An Open Letter to President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao from Lawyer Gao
Zhisheng
October 18, 2005
Beijing, China
President Hu Jintao and
Premier Wen Jiabao:
Greetings from Chinese citizen Gao Zhisheng!
Before
I could sit down and send my greetings to you, my two fellow compatriots, out
of solicitude for another group of our common fellow compatriots, Falun Gong believers,
I went to several places outside Beijing to investigate the real situation about
Falun Gong believers suffering a new wave of systematic, large-scale, organized
illegal persecution. During my days outside Beijing, I was hiding, laying low
like a thief. That’s why many in the outside world spread the hearsay that I was
“missing.”
This new round of continued, systematic, large-scale,
and organized brutal persecution targeting our fellow Chinese citizens who believe
in Falun Gong is an ongoing reality, not only revealed in recent letters addressed
to us from different regions, but also a reality we personally witnessed during
our trip outside Beijing. As a Chinese citizen, and as a lawyer, I am willing
to bear any legal responsibility for witnessing and publicizing these facts.
Because
I trust your basic human nature, I have decided to report to you what I have witnessed
in the form of an open letter. I again put my trust and hope in you; I hope you
will take prompt measure to halt the continuing persecution of our fellow Falun
Gong compatriots by authorities in all regions and all levels as soon as possible.
It is not only a must-do for those citizens who are suffering illegal persecution
to be set free from the tragedy, it also involves the issue of universally recognized
values such as the value of China’s constitution and rule of law, moral values
and justice. These are fundamental values for mankind. How can these values be
allowed to become worthless in today’s China?! How can these values be allowed
to become worthless in your eyes?!
On October 15, I met Xu Chengben of
Wendeng City, Shandong Province. As soon as he saw me, he said to me:
“My
wife He Xiuling’s body has been kept in a frozen state for almost two years, but
to date no one is able to provide an explanation for her death case, that’s why
we cannot go ahead and bury her. They were capable of subjecting her to prolonged
torture and eventually torturing her to death; however, they are not capable of
handling the case regarding her cause of death for almost two years since she
passed away.
I was not allowed to see her until she was tortured to the brink
of death. When I got there, she had already lost consciousness, but even so, she
was cuffed to a bed and her lower body was completely naked. When I saw my loved
one in such a tragic state, my heart broke! They are truly inhumane; I was only
allowed to stay with her for a few minutes before they pushed me out of the room.
She was only in her forties. That is the situation I witnessed on the evening
she passed away, after I got notified by the police and hurried to see her.
When
my wife was alive, she was arrested five times. Once she was detained in Jinzhou
City, Liaoning Province for three months for going to Beijing to appeal for Falun
Gong. She was held in the restroom of a hotel in Zhifu District. The hotel was
rented by the police specifically for detaining Falun Gong practitioners. The
restroom is less than three square meters (32.3 square feet). 16 people were locked
inside. Many of them could not bear the suffocating environment.
Because
we demanded to have an autopsy performed to show the cause of her death, they
did so. However, the officials responsible have refused time and again to give
me the autopsy report. After numerous requests for the results of the autopsy,
they told me verbally that she ‘died because she practiced Falun Gong.'”
Du
Kesong, a Falun Gong disciple from Shihuiyao Village, Songcun Town of the City
of Wendeng, was arrested in May. He was sentenced to labor camp. But he went on
a persistent hunger strike in the detention center. After more than 50 days of
detention he was dying and so he was released. On September 27 he was again arrested
by police. So far his whereabouts is unknown.
Disciple Yu Zhenghong, from
the City of Wendeng, of age 40 plus, is from Siqian Village of the Town of Songcun.
On September 27 she was arrested and taken from her home. After the arrest she
went on a hunger strike for 15 days. She was then sent to a hospital. The hospital
later notified police that she “is about to die”. “Later she was
sent home by undercover police. They dared not say they were police.”
