Last Saturday was the United Nations International Day in Support of Victims of Torture. At an event to mark the occasion in New Zealand, two people who were tortured for their beliefs in China spoke about their experiences.
“Torture is a crime under international law… Torture cannot be justified under any circumstances whatsoever…” That was a message from UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon. It came ahead of the June 26th International Day in Support of Victims of Torture.
One of many global events to mark the day took place in Auckland, New Zealand. There, victims who suffered torture in China spoke about their experience.
[Tom Liang, Victim of Torture]: (male, Chinese)
[...]
Tom Liang is from China's Guangdong Province. He practices Falun Gong, a spiritual practice that the Chinese communist regime has been persecuting since 1999. Authorities in Guangzhou were trying to force him to give up his belief, so they tortured him at a brainwashing center for 18 months.
Fellow Falun Gong practitioner Yan Haiyu was also tortured for her beliefs. She was detained at a separate brainwashing center in Guangzhou for more than two years.
[Yan Haiyu, Victim of Torture]: (female, Chinese)
[...]
Both Liang and Yan were eventually rescued and have left China, but Liang wants more do to be done.
[Tom Liang, Victim of Torture]: (male, Chinese)
“I call on all the kind-hearted people around the world to stand up and help to immediately stop the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners.”
According to the Falun Dafa Information Center, at least 3,300 Falun Gong practitioners have died from various forms of persecution since 1999. Common forms of torture aimed at forcing adherents to renounce the practice include beatings, shocks from electric batons, and force-feeding.
The International Day in Support of Victims of Torture was proposed by the UN General Assembly in 1997. It acknowledges that torture and all forms of inhuman or degrading treatment are universally illegal.
