A meeting on the persecution of Falun Gong and organ harvesting held before the United Nations human rights review was held at the Palais des Nations

[Voice of Hope January 26, 2024] (reported by our reporter Wen Simin) The 45th session of the fourth round of the Universal Periodic Review (Universal Periodic Review) of the United Nations Human Rights Council was held on January 22. It begins at the Palais des Nations (Palais des Nations) in Geneva, the European headquarters of the United Nations. The day before the review of human rights in China, a conference titled “China’s Deprivation of Universal Human Rights “, focusing on the persecution of Falun Gong and organ harvesting from living persons, was also held at the Palais des Nations . On the 22nd and 23rd, some Falun Gong practitioners from the Czech Republic, Finland, Germany, France, the German-speaking and French-speaking areas of Switzerland held truth-clarification activities at the Place des Nations opposite the Palais des Nations.

The Coordination of associations and individuals for Freedom of Conscience, a non-governmental organization with consultative status with the United Nations, together with Doctors Against Forced Organ Harvesting (DAFOH), held a meeting in The information session titled “China’s Deprivation of Universal Human Rights ” was held the day before the United Nations Review Conference on Human Rights in China . The meeting was based on the following facts:

Since the last universal periodic review of human rights in China in 2018 , state-imposed persecution and organ harvesting of Falun Gong practitioners has continued unabated throughout China. Moreover, the international community’s silence and inaction has emboldened China to commit human rights abuses around the world, including the spread of COVID-19, the eradication of Hong Kong’s freedoms, and its political and military incursions in the South China Sea. , and involvement in military conflicts around the world.

The focus of this meeting was around the second day’s review of human rights in China, describing China’s pressing human rights issues, especially the ongoing persecution of Falun Gong practitioners and organ harvesting.

David Matas : Nine developments the world is taking on China’s organ transplants

David Matas , an international human rights lawyer and legal expert in the fields of refugees, immigration, and human rights law, said in his speech at the scene that he would describe nine cases of organ transplantation in the world against the Chinese Communist Party after the 2018 human rights review in China. progress.

1. In March 2020, the independent China Tribunal in London concluded that the mass murder of Falun Gong practitioners for organ harvesting undoubtedly occurred.

2. In June 2021, 10 human rights experts from the United Nations Human Rights Council issued a joint statement expressing extreme shock at reports of live organ harvesting in China.

3. In October 2021, the CCP responded to a joint statement by human rights experts and boldly denied that there were medical tests in detention centers; many witnesses could confirm the contrary.

4. In May 2022, the European Parliament passed a resolution calling on the EU and its member states to raise the issue of live organ harvesting in every human rights dialogue with China.

5. Statistics for 2022. The data in China’s transplant surgery table for that year is 20,333 cases. However, the data records of individual hospitals add up to five times that number. A study of the 2019 data showed that the data was generated using medical equations and was inconsistent with the facts.

6. The Council of Europe’s Agreement against Trafficking in Human Organs was opened for signature in March 2015. After signing, countries are obliged to prohibit their nationals and permanent residents from colluding in transplant abuse and fraud. At the last universal periodic review , only six countries had approved signatures; now there are 15, most recently France in May 2023. Also, in 2018, although the legislative bodies of three countries did not ratify the agreement, they enacted laws to prohibit collusion with foreign countries to abuse overseas transplants; now three more countries have enacted laws.

7. The executive meeting of the State Council of the Communist Party of China passed and promulgated a regulation on human organ donation and transplantation in December 2023. This ordinance, like many before it, tells the outside world something they want to hear, but it still does things the same old way. The regulations do not include any requirements for human cell tissue and organ transplantation in the health organization’s guiding principles such as inspection openness, transparency, and traceability of organ sources .

8. The European Parliament passed a second resolution on January 18 this year, calling on the EU and its member states to publicly condemn China’s abuse of organ transplantation .

