Adding their voices to help bring the oppression to an end were a number of dignitaries, including Green Party MP Keith Locke, representatives from the Auckland Council for Civil Liberties and Amnesty International.
Mr Locke, a long-standing advocate for the victims of human rights abuses said, “I think it’s just so important that we as a small country dedicated to human rights stand up for human rights around the world.”
He expressed disappointment with the way the New Zealand government had handled human rights issues when dealing with China.
“The government feels intimidated by China,” Mr Locke said. “Whatever threats the Chinese government make we shouldn’t bow down before them, because if you bow down before a bully-whether it is in school or whether it’s in international relations-the bully will only bully you further so it is never a successful strategy.”
An anti-persecution exhibition displaying some of the inhumane methods that are used for torturing Falun Gong practitioners drew attention from the public.
One onlooker, Ellen Rhodes, was moved by what she saw. “I knew things in China were bad, but watching this shows just how bad they are. It’s horrific, just horrific to think that in these modern times people are still being treated like that,” she said.
President of the Auckland Council for Civil Liberties, Barry Wilson, said that it was clear following the country’s Free Trade Agreement with China, that human rights abuses needed to be taken into consideration when dealing with China.
“New Zealand is a country that is listened to with respect on the world stage,” he said. “So when we are negotiating trade treaties the only thing it can do is advocate for individuals who are being persecuted in China. Some of them have family connections in New Zealand and the important part of our foreign affairs role, diplomatic role, is to advocate for those people.”
Government officials, heads of NGOs, legal professionals and activists in a number of countries have made a stand with Falun Gong practitioners against the persecution initiated by the Chinese Communist Party [CCP]. In Washington DC, some 2,500 Falun Gong practitioners from across Europe, North America, Asia and Australasia gathered to mark the persecution’s 12th anniversary and to celebrate 100 million withdrawals from the CCP.
A further cause to celebrate was the introduction by US Senators to the Senate, Resolution 232, condemning the CCP’s persecution. The resolution has been referred to the Foreign Relations Committee, where it will be discussed, and where it will have to pass before being introduced in the Senate for a vote, The Epoch Times reported.
Margaret Taylor, Support Manager for Amnesty International in New Zealand, said they were aware that China was very concerned about the unrest among its people and that the persecution had been accelerated targeting mainly academics and human rights activists, as well as Falun Gong practitioners.
She said one of Amnesty’s strengths is to not only highlight individual cases, but put a human face to the suffering, thus encouraging people to make a stand.
“If we can get the ground swell of New Zealand to be aware of these cases they will take action. They will put increased pressure on our decision makers in government who will in turn put pressure on decision makers in the government in China.”
Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, is an ancient Chinese spiritual discipline for mind and body first introduced by Li Hongzhi in 1992 and quickly spread by word of mouth throughout China and then beyond. Today, despite the persecution, Falun Gong is practiced by over 100 million people worldwide, according to faluninfo.net website.
