【大纪元11月5日讯】（大纪元记者南希美国维州报导）10月26日中午，美东中区人权圣火全球传递及法轮功受迫害联合真相调查团，在维吉尼亚州首府瑞曲曼市的州议会及市议会前，分别举行了支持“全球人权圣火传递”的公众集会﹐呼吁关注在中国的人权迫害。社会各界人士﹑族裔社区代表﹑教师学生﹑医生等都赶来参加集会﹐他们持用横幅标语，向过往市民传递着集会信息﹕“奥运和反人类罪行不能在中国同时进行”、“释放法轮功学员”、“没有人权就没有北京奥运”等。
瑞曲曼市圣凯撒琳女子高中及圣克里斯多福男子高中的20多名学生及多位教师来到集会现场表示支持。(南希摄影/大纪元)
瑞曲曼市圣凯撒琳女子高中及圣克里斯多福男子高中的20多名学生及多位教师来到集会现场表示支持。他们与声乐歌手王女士合唱了“人权圣火传递”主题歌，祈盼自由、和平与公正的‘人权圣火’永远照耀在人间。
瑞曲曼市圣凯撒琳女子高中及圣克里斯多福男子高中的20多名学生来到集会现场表示支持。(南希摄影/大纪元)
参加集会的高中生马修在接受采访时说：“全世界的人，无论生活在哪里，都理应享有最基本的人权和自由，可是中国人的人权却被剥夺了。虽然今天这种情况发生在中国，距离我们很遥远，可是如果我们不站出来制止，将来可能会发生在我们家门前，所以这种事情一发生，我们就要全力制止。”华特说﹕“我们了解到在中国发生的（人权迫害）的事情，我们想做点什么来制止。”凯撒琳说﹕“有人不能得到他们应有的权力，我们在乎这些，不管他们是中国，德国或任何地方的人。我们要阻止这些威胁人权的源头，把邪魔消灭在摇篮里。”
圣克里斯多福高中11年级学生基南‧汤普森 (Keanan Thompson) 代表两所高中学生支持全球人权圣火传递并在集会上发言。(南希摄影/大纪元)
圣克里斯多福高中11年级学生基南‧汤普森 (Keanan Thompson) 代表两所高中学生支持全球人权圣火传递并在集会上发言，他谴责中共迫害大量无辜的法轮功追随者及活摘器官杀人牟利﹐希望世界各国对中共的压迫人民﹐采取强硬立场反对﹐抵制2008 年北京奥运会或进一步严格的经济制裁。
圣凯撒琳高中经济学教学组长及奖助学金办公室主任史提夫‧堪比司欧 (Steve Cambisios) 先生也在集会上发言。(南希摄影/大纪元)
圣凯撒琳高中经济学教学组长及奖助学金办公室主任史提夫‧堪比司欧 (Steve Cambisios) 先生也在集会上发言。他评论了中国经济发展引发的环境恶化问题和侵犯人权罪行﹐呼吁国际社会关注中国人权问题﹐共同制止罪行。
以下是学生代表汤普森及经济学教师堪比司欧在集会上发言的中文翻译及英文原稿 (小标题乃记者所加)﹕
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(以下是学生基南‧汤普森在集会的发言)
奥运会是个礼物 中共不够资格享有
人权圣火全球传递 活动是采取渐进式步骤，使世界认识到中国的共产主义政权侵犯人权的行为。这一活动由奥运会的发源地﹐希腊的奥林匹亚开始﹐已经陆续的传递到25个以上的欧洲城市﹐诉说中共（中国共产党）对广大民众的不公正对待。
当中国获得国际奥林匹克委员会决定给予主办奥运会的任务时，曾应允奥委会对改善中国人民生活水准和公民 自由权的要求条件。但是中共没有认真的向这方面努力改善，反而中共选择压制那些敢言者。奥运会是一个礼物，中共这几年的作为不够资格享有她。
中共是个残暴 寡头垄断集团
环境状况在中国是恶劣的。这些恶劣环境的影响，使得绝大多数﹐百分之七十 (70%)﹐的中国财富被百分之零点四 (0.4 ％)的人口占有。中国政府表面上继承了共产主义的名称﹐实质上是一个残暴的﹑寡头垄断的集团。这是一场悲剧，非常少数的人能享有人类必需的基本生活权利。而广大中国人民群众遭受的蹂 躏，就像中共铁蹄下对生态系统的破坏。今天，有五亿的中国民众没有干净的饮用水可使用。
根据大纪元时报有关太湖的报导： “整个太湖屈服于今年工业和农业的废料排放，变成了萤光绿色。至少有两百万生活在太湖沿岸稻田区和化工厂区的民众﹐不得不停止拿来烹饪用或饮用这个他们的主要水源。 “中国生态环境变得越来越差。虽然中国签署和答应执行京都议定书﹐但是预料于不久的将来﹐中国将超过美国成为世界最大的碳排放量国家。作为世界第四大经济体﹐令人惊奇的是大部分中国民众﹐许多仍然生活在贫困之中，和第三世界国家类似。
中共迫害大量法轮功追随者及活摘器官杀人牟利
中国的人权环境状况和她的生态环境状况是镜像般的同样恶劣。中国共产党中的一伙人特别热衷于迫害法轮功。这个非宗教的法轮功群体已经证明带给中国人民的完全只有真诚和善意。法轮功学员静坐演习只不过为了发展和壮大流通一个人的“气”（也许科学上解释为一种暗物质），以改善身体健康和幸福感受。中共害怕任何 (它认为) 不受其直接控制的大的人民团体。因此大量的法轮功追随者﹐成为中共无辜迫害的受害者。
有无数的报告和确凿的证据指出中共往往活摘法轮功练习者的器官﹑杀人牟利。在最近召开的第17次全国共产党及人民的代表大会﹐中共官员拒绝面对这个问题﹑拒绝解决任何其他侵犯人权的问题﹑甚至拒绝承认1989年6月4日在天安门广场的公众大屠杀。中国政府是一个严厉压制的政权﹐逼得她的公民除了逃亡外别无更多选择。中共企图把人民洗脑﹑愚化群众﹑钳制新闻﹔它进行对大部分网际网路的过滤检查和根据模糊的”破坏国家完整”为借口来监禁比其他任何国家都多的新闻记者。
