August 24, 2001
Office of the Governor
Governor Gary Locke
PO Box 40002
Olympia, WA 98504-0002
Dear Governor Locke:
On behalf of all Washington State Falun Dafa practitioners, we send greetings and salutations. We are a group of practitioners who have determined to walk from Seattle to San Francisco in the interest of protecting and upholding the human rights of fellow practitioners who are being brutally persecuted in China. Our final destination in San Francisco is the Chinese Consulate, where we will appeal to President Bush prior to his trip to China in October to petition for the release of practitioners being illegally held in labor camps, prisons, and mental hospitals in China. Among those being held is US permanent resident Dr. Chunyan Teng.
The beginning of our walk is occurring simultaneously with other walks and hunger strikes throughout the world, including 130 practitioners who have been on hunger strike for more than 20 days in the Masanjia labor camp in China. Our journey began on August 22nd from downtown Seattle in the pouring rain. As we are passing through Olympia, the capital of our state and the seat of our state government, we are happy to have the opportunity to share the purpose of our mission with you, our governor.
Falun Dafa is a peaceful spiritual practice that has attracted followers worldwide since its introduction to the public in 1992 by Mr. Li Hongzhi. Practitioners of Falun Dafa, also known as Falun Gong, are peaceful individuals who follow no organization or leadership, seek no political gain or stature, and gain no profit or fame from the work that they do to support and spread the teachings of Falun Dafa.
We are deeply concerned, however, with the continuing and escalating brutal persecution of fellow practitioners in mainland China. We believe that it is the right of each individual, no matter what country they live in, to follow their own heart and live their beliefs as they see fit. Therefore, we are walking to appeal to the government of the United States to support the efforts of practitioners in this country to call for an end to the persecution in China, and the release of Dr. Teng and the thousands of other practitioners being illegally detained and held.
We humbly appeal to you, Governor Locke, to support our efforts to uphold the basic human rights of practitioners throughout the world, especially in China. We look forward to the opportunity to speak with you in the future about Falun Dafa, and sincerely wish you the best in all of your work for the people of the state of Washington.
Respectfully,
Falun Dafa practitioners of Washington State
Category: Rallies & Protests
