(Minghui.org) Twenty-six non-governmental organizations (NGOs), including the Australian Falun Dafa Association, jointly signed a letter to the Australian Prime Minister and Foreign Minister prior to July 20, 2024, the 25^th anniversary of the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) persecution. They called on the Australian Government to take action to help stop the CCP’s violent infringement of the human rights of Falun Dafa (also known as Falun Gong) practitioners, and exert sanctions against the perpetrators.

Twenty-six Australian and international NGOs, including the World Uyghur Congress, Genocide Watch, the Australian Christian Lobby, the Italian Federation for Human Rights and the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation, backed the call.

The World Uyghur Congress published the joint letter on its official website on June 19. It stated, “We, the undersigned, are deeply concerned over the ongoing human rights abuses against Falun Gong practitioners in China, which are in violation of international human rights treaties.” and, “We urge the Australian government to take immediate action to address these egregious human rights violations.”

The front page of the joint letter of 26 NGOs calling on the Australian Prime Minister and the Foreign Minister to help stop the CCP’s persecution before July 20, 2024

The World Uyghur Congress published the joint letter on its official website on June 19.

Australia Has a Moral and Legal Obligation to Act

The joint letter urges the Australian Government to pass a motion calling for an immediate end to the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners and the unconditional release of all detained Falun Gong practitioners and other prisoners of conscience, particularly the family members of Australian citizens and residents.

The letter also calls on the Australian Government to implement Magnitsky-style sanctions against individuals and entities participating in the persecution and raise the issue at the UN Human Rights Council and UN General Assembly.

After the United States passed the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act in 2016, the Australian Parliament passed the Australian version of the Magnitsky Act in 2021. In addition, the United Kingdom, France, Canada, and other countries have also passed their own Magnitsky acts, which aim to impose financial sanctions or travel bans on human rights violators.

Unlike general sanctions, Magnitsky-style laws target individual human rights violators and their families, and can freeze their overseas assets. The targets of the bill may include cyber hackers, corrupt generals, or officials responsible for major human rights atrocities, and those convicted will be banned from entering the country.

The joint letter stated, “Since July 1999, millions of Falun Gong practitioners in China have been arbitrarily arrested and jailed without due process and many have been tortured and killed. Evidence shows that people who practice Falun Gong are being killed-to-order as the main organ source for China’s state-sanctioned organ transplantation industry.”

The NGOs stated that Australia is obligated to uphold human rights under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) to take action to stop the CCP’s atrocities.

Increasing Evidence Shows the Scale of Live Organ Harvesting

The joint letter pointed out the systemic persecution of Falun Gong. Falun Gong is a practice based on Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance. The letter referred to the evidence and reports from human rights organizations, governments, and international judicial bodies documenting these atrocities.

The letter states that it has been well documented by multiple organizations that Falun Gong practitioners are being killed to become the primary source of organs for the CCP’s state-sanctioned organ transplant industry.

The Chinese Tribunal concluded in 2019 that “forced organ harvesting has been committed for years throughout China on a significant scale and that Falun Gong practitioners have been one – and probably the main – source of organ supply.”

David Matas, an international human rights lawyer who has been working to expose the CCP’s systematic organ harvesting crimes for 18 years, estimates that this crime brings the CCP about $8.9 billion in revenue each year.

“The total figure we came up with is $8.9 billion per year. We did our own calculation of volumes by going to hospital websites and adding them up,” said Mr. Matas. “The numbers are large and horrendous.”

Australian Liberal Senator Paul Scarr has also appealed for the Australian Government to intervene. He said, “The essence of it is: when someone is being persecuted for no other reason than their religious beliefs, matters of conscience, then I believe freedom-loving people all over the word have a moral obligation to stand up.” “If there are more voices, if more people are speaking out, the persecution will come to an end sooner, rather than later.”

University of Sydney Professor: Legislation to Stop the CCP’s Organ Harvesting is Necessary

Prof. Maria Fiatarone Singh of the University of Sydney condemns the CCP’s live organ harvevsting at a rally.

