Script:

I'm Susan Mitchell.

• 559 Falun Gong practitioners are confirmed to have died from torture while in custody, with 2 death reports received in the last week. Reliable sources inside China, however, put the actual death count in the thousands.
• In the last 7 days, torture reports have come in from 14 provinces, including the cities of Dalian, Beijing and Shenyang.
• 652 people declared as null and void, statements saying they will give up Falun Gong that were made while undergoing torture as they were the result of extreme coercion. They say they will continue practicing Falun Gong.

• The World Organization to Investigate the Persecution of Falun Gong issues its Founding Statement.

• Reports of the torture of Falun Gong practitioners
• An Australian woman is kidnapped by police while visiting her parents in China
• A 71-year-old Hong Kong senior is sentenced to 7 years in Burma for holding up a small banner with the Chinese characters for Truth-Compassion-Forbearance, and...
• Falun Gong meets the world -- in Brazil.

On January 20, 2003, the World Organization to Investigate the Persecution of Falun Gong issued it's Founding Statement. FGMtv was in Boston when news of the Organization was introduced at a media conference there.

Whereas Jiang Zemin uses the entire state apparatus and all national resources to commit Genocide by means of "defaming their reputations, bankrupting them financially, and destroying them physically," the World Organization is formed specifically "to investigate the criminal conduct of all institutions, organizations, and individuals involved in the persecution of Falun Gong; to bring such investigation, no matter how long it takes, no matter how far and (no matter how) deep ... to full closure; to exercise fundamental principles of humanity; and to restore and uphold justice in society."

• The persecution of Falun Gong in China has been going on for almost four years.
• This week, we received a report of ongoing savage torture in Wuyuan Forced Labor Camp in Inner Mongolia. It said, in part, that since September, 2000, the camp has been illegally detaining large numbers of Falun Dafa practitioners.
• On December 6, 2001, police officer Mu Jianfeng organized a brutal torture session.
• Seven Falun Dafa practitioners were taken to a police dormitory on the first floor where more than eleven policemen attacked them with high voltage electric batons, leather belts, fists, and heavy boots.
• Zhang Ruitong's legs were broken; the nerves in his spinal cord and his internal organs were also severely injured. His whole body was paralyzed for nearly a month. Liang Baochi was also severely injured. The other five practitioners were covered with blood and their faces were beaten beyond recognition.
• "In the past several hundreds of bloody days and nights," the report stated, "every Falun Dafa practitioner detained in the labor camp has faced various cruel tortures. They have remained determined and completely upright in their belief in the Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance of Falun Dafa."

Rescue Our Families Walk in New York City's Chinatown

• On January 18, practitioners walked through New York's Chinatown as part of the global "Rescue Our Families" initiative. They demonstrated Falun Gong exercises in Columbus and Sword Parks, distributed flyers and held a press conference to bring attention to the Jiang regime's continued persecution in China.

• Hong Kong resident and Falun Dafa practitioner, 71 year old Mr. Rongyuan Chen was visiting family members in Burma one year ago.
• When Mr. Chen heard that Jiang Zemin was to visit the capital, Rangoon, he unfurled a small banner with the Chinese characters for Truth-Compassion-Forbearance as he stood on the roadside to the airport on Dec. 12, 2001.
• Under heavy pressure from the Chinese embassy, the Burmese government arrested Mr. Chen. We have learned that he has been sentenced to 7 years in prison during a secret trial where he was allowed no lawyer or representation of any kind.

• On January 17, 2003, 34-year-old Nancy Chen and her six-year-old daughter arrived in China for a visit to Nancy's parents.
• According to friends in Australia, Ms. Chen left her daughter with her mother while she visited friends on Monday, January 20th.
• Wednesday morning, Nancy phoned her mother to say she had been kidnapped.
• At the time of writing, despite requests, and counter to international law, Chinese authorities have not yet provided the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs with any information about Ms. Chen.
• Falun Gong Meets the World -- In Brazil
• Practitioners from Canada and the United States joined a Brazilian practitioner in introducing Falun Dafa and clarifying the truth at the World Education Forum (January 19-22, 2003) and the World Social Forum (January 23-28, 2003) in Porto Alegre, Brazil.
• About 100,000 people were expected to attend, including 30,000 delegates from 5,500 organizations in 126 countries.