Falun
Gong Disciple Lin Jixiao, female, of age 40 plus, is from Dachuang Village, Songcun
Town of the City of Wendeng. September 28 she was arrested and locked up in a
detention center. She went on a hunger strike. When her family went to demand
her release, the detention center said she had been sent to the Wangcun Labor
Camp. But someone who had been released from the detention center said she was
still in there and was dying. Her family went to the Wangcun brainwashing base
to check but was told that she was not there. Her family then went to ask the
610 officials, but they said she had been sent to the City of Qingdao. Is she
still alive? Where on earth is she? So far it is not clear.
Xiao Yong from
Funshan District of the City of Yantai, has always been law-abiding and enjoyed
a very good reputation. Just because he practiced Falun Gong for a few days, he
was sentenced to 3.5 years imprisonment in July.
A retired teacher Liu Li
(per her request, I am not using her real name here) quietly sat down and talked
for almost 2 hours straight. She said, “I was first arrested in June, 2001.
After one year of torture my health became very poor, so they released me. After
I was released in 2003, I found that since 2000, all my wages were confiscated
by the 610 Office. I talked to staff at the 610 Office and our school Head many
times, I could not even remember how many times, and the issue is still unresolved.
My husband was also jailed due to his practice of Falun Gong. He lost his memory
as a result of brutal torture in jail. The whereabouts of our only bank account
that he used to take care of is unknown after our home was ransacked. He could
not remember it. During the 2003 Spring Festival, I gave 100 Yuan, which was all
I had, to my husband who was in jail. My daughter and I had zero cents left during
the Chinese New Year. In June 2003, four to five police from Fushan District Police
Department came to ransack our home. They found two Falun Gong books, and so they
forcefully took me to the local police station and beat me. I asked why police
were allowed beat people. They were yelling while beating me, ‘Beat you, so what!”
They interrogated me for a whole day and night, one police whose last name is
Zhang said, ‘If you do not confess, you will really have bad luck!’ He copied
a written record from another police’s writing and asked me to sign my name. I
refused. Then he signed my name himself. The other police with last name Chen
could not stand watching this and asked, ‘Why did you sign her name, since she
refused?’ He gnashed his teeth and said, ‘I’ll let her suffer badly.’ Later they
used this fake record made in front of me to detain me for 15 days. Then I was
sent to the Fushan Brain-washing base. At the brain-washing class, they did not
allow me to sleep, and forced me to “reform”. Till January 2002, I still
did not “reform”, then they used that fake record and directly sentenced
me to one year in prison. Wang Yuefeng, Director of 610 Office, sent me to the
forced labor camp. The forced labor camp did a physical examination on me. Because
my health was so poor, they refused to accept me. But Wang Yuefeng insisted on
the forced labor camp to take me. They whispered for a while, and then a doctor
used a needle about 1 inch wide and 1 foot long to give me injection. I resisted,
so four to five people pushed me to a bed and forcibly give me injections. In
the end, they saw that my physical condition was too poor, Wang Yuefeng sent me
back home.”
On November 20, 2002, I once again went to the Communist
Party Committee in Fushan Town to ask the mayor of the town, Mr. Che, about the
illegal deduction of my salary. I arrived at Mayor Che’s office, and after I introduced
myself, he stood up and went out. After I waited for a long time, he came back
tell me,” I will let Secretary Zhao talk to you. You need to go to his office.”
So I went to Mr. Zhao’s office. Immediately after I entered the door, about 4
or 5 policemen rushed in from outside, and dragged me into their car without giving
any reason. They forcefully took me to Fushan Brainwashing Base where I was taken
into custody. I was not released from the brainwashing base until November 17,
2003. During the time I was in prison, the policemen employed absolutely inhumane
means to torture me. Once I was continuously hand-cuffed for as long as 43 days.
With both of my hands cuffed behind my back, I was hung on an iron door and was
beaten. After I was in prison for about a year, since they could not achieve the
goal of having me give up cultivation practice, they had to release me. On November
28, 2004, I was arrested again. The local police station sent me to Qixia detention
center. After I was detained for seven days, I was transferred to Qixia Brainwash
Base and was not released until March 18, 2005. Within this period of time, they
continued to torture me by depriving me of sleep. Once I was deprived of sleep
for 26 consecutive days. Once my eyes closed, I would be woken up by being beating.
