolution noted that “the Chinese Government has also attempted to silence the Falun Gong movement and Chinese prodemocracy groups inside the United States”;而 在2004年10月10日，眾議院口頭表決通過了眾議院304號決議的同時，該75兩黨共同提案，題為“的意思表示，國會就政府壓迫的人民共和國中國對法 輪功的美國和中國“，並認為這項決議的案文指出，”中國政府還試圖壓制法輪功運動和中國民運組織在美國境內“;
Whereas, on October 18, 2005, highly respected human rights attorney Gao Zhisheng wrote a letter to Chinese Communist Party Chairman Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao calling for an end to the persecution of Falun雖 然，在2005年10月18號，是非常尊重人權高智晟律師致信中共黨主席胡錦濤和國務院總理溫家寶呼籲結束迫害法輪功 Gong and Chinese authorities, in response, closed his law office and took away his law license, with Chinese security forces suspected of being directly involved in Mr. Gao’s disappearance on February 4, 2009;龔 和當局的回應，關閉他的辦公室，拿走了他的律師執照，與中國安全部隊涉嫌直接參與高先生的失踪於2009年2月4日;
Whereas Gao Zhisheng’s family has subsequently been granted political asylum in the United States;而高智晟的家人後來獲得政治庇護，美國;
Whereas the United Nations Committee Against Torture in its fourth periodic report of China, issued on December 12, 2008, stated that “The State party should immediately conduct or commission an independent investigation of the claims that some Falun Gong practitioners have been subjected to torture and used for organ transplants and take measures, as appropriate, to ensure that those responsible for such abuses are prosecuted and punished.”;鑑於聯合國禁止酷刑委員會在其第四次定期報告中國，發表08年12月12日指出， “締約國應立即進行或委託獨立調查的要求，一些法輪功學員遭受酷刑和用於器官移植，並採取措施，酌情確保那些對這些事件負有責任受到起訴和懲罰。“;
Whereas the Amnesty International 2008 annual report states that “Falun Gong practitioners were at particularly high risk of torture and other ill-treatment in detention * * * during the year 2007 over 100 Falun Gong practitioners were reported to have died in detention or shortly after release as a result of torture, denial of food or medical treatment, and other forms of ill-treatment.”;鑑於大赦國際2008年年度報告指出， “法輪功學員，尤其是高風險的酷刑和其他虐待被拘留* * * 2007年期間，100多名法輪功學員被報已死亡被拘留或釋放不久結果酷刑，剝奪食物或醫療，和其他形式的虐待。“;
Whereas according to the 2008 Department of State’s Human Rights Report on China, “Some foreign observers而按照2008年國務院的人權報告對中國，“一些外國觀察家 estimated that Falun Gong adherents constituted at least half of the 250,000 officially recorded inmates in re-education through labor (RTL) camps, while Falun Gong sources overseas placed the number even higher.”;據 估計，法輪功信徒組成的至少一半的正式記錄的25萬囚犯中重新勞教（RTL）的營地，而海外法輪功來源放置的數量增加。“;
Whereas according to the 2008 Annual Report of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China, “The (Chinese) central government intensified its nine-year campaign of persecution against Falun Gong practitioners in the months leading up to the 2008 Beijing Summer而根據2008年年度報告國會執行委 員會的中國，說：“（中國）中央政府加強了9年的迫害運動，法輪功學員1995年11月至2008年北京夏季 Olympic Games.”;奧運會。“;
Whereas Falun Gong-related websites remain among the most systematically and hermetically blocked by China’s Internet firewall; and鑑於法輪功相關的網站仍然是最系統和密封封鎖中國的互聯網防火牆;和
Whereas, according to an April 2009 New York Times report, “In the past year, as many as 8,000 (Falun Gong practitioners have been detained, according to experts on human rights, and at least 100 have died in custody”:而 根據2009年4月1紐約時報報導，“在過去的一年中，多達8000（法輪功練習者被拘留，據專家人權，至少有100人死於羈押”：
Now, therefore, be it因此，現在無論是
Resolved, That the House of Representatives—解決，那眾議院， (1) expresses sympathy to Falun Gong practitioners and their family members who have suffered persecution, intimidation, imprisonment, torture, and even death for the past decade solely because of adherence to their personal beliefs; （1）表示同情法輪功學員和他們的家人誰遭受迫害，恐嚇，監禁，酷刑，甚至死亡在過去十年僅僅因為他們的堅持個人的信念;
(2) calls 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; and （2）籲請政府對中華人民共和國中國立即停止，並停止其活動，迫害，恐嚇，監禁和酷刑的法輪功學員，立即取消6 – 10個辦公室，法外安全機構賦予的任務來“剷除”法輪功，並立即釋放法輪功學員，被拘留僅供自己的信念，從監獄和勞教所勞動（RTL）的營地，包括醫生誰 是親戚美國公民和永久居民;及
(3) calls upon the President and Members of Congress to mark the 11th anniversary of Chinese official repression of the Falun Gong spiritual movement appropriately and effectively by publicly expressing solidarity with those practitioners in China persecuted solely because of their personal beliefs, and by meeting with Falun Gong practitioners whenever and wherever possible to indicate that support for freedom of conscience remains a fundamental principle of the United States Government. （3）呼籲總統和國會議員，以紀念11週年，中國官方鎮壓法輪功精神運動適當和有效地公開表示聲援練習者在中國受迫害，只是因為他們個人的看法，以及會見 法輪功學員隨時隨地以表明支持良心自由仍然是一個基本原則，美國政府。
Pakistan Daily Times: “Blasphemy in a human world” – Sikander Amani: “Whether you like it or not, the notion of blasphemy, or of ‘defamation of religion’, creates a hierarchy of beliefs which is simply incompatible with the plurality of the world, and the very right to hold a belief.” “On the contrary, it seems to be the first step towards allowing for the supremacy of one religion…”
