(Clearwisdom.net) On June 23, 2004, the Delaware State House of Representatives passed a resolution condemning China's persecution of Falun Gong practitioners. This Resolution recognizes the plight of practitioners of Falun Gong in China and urges the United States Government to take all appropriate actions and to use all appropriate public and private forums to urge the Government of the People's Republic of China to release Falun Gong practitioners, to put an end to the practices of torture and other cruel, inhumane, and degrading treatment against them, and to abide by the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights by allowing Falun Gong practitioners to pursue their personal beliefs. Below is the text of the House Resolution No. 86:

House Passed On 06/23/2004

SPONSOR:
Rep. Valihura & Rep. Miro;
Reps. DiPinto, D. Ennis, Lavelle

WHEREAS, Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, is a peaceful and nonviolent form of personal belief and practice with millions of adherents in the People's Republic of China and elsewhere; and

WHEREAS, the spiritual and meditative practice of Falun Gong is based on truthfulness, compassion and tolerance, which was taught in private for thousands of years before Mr. Li Hongzhi introduced the practice to the general public in China in 1992; and

WHEREAS, Falun Gong is practiced freely in more than 50 countries by tens of millions of people; and

WHEREAS, since July 1999, the government of the People's Republic of China has forbidden Falun Gong practitioners to practice their beliefs, and has systematically attempted to eradicate the practice and those who follow it; and

WHEREAS, this policy violates the Constitution of the People's Republic of China as well as the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights; and

WHEREAS, according to the Falun Dafa Information Center, hundreds of thousands of people have been arrested, detained, imprisoned, sent to labor camps, treated with cruelty, tortured, persecuted and in many cases killed by authorities in China in connection with their practice of Falun Gong; and

WHEREAS, also according to the Falun Dafa Information Center, women in particular have been the target of numerous forms of sexual violence, including rape, sexual assault, and forced abortion; and

WHEREAS, the brutal oppression of peaceful practitioners of Falun Gong is a blatant violation of human rights; and

WHEREAS, according to a December 1, 2002 article in the Philadelphia Inquirer Magazine, Jingfang Yang, who is the sister of Thomas Jefferson University Hospital psychiatrist Michael J. Yang, has been imprisoned since October 30, 2002; and

WHEREAS, several permanent United States residents and citizens have been affected by this oppression and have been subjected to arbitrary detention, imprisoned, and tortured in the People's Republic of China; and

WHEREAS, Dr. Charles Li, a United States citizen, is among the detained practitioners who have been isolated from their families and loved ones; and

WHEREAS, on July 24, 2002 the United States House of Representatives passed House Concurrent Resolution 188; Expressing the sense of Congress that the Government of the People's Republic of China should cease its persecution of Falun Gong practitioners; and

WHEREAS, on March 3, 2004 the United States House of Representatives passed House Resolution 530, as amended, which was a general resolution; urging the appropriate representative of the United States to the 60th Session of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights to introduce a resolution calling upon the Government of the People's Republic of China to end its human rights violations in China; and specifically sought redress for the persecuted Falun Gong practitioners in China;

NOW, THEREFORE:

BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the State of Delaware that it does hereby recognize the plight of practitioners of Falun Gong in China; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the United States Congress is urged to take all appropriate actions and to use all appropriate public and private forums to urge the Government of the People's Republic of China to release Falun Gong practitioners, to put an end to the practices of torture and other cruel, inhumane, and degrading treatment against them, and to abide by the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights by allowing Falun Gong practitioners to pursue their personal beliefs; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that copies of this resolution be transmitted to the presiding officers of each house of the United States Congress, to each member of Delaware's Congressional Delegation, and to The Honorable Colin L. Powell, United States Secretary of State.