Sydney Independent Media Center: An Open letter to All Members of Parliament (Photo)

December 5, 2005

Respected Parliamentarians, we hope you can show your compassion and support by raising a resolution this week to condemn not just the persecution of Falun Gong in China, but to request the immediate repeal of the certificates restricting our right of appeal.

An Open letter to all Members of Parliament

On the occasion of the last parliamentary sitting of 2005, Australians who practice Falun Gong (Falun Dafa) have come to Parliament House to hold a daily peaceful appeal. We call for your support to end the brutal persecution of Falun Gong in China - and to end the extension of that persecution onto Australian soil.

Some practitioners sitting in front of Parliament today have personally suffered detention and torture in Chinese prisons and laogai, the forced labor camps or Gulags, that are used to force a renouncement of belief in Truth, Compassion and Forbearance, the principles of Falun Dafa. Ms. Amy Xu can testify to a shocking incident that occurred in Jiangsu Province recently. Police broke into the home of a 28-year-old mother and Falun Gong practitioner, illegally arresting her, leaving behind an 8-month-old baby. The death of the baby was discovered only after neighbors discovered maggots crawling from their home and alerted police. It is unknown whether the mother is still alive.

Sadly, such tragedies are not isolated incidents, but the shocking reality practitioners face every day in China under the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) campaign to eradicate peaceful Falun Gong practitioners. Since the persecution began over six years ago, many kind-hearted Australians and people from around the world have condemned these atrocities. This includes several MP's and Senators but so far, not the concerted voice of the Australian Parliament.

We hope that our presence here this week will assist our Parliamentarians to truly understand what they face in dealing with the malevolent CCP, which remains the largest totalitarian regime in the world. The CCP has been responsible for the deaths of 80 million Chinese people in its 56-year rule. The history and atrocities of the CCP are clearly exposed in a special publication known as the Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party. Since its publication in November 2004, Chinese people within and outside China have awakened to the real nature of the CCP and are publishing statements
resigning from the Party and its affiliate organizations. To date, over 20,000 such statements appear online every day, with combined withdrawals totaling 6 million. In Australia alone, the high profile defections of Mr. Chen Yonglin and Mr. Hao Fengjun indicate that those among the Party elite have recognized its imminent collapse. Based on current trends, the collapse of this most despotic totalitarian regime in history is only a matter of time.

As a democratic country, we feel Australia should be the model exemplar of our Asia-Pacific neighbors in voicing support for human rights and proactively condemning the CCP's barbarity. Yet sadly, due to the deception and pressure of the Communist regime, our Foreign Affairs Minister Mr. Downer has signed certificates every month for the last 45 months to restrict our peaceful appeal in front of the Chinese Embassy. Rather than upholding Australia's interests, this conduct goes against the very values we cherish
as a democratic nation. At the same time, as a country where spirituality is valued, we should not condone the Communist regime's persecution against believers of Truth, Compassion, and Forbearance.

Australia has been blessed with the title of the "lucky country." We know that those who share a similar vision for Australia's future are standing up to oppose this kind of conduct that is truly having a damaging effect on Australia's interests.

Respected Parliamentarians, we hope you can show your compassion and support by raising a resolution this week to condemn not just the persecution of Falun Gong in China, but to request the immediate repeal of the certificates restricting our right of appeal. Your voice of support will help the many innocent Falun Gong practitioners who continue to suffer in China, and will help to bring a better future for Australia. When this page of history is turned, our children will take pride in the stance Australians took when
good was threatened by evil. You are creating and paving the way for future generations to come.

Yours Respectfully,

Australian Falun Gong practitioners