Delaware: New Castle County Council Unanimously Passes Resolution Calling for an End to the Persecution

(Minghui.org) The New Castle County Council passed Resolution 21-065 on May 11, urging an international investigation into China’s prisons, hospitals, and similar facilities where Falun Gong practitioners are currently held and calling for the immediate end to the persecution.

The Resolution was co-sponsored by Council President Karen Hartley-Nagle and Council Member Janet Kilpatrick. All 13 council members unanimously voted to pass the resolution.

Practitioner Cindy Liu introduces Falun Gong and talks about the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) persecution during a New Castle County Council meeting on May 11.

Council President Hartley-Nagle said in an interview that she was grateful to Falun Gong practitioner Cindy Liu for telling her about the persecution. She said, “When I received an email from Cindy, I felt that this matter was very important. I immediately called her to find out more.”

She was shocked when she learned that Falun Gong practitioners were killed for their organs, while their remains were cremated to destroy the evidence.

She expressed the need to urge the international community to work together to stop the CCP’s atrocities. She also invited Cindy to the meeting of the New Castle County Council on May 11. Cindy gave a detailed explanation of the CCP’s 22-year-long persecution and the CCP’s state-sanctioned live organ harvesting.

President Hartley-Nagle said that there are usually few opportunities for the public to give speeches during the online county council meetings, “But we think this time is very important and different. The council supports [Falun Gong].”

Council President Karen Hartley-Nagle (image provided by Ms. Harley-Nagle)

Regarding the CCP’s persecution of Falun Gong practitioners, Council Member Janet Kilpatrick said that it was the first time she has heard about the persecution. She immediately asked the council president to co-sponsor this resolution. She said, “I think anyone with a humanitarian spirit will pay attention to this matter.”

Because of the CCP’s long-term manipulation of Chinese media and international media, the CCP’s persecution of Falun Gong has not been widely exposed by the mainstream media.

“I didn't know this persecution was happening before,” said President Hartley-Nagle. She expressed complete agreement with Council Member Kilpatrick. “We believe that if you have a bit of humanity, you must act. I think it’s very important for us to do this.”

Council Member Janet Kilpatrick (image provided by herself)

Council Member Kilpatrick is also the Chair of the Delaware Association of Counties. She said she would introduce two other counties to pass resolutions against the persecution. She indicated it was important for more people to learn about the persecution.

She said, “If no one knows [about the persecution], no one will care. If someone starts to learn about it and knows what is happening, people will care about it. I think that will create even greater pressure [to stop the CCP’s persecution].”

The New Castle County Council issued Resolution 21-065 calling for an end to the persecution.

The Resolution reads, “Falun Gong practitioners, who strive to peacefully cultivate high moral qualities in an effort to experience increased health and well-being, have undergone brutal persecution in China since 1999.”

“The United States Department of State Country Report on Human Rights for China for 2014 stated, ‘Advocacy groups continued to report instances of organ harvesting from prisoners.’”

“The United States House of Representatives in 2016 passed Resolution 343 titled, Expressing Concern Regarding Persistent and Credible Reports of Systemic, State-sanctioned Organ Harvesting from Non-consenting Prisoners of Conscience in the People’s Republic of China.”

Background: What Is Falun Dafa?

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 have embraced the teachings—which are based on the principles of Truthfulness, Compassion, Forbearance as well as five gentle exercises—and experienced uplifted 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, issued an order to ban the practice.

Minghui.org has confirmed the deaths of thousands of practitioners as a result of the persecution over the past 22 years. The actual number is believed to be much higher. More 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 the organ transplant industry.

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.