On April 25, 1999, Falun Gong came to the attention of the world as some ten thousand of its practitioners gathered quietly outside Zhongnanhai, the Chinese Government leadership’s compound in Beijing. Their only intent was to communicate the harassment and injustices practitioners were facing throughout China at the hands of Chinese police. The peaceful gathering was sparked by the beatings Falun Gong practitioners endured only a few days before in the neighboring city of Tianjin. In both cases these practitioners did nothing more than remind the government of their constitutional rights to freedom of conscience, assembly, and speech.

在1999年4月25日，法轮功的上万名弟子静静地聚集在中国政府领导人的所在地，北京的中南海，从而引起了世界的关注。他们的唯一目的是与政府沟通以说明在整个中国，修炼者在警察那里所面临的困扰和不公。这次和平集会的动因是数天以前在相邻的城市－天津的法轮功学员受到了殴打。在这两次事件中，这些学员只是要提醒政府他们应享有宪法所规定的信仰，集会和言论自由。

In the one year since that gathering, we have come to witness the Chinese Government execute one of the largest, harshest, and most arbitrary of persecutions in modern history. On July 22nd, Chinese leaders turned their country upside down with their decision to ban the practice of Falun Gong. In the middle of the night practitioners around the country were dragged from their homes, arrested, detained, and even beaten, commencing the first wave of oppression. In the following days, thousands of law-abiding Falun Gong practitioners would be arrested for merely trying to appeal the ban, despite appeals being a legal, constitutionally-enshrined right.
在聚集事件一周年以来，我们见证了中国政府在现代社会进行的最大规模，最严厉，也是最专制的迫害。在7月22日，中国领导人禁止练习法轮功的决定完全颠倒了这个国家的秩序。在午夜时分，整个国家的许多修炼者被从家中带走，遭到逮捕，监禁，甚至殴打。第一轮镇压开始了。在后续的日子里，数千守法的法轮功修炼者仅仅因为他们为错误的法轮功的禁令上访而被拘捕，尽管上访是合法的，是宪法赋予的神圣权力。

During the ensuing nine months practitioners in China have faired little better. Over 35,000 practitioners of Falun Gong have been arrested and detained for their practice, while another 5,000 have been sent without trial to labor camps. Still others have received harsh prison sentences of up to 18 years. Numerous others have been vanquished to mental hospitals for nuanced torture. An estimated 10,000 university students must now choose between their practice and losing their education, while any high-school student who continues to practice must forgo what would have been his or her college education. Millions of Falun Gong books, videos, and audio tapes have been confiscated and destroyed. Confirmed reports of torture and inhumane treatment grow by the day, with instruments of punishment including electric batons, cattle prods, anti-psychotic drugs, the “prison in hell” device, forced abortions, beatings of every sort, and even sanctioned rape. To date, fifteen practitioners have died in custody, most, if not all, by way of torture. Many others have been stripped of their jobs, homes, education, and even family. With over 70 million people in China practicing Falun Gong as of early 1999, the social upheaval caused by the ban is hard to fathom. Hardly anyone has gone unaffected.

在后续的9个月中，中国的法轮功学员的处境几乎没有好转。超过35,000名法轮功学员因为修炼而被逮捕和拘禁，另外有5,000未经审判而被送到劳改营。还有人被判处长达18年的徒刑。许多学员被送到精神病院受到严重的折磨。估计有10,000名大学学生现在必须在修炼法轮功和学籍中间做出选择，而高中学生如果坚持修炼法轮功就必须放弃他/她的接受高等教育的机会。数百万的法轮功书籍，和音像磁带被没收和销毁。每天都有新的经过证实的酷刑和残忍折磨被报告出来，使用的手段包括电棍，警棍，和治疗精神病患者的药物，“地牢”，强迫流产，殴打全身，甚至被认可的强奸。到目前为止，15名学员在监狱去世，即便并非所有也是大多数情况下，这些人是属于酷刑折磨而死。很多人被剥夺了工作，住房，教育甚至家庭。对在 1999年初即拥有7000万学员的法轮功来说，由于禁止他造成的社会动荡难以估计。几乎无人不受影响。

Falun Gong practitioners have no political interests whatsoever. They merely strive to cultivate “Truthfulness, Compassion, and Tolerance” in daily life, while their qigong exercises give them desired health. Practitioners are good, law-abiding citizens from all walks of life. Through all this, no practitioners have resorted to violence?despite their bearing inhumane offenses. According to official Chinese sources, practitioners continue to appeal every day at Tiananmen Square and visit the appeals offices. Their belief is that if officials only knew how good this practice is, there would be no way to oppose it. Many have risked their lives to publicize the truth.

无论如何，法轮功学员没有任何政治诉求，他们只是由于气功给了他们渴望的健康而力图在日常生活中实践“真，善，忍”。从生活的各个方面来看，学员都是好的，守法的公民。在整个事件的过程中，无论学员承受着多么残忍的折磨，他们都没有诉诸于暴力。按照中国官方资料显示，法轮功学员在天安门广场和信访办的上访活动每天都在进行。他们的信念是只要官方了解了这个功法有多好，就不会再反对他了。很多人冒着生命的危险把真相公布出来。

While a growing number of international organizations and governments have been unequivocal in their criticism of China’s actions, there appears no end in sight to the persecution. We reiterate our call for a peaceful dialogue with the Chinese Government, and ask for the support of all good people and institutions around the world. A peaceful resolution would benefit not only practitioners, but also the entire people of China and their government.

尽管越来越多的国际组织和政府毫不含糊地批评中国所采取的行动，我们却没有看到迫害停止的迹象。我们重申与中国政府和平对话的请求，并希望世界上善良的人们和机构给予我们支持。一个和平的决议不止对修炼者有益，对整个中国和他们的政府也是有益的。