(Minghui.org) Falun Dafa practitioners gathered in front of Parliament House in Canberra on June 4 for a press conference. They urged the Australian government to take action and help end the 25-year-long persecution by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
The event took place while parliament was in session and before the Chinese premier’s visit to Australia. During the week-long exercise demonstrations, press conferences, visiting elected officials and non-government organisations, signature drive, and displaying banners, practitioners exposed how the CCP mistreated Falun Dafa practitioners for their belief. They also called on the Australian government to take legislative action to help end the forced organ harvesting, a crime against humanity happening in China.
Some major news media in Australia reported on the press conference. Bipartisan senators, Falun Dafa practitioners, renowned human rights lawyer David Matas, and a former CCP spy spoke at the event. Practitioners also submitted petitions recently collected in Australia which urge legislatures to stop the atrocities in China.
Business Should Not Override Human Rights
Dr. Lucy Zhao, president of Falun Dafa Association of Australia, said June 4 is a day of sadness since the CCP massacred students at Tiananmen Square 35 years ago. Ten years later, the regime launched the nationwide suppression against Falun Dafa. In the past 25 years, countless families were broken with children becoming orphans. A large number of practitioners were sent to detention centres, prisons, mental hospitals, and brainwashing centres. They were physically tortured, shocked with electric batons, subjected to sexual abuse, and even had their organs harvested.
Because Chinese premier Li Qiang would visit Australia in mid-June, Dr. Zhao hoped the Minister of Foreign Affairs and other political leaders would raise the human rights issues during the visit. She said that business interests should not override human rights and, as the largest persecuted group in China, Falun Dafa and the suppression in China should be part of the agenda.
Senator: Deep Moral Obligations
Senator Paul Scarr explained why he came to the event. “I consider it a deep moral obligation, a moral obligation to come out here today and address you. A moral obligation, which arises from the delegations, which I’ve received during my time as a Queensland Senator from Australian families, from Australian citizens and Australian residents who have raised with me their deep concern, their distress, their heartbreak with respect to the persecution of their families and friends arising from their adherence as Falun Gong practitioners,” he said.
“I consider it my deep moral obligation to raise these concerns that I have over the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners in China. And I consider that the Australian government has a moral obligation, not just a political obligation, but a moral obligation, to raise these concerns with the People’s Republic of China and to keep raising these concerns until the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners comes to an end, which it surely must,” he continued, adding this year in particular, it is time for Australia to reflect deeply upon the ongoing persecution of the Falun Gong in China for that period of 25 years.
Universal Values
During an interview after the press conference, Scarr said it’s very important to stop the persecution in China.
“It is very important that efforts are taken to call out the persecution and to continue to advocate for an end to the persecution. This is absolutely vital,” he continued. “The concept of truth, compassion and forbearance are three wonderful values, which I think all of us need to consider as we live our daily lives.”
Senator: Safeguarding Freedom
Senator Malcolm Roberts said he knows what’s going on in China. “So first of all I empathise with what you’re going through. I know some of your relatives back in China are in a very difficult situation, being detained, being tortured. I know some of you have been tortured,” he said. “So first of all I empathize with you and secondly I admire what you’re doing because the only way to restore freedom is to stand up for freedom and that’s what you’re doing.”
“There’s nothing else I need to say other than thank you so much for what you’re doing,” he continued. “There’s nothing more important than freedom of life and freedom of speech and expression and freedom of movement. So thank you so much for standing up for the human race.”
Submitting Petitions
During the press conference, practitioners also submitted 24,000 signatures recently collected in Australia on petitions that urged to end the persecution in China.
“It is also my moral obligation to accept a petition that has been signed by thousands of members of the Australian community… which contains your concerns and which calls upon the Australian parliament to take action,” said Senator Scarr. Senator Roberts also said he was happy to accept these petitions.
Legislative Actions
For many years, human rights lawyer David Matas has been advocating for legislation which prevents western countries from becoming accomplices of the CCP’s crime of organ harvesting. This time, he specifically traveled from Canada to Australia for this event and gave a speech.
Matas said he started to focus on organ harvesting in China since 2006. He and the late David Kilgour published their report, which concluded that state-sanctioned organ harvesting was happening in China. The main source of organs was found to be practitioners of Falun Gong, also called Falun Dafa.
“China is the only country where we see prisoners of conscience being systematically killed in large numbers for their organs. It started off initially in huge numbers with Falun Gong, but since 2017, it’s spread dramatically to the Uyghurs as well. Of course, there’s other populations in smaller numbers.”
“In addition to these generic initiatives about extraterritorial legislation and data collection, we need specific concerns expressed about the abuse in China and about the victim communities, certainly Uyghurs and Tibetans and house Christians, but also Falun Gong, which realistically are heavily victimized and deserve attention,” he added.
Regarding the progress of legislation in Australia, Matas said progress had been made in addressing organ harvesting, but the final goal of stopping it had not been reached.
“There are a number of countries that have enacted legislation or inhibited complicity in transplant abuse abroad,” he said. “But Australia has not.”
“There is a motion that is actively being discussed and proposed in the House of Representatives. Similar motions and resolutions have been passed around the world in various parliaments, including the U.S. Congress, the European Union Parliament, Canada, the Subcommittee on Human Rights, the Committee on Foreign Affairs. It would be useful and important to have some sort of motion like that in Australia,” Matas added.
Seeing Through the CCP’s Nature
Eric, a former spy for the CCP, also spoke at the press conference. “Some people say that the June 4th incident allowed them to discover the true nature of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). But looking into the murderous deeds of the CCP across history, we realise the red flags were there long before that,” he said. “We must clearly recognise that the Communist Party does not take into account whether you are a religious, ethical person or if you are an immoral criminal. When dealing with you, it only considers one thing: if you are on their side or not.”
For example, CCP officials attempted to abduct Falun Gong practitioner Li Guixin in Thailand. The public still knows very little about these secret missions and Eric said he would continue to reveal more on this in the future. In any case, it is important to seek freedom. “We must believe that our cause will surely be victorious!” he said, adding that the CCP is destined to fail.
Australian residents also spoke at the press conference. Some of their family members or relatives were arrested, detained, and tortured in China for their faith in Falun Gong. They hoped the Australian government could help end the persecution so that their families could be reunited.
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