(Clearwisdom.net) Recently, fellow practitioners are discussing "Mainland China Practitioners Are Suggested to Use Legal Knowledge in Resisting the Persecution." Some think "We should have fellow practitioners who have legal knowledge (lawyers, judges, and legal workers) systematically put all the instances of Jiang breaking the law into a booklet." I recall that Clearwisdom.net had an article posted called "Laws Broken by Jiang Zemin's Government" (http://www.clearwisdom.net/emh/articles/2001/3/6/5850.html). It was very thoroughly compiled. Because of the changes in the past three years, I have edited the article for the convenience of fellow practitioners.
Laws Broken by Jiang in Persecuting Falun Gong
1. Constitution of People's Republic of China
- According to article 13, a person's personal property is not allowed to be
taken away.
The State should protect citizens' possession of personal property and allow for inheritance of personal property according to regulations.
For the sake of public benefit, the State can purchase or rent personal property according to the law, but should give compensation.
Chinese police now take Falun Dafa practitioners' personal property at will, including their incomes, savings, and personal belongings. Police never compensate Falun Dafa practitioners' for the personal loses caused by their wrongful arrests.
- According to Article 33, the State should respect and protect human
rights.
Basic human rights include the right to live, the right to be educated, the right to possessions, the right to personal information, the right to know, the right to human dignity, the right to housing, the right to personal freedom, the right to express oneself, the right to religious freedom, the right to vote or to be voted into public office, the right to assemble, the right to parade/protest, etc.
- According to Article 35, citizens of the People's Republic of China enjoy the freedom of speech, press, assembly, association, due process, and demonstration.
All Chinese citizens, including Falun Gong practitioners, should be able to enjoy the freedom to peacefully assemble. For Falun Gong practitioners this means joining group practices and attending experience-sharing conferences. At present, however, this right has been completely denied in China.
- According to Article 37, the personal freedom of the People's Republic of China's citizens is inviolable. No citizen may be arrested except with the approval of or by decision of a people's procuratorate, or by the decision of a people's court. Furthermore, arrests must be made by a public security agency. It is prohibited to otherwise arrest or violate a citizen's personal freedom, or give him or her a body search.
Yet, Falun Gong practitioners have been completely deprived of this right. Chinese police have arrested Falun Gong practitioners and taken away their personal property at will without any warrant. Furthermore, the police in Tiananmen Square wrongfully arrest Falun Gong practitioners almost every day.
- According to Article 39, the homes of citizens of the People's Republic of China are inviolable, and unlawful search of, or intrusion into, a citizen's home is prohibited.
Falun Gong practitioners have also been deprived of this right, as police simply intrude into their homes at will without any warrant. In addition, the government leaders who Jiang Zemin controls have been inciting the masses to fight against each other since the so-called "Tiananmen Self-Immolation Incident." Unconstitutional actions targeting Falun Gong practitioners have already occurred in some regions of China, including breaking into practitioner's home with iron shovels or other tools to "forcibly reform" the practitioners.
- According to Article 41, citizens have the right to make complaints and
file charges against, or expose, any state agency or functionary that violates
the law or is derelict in their duty. Spreading lies or slander is prohibited.
State agencies must investigate all complaints and filed charges by citizens, taking responsible measures. No one is allowed to suppress anyone else or seek revenge.
Whoever has their rights violated by a State agency has the right to receive compensation according to the law.
Falun Gong practitioners have been deprived of this right. If Falun Gong practitioners appeal to higher authorities, they will be arrested. The Appeals Bureau, a subsidiary department of the State Council, has actually become a police station.
2. Criminal Law
- According to Article 232, whoever intentionally kills someone is to be
sentenced to death, life imprisonment, or not less than 10 years of
imprisonment without parole. When there are extenuating circumstances, he may
be sentenced to 3-10 years of imprisonment.
At present, at least 942 Falun Gong practitioners have died because of the persecution, many of those from being tortured to death (refer to: http://www.clearwisdom.net/emh/special_column/death_list.html). Currently, the police in China still intentionally torture practitioners even though they are fully aware of the potential for death.
- According to Article 234, whoever intentionally injures another person is
to be sentenced to not more than three years of fixed-term imprisonment, or
criminal detention.
The Chinese police have intentionally caused injuries to countless Falun Gong practitioners in China without being held culpable (refer to the human rights reports at: http://www.faluninfo.net/).
- According to Article 236, violating women with violence, coition, or other
means may be punishable with 3-10 years prison.
Raping women less than 14 years old, is subject to heavier sentencing.
Raping women, or a young girl with one of the following situations, is to be sentenced with death, life imprisonment, or not less than 10 years of imprisonment:
(1) Raping women in an especially cruel way, or raping young girls
(2) Raping many women or young girls
(3) Raping women in public view
(4) Gang raping with two or more rapists
(5) Causing severe injury, death, or other such serious results
- According to Article 237, violating women with violence, coition, or other
means, is to be sentenced with less than five years of prison or detention.
If the above crime is committed in public, the rapist is to be sentenced to more than five years in prison.
