(Clearwisdom.net) From the editor: There are some very good points in this article. We also noticed at the same time that under control of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), there is no true "rule by law" in China. This is obvious to people in normal countries overseas. Yet, the reasonable parts of China's current Constitution and laws can still be used by practitioners to clarify the truth and validate Falun Dafa -- we are not trying to save ourselves from the tribulation, but utilizing every usable form in human society to clarify the truth, eliminate the evil, and save sentient beings.
1. Laws that support evil are not legitimate laws; they should not exist, and people should not obey them
Laws should represent values such as fairness, justice, and righteousness, and they should protect and harmonize the social order. Laws that fall into this category are called good laws in the field of law. Laws that have turned against these legitimate purposes and that have deteriorated into the justification of evil are evil laws.
There are two different attitudes in the field of law toward evil laws: one is that people should follow the evil laws until the laws are voided; the other is that since the evil laws lack legitimacy, their very existence is unlawful, and they should not be followed. The current government in China, under the control of the evil old forces, used the so-called "laws" used to persecute Falun Dafa. These laws are created on the pretext of political concerns, and are backed up by tyranny. People should not silently and passively give such laws legitimacy by obeying them.
2. Many of the current laws in China are essentially tools to protect the evil political power, and are degenerate forces opposing the cosmos
In the history of the Western world, there have been two civilizing orders: religion and the law. Both are very different from the Chinese culture passed on by gods and its moral civilization. In the Western world, laws were initially recognized as inspiration and commandments of God. But over time, the human society degenerated, and in the 19th and 20th centuries, science and technology affected the traditional moral standards when the law deviated from its former solemnity. In particular, in Marx's version of atheism, the law became "the manifestation of the ruling class's will." In socialist countries, the law became a tool to be abused by the people in power. The classic theory of "the law was passed on to the people by God" has all but passed from mankind's understanding. The process is manifested as laws change from sacred to worldly, and reflects the process of humanity's degeneration, which is not the proper development of human society, but is instead the arrangement of the evil old forces. This is a situation we should completely negate.
The current laws in China use commonly acknowledged theories and principles of law as references, but the selection of those theories and principles is based on the principles of Marxism, which do not recognize the fact that the essence of law is connected to justice. From middle school to college, students are brainwashed with the theory, "The law is the manifestation of the ruling class's will." Theoretical research of laws, training and education, judicial and law enforcement, and the design of the legal system are all permeated by this basic theory (only in recent years has this situation improved minutely).
The "ruling class" here is not the workers or farmers as propagandized, but the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). As the country is under control of the CCP, and the CCP is controlled by the current criminal regime, the will of the head of the regime could easily be manifested in the form of the country's laws. In fact, in China the function of the entire judicial system and administration is to serve the needs of the evil political power. Although Falun Dafa practitioners should be able to use the laws to oppose the persecution, this is rarely the case. The overwhelming facts of the situation indicate that once practitioners point out how persecutors have violated the laws they themselves created, by persecuting Falun Dafa, the authorities either ignore the appeals of the practitioners or irrationally retaliate against practitioners using abduction, brutal torture, and secret trials and sentences. In so doing, they have thoroughly exposed their evil countenance. When the principles of the cosmos reappear in the human world, mankind will be remade; how could we believe that the laws created by the CCP could fundamentally protect Falun Dafa and practitioner's rights and benefits?
3. The law is the principal instrument of the Jiang regime's crimes against practitioners
A. Jiang distorts and abuses the law at will
Since the theory of "Class struggle" of Marx prevailed in China, the commonly recognized legal values such as fairness, justice, and righteousness were pushed to the side. The notion of "Law is the manifestation of the ruling class's will" filled the field of legal research; this notion has also manifested itself in every detail of the judicial system and the legal practice. This concept has twisted the law to the point of absurdity, for instance, according to China's Constitution, the CCP is considered to be the only lawful party in power. Since the needs and benefits of the CCP are changing all the time, the guiding ideology and the theory on which the Constitution is based is also unceasingly changing. This requires frequent changes to the Constitution and the laws. Ideologies from Marx to Deng Xiaoping, and even Jiang's theories, were included in the Constitution. When Jiang Zemin publicly declared he would, "Eliminate Falun Gong in three months," The National People's Congress and the Supreme Court immediately responded and complied, and created legal tools to efficiently persecute Falun Dafa: the National People's Congress published their "Decision of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress on Banning Heretical Cult Organizations, Preventing and Punishing Cult Activities" (referred to as "Decision" in the following text). The Supreme Court also published related judicial explanations.
