(Minghui.org) Falun Gong practitioners held a rally in Berlin, the capital of Germany on July 16, 2022 to condemn the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) 23-year-long persecution. More than twelve elected officials including Members of European Parliament (MEP) sent letters of support. Many people who stopped to watch the rally signed a petition calling for the persecution to end. 

Rally in Berlin on July 16, 2022Rally venuePeople talk with practitioners and learn about the persecution. People sign the petition calling for an end to the persecution. 

Elected officials sent letters of support, condemning the persecution of Falun Gong.

MEP: Europeans Cannot Keep Silent on the Persecution

Markus Ferber, MEP, wrote in his letter that the CCP has been suppressing Falun Gong for 23 years, even before there were allegations of systematic organ harvesting from imprisoned practitioners. He said that China has shown a worrying side that Europeans cannot turn a blind eye to.

He wrote, “The Chinese government must respect the rights of Falun Gong practitioners as well as the rights of members of other religious and ethnic minorities, and immediately stop the current inhumane treatment. At the European and international levels, we must continue to uphold these values and defend human rights. The EU and its member states must continue to publicly defend the rights of vulnerable groups and condemn China’s organ harvesting while calling on China to make concessions.” He said he would continue to work in this direction at the European level.

Commissioner for Global Freedom of Religion: Safeguard the Rights of Falun Gong

Frank Schwabe, Member of Parliament and Commissioner for Global Freedom of Religion, mentioned in his letter that this day reminded people of the CCP’s crimes committed against Falun Gong practitioners. “We must do our utmost to draw attention to the tragic fate of these people in China.”

He stated, “Harassment, imprisonment and killing - for more than 20 years, the Chinese government has persecuted Falun Gong extremely severely. I am deeply concerned by reports that thousands of Falun Gong practitioners have been illegally detained, tortured, and murdered. There is also an unimaginable charge (against the CCP) of illegally harvesting organs from Falun Gong members.”

He called on the Chinese government to abide by international law, protect human rights, including the right to freedom of religion and belief, and disclose how donor organs are obtained and transplanted in China. “Allowing the international community free access to court hearings and prisons is the only way to deal with this serious charge.”

In addition, Jonas Geissler MP, Luise Amtsberg, MP and a member of the Human Rights Committee of the Christian Social Union (CSU), Jürgen Braun, MP and a member of the Committee on Human Rights and Humanitarian Aid, Birkwald Matthias MP, Die Linke MP, Christoph de Vries MP, Sabine Weiss MP, Benjamin Rauer, Member of North Rhine-Westphalia State Parliament, and Marcus Optendrenk, Member of North Rhine-Westphalia State Parliament, sent letters to express solidarity with Falun Gong practitioners in their efforts to expose the persecution.

Taiwan Representative in Germany: Free World Should Work Together to Stop CCP Tyranny

The representative of Taiwan in Germany stated in his letter of support: “When the CCP began to persecute Falun Gong 23 years ago, the free world should have taken this as a call to unite against such a ruthless and brutal regime. After all, freedom of religion and freedom of assembly are fundamental rights, and any regime that violates these fundamental rights must bear the consequences, must be condemned and held accountable. The same applies to the CCP regime’s brutality against Tibetans, Uyghurs, and Hong Kongers.

“So many people gathered here today, not only to show solidarity with the Falun Dafa practitioners persecuted and oppose the CCP’s persecution, but more importantly, to call on the whole free world to work together and come up with a ‘vaccine’ to stop the spread of the evil CCP tyranny.

“‘Unity will survive, division will perish.’ Taiwan is with you. Unfortunately, (coronavirus and the CCP regime) are two epidemics that have no borders. We wish you every success in the fight against them.”

World Uyghur Congress Delegate: Unite to Stop the CCP Tyranny for a Bright Future

Haiyuer Kuerban, Director of the Berlin Office of the World Uyghur Congress, addressed the rally. 

Dolkun Isa, President of the World Uyghur Congress, sent Haiyuer Kurban, Director of the Berlin Office, to attend Falun Gong practitioners’ rally at the Brandenburg Gate. Kuerban said, “With full respect and love, I express my solidarity with your just struggle.” 

He said, “The CCP’s persecution of Falun Gong has gone on for 23 years, and the Chinese government has done everything it can to demonize and eliminate the Falun Gong movement in China and abroad. Hundreds of thousands of Falun Gong practitioners were detained in labor camps, tortured and even subjected to the CCP’s organs harvesting. 

“Uyghurs, Tibetans and Hong Kongers have also suffered for decades under the CCP’s inhuman brutal tyranny. For decades, the enormous injustice, boundless arbitrariness, and continuous brutal repression by the CCP tyranny have not succeeded in taking away our hope for freedom, human rights, and democracy.

“Our destiny is closely linked, and only together can we end the CCP’s brutal tyranny for a bright future. The days of CCP tyranny are numbered.”

Falun Gong Is Peaceful 

Markus Hoffrogge

Electrical engineer Markus Hoffrogge and his wife signed the petition. He said that his Falun Gong practitioner friend once told him about practitioners’ protesting the persecution. They are from western Germany and were on a bicycle tour when they came across the practitioners’ rally.

“They coexist peacefully with the world, which left a deep impression on us,” Hoffrogge said. They watched the exercise demonstration on the square and read the leaflets. “I learned about the tragic experience of Falun Gong practitioners being persecuted in China. So we want to support them.”

Regarding the CCP’s persecution of Falun Gong practitioners and prohibiting people from practicing Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance, he said, “I think this is a violation of all human rights and basic rights. It is incredible. I think these principles (Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance) are very good.” 

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. Millions of people who have embraced the teachings, which are based on the principles of Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance, and have learned the five 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 and 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 with the power to override the police and judicial systems and whose 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 23 years. The actual number is believed to be much higher. 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.