I fainted many times. They had me stand continuously so I could not rest. In the
meantime, they beat me. Each time they beat me so hard that they themselves became
very tired and out of breath.
On the morning of October 15, 2005, we
met with Wang Dejiang, who is crippled. Even now, Wang’s legs are still so swollen
that no shoes can be worn. Wang said “In the evening of August 15, 2005,
I was in a friend’s house which was located in Xiayu Village, Gaoling Town, Mouping
district. Three men from the village security and Gaoling police station suddenly
broke in, so my friend and I ran out. But they yelled loudly: “Catch the
thieves!” The villagers were fooled and we were caught. They began to beat
us. The head of security picked up a chair and smashed it into me abruptly. The
chair immediately broke into pieces. After the hit, I was down on the ground and
could move. They still kicked me. One kicked my liver, and I lost consciousness
right away. They lifted me into a car and took me to the emergency room at Gaoling
Hospital. After I woke up, I found myself being cuffed in the hospital bed. When
trying to catch me, one policeman had tripped and fell. Once I woke up in the
hospital, he beat me with the sole of a shoe. The other policemen on the scene
said, “Do not make too much noise when beating him in the hospital.”
On the same night two families were searched and ransacked. As a result,
a total of 6 people were arrested, and among them an old man, Xuejin Sun was already
in his 70s. Afterwards, they sent me to the detention center, and forced me to
register for the brainwashing class. I refused to; the policemen in the prison
twisted my handcuff, asking me: “Are you going to sign or not?” I responded
no. They twisted the handcuff until it cut into my flesh. I still refused to sign.
They had to turn away and leave. After that they ordered a prisoner to drag me
into the cell and the prisoner began to beat me. The national security guard interrogated
me once. Since I didn’t cooperate with them, they sent me to brainwashing Class
in Yantai City. At the beginning, I was not allowed to sleep; instead, I was forced
to sit on a little stool, undergoing forced reformation. They attempted to force
me to write “three statements,” including a letter to pledge (not to
practice Falun Gong), a statement to expose and denounce Falun Gong, and a repentance
statement. They tried to break my will by incessant brainwashing, such as forcing
me to watch videos that defame Falun Gong. On the fourth day, they could not get
any results. Head of 610 office at Yantai Police Yu Gang and Mouping national
security staff talked over sending me to Zhaoyuan Brainwashing Base. I heard them
saying only Zhaoyuan base could handle people like me. At this time, I already
had no food or sleep for seven or eight consecutive days.
After arriving
in Zhaoyuan, they dragged me, kicked me as they made every single step. They repeated,
” Let’ s wait and see if you reform or not.” After they put me down,
I no longer had the strength to stand up, as a result, I had to lie down on the
ground. They continued to torture me; the director of the base began to step on
my private parts. There was no expression on his face. He even lifted my head
with his foot, then quickly removed his foot, repeatedly let my head hit the ground.
He also kicked me. Only when he was tired of torturing me did they lift me into
the cell. I felt that they had already completely lost their human nature. At
the Zhaoyan base, every practitioner was locked in one small room, this was specially
designed for brainwashing purpose. Although I could not even stand up, they still
tied me to an iron chair with an iron chain, and my hands were cuffed and my feet
were shackled. I still refused to give up practice.
On the 10th day they
started to force-feed me. I began to constantly vomit blood. At that time, even
they themselves could not bear with the scene, they started to vomit with me.
They pressed down my head and force-fed me. The head asked me if I would give
up practice. I responded no. He said, at Zhaoyuan, don’t even think about getting
out of here if one does not give up. We have a lot of ways to deal with you. They
cuffed my hands behind my back and had one end of handcuff tied to a heater pipe.
