The Human Rights Torch arrived in Durham, North Carolina last Sunday and was greeted by an enthusiastic crowd despite a spring downpour. The torch's lighting and arrival in Durham was part of the global Human Rights Torch Relay (HRTR) that has spanned six continents, 40 countries and 150 cities. HRTR aims to raise awareness and stop human rights crimes committed by the Chinese communist regime prior to the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
The torch arrived after runners finished a 5K run as part the HRTR activities. After the torch's lighting, several speakers representing various rights organizations and groups spoke at the rally.
Dr. Alex Semilof, co-founder of The Society for the Preservation and Sharing of Himalayan Culture, said, "If we were in China or Tibet, this rally would likely be met with physical brutality."
Dr. Semilof said, "The Himalayan Society is not anti-China, we are not anti- Olympics…we do however support freedom of speech, freedom of religion and the right of cultural preservation, not only in Tibet and China but throughout all countries of the world."
Geshe Gelek Chodak is a resident teacher at the Kadampa Center in Raleigh, N.C. where he teaches Tibetan Buddhism. Chodak said at the rally, "Human rights means the right to express one's thought, to practice one's religion, to receive an education and to practice one's own cultural tradition, and to speak one's native language. We are asking the world to help us obtain it…this human rights that we have not have in the last 60 years."
Dr. Charles Lee of New Jersey is a Chinese-American, member of Amnesty International and practitioner of the spiritual practice Falun Gong. Dr. Lee was detained and jailed in China for three years after he visited China with the intent of broadcasting evidence of the communist regime's persecution against Falun Gong practitioners.
Dr. Lee said, "This big single group [Falun Gong in China] also acts as a kind of mirror which reflects how vicious, how inhumane and how brutal this communist regime has been."
Dr. Lee called allegations of the regime's harvesting of organs from live Falun Gong practitioners as something "that has never happened before in history" and "so horrifying that many people find it hard to believe that it's true."
"I want to say the key message is that all these tragedy that happens in China is because China is being ruled by the communist regime," he said.
The HRTR event is Durham was an all day event with performances from various local bands. Activities included an official 5K run and "Walk for Human Rights."
HRTR is a grassroots campaign initiated by the Coalition to Investigate the Persecution of Falun Gong. In light of the 2008 Beijing Olympics, HRTR seeks to bring awareness of the Chinese regime's human rights crimes, especially concerning the recent crackdown in Tibet, the regime's support of the oppressive governments in Darfur and Myanmar, and the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners, Christians, lawyers, and rights advocates in China. More information is available on their website: HumanRightsTorch.org.
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