9. On January 20 this year, 107 independent experts jointly issued a call for the United Nations Human Rights Council to take a decisive stance against the Chinese Communist Party’s harvesting of organs from prisoners of conscience during the Universal Periodic Review of China’s human rights.

Falun Gong practitioner Ding Lebin hopes that UN member states can take six actions

Ding Lebin, a Falun Gong practitioner and human rights activist living in Germany , said in a speech at the scene that his father, Falun Gong practitioner Ding Yuande, has been illegally detained for more than eight months without being allowed to visit relatives, and was illegally sentenced to three years in prison in December 2023. , fined 15,000 yuan. Ding Lebin ‘s mother, Ma Ruimei, was also illegally arrested and detained for more than ten days before being released. In May 2023, more than 70 Falun Gong practitioners were arrested in Rizhao City, Shandong Province, China at the same time as Ding Yuande and Ma Ruimei .

Ding Lebin said that according to recent reports on the Minghui website, there are more than 5,000 Falun Gong practitioners who have been persecuted to death by the CCP, and whose names and other personal information have been confirmed. In view of China’s continued persecution of Falun Gong , especially the case of Mr. Ding Yuande, the European Parliament passed resolution 2024/2504 (RSP) on January 18, one of which requires the CCP to immediately stop the persecution of Falun Gong and unconditionally release All illegally detained Falun Gong practitioners and Mr. Ding. Ding Lebin hopes that UN member states can take the following six actions.

1. Strongly demand that the Chinese Communist Party stop the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners in China and immediately and unconditionally release Ding Yuande and all Falun Gong practitioners during the universal periodic review of human rights in China .

2. Strongly demand that the CCP bring those responsible for the persecution to justice in accordance with Articles 7 and 12 of the United Nations Convention against Torture.

3. Request to make every effort to disqualify China from the United Nations Human Rights Council.

4. Request the EU and EU governments to use the EU’s global human rights sanctions system and national human rights sanctions system to target all criminals and criminal institutions involved in the persecution of Falun Gong in China and overseas.

5. Request the embassies of various countries in China to help collect information and investigate the organ harvesting of prisoners of conscience in China.

6. Request the embassies of various countries in China to monitor the arrest process of Falun Gong practitioners like Ding Yuande and their conditions in detention centers or prisons.

European Falun Gong practitioners clarify the truth at the Place des Nations

During the information conference on “China’s Deprivation of Universal Human Rights ” and the United Nations’ Universal Periodic Review of China’s human rights , some Falun Gong practitioners from the Czech Republic, Finland, Germany, France, the German-speaking and French-speaking areas of Switzerland attended the meeting venue Wanguo A truth-clarification event was held at the Plaza of Nations across from the palace .

As Ding Lebin introduced in his speech, Falun Gong , also called Falun Dafa, is a cultivation method based on the Buddhist tradition and based on the principles of truthfulness, compassion, and tolerance. It was first publicly announced on May 13, 1992. Before the CCP’s persecution began, Chinese urban media reported on Falun Gong ‘s positive effects on physical and mental health, encouraging people to become more honest, kind and tolerant. According to Chinese official estimates at the time, there were 70 million to 100 million people practicing Falun Gong before 1999 , ranging from farmers to engineers, to high-level politicians, military officers, etc. This exceeded the 60 million registered members of the CCP at that time. . Jiang Zemin, the former leader of the Communist Party of China, could not tolerate Falun Gong ‘s popularity among the public. He began the persecution of Falun Gong on July 20, 1999 , implementing a bloody policy of “discrediting Falun Gong, cutting off economically, and annihilating it physically”, using lies, propaganda, and violence. and hatred controls people.

Traditional Chinese culture emphasizes the harmony between heaven, earth, and man, while the CCP’s ideology claims that “it is endless fun to fight against heaven, earth, and people.” The persecution of Falun Gong not only violates international human rights standards, but also violates China’s own laws.