Canada: Falun Dafa Association of Canada Urges Prime Minister of Ukraine to Uphold Justice

We write to express our grave concern over the arrest of 23 Falun Gong practitioners in Ukraine. It was reported to us that the arresting officers justified their actions by saying that Ukraine "can't afford trouble with China relations." It was also reported that Chinese officials had made a deal with the Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in an attempt to stop Falun Gong activities in Ukraine. While we applaud the judge's decision to throw out the case as groundless, the unfortunate arrests and ill-intended offers by Chinese officials clearly show that Jiang Zemin is trying to promote his persecution of Falun Gong within the borders of Ukraine. We ask that you will not allow the Ukraine to further persecute Falun Gong practitioners and hope that you take the steps necessary to ensure that this will never happen again.

Falun Gong is a spiritual practice that cultivates "Truthfulness-Compassion-Tolerance." It is welcomed and highly acclaimed by citizens and governments in dozens of countries around the world. Falun Gong practitioners continually strive to improve themselves, to be better people by assimilating the universal characteristic, "Truthfulness-Compassion-Tolerance" into their thoughts, words and actions.

Jiang Zemin, who Amnesty International calls a 'human rights scoundrel', attempts to export his propaganda and his persecution of Falun Gong to every country he visits. Wherever he goes, he exerts pressure on governments and communities, and tries to have them toughen their stance on Falun Gong. Using threats of economic sanction, he coerces people and governments to denounce or defame those who stand for goodness and truthfulness. He asks people choose their own self-interest over goodness and decency and thereby shreds the moral fabric of civilised society.

A healthy society with a vibrant, robust and sustainable economy is rooted in core values of Truthfulness, Compassion, and Tolerance. Justice, the rule of law and human rights all follow from this. We are confident that you and the people of Ukraine will agree that such principles must not be compromised, as they are the values that underlie all that is good about society and indeed, humanity.