France: Activities Held in Two Cities to Raise Awareness of the Persecution of Falun Dafa

(Minghui.org) Practitioners held events in Rouen and Draguignan on August 19, 2023 to tell people about Falun Dafa and collected signatures on a petition calling for an end to the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) persecution. After learning the extent of the CCP’s brutality, many people condemned the persecution and signed the petition.

Rouen is located in northwest France and is a historic city and the capital of the Normandy region. The city is quiet and elegant, and the Seine River flows through it. It is also one of the most important ports in France.

Many tourists visit Rouen Cathedral, which is a must-see attraction. The practitioners’ exercise demonstrations drew spectators. Many people said this was the first time they heard about Falun Dafa and felt that the CCP’s persecution of the spiritual discipline was incomprehensible.

Practitioners demonstrate the Falun Dafa exercises in front of Rouen Cathedral on August 19, 2023Introducing Falun Gong and collecting signatures in front of the Rouen Cathedral Many people sign the petition calling for the persecution to end. 

People Condemn the CCP’s Organ Harvesting 

Roger Berta and his wife are from La Rochelle in western France, and were visiting friends in Rouen. 

After Roger read the display board he said, “The persecution is unacceptable and inhuman. This is unimaginable. It is an extremely terrible thing, and the whole world must act.” He told practitioners, “You are very brave, I wish you good luck!” Roger, his wife and their friends all signed the petition.

Lisette Cordonnier is a retired nurse. She talked with a practitioner for a long time and said, “Live organ harvesting is inhuman and terrible. Every country in the world must fight against it and oppose it. I don’t understand how people can ignore this. It is horrific, no words can describe it.”

Lisette said that Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance are good universal values, and everyone should follow this in their lives. She said if everyone started learning Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance as children we wouldn’t have so many social problems.

Christian, a musician, said, “Falun Dafa practices Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance. Practitioners are imprisoned, persecuted, and massacred. The persecution is still going on. Practitioners are the same as other people. They practice for their physical and mental health. This persecution is intolerable and unacceptable.”

Raising Awareness in the City of Draguignan

People sign the petition in Draguignan in southern France on August 19, 2023. 

The same day practitioners also held activities in Draguignan in southern France, to introduce Falun Dafa and tell people about the persecution in China. 

Many people condemned the CCP’s crime of organ harvesting from living Falun Dafa practitioners during the past 24 years. 

A young man who said he was a Christian stood in front of the stand for a long time. He said, “I want to pray for Falun Dafa practitioners.” He signed the petition and then took copies of Minghui Weekly and additional leaflets to distribute in his community.

Practitioners displayed copies of the book Zhuan Falun by Master Li Hongzhi, the founder of Falun Dafa. When two men signed the petition a practitioner told them about Falun Dafa’s guiding principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance. One of them picked up Zhuan Falun and said happily, “I want to buy this book. This is what I have been looking for.”

After talking with practitioners, a man bought a copy of Zhuan Falun.

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.