(Minghui.org) More than 1,500 Falun Dafa practitioners held a candlelight vigil on the National Mall between Capitol Hill and the Washington Monument on the evening of July 20, 2023. As evening gently enveloped the city and surrounded by melodious music, they lit candles and silently mourned fellow practitioners tortured to death or killed by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and called for an end to the persecution. The peaceful and solemn scene in the heart of the nation's capital moved many people who stopped to watch.
Over 1500 practitioners held a candlelight vigil in Washington D.C. on the evening of July 20, 2023, calling to end the persecution.
The CCP launched a comprehensive persecution of Falun Gong (also known as Falun Dafa) on July 20, 1999, triggering the peaceful protest and awareness-raising activities by practitioners around the world. This persecution targets their belief in Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance, and destroys the moral principles and spiritual values of all Chinese people.
Throughout the past 24 years, practitioners from all over the world have continued to tell people about the persecution. They wish those who are mislead by the CCP’s lies to have a chance to understand the truth and choose kindness. The practitioners’ perseverance and compassion touched people who saw the event.
Candlelight vigil
Witness of Victims
Ms. Xia Deyun, a Falun Gong practitioner from Shandong Province, China, participated in the candlelight vigil. Ms. Xia was an engineer in the Shengli Oilfield Geological Research Institute, and attended a nine-day class taught by Falun Dafa's founder, Mr. Li Hongzhi. After she began to practice Falun Dafa, she became physically and mentally healthy, and her family was harmonious. Since then, she has firmly believed in Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance.
However, after the CCP initiated the persecution in 1999, Ms. Xia was incarcerated, sent to a brainwashing class, detention centers, labor camps, and prison. In the brainwashing class, in order to resist the persecution, she went on a hunger strike and was brutally force-fed.
In the notorious Shandong Wangcun Forced Labor Camp, in order to resist the persecution, she refused to wear a prison uniform, did not recite the prison rules, and did not do slave labor. She was locked in solitary cell and tortured. She was tortured to the point where no blood pressure was detected when she was finally hospitalized. The local 610 Office was afraid of taking responsibility and told her family to pick her up.
Tourist: Peace and Tranquility Show the Real Strength
Sarah (middle) from Israel praises Falun Dafa.
Sarah from Israel and her friends visited Washington D.C. during their summer vacation. They said they were deeply moved when they saw the candlelight vigil. Sarah said, “What a beautiful and spectacular scene! So many people, yet so peaceful and tranquil, it’s unbelievable! I feel refreshed listening to the music. I must learn how to practice Falun Dafa.”
When she learned that the vigil was to commemorate practitioners tortured and killed by the CCP, she said, “Those who make the most noise are actually cowards. Those who are quiet and peaceful have the real strength.”
Nacre, a telecommunications engineer from Morocco, walked near the National Mall and stopped to watch the vigil. He said, “I know the evil nature of the CCP, but it is a pity that the Western powers cannot see this clearly. They are short-sighted and have worked in cooperation with the CCP for many years.”
Talking about practitioners’ 24 years of peacefully protesting, he said he was touched by their perseverance. “The CCP is cancer. Its endless greed, mania and tyranny will eventually destroy itself.”
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.
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Category: July 20 Events
