North Texas Daily

Juha Jussila | Dallas, Texas

Falun Gong – such a foreign sounding word might seem irrelevant to those of us living in the United States, and it may thus be difficult realize that the unspeakable horrors perpetrated against Falun Gong practitioners in China have very real consequences on those of us on this side of the world.

It is almost unfathomable to imply that a government of any country in the world would be not only complicit, but sanction the ripping of internal organs out of the bodies of its own citizens for profit, for merely striving to live by the principles of truthfulness, compassion and tolerance, the main tenets of their faith. Falun Gong is a system for self-improvement in the Buddhist school, but surely any major religion on Earth is able to relate to and treasure the universal principles listed above.  These values transcend all boundaries and are and have been part of all of humanity for eons.

In 1999, Jiang Zemin, General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party, ordered that the “reputations” of Falun Gong adherents be “defamed,” “bankrupting them financially” and “destroying them physically.” This resulting crimes against humanity is absolutely ghoulish and macabre and yet it continues in China 17 years later.

In 2006, allegations began to surface that China’s lucrative organ transplant industry was being supplied with the organs of Falun Gong practitioners — the largest group of prisoners of conscience in China today. Since then, much analysis and investigation, corroborated by witness testimony, has led to the publication of several books which state that Falun Gong practitioners have been killed for their organs to later be harvested.

“Bloody Harvest: Organ Harvesting of Falun Gong Practitioners in China in 2009,” “State Organs: Transplant Abuse in China in 2012,” and “The Slaughter: Mass Killings, Organ Harvesting, and China’s Secret Solution to Its Dissident Problem in 2014” are all documentaries available on major video sharing websites that showcase these crimes against humanity, and are perfect for exposing the issue to those not yet familiar with such.  The latest report, published on June 22, 2016, said that the number of slaughtered practitioners may be much higher than reported earlier, which was already in the tens of thousands.

People from around the world, including some of our own citizens, utilize this black market to find quick access to organs that might take years to allocate under more ethical conditions. The victims are often put into a database and selected based on their ability to match with a paying client.

But there is hope in curbing this atrocious practice: The United States House of Representatives passed Resolution 343 without objection on the evening of June 13, 2016, which openly acknowledged and then condemned the practice. The resolution calls China’s communist regime to immediately stop forced organ harvesting from Falun Gong practitioners and other prisoners of conscience. This resolution will not only expose this foul practice, but will aid in helping our doctors, patients, and hospitals make informed decisions, and thus avoid becoming accessories to the heinous crime of forced organ harvesting without prior knowledge. 

I would like to express my heart-felt gratitude to the 185 members of US Congress in a show of strong bi-partisan support and the 13 members representing Texas who co-sponsored the Resolution. 

While the resolution that passed is an important step, much more must be done. I encourage the readers of this letter to visit the Share Organ Harvesting in China web site, share it with family and friends and sign the on-line petition and contact your elected officials representing you in Congress. We will all want to stand on the right side of history!