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A Report on Extensive and Severe Human Rights Violations in the Suppression of Falun Gong in the People's Republic of China SUPPLEMENT: LIST OF CASES 1999-2000 Outside China Inside China Compiled and Edited by Falun Gong Practitioners PLEASE SUPPORT FALUN GONG FOR A PEACEFUL RESOLUTION "We are not against the government now, nor will we be in the future. Other peo- ple may treat us badly, but we do not treat others badly, nor do we treat people as enemies." "We are calling for all governments, international organizations, and people of goodwill worldwide to extend their support and assistance to us in order to resolve the present crisis that is taking place in China." --- Li Hongzhi, founder of Falun Gong, July 22, 1999 For information on Falun Gong, please visit http://falundafa.org or http://falundafa.ca For updates on Falun Gong related news, please visit http://minghui.ca or http://truewisdom.net Published by Golden Lotus Press For private review only. Not for sale. A REPORT ON EXTENSIVE AND SEVERE HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS IN THE SUPPRESSION OF FALUN GONG IN THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA SUPPLEMENT: LIST OF CASES 1999-2000 Compiled and Edited by Falun Gong Practitioners March 2000 Editors' Note his report examines the extensive and severe human rights violations in the current campaign against Falun Gong in Tthe People's Republic of China. It seeks to provide an overview of the crackdown and put recent events into perspec- tive by presenting case analyses, documented evidence and a brief but comprehensive introduction to Falun Gong as an advanced and benign spiritual discipline. It is hoped by the edi- tors that this report will help improve public awareness of the degree and extent of the atrocities inflicted upon Falun Gong practitioners in China and, by extension, related human rights abuses elsewhere. We further hope that, through the efforts of kind-hearted people worldwide, the time will soon arrive for a peaceful dialogue between the Chinese Government and Falun Gong practitioners, and an early resolution to the escalating cri- sis. Please send comments and suggestions to: Email: [email protected] Mail Correspondence: P. O. Box 117, Buford, GA 30515, USA For updated information on Falun Gong, please visit http://minghui.ca/eng.html. Thank you for your help. Falun Gong practitioners March, 2000 Foreword his book contains a fairly comprehensive collection of the cases reported to date of human rights violations inflicted upon Falun TGong practitioners in China since the Chinese Government started the suppression on July 20, 1999. It serves as supporting material to A Report On Extensive And Severe Human Rights Violations In The Suppression Of Falun Gong In The People’s Republic Of China (1999- 2000). The structure of the book parallels that of part I and II of the Report, consisting therefore of 10 chapters. The sources for a majority of the cases documented in this book are mes- sages provided by practitioners in China via phone calls, emails, faxes, etc. Many practitioners have been sentenced to years in jail or sent to labor camps for “leaking” these “national secrets,” while many others have risked harsh punishment, including severe fines and even torture, by making pub- lic their cases. Although some of the messages are only one or two sen- tences, sometimes even without the full identification of the persecuted practitioners, we include them so as to give a more complete picture of the ever-escalating national campaign against these innocent Chinese citizens. Other sources for the cases include media reports around the world and real- ∗ life experiences inside China of some visiting overseas practitioners. As the Chinese Government has made an all-out effort to cover up its human rights violations committed at the expense of Falun Gong practition- ers, countless incidents similar to those in this book are unknown to the out- side world. The list of the reported cases documented here is only the tip of the iceberg of the atrocities suffered by millions of peaceful and law-abiding Falun Gong practitioners in China. ∗ Unless otherwise noted, the source documents for each case report can be found at http://www.minghui.ca. TABLE OF CONTENTS EDITOR’S NOTE FOREWORD PICTURE COLLECTION . .i INTRODUCTION . .1 1. DEATH AND TORTURE IN CUSTODY . .5 2. DETENTION AND ABUSE IN MENTAL HOSPITALS . .41 3. MASS ARREST AND POLICE BRUTALITY . .53 4. SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC COERCION . .119 5. PUBLIC DESTRUCTION OF BOOKS AND TAPES . .163 6. PROCEDURE AND PROSECUTION: FLYING IN THE FACE OF "RULE OF LAW" . .173 7. A NATION MISLED . .203 8. WOMEN, CHILDREN, AND THE ELDERLY . .227 9. SCHOOLS NOT SPARED . .271 10. THE GLOBAL REACH OF THE CAMPAIGN . .289 INTRODUCTION his report details human rights violations, dat- rials. The entire event was peaceful and characterized ing from July 22, 1999, committed by the by orderliness, as its participants’ sense of civic respon- Tgovernment