Comment on the "Three Stops" Policy Recently Implemented by China's Ministry of Justice

During the persecution of Falun Gong, China's Ministry of Justice has being Jiang Zemin's accomplice, but recently, it has called on prisons to put an end to all maltreatment of inmates. This directive may have been issued because of the power struggle that has arisen. With Jiang now out of office and the voices of condemnation inside and outside of China becoming louder and louder, there was a need to establish another smokescreen to hide the truth. Or it might be one of the Ministry of Justice's preparations to "welcome" the UN anti-torture organisation request to investigate the situation in China's prisons. At a teleconference held on December 10, the ministry required prisons and labour camps to carry out "three stops:"

1. Absolutely stop all beating, verbal abuse, physical punishment, humiliation and maltreatment of prisoners and detainees;
2. Absolutely stop over-time physical labour;
3. Absolutely stop charging unreasonable fees.

First of all, we need to make it very clear that the tens of thousands of illegally detained Falun Gong practitioners who are in prisons and labour camps have not committed any offences and are not criminals. Simply because they uphold their belief in "Truth-Compassion-Forbearance," Jiang has persecuted them. He used his power "as the law" and personally labelled Falun Gong practitioners as "criminals." Being labelled as such, Falun Gong practitioners are subjected to torture and can even be killed at any moment, and yet, the so called Ministry of Justice has turned a blind eye and a deaf ear to this and played the role of aiding and abetting a tyrant to do evil. Jiang's persecution of Falun Gong is shocking, both in terms of its brutality and scope. Nevertheless, all this has been covered up by the Jiang regime at all levels. They have refused to admit any of the charges levied against them from outside and instead boast that China is in its "best human rights era," and that they treat Falun Gong practitioners humanely and provide them with a very "fine education."

As lawsuits have been filed against Jiang and his accomplices in many countries around the world, more and more people are getting to know about the crimes of torture, crimes against humanity and genocide committed in the persecution of Falun Gong. The smoke screen hiding the persecution is also gradually being cleared away.

This year, Falun Gong practitioners have launched a series of anti-torture campaigns around the world, of which the simulated anti-torture exhibits, demonstrating the various forms of torture suffered by Falun Gong practitioners in Mainland China, have generated strong reactions. People from all walks of life, be they ordinary citizens or distinguished politicians or celebrities, have all showed their strong indignation at the cruelty of Jiang's regime. Looking at the savage tortures, which were only the tip of an iceberg compared with what actually takes place in China, some people were speechless, some shed tears, and some were filled with righteous indignation. They were shocked to learn this and found it hard to understand that Falun Gong practitioners suffered such cruel persecution simply for their belief and for being good people by following the principles of "Truth-Compassion-Forbearance." Many bystanders have signed the petition to end the persecution to show their support for Falun Gong, and more and more people are demanding that the criminals must be brought to justice.

Under the current circumstances, China's Ministry of Justice has raised the requirements [for the "three stops"]. Does this mean that the Chinese authorities have tacitly acknowledged the charges by the outside world against Jiang's regime for torturing and killing Falun Gong practitioners? Actually, in the face of such irrefutable facts and the great amount of evidence presented to courts in many countries, plus considering the tens and thousands of Falun Gong practitioners who are personal victims of the persecution as well as more than one hundred million Falun Gong practitioners' family members and relatives, any cover-up will only help people see even more clearly the criminal nature of Jiang's regime.

The once exaggerated "human rights guarantee" is indeed stipulated in the Constitution, but illegal arrests of Falun Gong practitioners for their belief are still taking place every day. It is clear to anyone who has eyes what consequences await anyone who should shouts out "Falun Dafa is great!" at Tiananmen Square. Falun Gong practitioners illegally detained in labour camps and prisons are still being tortured and subjected to forced brainwashing. The number of practitioners who are verified to have died as a result of the persecution has increased to more than 1,100 and the number is still rising.

The Supreme People's Procuratorate has advocated "dealing with cases regarding the violation of human rights" within five months, and yet they turn a blind eye to the appeals of Falun Gong practitioners. There have even been secret orders issued to the Ministry of Justice that they should not receive, talk about or accept any lawsuits and indictments filed by practitioners.

In May 2004, the face of Falun Gong practitioner Ms. Gao Rongrong from Shenyang City was severely disfigured as a result of electric baton shocks by the police while she was illegally detained at Longshan Forced Labour Camp for upholding her belief. Gao Rongrong was at the brink of death. In order to avoid further persecution she escaped illegal detention. People in the justice department and the police department in Shenyang as well as in the central 6-10 Office (an agency specifically created to persecute Falun Gong, with absolute power over each level of administration in the Party and all other political and judiciary systems), which was established solely for persecuting Falun Gong, became extremely worried that their crimes would be exposed to the international community. They even launched an intensive search for Gao Rongrong to stop her from speaking out.

In May 2004, the 610 Office in Baoding City, Hebei Province rewarded the police working in labour camps with several hundred thousand yuan bonus. Driven by material interests, the authorities in the Baoding Forced Labour Camp started another round of persecution of Falun Gong practitioners. Practitioner Liu Wen was tied to the "Death Bed" for over ten days and was shocked with a number of electric batons simultaneously. The torture went on for over an hour. As a result, Liu's whole body was scorched and the flesh festered.

On June 3rd, 2004, Falun Gong practitioner Mr. Zhang Rucheng from Liaoning Province, 33 years of age, was shocked by the police with three electric batons, of 150,000 volts each, for half an hour. His face became disfigured and his cheeks, jaw and lips were badly swollen and covered with blisters. Blood was dripping from his face.

At the Wanjia Forced Labour Camp in Harbin City, deputy team leader Yang Guohong (female) read camp regulations practitioners which said that, "police should not beat or verbally abuse detainees." However, the reality is that the police unscrupulously torture Falun Gong practitioners by means of electric shock, hanging up with hands tied behind the back, a torture called "flying an airplane," sitting on a torture chair and other gross abuses. A number of Falun Gong practitioners died as a result of such cruel torture. Falun Gong practitioners challenged Yang Guohong with reference to the camp regulations and asked her, "What do you say about the beating and torturing of Falun Gong practitioners?" Yang argued, "There are many laws, and there are laws about how to punish you."

At detention centres and forced labour camps the police often say to practitioners, "Jiang Zemin said, 'beating Falun Gong practitioners to death is nothing and the death is counted as suicide.'" This is exactly how Jiang's regime has been treating Falun Gong practitioners over the past five years.

Jiang and his followers have placed themselves above the law, and they encourage people to commit crimes and advocate violence. They are truly destroying China's legal system and the civilisation, the freedom and conscience of the Chinese nation. Only by bringing Jiang's criminal regime to justice and clearing the good reputation of Falun Gong can the law uphold justice and the people be treated with fairness.