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- Joint Statement
- Statement from U. S. Department of State
- Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (IPAC)
- Statements from U.S. officials
- Statements from Arizona officials
This 20th of July 2020 marks 21 years since a systemic and brutal effort to ‘eradicate’ Falun Gong was initiated by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) government;
In July 1999, the persecution was initiated by former CCP head Jiang Zemin, who was carrying out a genocidal policy against Falun Gong practitioners (also known as Falun Dafa).
Millions of Chinese Falun Gong practitioners were arbitrarily arrested and imprisoned without due process and many were tortured and even killed.
As of today, many Falun Gong Practitioners are still detained in ‘re-education through labour’ camps, prisons, and other detention facilities as prisoners of conscience. There have been many reports of torture and even organthe CCP’s atrocity of harvesting organs from countless living practitioners
Joint Statment
A total of 606 lawmakers from 30 countries in North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, Latin America, and the Middle East, and across party lines , have signed a “Joint Statement”,
calling on the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to immediately stop the “systematic and brutal campaign to ‘eradicate’ the spiritual discipline of Falun Gong.”
“These simultaneous statements reflect an unprecedented effort by government representatives from across the political spectrum and around the world to condemn the Chinese Communist Party’s injustices against Falun Gong,” says Levi Browde, Executive Director of the Falun Dafa Information Center.
“Together they send a clear message of solidarity to those suffering in China and an unmistakable rejection of the Chinese regime’s campaign to wipe out a peaceful faith practiced by millions around the world.”
The statement says
“The persecution of Falun Gong in China has been one of the harshest campaigns against a faith group in modern times,”
The statement says
“We… urge the Chinese government to respect international norms … and to immediately stop the persecution of Falun Gong in China, and to unconditionally release all detained Falun Gong practitioners and other prisoners of conscience,”
The Joint statement outlines a number of reports from governments, the United Nations, and human rights organizations that have documented the persecution campaign against Falun Gong.
- An independent people’s tribunal in London found that China has been harvesting organs from Falun Gong adherents for years “on a significant scale.”
- The European Parliament passed a resolution in 2013 expressing “deep concern over the president and credible reports of systematic, state sanctioned organ harvesting” by Beijing from Falun Gong practitioners in large numbers.
- The U.S. Congress passed a similar resolution in 2016.
- A 2007 U.S. State Department Human Rights Report pointing to findings by the U.N. special rapporteur on torture: that two-thirds of victims of alleged torture by the Chinese regime are Falun Gong adherents.
- The statement by Amnesty International says Falun Gong adherents continue to be “subjected to persecution, arbitrary detention, unfair trials and torture, and other ill-treatment.”
The statement’s signatories are current and former officials from the United Kingdom, Canada, Germany, France, Italy, Denmark, Ireland, the Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland, Belgium, Romania, Estonia, Hungary, Austria, Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Israel, Australia, New Zealand, Latvia, Norway, Argentina, Chile, Japan, Taiwan, Venezuela, the United States and Indonesia.
The full joint statement and more messages of support can be found here.
Statement from U. S. Department of State
MICHAEL R. POMPEO, SECRETARY OF STATE
JULY 20, 2020
Since 1999, the Communist Party of China (CCP) has sought to eradicate Falun Gong, a spiritual practice originating in China, and its peaceful practitioners and human rights defenders who have fought for their right to practice their beliefs. Extensive evidence shows the PRC government continues to repress and abuse this community to this day, including reported torture of Falun Gong practitioners and detention of thousands.
Last year, I welcomed Dr. Yuhua Zhang, one among many Falun Gong survivors of the CCP’s campaign of persecution, to the Ministerial to Advance Religious Freedom. After surviving what she described as torture while in a labor camp and a prison in China, she advocates on behalf of her imprisoned husband, Ma Zhenyu, who has endured months of torture because he refuses to renounce his Falun Gong beliefs.
We call on the PRC government to immediately end its depraved abuse and mistreatment of Falun Gong practitioners, release those imprisoned due to their beliefs, such as Ma Zhenyu, and address the whereabouts of missing practitioners. Twenty-one years of persecution of Falun Gong practitioners is far too long, and it must end.
Original Release: https://www.state.gov/21st-anniversary-of-the-prc-governments-persecution-of-falun-gong/
Statement from IPAC
Strong words of support from Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (IPAC)
Statements from U. S. Officials
A bipartisan group of 29 U.S. Members of Congress, as well as the country’s ambassador-at-large for international religious freedom, have released their own statements condemning the persecution and expressing support for Falun Gong.
Sam Brownback, U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom, recorded a video expressing sadness on the solemn occasion of the anniversary and reflecting on the “the 21st anniversary of the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners in the People’s Republic of China.”
He went on to say that the “untold suffering” endured by Falun Gong at the hands of the Chinese Communist Party, which, he pointed out, includes horrific tactics such as forced organ harvesting.
“We thank you [Falun Gong practitioners] for your persistence. We thank you for standing up for religious freedom in a very difficult situation. God bless you and we will continue to stand with you.”
The full collection of statements is available here.
Statement from AZ Official
Arizona Congressman Paul Gosar says “The resolve, bravery, and commitment of Chinese Falun Gong members to the three core principles of truthfulness, benevolence, and forbearance despite the danger it places one in is the genuine mark of a freedom loving group.”
Read his Letter at https://faluninfo.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Rep.-Paul-Gosar-R-AZ-4th-District-5th.pdf
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