Rally commemorates "April 25" on Federal Square in Chicago

(Clearwisdom.net) "Today, seven years ago, history focused on Beijing, China, when more than 10,000 Chinese citizens from across China stood in front of Beijing's State Department Appeals Office (near Zhongnanhai). It is the first time in China's 5,000 year history that there occurred such a large-scale peaceful and rational rights advocacy movement of citizens' appeal. This day is remembered as the 'April 25' Peaceful Appeal when more than 10,000 Falun Gong practitioners spontaneously assembled outside the appeals office to hold a large-scale appeal in order to safeguard their legal rights and beliefs. The Chinese Communist regime (CCP) later labeled it as so-called, 'Incident of besieging Zhongnanhai,' and it became the excuse for the CCP to initiate a nation-wide brutal persecution of the Falun Gong group."

On Chicago's Federal Square, people passing by stopped to listen to the speech made by Dr. Yang Sen from Mid US Falun Dafa Association. Dozens of Falun Gong practitioners from the Chicago area held a rally here to commemorate the "April 25" peaceful appeal held seven years ago. At the same time, the practitioners protested the CCP's continuous and brutal persecution, especially the CCP's atrocities recently revealed of harvesting organs from living Falun Gong practitioners and selling their harvested organs for profit, which is happening in China's forced labor camps. The practitioners strongly urged the international community to pay attention to and investigate all forced labor camps in China.

Representative of Falun Gong practitioners also read the Resolution NO. 1113 jointly sponsored by 24 House Representatives and just passed by the Illinois House of Representatives on April 19, strongly condemning the CCP's atrocities of harvesting organs from living Falun Gong practitioners for transplants. The resolution urges the United States government to investigate organ transplants in China and take all reasonable steps to bring an end to the revolting practice of harvesting organs from living prisoners for transplants. The resolution calls upon the United States government to prohibit any doctors who have performed transplants using organs harvested from living prisoners from gaining entry into the United States. The resolution also calls upon the United Nations, the International Committee of the Red Cross, Amnesty International, or other human rights organizations to each begin an investigation into these atrocities.

At the rally, practitioners also read the testimony of two eyewitnesses who risked their lives to disclose the Sujiatun Concentration Camp tragedy during the meeting between Hu and Bush in Washington DC. They testified that atrocities of mass organ thefts and live organ harvesting from Falun Gong practitioners have taken place in all forced labor camps in China. They expressed at the rally in Washington DC that though the CCP has relocated and evacuated the Sujiatun death camp, the CCP has no way to evacuate and transfer Falun Gong practitioners detained in all forced labor camps where large-scale atrocities have taken place and are still going on. Witness Annie called for an investigation of other prisons, hospitals and related facilities in China, because the CCP has no way to cover up all evidence of crimes. Witness Peter hoped that his act to rescue those persecuted Falun Gong practitioners would encourage more insiders to bravely step forward to tell the public what they know.

Seven years have passed, and Falun Gong practitioners around the world have walked the path of anti-persecution for seven years. Nearly 3,000 Falun Gong practitioners have been verified to have died as a result of the persecution. Falun Gong practitioners around the world are continuing their efforts to stop the persecution using kind and non-violent methods.

Dr. Yang Sen ended his speech by saying, "In facing a seemingly-strong state machinery and state terrorism that reaches everywhere, Falun Gong practitioners and all people who support Falun Gong have chosen a noble way: peacefulness, rationality and kindness. In history, when violence and barbarism continuously suppressed a spiritual strengthen of great compassion and tolerance, the consequence is self-evident. It validates an old Chinese saying, 'Good will be rewarded and evil be punished'!"