Chinese Practices

I am Hans Noot, Director of Mensenrechten Zonder Grenzen, Nederland. What I'm about to tell you is not for the faint of heart, and not for people who can't handle it. Be warned.

Imagine this:

You grew up on a big island. You get out of bed, open the door and you imagine yourself in beautiful nature. Birds, trees, lakes, nice people. There is no war, no hunger, no food shortages. No news about world affairs. You only concern yourself with what interests you. No one to interfere with you. You can think something about anything and talk about it. You can buy or rent anything - whatever you want. What more could you want? Real freedom.

Would you be able to understand another world? What would it be like to live in a world where society determines what you want and how it should be done. They call this freedom - a real care state. Everything is arranged for you, as long as you are in step with society. You are monitored though, because no one is allowed to get in another person's way. There is almost no murder or theft. No shooting incidents. There is no real poverty, because, after all, the state takes care of you.

Would you be able to imagine what it is like to live in a world where you are monitored. Everything in the public is videotaped and interpreted by computers. Flinging away a piece of paper will cost you social points. Crossing the street where it is not allowed is noted. Not putting out your hand on a bicycle will be on a list of infractions. Everyone walks in step.

At the church door there is a sign that one may only enter over the age of 16. The pastor is appointed by the state. Before the service begins, it is introduced by a member of the local political party, and reminds you of your social responsibilities. The sermon is monitored, and if things go wrong the preacher disappears, or the church is razed a week later. And we all carry a picture in our pocket of our patron - the leader of our political party.

And imagine joining a large group - religious or otherwise - that is not controlled by the state? Suppose that group teaches or does things that get you all hot and bothered? Things that are about life after death, or things that make you less likely to die. What happens then? That group gets a stamp: xie jiao (forbidden religious movement). All members are arrested and interrogated. The goal is to find out who the leaders are so that the group can be eradicated. If you do not speak, you will be tortured until you give in. And torture is allowed, because you are after all an enemy of the state. And torture costs the authorities little energy. Suppose you have to crouch down, allowing the tips of your fingers to touch the ground. Not so bad, you might think. But how long do you last until your muscles stiffen and you scream out in pain? Or how bad is it when they shine a lamp in your face? However, the lamp is 1000 watts, and it takes hours, and it causes massive headaches. Or what if they hit you with a steel pipe when you are trying to go to sleep? Would you speak if your knuckles, your ribs, your kneecaps and your ankles were broken? And how long will you last when they are constantly scolding and belittling and insulting you in other ways, when you are trying so hard to be a good person, as your religion taught you? We have several stories of how one hand is handcuffed above the head, and the other hand just below your hips. Then you can't stand or squat. They force you to smoke 2 packs of cigarettes, if you don't smoke yourself. They blow the smoke into your nose and press the cigarettes against sensitive spots on your skin, like under your armpits or in your anus. They set fire to your beard or your pubic hairs, or the hairs near your anus. Or how about when they make a kind of mask of your face with a liquid substance that hardens and makes your skin itch terribly. But you can't scratch, because your hands are cuffed.

They hang you with cuffs on your hands at the top of the door, in a way that your feet don't touch the ground. Then they tie a rope around your feet so they can swing your feet back and forth, because it feels so good on your wrists. And while you're still handcuffed to the door, they tie the rope to a window frame so your feet are hanging in the air, too. If that doesn't make you speak, then you are very religious, and dangerous to the state. By the way, they can also use that steel bar to roll really hard over your calves, so that everything turns black and blue and your ankles break. But you persevere, because Jesus suffered even more than you.

I could go on for a long time with details told by experiencers. Some have fled their countries. Most are in prison. And thousands have not been able to recount their torture. And now I've only mentioned members of the Church of Almighty God and members of Falun Gong in particular. The latter are here today, commemorating 24 years of persecution by their own government. Their crime is that they are members of a group of people who believe that you should live healthy, and be in harmony with nature and your environment.

We keep a list of those who have been imprisoned this year on the Human Rights Without Frontiers website. That list of Chinese who are currently imprisoned because of membership in such a group, most of whom have been tortured as described, is 3151.

But what if I told you it could be much worse? I haven't mentioned the Chinese takeover of Nepal and East Turkistan - and then in such an oppressive way that not thousands, but millions suffer? Nepalese are known for their peacefulness. But their monks are heavily persecuted in their own country. And in East Turkistan, the Uyghurs are rounded up en masse if one finds as much as a Kor'an in their house. They are then taken to so-called re-education camps. One such camp is estimated to contain more than a million people. There they are forced to unlearn their own native language, and learn Chinese instead. Their holy book is taken away, and they must renounce their religion. But the Chinese authorities stress that this camp is good for them, because they are being taught a new trade. They are not allowed to leave the camp until they have passed. Not a bad plan, you might say.

But before arrested Chinese enter such a camp or are put in a prison, they are given a medical check-up. People with excellent health are taken aside. And especially if you are a member of a group that values a healthy life, like Falun Gong. Their bodies can be put to good use for something else. Taking out and selling the organs of these kinds of criminals is not a violation of the law in China. And particularly in America, where 123,000 people are listed for body organ replacement, it is good business for the Chinese. Money can buy anything. But the Chinese can also get rid of their organs in most other countries. Only in Israel is buying restricted. For example, between 60,000 and 90,000 such operations are performed in China. They can use your heart, your liver, your kidneys, your eyes, or your tendons - as long as you are healthy and have the right blood type.

And it can be even worse. Testing to see if your body organs are intact and good is often done by severely mistreating the patient and then seeing how the organs hold up. People are starved, fed their own urine with tubes in their mouths, poop smeared in their faces and mouths, their pubic hairs pulled out and worse.

You would think that such an operation would be done neatly under anesthesia. But make no mistake. Narcosis poisons the pure body organ, making it less money. So one tries to avoid that as much as possible. One way this is done is by laying someone on their back in a lying position, head fixed in a wooden mold, and then using two iron rods to pull on a spring and release it against the temple on either side of the head. The person is then brain dead, but the organs remain intact.

Today we are here to consider what happens in a totalitarian state, where the rights of the individual are subject to society. We, in the Netherlands, have a rule of law. Its purpose is to respect the individual. We sympathize with people who live in countries where this is the case, such as China. And, also in the Netherlands we should avoid going that way. Because for freedom and human rights we must continue to fight.