Falun Gong practitioners gather on the lawn in front of Parliament House to peacefully appeal, and hold anti-torture exhibit to expose the CCP’s atrocities

(Clearwisdom.net) On June 19, 2006, prior to Australian Prime Minister Howard’s upcoming state visit to China, several hundred Falun Gong practitioners and representatives from the "Coalition to Investigate the Persecution of Falun Gong" (CIPFG) gathered in front of Parliament House to peacefully appeal. They read an open letter to Prime Minister Howard from the Australian Falun Dafa Association. They called on the Prime Minister to question the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) leaders about organ harvesting from living Falun Gong practitioners for profit, and to require the CCP to immediately open up all forced labor camps, concentration camps, hospitals and mental hospitals to allow third parties to conduct independent investigations and collect evidence. At the same time, they delivered a petition with over ten million signatures collected from around Australia to the Prime Minister and members of Parliament.

Senator Lyn Allison from Democratic Party, Senator Kerry Nettle from Green Party, Senator Bob Brown, leader of Green Party were also present. They expressed their support and said in an interview that they have asked Prime Minister Howard in Parliament to request an investigation into the CCP’s organ harvesting from living Falun Gong practitioners.

Senator Lyn Allison said that she has brought forward to the Prime Minister in Parliament that it must be investigated that the CCP harvests organs from living Falun Gong practitioners. If it is found that any Australian people do organ transplant trade with China, the Prime Minister should pressure and lobby the Australian government to stop it. Falun Gong practitioners have contributed a lot in striving for human rights, and she will try her best to help them.

Senator Kerry Nettle said that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has expressed that it had learned about all these allegations, so there should be more inquiries and investigations into live organ harvesting.

The peaceful appeal attracted attention from many media outlets, including Channel 10 TV, SBS TV, NTDTV, Sydney Morning Herald and The Epoch Times.

On the afternoon of June 19, practitioners also held a truth introduction session inside the Parliament. They introduced to the members of Parliament and their assistants who attended the session the facts about Falun Gong and the CCP’s persecution of Falun Gong, including the latest revelation of the CCP harvesting organs from living Falun Gong practitioners.

On the large lawn in front of the Parliament House, several hundred Falun Gong practitioners from Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and other areas of Australia held an anti-torture exhibit, photo exhibit and large banners. They wanted to tell people that in China, the persecution Falun Gong practitioners have been suffering is beyond one’s imagination. Those practitioners are facing the danger of having their organs removed when they are still alive and being killed arbitrarily by the CCP. The appeal activities drew attention from several hundred people of Sri Lankan origin who were also holding an activity in front of the Parliament House. Many of them read Falun Gong truth clarification leaflets and signed the petition during the break of their activity.

Falun Gong spokesperson Kay Rubacek read to the media an open letter to Prime Minister Howard. The letter stated that the Falun Gong practitioners hoped Howard to make two requirements during his meeting with Hu jintao: First, require Hu Jintao to open up all forced labor camps, concentration camps, hospitals, metal hospitals and related facilities, to allow the investigation organizations to immediately conduct an independent investigation without interference.

Second, require Hu Jintao to allow the recently established Coalition to Investigate the Persecution of Falun Gong (CIPFG) and the International Investigation Team to enter China and guarantee their safety. The Independent investigation team, composed of the former director of the Asian Pacific Division of Canada's Foreign Affairs Ministry Mr. David Kilgour and well-known international human rights attorney Mr. David Matas, wrote to the Chinese Embassy in Canada on June 2 with their request for a meeting with the Chinese Ambassador, and hope to obtain visas and visit Mainland China this month to conduct their investigation and collect evidence. They will soon make public the investigation report after evidence collection.

The open letter also stated that if Howard can make the two requirements, he will help rescue tens of thousands of Falun Gong practitioners who are being detained in concentration camps, and who are facing the danger of being tortured to death or having their organs removed and killed at any moment. The CCP regime has no regard for the value of their lives. If Prime Minister Howard remains silent in this regard, he will cause damage to Australian moral principles. Through the two requirements, we also want to let Chinese people know that when they are in need, the Australian people have not forgotten them.

Spokesperson for Australian Committee to Investigate the Truth John Xiao introduced the establishment and background of the committee, and the current development of gaining support from many countries overseas. The support includes 81 former US congressmen who co-signed a letter written in April to request President Bush to conduct investigation into the CCP’s live organ harvesting; former Canadian member of Parliament and human rights lawyer join in the CIPFG, and formed an independent investigation team. They are conducting an investigation over the CCP’s live organ harvesting and applied for visas to go to China for evidence collection.

John also introduced that European Parliament Vice-President conducted his own investigation while visiting China and drew a conclusion that the CCP regime is still "a system of atrocity, despotism, and bigotry." The CCP’s brutal abuses against the detained Falun Gong practitioner, that is, selecting eligible Falun Gong practitioners to be "suppliers" for organ transplants, caused their death. This is a typical crime of genocide. Edward held that the European Parliament should hold a hearing on the cases of live organ harvesting.

John said that several members of Parliament in Australia have written to Prime Minister Howard to propose an investigation. At present, more than 20 people including people from religious circle, lawyers, people from business circle and former Chinese officials have joined in the CIPFG. In the end, Mr. Xiao called on Prime Minister Howard to require the CCP authorities during his visit to China to open up all forced labor camps and secret concentration camps to allow the investigation teams to conduct investigation immediately without any restriction.

Two members of the "Committee to Investigate the Truth" Father Peter Caruana of Australian Holy Catholic Family Church and Ms. Frances Milne, president of former Sydney United Church Care Association came to the press conference to show their support and make speeches. Father Peter Caruana later attended the introduction session inside the Parliament and introduced to the members of Parliament the persecution of Falun Gong they have learned about.

Peter said in his speech that he stood in front of the Parliament House on behalf of Falun Gong group to call on Howard to require the CCP leaders during his visit to China to stop the persecution of Falun Gong. He held that the CCP disregards human rights and takes life for granted. Falun Gong group has been persecuted so cruelly only for practicing the exercises. People even show sympathy for animals, let alone for human beings.

Ms. Frances Milne said in her speech that their church has been paying attention to China’s human rights problem. When she helped with refugee cases, through dealing with Falun Gong practitioners’ cases, she has learned about the brutality of the persecution of Falun Gong. Falun Gong practitioners have their organs harvested while they are still alive, it is inconceivable for people that such things can even happen. The Australian government should investigate this, but due to the concern of trade with China, the government has not yet taken action. She learned from a doctor that a medical team from China came to Australia especially to learn the transplantation techniques. She said she was very much worried about this, and she felt these Chinese doctors who participate in organ transplants should be warned to make clear the sources of the organs. She also called on the medical organizations in Australia to conduct an investigation over this.

Speakers also included Falun Gong practitioner Li Ying and Doris. Li Ying’s younger brother and Doris’ mother have been illegally detained, have no way to contact the outside right now, and their whereabouts are unknown. Li Ying and Doris called on people from all walks of life to help rescue their family members who have been detained for practicing Falun Gong.