Though the principle objective of Falun Dafa is that people find physical, mental and spiritual balance and achieve true internal peace, it has been scientifically proven that the practice facilitates remarkable improvements in health. For example in 1998 in China, a study was carried out where the health of thirty thousand practitioners was evaluated. The results indicated that 60% recuperated from their previous illnesses, and 97% reported feeling healthier and with greater physical energy.

On the 29th of September, Reuters reported on the UK Labour Party’s Annual Conference held in Brighton. Outside the conference, Falun Gong supporters protested against China’s persecution of practitioners because of their belief in Falun Gong.

"At present there are 6,800,000 people being detained in forced labour camps in China, about half of them are Falun Gong practitioners. In those forced labour camps, the detained people are not only suffering from torture openly but also they are forced to produce products. These products are exported to western countries."

On the 2nd of September, at the Spanish National Court in Madrid, Falun Gong practitioners filed a lawsuit against the People’s Political Consultative Conference Chairman of China Jia Qinglin. Jia arrived in Spain on September 3rd on an official four day visit. He has been indicted for crimes of genocide and torture of Falun Gong practitioners while he was the Communist Party Secretary General of Beijing between 1999 and 2002.

The practise was banned in China in 1999. “This method of relaxing the body and mind is non-political, neither do we seek money or fame.” Tens of millions of Chinese people were practising Falun Gong before it was banned. “ Many people have been put into prison since it was banned and the conditions of some other practitioners are even worse now due to the brutal persecution.”

The group retained an attorney and consulted renowned German Sinologist, Professor Rudolf G. Wagner of the University of Heidelberg. In November 2003, the court rendered a verdict of "not guilty" and declared the display of the Falun emblem as legal under German law. The public prosecutor lodged an appeal, but in March 2004 the original judgement was upheld. The Falun symbol can now be legally displayed.

On Monday August the 23rd 2004, La Tercera, one of the largest newspapers in Chile, published an article about Falun Dafa. Pía María Sandas, a Finnish ex-model who's now an executive of the cosmetic company Isadora, is visiting Chile to let people know about the persecution of Falun Dafa in China.

On September the 8th, on the front page of the "Russian Times”, one of Russia’s largest circulated newspapers, was the photo of a parade with more than one hundred thousand participants. Two huge banners held by practitioners were in the photo, reading “The World Needs Truthfulness, Compassion and Tolerance”.

Yong Wang, 32, residing in Austria since 1993, was refused an extension of his passport by the Chinese Consulate in Vienna. The decision from the Consulate was based on his being a Falun Gong practitioner and that he regularly attended candlelight vigils at the Chinese Embassy calling for the end of the persecution of Falun Gong in China.

On September the 1st, one of Austria’s most important newspapers “The Standard” also reported about the lawsuit of Jia Qinglin on the day before he went to see the Austrian Premier and President. The article said that after Falun Gong was banned in China in 1999, hundreds and thousands of practitioners were detained and many of them tortured to death.

'The consulate justifies their refusal to extend his passport by saying that he practises and supports Falun Gong. Mr Wang has asked for a written explanation from the consulate but this has been denied so far. Mr Wang would most likely experience confinement to a forced labour camp and torture should he ever decide to return to China. Refusing to issue or prolong passports is often used to make life difficult for Chinese citizens abroad or to force them to return to China. Several cases of refused passport applications have previously cropped up in many European countries and now also in Austria.'

It is not the kind of publicity that China wants or needs at the tail-end of the 2004 Olympics in which they placed third overall, and leading into the 2008 Olympics in which Beijing will be host: shocking photographs of emaciated and seriously injured Falun Gong practitioners who were tortured while being illegally held in police custody in China.

'In view of the unacceptable rise in violence now extending outside China and aimed directly at practitioners worldwide, will our countries finally react with a greater degree of firmness and prevent such acts from being committed on our soil? Shouldn’t our countries unite to condemn these massive violations through making China understand that in our democratic countries we respect the freedoms of expression and belief?'

“Falun Gong is a cultivation practice. The body and soul is purified. Besides doing the five powerful and peaceful exercises, the emphasis is on cultivating one’s mind and spirit and improving one’s moral character by following and incorporating the three cornerstones of the practice: Truthfulness, Compassion and Forbearance into our daily lives.”