of the People’s Republic of China sibility was consistent with Falun Gong’s teachings. against practitioners of Falun Gong. Its aim is to pro- Consequently, social order was not compromised and vide a succinct overview of nearly eight months of vig- the assembly came to a quick and peaceful end after orous, and sometimes violent, suppression of Falun participants presented their case before Mr. Zhu Rongji, Gong. Details of pivotal events, representative inci- Premier of the Chinese State Council. Because of the dents, and individual cases are drawn from reliable gathering, Falun Gong at once started to receive inter- sources, while case analyses are used to put these into national attention. perspective. Additional materials are provided in sup- After the assembly, the Chinese Government, widely plementary form, offering significant background infor- speculated to have been misled by some self-seeking mation. officials, decided to launch a crackdown on Falun Falun Gong is a traditional Chinese1 “cultivation Gong. It first announced to the public that the assembly, practice” (popularly known as qigong) brought to the which was held well within parameters set by China’s public by Mr. Li Hongzhi in 1992. It espouses the prin- constitution, would not bring about any punishment.4 ciples of “truthfulness,” “compassion,” and “tolerance,” The government’s initial, moderate stance on Falun taking these as guidance for conduct and thought. It has Gong following the assembly – seen by many as a sign neither any political agenda nor commercial interests. of China’s progress in political reform – gave Chinese Benign in nature, Falun Gong has been recognized leadership sufficient time to orchestrate a nationwide around the world as beneficial to society for its spiritu- crackdown. On July 20, 1999, forceful suppression al principles and ability to improve individuals’ health. began, with hundreds of arrests of so-called “key mem- As of July 1999, it is estimated that some 100 million bers” of Falun Gong being made across China in the people in more than 30 countries practice Falun Gong. middle of the night. A nationwide ban of Falun Gong On April 25, 1999, more than ten thousand Falun was then enacted, making every sort of Falun Gong Gong practitioners held a peaceful gathering in Beijing, activity illegal. Just one week later the Chinese China, outside the Chinese leadership compound, Government issued an arrest warrant for Mr. Li Zhongnanhai.2 The assembly was prompted by reports Hongzhi, then already a permanent resident of the of violence previously inflicted upon Falun Gong prac- United States. titioners by Chinese police in the city of Tianjin3, as A prelude to a prolonged campaign against Falun well as an official ban on publishing Falun Gong mate- Gong, the Chinese Government’s unexpected moves immediately led thousands of Falun Gong practitioners to make appeals5 to their local and central governments. They believed Falun Gong and Mr. Li had been 1 “China,” as used throughout this report, unless otherwise wronged. They hoped their appeals could rectify the specified, is equivalent to “People’s Republic of China,” and “Chinese” to its citizens. 2 Though this event has been repeatedly referenced by the 4 See “Talks Given by Officials of the State Council and the media in both China and the West, no careful or in-depth Chinese Communist Party Central Letters and Visit analysis of it has been offered to date. An understanding Bureaus,” Xinhua News Agency, June 14, 1999. of this event is so important that we have devoted an entire article to it. See Part III, Section 2, Article II. 5 Public appeals efforts, while unfamiliar to the West, have played an important role in Chinese history. As a means 3 The police detained 45 Falun Gong practitioners, many for individuals to legally petition the government in elderly citizens, on April 23, 1999 in Tianjin. China, they offer all citizens a peaceful avenue for expressing concerns to higher authorities. 1 INTRODUCTION critical mistake being committed by their government. practitioners through “re-education” — a euphemism The government, however, showed little interest in for inhumane mind-altering procedures perfected dur- Falun Gong practitioners’ genuine concerns. Even ing the Great Cultural Revolution. The entire Chinese worse, few of these law-abiding people had ever antici- nation has been led into a “battle” wherein grandpar- pated that their candor and confidence in the govern- ents, parents, siblings and children suddenly find them- ment would be answered with beatings, arrests, labor selves the “enemy” of one another. Almost no one has sentences, and unauthorized detainment. remained unimplicated or uninvolved in this divisive As the anti-Falun Gong campaign progressed, its state of affairs. intensity grew. Rife with extensive human rights abus- To keep the outside world from knowing the truth es, the campaign has provoked repeated criticism from about Falun Gong and the suppression, the Chinese numerous human rights organizations around the world.