China's human rights problems were placed in the international spotlight at the meeting of the 60th UN Commission on Human Rights (UNCHR.) Overseas experts on China held that Falun Gong practitioners' human rights issues are in fact the key to China's human rights problems. If no solution can be offered to the issues of Falun Gong practitioners' rights, China's human rights situation can never be fundamentally improved. In reality, the crackdown on Falun Gong is not merely directed against practitioners, but also against 1.3 billion Chinese people from all social classes, of all ages, and from each corner of China, whose human rights are seriously infringed.
A choice between life and death
Falun Gong teaches people to cultivate "Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance." Numerous Chinese citizens live their lives by the principle of "Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance," and thus have their physical health improved and morality upgraded. Driven by personal jealousy and bias, Jiang Zemin launched a brutal persecution against millions of practitioners.
Based on informed sources in China, up until April 11th, 2004, 939 Falun Gong practitioners have been persecuted to death, 27 of whom died in over three months from January 1st to April 10th, 2004, the newly-released Minghui news reported.
Great damage has been done to Falun Gong practitioners in almost five years of persecution. Jiang iimplemented genocidal policies to "ruin Falun Gong practitioners' reputation, devastate them finanically, and physically destroy them," and to record all deaths of Falun Gong practitioners in police custody as "suicides." Each Falun Gong practitioner is forced to make a choice between death and their noble belief in "Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance." An evil guard in Hehuakeng Labour Camp, Tangshen City, Hebei Province, always said in his "brainwashing class" that he was notorious for "re educating" practitioners (Minghui news , April 2nd). What did he mean? He meant that he would "re-educate" the Dafa practitioners by torture methods until their death; their ashes were contained in the urns which he failed to "reeducate."
Some units in Jilin Province got a secret document from their superiors, its main content details "the principles to deal with the Dafa practitioners" working in their units, Minghui news reported on November 14th 2003. The following was included in the contents: the communist party members would be deprived of their membership; teachers' qualifications to teach classes would be disclaimed; workers' working contracts would be declared invalid, while their titles and promotion would be canceled; students were not allowed to pursue their Master degrees or doctorates. Every unit was asked to have the success rate of "re-education" upgraded from 50% to 70% at the end of 2003 and to 95% in 2005. If the unit were unable to reach the goal, the practitioners would be forced to attend "brainwashing classes."
The Chinese authorities made continuous efforts to cover up the brutal persecution, denied the facts of torturing practitioners, and lied to the international community that humane and liberal policies were adopted to deal with Falun Gong practitioners. Despite the systematic cover-up of atrocities against Falun Gong practitioners, more and moe cases of torture in China are being revealed. At least 100 unspeakable torturing methods were employed to persecute Falun Gong practitioners, most of the persecuted being women and the elderly. In fact, it is inhumane and also abuses basic human rights to forcefully alter one's thoughts and belief through any method.
A blind spot of international human rights watch: Chinese people's human rights are the first to be affected
Why this persecution against Falun Gong is against humanity belies not only in the fact that the deceitful lies and violence are immoral, but also the fact that in his process of persecuting Falun Gong Jiang is also attempting to destroy the moral foundation and shelter on which human existence depends. To eradicate Falun Gong, Jiang has used the state mechanism, state policies, media, the legal system, the national resources and also innocent Chinese people in the past five years. Though the persecution is directed against Falun Gong, more serious damage has been done to 1.3 billion Chinese people. However, the victims and the international community have not paid enough attention to such a serious damage.
The following analysis of China's tactics to persecute Falun Gong reveals how the persecution has caused damage to the morality and human rights of all Chinese people.
To eliminate the truth and replace it with lies
In the past few years the Chinese virtues of keeping one's promises, honesty, eliminating lies and guarding the truth, and treating people with sincerity have been greatly challenged in the large-scale crackdown on Falun Gong.In the beginning of the persecution, the nationwide media and their staff received the order from Jiang and the "610 Offices" at all governmental agencies: to publish negative reports of Falun Gong. At the start of the persecution in July, 1999, the state-run media spread rumours that mental disorders, suicide and not being allowed to take medicine led to "1,400 deaths," and accused Falun Gong of collecting wealth illegally and having splendid buildings, the International Organisation to Investigate the Persecution of Falun Gong stated. The deceitful accusations were forged in accordance with Jiang's orders to "610 Office." In the past five years, the persecution has been happening, official lies having been spread. The most deceitful lie is the "Tiananmen Self-immolation Incident" staged by Jiang's group to defame Falun Gong and to incite hatred among people blind to the truth.