B. The old evil forces created and developed the evil party's judicial system; their reason for doing so is to persecute practitioners today
Since "Rule by law" has become the norm throughout the world, evil political powers don't dare to openly and rampantly carry out their dictatorships. Instead, they too declare themselves to be "ruled by law." (Special Note: before the persecution started, because I was deceived and had incorrect understandings, I wrote an article praising Jiang's "strategies of rule by law." I now declare that the article I wrote is invalid; I want to clean up that stain in my life.) Although Jiang set out to improve the congressional system and called for judicial independence, the distorted judicial and legal systems could never fundamentally change. Each time changes were made, the goal was to "improve and strengthen the leadership of the Party." All levels of the National People's Congress are forever puppets of the party; the CCP first determines its principles and direction, and then the National People's Congress carries them out (including making new laws), serving as mere tools of the CCP's "lawful" dictatorship. So when the CCP wanted to "defeat Falun Gong," the National People's Congress immediately publicized its related "Decision," making the persecution legal. The Political and Judicial Committees of the CCP control all departments, including the police, procurator, judicial system, and courts. When the 610 Office gave the order, all the departments mentioned above acted together to carry out the systematic legal persecution of practitioners and their family members.
C. The purpose of maintaining the failing labor "re-education" system is to persecute practitioners
The forced labor re-education system and the detention system exist in violation of the Constitution and other basic laws such as the "Legislation Law." People from all walks of life, including people in the field of law, have long condemned their illegal nature and the crimes committed as a matter of course in their operation. Calls to immediately eliminate the two systems have been heard everywhere. The detention system was grudgingly dismantled by the CCP due to the incident in which Mr. Sun Zhigang was tortured to death. However, the CCP believes that, "without the forced labor re-education system, it would not have been so easy to persecute practitioners," and therefore the CCP has kept the evil system in place.
4. Using the law as tool to persecute practitioners has the overwhelming power to deceive
A. Cultivating Falun Dafa does not harm society in any way, so there is no reason to punish people for their practice
Criminal laws punish certain actions because of the damage they do to society. People who truly cultivate Falun Dafa follow the principles of "Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance" and try to become better people; they try to improve their character all the time and work hard on conforming to the state of ordinary human society. Their cultivation has innumerable benefits and no detriments to society; therefore, those who cultivate Falun Dafa shouldn't be the objects of prosecution under criminal law. In order to create the illusion of legitimacy for their evil persecution, the persecutors staged the "Self -immolation" incident in Tiananmen Square and framed Falun Gong using the homicide cases of some mentally ill people in a bid to make people believe that practicing Falun Gong results in "great social harms." The ineptness revealed in their actions as their lies were exposed only underscores the greatness of Falun Dafa.
B. From the legal perspective, there is no logic in persecuting Falun Dafa
a. Freedom of belief is guaranteed by the Chinese Constitution, and is a basic human right that is protected by the International Human Rights Treaty.
b. Additions to the Criminal Law and the "Decision" by the National People's Congress only vaguely define the crimes of individuals using heretical cult organizations to violate the law, without a clear definition of "Heretical Cult Organizations," or the criteria necessary to make judgments about the crime. The publications do not state which parts of the law were violated. Logic is defied as they skirt the issue.
c. The Ministry of Civic Affair's order to ban Falun Gong and The Ministry of Public Security's declaration of "Six Prohibitions," which are used as tools to execute the persecution, are only regulations enforced by government agencies, they are not laws. Furthermore, these regulations violate the Constitution and other basic laws, so they fall into the category of non-viable regulations because of their unconstitutional nature. However, in China, the CCP has been allowed to use its status of party in power as stipulated by the Constitution to trample the law and strengthen its power. The CCP has never allowed people to protect their own basic human rights using the Constitution. The CCP used the government agencies to create unconstitutional regulations; there is no system to examine Constitutional violations so that unconstitutional regulations can be eliminated. In the trials of individual cases, lawyers and defendants are not allowed to directly quote articles in the Constitution to protect their rights. In their actions the Ministry of Civic Affairs and The Ministry of Public Security have openly violated the Constitution and the laws in creating and publishing these regulations once they received orders from the 610 Office. Local judicial agencies and other government agencies used these regulations as excuses to rampantly persecute the practitioners, claiming that they are enforcing the law.
C. The CCP used evil laws to persecute Falun Dafa. In so doing, it deceived many practitioners and poisoned countless sentient beings from all realms
When degenerate laws turn into the weapons of tyranny, they shouldn't be called laws any more. Many people are influenced by notions, including their belief that evil laws are still laws, and that the prestige and order of the law must be maintained, their fear of those in power, their desire to protect their own interests, and their belief in Marxist theories, such as, "The weak will surrender to the strong." When the evil used the law to prohibit people from practicing Falun Dafa, many practitioners who had not studied the Fa well (including myself) and many ordinary people were deceived (although these people knew clearly that Falun Dafa is good). Their understanding was, "the government is against Falun Dafa, the law prohibits the practice, although the government and the law are wrong, we should still obey them. After all, wrong laws also enforce the authority of the country, and we should not turn against the government and violate the law." This degenerate idea or notion is still preventing many of our fellow practitioners from stepping forward and has prevented many people with predestined relationships and who want to learn from cultivating Falun Dafa. Furthermore, this notion is a very strong obstacle to understanding the truth for many ordinary people, since they don't understand why practitioners are risking their lives in clarifying the truth. In particular, the evil uses the media and has the "royal law experts" praise the evil laws, strengthening the deceptive power of the evil laws.
