Anti-torture demonstrations will show-case some of the brutalities carried out in China’s labor camps against practitioners of Falun Gong. Hundreds of Falun Gong practitioners will travel to New York City next week to take part in public appeals and performances. (See schedule)

NEW YORK (FDI) – Hundreds of Falun Gong practitioners are traveling to Manhattan to conduct several large-scale events for the more than 45,000 people scheduled to attend the Republican National Conventional next week. Practitioners of Falun Gong are coming from as far away as Taiwan and Australia to show RNC attendees and the people of New York how tens of millions of Falun Gong practitioners in China are suffering under brutal persecution in China.

Events are scheduled for each day of the RNC, beginning on Saturday, August 28th and ending on Friday, September 3rd. (See official schedule).

Highlighting the week’s events will be several large-scale Anti-Torture Exhibitions, beginning Saturday and continuing through Friday. At several locations, we will depict some of the brutal torture methods used against the Falun Gong practitioners who are illegally imprisoned in China.

Practitioners of Falun Gong will hold a cultural show in Madison Square Park on Monday, Aug. 30, highlighting ancient Chinese culture and virtues. The events will also include a press conference to reveal the brutal persecution carried out for five years in China. (See schedule)

On Saturday, practitioners will form a 10-block Wall of Courage: they will stand side-by-side to raise public awareness about a persecution that is ripping apart China’s society. At least one thousand practitioners are expected to participate in the week of events, which will also include an Asian culture show; among the performances will be demonstrations of the five Falun Gong exercises and traditional Chinese dancing.

We invite you to come out to see Falun Gong firsthand and witness reenactments of the persecution occurring in China.

Interviews and photo-ops available with first-person witnesses and survivors of China’s labor camp and torture system.

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MEDIA ADVISORY - Aug. 30, 2004
Falun Dafa Information Center, www.faluninfo.net

Background

Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa (about), is a practice of meditation and exercises with teachings based on the universal principle of "Truthfulness-Compassion-Tolerance." Practiced in over 50 countries world-wide, Falun Gong has roots in traditional Chinese culture. With government estimates of as many as 100 million practicing Falun Gong, China's Communist leader Jiang Zemin outlawed the peaceful practice in July 1999 (report). Since that time, Jiang's regime has intensified its propaganda campaign to turn public opinion against the practice while imprisoning, torturing and even murdering those who practice it. The Falun Dafa Information Center has verified details of 1,027 deaths (reports / sources) since the persecution of Falun Gong in China began in 1999. In October 2001, however, Government officials inside China reported that the actual death toll was well over 1,600. Expert sources now estimate that figure to be much higher. Hundreds of thousands have been detained, with more than 100,000 being sentenced to forced labor camps, typically without trial.