Taiwan News: The Coalition to Investigate the Persecution of Falun Gong in China Asia announced yesterday that it will launch a global human rights torch relay campaign to protest against what it called China's harvesting of live organs from Falun Gong practitioners, and urged the international community not to let the 2008 Olympic Games turn into the "Bloody Harvest Games."
The CIPFG is composed of more than 300 renowned international figures, with four delegations from Australia, Asia, Europe and North America. Through investigation of allegations against China's Communist Party of live organ removal for profit, CIPFG said, it intends to expose the facts of this type of persecution, stop it, and bring the criminals to justice.
The organization said it will not make public the details or route of the torch relay unless it obtains a response from the Chinese authorities before August 8 this year. But it disclosed that people from the five continents have registered to join the campaign.
"The Olympics and crimes against humanity cannot coexist in China," said chairman of the CIPFG Asia and Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Lai Ching-te (賴清德) at a press conference in Taipei yesterday. "The purpose of the CIPFG in launching the human rights torch relay campaign is to raise awareness in the international community of China's suppression on human rights, and to boycott the 2008 Olympic Games held by the authoritative regime."
Lai said that in 2001 China promised the International Olympic Committee that it would improve its human rights record, but recent reports from the United Nations and Amnesty International have clearly indicated that conditions have not improved. Rather, the situation has actually been deteriorating in China, Lai said, citing examples of the crackdown on Falun Gong practitioners and Tibetans.
Vice Chairman of the organization Chiu Huang-chuan argued that if the international community does not take action to protest against what he called China's atrocities against Falun Gong practitioners, China will keep playing deaf to its crimes and will continue to suppress its people.
Kuo Cheng-tien, a doctor from Taipei Veterans General Hospital, echoed Chiu's view, saying that the CCP's harvesting and sale of human organs is the most shameful medical practice ever in history. He called on to the people in medical and religious circles, as well as athletes to stand up and condemn the CCP.
"To resist the Olympics held by the CCP is to save your life because the rise of the CCP is likely to bring catastrophe or incite a third world war," said Kuo.
Tien Chiu-chin, a DPP legislator who is also a member of the CIPFG, quoted the words of Czech-born writer Milan Kundera "the struggle of man against power is the struggle of memory against forgetting," and called on the public not to easily forget what the CCP regime has done to its people, especially to Falun Gong practitioners.
The CIPFG Asia said in a statement that it has put forward three requests to CCP authorities, including a request to stop the persecution of Falun Gong members immediately and release all practitioners incarcerated for their faith, stop the persecution of friends, supporters and defense lawyers of Falun Gong practitioners, and hold discussions with the CIPFG to arrange details for the opening of labor camps, prisons, hospitals and related secretive facilities for inspection by CIPFG independent investigators.
"If a response to our requests is not received before August 8, 2007, we will join forces with supporters from around the world to call for a boycott of the Olympic Games 2008," the statement read.
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