Actually, the government belongs to the people, and should reflect the will of the people. It should not be the tool of the CCP. The CCP is not the equivalent of the country; they are two separate entities. The law shouldn't be the weapon of Jiang's group. Using the twisted logic of the party, it would seem that rules made by the head of the Mafia should be obeyed because of the violent nature of the Mafia. Following the evil laws is tacit acceptance of the evil. As a Fa-rectification Dafa disciple, we shouldn't be like some of the deities of the old cosmos, who were restricted by the principles of the old cosmos and could only worry helplessly.
5. Practitioners should put more effort into clarifying the truth concerning how evil laws are not lawful, and how the persecution is unlawful
In order to save more deceived people, practitioners must break through their own notions that "practicing Falun Gong is against the law," which was forced upon them by the evil propaganda. This notion is seriously interfering with them and preventing them from forming correct understandings toward Falun Dafa. We need to specifically clarify the truth with more strength, firmly stating that "practicing Falun Gong is lawful, and the persecution is violating the law." Before, I thought that clarifying the truth about the staged "Self -immolation Incident" was most powerful in breaking through the lies, so I put emphasis on distributing materials in that regard. Now I realize that the notion that "practicing Falun Gong is against the law, is against the government, and is involvement in politics" is seriously blocking more people from understanding the truth. So I downloaded a related article from Minghui.org (the Chinese version of Clearwisdom.net) and materials that talk about members of Jiang's group being sued in Canada, and distributed them. In doing so, I tell people the following facts: from the professional angle of workers in the field of law, persecuting Falun Dafa violates the current basic laws and the Constitution of China, in both legislation and legal precedence. The persecution also violates international treaty, and as a result, is not tolerated by the laws of other countries. Although the legal agencies in China are under control of evil forces, and practitioners can't prosecute the persecutors yet, the laws of other nations won't tolerate the trampling of law and justice. The clear contrast between lawsuits against the persecution outside China and the brutal persecution inside China makes it easy for people to understand the truth.
6. To better use laws in our efforts to end the persecution, practitioners must break away from the restrictions of the evil laws and their mechanisms
Teacher Li has mentioned many times that practitioners should view the persecution with a clear and rational mind, and not regard it as persecution initiated by ordinary human beings toward other human beings. As practitioners, we all know that laws restrict and enclose people fundamentally. In particular, some of the current laws in China are products of complete degeneration. Although the evil is also frightened while using the law to persecute practitioners, and the laws they created against practitioners are filled with loopholes, because of the momentum of the corrupt judiciary and the complicated nature of laws, it is very hard for non-professionals to use other laws in the system to punish criminals. It is very easy to get lost in the complicated relationships of law and fall into the frames and restrictions of law. Because the laws created against practitioners didn't give the definition of a cult and criteria for that definition, people all know that they were created to target Falun Gong, just like Article 23 in Hong Kong. Plus, it is now understood and accepted that the results of a trial of Falun Gong practitioners are dictated by government agencies, that "trials" are merely matters of formality, and that sentencing someone to a term of forced labor requires no legal procedures such as a court trial. Furthermore, even if these cases, which are not matters of law but political actions, can be overturned in the future, law enforcement staff and other participants believe they can't be held responsible since they were following orders. Regarding the above situation, we as practitioners are not helpless, since Teacher told us to completely negate the arrangements of the evil old forces, including their "laws."
Before, as a practitioner who worked in the field of law, I always struggled in my mind when I saw so many practitioners being sentenced and persecuted under those evil laws; I felt that I should do something about it, yet I was helpless. In the persecution, the persecutors have never really followed the law, they were simply using the law as their weapon, so the more we followed the law, the deeper we were persecuted. When I saw the letters of appeal and the lawsuits written by fellow practitioners, I was always deeply touched. Many of them were obviously not written by professionals, yet they are truly powerful. Ordinary legal professionals could never write these articles, since they only crawl within the framework of the current laws. The power and wisdom of the words originated from those practitioners' righteous thoughts and righteous actions; because they have studied the Fa well, their path is righteous, so they have greater wisdom and broader views. Teacher has repeatedly told us to do "the three things" well. If we study the Fa well, then we will naturally have great wisdom. If we can send forth righteous thoughts with a pure mind, the evil has nowhere to hide. If we clarify the truth well, then people in the judicial system will wake up and the court will return to the side of justice. Of course, some people and some parts of the evil judicial system can't listen to the truth, and the perpetrators stubbornly execute their wicked tasks. These people cannot be moved by the compassionate words of practitioners, and in that case we need to eliminate the evil by sending forth righteous thoughts.