Some female Falun Dafa practitioner in China have been locked in male prison cells. Some have been raped, gang raped, or even raped in public. Some pregnant Falun Dafa practitioners were forced to have an abortion, which harmed them physically.
- According to Article 247, judicial workers who extort confessions from
criminal suspects or defendants by torture, or who use force to extract
testimony from witnesses, are to be sentenced to a maximum of three years in
prison or put in detention. If the torture causes disability or death, there
should be heavy sentencing according to Article 232 and 234.
The police have systematically tortured Falun Gong practitioners for the purpose of getting them to write so-called "statements of repentance." They have received no punishment for this (refer to http://www.clearwisdom.net/eng/weekly_category/news.html and http://www.faluninfo.net/).
- According to Article 248, the supervisory and management personnel of
prisons, detention centers, and other penal facilities, who beat or physically
abuse their inmates, are to be sentenced to a maximum of three years in prison
or put under criminal detention if the case is serious. If they seriously
violated this law, they are to be sentenced to 3-10 years in prison. If it
causes serious injury or death, they are heavily punished according to
Articles 232 and 234.
If supervisory and management personnel of prisons, detention centers, and other penal facilities encourage inmates to beat or physically abuse other inmates, it is the same as the previous articles.
However, it is very common for police to abuse Falun Dafa practitioners. Police have heartlessly tortured practitioners, sexually abusing and even raping them (see http://www.faluninfo.net/).
- According to Article 249, whoever fans racial hatred, and racial
discrimination is to be sentenced to a maximum of three years in prison, put
in detention, or deprived of political rights permanently if it is serious.
For those very severe cases, 3-10 years in prison.
The media in China, used the "self-immolation" hoax, and the "poisoning incidents" to deceive the whole nation and fan hatred towards Falun Dafa practitioners. This has led those deceived people to report Falun Dafa practitioners to the authorities, and harass practitioners in their daily lives.
- According to Article 253, a postal worker who opens, hides, or destroys
mail or telegrams, is to be sentenced to a maximum of two years in prison or
put in detention.
Postal workers in China are violating Falun Dafa practitioners' personal rights, and are taking away their personal possessions.
3. Criminal Procedural Law
Falun Gong practitioners have been deprived of this right completely. Lawyers in Mainland China are not allowed to provide legal assistance to Falun Gong practitioners. Under pressure and threats from the government, currently, no lawyers dare to defend Falun Gong practitioners in court.
4. Public Order Violation Ordinances
- According to Article 6 (2), fees should range from 1 yuan (1) to 200 yuan, but Falun Gong practitioners and their relatives have been fined up to 5,000 yuan.
- According to Article 6 (2), detention periods may vary from 1 to 15 days, but Falun Gong practitioners have generally been detained for more than 30 days, sometimes even longer.
5. The "Cult" Issue [slanderous term omitted]
On October 25 1999, Jiang Zemin publicly announced that "Falun Gong is an evil cult that is dangerous to society and to people," when being interviewed by the Chair of the Editorial Committee of the French Newspaper LeFigaro. Right after that, a special editorial comment entitled "Falun Gong is an evil cult" was broadcasted and published respectively by Chinese Central TV (CCTV) and the People's Daily on October 27 and 28. The Public Security Department then took this speech as the legal basis for the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners who appealed to higher authorities. However, the announcement made by President Jiang Zemin was not a decision made by the National People's Congress Standing Committee. According to Articles 5 and 80 in the Chinese constitution, the President of the People's Republic of China should act in pursuance of decisions of the National People's Congress and its Standing Committee. Therefore, the President does not have the power to independently determine the nature of or to declare the guilt or innocence of any groups. Since in the above-mentioned speech, Jiang Zemin overstepped his power as it is defined in the constitution, his words have no standing in law.
In November 1999, the Judicial Department created a booklet of questions and answers entitled "Outlaw the Cult, Prevent and Punish the Activities of the Cult" in response to people's doubts and discontentment with the police's extensive arrests and detention. The Judicial Department is an administrative state organ and has no right to determine the nature of Falun Gong. However, it unreasonably insisted that Falun Gong is a "cult."
On October 9, 1999, the Supreme People's Court and the Supreme People's Procuratorate together published a document entitled "Directions on How to Implement Regulations Against the Criminal Acts of Cults." However, Falun Gong was not mentioned in the document. It means that the Supreme People's Court and the Supreme People's Procuratorate clearly know that they don't have the right to determine the nature of Falun Gong.
On October 30, 1999, the National People's Congress Standing Committee passed a resolution called "Outlaw Cults, Prevent and Punish the Activities of Cults." Again, Falun Gong was not mentioned in the resolution. It means that the Committee did not determine the nature of Falun Gong even though it has the power to enact laws and make decisions on major events. In summary, there is no legal basis for the claim that "Falun Gong is a cult," even to this day.
According to the constitution, the National People's Congress and its Standing Committee are the only two state governing bodies that have the power to enact, change, and explain laws, and make major decisions. The claim that "Falun Gong is an evil cult" has to be passed by the National People's Congress as a resolution before being announced. Otherwise, it is unconstitutional.
(1) Yuan: the Chinese currency; the average monthly pay of an urban worker is 500 yuan.
