Washington Week: Student Voices (O)

U. Wisconsin-area protest focuses on Chinese human rights violations
By Danielle Felgenhauer
Badger Herald (U. Wisconsin)
04/21/2008

(U-WIRE) MADISON, Wis. — While many were drawn to the Madison, Wis., Capitol Square for the return of the Dane County Farmers' Market on a sunny Saturday this weekend, others gathered there for a different reason.

The Human Rights Torch Relay came to Madison with a mission to increase publicity of human rights crimes in China on the heels of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.

More than 300 protesters representing local and international political organizations, University of Wisconsin student groups and other human rights activists paraded down State Street to voice their outrage toward the Chinese government's human rights abuses.

Protesters held signs reading "Free Tibet" and "If you're a monk in Burma, you're hunted and killed." Others depicted pictures of Chinese Falun Gong prisoners being tortured.

The event started with the torch ceremony followed by speeches in front of the Capitol, a march down State Street and a rally at Library Mall.

The relay is an international grassroots campaign to raise awareness of and pressure communist China to stop their human rights crimes, according to local rally coordinator Sharon Remer.

Under the language in the Olympic Charter, any country that hosts the games must engage in a peaceful society and refrain from discrimination against a country, or a person on grounds of race, religion, politics or gender.

Hosting the 2008 Olympic Games, China agreed to clean up its human rights policies.

However, as human rights violations continue in Tibet and elsewhere, activists and political officials express growing concern about China's failure to uphold the principles of the Olympics.

The worldwide awareness relay will go through six continents, 40 countries and more than 150 cities, 43 of which are in the United States.

Madison Mayor Dave Cieslewicz was not present at the protest but offered his support in a letter.

"As a community with a deep respect for human rights, we are honored to be a part of the Human Rights Torch Relay," he wrote.

Other statements of support came from U.S. Rep. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., and Sen. Russ Feingold, D-Wis., along with a host of elected state officials.

HISTORY BEHIND THE PROTEST

According to Remer, the rally began with the Coalition for the Investigation of the Persecution of Falun Gong.

Falun Gong is an ancient Chinese practice reintroduced to the public in 1992. When the Chinese government estimated that nearly 70 to 100 million people practiced Falun Gong, they became nervous and banned it, Remer said.

"The Chinese government accuses Falun Gong practitioners of being political and part of a cult," said Susan Prager, outreach director for the rally.

According to Remer, Falun Gong is an apolitical, unorganized practice whose "principles are to believe in truth, compassion and tolerance."

Remer said upward of 1,800 Falun Gong followers have been arrested and many died in labor camps or were used for organ harvesting. Other sources have cited the number of persecuted Falun Gong practitioners to be more than 100,000.

"We want people to know about the persecution," said Falun Gong practitioner Wenjiong Li. "The Chinese government steals, in a very horrible sense, human rights."

Li said Falun Gong are not against the Olympics, but want to see China improve human rights practices.

Allegations are that the Chinese have taken part in organ harvesting from Falun Gong, removing organs from living Falun Gong practitioners to sell for profit.

Prager described something called transplant tourism, where instead of waiting a few months and possibly never receiving an organ, one might go to China and wait a couple of weeks. The question is where these organs come from.

According to an independent investigation conducted by David Kilgour, former Canadian Secretary of State, and David Matas, an international human rights lawyer based in Canada, these allegations are true. Evidence from their study proves organs are being harvested from live Falun Gong prisoners. Their report documents approximately 41,500 organ transplants.

"It's very eye-opening, and you can't deny the facts," said spectator Mairin Hesselbein.

The Human Rights Torch Relay was initiated with Falun Gong but has now expanded to reach all those persecuted including democracy activists, lawyers, human rights defenders, religious leaders, journalists, trade unionists, Tibetan Buddhists, Uighurs, 'unofficial' church members, Falun Gong practitioners, environmental activists, health and reproductive rights activists, political dissidents, as well as the people of Burma, Darfur, Sudan, Zimbabwe, North Korea, and all others persecuted by the Chinese government.

"We have all different groups represented," Remer said.

Some participants in Madison's event included Olympic gold medalist Casey FitzRandolph, state Rep. Joe Parisi, D-Madison, Action in Sudan, Falun Gong Group, Tibetan Children's Dance Troupe, New China Forum, Southwest Association of United Church of Christ, Students for Free Tibet, Wisconsin Council of Churches, Wisconsin Tibetan Association, U.S. Campaign for Burma and others.

"Our concern is for all of the people who have experienced persecution at the hands of the Chinese government," Prager said. "It's important to take this moment and use whatever leverage we can find to pressure the Chinese government to more transparency when it comes to their practices. They claim that everything is calm in Tibet, but no reporters are allowed in there to verify that."

According to Remer, as part of an agreement through the Olympic Charter, China agreed to improve their human rights practices before the 2008 Beijing Olympics, but they have instead gotten worse.

"So many people have lost their homes to make way for the Olympic venues," Prager said. "If they go to petition, they're put behind bars."

PROTESTING THE PROTEST

Also at Capitol Square Saturday was a group in protest of the Human Rights Torch Relay. Their statement was, "Go Olympics. Know about Tibet."

"The Olympics stands for the world. It means peace," anti-protester Xinyong Zhang said. "It's not time to talk about politics. We're here to tell the truth. The truth is we're trying our best to improve human rights."

Amid the crowd at Capitol Square were pictures of torture and signs representing those persecuted, one reading "No genocide Olympics."

"We want everyone to become aware of this and stand up and speak out," Prager said. "It is an opportunity for people to really make a difference."

Prager said she wants to emphasize the distinction that these protests are not anti-China, adding, "We would like for the people of China to be free from persecution."

Prager hopes "after the Olympics, people still retain this in their consciousness."

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