Minutes for July 2021 meeting

Wednesday, 21 July 2021 (via Zoom)

In attendance: Jeff, Barbara, Bob, Frank, Bill

Greetings and Personal Updates

Jeff initiated a discussion regarding the format of our monthly meetings post-COVID. 

• We observed that, although it would be very enjoyable to meet in person again, online meetings have allowed members who live at a distance to participate. 
• We discussed the possibility of continuing to meet online most months of the year while interspersing two or three in-person meetings. Jeff was open to hosting. We would be able to watch a film together and have other activities. 
• We will continue this discussion at our next meeting.

On July 20, Barbara attended an online presentation entitled "Falun Gong Human Rights Crisis in China: Updates, Global Impacts, and Next Actions."

• Presenters included a Falun Gong practitioner who had been brutally tortured in China but now lives in the US. The speakers described 22 years of persecution of Falun Gong members by the Chinese Communist Party. The persecution continues, as does the forced harvesting of organs of imprisoned practitioners. 
• Speakers encouraged attendees to write to their senators and representatives urging them to cosponsor a bill currently before both the U.S. Senate and the House: “Stop Forced Organ Harvesting Act of 2021.” In the House it is H.R. 1592 (cosponsored by Brian Fitzpatrick, R-PA)  and in the Senate, S. 602 (cosponsored by Chris Coons, D-DE). 

Actions

• "Viktar Paluau May Have Been Executed" (Belarus: UA 168.19)
• "Human Rights Defender Arbitrarily Detained" (Vietnam: UA 44.21)
• "Activist Spends a Year in Prison Unjustly" (Egypt: UA 139.20)
• "Tibetan Monk Jailed for Online Messages" (China: UA 72.21)

Next meeting (online): Wednesday, 18 August 2021, 7:30 p.m.