Hate propaganda spread by Jiang's group not only abuses Chinese people's rights to know the truth but also uses people's trust in the state-run media to brainwash all the citizens and to incite hatred. Hate propaganda has been spread to each corner of society through government agencies, communist party committees, school organisations, culture groups, the so-called "Anti-evil Cult Association," labour unions, and women's associations, and spread to the global world through diplomacy.
Now let us look at the Chinese Department of Education as an example. On February 6th 2001, within one day, under the direct influence and orders from Wang Maolin, head of the central "610 Office" and also from Zhou Qiang, secretary of the Central Youth League Party Committee, eight million young people in 100 cities and nearly 1,000 districts throughout the nation participated in anti-Falun Gong activities, The International Organisation to Investigate the Persecution of Falun Gong stated. The Chinese officials claimed that more than 500,000 propaganda pictures were posted, over ten million flyers were distributed, and more than 200 gatherings were held. In February, 2001, youngsters and students who were blind to the truth or under threat were used to start a campaign in which 12,000,000 residents in over 1,500 communities in 100 cities throughout the nation signed their names to guarantee "not to believe in, not to spread, and to resist" Falun Gong. Anti-Falun Gong activities were being spread to every social corner.
Whether the crackdown works depends on three factors: violence, propaganda and brainwashing. Extensive and incessant propaganda is the most important. When public opinions in the Chinese society are turned against Falun Gong, more pressure will be imposed on the practitioners to force them to denounce their belief; and it will be much easier for the government to violently treat those unwilling to give up their belief, one Chinese official was quoted as saying by the Washington Post on August 5th 2001.
When spreading deceitful lies, Jiang and the "610 Offices" at all government agencies blocked and cut off any possible channel to spread the truth of Falun Gong. At the start of the persecution, Jiang's group destroyed a great number of Falun Gong books, records, tapes and materials so that pople had no access to the truth of Falun Gong. After the crackdown on Falun Gong, Jiang hired numerous Internet police to censor the Internet. Meanwhile, Chinese citizens were denied access to overseas Falun Gong web sites. People (such as Zhang Li, a Canadian resident, and her husband) would be jailed for sending an e-mail message about the truth of Falun Gong to their relatives or friends. People (such as Liu Jie, a Falun Gong practitioner) would be beaten to death for sending a New Year card to their friends on which were printed the words of "Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance." Falun Gong practitioners participated in tapping into a cable T.V. signal to broadcast programmes exposing the atrocities against Falun Gong practitioners were tortured to death (such as Chengjun Liu) or unlawfully sentenced to ten or twenty years in prison.
Propaganda and brainwashing have confused right and wrong, turned black into white, and also caused serious damage to Chinese people.
To restrain good and spread evil
In the persecution, the evil side of human nature has been tremendously encouraged. Under political pressure and tempted by interests, numerous Chinese people made a choice between justice and interest, choosing the latter and participating in the persecution. For example, whether Falun Gong practitioners are effectively deterred from making an appeal in Beijing becomes the standard to evaluate government officials. If there is one Falun Gong practitioner in one unit to make an appeal in Beijing, the executives of all levels will be laid off immediately. Jiang also ordered that Falun Gong practitioners who went to Beijing to make an appeal would be cracked down on at any time and at all costs. The central government issued a directive to all government agents to focus on controling Falun Gong, The Guardian reported. Whether Falun Gong problems are dealt with effectively becomes one important item to evaluate government officials of all levels. After a great number of Falun Gong practitioners visited Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong, the central government would announce at each provincial meeting the number of Falun Gong practitioners in each province who appealed in Beijing; three provinces that had the most practitioners to appeal in Beijing would be announced and criticised.
