An Analysis of the Chinese Government’s Unjust Persecution of Falun Gong

Seven years ago, the Chinese government supported and highly commended the practice of Falun Gong. For over two years, since July 22, 1999, the Chinese government has hunted and persecuted Falun Gong and its followers in an ever-increasing, brutal way.

Sixty years ago Germany’s history experienced a genocide that began virtually unnoticed. At this present time in history, people in China have to endure brutal torture and persecution, because they are unwilling to give up their belief system based on Truthfulness, Compassion and Forbearance. These people wish only to live a morally upright existence and don’t want to infringe on or bother their fellow man. The increasing number of deaths from torture in these state-run, Chinese prisons raises suspicion that, before the eyes of the world, another genocide is in the making, this one aimed at China’s domestic population.

The subject of terrorism is on everyone’s lips these days, the meaning of it being outward-directed methods of intimidation and death. People don’t yet quite grasp the concept of domestic terrorism sanctioned by the State, which aims at her own population and follows the same criteria, as does terrorism abroad, something everyone is fighting at the moment.

The U.N.’s Committee for Preservation and Improvement of Human Rights, at their 54th assembly, ratified a resolution on August 14, 2001, which states that “…serious human rights violations, sanctioned by the State in the form of domestic terrorism is by far worse than any other form of terrorism. The gruesome persecution of Falun Gong practitioners at the hands of the Chinese government is a precise example.”

One also has to ask the question why this particular government puts people to death by torture, when on the other hand those practitioners who sign a declaration to abandon Falun Gong are set free? A genuine criminal deed ought to be punished accordingly! When a simple declaration is enough to decide one’s fate over death by torture or freedom, one has to seriously ponder the justification for torture and other dire punishments.

It happens frequently that human rights violations are considered a “soft” subject, pushed aside. What cannot be overlooked, however, is the fact that those human rights violations in China have taken on mass proportions. As a result,

* Over 100,000 practitioners are languishing in prisons without the privilege of due process of law

* Over 20,000 are enslaved in Re-education-Through-Labour Camps

* 304 confirmed murders have been the result of torture in state facilities
(The real number is close to 1,000 victims, as was learned from internal government sources).

These incidents represent a gross violation, crossing the line of taboo. A government that is able to transgress a taboo in such numbers, that is not acting in line with the rule of law, will also be capable to break other taboos, carry this totalitarianism further and will likely infringe on different areas of concern. An example of the latter is the case of Italian businessman Alfredo Fava. Mr. Fava has practised Falun Gong since 1995. He owns a factory in Shanghai. In September 2001 he had assisted Falun Gong practitioners in Italy to organize a conference and to speak with representatives of the Italian Parliament. The Chinese government knew this. When he went to China recently to visit his factory in Shanghai, he was declared persona non grata (undesirable person), was prevented from entering Chinese soil and was forced to sell all his Chinese assets in the firm. I wish to pose this question: How long can an individual tolerate to negate personal values without taking affront before s/he must stand up for them?

Someone in China recently discovered letters that contained Falun Gong information. Those letters supposedly had been laced with anthrax spores. First of all, aside from the fact that the practitioners’ peaceful resistance to the persecution would deem it un- necessary to resort to such tactics, and secondly to send such a letter to an American firm in China seems completely ludicrous, such an act is also completely opposite of Falun Gong’s principles. I must ask further why anyone would mix information about Falun Gong with anthrax spores? Even if Falun Gong had been the sender of this letter, what would the reason be? It makes no sense! Who is interested in and in a position to discredit Falun Gong and put it in such a dilemma? There are not too many who fit such a profile. (In all fairness we have to admit that we cannot say for certain who is behind this letter).

Human rights violations against those incarcerated ones who cannot defend themselves become the human rights responsibility of those who can address these serious issues of abridged freedoms. It becomes an issue of compassion.

By a German Practitioner
October 31st, 2001