Local Governments in Virginia Pass Resolutions Condemning Forced Organ Harvesting in China

(Minghui.org) Since the beginning of 2021, 23 resolutions have been passed by local governments in Virginia to condemn China’s forced organ harvesting from prisoners of conscience, mostly Falun Gong practitioners. Essex County, Staunton City and Fluvanna County are the latest government bodies to pass such resolutions.

The resolution passed unanimously by the Fluvanna County Board of Supervisors on November 3, 2021, reminded its citizens that they may become accomplices in killing innocent lives if they go to China for organ transplants.

The resolution says, “extensive and credible reports have revealed mass killing of prisoners of conscience in the People's Republic of China, primarily practitioners of the Chinese spiritual practice of Falun Gong, but also other religious and ethnic minority groups, in order to obtain organs for transplants.”

It goes on to say that “[The Virginia Fluvanna Country Board of Supervisors] condemn, in the strongest possible terms, the persecution of Falun Gong and the state-sponsored organ harvesting of all prisoners of conscience currently being carried out by the Chinese Communist regime.”

The resolution urges the U.S. Government to thoroughly investigate organ transplant practices in China and take all reasonable steps to end forced organ harvesting.

Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, is a mind-body discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime for the past 22 years.

Fluvanna County Board of Supervisors met on November 3, 2021, and unanimously passed a resolution condemning forced organ harvesting by the Chinese communist government.

Essex County passed a resolution condemning forced organ harvesting in China on September 14, 2021.

The Staunton city council passed a resolution condemning forced organ harvesting in China on October 14, 2021.

County Supervisor Admires the Courage of Falun Gong Practitioners

Mr. Donald W. Weaver, sponsor of the resolution, was very touched after learning about forced organ harvesting in China. He said it breaks his heart just hearing about it. He called forced organ harvesting evil and genocidal.

Mr. Donald W. Weaver meeting with local Falun Gong practitioners

Mr. Weaver met with Falun Gong practitioner Ms. Chi Lihua and heard her personal experience of being persecuted while in China. He said he admires the courage of Falun Gong practitioners in resisting the persecution.

Ms. Chi and her husband Mr. Xu Dawei were arrested for making materials to raise awareness of the persecution of Falun Gong. Mr. Xu was sentenced to eight years in prison and was brutally tortured. He died 13 days after he was released from prison. Within 100 days of Mr. Xu’s passing, Ms. Chi lost her parents and older brother. Ms. Chi herself was sent to prison four times for her faith in Falun Gong and barely survived the ordeal.

Ms. Chi and her daughter holding pictures of her late husband at a candlelight vigil in Washington, D.C. on July 16, 2021.

Mr. Weaver told Ms. Chi that Americans need to know the truth about the persecution and understand the evil of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). He said he admires the courage of Falun Gong practitioners in China and elsewhere for stepping out and telling people about the truth. He called them sparks of hope and encourages practitioners to continue their effort and not to give up.

Mr. Weaver believes that the most important thing for practitioners to do outside China is to expose the persecution and the CCP’s evil deeds in order to end the persecution. He believes every local government should pass a resolution like Fluvanna County has.

Finally Mr. Weaver said he very much agrees with Falun Gong’s principles of Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance, and hopes more people can follow these principles in their lives.

Staunton City Council Unanimously Passed Resolution Condemning Forced Organ Harvesting

The city council of Staunton unanimously passed a similar resolution on October 14, 2021, two weeks ahead of schedule. Mayor Andrea Oakes thanked local Falun Gong practitioners in her speech for educating the community about the issue. She said she had communicated with Virginia State Delegate John Avoli about the resolution. Mr. Avoli expressed his support for the resolution, as well as Vice Mayor Mark Robinson.

During the council meeting, the sponsor of the resolution, Councilwoman Carolyn Dull, spoke about how local residents should pay attention to forced organ harvesting in China and avoid unknowingly participating in this type of organ transplants. She thanked local practitioners for their effort. She believes that everyone should stand up and oppose China’s state-sponsored forced organ harvesting from prisoners of conscience.