Based on the investigation of the International Organisation to Investigate the Persecution of Falun Gong, in the beginning of September, 2001, Luo Gan, the head of the "610 Office" issued an order: "Any person who is found to practise Falun Gong will be secretly arrested and imprisoned. If a policeman finds any one who practises Falun Gong and does not arrest him, the policeman will be laid off and his certificate of each registered residence will be suspended." The orders secretly issued by the "610 Office" directly lead to the rising death toll of Falun Gong practitioners.
At the same time, the order to "re-educate" Falun Gong practitioners to force them to denounce their belief was being carried out in all governmental agencies and labour camps Pressured by their superiors, labour camps, police stations as well as brainwashing classes in every city and province persecute Falun Gong practitioners physically, mentally and financially.
Government officials (such as Luo Gan, Zhou Yongkang and Wu Guanzheng) would be promoted on the basis of their efforts to eradicate Falun Gong practitioners. Guards in labour camps and the police in the police stations would be honoured as "heros" and awarded (such as Su Jing in Masanjia Labour Camp, and Chen You, Political Commissar in Tiananmen Branch Beijing Public Security Bureau.) Even the inmates in labour camps who were used to torture Falun Gong practitioners would have their sentence shortened.
In May 2002, Jiang and Luo issued directives to tempt security guards to arrest Falun Gong practitioners, The International Organisation to Investigate the Persecution of Falun Gong reported. According to informed sources in Guangdong Province, the directives were issued to all national security units. The directives promised to award one with 3,000 dollars for arresting one practitioner that keeps practising Falun Gong. According to the news published on Minghui Net, up until April 10th 2004, 26 Falun Gong pracititoners in Guangdon Province were persecuted to death.
To stop Falun Gong practitioners from making an appeal in Beijing, the photo of Falun Gong's founder was put on the floor of the entrance to the station and dock. Passengers were asked to stamp on the photo or verbally abuse Falun Gong and its founder. Those who refused to would be considered Falun Gong practitioners and then would be arrested. Jilin train stations issued tickets on the back of which Falun Gong-slandering words were printed. Each passenger was forced to read these words.
Unable to withstand such overwhelming social and mental pressure, some Falun Gong practitioners were "re-educated." They were asked to write a paper to deny that they had ever held Falun Gong's founder in high esteem and to condemn their belief that had been considered more important than their lives and had helped them regain physical health and upgrade their morality. Additionally, they were asked to declare their stances on TV and the newspapers, and to praise the brutal torturing in labour camps. Some of those who were forced to betray "Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance" were used to help "re-educate" other Falun Gong practitioners. Later some of them awakened to their conscience, and felt that they had been living in hell in this period of being "transfomed" from a good person to a bad person. Human nature was excessively distorted and human dignity was fiendishly devastated.
Basically the persecution is to turn good persons into evil ones and to make evil persons more wicked.
The incitement of hatred
Ever since the beginning of the persecution in July,1999, China's state-run newspapers published Falun Gong-attacking articles, while highly praising the theory of "Three Represents" created by the dictator Jiang. It is doubtful if this kind of propaganda to confuse right and wrong could unite people's thoughts with Jiang's theory of "Three Represents." However, Jiang's personal jealousy was apparently unveiled in the newspapers. It is out of this personal jealousy that Jiang could not tolerate differences of beliefs and regards the practitioners as enemies.
Jealousy breeds provocative actions and hatred which are purposefully spread and incited in the Chinese society. After the "Tiananmen Self-immolation Incident," criticisms against Falun Gong were turned to lashings, public opinion being turned against Falun Gong. Hate propaganda has been spread to every corner of the Chinese society through radio stations, newspapers and TV stations. China's state-run media reported: at discussion meetings the crackdown on Falun Gong was turned into a serious political feud, people were not allowed to be aloof, and furthermore the government was asked to escalate its crackdown on Falun Gong. Hatred was being injected into people's veins, their blood being poisoned by hatred.
Jiang's group would not spare any Chinese; everyone was demanded to declare their attitude toward Falun Gong. Those who express their sympathy or support for Falun Gong will be laid off or expelled out of school, or will even be arrested and imprisoned. According to the International Organisation to Investigate the Persecution of Falun Gong, the East China Normal University stated clearly in its graduate institute entrance exam: examinees were supposed to express their attitudes toward and understanding of certain major political issues (such as the problems of Falun Gong.) Minghui Net reported: one female college student in Quizhou Province who had never practised Falun Gong was kidnapped just because "she sympathized with Falun Gong."
