(Minghui.org) Falun Dafa practitioners held a day of activities at the Liberty Bell Center in Philadelphia on July 10, 2021, to introduce Falun Dafa, also called Falun Gong, and to raise awareness of the ongoing 22-year-long persecution of Falun Dafa in China.
They introduced the traditional Chinese mind and body practice by demonstrating the Falun Dafa exercises, giving speeches, displaying information, and handing out fliers to tourists from all parts of the country. They also exposed the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) brutal persecution of the practice, especially the state-sanctioned crime of forcibly taking organs from detained prisoners of conscience. Many tourists signed the petition to support ending the atrocities.
Practitioners held activities at the Liberty Bell Center in Philadelphia on July 10 to expose the CCP's 22 year-long persecution of Falun Dafa in China.
Passersby learn about Falun Dafa and how it is being persecuted in China.
Exposing the CCP’s Organ Harvesting Crimes
During the rally, practitioners read Resolution 98 introduced by the State Senate of Pennsylvania on May 5 this year against the CCP’s organ harvesting. The resolution calls on the CCP to immediately end the practice of forced organ harvesting from all prisoners of conscience including Falun Dafa practitioners, and to punish those responsible for these abuses. The resolution calls upon the United States government to initiate a prohibition for all United States teaching hospitals to not train Chinese doctors in transplant surgery. It suggests that the United States Government enact legislation that will prohibit United States citizens from receiving organs abroad where organ sourcing is not in accordance with internationally accepted guidelines, and urged the medical community in the State of Pennsylvania to help raise awareness of unethical organ transplant practices in China.
Jennie Sheeks, a volunteer for Doctors Against Forced Organ Harvesting (DAFOH) spoke at the rally. She said that in the past, few organ transplant surgeries were done in China. However since 1999, after the regime launched its suppression of Falun Dafa, the number of transplants performed annually has increased significantly.
She pointed out that China currently ranks number two globally in the number of organ transplants carried out yearly—just after the U.S. In China, patients only need to wait weeks or even a few days to find a matching organ. However, the wait in America is usually several years. This is because there are tens of thousands of Falun Dafa practitioners detained in Chinese prisons and their organs can be taken at any time.
Jennie Sheeks, a volunteer for DAFOH, addressed the rally and exposed the CCP’s crimes of organ harvesting.
Ms. Sheeks said that resolutions have been passed in the U.S. House of Representatives and a number of states calling on the CCP to stop persecuting Falun Dafa and carrying out forced organ harvesting. She also appealed to people to stand up and help stop the CCP’s brutalities.
Personal Account of Persecution
Mr. Kui Huang, formerly a doctoral student at Tsinghua University in China, recounted the persecution he was subjected to for refusing to give up his belief. He was detained more than ten times for practicing Falun Dafa. The last detention was five years at the No. 2 detention center in Zhuhai and Sihui Prison, Guangdong Province. He said, “I was subjected to various forms of torture in the five years of imprisonment including long periods of slave labor, and forced-feeding. I was shocked with more than ten high-voltage electric batons, and sent to brainwashing sessions. In 2005, I was not allowed to sleep for as long as one month.”
Reenactment of a form of torture: shocked with electric batons
Mr. Kui said he knew more than twelve students and lecturers at Tsinghua University who were illegally arrested, imprisoned or sent to forced labor camps for practicing Falun Dafa. At least five of them were tortured to death. This year marks the 22nd year of the persecution. He said, “This should have ended long ago. Now there is the global trend of resisting the CCP, and its downfall is imminent.”
Israeli Practitioner: We Must Stop the CCP from Taking Practitioners' Organs
Irena Foxson, who works at a finance company, was born in the former Soviet Union. Because her family is Jewish, they fled to Israel to escape communist tyranny, so she has a deep understanding of the terrors of communism, as well as the Nazi’s genocide against the Jewish people.
Ms. Foxson said, “The CCP’s persecution of Falun Dafa is a violation of basic human rights and freedom of belief. It is an embarrassment that something like this is happening in today’s world.” She said that China’s long-term, large-scale removal of organs from Falun Dafa practitioners reminded her of the Nazi’s massacre of the Jews. “The Jews believe that the Holocaust would not happen again yet it is still taking place now. Although it did not fall on the Jews, we cannot let this crime happen to any race, or to anyone. We must not let this go on.”
Originally from India, Santhosh Krishnamurthy is an IT engineer for a bank. He said he learned about the CCP’s persecution of Falun Dafa through his own research. “I was shocked. A government should take care of its citizens but in China, people are being killed for their faith,” he said.
IT engineer Santhosh Krishnamurthy said he was shocked by the CCP’s crimes of organ harvesting.
When he learned how the CCP takes organs from Falun Dafa practitioners while they are still alive, Santhosh said, “I wanted to let more people know the terrible things the Chinese Communist regime has done in the past 22 years.” He said the persecution of Falun Dafa practitioners is, “The greatest sin happening in the world today.”
On the 22nd anniversary of the persecution, Mr. Krishnamurthy said that he feels, “very fortunate to be able to practice cultivation freely in America, to be able to protest against the CCP’s atrocities and help practitioners who are persecuted in China.”
Tourist Calls CCP’s Organ Harvesting Crime “Shocking” and “Terrifying”
Nicky Booker from Tennessee learned about organ harvesting and the persecution in China while visiting the Liberty Bell that day. He said, “The CCP controls Chinese people. I have no doubts about this (organ harvesting). It is terrifying! More Americans should know about the CCP’s crimes, the truth will shock them.”
He also signed the petition calling for an end to the CCP’s tyranny. He said, “The CCP’s actions are very bad. I don’t believe anything the CCP says.”
Sally from Colorado stopped and listened to the speakers. She said the CCP, “does not treat people as humans” and that the organ harvesting is “unbelievable” yet she believes that it is indeed happening.
“If I needed an organ transplant, I would definitely not go to China because I know that what I get is in exchange for a person’s life. I think people should realize this – the whole world should know – this is what the CCP is doing in China right now!” Sally said.
Before departing, she said she would find out more about organ harvesting and pray for it to end.
Background: What Is Falun Dafa?
Falun Dafa (also known as Falun Gong) was first introduced to the public by Mr. Li Hongzhi in Changchun, China in 1992. The spiritual discipline is now practiced in over 100 countries and regions worldwide. Millions of people have embraced the teachings, which are based on the principles of Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance, and includes five gentle exercises that have resulted in improved health and well-being.
Jiang Zemin, former head of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), perceived the spiritual discipline's growing popularity as a threat to the CCP's atheistic ideology and on July 20, 1999, issued an order to ban the practice.
Minghui.org has confirmed the deaths of thousands of practitioners as a result of the persecution over the past 22 years. The actual number is believed to be much higher. More have been imprisoned and tortured for their faith.
There is concrete evidence that the CCP sanctions the harvesting of organs from detained practitioners who are murdered to supply the organ transplant industry.
Under Jiang’s personal direction, the CCP established the 610 Office, an extralegal security organization with the power to override the police and judicial systems and whose sole function is to carry out the persecution of Falun Dafa.
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