Full Text of the Fluvanna County Resolution

BOARD OF SUPERVISORSCounty of FluvannaPalmyra, Virginia

RESOLUTION No. 23-2020A RESOLUTION TO EDUCATE FLUVANNA RESIDENTS AND MEDICAL COMMUNITY ON THE RISKS OF TRAVELING TO CHINA FOR ORGAN TRANSPLANT IN LIGHT OF RECENT REPORTS OF STATE-SPONSORED ORGAN HARVESTING FROM PRISONERS OF CONSCIENCE

WHEREAS, extensive and credible reports have revealed mass killing of prisoners of conscience in the People's Republic of China, primarily practitioners of the Chinese spiritual practice of Falun Gong, but also other religious and ethnic minority groups, in order to obtain organs for transplants; and

WHEREAS, The China Tribunal, an independent tribunal sitting in London chaired by Sir Geoffrey Nice, who was a prosecutor at the international criminal tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, concluded on Jun 18, 2019, in a unanimous determination at the end of its year-long hearings, that the killing of detainees in China for organ transplants is continuing and victims include imprisoned followers of the Falun Gong movement; and

WHEREAS, the 2017 Freedom House report, “The Battle for China's Spirit,” states that “available evidence suggests that forced extraction of organs from Falun Gong detainees for sale in transplant operations has occurred on a large scale and may be continuing”; and

WHEREAS, an investigative report published in June 2016 by human rights attorney David Matas, former Canadian Secretary of State for Asia-Pacific, David Kilgour, and journalist Ethan Gutmann, estimated that China is performing transplants at a rate amounting to “an industrial-scale, state-directed organ transplantation system, controlled through national policies and funding, and implicating both the military and civilian healthcare systems”; and

WHEREAS, Falun Gong, a spiritual practice involving meditative “qigong” exercises and centered on the values of truthfulness, compassion, and forbearance, became immensely popular in China in the late 1990s with multiple estimates placing the number of practitioners at upwards of seventy million (70,000,000); and

WHEREAS, in July 1999, the Chinese Communist Party launched an intensive, nationwide persecution designed to eradicate the spiritual practice of Falun Gong. Hundreds of thousands of Falun Gong practitioners have been detained extralegally in Chinese reeducation-through-labor camps, detention centers, and prisons, where physical and mental torture is common.

WHEREAS, in June 2016, the United States House of Representatives unanimously passed House Resolution 343, condemning the systemic, state-sanctioned organ harvesting from practitioners of Falun Gong and other prisoners of conscience; and

WHEREAS, there has been little media coverage of this problem yet dozens of Fluvanna citizens petitioned the Fluvanna Board of Supervisors to take up this matter, and WHEREAS, Fluvanna residents should be fully informed of the organ source in China before they make the decision to engage in organ transplant tourism in China and Fluvanna County Board should assist in raising awareness in this regard;

NOW THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY the Fluvanna County Board of Supervisors, that we condemn, in the strongest possible terms, the persecution of Falun Gong and the state-sponsored organ harvesting of all prisoners of conscience currently being carried out by the Chinese Communist regime; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that we urge the United States government, to thoroughly investigate organ transplant practices in China and take all reasonable steps to end the practice of nonconsensual organ harvesting from Falun Gong practitioners; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the residents and the medical community servicing Fluvanna and the immediate region be informed about the risks or travel to China for organ transplants to help prevent local citizens from becoming accomplices in state-sponsored forced organ harvesting from prisoners of conscience; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this resolution be provided to the Governor of Virginia, Virginia’s General Assembly, Virginia’s congressional delegation and two U.S. Senators, and the Virginia Department of Health.

THE FOREGOING RESOLUTION WAS DULY AND REGULARLY ADOPTED by the Fluvanna County Board of Supervisors of Fluvanna County on this 3rd day of November 2021.

Full Text of the Staunton City Resolution

RESOLUTION OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF STAUNTON, VIRGINIA TO EDUCATE STAUNTON’S RESIDENTS AND MEDICAL COMMUNITY ABOUT REPORTS OF THE PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF CHINA’S STATE SPONSORED ORGAN HARVESTING FROM PRISONERS OF CONSCIENCE

WHEREAS, the global organ trafficking trade exists and a large component of this practice involves the coerced harvesting of organs from individuals who do not consent to such actions; and

WHEREAS, medical “tourism”, the practice of traveling to other countries for medical procedures, including organ transplantation, is increasingly prevalent, and in the case of certain organ transplantation, the source of such organs is not readily discoverable by recipients, many of whom are unaware of information regarding the donors or whether or not the donated organ was procured voluntarily and in accordance with ethical and legal standards; and

WHEREAS, there is a growing amount of evidence that the People’s Republic of China is sponsoring organ harvesting from prisoners of conscience-specifically certain ethnic minority and religious groups such as practitioners of Falun Gong (also known as Falun Dafa) as documented by independent, non-partisan organizations, Non Governmental Organizations, and tribunals such as the International Coalition to End Transplant Abuse in China (ETAC), The China Tribunal, and Freedom House; and

