Leavenworth Times, October 30, 2006
By KRISTIN SULLIVAN, Times Staff Writer
“Falun Gong” may not be a household term in Leavenworth, but nearby
practitioners of the movement are hoping to build awareness of it all across
Kansas.
Practitioners of this ancient Chinese discipline visited
Leavenworth Wednesday as part of a grassroots campaign to spread awareness of
alleged crimes against humanity perpetrated by the Chinese
government.
These devotees of Falun Gong, hailing from Lawrence and
Kansas City, are taking their message to cities across Kansas in an “SOS Car
Tour.” Visiting city officials, libraries and the media, they are informing
residents that the Chinese goverment is reportedly harvesting organs of Falun
Gong followers in the Communist nation.
Kansas City resident Felice Boewe
and Lawrence resident Adam Miller visited Leavenworth as part of their tour of
20 Kansas cities. Boewe, who was born in China, said that the persecution of
Falun Gong members is not well-known in China or internationally because of the
communist government’s suppression of information.
Falun Gong has
thousands of followers in the United States, Boewe and Miller said. In China,
there are reportedly 100 million Falun Gong followers.
The large scope
and decidedly non-conformist nature of the movement have caused the communist
government to consider it a threat, Boewe explained. It was banned in China in
July 1999.
Chinese lawyers are not allowed to represent Falun Gong
members, she said.
Falun Gong, or Falun Dafa, is based on the principles
of “Truthfulness, Compassion and Forbearance,” Boewe said. A physical and
spiritual discipline, Falun Gong incorporates exercises and philosophical
beliefs to improve the health and well-being of its practitioners, she said.
This year, David Matas, international human rights lawyer, and David Kilgour,
former Secretary of State for Canada, have released a “Report Into Allegations
of Organ Harvesting of Falun Gong Practitioners in China,” detailing the
evidence for this gruesome practice.
There are reportedly 36
concentration camps filled with Falun Gong practitioners who are killed so that
their organs may be sold at a profit.
“It is earth-shaking news,” Boewe
said. “We decided we had to take that to the local people.”
Like the
persecution of Christians in China, the persecution of Falun Gong members by the
communist government is inevitable, Boewe said. Its spiritual philosophy runs
counter to the communist government’s athiest teachings. Falun Gong, as an
ancient Chinese discipline, also undermines the government’s attempt to destroy
the nation’s pre-communist traditions, she said.
Boewe reported that 85
percent of the vast number of organs in China are sold to foreigners. Unlike
elsewhere in the world, organs are readily available at many hospitals in
China.
“When you go to China, in a week you get a kidney, in two weeks
you get a liver,” Boewe said.
A number of these foreigners are Americans,
and Boewe feels certain that if those considering a transplant from China knew
the possible origin of the organs, they would look elsewhere.
“I know
American people are for humanity and justice,” Boewe said. “Tell everybody you
know this is happening — call your congressmen.”