On 1 December 2003, the day when the Australian Senate was passing a motion on
‘Australian Family Members Rescue’, some 200 Falun Gong practitioners and supporters
gathered in front of the Australian Parliament House in Canberra. It was a day
of mixed feelings of happiness and sadness among those present.
The happy part was that, after enduring a lot of hardship and passing many
barriers, Miss Li Ying from Shanghai, China is now finally free and joins her
fiancé, Mr Cheezong Lee, in this free land of Australia. The sad part
was that we were saying a final goodbye to Mr Ouyang Ming, who lost his life
from torture in Huanggang, Hubei Province of China because of his belief in
Truth-Compassion-Forbearance. His memory is etched deeply in the hearts of each
of us as well as with his brother, Mr Ouyang Yu, a poet and translator in Melbourne.
During the memorial service, the sky was cloudy and it was raining continuously,
mixed with chilly winds. Perhaps the sky was moved and showed its sadness for
this event.
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Miss Li Ying
finally joins his fiance Mr Cheezong Lee in Australia |
Mr Ouyang
Ming died from torture on 20 August 2003 |
The Australian Family Members Rescue Campaign was launched by Senator Andrew
Bartlett on 24 June this year, right here in front of Parliament House. At that
time, there were 12 family members and relatives of Australian citizens being
illegally detained in forced labour camps in China because of their practice
of Falun Gong and because of their refusal to renounce their beloved principles
of Truth-Compassion-Forbearance. In the past five months, 3 of those detained
family members and relatives have been released. One of the most recent cases
is Miss Ying Li, fiancée of Sydney resident Cheezong Lee, who just arrived
in Australia two days ago.
When Ying was first detained in a forced labour camp in October 2001, she was
tied up by ropes to a window for 3 days. Because of her overseas connections
and, in particular, because of the rescue effort by Falun Gong practitioners
in Australia and around the world through numerous phone calls, letters and
postcards to the labour camps and related organisations , the concerns and efforts
of the Australian government through DFAT and the Australian Consulate in Shanghai,
along with the support of NGOs and the Australian public, Ying was later relatively
free from the physical abuse and torture that many other practitioners suffer
in forced labour camps. She was, however, detained in a separate and confined
area of the camp. It was very difficult for her family members and Cheezong
to get to know her whereabouts and well-being during the past year and a half
of her illegal detention. Finally, she is now re-united with her fiancé
in Australia.
Ying’s story clearly demonstrates that international support, no matter where
it is from or how little it might seem, does help and work.
However, Ouyang Ming was not as fortunate as Li Ying. He was the brother of
a Melbourne scholar and died on 20th August this year from over 100 torture
methods inflicted by Chinese police. Most of us didn’t know Ming’s case until
after his death. Ouyang Ming’s tragedy is only one of those that millions of
families are still suffering. He is one of the three family members of Australian
citizens who have lost their lives in the persecution. A similar situation also
happened to Jane Dai of Sydney, whose husband was kidnapped and detained in
secret. Jane only got to know of her husband’s (Mr Chen’s) death from a website
article. There are still 8 family members of Australian citizens who are being
illegally detained.
Ouyang Ming’s name was included in a list of family members and relatives that
DFAT presented to the Chinese side four times at bi-lateral Human Rights talks
since 2001. During this year’s dialogue in July, again his name was presented
to the Chinese side. Sadly, that didn’t help, nothing happened and Ming died
in August this year from unspeakable torture methods in a labour camp.
This is clear evidence that talks behind closed doors didn’t and don’t work.
Li Ying and Ouyang Ming’s cases are very similar but have different results
today. Outside and international concerns and support, including letters, postcards,
and phone calls, reached where Li Ying was detained, so she didn’t suffer many
of those tortures that Ming and many, many other practitioners suffered. And
she is free today. However, outside concerns and support didn’t reach where
Ming was detained and tortured by more than 100 different torture methods. Sadly,
he lost his life.
Another example is Li Liang, Li Ying’s brother, who was first arrested in October
1999. He was recently released on 19 November 2003, but 7 days later he was
arrested again on 24 November. This shows that even if such practitioners are
freed from a labour camp today, they are never really safe from arrest and further
abuse.
Right at this moment practitioners in China are still being persecuted and
tortured, both physically and mentally, for their practice of Falun Gong and
living according to Truth-Compassion-Forbearance. More than 100,000 are still
being detained in forced labour camps. The confirmed death figure has risen
from 529 on this day last year to 825 now. That is over 290 deaths in one year
– 6 peaceful practitioners being tortured to death each week. And these are
only the ones we can confirm.
We are touched by the compassion, the respect for human rights and sense of
justice of the Australian people which is expressed in the recent petition for
the Family Rescue Campaign. In the past few weeks, it has been signed by more
than 10,000 Australians and was presented to Senator Andrew Bartlett to be handed
over to the Prime Minister’s office today. This is in addition to over 120,000
Australians who signed the biggest petition ever tabled in the Australian Parliament
which called for an end to the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners in China.
The supportive motion passed in the Senate will send a positive message that
may help the remaining eight relatives in detention and will highlight to the
people of China and the rest of the world that these atrocities are still taking
place and Australia is prepared to take a stance on human rights.
We thank the Senate for passing this motion and thank our government, members
of parliament, NGOs and the public for your concern, support and efforts to
rescue the remaining family members who are still being persecuted in China.
We will continue to support all Falun Gong practitioners in China by demanding
that China ends this persecution.
At this moment of mixed happiness and sadness, let us express our condolence
again for Mr Ouyang Ming’s death and send our best regards to Mr Ouyang Yu and
his family. We also wish all the best to Mr Cheezong Lee and Miss Li Ying and
those still-to-be-rescued family members and relatives of Australian citizens.
Our voices of conscience, together with our persistent work, will help end the
persecution. Together we shall enjoy freedom of belief and freedom of speech
with people all around the world.
Global Mission to Rescue Persecuted Falun Gong Practitioners (Australian Branch)
In front of the Australian Parliament House in Canberra
Posting date: 4/Dec/2003
Original article date: 3/Dec/2003
Category: Australian News
