U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) Commissioner Vicky Hartzler on Oct. 16 condemned the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) over the recent deaths of Falun Gong practitioners in the regime’s custody.
“The treatment of Falun Gong practitioners is just horrific by the CCP,” Hartzler told The Epoch Times.
Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, is a spiritual practice made public in China in the early 1990s. The practice teaches the principles of truth, compassion, and tolerance, and is generally regarded as a religion outside of China.
In 1999, the CCP launched a violent persecution against Falun Gong practitioners, using a propaganda campaign to paint the peaceful followers as enemies of the state overnight. In the early hours of July 20 that year, mass arrests were carried out, and thousands were sent to labor camps under a then-existing Chinese law that allowed for “reeducation” by labor for three- to five-year sentences without trial or conviction….