Only the tip of my toes could touch the ground. There was no light in the cell,
it was very dark 24 hours of day. I could somewhat sense that someone kept coming
in the cell and reached his hand under my nose to test if I was still alive. I
didn’t know how much time had passed by, my wrists had big cuts as the result
of tight strap. At that time, they also used wires to strap my mouth shut, making
me unable to speak. Even now my mouth still drips as I speak. Being incessantly
tortured, I suffered excruciating pain that was beyond description. Consequently,
I had the thought of killing myself. I wanted to bite my tongue. But they added
a few more wires into my mouth, making my mouth not able to move, till I fainted
and lost consciousness.
After I woke up, I found my legs had already changed
color, and started to turn into dark black. The left leg became wider and wider,
until it was twice as wide as the right leg. But the right leg got thinner and
thinner. They still would not ease on torturing me. When I wanted to go to restroom,
they supported my arm and lifted me up. At that point, I found that I could no
longer walk; instead, I felt on the ground. Then they lifted me onto the bed,
and still had my right leg tied and both hands cuffed. At the time, the doctor
there found my health condition was extremely bad, and asked them to send me to
hospital. The doctor at the hospital said I could be dying at any moment and my
legs had to be amputated. After that they sent me to Yuhuangding hospital, where
the medical facility was the best. After spending a few days in the hospital,
they asked my family to pay for my treatment. My family had no money, but later
they took me home. Once I was back home, since I no longer could take care of
my daily life, I had to be taken care of by my 80-year-old mom.
Wang Dejiang
was handed over to his family by the local police when he was near death, and
the nightmare experience he and his family have gone through is still being experienced
by many, many innocent fellow Chinese!
“Mr. Yang Kemeng is a sophomore
in Automobile Engineering at the Harbin Institute of Technology, Weihai campus.
From the university president to his classmates, everyone likes him. Because he
openly announced resignation from the Chinese Communist Youth League (CCYL), he
was singled out by a central government official who issued an order to locate
him. Since he didn’t put down the name of his school in his resignation statement,
the ‘610 Office’ has conducted a thorough search among all higher institutions
in the country. In May 2005, Weihai City’s ‘610 office’ staff found him and asked
if he practiced Falun Gong and whether he has withdrawn from the CCYL on the Internet.
Mr. Yang replied: ‘I may withdraw as I wish.’ When the new school year started
on August 20, ‘610 office’ staff came to Mr. Yang’s school again and took him
away on the 29th. His parents didn’t know about it until they made a phone call
to his dorm. On September 7, Mr. Yang’s parents Mr. Yang Pinggang and Ms. Chang
Lijun, Mr. and Mrs. Wang Shengli, and Ms. Wang from Jining City were arrested
at the same time. Their whereabouts remain unknown till today.” A teacher
named Wang related his story to us.
Before the National Day of 2005, major
officials in Shandong Province notified Laiwu City Police Department that if they
could not catch Qi Yingjun, Chen Lianmei, Wang Jing and four other people, all
departmental leaders would be removed from their offices. At 1 a.m. on September
29, the aforementioned seven people were arrested. In fact, many police here don’t
want to search and arrest Falun Gong practitioners, but what other choices do
they have?! Also people from all over the country came to the Zhaoyuan Brainwashing
Center to learn from their experience so that they could apply more cruel methods
to them. While Hu Jintao was visiting the U.S., an order was issued from the CCP
Central Committee to focus on disciplining those persecuting Falun Gong. They
were criticized for not having done their best recently and were told to intensify
their suppression effort. The Zhaoyuan Brainwashing Center in Shandong Province
and another center in Shanxi Province were labeled as a model center by the CCP
Central Committee. The outside world never knows the real situation inside these
centers. This kind of model center is a horrible place, even worse than hell.
Very few people could survive there and the people torturing us “have all
become demons,” said a believer who was once detained in the Zhaoyuan Brainwashing
Center.
