As the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) persecution of Falun Gong nears the 10-year mark, two New York state politicians have taken action. New York State Assembly Members Phil Boyle and Vanessa Gibson each wrote a letter to President Obama on June 18 urging him to denounce the persecution and demand that the CCP put an end to it.

Boyle and Gibson described Falun Gong as a tranquil and peaceful practice guided by the principles of truthfulness, compassion, and tolerance, numbering 70-100 million practitioners before the CCP started its persecution on July 20, 1999. Over 3,000 Falun Gong practitioners are known to have been persecuted to death in the past decade.

Boyle wrote that Falun Gong practitioners experience “Torture, malnutrition, exhaustion, neglect in detention, and even organ harvesting in hospitals,” and that the actual number of people who died from the persecution might be over 10,000.

The two assembly members are especially concerned because the CCP has extended the persecution of Falun Gong into the United States. He reported that “Pro-communist mobs have berated, threatened, and physically attacked Falun Gong practitioners in New York City. New York City police officers have had to arrest several members of an anti-Falun Gong mob for attacks against practitioners, with charges ranging from assault to resisting arrest.”

Boyle and Gibson praised President Obama for his efforts in protecting human rights internationally, and asked that he continue this by supporting Falun Gong. Within five days’ time, Boyle’s letter was co-signed by 53 other members of the New York State Assembly.