(Minghui.org) Kevin Lamoureux, Canadian Parliamentary Secretary and Liberal MP for North Winnipeg, Manitoba, expressed his respect for Falun Dafa practitioners, for their persistent peaceful protests of the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) persecution for the past 24 years. He said that the Canadian government should use every opportunity to call for an end to the persecution.
Kevin Lamoureux, parliamentary secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons and Member of Parliament (MP) for North Winnipeg, Manitoba
Human rights lawyer David Matas said at a rally held by practitioners in Winnipeg on July 8 to mark the 24th anniversary, “Nothing can stop the truth from getting out.” He said that although the CCP continues to cover up its atrocities, irrefutable evidence proves it is evil.
Human rights lawyer David Matas addressed a rally in Winnipeg on July 8.
Practitioners’ Commitment Admired
Kevin Lamoureux, Liberal MP, said that he’s seen Falun Dafa practitioners in Winnipeg, and even in Ukraine, “I have a deep amount of respect for the sense of commitment that they bring in wanting to ensure that there’s justice.”
Regarding practitioners’ events to raise awareness, he said, “I have always found that it’s peaceful demonstrations. It’s wanting to make the public aware, and it’s recognizing the human rights violations, all of which I think has allowed for people here in Canada to offer the sympathy and actions because of the manner in which the [Falun Gong] community’s values are very reflective of what Canadian values are.”
The Persecution of Falun Gong is the Most Serious Human Rights Violation
In the first half of 2023, the CCP continued to persecute Falun Gong under the pretext of “maintaining stability” and “Zeroing out” (Falun Gong). The CCP continues its genocidal policy. At least 702 Falun Gong practitioners were sentenced to prison in the first half of the year.
The persecution also affects Canadians. Ms. Sun Qian, a Canadian citizen and Falun Gong practitioner, was illegally detained by the Chinese Communist Party in 2017 and sentenced to eight years in prison in 2020. There has been no news of her whereabouts or condition for more than two years. It is suspected that Ms. Sun was subjected to prolonged torture to extract confessions during her detention. Currently, at least twelve relatives of Canadian citizens are being detained in China for practicing Falun Gong.
MP Lamoureux said that the most important thing is to keep publicly raising the names of the practitioners being persecuted. The key is to apply pressure diplomatically. Some of the pressure also comes from other countries outside of China.
He said that Falun Gong practitioners’ activities around the world to raise awareness are very important. For example, the hundreds of people on Parliament Hill participated in the protest of the persecution. He also recalled talking to some Falun Gong practitioners in Kiev, Ukraine, about ten years ago.
“I was in Kiev and met some practitioners there. And they too, were trying to raise the level of public awareness. For most people, if they understood what was taking place, I’m sure that they would want governments to do whatever it is that they can to deal with this kind of barbaric action.”
Condemning the CCP’s Live Organ Harvesting
For years, MP Lamoureux has been paying attention to the CCP’s live organ harvesting and has worked on legislation to stop it. He said almost all Canadians took the issue seriously, “To see people that are being kept alive and organs being torn out of their body, and then left to die, it’s horrific. I find it completely unacceptable as someone that believes in the importance of human rights.”
The Canadian Parliament finally passed Bill S-223 in 2022. This law makes it a criminal offense for Canadians to go abroad and receive organs from donors without consent. He said that in addition to legal means, the most important thing is to expose the evil of live organ harvesting by the CCP in the news media, and to place it at the highest possible level as a global human rights issue.
“I think that’s probably the most important thing, because whether it’s Canada or like-minded nations, I believe that at the end of the day, it’s going to be the pressures from governments, pressures from within places like China, that are ultimately going to have to win the day.”
Human Rights Lawyer: Falun Gong Will Not Be Forgotten
Renowned Canadian human rights lawyer David Matas spoke at a rally held by Falun Gong practitioners in Winnipeg on July 8. He said the world needs to remember the victims and perpetrators. He said, “Jiang Zemin died in November 2022. But neither he nor any of the other perpetrators of the victimization of the Falun Gong will be forgotten.
“Long after Chinese Communist rule over China has disintegrated, Jiang Zemin and his accomplices will be remembered for what they did to practitioners of Falun Gong. When everything else about Communist China is forgotten, the killing of Falun Gong for their organs will be remembered, because Falun Gong practitioners will still be here, and they will not forget.”
Despite the persistence of these atrocities, Mr. Matas said he remains confident in the “resilience of the human spirit.” He said, “The practice of Falun Gong blends the Chinese exercise and spiritual traditions. It resonated with the Chinese population, but has a global appeal. Its perseverance in the face of brutal persecution has highlighted the perversity and inhumanity of Chinese communism, but also the strength of the human spirit in the face of adversity.”
Condemning Live Organ Harvesting
Mr. Matas, along with the late former MP David Kilgour, were the first to link the CCP’s persecution of Falun Gong to China’s burgeoning organ transplant industry. They released a report in 2006 concluding that the CCP had been conducting “large-scale organ seizures from unwilling Falun Gong practitioners.” The report was later published into a book titled “Bloody Harvest.”
“The demonization of Falun Gong was, in part, responsible for the mass killing of Falun Gong for their organs,” Mr. Matas said. He said the organ harvesting existed in the 2000s, and continues today.
He said one of the reasons Falun Gong was targeted for organ harvesting was the CCP’s “extreme vilification” that led to adherents being depersonalized. “Prison guards, health officials, and health professionals felt that they could do what they wanted with practitioners, that practitioners were not really human.”
Mr. Matas said that some 20 states now have extra-territorial legislation prohibiting their citizens from being complicit in transplant abuse abroad. The Council of Europe Convention against Trafficking in Human Organs requires member states to prohibit this complicity. The International Society for Heart and Lung Transplantation has also stated that it won’t accept data related to transplantation or the use of tissue from human donors in China.
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: Rallies & Protests