On the 9th of August, a Russian resident filed a lawsuit in Moscow against top Chinese official Bo Xilai for persecuting Falun Gong in China. This is the fourth time the Minister of Commerce has been singled-out for crimes against humanity.

"Falun Dafa is one of the forms of Qigong, requiring practitioners to assimilate themselves to the highest universal characteristic of ‘Truthfulness, Compassion and Tolerance'. It clearly points out that cultivating one’s moral character is the key to the practise, practitioners need to improve their moral standard while doing the exercises. Moreover, it also has the facility of refining one’s body, which requires exercise to strengthen the functions of the body."

UK Falun Gong practitioners held a series of activities before and after the Edinburgh Arts Festival Opening Cavalcade on the 8th of August, exposing the Jiang Regime’s persecution of Falun Gong. The Scottish media enthusiastically reported on Falun Gong practitioners’ activities.

“El Mundo”, one of the two major Spanish newspapers and well-known for its analytical reports, interviewed Falun Gong practitioner Ms Dai Zhizhen in early July. On Sunday, July 18th, 2004, when the newspaper had the largest volume of circulation, “El Mundo” used an entire page to report the miserable story of how Ms Dai’s family was ruined.

According to the World Organisation to Investigate the Persecution of Falun Gong (WOIPFG), in June 1999, under Zhao's supervision, staff from Wuhan TV Station went to Changchun, the hometown of Falun Gong's founder Li Hongzhi, and produced a film about Mr. Li. The film was later used as a tool to convince CCP leaders to persecute Falun Gong. The film has been the main propaganda tool used repeatedly by state-owned media to brainwash the Chinese people.

On the 11th of August, The Associated Press reported on Falun Gong practitioners' parade through central Athens to call for attention from international society regarding the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners in China. One Falun Gong practitioner pointed out that although Beijing has been approved to hold the 2008 Olympics, its current human rights situation opposes the values which the Olympics are founded upon.

A battered woman with large gashes in her leg crouches inside a small cage on the corner of 8th Avenue and 42nd Street. The woman's name is Nelly Au who is a practitioner of Falun Gong, or Falun Dafa, a meditation practice that was outlawed in China in 1999. She is one of four people in an exhibit demonstrating the tortures used on practitioners of Falun Gong in China.

'I suppose that deep down inside we fear China. No so much because of its enormous military might, but also for what it would mean to loose 1 billion potential consumers. I can’t think of any other reason to explain how it can be possible that we don’t move a finger when faced with what is happening over there in the matter of human rights.'

On July the 22nd 2004, one of the two leading newspapers in Spain, El Mundo, published an editorial presenting the repression against Falun Gong as the most evident example of why China’s “economic freedom” is an illusion that will clearly fail without human rights and the rule of law.

On July 17th, 2004, the Scientific and Technology Museum of Taiwan held an exhibition of human anatomy. At the exhibition, all the human bodies and organs on display were provided by the Medical Association of China. Prior to the exhibition it was alleged that some of the bodies and organs were illegally obtained from executed Chinese criminals.

On August 3, 2004, a preliminary judgement by a judge in Tanzania's capital, Dar Es Salaam, cleared the way for a criminal trial of Chen Zhili, China's former Minister of Education. The affidavit, brought forward by Falun Gong practitioners in Ethiopia and supported by practitioners in many other countries, charges Chen Zhili with murder and torture of Chinese teachers and students who practice Falun Gong.

On the 11th of June 2004, Sweden’s Hallands County newspaper published reports about Zhizhen Dai and little Fadu on the front and second page, together with two large pictures.Journalist Ms Martinsson reported in her article the intention of this mother and daughter coming to Scandinavia and the persecution they have suffered. The report said four years ago, her husband was persecuted to death for being a Falun Gong practitioner.

The report stated that in the case involving the Chinese Deputy Consul General in Toronto, Pan Xinchun, the Ontario Supreme Court last week issued a garnishee order against Pan Xinchun's personal assets in the amount of $11,000, to pay for damages and legal fees in a defamation case brought against him by Toronto resident Joel Chipkar.