WHEREAS, in 2016, the United State House of Representatives unanimously adopted House Resolution 343 condemning the systemic, state-sanctioned organ harvesting in the People’s Republic of China and called on the Government of the People’s Republic of China to end the practice of organ harvesting from prisoners of conscience; and

WHEREAS, there is little public awareness of the People’s Republic of China’s nonconsensual organ harvesting from prisoners of conscience; and

WHEREAS, the Staunton City Council received a presentation and petition signed by eighty-two individuals at its September 23, 2021 meeting urging the Staunton City Council to inform its residents of the People’s Republic of China’s nonconsensual organ harvesting from prisoners of conscience; and

WHEREAS, Staunton residents should be fully informed of the organ source in China before they make the decision to engage in medical tourism in China and the Staunton City Council should assist in raising awareness of this issue.

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the Council of the City of Staunton, Virginia, that the residents and medical community serving the City of Staunton and the surrounding region be informed about the risks of travel to China for organ transplants to help prevent our local citizens from unknowingly receiving organ transplants from state-sponsored nonconsensual organ harvesting from prisoners of conscience.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Council of the City of Staunton, Virginia opposes any coerced organ harvesting, specifically including, but not limited to, any state-sponsored nonconsensual organ harvesting from prisoners of conscience.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this Resolution shall be provided to the Governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia and to both United States Senators representing the Commonwealth of Virginia.

Full Text of the Essex County Resolution

RESOLUTION #21-018

TO EDUCATE ESSEX COUNTY RESIDENTS AND MEDICAL COMMUNITY ON THE RISKS OF TRAVELING TO CHINA FOR ORGAN TRANSPLANT IN LIGHT OF RECENT REPORTS OF STATE-SPONSORED ORGAN HARVESTING FROM PRISONERS OF CONSCIENCE

WHEREAS, extensive and credible reports have revealed mass killing of prisoners of conscience in the People’s Republic of China, primarily practitioners of the Chinese spiritual practice of Falun Gong, but also other religious and ethnic minority groups, in order to obtain organs for transplants; and

WHEREAS, The China Tribunal, an independent tribunal sitting in London chaired by Sir Geoffrey Nice, who was a prosecutor at the international criminal tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, concluded on June 18, 2019, in a unanimous determination at the end of its year-Jong hearings, that the killing of detainees in China for organ transplants is continuing and victims include imprisoned followers of the Falun Gong movement; and

WHEREAS, the 2017 Freedom House report, “The Battle for China’s Spirit,” states that “available evidence suggests that forced extraction of organs from Falun Gong detainees for sale in transplant operations has occurred on a large scale and may be continuing”; and

WHEREAS, an investigative report published in June 2016 by human rights attorney David Matas, former Canadian Secretary of State for Asia-Pacific, David Kilgour, and journalist Ethan Gutmann, estimated that China is performing transplants at a rate amounting to “an industrial-scale, state-directed organ transplantation system, controlled through national policies and funding, and implicating both the military and civilian healthcare systems”; and

WHEREAS, Falun Gong, a spiritual practice involving meditative “qigong” exercises and centered on the values of truthfulness, compassion, and forbearance, became immensely popular in China in the late 1990s with multiple estimates placing the number of practitioners at upwards of seventy million (70,000,000); and

WHEREAS, in July 1999, the Chinese Communist Party launched an intensive, nationwide persecution designed to eradicate the spiritual practice of Falun Gong. Hundreds of thousands of Falun Gong practitioners have been detained extra legally in Chinese reeducation through-labor camps, detention centers, and prisons, where physical and mental torture is common; and

WHEREAS, in June 2016, the United States House of Representatives unanimously passed House Resolution 343, condemning the systemic, state-sanctioned organ harvesting from practitioners of Falun Gong and other prisoners of conscience; and

WHEREAS, Essex County residents should be fully informed of the organ source before they make the decision to engage in organ transplant tourism in China;

NOW THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY the Essex County Board of Supervisors condemns, in the strongest possible terms, the persecution of any prisoners of conscience and illegal organ harvesting of all prisoners of conscience and.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that we encourage the United States government to thoroughly investigate organ transplant practices in China and take all reasonable steps to end the practice of nonconsensual organ harvesting and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the residents and the medical community servicing Essex County and the immediate region be informed about the risks of travel to China for organ transplants to help prevent local citizens from becoming accomplices to illegal forced organ harvesting from prisoners of conscience; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this resolution be provided to the Governor of Virginia, Virginia's General Assembly, Virginia’s congressional delegation and two U.S. Senators and the Virginia Department of Health.