(Minghui.org) Editor's note: Below is Dr. Chloe Schwenke's speech delivered in person at the West Lawn of the U.S. Capitol on July 17, 2014, at the rally marking 15 years of the persecution of Falun Gong.

Dr. Schwenke is the vice president of global programs at Freedom House. She previously served at the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) as the Senior Advisor for LGBT Policy and the Senior Advisor on Democracy, Human Rights, and Governance for sub-Saharan Africa.

Dr. Chloe Schwenke speaks at the rally marking 15 years of the persecution of Falun Gong

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Truthfulness, Compassion, Forbearance.

Hardly the ingredients of political revolution. But as a social revolution, and a path towards universal recognition of the human dignity and worth of all persons, these values at the heart of Falun Gong's beliefs are a very good start. We at Freedom House applaud these values, as exemplified by Falun Gong practitioners in their long struggle for dignity and freedom.

Falun Gong encourages its practitioners to forsake ordinary human desires and attachments, and to endure the most trying of ordeals. That exhortation may seem almost super-human, but it won't be unfamiliar to anyone engaged in the global struggle for human rights. Human rights defenders everywhere are confronting a global assault by repressive governments and others who blatantly reject the very concept that human dignity is universal.

As we demonstrated in 2001, when Freedom House awarded our International Religious Freedom Award to Mr. Li Hongzhi, the founder of Falun Gong, Freedom House stands in solidarity with all who defend and promote universal human rights, anywhere in the world. Defending and promoting these values has never been more important, as attacks grow in intensity on such fundamental human rights as Freedom of Expression, Freedom of Assembly, Freedom of the Press, and – most importantly in this context today – the human right that is found in Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights: Freedom of Thought, Conscience, and Religion.

Since 1999, when 10,000 of you, Falun Gong practitioners, peaceably assembled in Beijing and awakened Chinese leaders to your presence, the persecution against Falun Gong has increased and persisted. The abuses are well documented by Freedom House and by the U.S. State Department, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and many other human rights organizations.

The Chinese government's campaign against Falun Gong has been and continues to be severe, brutal, ugly, and vicious. Tens of thousands of Falun Gong practitioners have been detained and arrested, sent to prison or re-education camps, or have been subjected to long and brutal interrogations, beatings, sleep deprivation, and other forms of torture. Human rights movements have documented more than 3,000 deaths of Falun Gong practitioners from torture and mistreatment, individual human beings whose stories will largely never be told.

Freedom House today calls upon the Chinese government and all who seek to stand in the way of universal human dignity, as exercised through recognized human rights to stop the persecution, and begin on a new path. This rally has been held every year since 2001, and it will continue to be held every year as long as necessary to remind everyone that the world is watching, and that we, the world, are holding accountable all who are responsible for this ongoing and inexcusable outrage.

Thank you.

Category: Voices of Support Worldwide