July 1, 2006

Several Campbelltown residents traveled to Canberra to express concerns to Prime Minister John Howard and other politicians about alleged death camps and illegal organ trading in China.

The victims are practitioners of Falun Gong, also called Falun Dafa. It is a traditional Chinese mild and body practice that combines meditation, gentle exercise and moral teachings such as compassion and tolerance.

Father Peter Caruana, the Catholic parish priest at Ingleburn, attended the Canberra press conference and forum last week. He is a member of Coalition to Investigate the Persecution of Falun Gong in China (CIPFG).

Another forum was held in the Holy Family Primary School Library in Ingelburn.

Local Falun Gong Practitioner Stacey Wang said she was touched by the response from residents. "They expressed how they would write letters to the Prime Minister and asked to conduct a thorough investigation of this horrific organ harvesting and killing," she said.

"People lined up to sign petitions and now we have 98 signatures. Father Peter has always been kind, considerate and has offered his help. His values and actions should be highly credited in our society."

Father Caruana wrote to John Howard prior to the prime minister’s visit to China and expressed his concerns.

"Falun Gong practitioners in China are being arrested, tortured and harvested for human organs, then left to die," Father Caruana said. "These people in China are being used as a means of providing organs for transplantation against their will. I need to speak out from my heart as a human being, a Christian and a free citizen of Australia."