希望对中共强硬 抵制北京奥运或经济制裁
世界上各个国家都必须对中共这样的压迫人民﹐采取强硬立场反对。中国人民被剥夺了基本的人权和公民自由，这是与生俱来﹑无论男女都有的权力。这个反对迫害的立场，可经由采取抵制2008 年北京奥运会来表白。这将对中共的威信和经济造成冲击。如果这样还不足以引导中共作出重大改变，那么各个国家就必须制定严格的经济制裁。尽管这将给经常与中国作贸易的国家带来经济困难，但是这将是他们必须为此而承担的必要手段。
是的，民众一起抗议的声音会很有意义，但是要是没有大国的奥援共鸣，将无疑是停滞而难有进展的。 艾略欧特所着的“中空的人群 (The Hollow Men) ”中有言：“这是一个世界结束的方式﹐不是轰然巨响而是呜咽抽泣﹗”个体群众及握有权力的私营机构，他们的结合﹑发出共同声音，只能是给中共的一个呜咽抽泣。而世界各国都可以担任引发大变革催化剂的轰然巨响。确实，如果世界各国只提供口头上的应付支持，而不选择用行动纠正中共治下的这种不公正对待﹐那么也许中国人民会被抛弃而沉沦。而将来的某一天﹐这种不公正对待轮到其他国家﹐那他们也将会被抛弃而沉沦。
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(以下是教师史提夫‧堪比司欧在集会的发言)
人权圣火传递是帮助制止中国人权罪行的全球运动
人权圣火传递是一个全球性运动，其目的在帮助制止在中国一切侵犯人权的罪行。作为一种条件被授予2008年承办奥运会，中国政府承诺遵守奥林匹克宪章并改善其不良的人权记录。迄今为止，这一承诺并没有得到履行。我很荣幸能在这个集会上演讲﹐声援人权圣火全球传递。作为一个经济学教师﹐我想从中国经济发展引发的环境恶化问题和侵犯人权罪行来讨论﹐呼吁国际社会关注中国人权问题﹐共同制止罪行。
中国政府宣称在过去的25年中﹐有2亿2千5百万人脱离了绝对贫困的深渊。这是根据中国政府对中国人绝对贫困的定义﹐即每人每天少于0.30美元的购买力。但是如果使用联合国对绝对贫困的通用标准﹕每人每天少于1美元的购买力﹐来审查的话，那么差不多有2亿2千万人﹐近六分之一的中国人口﹐又回到了“世界”绝对贫困的深渊。这些绝对贫困户多数生活在未开发的农乡地区或是公认的偏远少数族裔。例如在西藏地区﹐百分之五十的人口是文盲。基尼系数（即衡量收入不均的指标）显示﹐中国在过去20年中快速增加致很大，亦即人民收入差别累积大到使现在的共产中国比资本主义的美国的财富不均还严重。
经济发展引发环境恶化及严重侵犯人权
经济发展带来的环境恶化问题与中国严重的侵犯人权的后果有密切关联。在应中国政府请求修改之前，一份2007年世界银行报告的早先草案中估计，中国污染有害的空气和水的质量每年造成近75万人死亡。在中国有一半的下水道污水是未经净化处理而排放的。而每年中国有超过50万例痢疾患者。
中国现在已是世界第四大经济体。在过去十年中，由于其经济的快速扩张，中国已经把超过五分之一的农业可耕地改用于非农业用途﹐2千万的农民因此被迫赋闲而流离失所。直接造成的结果之一即是﹐中国不再是自给自足的粮食生产国。地下水位线在华北平原以每年下降5英尺的速度进行。这更加剧了农业生产问题，迫使更多农业人口从农村向城市地区转移，进而造成更多的环境压力。
中国政府的国家环境保护局估计，污染的费用每年在2兆美元左右﹐这个天文数字只是经济快速增长的一部分代价。这些污染造成的损失侵蚀着经济收益与成效，同时还增加了大多数人的环境痛苦。就在今年﹐中国首次超过了美国，成为世界上最大的二氧化碳温室气体总和排放量污染国。虽然中国现有的人均二氧化碳排放量﹐每年3吨半﹐还少于美国的每年20吨的人均水准，但是在中国预见的快速增长的长程发展下，中国将在人均二氧化碳排放量趋于平缓之前﹐增加成现在的四倍。
同住地球村 共同制止中共人权罪行
大家共同住在一个地球上﹐我们都是这个地球村大社区的一部分。侵犯人权的罪行可以发生在任何一个国家﹐也有许多不同的表现途径。无视一个人群的人权﹑和为了一些人的利益及经济所得而伤害另一群人，这就是一种侵犯人权的罪行。你们有能力从你们自己的心中做起去阻止它，并在世界范围内制止侵犯人权的罪行。想想你们可以采取什么行动﹖用你们正义善良的思想指导你们制止人权罪行的行动吧﹗
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(11th Grader Keanan Thompson’s Speech at the Rally)