• Six members of Israel's governing body, the Knesset, have signed a petition for the release of the sister of an Israeli practitioner.
• Ms. Wei Xiong, sister of Mr. Zion Xiong, has been detained in a forced labor camp for more than a year. Her "crime" was to hand for handing out flyers in Beijing revealing the Jiang regime's persecution of Falun Gong.
• She is reported to be forced to work without pay making products for export.
• Mr. Avraham Burg, Chairman of the Knesset, also sent a letter expressing his support for Falun Gong.

• Falun Dafa practitioners in Great Britain were invited to perform at a Chinese students' New Year celebration party. Among the 600 guests were students, alumnae, family and friends, as well as Chinese officials. After the event, many people took information revealing the truth about the Jiang regime's persecution of Falun Dafa practitioners in China.

• On January 13, the Judge made a decision in the ongoing Canadian Civil Liberties lawsuit of Falun Gong versus Les Presses Chinoises. Les Presses Chinoises, you'll remember, is the a Chinese language newspaper that mouths Chinese propaganda in has been accused of defaming Falun Gong and inciting hatred. The defendants made a motion to have the case dismissed on the grounds that Falun Gong did not have a legal interest to sue. Quebec Judge William Fraiberg dismissed the motion. He found that the case had sufficient merit to justify a full trial, which is set for November 10th to 25th, 2003.
• From December 2001 to February 2002, the Quebec Superior Court reiterated a safeguard order 3 times, each time with stricter restrictions, prohibiting the paper from publishing extreme hate propaganda. The paper ignores the orders and continues to publish articles to incite hatred. Since the Chinese government does not follow its own laws, it is no surprise, although disappointing, that a Chinese paper would ignore the law here.

• Practitioners in Italy live far from each other, so it is not easy for them to meet regularly. Also, because of language differences, communication between Chinese and westerners is quite difficult. In a sincere attempt to overcome all these barriers the first formal Falun Dafa Experience Sharing Conference was held recently in Italy. The Italians were joined by two practitioners from Germany, and everyone agreed the event was so successful that they would definitely do it again in future.

• Jiasheng Jian and Yuming Duan from the police section of Hefei City No. 4 Railway Bureau had participated in the persecution of Dafa practitioners. In the same year the two died of blood cancer and lung cancer, respectively.
• Earlier this month, Mr. Zhishan Liu, an employee from the Nu'erhe Textile Factory in Jinzhou City, Liaoning Province tried to capture some Dafa practitioners. They were distributing materials exposing the Jiang regime's false propaganda about Falun Gong. Mr. Liu slipped and fell on some ice, breaking several of his ribs. and suffered his karmic retribution.

• It's the 19th of January 2003 and today marks the beginning of the Chinese and Vietnamese New Year celebrations here in Richmond, Victoria in Australia.
• The festivities are in full swing and people have come from all across Melbourne to join the celebrations.

• At times the air was filled with the sound of the traditional Chinese dragon performances. Seemingly tireless they brought vibrant color to Victoria Street Richmond.

• One attraction that definitely captured the crowds attention was the demonstration of the meditation exercises by the Falun Dafa practitioners.
• Deeply embedded in Chinese culture, this ancient form of Qigong practice filled the air with peace and harmony.

• It was clearly evident how Falun Dafa had brought together many people from diverse backgrounds and ages, all of whom enjoyed participating in the new year celebrations.

• A practitioner's neighbor Xiao Li was in a car accident. The car was totally destroyed and the driver hospitalized for emergency treatment.
• The people who witnessed the accident thought that nobody could possibly live through it. Then Xiao Li and her coworker crawled out from the car with only minor injures.
• Xiao Li tells people, "I survived such a horrible accident because the gods are watching me. I witnessed for myself the saying that 'Good is rewarded with good and evil meets with evil.' I believe in the great power of Falun Dafa more than ever."

• On January 5th 2003, many people were finally able to hear the song written by Falun Dafa practitioners for the public, which has been very seldom heard in Mainland China. The words, "Falun Dafa is good, Falun Dafa is good, Falun Dafa is the righteous law, and the Buddha-light illuminates everywhere," rang out.
• The singer was a gentleman about 30 years of age. His feet were shackled, and he sang while he walked. He was closely followed by a couple of policemen and security guards, but they did not interrupt him. Starting from the gate of the hospital and continuing to the main entrance, the high stairs became a theatre for the dozens of cab drivers, other patients, and their visiting relatives who were present.
• He walked slowly and sang continuously, loudly and clearly while walking slowly from the main gate to the square almost 100 meters away, where a police car was waiting. People listened quietly. Some stopped walking, some looked surprised, and some shocked--looks that quickly changed to admiration.
• It has been confirmed that this practitioner was released unconditionally a couple of days later.