The opposite of love is not hate, it's indifference. - Elie Wiesel
This past Saturday evening the important new documentary, We Are Coming Across, on the plight of Falun Gong in mainland China premiered at the Women's International Film and Arts Festival and the director, Mei Lei, held a question and answer session following the film.
The documentary takes the viewer on a personal journey from the perspective of a young woman becoming aware of the horrors committed against those who practice Falun Gong in mainland China ranging from: imprisonment, extreme torture, extrajudicial killings, and organ harvesting of living "donors."
Falun Gong are a religious minority that in mainland China have been brutally persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party since July 20, 1999.
Unfortunately since China is a major trading partner these days the practices that go on there are downplayed. Nevertheless they are still reported. For example The Economist on March 14, 2015 in an article titled Spare the Bullet reported: "Transplant operations in China have long relied on organs taken from executed prisoners, a practice that has led to such abuses as the timing of executions to meet organ demand, with no notification of relatives. As by far the world’s biggest user of the death penalty, China could count on an abundant—if still far from adequate—supply."
According to The Daily Mail in their April 8, 2015 article titled, Livers, kidneys and even corneas removed from 11,000 live political prisoners WITHOUT anaesthetic every year in China, claims documentary, also reported that Falun Gong were frequent targets of this practice. This "business" allegedly nets the Chinese government $1 billion dollars a year.
Equally as disturbing has been Bodies: The Exhibition where serious allegations have been raised that the bodies put on display are executed political prisoners and Falun Gong members.
My own experience at the UN Human Rights Commission where I was stopped from walking into main chamber of the meeting because I had a copy of a flier of a Falun Gong event spoke volumes to me about the power and influence of the Chinese communists in that organization.
Little wonder that as Communist China has become the number one economy in the world and a superpower that international human rights standards have been in decline over the past decade. It is surely not the only reason why, but definitely a contributing factor.
Another factor is the silence of so many before these crimes.
This past Saturday evening the important new documentary, We Are Coming Across, on the plight of Falun Gong in mainland China premiered at the Women's International Film and Arts Festival and the director, Mei Lei, held a question and answer session following the film.
The documentary takes the viewer on a personal journey from the perspective of a young woman becoming aware of the horrors committed against those who practice Falun Gong in mainland China ranging from: imprisonment, extreme torture, extrajudicial killings, and organ harvesting of living "donors."
Falun Gong are a religious minority that in mainland China have been brutally persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party since July 20, 1999.
Unfortunately since China is a major trading partner these days the practices that go on there are downplayed. Nevertheless they are still reported. For example The Economist on March 14, 2015 in an article titled Spare the Bullet reported: "Transplant operations in China have long relied on organs taken from executed prisoners, a practice that has led to such abuses as the timing of executions to meet organ demand, with no notification of relatives. As by far the world’s biggest user of the death penalty, China could count on an abundant—if still far from adequate—supply."
According to The Daily Mail in their April 8, 2015 article titled, Livers, kidneys and even corneas removed from 11,000 live political prisoners WITHOUT anaesthetic every year in China, claims documentary, also reported that Falun Gong were frequent targets of this practice. This "business" allegedly nets the Chinese government $1 billion dollars a year.
Equally as disturbing has been Bodies: The Exhibition where serious allegations have been raised that the bodies put on display are executed political prisoners and Falun Gong members.
My own experience at the UN Human Rights Commission where I was stopped from walking into main chamber of the meeting because I had a copy of a flier of a Falun Gong event spoke volumes to me about the power and influence of the Chinese communists in that organization.
Little wonder that as Communist China has become the number one economy in the world and a superpower that international human rights standards have been in decline over the past decade. It is surely not the only reason why, but definitely a contributing factor.
Another factor is the silence of so many before these crimes.
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