(Minghui.org) Many Falun Gong practitioners are now exercising their legal right to sue Jiang Zemin for launching the persecution of Falun Gong and causing them great harm and tremendous suffering over the past 16 years. The momentum of this new wave of lawsuits against the former Chinese dictator is on the rise.
The Minghui website receives copies of criminal complaints against Jiang from many practitioners daily. In this report, we present a snapshot of some of the practitioners whose copies of lawsuits were received by Minghui on August 11 and 12, 2015.
These lawsuits are mailed to the Supreme People's Court and Supreme People's Procuratorate, which are required to process all criminal complaints filed by citizens, as of a recent ruling by the Supreme People's Court.
This snapshot presents six cases concerning 12 practitioners who recently submitted criminal complaints to China's top court.
They are: Mr. Yuan Bin, a biology teacher; Ms. Tian Shurong, an architectural engineer, her husband Mr. Ma Zhanquan, and son Ma Jian; Mr. Lu Zhifan, whose background is not known; Ms. Zhang Chunfang, Ms. Li Meirong, Mr. Li Zhanfeng and Ms. Fang Jing, a farming family; Ms. Lei Xiuxiang, whose background is not known; and Mr. Niu Wanjiang, a statistician.
One practitioner died as a result of torture. Some practitioners were shocked with electric batons, injected with unknown drugs, sent to forced labor camps, and otherwise abused in the authorities' attempts to force them to renounce their belief in Falun Gong.
Profession: Biology teacherHometown: Chengdu City, Sichuan Province
Key FactsMr. Yuan was detained four times, subjected to brainwashing three times, held in a forced labor camp for a year, and imprisoned for nine and a half years. His health deteriorated, his wife divorced him, and he was fired from his job.
Mr. Yuan went to Beijing to peacefully protest the persecution, but was arrested on July 3, 2000 and detained for about 40 days. He was subjected to waterboarding.
He was arrested again in January 2001 and sent to a forced labor camp for one year, where he was deprived of sleep and subjected to brainwashing.
After his release from the camp, Mr. Yuan was not allowed to teach, and his pay was reduced. The school principal put him under house arrest in 2002 and 2003. He was taken to a brainwashing center both years. He was fired from his job in 2003.
Police arrested Mr. Yaun in July 2005. He was beaten and deprived of sleep for days in a police station before being sentenced to eight years in prison in December 2006. His wife divorced him. His daughter was only 9 years old.
In prison, he had to perform hard labor. When he did not finish the daily quota, he was tortured. He was often deprived of sleep or forced to stand for more than 20 hours at a time.
The prison intensified the abuse of practitioners in 2008. During this time Mr. Yuan was given very little food and made to run around a basketball court many times, in addition to other physically strenuous exercises. He became emaciated. The guards often humiliated and beat him.
Mr. Yuan was released in July 2013. The minute he left the prison, agents from the 610 Office arrested him and took him to a brainwashing center, where he was tortured for one month. He was finally released in August 2013.
The police confiscated Mr. Yuan's identification card in 1999 and refused to issue a new one until September 2014. Thus, he was unable to work.
Details of complaint in Chinese language
Profession: Architectural EngineerHometown: Pinggu District, BeijingDate filed: July 29, 2015
Key FactsMs. Tian was forced to leave home from July to August in 1999 and again in 2001 to avoid arrest. The police often harassed and threatened her family and friends to find out her whereabouts.
She was arrested and tortured in a brainwashing center for a month in August 2002.
Ms. Tian was sent to the Beijing Women's Forced Labor Camp from September 2002 to August 2004. The guards ordered inmates to beat, torture, and humiliate her. She was subjected to brainwashing and had to perform hard labor.
Mr. Ma Zhanquan (马占全), Ms. Tian's husband,was taken to the Tuanhe Forced Labor Camp.
Both husband and wife were imprisoned from February 2005 to February 2008. She was tortured, force-fed, injected with unknown drugs, and stripped of her clothes in public.
The police arrested Ms. Tian's husband and broke into their home in January 2015. They confiscated two laptops, a computer, a printer, and a car borrowed from relatives.
Ms. Tian was arrested four months later. When the police searched their home, their son put up resistance. He was arrested and sentenced to six months in prison. He also had to drop out of college as a result.
Current CircumstancesMr. Ma is still in Pinggu Detention Center. The couple's son is in prison.
Related Report(s)His Parents Detained, Beijing Elementary School Student Ma Jian in Financial Difficulty
Details of complaint in Chinese language
Hometown: Wuchang City, Heilongjiang Province
Key FactsPolice arrested Mr. Lu in November 1999 and detained him for three months. He was beaten and given little food. The police extorted 8,000 yuan from his wife.
Mr. Lu Zhifan and 19 other practitioners were arrested when they peacefully protested in Beijing for the right to practice Falun Gong in February 2000. Nine practitioners were detained in Wuchang City's Second Detention Center. The guards ordered inmates to beat the practitioners. Mr. Lu was on the verge of death due to the beatings and forced-feeding.
Two weeks after Mr. Lu was released, police again detained him for 45 days.
That April, police took Mr. Lu to a detention center but released him after two weeks because of his poor health. He was sent to one year of forced labor. To avoid further arrests, Mr. Lu had to to leave home.
Police recaptured him in November 2001. He was sentenced to three years and taken to the Changlinzi Forced Labor Camp. Mr. Lu was hung up by handcuffs until he lost consciousness. The guards forced him to sit with his legs spread apart and forced his face between his legs, while several of them stepped on his back, fracturing his pelvic bones and tendons. He passed out due to the excruciating pain and could not stand for a month.
