Manhattan, NY: Practitioners Call to End the Persecution in China During U.N. General Assembly

(Minghui.org) The 29th United Nations General Assembly took place on September 22-30, 2024, and discussed topics ranging from artificial intelligence to climate change. Falun Gong practitioners peacefully protested outside the U.N. Headquarters daily during September 25-28, urging to end the 25-year-long persecution by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

Practitioners gathered at Dag Hammarskjold Plaza every day between 7:30 a.m. and 7 p.m., did the exercises, and displayed large banners containing information about Falun Dafa (Falun Gong) and the persecution. Cars displaying signs about Falun Dafa and the persecution also drove near the U.N. Headquarters.

Practitioners peacefully protested outside the U.N. Headquarters urging to end the CCP’s persecution of Falun Gong.

Practitioners also distributed materials at road crossings to residents and tourists, to raise awareness of the brutal suppression in China. They urged governments from various countries to take action to end the mistreatment of practitioners in China, who are subjected to illegal detention, brainwashing, torture, and forced organ harvesting.

Practitioners peacefully protested in Manhattan during the United Nations General Assembly.

A car tour calls for a stop to the persecution and for ending the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

Ms. Yi Zhongyuan from the Falun Dafa Association in New York said that many practitioners who participated in the event had fled China to avoid further persecution. Thousands of practitioners in China face detention, torture, and forced organ harvesting.

Sister Detained for Her Belief

Ms. Chen Jingyu said her older sister Chen Jinghui was detained by the police at Chaoyang District in Changchun City, Jilin Province, for more than six months. Her family was not allowed to visit her, and officials refused to update them about her situation. To make things worse, Ms. Chen Jingyu has not been able to contact her sister’s son for two months.

Ms. Chen Jingyu asks that her sister Chen Jinghui be released.

After watching the documentary State Organs recently, Ms. Chen Jingyu learned how military doctors participated in the crime of organ harvesting, which made her even more worried about her sister’s situation. When they were in China, Ms. Chen Jingyu and her husband were detained and tortured for practicing Falun Gong. “I hope more people support us and help stop the persecution. It’s been going on for 25 years and all detained practitioners should be released unconditionally,” she said.

Cherishing Freedom of Belief

Mr. Kong came from Beijing two weeks ago and said he once had a job with good benefits. But he was fired in 2003 because he practiced Falun Gong, and he had to take on temporary jobs to support himself.

Although he’s only been in the U.S. for a few days, Mr. Kong said he could feel the difference in human rights and freedom of belief outside of China. “I wish all practitioners in China can have this freedom,” he said. “I hope all governments support human rights and help Falun Gong practitioners.”

Repeatedly Detained and Tortured

Ms. Xia from Shandong Province had several miscarriages and could not have a baby. After she practiced Falun Gong, her health improved and she had a son. She was repeatedly taken to brainwashing and detention centers because she refused to renounce the practice. Her husband also lost his job.

Ms. Xia said she was brutally tortured, and she was force-fed when she went on hunger strike at a brainwashing center. Her nose was injured and her face was covered in blood. When her blood pressure dropped to a dangerously low level the officials released her so they wouldn’t be held accountable for her death.

Although Ms. Xia now has freedom in the United States, she knows the persecution in her hometown near the Shengli Oil Field is still serious. “Some practitioners received a three-year prison term several months ago and some are still detained,” she explained. “This the biggest human rights abuse in China and I hope it will stop soon.”

Forced Blood Sampling

Mr. Chen, a financial trainer from Shanghai, was called to a police station one day in 2022 and forced to have his blood drawn. The attendants were police officers—not medical staff. They squeezed his fingers repeatedly to draw blood. It took nearly an hour to collect two tubes of blood. “When I asked why the blood samples were being taken, the police said they didn’t know why, they were only following their supervisors’ orders,” he said.

Mr. Chen was 42 years old at the time and he was very healthy. Recalling the forced organ harvesting that happened to Falun Gong practitioners, he was afraid, and left China this July.

Living in the U.S., Mr. Chen is happy to practice freely. He is worried about practitioners in China who can be arbitrarily imprisoned simply for distributing a Falun Gong flyer. He hopes that they too, can one day enjoy freedom.

People talk with a Falun Gong practitioner.

More People Are Awakening

Ms. Yi said that the atrocities in China such as organ harvesting are horrible, “Although the CCP refuses to talk about Falun Gong, it has continually suppressed the practice. These tragedies, especially forced organ harvesting, are horrible and they should stop.”

For the past 25 years practitioners have worked to tell people the benefits of practicing Falun Gong, and have been clarifying the CCP’s defamatory propaganda. After the Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party was published in 2004, over 430 million Chinese people quit the CCP organizations, including the Youth League and Young Pioneers. This means more people have awakened and made the right choice, she added.