International Lawmakers to China: ‘End the Persecution of Falun Gong’
July 20, 2024 marks the 25th anniversary of the Chinese Communist Party’s crackdown on the spiritual practice Falun Gong. This year, Friends of Falun Gong, an American non-profit, has sponsored a co-signing campaign for joint statement publicly denouncing the Chinese Communist Party’s persecution. So far, over 130 parliamentarians from 15 countries have signed the Inter-Parliamentary Joint Statement 2024.
It describes the “crimes against humanity” committed by the Chinese Communist regime:
“We strongly condemn the 25 years of human rights abuses against Falun Gong practitioners in China. We understand that Falun Gong (a.k.a. Falun Dafa) is a spiritual meditation practice based on the principles of Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance,” the statement reads. “The 20th of July 2024 marks 25 years since the Chinese Communist Party launched a systematic and brutal campaign to ‘eradicate’ Falun Gong. Since July 1999, millions of Falun Gong practitioners in China have been arbitrarily arrested and jailed without due process and many have been tortured and even killed. At the very least, thousands have died as a result of such torture and other abuses in police custody.”
Falun Gong practitioners and their sympathizers worldwide have used grassroots efforts to raise awareness about the persecution, eventually leading to increasing recognition of the persecution as genocide. In 2019, the China Tribunal in London concluded beyond reasonable doubt, based on the testimonies of survivors, that forced organ harvesting from living prisoners of conscience is indeed happening in China.
The statement also acknowledges that the European Parliament and American Congress have recently pushed forward resolutions in their respective jurisdictions condemning the persecution and taking measures toward its end.
The joint statement concludes:
“We, the undersigned, therefore urge the Chinese government to respect international norms and legal obligations, including the United Nations Convention Against Torture, which China has ratified, and to immediately stop the 25-year-long persecution of Falun Gong in China, and to unconditionally release all detained Falun Gong practitioners and other prisoners of conscience.”
Friends of Falun Gong’s executive director Alan Adler said:
“Friends of Falun Gong is sponsoring this campaign to help amplify the voices of those who wish to see the end of this unjust persecution. With these signatures, we show that while the Chinese Communist Party might try to commit its crimes in the dark, the truth has already come to light. Prominent members of the international community are joining in to condemn these crimes against humanity, and together we will restore freedom and justice to a group of wrongfully harmed spiritual believers. ”
The next milestone for gathering signatures for the joint statement will be Dec.10, International Human Rights Day, and will remain open into 2025. The list of signatories is available here.