Mr. Lu was released 18 months later on medical parole. He was too weak to speak and, his thigh bone was exposed. Unable to cope with the tremendous stress, Mr. Lu's wife divorced him.
Related Report(s)The Experience of Mr. Lu Zhifan -- Persecution in Wuchang City, Heilongjiang Province
Details of complaint in Chinese language
Profession: Ms. Zhang Chunfang is a farmerHometown: Zhuozhou City, Hebei Province
Key FactsFour people in Ms. Zhang's family practiced Falun Gong. Ms. Zhang's husband, Mr. Li Heng (李恒), died in 2005 as a result of torture he suffered in a forced labor camp where he was held for three years.
Ms. Zhang was held in a detention center four times, forced labor camp three times, and brainwashing center once.
Ms. Li Meirong, Ms. Zhang's daughter, was arrested four times and taken for brainwashing three times.
Mr. Li Zhanfeng, Ms. Zhang's son, was detained for three months and sent to two years of forced labor.
Ms. Fang Jing, Ms. Zhang's daughter-in-law, was twice detained and held in a brainwashing center.
The police arrested Ms. Zhang's 19-year-old daughter and 16-year-old son in April 2001. The two were handcuffed to a bed frame and deprived of sleep. Officers took the daughter to a brainwashing center and released the son.
The police arrested Ms. Zhang and her husband in April 2001. She was sentenced to a year of forced labor and her husband to three years. They were deprived of sleep. Her husband's blood pressure became dangerously high, and he had a stroke. The guards injected him with unknown drugs and released him on medical parole. He died in May 2005.
Ms. Zhang was sentenced to one year of forced labor in 2010, which was extended for another month.
Five police officers broke into and ransacked Ms. Zhang's home in April 2012. Ms. Zhang's family was forced to leave home to avoid further arrests.
The constant arrests and detention of the family disrupted their farming, causing them great financial loss.
Related Report(s)Mr. Li Heng from Zhuozhou City Hebei Province Died After Being Paralyzed Three Years
Zhang Chunfang Repeatedly Persecuted, Her Husband Died as a Result of the Persecution
Details of complaint in Chinese language
Hometown: Jilin City, Jilin Province
Key FactsMs. Lei was sent to forced labor three times and shocked with electric batons, force-fed, and injected with unknown drugs.
She was detained for a total of 30 days at the end of 2000 and in March 2006.
The police arrested her again in June 2006 and took her to the Heizuizi Forced Labor Camp, where guards force-fed her by inserting a tube into her nostril, damaging her stomach and esophagus. The guards also injected her with unknown drugs. She was released in December 2007.
Before the Beijing Olympics in 2008, Ms. Lei was arrested and taken to a brainwashing center, where she was tortured. She was released at the end of 2008.
In May 2011, Ms. Lei was taken to the Changchun Forced Labor Camp, where guards stripped her and shocked her with electric batons.
Because Ms. Lei refused to renounce Falun Gong, guards cuffed her wrists and ankles to a bed frame so that her body was suspended in the air.
Related Report(s)Woman Brutally Tortured During Three Terms in Forced Labor Camp
Details of complaint in Chinese language
Profession: Assistant statistician at Lanzhou Railway BureauHometown: Hometown, Home ProvinceDate filed: July 29, 2015
Key FactsMr. Niu was arrested in December 1999, April 2000, and July 2000. Each time, he was tortured and detained for 15 days.
He was arrested and sentenced to one year of forced labor in September 2000.
He was arrested and tortured for nine days in July 2001.
Mr. Niu faced discrimination at work and was demoted in 2002 and received multiple pay cuts before he was fired from his work in 2004. His wife was also fired from her job around 2000.
Mr. Niu was detained in September 2002, sentenced to three years in prison in 2003, and transferred to Lanzhou Prison in 2004. Instead of being released when his term expired, he was held in a brainwashing center until October 2009.
The couple was arrested and detained for four months in June 2012. In the detention center, Mr. Niu was hung up by his handcuffs for nine days, which resulted in swollen limbs and gashes from the handcuffs cutting into his wrists.
Mr. Niu was infected and covered with scabies. The wounds festered, and guards ordered other prisoners to scrape off his flesh with a bamboo stick.
He was tortured on an “iron chair” several times, beaten, and shocked by electric batons until his skin was burned. He was once tied down and force-fed around the clock for nine consecutive days. He was hung up by handcuffs for 81 consecutive days. He fainted multiple times and lost feeling in his left arm.
Related Report(s)Ms. Zhang Zhenmin Sent to Brainwashing Center after Serving an Eight-year Sentence
Niu Wanjiang and His Wife from Lanzhou City Have Endured Nine Years of Persecution
Details of complaint in Chinese language
In 1999, Jiang Zemin, as head of the Chinese Communist Party, overrode other Politburo standing committee members and launched the violent suppression of Falun Gong.
The persecution has led to the deaths of thousands of Falun Gong practitioners over the past 16 years. More have been tortured for their belief and even killed for their organs. Jiang Zemin is directly responsible for the inception and continuation of the brutal persecution.
Under his personal direction, the Chinese Communist Party established an extralegal security organ, the “610 Office,” on June 10, 1999. The organization overrides police forces and the judicial system in carrying out Jiang's directive regarding Falun Gong: to ruin their reputations, cut off their financial resources, and destroy them physically.
Chinese law now allows for citizens to be plaintiffs in criminal cases, and many practitioners are exercising that right to file criminal complaints against the former dictator.