On the 20th of July 2004, the Hungarian News Agency (MTI) reported on an appeal held by Falun Gong practitioners outside the Chinese Embassy in Budapest. According to MTI Budapest daily summary, a group of Hungarian Falun Dafa practitioners held an appeal outside the Chinese Embassy today, protesting against the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners in China.

Mr David Norris (Ind) said it was quite remarkable that a man who had been released from confinement in China was unable to gain re-admission to Ireland because of visa problems. He said Mr Feng Liu, who was a Falun Gong practitioner, had previously been a student here. He had subsequently been detained in a labour camp by the Chinese authorities. As a result of pressure, in which the Irish Government had played a part, he had been released. Mr Liu wished to return to Ireland, with his wife, to resume his life and his studies here.

A member of the Falun Gong movement has been shot in a drive-by attack in South Africa. David Liang sustained gunshot wounds to his feet after his car was sprayed with bullets near Johannesburg. He was in the country to protest at talks between the Chinese and South African governments. “After shooting at us they did not rob us and simply sped away,” Mr Liang said from his hospital bed. “We are sure the Chinese Government is involved.”

Selby Bokaba, the police spokesman, told AFP, “On 28th June, five passengers from Australia arrived at Johannesburg International Airport and prepared to protest against the violation of human rights in China during the visit of the Chinese vice-president...The shooting took place when the party got lost on their way from the Johannesburg International Airport to Pretoria. A car overtook them and some unidentified man in the car fired at them and fled. One passenger suffered gunshot wounds to both feet and will undergo surgery”, he said.

"Supporters of a spiritual movement outlawed by the Chinese authorities visited Aberdeen yesterday as part of a Scottish tour...Scots supporters are angry that the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) has been invited to take part in the Edinburgh Tattoo this summer. Former president Jiang Zemin, who outlawed Falun Gong, is leader of the PLA and Scots practitioners feel this invitation sends out the wrong message about human rights."

'The spiritual movement Falun Gong used International Day in Support of Victims of Torture to bring into focus the mistreatment of fellow practitioners in China. The eyes of the world have followed American soldiers’ treatment of Iraqi prisoners with disgust. But torture of people who think differently than the regime is a daily occurrence in China. This was the message that Falun Gong practitioners spread at City Hall Square yesterday on International Day in support of victims of torture.'

Falun Gong practitioners of Chinese nationality who currently live in Canada, Japan and other 15 countries recently published an open letter calling on people to pay attention to the issue that their passports have been withheld or not renewed over the past few years. At the same time, travel certificates of more than 30 Falun Gong practitioners from Hong Kong have been either postponed or confiscated.

'Human rights groups accused China of failing in its commitment to abide by its international obligations after a visit by a UN human rights expert dealing with torture was called off. The Chinese government asked for more time to prepare for the two-week trip this month by UN special rapporteur Theo van Boven in view of the different authorities and regions involved, the United Nations said in a statement.'

'The lawsuit alleges that Bo spent huge amount of taxpayers' money to build new prisons in which to detain and persecute Falun Gong practitioners when Bo was Mayor of Dalian City and Governor of Liaoning Province. Citing Chinese official media reports, the lawsuit said that Bo Xilai invested 1 billion yuan (~120 million US dollars) to upgrade provincial prisons.'

As Chinese and Polish leaders were having a summit inside the Polish Presidential palace, some Chinese who were welcoming the Chinese delegation harassed people conducting a peaceful appeal. The Polish newspaper Gazeta Wybocza published an article about this incident in its June 9th edition. The Polish Metropolitan reported that "A supporter of the Chinese government robbed human rights organisations and Falun Gong practitioners of their banners."

On May the 13th, the Finnish Falun Dafa Association held a press conference in Helsinki about human rights in China. Many newspapers were represented as well as the Finnish news agency and radio news. The following day, newspapers all over Finland reported on important current human rights issues including the persecution of Falun Gong.

