Dangerous Meditation
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DANGEROUS MEDITATION China’s Campaign Against Falungong Human Rights Watch New York · Washington · London · Brussels Copyright © January 2002 by Human Rights Watch. All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. ISBN 1-56432-270-X Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 2002100348 Cover photos: In August 2001 a Chinese court sentenced four persons whom the government alleged to be Falungong members to between seven years and life imprisonment for organizing a mass suicide attempt. Falungong spokespersons have denied practitioners had any association with the incident. (c) 2001 AFP Photo/Xinhua Falungong practitioners exercise during a candlelight vigil in Hong Kong. (c) 2001 AFP Photo/Frederic J. Brown Cover design by Rafael Jiménez Addresses for Human Rights Watch 350 Fifth Avenue, 34th Floor, New York, NY 10118-3299 Tel: (212) 290-4700, Fax: (212) 736-1300, E-mail: [email protected] 1630 Connecticut Avenue, NW Suite 500, Washington, DC 20009 Tel: (202) 612-4321, Fax: (202) 612-4333, E-mail: [email protected] 33 Islington High Street, N1 9LH London, UK Tel: (44 20) 7713-1995, Fax: (44 20) 7713-1800, E-mail: [email protected] 15 Rue Van Campenhout, 1000 Brussels, Belgium Tel: (32 2) 732-2009, Fax: (32 2) 732-0471, E-mail: [email protected] Web Site Address: http://www.hrw.org Listserv address: To subscribe to the list, send an e-mail message to [email protected] with “subscribe hrw-news” in the body of the message (leave the subject line blank). Human Rights Watch is dedicated to protecting the human rights of people around the world. We stand with victims and activists to prevent discrimination, to uphold political freedom, to protect people from inhumane conduct in wartime, and to bring offenders to justice. We investigate and expose human rights violations and hold abusers accountable. We challenge governments and those who hold power to end abusive practices and respect internaitonal human rights law. We enlist the public and the international community to support the cause of human rights for all. HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH Human Rights Watch conducts regular, systematic investigations of human rights abuses in some seventy countries around the world. Our reputation for timely, reliable disclosures has made us an essential source of information for those concerned with human rights. We address the human rights practices of governments of all political stripes, of all geopolitical alignments, and of all ethnic and religious persuasions. Human Rights Watch defends freedom of thought and expression, due process and equal protection of the law, and a vigorous civil society; we document and denounce murders, disappearances, torture, arbitrary imprisonment, discrimination, and other abuses of internationally recognized human rights. Our goal is to hold governments accountable if they transgress the rights of their people. Human Rights Watch began in 1978 with the founding of its Europe and Central Asia division (then known as Helsinki Watch). Today, it also includes divisions covering Africa, the Americas, Asia, and the Middle East. In addition, it includes three thematic divisions on arms, children’s rights, and women’s rights. It maintains offices in New York, Washington, Los Angeles, London, Brussels, Moscow, Dushanbe, and Bangkok. Human Rights Watch is an independent, nongovernmental organization, supported by contributions from private individuals and foundations worldwide. It accepts no government funds, directly or indirectly. The staff includes Kenneth Roth, executive director; Michele Alexander, development director; Reed Brody, advocacy director; Carroll Bogert, communications director; John T. Green, operations director, Barbara Guglielmo, finance director; Lotte Leicht, Brussels office director; Michael McClintock, deputy program director; Patrick Minges, publications director; Maria Pignataro Nielsen, human resources director; Malcolm Smart, program director; Wilder Tayler, legal and policy director; and Joanna Weschler, United Nations representative. Jonathan Fanton is the chair of the board. Robert L. Bernstein is the founding chair. The regional directors of Human Rights Watch are Peter Takirambudde, Africa; José Miguel Vivanco, Americas; Sidney Jones, Asia; Elizabeth Andersen, Europe and Central Asia; and Hanny Megally, Middle East and North Africa. The thematic division directors are Joost R. Hiltermann, arms; Lois Whitman, children’s; and LaShawn R. Jefferson, women’s. The members of the board of directors are Jonathan Fanton, Chair; Robert L. Bernstein, Founding Chair, Lisa Anderson, David M. Brown, William Carmichael, Dorothy Cullman, Gina Despres, Irene Diamond, Fiona Druckenmiller, Edith Everett, Michael Gellert, Vartan Gregorian, Alice H. Henkin, James F. Hoge, Jr., Stephen L. Kass, Marina Pinto Kaufman, Wendy Keys, Bruce J. Klatsky, Joanne Leedom - Ackerman, Josh Mailman, Joel Motley, Samuel K. Murumba, Jane Olson, Peter Osnos, Kathleen Peratis, Catherine Powell, Bruce Rabb, Sigrid Rausing, Orville Schell, Sid Sheinberg, Gary G. Sick, Malcolm Smith, Domna Stanton, John Studzinski, Maureen White, Maya Wiley. Emeritus Board: Roland Algrant, Adrian DeWind, and Malcolm Smith. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This report was written by Mickey Spiegel, research consultant to the Asia Division of Human Rights Watch. Joseph Saunders, deputy director of the Asia Division; Sidney Jones, the division’s executive director; Malcolm Smart, Human Rights Watch program director; and Jim Ross, senior legal advisor, edited the report. Elizabeth Weiss, Fitzroy Hepkins, Veronica Matushaj, and Patrick Minges provided production assistance. A very special thank you goes to Julia Zuckerman, an indefatigable volunteer whose research talents and endless patience in locating and organizing documentation were invaluable. TABLE OF CONTENTS I. SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATIONS ......................... 1 Executive Summary.......................................... 1 Note on methodology ........................................ 5 Recommendations........................................... 5 To the Chinese government ................................. 5 To the Hong Kong government .............................. 7 To the international community.............................. 7 To corporations doing business in China....................... 7 II. WHAT IS FALUNGONG? ...................................... 8 The Membership ........................................... 12 Freedom of Belief in China................................... 14 III. DEFIANCE AND RESPONSE: A CHRONOLOGY ................ 17 IV. ZHANG KUNLUN -- AN ILLUSTRATIVE CASE ................. 44 Analysis.................................................. 50 V. FALUNGONG IN CUSTODY: COMPETING ACCOUNTS .......... 53 Judicial Prosecutions........................................ 53 Reeducation through Labor; Transformation Centers ............... 56 Death in Custody, Torture and Other Ill-treatment ................. 58 Psychiatric Incarceration..................................... 62 VI. FALUNGONG OUTSIDE MAINLAND CHINA ................... 64 Falungong in Hong Kong .................................... 64 Falungong Elsewhere in Asia ................................. 72 Thailand............................................... 72 Singapore.............................................. 73 Japan ................................................. 74 Australia............................................... 75 Taiwan................................................ 75 Falungong in the West ....................................... 76 Europe. 77 Canada................................................ 79 United States ........................................... 79 United Nations............................................. 83 VII. ANALYSIS OF THE GOVERNMENT RESPONSE ............... 85 Why Eradication? .......................................... 85 A “rule of law” veneer....................................... 91 VIII. CONCLUSION ............................................ 95 APPENDIX I: REEDUCATION THROUGH LABOR IN CHINA ........ 98 APPENDIX II: LAWS AND REGULATIONS USED TO CRACK DOWN ON FALUNGONG ........................................... 103 Social Organizations Regulations ............................. 103 The Assembly Law and Implementing Regulations ............... 105 Public Order Regulations.................................... 106 The PRC Criminal Law..................................... 108 State Secrets and State Security Laws.......................... 110 Laws Governing Electronic and Print Media..................... 112 Internet Regulations..................................... 113 APPENDIX III: A LETTER FROM ZHANG KUNLUN TO BRIGADE LEADER LIANG JUNLING ................................ 117 “Falungong is an anti-scientific, anti-human, anti-social, anti-government and illegal organization with all the characteristics of an evil religion.” Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, August 1999 I. SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATIONS Executive Summary Since 1999, Falungong practitioners have been the target of an aggressive and often violent crackdown by the Chinese government, one aspect of much broader tightening of controls on individuals and organizations whose activities China’s leaders perceive as threatening to Chinese Communist Party control. The past two years have witnessed a deterioration in civil liberties nationwide, with disparate groups—political dissidents, foreign scholars, labor organizers, religious believers worshiping outside official aegis, activists in Tibet and Xinjiang, Internet users, academics,