The Human Rights Torch Relay is taking a progressive step in making the world aware of the human rights violations being perpetrated by China’s communist regime. This event, which began in Olympia, Greece, home of the Olympics, has traveled through more than twenty five European cities spreading words of CCP (Chinese Communist Party) injustices.
Upon receiving the Olympic Games, China was given an International Olympic Committee mandate to improve Chinese living standards and civil liberties. No serious effort has been put toward reform – only towards silencing the outspoken. The Olympic Games are a gift that the CCP’s actions do not warrant.
Environmental conditions in China are atrocious. These conditions effect the vast majority of the Chinese population as 70% of Chinese wealth falls to 0.4% of the population. The Chinese government is communist only in name and a tyrannical, oligarchy in action. It is tragedy that so few enjoy basic human necessities while the Chinese masses suffer from the ravages the CCP has wreaked on the eco-system. Today, a half billion Chinese citizens go without clean drinking water.
It was reported in the Epoch Times of Lake Tai: “The lake succumbed this year to industrial and agricultural waste by turning fluorescent green. At least two million people who live among the rice paddies and chemical factories on the [the lake’s] shores must stop drinking or cooking with their main source of water.” China is only getting worse, and it is predicted to soon surpass the United States as the world’s leading nation in carbon emissions despite having signed and ratified the Kyoto Protocol. As the world’s fourth largest economy, it is amazing that most Chinese citizens live in poverty comparable to that of third world nations.
The Chinese human rights situation mirrors its decrepit ecology. A group the CCP has taken special interest in pursuing is Falun Gong. This non-religious group has proven nothing but sincere and empathic to the Chinese people. Falun Gong meditation exercises focus only on developing and strengthening the flow of one’s chi (perhaps scientifically explained by dark matter) to improve health and happiness. The CCP fears any large group not under its direct control. Accordingly, the Falun Gong followers has become subject to undeserved persecution.