7. Looking at the support of ordinary legal professionals with rationality
As the Fa rectification rapidly progresses, and the evil has been eliminated to a certain degree, more and more people have begun to wake up to the truth after the elements in other dimensions which controlled them were eliminated. These people have bravely stepped forward to support Falun Dafa. As practitioners, we are deeply thankful for them; their great deeds have guaranteed their positions in the future. Teacher has said many times that practitioners shouldn't be affected by environmental changes and that they should do the things practitioners should do regardless. We shouldn't put our hopes in outside environmental changes, since people's futures all depend on us. Regardless of their positions and careers, all people need to be saved. We should rationally look at the support of ordinary people and be clear that practitioners are creating history.
A. Because the Fa rectification has progressed to the current stage, attorney Gao Zhicheng was able to openly appeal for Falun Gong (see reference at http://www.clearwisdom.net/emh/articles/2005/1/17/56641.html). Also, attorney Gao's appeal was only looking for support and ideas from the evil's old legal system. In the open letter, he brought up many pertinent points, such as "laws are not applicable retroactively" and "Criminal laws in all countries can only 'bear upon' (in China, it is 'attack') people's actions, not their minds or identities." Yet his analysis of the unlawful nature of the "the Ministry of Civic Affairs order to ban Falun Gong and The Ministry of Public Security's declaration of 'Six Prohibitions'" was not deep enough. He also failed to question "The Decision" by the National People's Congress. Restricted by many notions, legal professionals like Mr. Gao can't see the essence of the evil laws from deeper perspectives. If persecutors search the practitioner's home in his presence, or simply abducted practitioners who were making or distributing fliers, then could the fliers be used as "effective evidence" to persecute the practitioners? After the evil laws were made against Falun Gong, then should practitioners' actions of clarifying the truth be punished? Restricted within the current frame of laws, righteous people like Gao Zhicheng can't completely realize the lawful and just nature of practitioners tapping into the cable TV networks. (Please note: I respect attorney Gao Zhicheng very much, and I believe he will understand that my words are just a different opinion, and that I am taking a different angle.)
B. The great deed of attorney Gao Zhicheng has won praise from all over the world, yet there are few who share the same bravery. His open letter was published on the Internet since there was no other avenue. Because of the information blockade, few people know about it in China. The persecutors are probably creating trouble for him right now for his great deed. Voices of support from attorney Yang Zaixin in Guangxi Province and attorney Guo Guoting in Shanghai may bring attorney Gao some comfort. (As an alumnus of the Southwest Political and Judicial University, I call for other alumni of the university to lend your voice in support of justice!) Attorney Gao's helplessness reflected the tragic situation of China's judicial system, which is under control of the evil (political power). Yet the very existence of people like Mr. Gao Zhicheng and Yang Zaixin is a sign of change in the judicial system and the political arena; it's like a clear sign of an iceberg melting.
8. Practitioners who work in the field of law should play their roles in the current situation
In all fields of law, there are Falun Dafa practitioners. Some of them have also been persecuted. As the law has become the primary weapon of the persecutors, whether a practitioner is persecuted or the degree of persecution one receives has nothing to do with the person's knowledge of law. However, this does not mean that practitioners who work in the field of law are helpless regardless of their career and professional knowledge. In "Teaching the Fa at the 2004 Chicago Conference," Teacher said,
"When Dafa disciples look back at the path they have taken, [they'll see that] in different settings each person was walking his own path, and that there was a reason behind even the type of job you had in the human world, the lifestyle you had, etc. ... Such a path has been arranged for you because there are such factors in the cosmos, which have been given to you, and you are entrusted to walk that path."
When I think about the matter with a clear mind, I think that it is no accident that these practitioners work in the field of law in China in this special Fa-rectification period. Laws in the human world are also created for Fa rectification, so we can choose good laws and use them to validate Dafa. In addition, many practitioners currently enduring persecution urgently need us to help them in our profession. As practitioners and legal professionals, we should be clear about our mission and our path in Fa rectification. If we can't do what we should well, to cooperate the whole situation of Fa rectification, then just like Teacher said,
"You have failed to live up to the great trust placed in you by the cosmos, and that's no minor thing." ("Teaching the Fa at the 2004 Chicago Conference")
The above is my personal understanding; please kindly point out my mistakes.
January 25, 2005