“My name is Qi Xin. I am 19 years old and from Laiwu City,
Shandong Province. I am the daughter of Qi Yingjun and Chen Cuilian. I have a
younger brother who is 10 years old named Qi Yao. My parents started to practice
Falun Gong since 1998. In 2000, my father was kidnapped from a park by the Laiwu
City police while doing Falun Gong exercise. He was later sentenced to three years
in Wangcun Forced Labor Camp of Zibo City. My mother had to leave home to avoid
pursuit by the police. But she was later caught and detained at the Xiaocaocun
Division in Laiwu City. I was 13 years old and my brother was only three at that
time. So I had to look after my younger brother at home alone, waiting for my
mother’s return. My father told me after his release, to force him renounce his
belief in Falun Gong, police at the forced labor camp in Zibo used eight electric
batons on him simultaneously. His body could not help trembling incessantly on
the floor and his skin gave off a burnt smell. Several weeks after the electric
shock, his scorched skin started to slough off layer after layer. Later after
my parents both went back home, our family started to live together again. They
re-opened their store selling military supplies. We thought that our ordeal was
over until 1 a.m. on September 30 this year. Leading more than 20 armed police
from Laiwu City police into Aunt Shang’s home in Wenyang Village and kidnapped
her, her husband and my parents. Aunt Shang practices Falun Gong but her husband
doesn’t. In August, one month before the incident, learning that the police were
after them, my parents left me to an auntie and they themselves went wandering
abroad with my brother. Since their abduction, the whereabouts of my younger brother
is unknown. I worried about him a lot and prayed for him everyday. At 3 p.m. on
October 1, Liu Qing and Zhang Baode from the Laicheng District Office, Shao Shiyong
from the Guansi Police Station and 20 other more police broke into our home while
we were all away. A police car with license plate Shangdong-S1030 parked outside
of our apartment building. They opened our storage room downstairs with a key
and broke our door lock. They searched our place until 7 p.m.. As of now, our
family of four has been separated and displaced to four different locations, and
nobody knows where to find my 10-year-old brother.”
Jia Juxi of Fugou
County, Henan Province, 58 years old, was abducted by local police on August 18,
2005. He died after enduring over ten days’ torture. His family requested an autopsy;
but local police forcibly took his body to crematory to be cremated. The police
told his family: “Even if you appeal to Beijing, it is no use.”
On
June 8, 2005, Zhu Jiawen (I am not using his real name here) of Huizhou City,
Guangdong Province was arrested when he was working in a construction field. Not
until 54 days later did his family get notified of his sentence to three years
of forced labor.
On September 2005, late evening, several policemen broke
into Shi Lei’s (not his real name) home in Dongshan District, Guangzhou City.
Before Shi Lei could argue with them, they hastily abducted him and ran away.
“My husband didn’t even have time to put on his shoes. As soon as
the police went downstairs and got onto their police van, they started beating
my husband. I felt as if a knife were piercing my heart upon hearing the sound
of beating. Attorney Gao, we are simply too helpless. So far they have not provided
any legal document.” Mrs. Shi told me her family’s tragedy over the phone
while sobbing.
On September 6, 2005, practitioners Duan Sheng and He Li
of Shi Jiazhuang City were arrested. As of today, their whereabouts are unknown.
On
July 19, 2005, Yuan Yuju, her son Liang Jinghui and another eight practitioners
were arrested and have been incarcerated to date.
Shortly before the passing
of October 1s, the National Day, large-scale arrests of Falun Gong practitioners
occurred in different regions such as city Beijing and Heilong Province. During
Mr. Hu Jintao’s visit to other countries, the arrests in these regions obviously
were carried out in a way that is meant to be shocking and terrible. All these
plain facts happened in broad daylight; they simply cannot be covered up.
Mr.
Hu and Mr. Wen, some local government authorities have been persecuting our fellow
countrymen, Falun Gong practitioners, to such an extent that they use whatever
evil methods as they wish. We cannot accept that such blatant and brutal violence
against humanity is still happening in the 21st century, or the reality that it
is happening in today’s China, where the situation cannot yet be called anarchy.
