(Minghui.org) United Nation’s International Day in Support of Victims of Torture falls on June 26 every year. Falun Gong practitioners held a rally at Commercial Bay in Auckland City. At the rally on June 28, 2025, political figures and human rights activists came to voice their support for practitioners’ efforts to expose the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) 26-year-long persecution of Falun Gong. After the rally, practitioners held a march on Queen Street.

Those who spoke at the rally included Tony Brunt, former member of the Wellington City Council; Peter Dormon, chairman of Friends of Tibet New Zealand; Barry Wilson, president of Auckland Council for Civil Liberties; Kerry Gore, human rights attorney; and Reverend Stuart Vogel.

Falun Gong practitioner Ms. Wang Xingsu called on the public to rescue her father, Mr. Wang Jian. Mr. Wang was arrested in China in August 2024 for refusing to renounce his faith in Falun Gong. After ten months’ illegal detention, he was tried in secret.

Falun Gong practitioners held a march on Queen Street in Auckland City, New Zealand, on June 28, 2025. They exposed the ongoing persecution of Falun Gong in China and the tortures practitioners suffered.

Former City Council Member Hopes to Bring the CCP to Justice

Tony Brunt

Tony Brunt, former member of the Wellington City Council, said at the rally that being free from oppression and torture is a human right, regardless of where one is. “Although we live in a free, democratic society, we cannot stand idly by while our brothers and sisters live under the shadow of brutal dictatorships. We must use the freedom we cherish and its power to free them from slavery and danger.”

He said that if people don’t take action now, the CCP may export to the rest of the world its terror, including coercive investigation, detention, imprisonment, torture, prison rape, organ harvesting from the living, and murder.

“I am pleased to work with the organization’s (Falun Gong) members and supporters to have their evil persecutions in China brought to a long overdue end, and to have the perpetrators of this crime against humanity brought to justice one day,” he said.

In Memory of Falun Gong Practitioners Who Died

Peter Dormon, chairman of Friends of Tibet-New Zealand

Peter Dormon, chairman of Friends of Tibet-New Zealand, said that Falun Gong practitioners refused to follow the CCP’s orders because they can think independently. He said at the rally, “Today we commemorate all the Falun Gong practitioners who suffered the CCP’s tortures and imprisonment and lost their important organs (against their will).”

Barry Wilson, president of Auckland Council for Civil Liberties,

Barry Wilson, president of Auckland Council for Civil Liberties, spoke at the rally. “A report by Amnesty International describes the various tortures the CCP used on Falun Gong practitioners. “It includes electric shocks, hanging up by the arms, sleep and food deprivation, violent force-feeding, and sexual abuse,” he said.

Wilson said that 3,700 Falun Gong practitioners have died in detention as a result of torture and abuse. He encouraged people to take action and sign the petition to end the persecution and the atrocity of organ harvesting from living practitioners.

Human Rights Attorney: CCP Must Be Eliminated to End This Torture

Human rights attorney Kerry Gore

Human rights attorney Kerry Gore came to the rally to show his support. He said that torture is inhumane and a disrespect to humanity. It is used to destroy human autonomy. “It suppresses independent thinking and forces people to give up their faith, regardless of whether it is political, religious, or else,” he said.

As an attorney who defends refugees, Gore has helped asylum seekers from China escape persecution. Evidence shows that the CCP uses tortures on various dissident groups persecuted in China, including democratic activists, human rights lawyers, human rights activists, house church Christians, and Falun Gong practitioners.

He believes that the CCP’s dictatorship is built on violence and torture. To end this torture, one must eliminate the CCP first.

Reverend Is Against All Persecution

Reverend Stuart Vogel

Reverend Stuart Vogel is a Presbyterian minister. He welcomed Falun Gong practitioners’ activities to end the persecution and torture. He said, “Because we are a democratic country, a multicultural country. We need everyone to understand each other, we need to work together.”

Vogel said that he wanted to hear what happened to the Falun Gong practitioners in China. He hoped that the practitioners can talk about what they went through in China and help people understand the suppression they suffered. “I am against all persecution, no matter who the suppressor is,” he said.

Stop Persecuting Falun Gong

Mr. Xing Jian from Henan Province used to protest with his parents for the right to practice Falun Gong in China. Since he was a child, he has witnessed and experienced how the CCP persecutes people. He said at the rally, “Today, I stand on the land of freedom, just to send a clear and firm message: Stop the persecution of Falun Gong, Stop human rights persecution, and Stop state terrorism!

“Falun Gong practitioners are the kindest and most tenacious group of people in China. They adhere to Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance, but are detained, tortured, have their organs harvested while they are alive, and even ‘disappear’ for refusing to give up their faith. If a country cannot guarantee a person’s right to be good, it is not a civilized country.”

He called on the world’s governments to stop working with the CCP and take its crimes against humanity seriously. He hopes that everyone will stand up to support Falun Gong in its effort to end the persecution.

Passersby Show Support

Kelly

Kelly from New Zealand met Falun Gong practitioners when she worked in Houston, Texas. After learning about the persecution of Falun Gong in China, she signed a petition demanding that the CCP end the persecution. “I like the principles of Truthfulness, Compassion, Forbearance and that was why I signed the petition. I think you are great. It’s great to see you here exposing the ongoing persecution in China. The persecution should not be allowed to continue,” she said.

After learning that the persecution has been happening for 26 years, Kelly said, “I think all countries should help Falun Gong and not stand idly by just because the persecution happened in another country. Falun Gong practitioners in China are in a terrible situation, and it’s not easy for them to expose the persecution. They must hold on, and many people will side with you in the end.”

Dushyant Gautam (first on left)

Dushyant Gautam is a graduate student in New Zealand. This was the first time he saw a practitioners’ march. “The protest is very good because what the CCP did to Uyghur Muslims, Tibetans, Buddhists, and Falun Gong practitioners is horrible. It killed many people. I strongly oppose the CCP’s crime of harvesting organs from living individuals. I will ask the United Nations Human Rights Commission to stop the CCP’s crimes and stop all persecution of Falun Gong,” said Gautam.