Friends of Falun Gong

As we at FOFG give thanks during this holiday season, our thoughts turn to those Falun Gong practitioners still suffering for their beliefs. Let us take this opportunity to bring you up-to-date on our activities and the latest news related to the persecution.

Two Falun Gong Women Raped Amid UN Rapporteur Visit
On November 25, 51-year-old Ms. Liu Jizhi was tortured with an electric stun baton, beaten about the hips and buttocks and then raped by police at the Dongchengfang Town Police Station in Hebei Province. Read the story

FoFG Helps Rescue Li Weixun
FoFG Executive Director Alan Adler worked with the United Nations High Commission on Human Rights and various US government officials to help rescue Ms. Li Weixun safely to the US as an officially recognized United Nations Refugee, the first Falun Gong practitioner to be granted such status. Li, who was tortured in China, recently explained, “I remember after my third arrest I was taken to the basement at the Liaoning Province Liaison Office in Beijing. After dinner, the police officers there had 'fun' by torturing us in all kinds of ways, including hanging us by our handcuffs…” Read the story

NTDTV to Host 3rd Annual Chinese New Year Gala in 16 Cities
New Tang Dynasty TV, an independent, nonprofit Chinese language television network, is set to celebrate the Chinese New Year by hosting a Global Gala in 16 cities worldwide, and you’re invited! Complete with classical music and dance from both Chinese and Western cultures, the show is sure to be both entertaining and enlightening. Radio City Music Hall will provide the venue for 3 performances in New York. For more information and tickets, please visit: http://gala.ntdtv.com/2006/en

CCP Shuts Down Human Rights Attorney
The Beijing Judicial Bureau formally closed the legal practice of well-known and respected human rights attorney Gao Zhisheng. Gao says it’s likely in reaction to an open letter he sent to the Chinese government appealing for Falun Gong, while the Judicial Bureau claims it was for “not applying for a change of address for his legal practice and illegally providing legal documents to other attorneys.” Read the story

FoFG began a grassroots campaign to raise awareness of this development by writing a letter to dozens of human rights non-profits, legal organizations, government officials, and contacts in the media. Read the letter

US State Department Names Worst Human Rights Violators
On November 10, The State Department made its annual report of human rights violators to Congress naming China and others "countries of particular concern." US envoy for international religious freedom, John Hanford, said, "The suffering that [Falun Gong practitioners have] endured is unspeakable. There have been so many who have been arrested, thousands and thousands, many who have died in police custody."Read the story

FoFG joins NGOs in a letter to President Bush
Just before President Bush left for his journey to Asia, FoFG joined dozens of human rights organizations asking President Bush to "urge President Hu Jintao and the Chinese government to immediately release Falun Gong practitioners who were arbitrarily and unjustly sentenced to long jail terms, and to provide unfettered exit visas to a small group of children who are suffering and are in need of special care...children who have lost their parent(s) and family members during the persecution of Falun Gong." Read the letter

FoFG Volunteer Gives Speech at DC Rally
On November 21, Jared Pearman, an FoFG volunteer, gave a powerful speech at a rally commemorating the one year anniversary of the Hanyuan County massacre. Speaking of what is commonly reported in the media as the "peaceful rise of China," Mr. Pearman said, "Who is rising peacefully? Not the Chinese Communist Party, whose leaders snap their fingers and murder, who snap their fingers and lie, deceive, Suppress, Steal, Control, Bribe, and Eliminate...If we want to talk about a “peaceful rise,” we should look at Falun Gong spreading throughout China during the 1990s. From 1992-1999 one hundred million people began to practice Falun Gong. Without coercion, without money involved, one by one they filled the parks of China every morning with the graceful movements of their qigong exercises." Read the speech

Speaking of Speeches...
We would like our members to know that FoFG has speakers available for all kinds of engagements, both large and small. If you are involved in or know of a women’s group, church group, rotary club, or any other gathering of people from 5 to 500 who would like to know more about the human rights violations of Falun Gong, please contact us. You may call our toll free number at 866-FG-Friend or send an e-mail to info@fofg.org

The volunteers at FoFG wish you and your loved ones a happy and peaceful holiday season, and we thank you as always for your support.