You two as well as all of us have to face the following reality. On the one hand,
when the you first got your positions, people inside China as well as the outside
civilized world had great expectations in you. The principals you promote such
as “govern the country according to the Constitution,” “the people
are our fundamental concern”, “build a harmonious society” have
for a long time brought people’s expectations up. However, the reality is cruel
yet factual. Those citizens who are being persecuted have to face this reality,
and so do you and so do we. Since you are the leaders of such a great nation,
we of course are not willing to believe or accept that your judgment in this aspect
is worse than that of ordinary people. If you are not aware of the situation that
innocent Falun Gong believers are being brutally persecuted in broad daylight
– a fact that even housewives and children are aware of – you are liable for such
ignorance to your citizens. If you are aware of the situation and not trying to
stop it, then what’s the difference between your sin and that of the evil persecutors?
Just like the fact that I am writing this open letter to you because I still have
faith in you, so are many of those who are crippled and those who lost their loved
ones or have their love ones crippled due to the persecution. During our investigation,
we were moved to tears many times by those people’s compassion and their high
expectations in you. But what you and I have to painfully face is that in this
catastrophe that targets Falun Gong practitioners, some evil spirit lingers. The
continuous evilness which is utterly against humanity has not only caused devastation
to an unconceivable number of kind men and women. Many were persecuted to death,
but also the damage to the image of our government and our country in many areas
such as legal, moral and human civilization, continues as such brutal persecution
continues. Even though this catastrophe didn’t start with you, the fact that it
still gets to continue under your administration, and since and the tragedy targeting
the spiritual believers hasn’t been brought to an end by you, you are also liable
for such crime. If you don’t make it stop right away, this will be the conclusion
of history and not just one person’s opinion.
The continuous creation of
tragedies aimed towards a targeted group has harmed not only the victims and their
relatives but also the persecutors. We observe with utter grief that the persecutors
who cruelly crippled and killed Falun Gong practitioners have completely lost
their human nature. For example, the director from Zhaoyuan Brainwashing Base
who routinely trampled on private parts of Wang Dejiang, the director of “610
Office” and the two school principals who illegally withheld Liu’s wage and
had denied numerous appeals for four years by Liu, threatening her survival. In
a sense, they were also victims of the atrociousness of the persecution.
The
officers and staff who carried out the appalling brainwashing and transformation
against Falun Gong practitioners were only measured by the results of the reformation.
They completely lost their human nature and yielded to economic gains. They lost
their inborn instinct for sympathy, fear, guilt, shame and morality.
The
common sense shared by our civilization was ignored; the value system based on
human conscience has been completely reversed. People for ages will condemn the
horrible and inhumane suffering that He Xiuling underwent before her ultimate
death. She was dying but was already pronounced dead and was sent to the mortuary.
Her relatives, who were not allowed to visit her, finally knelt in front of her
dying body. While enumerating the appalling sufferings she underwent, her relatives
saw tears from the eyes of her “dead” body. Relatives wailed and ferociously
tried to find doctors. The doctors were indifferent. Their coolness was only softened
when one of the villagers who came to the funeral procession knew one of them.
When that doctor found out her heart was still beating, his first reaction was
not to rescue her, but to tear the electrocardiogram into pieces. “I didn’t
see anything. I knew nothing”, the doctor said while escaping. He Xiuling
died with tears in her eyes while her relatives cried in despair.
I really
don’t know what your feeling is in face of such reality! Our nation, our people,
the values of our nation which we inherited from our ancient ancestors, as well
as the moral image of all those state governments in the international society
who have shamefully remained silent in face of this great calamity, have all practically
become victims of this catastrophe.
It is worth emphasizing that the current
reality has said it all: China’s ruling leaders fall far short in terms of foreseeing
and recognizing the changes in a society’s spiritual realm as a natural result
of the great economic growth. In a peaceful society which the suffering from wartime
has long become a history, in a society which places the economy in a priority
position, there is no way its people will forever indulge in all kinds of material
interests. People’s growing need for spirituality will naturally bring about the
large-scale grass-roots resurrection of religion and spiritual beliefs.
Spiritual
pursuit, just like the science and culture which our government advocates as mainstream
trends, comprises one aspect of a society; there is no contradiction among them.
Modern civilization has long solved the issues of science and faith and arrive
at the conclusion that they serve their respective purposes and each should be
confined within its own realm. The liberty of an individual’s belief will for
sure result in the disintegration of a collective ideology. The expansion of individual’s
rights will for sure turn into a reduction of the infinite authority of the government.
