New Zealand: Rally and March Call for End to Persecution of Falun Dafa in China

(Minghui.org) June 26, 2023 is the United Nations International Day in Support of Victims of Torture. On June 24, Falun Gong practitioners in New Zealand held a rally and march on Elizabeth Square in downtown Auckland, calling on people to help stop the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) persecution of practitioners in China. 

Practitioners held a march in Auckland on June 24, 2023. 

Human Rights Lawyer: Only by Dismantling the Party, Can Torture Be Eradicated in China

Kerry Gore, human rights lawyer, addressed the rally, “On December 12, 1997 the United Nation’s General Assembly proclaimed by way of resolution: United Nations International Day in Support of Victims of Torture, with a vision for the total eradication of torture and the effective functioning of the convention against torture and other cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment of punishment.”

He continued, “The Chinese Communist Party [CCP] uses torture to force prisoners of conscience to renounce their religious or spiritual beliefs [or political beliefs] as the case may be. It also uses torture as a method to extract confessions from criminal suspects.

“House church Christians, Tibetan Buddhists, Uyghur Muslims, pro-democracy activists, Falun Dafa practitioners, petitioners and Chinese human rights lawyers are subjected to torture in China. In doing so, the CCP violates not only the Convention against Torture, but other international human rights law instruments, as well as its own constitution.

“There is no realistic prospect of reforming the CCP! That leaves only the alternative of dismantling the Party.” 

It Is Important to Let More People Know About the Persecution

Audrey Lebret from France is a biomedical technology expert. She said, “I know the brutal fact that Falun Gong practitioners are subjected to organ harvesting alive in China. I have read relevant informational materials and want to know more. I think it is important for more people to know about the issue, and I plan to share it with my family and friends.” 

Regarding Falun Gong’s principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance, Audrey said, “I think these values are very good, and Falun Gong is also a great way of cultivation. People who practice according to Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance suffer from such persecution. This is crazy.” 

She added, “It is important that Falun Gong practitioners outside of China can do these things [raise awareness]. I think they are brave, and I fully support them.”

Carolyn Clark calls on New Zealanders to speak out. 

New Zealand resident Carolyn Clark once read a book about a Falun Gong practitioner who was illegally arrested in Beijing and fled to Melbourne after ten years of forced labor in China. 

“The Falun Gong practitioner was forced to knit sweaters in a labor camp,” she said. “She was incarcerated in the labor camp for ten years. I was shocked. If she hadn’t told her story, people wouldn’t know that such a terrible thing happened in China. I also learned that the CCP conducts live organ harvesting, which is unbelievable.” 

Carolyn said that it was important for more New Zealanders to know about the persecution. She said, “After I finished reading the book, I gave it to someone else, and told him to pass it on to the next person after reading it, and then pass it on to the next person. Everyone should inform the people they know about the persecution, such as through social media.

“I think everyone should follow the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance. [Falun Gong practitioners] should teach as many people as possible. The more people that know the story behind it, the more chance to stop this persecution.”

In addition, she called on all New Zealanders and people in other countries to speak up. She said, “If you know about the persecution, don’t turn a blind eye, but take action. Everyone has a responsibility [to stop the persecution].”

Finally, she told practitioners, “In New Zealand, please raise awareness, such as holding the event today. You are brave. Please continue doing this.”

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 24 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.