Dozens of Lawmakers Urge Trudeau to Sanction Perpetrators Persecuting Falun Gong Ahead of Anniversary
Today, over 30 parliamentarians urged Prime Minister Trudeau to impose sanctions on Chinese officials over the Falun Gong suppression and condemn the persecution in a joint letter. July 20th marks the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) 22-year-long eradication campaign against the adherents of Falun Gong in mainland China.
“With this anniversary, we, the undersigned, urge the government to condemn the relentless human rights violations of Falun Gong practitioners and call for the Chinese Communist Party to end the persecution,” wrote the letter.
“We also urge our government to impose sanctions against Chinese officials for their gross human rights violations of Falun Gong practitioners, pursuant to the Justice for Victims of Corrupt Foreign Officials Act (Sergei Magnitsky Law),” said the letter, which is signed by parliamentarians from both side of the House.
“On account of the gravity and scale of the human rights violations of Falun Gong, we believe that sanctions against the perpetrators will be effective in furthering the interests of international justice and human rights,” said the letter.
The lawmakers note that: “For 22 years, communist officials in China have carried out a state-sponsored, nationwide campaign of hate propaganda, arbitrary detention, illegal imprisonment, torture, extrajudicial killing, and large-scale organ harvesting targeting the tens of millions of adherents of Falun Gong, a spiritual practice guided by the principles of Truth, Compassion, and Tolerance.”
“We implore our government to take the necessary actions to address the ongoing gross injustices happening toward Falun Gong practitioners in China,” said the letter.
Sanction List Submitted to Foreign Affairs Minister
A list of 150 (out of tens of thousands of known perpetrators) who participated in the CCP’s campaign to eradicate Falun Gong has been submitted to the Minister of Foreign Affairs Marc Garneau for sanction in June 2021.
“They were selected because their egregious and extensive participation in this human rights atrocity is well documented, and their eligibility for sanction under the Act is beyond dispute,” said MP James Bezan who submitted the list on June 11, 2021.
The United States Imposes Sanctions
The U.S. government has already sanctioned two of the officials listed, Mr. Yu Hui and Mr. Huang Yuanxiong, for human rights abuses against Falun Gong practitioners, in December 2020 and May 2021 respectively. Both are officials of the “610 Office”, an extralegal Gestapo-like agency the CCP created specifically to persecute Falun Gong.
Crimes against Humanity Against Falun Gong
On June 14, 2021, 12 UN Special Rapporteurssaid in a news release that they were “extremely alarmed” by what they consider to be credible allegations of forced organ harvesting at the hands of Chinese Communist regime, targeting religious and ethnic minorities, including Falun Gong practitioners.
In 2019, an independent tribunal in London—chaired by Sir Geoffrey Nice QC, who led the prosecution of former Serbian president Slobodan Milosevic at the U.N.’s International Criminal Tribunal — concluded that “forced organ harvesting has been committed for years throughout China, on a significant scale and that Falun Gong practitioners have been one – and probably the main – source of organ supply.” And that “Commission of crimes of humanity against Falun Gong” “has been proved beyond reasonable doubt”
Ongoing Persecution and Canadian Ties
In 2020 alone, despite the COVID-19 pandemic, the persecution continues unabated in China. At least 6,659 Falun Gong practitioners were arrested, 622 were sentenced to prison for their faith and at least 83 were killed. The first half of 2021 recorded 3,291 being arrested and 6,179 harassed, Due to the regime’s censorship, we believe the actual numbers to be far higher than this. The Falun Dafa Information Center suggests that at least several million adherents have been detained since 1999.
At present, Canadian citizen Ms. Qian Sun and 11 family members of Canadians are illegally detained in China because of their belief in Falun Gong.
Copy of the letter to the Prime Minister and signed names:
July 2021
Prime Minster Justin Trudeau
House of Commons
Ottawa, Ontario
K2B 7B2
Dear Prime Minister,
July 20th marks 22 years of the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) persecution of adherents of Falun Gong.
With this anniversary, we, the undersigned, urge the government to condemn the relentless human rights violations of Falun Gong practitioners and call for the Chinese Communist Party to end the persecution.
We also urge the government to impose sanctions against Chinese officials for their gross human rights violations of Falun Gong practitioners, pursuant to the Justice for Victims of Corrupt Foreign Officials Act (Sergei Magnitsky Law).
For 22 years, communist officials in China have carried out a state-sponsored, nationwide campaign of hate propaganda, arbitrary detention, illegal imprisonment, torture, extrajudicial killing, and large-scale organ harvesting targeting the tens of millions of adherents of Falun Gong, a spiritual practice guided by the principles of Truth, Compassion, and Tolerance.
On account of the gravity and scale of the human rights violations of Falun Gong, we believe that sanctions against the perpetrators will be effective in furthering the interests of international justice and human rights.
We implore our government to take the necessary actions to address the ongoing gross injustices happening toward Falun Gong practitioners in China.
Sincerely,
Mel Arnold, MP; Candice Bergen, MP; James Bezan, MP; Dominic Cardy, MLA; Michael Cooper, MP; Marc Dalton, MP; Kerry Diotte, MP; Tracy Gray, MP; Garnett Genuis, MP; Jasraj Singh Hallan, MP; Tamara Jansen, MP; Peter Kent, MP; Stephanie Kusie, MP; Mike Lake, MP; Lisa Lambert, MLA; Philip Lawrence, MP; Ron Liepert, MP; Richard Martel, MP; Kelly McCauley, MP; John McKay, MP; Cathy McLeod, MP; Alain Rayes, MP; Marty Morantz, MP; Rob Morrison, MP; Jag Sahota, MP; Kyle Seeback, MP; Judy Sgro, MP; Nelly Shin, MP; Cathay Wagantall, MP; Chris Warkentin, MP; Bob Zimmer, MP; Phil McColeman, MP; Colin Carrie, MP; Larry Maguire, MP; Thanh Hai Ngo, senator
