LONDON (EFGIC) – In more than 20 countries during the past few months, Falun Gong practitioners have been holding appeals and press conferences to highlight four Chinese officials who lead the campaign to “eradicate Falun Gong” in China.

Two of the four, former Chinese leader Jiang Zemin and Politburo Standing Committee Member Luo Gan, have already been the target of several lawsuits (news) and their names are frequently cited in documents detailing the persecution of Falun Gong. The other two, Minister of Public Security Zhou Yongkang and “6-10 Office” Chief Liu Jing, have –until the recent appeals – not been widely named in connection with the atrocities against Falun Gong.

European Falun Gong Information Centre spokesman, Mr. Peter Jauhal, says two of the names may be new, but the purpose of the appeals remains the same. “There are certain individuals within the Chinese Government who personally initiated and continue to mobilize the persecution of Falun Gong,” says Mr. Browde. “Once we have overwhelming evidence indicating a certain individual has been instrumental in persecuting Falun Gong, we publicly identify him so his crimes can be known to the international community.”

Mr. Jauhal adds, “The evidence against these four is overwhelming.”

At a recent vigil in Boston, Dr. Wei Pengfei of MIT explains the appeals further: “By saying ‘Bring Jiang, Luo, Zhou and Jing to Justice,’ Falun Gong practitioners have made it clear: We love our motherland…the activities we have are against the criminals, not against any nation or government.”

Mr. Scott Chinn, a software engineer and Falun Gong practitioner who has participated in the recent appeals in New York City adds, “There are specific people who have broken both international and Chinese laws and they are the ones who should be held responsible and brought to justice for what they have done.”

Appeals and press conferences targeting the four Chinese officials have been held in Australia, throughout East Asia, Canada, the U.S. and across Europe.

Details of the four officials singled out by the recent appeals are as follows:

• Jiang Zemin ordered Falun Gong “eradicated” in 1999, and announced “no means are to extreme to eliminate Falun Gong.” Jiang has been directing a campaign of mass arbitrary arrest, rape, torture, and murder. To conduct his persecution, on June 10, 1999 Jiang established the “6-10” Office – an illegal, above-the-law entity that reports directly to the Politburo Standing Committee and has jurisdiction over the entire country. Jiang has been the central figure in overseeing genocide – as defined by the United Nations Genocide Convention (website) – against Falun Gong. He has also made exporting the persecution overseas a top priority and has personally tried to use China’s international influence to persuade foreign leaders to toe his line.
• Luo Gan is largely responsible for implementing Jiang’s “eradicate Falun Gong” policy. As vice-director of “6-10 Office,” Luo personally inspects political and judiciary branches of the government, as well as labour camps around the country to ensure Jiang’s directives with respect to Falun Gong are followed. Wherever Luo visits, sources report that the persecution escalates. Luo has also been pushing the “strike-hard” campaign, and often makes public speeches in which he reiterates that eradicating Falun Gong is a top national priority. As early as 1997 Luo used secret agents to investigate Falun Gong and sought to get it banned. Luo has since been Jiang’s most ardent supporter in the campaign against Falun Gong.
• Zhou Yongkang is infamous in Sichuan Province, and locals often refer to him as “the human rights killer.” Zhou applied a “guilt by association” practice as Party Secretary in Sichuan Province, resulting in the persecution of Falun Gong being especially severe. For his policies, Zhou was promoted to the position of Minister of Public Security. To bend public opinion against Falun Gong, Zhou has also emphasized propaganda attacks against the practice. In 2001, he directed the Sichuan Cable TV Network to produce a 20-piece series to demonize Falun Gong. From May 2003 until February 2004, in his capacity as minister, Zhou delivered 12 speeches slandering Falun Gong and stressing the importance of continuing the persecution.
• Liu Jing is known to have been personally involved in staging the January 23, 2001 “self-immolation” on Tiananmen Square – where five people set themselves on fire and Chinese authorities claimed they were Falun Gong practitioners, using the incident as the primary propaganda weapon against the practice. In 2002, after Falun Gong practitioners tapped into cable TV signals in northeastern China and broadcast news about the human rights atrocities against Falun Gong as well as exposing the self-immolation hoax, Liu personally traveled to the area to oversee an immediate crackdown. Over the next several days, 5,000 Falun Gong practitioners were arrested and a still unknown number of practitioners were killed. (news) Liu is also said to be one of those responsible for the “shoot to kill” orders of 2002, after which a number of shootings of Falun Gong practitioners by local police were reported. (news) In the spring of 2000 and 2001, speaking in front of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights in Geneva, Liu slandered Falun Gong repeatedly, claiming that this was the “best period in China’s human rights,” and denied there was any persecution taking place.

NEWS – Mar. 27, 2004
European Falun Gong Information Centre, www.clearharmony.net

Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa (about), is a practice of meditation and exercises with teachings based on the universal principle of "Truthfulness-Compassion-Tolerance." Practiced in over 50 countries world-wide, Falun Gong has roots in traditional Chinese culture. With government estimates of as many as 100 million practicing Falun Gong, China's Communist leader Jiang Zemin outlawed the peaceful practice in July 1999 (report). Since that time, Jiang's regime has intensified its propaganda campaign to turn public opinion against the practice while imprisoning, torturing and even murdering those who practice it. The European Falun Gong Information Centre has verified details of 914 deaths (reports / sources) since the persecution of Falun Gong in China began in 1999. In October 2001, however, Government officials inside China reported that the actual death toll was well over 1,600. Expert sources now estimate that figure to be much higher. Hundreds of thousands have been detained, with more than 100,000 being sentenced to forced labor camps, typically without trial.