Condemning 15 Years of Continued Persecution of Falun Gong Practitioners
WHEREAS, Falun Data, also commonly called Falun Gong, is a traditional spiritual practice that involves meditation exercises and a moral principle centered on the values of truthfulness, compassion, and tolerance; and
WHEREAS, Falun Data is considered to be a form of spiritual exercise that draws energy to the body in order to maintain health and a peaceful approach to life; and
WHEREAS, Falun Data, practitioners are people of all social background, races, religions, and age groups; and
WHEREAS, the practice has continually grown in popularity and is now practiced in over 100 countries, and has benefited tens of millions of people; and
WHEREAS, Since July 20, 1999, Jiang Zemin, the then-leader of the Chinese Communist Party launched a campaign to eradicate Falun Gong; and
WHEREAS, as documented by the United States Department of State, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and many other governmental and third-party organizations; over 3700 Falun Gong practitioners have been persecuted to death, and some of their bodies were missing internal organs; and
WHEREAS, The U.S. Department of State in its 2011 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices stated, "Overseas and domestic media and advocacy groups continued to report instances of organ harvesting, particularly from Falun Gong practitioners and Uighurs"; and
WHEREAS, Canadian human rights attorney David Matas and former Canadian Secretary of State for Asia-Pacific David Kilgour co-wrote the investigative report "Bloody Harvest: Revised Report into Allegations of Organ Harvesting of Falun Gong Practitioners in China"; and
WHEREAS, The Matas-Kilgour report concluded that the organ harvesting allegations were true and that tens of thousands of Falun Gong practitioners may have been killed for their organs; and
WHEREAS, Kirk C. Allison, Ph.D., Director of the Program in Human Rights and Health of the University of Minnesota School of Public Health, testified in 2006 that "Mounting Evidence of Falun Gong Practitioners used as Organ Sources in China and Related Ethical Responsibilities" before the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations of the Committee on International Relations, U.S. House of Representatives, and
WHEREAS, The harvested organs are then used by the hospitals associated with the prison for transplants, with the customers for these transplants often being individuals from elsewhere, including the United States; and
WHEREAS, the killing of religious prisoners for the purpose of selling their organs for transplant is an egregious and intolerable violation of the fundamental right to life;
WHEREAS, 2014 marks 15 years of continued persecution of Falun Gong practitioners at the hands of the Chinese Communist Party, by which practitioners of Falun Gong in China have been persecuted, arrested, beaten and treated inhumanely; and
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED That we, the Mayor and members of the City Council, gathered together this 30th day of July 2014 AD, do hereby support those who follow the peaceful practice of Falun Gong members, and
James Cappleman Alderman - 46th Ward
- that any harsh brutal and repressive practices of the Chinese Government against Falun Gong followers be condemned, and
- that the federal government do everything in its power to help stop the atrocities in China; and
- the immediate release of all Falun Gong practitioners and other prisoners of conscience; and
- calls on the Government of the People's Republic of China to immediately end the practice of organ harvesting from Falun Gong and members of other religious and ethnic minority groups.
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