(Minghui.org) Irish Falun Gong practitioners held a gathering on July 16, 2014, marking the 15-year persecution against Falun Gong in China. Several Members of Parliament and other professionals joined them to give speeches, or wrote letters to support this event calling for ending the severe human rights violation taking place.

Among the speakers who came to the parade and rally in downtown Dublin on July 16, 2014, were Maureen O'Sullivan (TD, or Teachta Dála, Irish Member of Parliament) and Seamus Healy (TD). Quite a few Members of Parliament and local officials wrote letters to express their support including David Norris (Senator), Averil Power (Senator), Seán Kenny (TD), Cian O’Callaghan (Fingal Councillor), and Declan Lyons (Psychiatrist, from Doctors against Forced Organ Harvesting, also known as DAFOH).

Maureen O'Sullivan (TD) gives a speech during a rally in Dublin, Ireland, on July 16, 2014, to support Falun Gong.Seamus Healy (TD) spoke during the rally calling to end the suppression of Falun Gong

Below are some of the letters from these Members of Parliament and other officials.

Senator David Norris

Dear Friends,

Unfortunately despite my desire to be with you today I cannot due to the fact that I am recuperating from major life saving surgery. However I am delighted to add my support to your call for the principles of Falun Gong, truthfulness, compassion and tolerance to be respected. I believe no Government should feel threatened by these principles.

I call on the Chinese Government to respect the human rights of Falun Gong practitioners and to release prisoners of conscience held for these beliefs. I would like to take this opportunity also to thank people like Dongxue Dai and her colleagues who are tireless workers for this worthy cause.

Senator David Norris

Senator Averil Power

Dear Friends,

I have been concerned about the persecution of Falun Gong since a Trinity student, Zhao Ming, was imprisoned in a labour camp in China while I was President of Trinity College Dublin Students Union.

According to Amnesty International, tens of thousands of Falun Gong practitioners have been arbitrarily detained as part of a campaign of intimidation and persecution targeting the group.

Practitioners have been held in psychiatric hospitals, re-education through Labour (RTL) facilities – a form of administrative detention imposed without charge, trial or judicial review – or sentenced to long prison terms.

It’s a source of deep concern to me that the Chinese government continues to imprison people for their beliefs. I am also horrified by the reports of organ harvesting of Falun Gong practitioners.

It’s now 15 years since the Chinese Government began to persecute Falun Gong practitioners, a group of innocent people who merely just follow Truthfulness, Compassion and Forbearance. I call on authorities in Ireland, the EU and the United Nations to put pressure on the Chinese regime to immediately cease their persecution of Falun Gong practitioners and ensure respect for human rights in China, including freedom of belief and expression.

Yours sincerely,

Senator Averil Power

Seán Kenny TD

I am Labour TD Sean Kenny. I am calling on the Irish Government, and other administrations, to publicly condemn the organ harvesting of Chinese people. Today is the 15th anniversary of the persecution of Falun Gong Practitioners. The harvesting of unwilling donors is a crime against humanity. The persecution of Falun Gong practitioners must stop! I wish you all success on today's event. The world needs peace and kindness.

Regards,

Seán Kenny TD

Senator Labhrás Ó Murchú

In a free and civilised society, it is essential that the individual’s right to personal beliefs is respected. The hallmark of a progressive and enlightened people is the trust which the political regime places in its citizens and the structures which are provided to protect such trust and its expression.

The repression of Falun Gong runs counter to the meaning of true freedom. The persecution of any group because of their belief is anathema to human dignity and it counter-productive.

China is an ancient nation characterised by a rich cultural heritage. There strong and enduring ties of friendship between Ireland and China and these would be strengthened and enhanced by the removal of obstacles which stem from practices which are unacceptable in the free world.

Senator Labhrás Ó Murchú

Cllr. Cian O’Callaghan

Friends,

I am writing a short letter to express solidarity with practitioners of Falun Gong and all those who have been persecuted by the authoritarian regime in China.

The right to practice Falun Gong is a fundamental human right. The grave attacks on the rights of Falun Gong practitioners are an attack against all of us.

Increasingly relations between Ireland and China are being thought of in purely economic terms. This reduction of our international relations to simple economics and short term material gain diminishes us all. It is imperative that Ireland regains its strong voice as a defender of human rights and freedom for people around the world. Trade and economic relationships are critically important to Ireland – but not at all and any costs.

The Chinese government must act now to lift all repression against Falun Gong practitioners, to end forced labour camps and to allow for free political expression and dissent.

In solidarity,

Cllr. Cian O’Callaghan

Dr. Declan Lyons, Psychiatrist, Doctors Against Forced Organ Harvesting (DAFOH)

I wish to add my voice and express outrage and concern about the grave human rights violations that are occurring in connection with the 15-year persecution of the practitioners and supporters of the Falun Gong movement in the People's Republic of China. 25 years ago the belly of the beast of the Chinese Communist Party in the form of tanks and bullets crushed the hopes and aspirations of a young generation seeking freedom and self-determination.

The persecution of 1999 is less recalled by a violent onslaught of TV images, yet the catalogue of cruelty against Falun Gong practitioners which began in that year is no less barbaric. The flood of fury which was unleashed in 1999 has swept away countless numbers of Chinese citizens, with tens of thousands of Falun Gong members being incarcerated in labour camps, many also being detained involuntarily in psychiatric hospitals and subjected to so-called treatment such as Electroconvulsive therapy and powerful antipsychotic drugs. Others have been tortured and exiled from family, friends and community both within and outside China.

The most sinister aspect of the persecution has been the Chinese Communist Party's practice to remove internal organs from executed and live Falun Gong practitioners and sell them to the highest bidder on the international transplant market. This has been admitted by individuals such as China's former deputy health minister in an Australian TV interview.

How can a political organisation such as the Chinese Communist Party claim to care for and protect its citizens when they are perpetrating such cruelty against a responsible, civic minded group of its populace who simply wish to freely exercise their spiritual beliefs? Religious tolerance is not based on subservience to one institution of State and reluctantly allowing spiritual organisations to exist, but rather about developing a respectful relationship between a people and their leaders with the knowledge that being a member of the Communist Party does not exclude a person from exercising a spiritual dimension in their lives. Instead all we currently see is the maintenance of secrecy, state interference and control at all costs in the private lives of individuals in China.

China must stop the current persecution and ongoing crackdown against Falun Gong in mainland China and beyond. China must lift the restrictions on the practice of Falun Gong and reassure its followers that they are valued citizens and members of society. China must investigate the most sinister aspects of the persecution waged against Falun Gong to date and being to justice those responsible for these crimes.

Too many ordinary Chinese over many decades have simply been chewed up by the machinery of the Chinese Communist Party – if China is to advance socially and economically it could do well to follow the example of its own citizens-namely resilient Falun Gong members who for the last 15 years have epitomised the virtues of truthfulness, compassion and forbearance. We humbly salute and honour their sacrifice today and every day while the persecution continues.

Dr. Declan Lyons, Psychiatrist, Doctors against Forced Organ Harvesting (DAFOH)