Human Wall, Candle-light Vigil Call for End of State-Terrorism in China

WASHINGTON DC (FDI) – Falun Gong practitioners formed a symbolic human wall beginning at the World War II Memorial and stretching over 2 miles to the Chinese Embassy Friday, as part of a 3-day series of events related to drawing attention to the ongoing persecution of Falun Gong in China.

Participants were dressed mostly in yellow t-shirts and traditional Chinese clothing, and held a variety of banners exposing different aspects of the persecution in China – what many legal experts are calling a genocide.

For many, the wall was a way to honor the millions of Falun Gong practitioners in China who have countered five years of state-terrorism with a peaceful, grassroots campaign to raise awareness of the persecution among their fellow citizens. Since 1999, China’s state-run media has used extensive resources to create an environment of hatred toward Falun Gong among the people, and thereby, enlist the general public in a fight against the practice.

Many Falun Gong practitioners in China have risked – and in thousands of cases – lost their lives while trying to expose the lies behind the state-run media’s anti-Falun Gong propaganda. (news)

On Friday evening, thousands of Falun Gong practitioners held large-scale candle-light vigils in front of the Lincoln Memorial and Chinese Embassy to mourn the lives of those who had been killed in China. The solemn ceremony included readings of a partial list of names of those who have lost their lives due to torture in custody, along with poetry and songs in their honor.

Falun Gong Founder Addresses International Conference

The following day, the founder of Falun Gong, Mr. Li Hongzhi, made an appearance at an international conference in Washington DC where practitioners of Falun Gong had gathered to share their experiences with the practice.

Addressing a crowd of over 4,000 people from more than 20 countries, Mr. Li spoke to the attendees, encouraging them to be diligent in striving to overcome shortcomings and to better adopt the priciples of the practice – truthfulness, compassion, forbearance – into daily living.

Mr. Li also spoke about the continued severe human rights violations against practitioners of Falun Gong in China, pointing out the positive efforts of people all over the world to expose the ongoing abuses and those responsible for it.