(Minghui.org) Practitioners held activities to introduce Falun Dafa at the center of Mestre on the Piazza Mattera on March 17, 2024, and tell people about the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) persecution. Many people signed the petition to end the brutality. 

Practitioners demonstrated the exercises at the center of Mestre on March 17, 2024.

People sign the petition calling for an end to the CCP’s persecution.

Mestre is one of Venice’s satellite cities and is located on Italy’s mainland. The population of Mestre and a few other satellite cities is about 170,000. 

The practitioners demonstrated the exercises, and their display boards drew attention. Many people paused to learn about the event and signed the petition after talking with practitioners. Some even invited other people to stop and learn about the event. 

People sign the petition.

Practitioners distributed fliers and told people how the CCP persecutes practitioners who follow Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance. They explained that countless practitioners were arrested, incarcerated, tortured and even subjected to the CCP-sanctioned live organ harvesting. 

Many passers-by paused to read the display boards and accepted fliers. Some talked with practitioners to learn more about Falun Dafa. People said they appreciated practitioners for holding the event to let them know about the human rights violations in China. 

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. Its teachings are based on the principles of Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance. Millions of people who have embraced the teachings and 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. 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 that has the power to override the police and judicial systems. Its 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. However, the actual number is believed to be much higher, due to the difficulty in getting information out of China. 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.