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Just Exactly What Is Genocide, Anyway?

May 08, 2003 |   By a Western Practitioner

(Clearwisdom.net) Over the past years of the persecution of Falun Gong, practitioners have used various means to clarify the truth. One of the most recent ways is through the use of the law in the human world. Most notably, we have seen the lawsuit brought in U.S. Federal Court against Jiang for his crimes of torture and genocide.

It is important that we realize that the term "genocide" does not only apply to the killing of millions of people. In fact, the United Nations definition of "genocide" characterizes various aspects of Jiang's persecution quite clearly and effectively. The definition and an explanation of my understanding of how the term applies in the persecution of Falun Gong follows.

Note that the bold text that follows is from the United Nations convention.

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The following crimes against Falun Gong are defined under Article 2, sections (a) -- (e) of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide GA RES/260 A (III) of 9 December 1948; (which China has signed and ratified):

In the present Convention, genocide means any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such:
  1. Killing members of the group;

At least 682 deaths as a result of police torture and brutality have been confirmed, with government sources inside China disclosing that the actual number exceeds 1,600.

  1. Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group;
  2. Falun Dafa practitioners have been subject to arbitrary arrest and detention, extortion, brainwashing, public degradation and defamation, loss of education and jobs, psychotropic injections, forced and slave labor, starvation, prolonged beatings, mental and physical torture, rape, forced abortions and death, simply because they are Falun Gong practitioners.

  3. Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part;
  4. The 6.10 Office was established and carries out commands from Jiang through all levels and institutions in Chinese society to completely eliminate Falun Gong.
    Hundreds of thousands of Falun Gong practitioners have been illegally arrested and detained. More than 500 have been sentenced to prison terms of up to 18 years. More than 1,000 have been forced into mental hospitals, an act condemned by World Psychiatric Association. Over 100,000 have been illegally sent to labor camps without trial.
    Such severe violations of international humanitarian law are committed nationwide. Confirmed death reports have come from 30 different provinces.
    The above is only a partial list of facts. Family members are kidnapped and pressured for "leaking state secrets" if they expose the truth of the persecution of their loved ones. The number of reports successfully transmitted through China's information blockade is very low compared to the actual volume of human rights violations.
    Chinese Embassies and consulates in countries around the world such as United States of America, Australia, Canada, Germany and others have followed orders to violate the rights of citizens around the world who choose to practice Falun Gong.
  5. Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group;
  6. Women who fail to give up the practice of Falun Gong have been forced to have abortions
  7. Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group.

Children and youths are forcibly abandoned without parental care and those who fail to give up and actively slander Falun Gong and founder Li Hongzhi will be forced out of elementary school, high school, college and university.

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There are approximately 130 nations around the world who have signed and ratified this convention and is a very powerful tool to clarify the facts to governments in a "more refined way."

In Explaining the Fa During the 2003 Lantern Festival at the U.S. West Fa Conference,

Master said,

"During this evil persecution, everything in China, whether it be advancement in the government or the financial returns of enterprises, it's all linked with Falun Gong. And this even includes students' entrance exams and academic records at graduation, everything has to be linked to Falun Gong. In order to persecute Falun Gong, a great deal of funding is being allocated to public security, political law, the judiciary, foreign affairs, the wicked 610 Office, and security agents. And in order to deceive people, a great deal has been invested in various propaganda machines, in radio, television, newspapers, art and literature, cultural events, and even in blockading television, radio, and computer networks. And great numbers of agents were sent out around the globe to persecute Falun Gong."

Although we have had our human rights violated and have been victims of torture and crimes against humanity, these terms fail to touch on the systematic nature of Jiang's persecution. "Genocide" is a very frightening term to western society because it refers to the systematic elimination of a group of people. The thought of such crimes is frightening and it should be. This persecution has permeated every level and category of Chinese society and has been very calculated and "systematic" attack on Dafa.

I think it is important that we understand this from the perspective of the Fa so that our hearts are clear. We also must understand this from the perspective of human laws in today's society so that we may be clear in clarifying the facts to the people of the world.