Under sunny skies on the West Lawn of the U.S. Capitol Thursday, members of Congress joined representatives from notable human rights and religious freedom NGOs in congratulating Falun Gong practitioners for their courageous fight for spiritual freedom.
The photo gallery is below. To view a slideshow, click on the first photo, and follow the arrows.
Read the associated article here.
T. Kumar is the Director, International Advocacy at Amnesty International, and has been a human rights monitor in Asia, Bosnia, Afghanistan, Guatemala, and South Africa. “Falun Gong practitioners never harmed anyone; they only did their meditation on their own. That’s the point we should ask the Chinese [regime]: Why do you want to hurt and harm people who never hurt you or anyone else?”
Chung is the daughter of arrested Taiwanese Falun Gong practitioner Chung Ting-pang. “I’m Alice Chung from Taiwan. I come to ask for help to rescue my father. He’s now been detained in China for about three weeks, and we still can’t contact him.”
Treat is a Jubilee Campaign Staffer, Government Relations Coordinator, Researcher, and part of Special Projects. “While there have been some encouraging signs that the government’s attitude may be changing, political statements are meaningless while innocent Falun Gong practitioners are still subject to widespread organ harvesting, which is a euphemism for violating their bodies and the theft of their organs they need to survive.”
McDonnell is the Director of Religious Liberty and the Church Alliance for a New Sudan at the Institute on Religion and Democracy, and has drafted legislation on religious persecution. “You who know the truth about the lies, tyranny, and terror of communism are a shining light.”
Congresswoman Ros-Lehtinen is Chairman of the House Committee of Foreign Affairs, and was first elected into public office in 1982. “The 610 Office, established in 1999 to carry out the repression of Falun Gong, is eerily similar to the Gestapo and the KGB in its propaganda and ruthless measures.”
Congressman Poe serves on the House Committee of Foreign Affairs and the House Committee on the Judiciary, and he was formerly an assistant district attorney, and criminal court judge. “One day, in this world or the next, the communist leaders are going to be held accountable for their actions.”
Congressman Rohrabacher is Chairman of the Oversight and Investigation Subcommittee of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, and has introduced a resolution outlining China’s litany of human rights violations. “In our soul and heart, we realize that in truthfulness, compassion, and tolerance, you are standing for the goodness in the universe. But you are confronted with one of the worst evils that this humankind has ever experienced.”
Lantos is Chairman on the Board of Trustees for the Lantos Foundation for Human Rights and Justice, and wife of the late Congressman Tom Lantos. She quoted Dr. Katrina Lantos Swett: “With their gentle, meditative exercises and a moral philosophy that emphasizes compassion, truth, and tolerance, the Falun Gong are truly model citizens in every community in which they live.”
Sellinger is the Legislative Correspondent for Foreign Affairs, Trade, Defense, and Budget. Sellinger reads a letter on behalf of Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.): “The Chinese government needs to ensure and protect human rights as a core value to earn the respect of the world community … This continuing persecution [of Falun Gong practitioners] is intolerable and must be stopped immediately.”
Hagland is the Washington, D.C., Director for Reporters Without Borders where she advocates for journalists, bloggers, and media rights worldwide. “China is 174th out of 179 countries in our last press freedom index… There are continuous attacks by Chinese authorities on media, artists, and human rights activists.”
Scholte is the President of the Defense Forum Foundation, the Treasurer of the U.S. Committee for Human Rights in North Korea, and a strong advocate for human rights around the globe. “[Organ harvesting] is just one tragic example of our failure to act as we watch this situation continue to escalate. We are all guilty of looking away and remaining silent while the CCP commits a host of human rights violations.”
Dr. Gunawardena-Vaughn is Director of the International Religious Freedom and the Southeast Asia programs at Freedom House, and prior to this, she served for eight years as a Program Director at Amnesty International USA. “In our own annual survey of Freedom in the World, Freedom House continues to rank China as one of the most repressive regimes in the world … China has been one of an increasingly small group of countries we designate as the World’s Worst of the Worst.”
Fefferman is the Executive Director of the International Coalition for Religious Freedom. “Because Chinese communist ideology teaches that human beings are just animals, they think it’s OK to take out their body parts, their organs, and use them for research, even without the permission of those who died. What a horrible, disgusting crime the Chinese Communists are perpetrating against the members of Falun Gong today!”
Congressman Farr serves on the House Appropriations Committee and is the Ranking Member of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development and Food and Drug Administration. “To fight for human rights and positive change, I will use my thumbprint to support Falun Gong and urge colleagues to support them, and will do so with the White House and president, urging they support you as well.”
Rev. Lobenstine serves as the Executive Director of the InterFaith Conference of Metropolitan Washington, is a founding member of the Washington Metropolitan Dialogue, and serves on Mayor Vincent Gray’s Interfaith Council. “I am grateful for your witness, and especially for the witness of those in China who believe with you and with many others, that forbearance, benevolence, and truthfulness … are very important witnesses to religious freedom and to the freedom of all different peoples of different faiths and to people of no faith.”
Congressman Smith is currently in his 16th term in the U.S. House of Representatives, serves as a senior member on the Foreign Affairs Committee, and chairs the Congressional-Executive Commission on China. “The U.S. government and Congress and all aspects of our society stand in solidarity with those victims and with those seeking to liberate the Falun Gong practitioners inside China.”
