(Minghui.org) Since the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) started persecuting Falun Gong in July 1999, many practitioners have been detained, tortured, and even killed for their faith. But the entire process of indicting, prosecuting, and incarcerating Falun Gong practitioners has no legal basis.
This is because Falun Gong practitioners haven’t violated China’s laws. Instead, freedom of belief and freedom of speech are rights given by the Chinese constitution. Practitioners have the right to tell others about Falun Gong, but their efforts to raise awareness of the persecution are used by the CCP as “evidence” to frame them.
This is an unprecedented injustice and a tragedy.
The CCP Violates China’s Constitution
The constitution is the fundamental law of the state. Freedom of belief, speech, publication, association, and other rights granted to citizens by China’s constitution are sacred and inviolable.
Article 35 of the Chinese constitution states, “Citizens of the People’s Republic of China shall enjoy freedom of speech, the press, assembly, association, procession and demonstration.”
Article 36 of the Constitution states, “Citizens of the People’s Republic of China shall enjoy freedom of religious belief. No state organ, social organization or individual shall coerce citizens to believe in or not to believe in any religion, nor shall they discriminate against citizens who believe in or do not believe in any religion.”
Article 98 of the Chinese Legislation Law states, “The Constitution has the highest authority. No laws, administrative regulations, local regulations, autonomous regulations, separate regulations, or rules may contravene the Constitution.”
Practicing Falun Gong and Producing Related Materials Are Lawful
Because the CCP has suppressed Falun Gong for more than 25 years, many people assume there is a legal basis for the Chinese government’s actions. The reality is that the CCP only claimed Falun Gong is unlawful without any legal justification.
Months after launching the persecution, former CCP leader Jiang Zemin was interviewed by the French newspaper Le Figaro on October 26, 1999. In the interview, Jiang referred to Falun Gong as a “cult.” The next day, People’s Daily, an official CCP media outlet, published an editorial repeating Jiang’s slander. However, Jiang does not have the power to make such a declaration. Articles 80 and 81 of the Chinese Constitution define the powers of the President of the State. The President’s activities within the scope of his powers represent the state, while activities outside the scope of his powers are personal behaviors and do not represent the state. In the interview, Jiang merely stated his personal opinion and did not represent the state.
Shortly after this incident, a joint notice was issued by the General Office of the CCP Central Committee, the General Office of the State Council, and the Ministry of Public Security on April 9, 2000, titled, “Notice of the Ministry of Public Security on Certain Issues Concerning the Identification and Suppression of Cult Organizations.” This notice listed 14 cult organizations and did not include Falun Gong.
Fifteen years later, in June 2014, the Legal Evening News publicly reiterated the notice and confirmed the designation of the same 14 organizations as cults. This further shows that the persecution of Falun Gong is unlawful.
Furthermore, Liu Binjie, Director of the General Administration of Press and Publication of China, issued Order No. 50 on March 1, 2011, “Decision of the General Administration of Press and Publication to Abolish the Fifth Batch of Normative Documents.” Items 99 and 100 of the decision clearly abolished the following two documents issued in 1999: (1) Notice on Reaffirming the Opinions on the Handling of Falun Gong Publications, and (2) Notice on Prohibiting the Printing of Illegal Falun Gong Publications.
The State Council announced this order and published it in the 28th issue of the State Council Gazette in 2011. The abolition of these two documents shows that Falun Gong books are legal in China.
The CCP Abuses the Law to Persecute Falun Gong
According to Minghui reports, CCP officials often cites Article 300 of the Criminal Law in prosecuting Falun Gong cases. But this is wrong.
Article 300 stipulates two preconditions that must be met for the law to be applied. One is that the accused uses a cult organization, and another is that the accused has undermined implementation of laws. The first one does not stand, since Falun Gong is not a cult organization, as discussed above. As for the second condition, CCP officials have been unable to provide evidence showing that Falun Gong practitioners have undermined the implementation of laws or harmed society.
In fact, ordinary citizens do not have the ability to commit such a crime; only government officials can do so. Examples include abusing one’s power to override the law, interfering with judicial processes, or undermining the independence and fairness of the judiciary. When the extrajudicial 610 Office manipulates the police, procuratorial and judicial organs to persecute Falun Gong practitioners, that is actually undermining the implementation of laws, and it is a crime.
CCP officials often convict practitioners for possessing or distributing Falun Gong materials. Since the publication of Falun Gong materials is lawful, as discussed above, then Falun Gong practitioners’ activities are also lawful.
In summary, mistreating Falun Gong practitioners at will violates the principle of nulla poena sine lege (“no punishment without law”).
Problems with the judicial interpretation by the Supreme People’s Court and Procuratorate
Another reference CCP officials often cite when mistreating Falun Gong practitioners is the judicial interpretation by the Supreme People’s Court and Supreme People’s Procuratorate. This is wrong because their judicial interpretation of Article 300 is invalid, as discussed below.
Article 11 of the Legislation Law specifies,
“The following matters shall only be governed by law:...(4) crimes and their punishments;(5) the compulsory measures and penalties involving the deprivation of citizens of their political rights and the restriction of their personal freedom”
Furthermore, the Supreme People’s Court and Supreme People’s Procuratorate are not legislative bodies. They do not have the power to stipulate what behaviors are illegal and criminal. Article 48 of the Legislation Law states, “The powers of the legal interpretation belongs to the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress.”
