Continued Diplomatic Pressure Needed to Bring End to Forced Organ Harvesting of Falun Gong Adherents in China: Liberal MP

Falun Gong adherents parade in Manhattan, New York City, on May 16, 2019. Samira Bouaou/The Epoch Times

Over the past 24 years, Falun Gong adherents across the globe have steadfastly raised their voices against the persecution campaign initiated by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) against their fellows in China. As harrowing atrocities persist, Liberal MP Kevin Lamoureux is calling for continued global pressure on the Beijing regime.

Mr. Lamoureux, parliamentary secretary to the leader of the government in the House of Commons, commended the commitment of Falun Gong practitioners in putting a spotlight on the CCP’s human rights abuses, including the atrocity of live organ harvesting from Falun Gong prisoners of conscience.

“I have a deep amount of respect for the sense of commitment that [Falun Gong practitioners] bring in wanting to ensure that there’s justice,” he told NTD Television, a sister company of The Epoch Times.

“I think that the issue that they raised in terms of the illegal harvesting of organs is something in which most, if not virtually all, Canadians would feel very important.”

Mr. Lamoureux said there are no shortcuts to defending human rights, and underscored the importance for Canada and its allies to consistently raise the issue with Beijing. He specifically addressed the regime’s arbitrary detention of Falun Gong practitioners; nearly 10,000 were arrested and harassed in 2019 alone, according to Minghui.org, a website that documents the persecution campaign. Among those detained was Vancouver resident Sun Qian, a Canadian citizen who was sentenced to eight years in prison in China in 2017 for upholding her beliefs.

“There is no magic wand where the prime minister picks up the phone and makes a phone call, and then they’re released,” Mr. Lamoureux said. “Unfortunately, defending human rights isn’t as easy as that, and the key is in a diplomatic way to apply pressure. And a part of that pressure is also what takes place in other countries.”

Liberal MP for Winnipeg North Kevin Lamoureux rises during question period in the House of Commons on May 2, 2022. The Canadian Press/Adrian Wyld

Mr. Lamoureux’s remarks came as Falun Gong practitioners marked the 24th anniversary of the CCP’s persecution, initiated in July 1999. Falun Gong, a spiritual discipline and meditation based on the principles of truthfulness, compassion, and tolerance, quickly gained widespread popularity in China after its introduction in 1992 due to its health benefits. But then-CCP leader Jiang Zemin perceived that popularity as a threat to the regime’s totalitarian rule, and instigated a nationwide persecution campaign.

The CCP’s sweeping campaign against Falun Gong practitioners remains ongoing to this day. Methods of persecution include live organ harvesting, various forms of torture, brainwashing, and psychological and sexual abuse, according to reports from the World Organization to Investigate the Persecution of Falun Gong.

Legal Efforts

Other MPs have expressed similar sentiments as those of Mr. Lamoureux in interviews with NTD.

In July, Conservative MP Garnett Genuis, a frequent advocate in the House of Commons in highlighting the CCP’s persecution of Falun Gong, called on the government to maintain awareness by consistently bringing up the issue with Beijing.

“This is something that Canada needs to continue to speak out about, the legislators need to continue to speak out about,” he said. “We need to end a global culture of impunity for violations of human rights and move towards a world in which serious violators of fundamental freedoms are held accountable through sanctions and through other mechanisms.”

Conservative MPs Garnett Genuis (front, 3rd R) and Arnold Viersen (back, 4th R) poses with Falun Gong adherents as they gathered at a reception held in the Wellington Building on Parliament Hill to celebrate the passing of Bill S-223, on Dec. 14, 2022. Limin Zhou/The Epoch Times

Mr. Genuis sponsored Sen. Salma Ataullahjan’s Bill S-223 in the House of Commons, passed into law last December, which makes it illegal for a Canadian citizen or a permanent resident to go abroad to receive an organ taken from someone who did not give informed consent for its removal.

Apart from Bill S-223, Conservative MP Michael Cooper also pointed to provisions in Canada’s Criminal Code as tools that could be used to combat gross human rights abuses by China.

“It is estimated that 150 people a day in the PRC [People’s Republic of China] are killed as a result of forced organ harvesting. These are extraordinary human rights violations that are taking place and are being directed by the Beijing-based communist regime,” Mr. Cooper said on July 20.

A number of countries have introduced legislation to ban residents from travelling overseas to obtain organs extracted without consent. Organ tourism is already banned in Israel, Taiwan, Italy, and Spain.

On March 27, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Stop Forced Organ Harvesting Act of 2023 (H.R. 1154) with a nearly unanimous vote of 413-2.

Jenny Li and Olivia Li contributed to this report