(Minghui.org) Falun Gong (Falun Dafa) practitioners held a rally in Riga on July 19, 2024 to expose the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) 25-year-long persecution. They also called on people to condemn the CCP’s brutality.

The rally was held across from the Chinese Embassy at Ganibu Dam 5 in the morning. At noon, an informational press release was held at the intersection of Kalku Street and Zigfrids Anna Meierovics Boulevard.

Through these activities practitioners hoped to draw public attention to the fact that the CCP conducts forced organ harvesting from prisoners of conscience, especially Falun Gong practitioners. The European Parliament passed resolutions on May 5, 2022 and January 18, 2024 on the continuation of organ harvesting in China and on the persecution of the Falun Dafa movement in China. The U.S. House of Representatives unanimously passed H.R.4132, the Falun Gong Protection Act, on June 25, 2024, which condemns the CCP’s persecution and requires sanctions against the perpetrators.

Several members of Parliament (MPs) sent letters to express their support.

MP's Urges the CCP to Stop the Persecution

Member of Parliament of Latvia, Liga Klavina

Liga Klavina MP wrote: “In January 2024, the European Parliament adopted a Resolution strongly urging the People’s Republic of China to immediately end its persecution of Falun Gong practitioners and other minorities. Fully supporting this Resolution – as a Member of The Parliament of Latvia, wife and mother – I would like to emphasize in particular that human life and freedom are the greatest values that must be jointly protected in the name of a better future for humanity.”

Juris Vilums MP

Juris Vilums MP wrote, “The Latvian people, along with many other nations, have experienced the evils of communism – deportation, murder, rape, moral, psychological and physical pairings – all kinds and levels of human rights violations.”

He said, “I, as an ordinary person in the East of Latvia (Latgale), who bases my life and work on internationally recognized ethical values that are in line with Latgalian Latvian traditions, which are largely embodied in modern Christian thinking, wish from the depths of my heart all the best to every Falun Gong practitioner, every person who patiently fights for truth in the world, every person who chooses to do good and bring light in his or her personal, community, national and world life.

“I say thank you to everyone who has come here today to share their light, to express their support for the good fight to strengthen truth and justice! May the light accompany us!”

In expressing their support, Jana Simanovska MP and Skaidrite Abrama MP also thanked practitioners for standing up for human rights.

Kekava county deputy Juris Zilko also expressed his support in writing, saying that he condemns this type of repression of peaceful people and peaceful activities. He said that such events of raising awareness were so necessary in today’s polarized world. He also thanked practitioners for the work they do in Latvia to inform and educate our society.

Several MPs also signed a joint statement calling for an end to the persecution of Falun Gong in China.

Background: What Is Falun Dafa and Why Is the CCP Persecuting It?

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. Its teachings are based on the principles of Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance. Millions of people who have embraced the teachings and exercises have experienced improved 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. On July 20, 1999, he issued an order to eradicate the practice.

Under Jiang’s personal direction, the CCP established the 610 Office, an extralegal security organization that has the power to override the police and judicial systems. Its sole function is to carry out the persecution of Falun Dafa.

Minghui.org has confirmed the deaths of thousands of practitioners as a result of the persecution over the past 24 years. However, the actual number is believed to be much higher, due to the difficulty in getting information out of China. Countless practitioners 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 China’s organ transplant industry.