Prof. Maria Fiatarone Singh of the University of Sydney has been working for a long time to expose the CCP’s live organ harvesting. She said at a recent rally, “I think there’s actual complicity among Australians, in some cases. For example, Huang Jiefu was educated at the University of Sydney. That’s how he learned how to do liver transplants. So the University of Sydney, even after learning that he was doing these transplants on executed prisoners, maintained his honorary professorship for another six years beyond learning that, after it was exposed on media within Australia. There was never any acknowledgment that we trained him and honored him with this professorship which he proudly proclaimed on his CV and in China. So I think it’s far more than just ignorance or turning a blind eye. I think it’s actual complicity.”

She indicated that legislation was necessary to stop the CCP’s live organ harvesting.

Falun Gong Practitioner: Keeping Silent On the CCP’s Atrocity is Complicity

Falun Gong practitioners across Australia have recently been collecting signatures from Australians from all walks of life on a petition. The petition calls on the government to help end the CCP’s 25-year persecution and urges the Australian government to take legislative and other actions to stop the CCP’s crime of live organ harvesting.

John Deller, spokesperson for the Australian Falun Dafa Association, addressed the rally.

“For the ongoing victims of forced organ harvesting and their families who are suffering, it is urgent to help stop the barbaric killing of innocent people in China to sell their organs for profit on an industrial scale, which has gone on now for over 20 years,” said John Deller.

“Australia cannot control what the Chinese Communist Party does within China. However, the Australian government does control how Australia responds.” He said, “Australia’s public silence on this grave matter is a form of complicity in a mass human rights atrocity. It is failing our responsibilities under international human rights treaties to protect and promote human rights, and a failure to uphold the morals and values that Australians hold dear.”

He said that Australia had not passed legislation, “It probably means they do not really understand the atrocity of forced organ harvesting that is happening in China. Once Australian MPs understand this atrocity, I feel they would have a sense of urgency to guide Australia’s response.”

Nina (middle) and another Falun Gong practitioner hand over the petition with 24,000 signatures to federal Senator Scurr.

Nina from Queensland has practiced Falun Gong for over 20 years. She said, “Of all the heinous human rights atrocities the Chinese Communist Party has perpetrated against practitioners of Falun Gong in China, there is perhaps none so egregious as forced organ harvesting. In the past several years, many countries including the US, UK, and Canada have progressed on legislation to help combat forced organ harvesting in China, indicating the governments of these countries see forced organ harvesting as a serious crime that needs to be addressed. The Australian government has yet to pass legislation that addresses forced organ harvesting in China, nor has it taken a strong and clear public position against this human rights atrocity.”

“When legislation is debated on and discussed, members of government often make strong statements condemning the CCP as the perpetrator of forced organ harvesting in China and calling for justice for the countless innocent victims. The impact of these actions can’t be underestimated. They provide a voice for the victims who are no longer alive to tell of the horrors inflicted upon them. They send a powerful message to the CCP that their crimes against humanity will not be tolerated. They send a powerful message to institutions regarding the risks of engaging with the CCP in areas relating to transplant medicine, and they serve to warn people of the risks of seeking an organ transplant in China.”

Australia has committed to uphold human rights under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CAT), and the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. So Australia is obligated to take action to stop the CCP’s forced organ harvesting.

Nina said, “Australia is a nation that prides itself on values such as mateship - being there for others especially in times of need, a fair go - in treating everyone with equity and respect, and freedom – including freedom of speech, religion, and expression. It’s time for the Australian government to demonstrate these proud Australian values in responding to this human rights crisis and take its rightful place alongside its allies already taking strong action to stop forced organ harvesting in China. Legislation is certainly an effective pathway but can be a timely process. In the meantime, other governmental mechanisms can offer a more immediate yet effective tool to publicly condemn the CCP’s gross human rights violations, and strongly advocate for the victims of the heinous crime of forced organ harvesting.”