(Clearwisdom.net) On September 7, 2006, the European Parliament unanimously passed a resolution calling on the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to release Falun Gong practitioner Bu Dongwei, attorney Gao Zhisheng and other human rights defenders.

Beijing Falun Gong practitioner Bu Dongwei

Edward McMillan-Scott (first from right) and members of the Legislative Council in Hong Kong including Hon Chun-yan (first from left) and Lau Wai-Hing (middle) signed a joint statement urging the CCP regime to pay attention to human rights

More than seven hundred members of the European Parliament are elected from 25 member states and represent 457 million citizens (Photo source: Tilburg University website)

The resolution was initiated by Charles Tannock, spokesperson for Foreign Affairs of the European Parliament, Edward McMillan-Scott, Vice President of the European Parliament, and Simon Coveney, member of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the European Parliament.

The resolution states, "[The European Parliament] calls upon the Chinese authorities to reveal the whereabouts of human rights lawyer Gao Zhisheng, one of China's most outspoken lawyers and dissidents who is held on suspicion of criminal activity, and to release him unless he is to be charged with a recognized criminal offence; similarly calls for the release of Chen Guangcheng, a peasants' rights advocate who has helped citizens in their attempts to sue their local authorities for carrying out forced abortions and sterilizations and who was sentenced to more than four years in prison, and of Bu Dongwei, who has been assigned to two and a half years of 'Re-education through Labour' (RTL) and who is detained at an undisclosed location; therefore urges the authorities to ensure that all human rights defenders can carry out peaceful and legitimate activities without fear of arbitrary arrest, torture or ill-treatment and that they be given access to proper legal representation in the event of arrest;

"Strongly condemns the detention and torture of Falun Gong practitioners in prisons, 'Re-education through Labour' camps, psychiatric hospitals and 'legal education schools;' is concerned about reports that organs of detained Falun Gong practitioners have been removed and sold to hospitals; urges the Chinese Government to end the detention and torture of Falun Gong practitioners and to release them immediately;"

The resolution was a supplement to a report on China's human rights written by Hans Belder, a Dutch member of European Parliament. The report criticizes China's human rights record and condemned China's interference in religious affairs, even though China's constitution stipulates freedom of belief. The report also expresses serious concern over torture and labor camps in China. The European Parliament asked China to stop the death sentence and not to intimidate, persecute, and imprison freedom activists.

Beijing Falun Gong practitioner Bu Dongwei was a staff member of the Beijing office of the Asia Foundation. He is a kind-hearted and sincere young man. On May 19, seven police officers surrounded Mr. Bu's residence in Beijing and illegally arrested him. He was sentenced to two-and-a-half years' term of labor camp for practicing Falun Gong. His whereabouts are not known.

Amnesty International called Mr. Bu as prisoner of conscience in its press release on August 29. According to Amnesty, "[Mr. Bu] was accused of 'resisting the implementation of national laws' and 'disturbing social order.' The evidence cited was a verbal confession he made to police, and 80 copies of Falun Gong literature that the police discovered in his home."

Amnesty International states, "Bu Dongwei had previously served a term of ten months' RTL from August 2000 to May 2001 in Tuanhe RTL facility for 'using a heretical organization to disrupt the implementation of the law' after he petitioned the authorities asking them to review their ban on Falun Gong. During this period, he was reportedly subjected to torture and ill-treatment, including being made to sit all day in a small chair as well as beatings and sleep deprivation aimed at forcing him to renounce his belief in Falun Gong."

Radio Free Asia reported on August 2 that spokesperson for Falun Gong in San Francisco, Sherry Zhang, pointed out that Bu Dongwei was arrested for practicing Falun Gong. Ms. Zhang said that the CCP regime's arrest of Bu Dongwei is an act violating the Chinese Constitution. The Asia Foundation is a non-governmental organization focusing on education, women and legal issues in China.

The European Parliament passed a bill on September 7 calling on European leaders not to remove the arms embargo to China before China's human rights condition is improved.

Well-known Chinese lawyer Gao Zhisheng has been persecuted by the CCP for defending Falun Gong practitioners and other persecuted or underprivileged groups. After investigating the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners, Mr. Gao wrote three open letters to Hu Jintao and Wen Jiabao, calling for an end to the persecution. His law office was forcefully closed. His whole family was under surveillance by special agents and police. On August 15, the police arrested him in Shandong Province and have detained him since then.

Edward McMillan-Scott, Vice President of European Parliament, made a special trip to Beijing to investigate the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners and the allegation of the CCP's removal of organs from living Falun Gong practitioners. He met with two Falun Gong practitioners, Cao Dong and Niu Jinping. Mr. Cao personally witnessed holes in the body of a practitioner after his organs were removed.

Mr. McMillan-Scott said in August that he planned to meet Gao Zhisheng in Beijing, but gave up the plan out of concern for Mr. Gao's safety. He talked with Mr. Gao for one-and-a-half hours over the phone.

Mr. McMillan-Scott made a round trip to Australia and New Zealand in August to expose the CCP's organ harvesting from living Falun Gong practitioners. On the same day after his arriving in Australia, on August 15, Mr. Gao was arrested. Mr. McMillan-Scott said that arresting Mr. Gao is the CCP's reaction to the exposure of the live organ removal and to his trip to Australia to motivate further international investigation of the issue.

Mr. McMillan-Scott publicly declared his membership in the Coalition to Investigate the Persecution of Falun Gong (CIPFG) during a rally in Hong Kong supporting the 13 million Chinese people who have quit the Chinese Communist party (CCP) and its affiliated organizations. The rally was held on the morning of August 26, 2006. The rally was organized by the Epoch Times newspaper and the Service Center for Quitting the CCP office in Hong Kong. Mr. McMillan-Scott also published a joint statement with members of the legislative council in Hong Kong, including Hon Chun-yan, calling on lawyers around the world to protest to their local Chinese embassies and consulates regarding the recent secret arrest and torture of renowned human rights lawyer Gao Zhisheng, and to urge the Chinese authorities to immediately release Mr. Gao.

In his open letter to Mr. Gao, Mr. McMillan-Scott stated, "The Chinese Government is, as always, inhuman, stubbornly biased, and doing everything at will."

During Mr. McMillan-Scott's visit to Australia, Australia's ruling party and the largest opposition party reached agreement on calling for an independent international investigation into the CCP's organ harvesting from living Falun Gong practitioners. On September 4, the Swedish Christian Democratic Party, Leftist Party and Environmental Party released a joint declaration: "The CCP must stop stealing organs," urging the Swedish government to take up a position with other countries in the European Union, Council of Europe, and the UN, to force the CCP regime to immediately allow an investigation of all Falun Gong practitioners and other prisoners of conscience held in prisons, labor camps, detention centers, hospitals and mental facilities.