(Minghui.org) Jo Wilson has lived in Sydney for five years since moving from the UK. Walking in nearby Belmore Park last Saturday, she saw posters and pictures on display. Out of curiosity, she stopped by and was astonished by what she saw.

Pointing at one of the posters, she asked, “What did they do? Why are they being tortured?” When she heard that they were Falun Gong practitioners in China being detained and abused, she was horrified, “I know China is different from here, but do the authorities really have to mistreat people this way?”

After a practitioner explained Falun Gong's principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance to her, Wilson commented, “You have my support. Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is a beautiful belief, and it is good for our society.”

She signed a petition calling for an end to the persecution.

Passersby read posters about Falun Gong at Belmore Park on September 5, 2015.

"Communism Will Fail to Control People's Minds"

The persecution of Falun Gong in China started in July 1999. Tens of millions of practitioners were affected. They were arrested, detained, and tortured and imprisoned in mental hospitals, forced labor camps, brainwashing centers, and prisons. Practitioners outside China often hold and participate in community events to raise awareness of the severe human rights violations in China.

According to information compiled by the Minghui website, over 3800 practitioners have died as a result of torture while in police custody.

Christopher Mathews, a local Sydney resident, said that this was the first time he had heard about the persecution. “I am sorry to hear about such a tragedy—100 million people being suppressed for their belief.” He said he could only compare it to the Nazi slaughter of the Jews, based on its scale and severity.

“There are some similarities between the two,” he said, “but the communists will eventually fail to control people's minds.”

Hussarn Almakran from Saudi Arabia agreed with Mathews. He said everyone was entitled to freedom of belief: “Nobody can take that away.”

Shocked to learn about the organ harvesting from living practitioners in China, Almakran said practitioners should do all they can tell the public about this brutality.

James Zillessen and Becky Harrison, a couple visiting from the UK, described the torture as “disturbing... a normal human being would not do things like live organ harvesting,” said Zillessen.

He had seen Falun Gong practitioners in other cities telling people about the persecution.

Key Perpetrators Will Be Held Responsible

Kumer Ellanla, who used to work in China in hotel management, returned to Australia two weeks ago. He was surprised that he had heard nothing about the suppression during his stay in China.

Reports from Minghui show that at least 2,539 Falun Gong practitioners were arrested in the first half of 2015 and 430 were sentenced. When the government is not pumping out defamatory propaganda about Falun Gong in China, it hides its shameful behavior from the public eye, both inside China and overseas.

Lawsuits against Jiang Zemin, the former Chinese leader who ordered the suppression of Falun Gong, have nonetheless been increasing since May. At least 166,000 criminal complaints have been filed against Jiang as of late August 2015.

Ellanla thanked practitioners for letting him know about the recent effort. He signed a petition to support the lawsuits and said he believed that the key perpetrators will be held responsible.

Practitioners meditating(left). Passersby sign petitions to support the lawsuits against Jiang Zemin for persecuting Falun Gong (right).

A Place of Purity and Serenity

The peaceful meditation in the park attracted many passersby. Among them was Seelatya Funykiet from Lismore, who came to Sydney to shop and walked through the park. She stopped to learn the exercises.

Seelatya, who grew up in Thailand, said she was not a stranger to meditation. She said she could feel a strong energy field from the practitioners that made her feel calm and relaxed.

“Here is a place of purity and serenity,” she remarked. “I hope to fill myself with this positive energy and pass it to others like ripples.”

Seelatya learned the exercises from a practitioner.

Marie Nilsen from New Zealand said she had been practicing Falun Gong for over 12 years, “The Chinese communists could not tolerate Falun Gong and suppressed it. It did not expect that more people would hear about it in that way and benefit from it.”