We strongly condemn the 25 years of human rights abuses against Falun Gong practitioners in China.

We understand that Falun Gong (a.k.a. Falun Dafa) is a spiritual meditation practice based on the principles of Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance. The 20th of July 2024 marks 25 years since the Chinese Communist Party launched a systematic and brutal campaign to "eradicate" Falun Gong. Since July 1999, millions of Falun Gong practitioners in China have been arbitrarily arrested and jailed without due process and many have been tortured and even killed. At the very least, thousands have died as a result of such torture and other abuses in police custody.

These atrocities have been well-documented by human rights organizations, governmental bodies, and the United Nations. The 2007 U.S. State Department Human Rights Report stated, "[the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture Manfred] Nowak reported that Falun Gong practitioners accounted for 66 percent of victims of alleged torture while in government custody." A 2017 Freedom House report found that "Falun Gong practitioners across China are subject to widespread surveillance, arbitrary detention, imprisonment, and torture, and they are at a high risk of extrajudicial execution."

In 2016, the U.S. Congress unanimously passed resolution H.Res.343, expressing concern regarding persistent and credible reports of systematic, state-sanctioned organ harvesting from large numbers of Falun Gong practitioners. In 2019, an Independent Tribunal in the United Kingdom, chaired by Sir Geoffrey Nice KC, 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." The Tribunal also determined that crimes against humanity have been committed against Falun Gong practitioners in China. In a 2021 press release, twelve United Nations human rights experts jointly stated that they "were extremely alarmed" by allegations of organ harvesting targeting Falun Gong practitioners and other minorities in China.

In January 2024, the European Parliament passed resolution 2024/2504 (RSP), which "Strongly urges the PRC to immediately end the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners and other minorities...; Calls for the PRC to end domestic and transnational surveillance and control and the suppression of religious freedom."

We, the undersigned, therefore urge the Chinese government to respect international norms and legal obligations, including the United Nations Convention Against Torture, which China has ratified, and to immediately stop the 25-year-long persecution of Falun Gong in China, and to unconditionally release all detained Falun Gong practitioners and other prisoners of conscience.