Washington DC: House Representative Sends Letter to Support Falun Dafa Practitioners

(Minghui.org) May 13, 2023 is the 31st anniversary of Falun Dafa’s public introduction and the 24th World Falun Dafa Day. House Representative Eleanor Holmes Norton from Washington DC sent a letter to support practitioners.

Letter from House Representative Eleanor Holmes Norton from Washington DC

In her letter Representative Holmes wrote, “As we approach World Falun Dafa Day, I write in support of Falun Gong practitioners and supporters in the District of Columbia and worldwide who are working to end the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners.

“As a former assistant legal director for the American Civil Liberties Union, a constitutional lawyer and a lifelong civil rights advocate, I take this moment not only to speak out against the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners, but to remember those who have died for their beliefs.

“For over two decades, Falun Gong practitioners have suffered from forced detention, torture and organ harvesting committed at the hands of the Chinese government. The only crime of those who practice Falun Gong is to be born into a society of intolerance.

“I stand in solidarity with the many Falun Gong practitioners who fight for the freedom to speak and to practice the religion of their choice. I hear you, and I stand with you.”

Background: What Is Falun Dafa and Why Is the CCP Persecuting It?

Falun Dafa (also known as Falun Gong) was first introduced to the public by Mr. Li Hongzhi in Changchun, China, in 1992. The spiritual discipline is now practiced in over 100 countries and regions worldwide. Millions of people who have embraced the teachings, which are based on the principles of Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance, and have learned the five exercises have experienced improved health and well-being.

Jiang Zemin, former head of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), perceived the spiritual discipline’s growing popularity as a threat to the CCP’s atheistic ideology, and on July 20, 1999, he issued an order to eradicate the practice.

Under Jiang’s personal direction, the CCP established the 610 Office, an extralegal security organization with the power to override the police and judicial systems and whose sole function is to carry out the persecution of Falun Dafa.

Minghui.org has confirmed the deaths of thousands of practitioners as a result of the persecution over the past 24 years. The actual number is believed to be much higher. Countless practitioners have been imprisoned and tortured for their faith.

There is concrete evidence that the CCP sanctions the harvesting of organs from detained practitioners, who are murdered to supply China’s organ transplant industry.