The Opatiks had stumbled upon a rally protesting the 10 years of persecution of Falun Dafa in China, held across the street from the Chinese Consulate in downtown Chicago early afternoon on Monday.
“Ten years ago on this same day, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) regime banned the popular spiritual practice of Falun Dafa (Falun Gong) and launched a vicious campaign to imprison, torture, forcefully ‘reform,’ and kill millions of adherents,” said Yi Liu, one of the event’s organizers.
“I wasn’t aware of this persecution and I’m horrified that these people are tortured just for having basic beliefs,” said Mrs. Opatik, a member of a church congregation of 11,000 in Grandville, Mich.
Ms. Opatik was touched that Falun Dafa practitioners were tortured for their faith.
Falun Dafa adherents say they believe and live by the principles of truthfulness, compassion and tolerance.
“Unbelievable that there are thousands of people missing,” interjected Mr. Opatik.
“According to State Department’s 2008 Human Rights Report, ‘Some foreign observers estimated that Falun Gong adherents constituted at least half of the 250,000 officially recorded inmates in RTL (re-education through labor) camps, while Falun Gong sources overseas placed the number even higher,’” quoted Yi Liu.
