(Minghui.org) A total of 416 Falun Gong practitioners from Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region have filed criminal complaints against Jiang Zemin between May 24 and November 8, 2015, according to reports compiled by the Minghui website.

The practitioners from 17 cities charge the former Chinese dictator with initiating the brutal suppression of Falun Gong and hold him responsible for the tremendous suffering inflicted upon them by his campaign. The criminal complaints were mailed to the Supreme People's Court and Supreme People's Procuratorate.

Many of these practitioners recounted how Falun Gong returned them to health and gave them a new outlook on life. Their dream to live a healthier and happier life, however, was shattered when Jiang Zemin launched a nationwide campaign to eradicate the practice in 1999.

Simply for refusing to give up their belief, they were arrested, detained, tortured, and had their homes ransacked and personal belongings seized. Many also saw their families implicated for their belief, while some were forced to pay huge fines.

The Xinjiang practitioners who filed criminal complaints are from all walks of life, including doctors, teachers and blue collar workers.

Below, we profile a few of them:

Ms. Li Yulan (李玉兰), a 72-year-old doctor from Wujiaqu City, was given two years of forced labor in August 2000. She was subjected to torture, forced labor and brainwashing. Ms. Li was once shocked with four electric batons until she lost control of her bowels. She still has a scar on her face to this day.

Mr. Jiang Zhiqiang (江智强), 42, from Shihezi City, was imprisoned for three years following his arrest in February 2001. He was deprived of sleep and tortured. After his release, he was taken directly to a brainwashing center. His father was traumatized and died of illness while he was detained.

Ms. Yang Xiaohui (杨小慧), 59, from Shihezi City was sentenced to three years in prison in 2011. She was forced to do hard labor for over 10 hours a day and tortured during her interrogations. She became emaciated and contracted serious tuberculosis. She was also fired from her job.

Ms. Zhao Yueming (赵月明) is a 50-year-old teacher in Xinjiang Agricultural University. She was sentenced to three years of forced labor in March 2001, but was released on parole after 15 months. She was force-fed, deprived of sleep, and tortured, and then forced to pay the camp over 4,000 yuan for "living expenses." After she returned to work, her employer only paid her a basic living allowance until her labor camp "term" was officially over.

Background

In 1999, Jiang Zemin, as head of the Chinese Communist Party, overrode other Politburo standing committee members and launched the violent suppression of Falun Gong.

The persecution has led to the deaths of many Falun Gong practitioners in the past 16 years. More have been tortured for their belief and even killed for their organs. Jiang Zemin is directly responsible for the inception and continuation of the brutal persecution.

Under his personal direction, the Chinese Communist Party established an extralegal security organ, the “610 Office,” on June 10, 1999. The organization overrides police forces and the judicial system in carrying out Jiang's directive regarding Falun Gong: to ruin their reputations, cut off their financial resources, and destroy them physically.

Chinese law allows for citizens to be plaintiffs in criminal cases, and many practitioners are now exercising that right to file criminal complaints against the former dictator.