There have been countless reports and irrefutable evidence of organ harvesting of often live Falun Gong practitioners. During the recent 17th National Communist Party Congress, Chinese officials refused to address this, any other human rights violations, or even acknowledge the public massacre in Tiananmen Square June 4, 1989. The Chinese government is a repressive regime that leaves its citizens few options but escape. The CCP attempts to keep the masses ignorant – censoring many parts of the internet and justifying the imprisonment of more journalists than any other nation under the ambiguity of “disrupting national unity.”
The nations of the world need to take a strong stance against this oppression. Chinese people are being denied basic human rights and civil liberties that are the intrinsic right of all men and women. A stance can be taken by choosing to boycott the 2008 Beijing Olympics. This would hurt both CCP’s prestige and economy. If this is not sufficient to provoke change, nations must enact strict economic sanctions. Despite economic difficulties for nations who regularly trade with China, they must undertake any means necessary.
Yes, protesters’ voices mean something, but without the aid of major nations, progress will be undoubtedly stagnant. T.S. Eliot wrote in ”The Hollow Men”: “This is the way the world ends/ Not with a bang but a whimper.” Individuals and private organizations hold power, but in perspective their combined voice is a mere whimper to the CCP. The nations of the world can be the bang needed to be a catalyst for change. Truly if the world’s nations choose not to right this injustice, offering only verbal support, then perhaps the Chinese are forsaken, and if perchance injustice visits them one day, they will be as well.
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(Economics Teacher Steve Cambisios’ s Speech at the Rally)
The Human Rights Torch Relay is an international campaign that seeks to bring an end to all human rights abuses in China. As a condition of being awarded the 2008 Olympics games, the Chinese government pledged to adhere to the Olympic charter and improve its record in human rights. To date that pledge has not been fulfilled. I am honored to speak at this rally to support the Human Rights Torch Relay. As an economics teacher, I wish to comment on China’s deteriorating eco-systems and human rights crimes caused by the rapid economic development. And urge the international communities to pay attention to the human rights abuses in China and together to end these crimes.
While the Chinese government proclaims that in the last 25 years 225 million people have been lifted out of the depth of absolute poverty, the Chinese government’s definition of absolute poverty is less than $0.30 of purchasing power/person/day. If one were to use the United Nations’ standard of $ 1 of purchasing power/person/day, then almost 220 million more people, nearly one-sixth of China’s population live in absolute poverty. Many of the poor live in underdeveloped rural areas or are members of China’s recognized ethnic minorities. For example, in Tibet fifty percent of the population is illiterate. The GINI co-efficient (that measures income inequality) has increased so much in the past two decades that income inequality is greater in communist China than in the capitalist United States.
Environmental issues related to economic development have had serious human rights consequences. Before being modified at the request of the Chinese government, an early draft of a 2007 World Bank report estimated that dangerous air and water quality contributed to nearly three-quarter of a million deaths each year. Half of all sewage in China is untreated. There are over half a million cases of dysentery each year.
China, today, has the world’s fourth largest economy. In the past ten years, due to its rapid economic expansion, China has converted over one-fifth of its arable land to non-agricultural uses. Twenty million farmers have been displaced. One result is that China is no longer self-sufficient in food production. The groundwater table in the North China Plain is dropping by five feet per year. This exacerbates the problem of agricultural productivity, increases migration from rural to urban areas, and causes more environmental stress.
The Chinese government’s State Environmental Protection Agency estimates that pollution costs at $ 200 billion per year. This is only part of the cost of rapid economic growth and these losses erode economic gains and add to the suffering of many. Just this year, China surpassed the United States as the world’s largest contributor of CO2 emissions. While China’s 3.5 tons/person/year is less than The United States’ 20 tons/person/year, China’s long-range plans are to nearly quadruple its per capita carbon footprint before leveling off.
We all share the same planet. We are part of the same global community. Human rights abuses can occur in any country in a variety of ways. Ignoring the rights of some humans and mistreating them for the benefit and economic gain of other humans is a human rights abuse. You have the power to stop it in your own heart and to stop human rights abuses throughout the world. Think about what action you can take. Take action from your righteous thoughts.
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