Belgium: Rally Near European Parliament Calls on Members to Help End Persecution of Falun Dafa

(Minghui.org) Practitioners rallied peacefully in front of the European Parliament (EP) in Brussels on June 27, 2023, and called on its members to help end the 24-year-long persecution of Falun Dafa in China. Besides telling people about the brutal persecution, practitioners told them the health benefits of the practice and used their own experiences to describe the persecution.

Practitioners rallied in front of the European Parliament in Brussels and called on its members to sanction perpetrators of the ongoing persecution of Falun Dafa.

Practitioners displayed banners with messages such as “Falun Dafa is good,” “Truthfulness, Compassion, Forbearance,” and “Stop the persecution of Falun Gong.” They also demonstrated the five sets of exercises. Their gentle movements and soothing music drew the attention of passersby, who read the practitioners’ posters and learned about the Falun Dafa’s health benefits and its ongoing persecution in China.

Many of them were impressed by the resolution passed by the EP condemning forced organ harvesting from living people, primarily Falun Dafa practitioners who refused to renounce their faith. They voiced their support for practitioners' efforts to end the persecution.

Members of European Parliament Condemn Beijing’s Persecution of Falun Dafa

MEP Lars Patrick Berg (in white) talks to practitioners.

Lars Patrick Berg, Member of the European Parliament (MEP), came to the rally to express his concern for persecuted practitioners. “I find it quite irritating that the members of Falun Gong are persecuted, and even taken to prison. I think this is an issue that needs to be discussed on a mutual level between the European Union, the European Parliament and the Chinese representatives,” he said.

“I think that this is a very important but also very difficult question to address,” he said when asked about the persecution that has been going on for 24 years. “It is high time to come to a conclusion and to come to a solution because it has been going on for so long. It is bad for the mutual relations between China and the European Union.”

He talked to the practitioners and learned more details about the persecution in China. Ms. Liu Yumei, a practitioner who was tortured while she was in China, described how she suffered while she was imprisoned. Because she went on a hunger strike, the guards chained her limbs and neck to the ground for days and force-fed her. She nearly died. Four of her family members died as a result of the persecution.

People talk to practitioners and listen to speakers at the rally to learn more about Falun Dafa and the persecution.

People sign the petition to end the decades-long persecution.

Several practitioners told passersby about their experiences in China. Ms. Yang Jinhua, 51, described the ten torture methods she was subjected to while she was imprisoned in Shandong Province for 15 years.

Ms. Yang Jinhua (middle) described the torture she suffered in a Shandong Province prison.

Mr. Ding Lebin held up a poster and demanded that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) release his parents. He asked people to sign a petition to help him rescue them.

Mr. Ding Lebin asked MEPs to help him rescue his parents.

“Your event is very important”

Emmanuelle Candenot and her daughter. Ms. Candenot said, “Your event is very important.”

Emmanuelle Candenot and her daughter walked by the EP and were impressed by practitioners' peaceful way of protesting by meditating. “It is very important to tell people about the persecution in China in this calm and peaceful way,” she said. “Your event is very important. I hope you will succeed and the persecution will end soon.”

She encouraged practitioners to continue their efforts. “If someone refuses to take a stand against the [CCP] dictatorship, they are complicit. People should take a righteous stand.”

People Should Follow the Falun Dafa Principles

David

David from Scotland retired two months ago and came to the EP to tie up some loose ends for his work. He said he pays attention to politics and social justice because of the work he did, so he knew about Falun Dafa and the persecution in China.

“You may not have a voice in politics, you may not have the power to stop the government from doing bad things, but at least you can believe in doing the right thing, and that's a start,” David said. He signed the petition and said, “I believe that Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance are the principles that people should follow. Sadly, not many people do today.”

“Harvesting organs from people while they are alive is terrifying”

Isabella Wallo (right)

Isabella Wallo lives in Belgium. “I know what it's like to live under a totalitarian regime, because I am from the Czech Republic,” she said.

She read about the persecution of Falun Dafa a couple of years ago. She said that the CCP’s harvesting organs from practitioners while they are alive because they refuse to give up their faith is horrible. She said those who carry out these atrocities “are not human, not even animals. Some people are worse than animals, which is absolutely terrifying,” she said.

After singing the petition, she said, “I hope you’ll win your freedom and every persecution is stopped.”

Important to Let People Know the Truth

Élisabeth Kelperi

Élisabeth Kelperi was a translator for the EP, so she heard about the persecution of Falun Dafa years ago. “We passed many resolutions [to condemn it]. The persecution is terrible and we should make a greater effort to tell people about it,” she said.

“The important thing is to let those who don’t know the truth understand it. The persecution started in 1999, and it’s gone on for 24 years. With all the brutality and horrible organ sales going on, many people still don’t know about it,” she added. She encouraged practitioners to continue their efforts: “Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance are universal values, values that people should respect, and values that everyone should abide by.”

Jaouad Raqi is a bus driver and came to the rally during his break. “Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is the root of Chinese history, and it is a very good thing. People have the right to practice Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance,” he said, “I oppose any form of persecution in the world. Everyone in the world has the right to practice their belief.”