In additon, the hatred toward Falun Gong was included in students' textbooks and in all kinds of exams. For example, in 2001 graduate institute entrance exam, the essay questions on political theories and the 18th and the 22nd question in part II (multiple choice) led examinees to think that Falun Gong practitioners' thoughts and behaviors were abnormal and would cause damage to society. (According to the official report, there were over 500,000 examinees taking the graduate institute exam in 2001.)
To avoid international condemnation of the crackdown on Falun Gong, and to fool the international community, Jiang's group incited people against Falun Gong and promoted the "one-million signatures" campaign throughout the nation. The International Organisation to Investigate the Persecution of Falun Gong reported: On January 11th, 2001, the "one-million signatures" campaign was launched in Beijing and promoted throughout society. In the middle of March, the "Anti-evil Cult Association" brought 100 pieces of cloth filled with signatures and weighing one ton to the UN Commission on Human Rights Meeting in Geneva. It was claimed that about 1,500,000 people, about one thousandth of the Chinese population, signed their names. The International Organisation to Investigate the Persecution of Falun Gong stated that the "one-million signatures" campaign in major cities around the country must have been organised by the official organisations because at that time any activities held by inter-provincial civic organisations were banned by the Chinese government. For example, the campaign in Tientsin City was organised by the Youth League Party Committee, while the campaign in Jiangsi was held in the yard of the Provincial Government. The signature-collecting campaign in high schools and universities was arranged by the Chinese Department of Education and the education system.
Hate propaganda makes people lose their calm and rationality Practitioners who just want to be good persons are not respected but attacked.
Mental isolation
Besides hate propaganda, people are encouraged to report Falun Gong practitioners to the police, a practitioner's friends or relatives will be accused of involving themselves in a crime, and the media are tightly controlled by the government. In this way, Falun Gong practitioners are mentally isolated from society. Even though Falun Gong practitioners might not be imprisoned in labour camps or sent to brainwashing classes, they surely will be monitored or brainwashed by their family, neighborhood committees, heads of their units, or local police stations. (For example, on some streets in Changchun or DaLian five persons are assigned to monitor one practitioner.)
Jiang's group promoted mass movements and divided the Chinese people into 95% majority and 5% enemies, the former being used to monitor the latter. In this way, the minority was under the threat of state terrorism. To be included in the 95% majority, many people were forced to betray their souls or even their relatives and friends. Liu Jing, head of the central "610 Office" once bragged about China's labour education system, saying that even a wife would send her husband to the labour camp. Liu's statement revealed that the persecution is against humanity.
Moral foundation jeopardised, immeasurable damage done to society
When brainwashing Falun Gong practitioners, one official in Guizhou Province said that at present China did not promote "Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance." In these years of persecution, Jiang and Luo once said that the police could turn a blind eye and a deaf ear to murdering and just focused their time and energy on arresting Falun Gong practitioners. With this kind of polictical policy, public security or order in the Chinese society is being undermined, moral corruption and bribery being rampant.
Needless to say, honesty, kindness, mutual help, tolerance and understanding are the basis of social security and stability. But if these virtues are denied, what will happen to a nation and its people?
Now people and even the media who are supposed to adhere to the principle of sincerity and honesty care nothing about telling lies and what they say is lies. For personal interests, people are shamelessly hurting others. People sneer at the principle that "one should not fight back when being punched or insulted," hatred and fighting being instilled into their minds. What kind of unpredictable crisis will such a group of people bring to society? When persecuting Falun Gong, Jiang's group is also devastating the foundation of humanity and morality.
Now people at home and abroad have come to the awareness of the brutal persecution. When not pressured and threatened, a man of insight commented, people oppose the persecution of Falun Gong. However, when under the threat of losing their jobs, having their reputation ruined, being labelled as "the power against China" or losing their market in China, people will tolerate the existence of the persecution, turning a blind eye to human rights abuses and the crackdown on a belief. Some people will even aid the tyrant in his tyranny. Damage to one's mentality and loss of social conscience can neither be counted nor compensated for.
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