While Mrs. Wang was practicing the sitting meditation on campus at Germersheim, she was afraid that few of her classmates could imagine the situation of practitioners after Falun Gong was announced to be illegal on July 22nd, 1999. Although Falun Gong has no political objectives, practitioners were still arrested and detained in Labour Re-education Camps, prisons, and psychiatric hospitals, where they were shocked by electric batons, brainwashed, raped and abused by torture.

On May 21st, Chinese Communist Party Secretary Wang Taihua was served with a class-action lawsuit charging him with torture, murder, and genocide. The complaint alleges that under Wang’s direction, the four plaintiffs were subjected to torture and abuse in the Female Labour Re-Education Camp and mental hospitals located in Anhui Province.

"The reason for this lack of originality in Chinese Journalism was the fact that almost every publication used the same supplier: the Xinhua News Agency. Many newspapers cannot afford a network of foreign correspondents, but the problem in China is one of censorship rather than resources. While many papers have access to other international news sources, such as Reuters or the Associated Press, they are only permitted to use these newswires for certain stories."

The Taoiseach (Irish Prime Minister) said that he raised the Chinese occupation of Tibet and the suppression of the Falun Gong spiritual movement during a two-hour meeting with Mr Wen, who is on a two-day state visit to Ireland. "For decades China refused to engage at all with the various human rights bodies," he said. "They have now agreed to do so, which is a considerable achievement and they were responding to a request, not a request that I thought up, but a request that human rights bodies have asked us to do.

A victim of polyarthritis that left her hands stiff, Zhang Cuiying could no longer paint. She tried numerous medicines without success. She explains that, from 1997, the Falun Gong exercises purified her body and spirit and allowed her to recommence her work. “Since then, I have made it a part of my life. In 1999, everything changed radically. China, which had supported the traditional movement since 1992, now made it illegal and arrested and imprisoned Falun Gong practitioners."

'"The western governments have a moral authority, which they have to use. They are about to make business relationships with China and invest in the country, but it must all the time be supplemented with a demand for better human rights", says Erping Zhang. Maybe it will be possible some day for him to again phone home to his mother in China. He has not done so since he was blacklisted, knowing full well that his mother would be punished for talking with a son that criticises the government.'

'A Chinese Falun Gong practitioner (1) made a passionate appeal for an end to human rights abuses in his country at a meeting of a parliamentary committee in Leinster House yesterday. He claimed he was subjected to "brainwashing" to force him to renounce his beliefs. He further alleged that, on different occasions, he was deprived of sleep, forced to squat and had his hands pinned behind his back, all for long periods. Mr Zhao alleged he was beaten so hard that he "couldn't walk for two weeks" and that he was also subjected to electric shocks.'

'Last October, Jiang Zemin, the former Chinese President, was sued by eighteen Falun Gong practitioners from all over the world for crimes of genocide and torture at the Spanish National Court. Falun Gong is an ancient meditation practice and was warmly welcomed by people in China. However, nearly 100 million practitioners are under brutal persecution carried out by the Chinese Government.'

'A secondary school in the city of Brugg held a week of activities with China as the theme. The activities gave students from the second year an opportunity to understand China from many perspectives. They saw the many bright sides of China as well as the bad side. A picture of a huge Buddha was hung with a couplet at the entrance to the hall where Zhang Cuiying’s art exhibition was held, making it very clear that the activity's theme was China. While displaying the brilliance and age of Chinese culture, it is unavoidable that China’s other side is also exposed.'

LONDON (EFGIC) – On April 1st, 2004, Chinese police ransacked the home of Ms. Huang Zhao and her husband, stealing valuables and detaining the couple who both practise Falun Gong. Two weeks later, Huang was dead. Witnesses say by the second day of her detention, Huang had been severely beaten and could no longer walk.

“My husband was murdered, the sister of my husband is detained in a forced labour camp, and the father of my husband also died. I was left alone with a baby of 15 months. My husband was murdered because he went to Beijing to deliver a letter, in which said that his whole family had obtained enormous benefits from practising Falun Gong, that Falun Gong is good. He was arrested, tortured and murdered when he was only 34 years old..."

On April 16th 2004, the Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs visited Sweden. An article written by two Swedish citizens was published in the “Swedish Daily” in which the current conditions and forced illegal enslavement of people in labour camps in China is exposed.