Yet, the supreme court and procuratorate issued a judicial interpretation specifying that certain behaviors and indications can be prosecuted under Article 300. This interpretation is invalid because is violates the legislative purpose and original intention of Article 300. Therefore, it cannot be used as a basis for adjudicating cases.
Objections from Within the Government and the Legal Community
Because Jiang’s persecution of Falun Gong violated the constitution and went against common sense, it was strongly opposed within the CCP. In fact, six of the seven members of the Standing Committee of the Central Politburo at the time disagreed with the suppression. Premier Zhu Rongji said in a Standing Committee meeting that the government should not interfere with Falun Gong practitioners’ right to practice their faith and that it was good for the country.
Qiao Shi, former chairman of the National People’s Congress, had always strongly opposed Jiang’s persecution of Falun Gong. Before his death in June 2015, he said that he might not see the day when the injustice is redressed, but he reaffirmed his statement in 1998 that “Falun Gong is beneficial to the country and the people and causes no harm.” He also requested that Jiang not be allowed to attend his funeral.
Former Premier Wen Jiabao proposed several times to address this issue during his tenure. In particular, when the Central Politburo held a Standing Committee meeting in 2012 to discuss the handling of the Bo Xilai issue, Wen again proposed to resolve the Falun Gong issue by taking advantage of the Bo Xilai incident. But the proposal was strongly opposed by senior CCP official Zhou Yongkang.
In addition, there are a group of provincial and ministerial-level officials who oppose the persecution of Falun Gong, such as former Jiangsu Provincial Party Secretary Chen Huanyou. This shows that there have always been voices among the top leaders of the CCP who object to the persecution and call for the injustice to be redressed.
Since the persecution of Falun Gong began, its illegality has been condemned by many renowned scholars and professors in China’s legal community. Some of them appeared in court to defend the innocence of Falun Gong practitioners, such as Professor Teng Biao, a well-known scholar at the China University of Political Science and Law, and Professor Zhang Zaning from the Law School of Southeast University. Over the years, more than a hundred lawyers have defended the innocence of over one thousand Falun Gong practitioners.
Many lawyers have asserted while defending practitioners that none of those who are corrupt or commit criminal offenses practice Falun Gong, and that Falun Gong practitioners’ high moral standards deserve praise and respect. In addition, they said that using legal means to suppress Falun Gong practitioners is a tragedy and that all personnel involved in wrongfully convicting practitioners for their faith will be held accountable for their crimes.
International Sanctions
The United States adopted the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act (also known as the Global Magnitsky Act) in 2016, which provides for sanctions against confirmed human rights violators.
Similar laws have been adopted in other countries, including Canada and the United Kingdom. Currently, 28 countries have enacted or are preparing to enact a Magnitsky Act, which would deny visas to human rights violators and freeze their overseas assets.
At the same time, religious groups in the United States, including Falun Gong practitioners, were informed that the U.S. government would review visa applications more strictly and deny visas to human rights and religious persecutors, including immigrant visas and non-immigrant visas (such as tourists, visiting relatives, and business travelers). Those who have already been issued visas (including permanent residents) would also be denied entry. U.S. State Department officials told Falun Gong practitioners that they could submit lists of people who participated in the persecution of Falun Gong, as well as their family members and children.
From Glowing Praise to Vicious Defamation
Using the same strategy from its previous political campaigns, the CCP fabricated endless lies in order to justify its suppression of Falun Gong. Among the worst was the staged self-immolation at Tiananmen Square on January 23, 2001, in which individuals posing as Falun Gong practitioners set themselves on fire. Footage of the stunt was broadcast continuously in the following days–timed to coincide with family gatherings for the Chinese New Year celebrations that year–to maximize the effect of inciting hatred.
At a United Nations Conference on August 14, 2001, the International Education Development Organization (IED) issued a statement, “We have obtained a video of the [self-immolation] and concluded that the incident was directed by this government.”
In 2003, the documentary False Fire won an Honorary Award at the 51st Columbus International Film and Television Festival. The film thoroughly debunked the CCP’s claim that the self-immolation involved Falun Gong practitioners.
The CCP’s abhorrent propaganda contrasted sharply with studies and news coverage from before the persecution began. In the 1990s, many Chinese newspapers and television and radio stations reported positively on Falun Gong, praising its remarkable effects in improving practitioners’ morality and health.
In 1998, the State Sports General Administration organized medical experts from Beijing, Wuhan, Dalian, and Guangdong Province to conduct five medical surveys on nearly 35,000 Falun Gong practitioners. The surveys showed the effectiveness of practicing Falun Gong in resolving diseases and improving health at 98%.
In the second half of 1998, the aforementioned National People’s Congress Chairman Qiao Shi organized a group of senior officials to conduct an in-depth investigation of Falun Gong for several months. The group concluded that Falun Gong benefitted the country and the people and harmed no one. This study likely contributed to Qiao’s continued support for Falun Gong even after the persecution began.
In the three decades since Falun Gong was first taught to the public, it has been taken up by people in over a hundred countries. An untold number of practitioners have shared how Falun Gong’s principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance have inspired them to be better people, yet the CCP’s propaganda continues to promote hatred in China and abroad. The sooner the persecution ends and the grave injustice is redressed, the more people can benefit from Falun Gong and the brighter the world’s future will be.
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Category: News Commentary
