(Minghui.org) Practitioners demonstrated the exercises and told people about Falun Dafa at the Esplanade of Human Rights near the Eiffel Tower on April 25, 2024, to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the April 25 peaceful appeal.

They explained what happened 25 years ago when practitioners in China appealed to the State Council Appeals Office in Beijing, and how in July 1999, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) began persecuting Falun Dafa and its practitioners. Many people said they were moved by the practitioners’ forbearance and kindness, and were shocked by the CCP’s persecution. They signed a petition to support the practitioners’ efforts to end the persecution.

Practitioners demonstrated the exercises at the Esplanade of Human Rights near the Eiffel Tower on April 25, 2024

People learn about Falun Dafa

Sylvie Dubuc is a volunteer. She was upset when she learned that the CCP persecutes practitioners who practice Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance and even kills them for their organs. She said, “(The CCP) sells organs obtained from persecution and large-scale murder. This is unacceptable and not something a human being would do.”

Sylvie agreed with Falun Dafa’s principles: Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance. She said, “These are the values this society needs.” As a volunteer, she thinks that by treating others with sincerity and helping others, everyone can bring kindness to others and everyone can experience goodness in this world.

Before Gilles Renaud retired, he graduated from the Paris Institute of Political Studies and worked as a manager in a real estate company. He said that he read about Falun Dafa in a newspaper 25 years ago—about 100 million people practiced Falun Dafa while the CCP only had 80 million members. He never heard about Falun Dafa again, “Because such information in China must have been blocked. I think the CCP blocked all information channels in order to control people,” he said.

Mr. Renaud agrees with Falun Dafa’s principles very much. He thinks that “Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance are humanity’s traditional values. They are very good.”

Bertrand Thebault is a railway engineer consultant. He traveled throughout China 30 years ago because of his work, and said Chinese people have many advanced skills in science and other fields. He is deeply drawn to China’s ancient civilization and said the Chinese nation is smart and wise. But the CCP’s persecution of Chinese people and even killing them for their organs is abominable. He was shocked to hear this and could not comprehend it. He said it’s something he never thought could happen.

Mathieu Maurette manages a business, and he and his daughter came to the Esplanade of Human Rights. After signing the petition, he said, “The principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance are very good and people should spread them.” For himself, he said, “We also need to follow these principles when we are with our children. We can gradually do better.”

Background: What Is the April 25 Appeal?

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 worldwide. Millions of people have embraced the teachings—which are based on the principles of Truthfulness, Compassion, Forbearance as well as five gentle exercises—and experienced improved health and well-being.

On April 23 & 24, 1999, police officials in Tianjin, a city near Beijing, assaulted and arrested dozens of practitioners who had gathered outside a magazine office to discuss errors in a recently-published article attacking Falun Dafa. As word spread of the arrests and more practitioners inquired with officials, they were told they had to take their appeals to Beijing.

The following day, April 25, some 10,000 Falun Dafa practitioners spontaneously gathered at the Central Appeals office in Beijing, as they had been instructed by Tianjin officials. The gathering was peaceful and orderly. Several Falun Dafa representatives were called in to meet with Chinese Premier, Zhu Rongji, and members of his staff. That evening, practitioners’ concerns were answered. The arrested practitioners in Tianjin were released and everyone went home.

Jiang Zemin, former head of the CCP, perceived the spiritual discipline’s growing popularity as a threat to the CCP’s atheistic ideology and issued an order to ban Falun Dafa on July 20, 1999.

Minghui.org has confirmed the deaths of thousands of practitioners due to the persecution over the years; the actual number is suspected to be much higher. More 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 the organ transplant industry.