(Minghui.org) Representatives from the Italian Falun Dafa Association went to the Presidential Palace in Rome to submit signatures on January 26, 2023. The signatures called on the Italian government to ask the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to end the persecution of Falun Dafa, stop harvesting organs from practitioners while they are alive, and allow international investigations of the atrocities. They also urge the Italian government to strongly request the UN Secretary-General to launch an international investigation into these egregious human rights violations.

Falun Dafa practitioners submit the signatures to the Presidential Palace.

Practitioners in Italy submitted the first batch of signatures to the Italian government in 2019. Ms. Elisabetta Zamparutti, former member of the Italian Parliament, and Senator Roberto Rampi expressed their support for the petition.

A passerby signs the petition during an awareness raising event in Rome.

Since 1999, hundreds of thousands of Falun Dafa practitioners in China have been illegally arrested by the CCP for practicing Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance, and been detained and sentenced to prisons.

Italian citizens, including members of the Italian Parliament, were stunned by the evidence of the CCP’s live organ harvesting, which some have called an unprecedented crime against humanity.

Former Member of Parliament: Live Organ Harvesting Is Violence Against Humanity

Ms. Elisabetta Zamparutti, Italian representative of the European Committee against Torture

Ms. Elisabetta Zamparutti, former member of the Italian Parliament and Italian representative of the European Committee against Torture, told Falun Dafa representatives: “Our country, Italy, is famous for its moratorium on the death penalty. We have the responsibility to stop the CCP’s organ harvesting from Falun Dafa prisoners of conscience on various occasions. Every organ harvested from these practitioners who follow the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is an unprecedented violence against the entire human society.”

Senator: Italy Should Protect Falun Dafa Practitioners

Senator Roberto Rampi

Senator Roberto Rampi said told practitioners, “The persecution of Falun Dafa practitioners in China is absolutely established, serious, and violence. It deprives the rights of Chinese people that are granted by Chinese history, culture, and traditions. It is therefore very important that the Italian government and Parliament take a clear position to protect those who practice this practice in China and in the world.”

Multiple Italian Members of the European Parliament Sign the Resolution Condemning Organ Harvesting in China

A number of Italian Members of the European Parliament signed a resolution of the European Parliament (2022/2657 (RSP)) a few months ago, which condemned the repeated incidents of live organ harvesting in China. It called on the relevant national institutions to assess and review their relationship with relevant Chinese institutions regarding transplant medicine, research, and training in terms of cooperation on this topic. It also called for taking necessary measures to prevent organ transplant tourists from going to China in the tourism industry, and to inform citizens traveling to China what is happening.

In 2014, the Italian Special Committee unanimously passed a resolution requesting that the Human Rights Committee of the Italian Senate tell the government to reconsider the training program with China on organ transplantation.

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. Millions of people who have embraced the teachings, which are based on the principles of Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance, and have learned the five 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 and 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 with the power to override the police and judicial systems and whose 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. The actual number is believed to be much higher. 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.