(Minghui.org) “The law serves the ruling class” is a basic Marxist idea injected into the Chinese Communist Party's (CCP) education system. The CCP brainwashes generations of Chinese with it and plants the seeds of the dominant perspective of the law in China's society today.
If citizens believe that the law only serves the ruling class, they won't expect the law to uphold justice for all. They will accept that the law serves the powerful. Therefore, lack of due process and lack of justice become the norm. Society becomes a jungle in which the more powerful bully the masses.
This deviated logic becomes evident in the persecution of Falun Gong. Falun Gong practitioner Lu Tong was sentenced to four years in prison by her local court. Her father tried to appeal for her, as her only crime was choosing to believe in something that the CCP didn't approve of. Judge Gu Yingqing told him, “Why are you talking about laws with me? We speak politics.”
A director at the 610 Office, an extrajudicial organization created specifically to carry out the persecution of Falun Gong, told him, “We speak politics, not laws. You can appeal your case wherever you want.” This director openly told the father that politics were above the law and that his efforts to rescue his daughter were in vain.
What's even more alarming is that even judicial professionals in China embrace the logic of “politics above the law,” which in fact is a bandit's logic.
Bandit Logic Fools Many and Turns Them Into Accomplices
The persecution of Falun Gong violates the Chinese constitution. However, the logic of “politics above the law” causes many civil officials to follow the CCP's orders rather than using the law to evaluate the situation. They don't feel guilty about it, either.
Such logic is quite confusing to those who grew up with a communist education, especially public security officers. They are used to communist slogans, such as “class struggle above all” and “stability trumps everything else.” All points to the thinking that the interpretation and enforcement of the law serve the wants and needs of the ruling Communist Party.
Illegal sentences of Falun Gong practitioners increased after the labor camp system was abolished in 2013. Some judges openly claimed in court, “We speak politics, not laws.” They either openly state or hint that the sentence has already been decided and that the trial is merely a step to arrive at the predetermined conclusion. To have trials is just to give a legal “coating” to the persecution.
The CCP Uses Laws to Persecute the Innocent
The illegal sentences usually cite Article 300 of Chinese criminal law, “using a cult organization to sabotage the implementation of the law,” as the legal basis. However, no law or regulation in China makes Falun Gong illegal, and the “cult” label was entirely a political decision by the Communist Party.
Falun Gong practitioners' peaceful efforts to raise public awareness of the persecution, disclose human rights violations, and offer the CCP and society a chance to right the wrong may affect the CCP's authority and credibility if it continues the persecution. These efforts do not sabotage the Chinese constitution or laws; on the contrary, they exemplify how citizens can bring about positive changes in society in legal ways.
The Bandit Logic Legalizes Killing
While no laws or regulations criminalize Falun Gong, secret orders from Jiang Zemin, the former head of the CCP who launched the persecution, decreed that the CCP would “destroy their [Falun Gong's] reputation, ruin them financially, and eliminate them physically.” They also specified that “Falun Gong deaths [in police custody] don't count, cremate directly without identification” and “Falun Gong deaths can count as suicides.” Such directives were accepted because of the logic of “politics above the law.” The majority of officers who carry out the orders believe that they would not meet with any consequences by the same logic.
In other words, the logic effectively legalizes and justifies killing. The number of confirmed deaths in the persecution has amounted to over 4,000. The actual death count is far larger.
In a recent case on January 11, 2019, 82-year-old Guo Zhenxiang in Zhaoyuan City, Shandong Province, was taken away by police at a bus station when she spoke with others about the persecution. Within a few hours, Ms. Guo died in police custody. Her body was already at a funeral home when her family learned of her arrest.
Yang Yuyong
Yang Yuyong and his wife were arrested at their home in Tianjin City on December 7, 2016. Mr. Yang told his attorney on June 28, 2017 about the torture he had endured, including being beaten by a policeman and being beaten to the point of losing consciousness by 13 criminals under the direction of the policeman. He died on July 11, 2017.
His body had large areas of bruising. Blood was in his eyes. Two big wounds were behind the ears. His toenails showed signed of being stabbed by bamboo sticks. His back was full of wounds. Bloody scars were everywhere, from the waist down to the groin.
News about Falun Gong practitioners being killed for their organs first broke in March 2006. Since then, more information has become available.
The bandit logic of “politics above the law” has made Chinese society tolerant and even eager to assist with these extrajudicial killings.
Politics will not be able to stay above the law forever, even in China. History has shown us examples. Those who carried out orders to kill Jews were held accountable after World War II. It's time for the Chinese and people from around the world to see through the bandit logic and make choices according to one's own conscience and moral compass.
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Category: Perspectives
