(Minghui.org) The 12th District of Rome passed a motion proposed by City Councilor and Vice-President of the City Council, Pietrangelo Massaro: “Condemning China’s forced organ harvesting from prisoners of conscience and requesting concrete action,” on July 16, 2025.

Pietrangelo Massaro, Vice-President of the City Council of Rome

The human rights motion condemns a horrific practice by the Chinese Communist regime: the forced organ harvesting of living people, particularly of Falun Gong practitioners, a group persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) for their beliefs. Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, is a peaceful mind-body cultivation practice based on the principles of Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance.

Pietrangelo Massaro detailed the crimes of forced organ harvesting in the CCP’s persecution of Falun Gong over the past 26 years, and how the CCP is exporting its persecution overseas, with their transnational repression escalating. He urged the Italian government, leaders, and political parties to support Falun Gong practitioners to the greatest extent possible, stop the persecution, prevent the CCP’s transnational repression in Italy and around the world, and demand that the CCP immediately stop its persecution of Falun Gong, using all legal means to end this disaster in China.

The motion was passed by the district council members present on the morning of July 16, 2025. The motion will continue to be submitted to the Rome City Council, the Italian Parliament, and the Italian Government.

The motion: “Stop the Persecution of Falun Gong” was passed by the Rome 12th District City Council.

Background

Falun Dafa, also known as Falun Gong, is an advanced cultivation practice of mind and body. It was first introduced to the public by Master Li Hongzhi in 1992 in China. Since then, millions of people in over 100 countries around the world have taken up the peaceful spiritual practice. Nevertheless, the Chinese communist regime launched a brutal persecution of Falun Dafa in 1999, which is still ongoing today. Under communist rule, organ harvesting has been used as an extreme measure to eradicate and profit from Falun Gong practitioners. Their organs are harvested on demand, often for overseas “organ tourism” patients.

The brutal persecution has been condemned by many organizations and governments around the world. Most recently, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Falun Gong Protection Act on May 5, 2025, imposing sanctions on anyone involved in the crime of forced organ harvesting.