It is a reality that the ruling leaders must face and have to adapt to. This is
the historical trend.
Here I have to say that, as for the cause and motivation
behind the persecution, I am very confused and bewildered; so are many of my colleagues,
friends and neighbors. Why shall a citizen’s belief based on his own free choice
and which has no pursuit in this mundane world, incur such a lasting, inhumane
and illegal crackdown? What on earth is the point?! We cannot rationalize the
persecution, other than arriving at the conclusion that those who initiated and
continue to partake in the persecution are in a morbid state and have a dilapidated
personality. From the perspective of the suppressors, their choice only serves
to alienate themselves into a savaging and illegal position, and serves to continually
worsen their already extremely vile personality, the kind of vileness and viciousness
that can make a normal person feel chilly to the bone. Other than that, there
is nothing worthwhile or meaningful in their choice.
During the investigation,
we not only learned the fact that the persecution, which was started six years
ago, is still going on, but we also learned another fact, a concrete fact, which
is, the failure of the persecution. Based on our observation at the places we
visited, the more cruel the orders of suppression are and the more lasting the
suppression is in a certain region, the more prominent the signs of the failure
as well as the extent of the failure. For example, in three cities of Shandong
Province, Jinan, Qingdao and Yantai, posters and flyers posted and distributed
by Falun Gong believers and their supporters to protest the suppression and expose
the crimes against them are everywhere. Falun Gong posters can be easily spotted
at the front entrance of many police departments and police stations. Tenacious
and enduring resistance is growing and intensifying, signaling how unpopular the
suppression policy is. Conversely, the regions where the suppression isn’t as
harsh manifest a different scene. For example, in several districts in Shaanxi
Province, the overall situation is relatively calm. In front of this plain fact,
those who love and advocate violence should really feel ashamed.
Immeasurable
capital resource and police manpower are groundlessly exhausted on the suppression
of Falun Gong practitioners who simply practice peacefully to cultivate their
mind and improve their health, further turning the society into a chaotic place.
It is an utter crime, impinging on basic human rights. Frankly, I would like to
tell you that both of you don’t have any reason, any excuse, or any authority
not to take immediate action to change the current situation.
China is
one of the member countries of the “Universal Declaration of Human Rights.”
The declaration has stated explicitly: “Everyone has the right to life, liberty
and security of person.” “No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest,
detention or exile.” “Everyone has the right to an effective remedy
by the competent national tribunals for acts violating the fundamental rights
granted him by the constitution or by law.”
Also, in the current constitution
of China, article 33 states: “The State respects and preserves human rights.”
Be
it international law and standards or China’s constitution, it is absolutely not
allowed for anyone to violate human rights and persecute his own fellow citizen
inhumanely with any excuse. It is precisely based on the belief in the universal
values for mankind and the respect for rule of law, I solemnly suggest to both
of you to make your judgment as soon as possible to stop persecuting spiritual
believers and amend your ties with the Chinese people, to truly achieve “rule
of law and constitution” and establish a new China on the basis of democracy,
rule of law and constitutional government.
Such practice of yours will
gain infinite support from Chinese people and people all over the world!
Lastly,
I need to stress specifically that you need to ensure that all individuals mentioned
in this letter who have suffered tremendously will not have to suffer more brutal
persecution because of this letter. We have to remind you of this matter because
we had such experience before; Falun Gong practitioner Hao Qiuyan of Shijiazhuang
City was been incarcerated for eight months because I mentioned her case in another
open letter.
As long as I still enjoy personal security, I will continue
to pay close attention to their safety. It is my right to be concerned about them,
as a member of a civilized era, as a Chinese, as a citizen, and as a lawyer, although
it is still very dangerous to do so in China.
Best Wishes for both of
you!
Respectfully,
Your fellow Chinese
Gao Zhisheng
Phone number of Mr.Gao’s legal office: 010-8199-0759
Email：shengzhi64@sina.com
