(Minghui.org) Many Falun Gong practitioners are now exercising their legal right to sue Jiang Zemin for launching the persecution of Falun Gong and causing them great harm and tremendous suffering during the past 16 years. The momentum of this new wave of lawsuits against the former Chinese dictator is growing.

The Minghui website receives copies of criminal complaints against Jiang from many practitioners daily. In this report, we present a snapshot of some of the practitioners whose copies of lawsuits were received by Minghui on June 29, 2015.

These lawsuits are mailed to the Supreme People's Court and Supreme People's Procuratorate, which are required to process all criminal complaints filed by citizens, as of a recent ruling by the Supreme People's Court.

Unlawful Arrests, Torture, and Loved Ones Died

Ms. Yang Guizhen, Ms. Cao Zhilan, and Mr. Hu Baochun recounted their suffering in their complaints, in particular the tragic deaths of their loved ones as a result of persecution. Two of Ms. Yang's younger sisters lost their lives. Her parents also passed away shortly afterwards with broken hearts and great pain. Ms. Cao's older sister died from torture. In Mr. Hu's case, his wife died from a violent beating and electric shocks.

Case 1: Ms. Yang Guizhen (杨桂珍)

Profession:Hometown: Tonghua City, Jilin ProvinceDate filed: June 23, 2015

Key Facts

Ms. Yang Guizhen, her mother, and two younger sisters were unlawfully arrested, detained and subjected to harassment and threats from police for appealing for Falun Gong in Beijing after the persecution started in July 1999.

In 2001, both her younger sisters were arrested again, one sentenced to 14 years and the other to 13 years in prison.

Ms. Yang Guiqin, her second younger sister, died in November 2002 in Jilin Women's Prison in Changchun. The guards lied to her family, saying that she jumped from a prison building and killed herself. There was a large hole in her head, and the ground was covered with blood. She was 45 years old.

Ms. Yang Guijun, her third younger sister, was 41 years old when she was tortured to death in June 2003 at Jilin Women's Prison. Again, the guards lied to her family, saying she killed herself by jumping from a tower crane. Family members found that she had fractured arms and legs, and that she was covered in blood. Her body was forcibly cremated.

“In the past 16 years, our entire family was forced apart and our loved ones died as a result of persecution. Our suffering is a reflection of the misery suffered by hundreds of thousands of Falun Gong practitioners at the hands of Jiang Zemin and the perpetrators,” said Ms. Yang Guizhen in her complaint.

Related ReportsNews of the Daughters of Two Sisters Who Were Tortured to Death at Jilin Women's Prison

Details of complaint in Chinese language

Case 2: Ms. Cao Zhilan (曹芝兰)

Profession: FarmerHometown: Yuanjiang, Hunan ProvinceDate filed: June, 2015

Key Facts:

Ms. Cao Zhilan and her elder sister, Ms. Cao Jingzhen, benefited greatly from practicing Falun Gong. However, their life was turned upside down since the persecution started in July 1999. Ms Cao Jingzhen died as a result of persecution on October 25, 2001, at the age of 52.

In March 2000, while Ms. Cao Jingzhen and other practitioners were doing the Falun Gong exercises at a local parking lot, local police beat her. The bridge of her nose was broken and a front tooth was knocked out. She was covered with bruises.

She was then locked up in the local detention center, handcuffed and shackled, and deprived of food and sleep. She was tortured like this for 30 days before she was released.

In June 2000, she was arrested again for reading a Falun Gong book and doing exercises in her own home. Later she was taken to Baimalong Women's Forced Labor Camp.

In the labor camp, she was often brutally beaten. Guards handcuffed her arms behind her back, stuffed her mouth with dirty socks and then sealed with tape. She was punched, kicked, and shocked with electric batons. Almost all her internal organs were injured; there was pus and blood in her vomit and feces.

During another round of beating in early January 2001, she was shocked with electric batons and locked in a tiny, damp cell, with her arms handcuffed to the steel door.

She was punched and kicked and three of her ribs were broken, and she passed out.

Ms. Cao Jingzhen was released later when she became extremely emaciated and could not walk.

Even though she was in such terrible condition, she was taken to a local brainwashing center by local 610 Office agents for further persecution until she was on the brink of death. She passed away a few days after she was released.

Related ReportsFalun Gong Practitioner Tortured to Death in Baimalong Women's Forced Labor Camp in Hunan Province, China

Details of complaint in Chinese language

Case 3: Mr. Hu Baochun (胡宝纯)

Profession: UnknownHometown: Huludao City, Liaoning ProvinceDate filed: June 23, 2015

In the past sixteen years of persecution, Mr. Hu Baochun was illegally arrested 11 times, sentenced to forced labor four times, and sent to a brainwashing center three times. On five occasions he was forced to leave his home; his house was ransacked seven times. His wife, Liu Liyun, died as a result of torture.

Key Facts:

On the evening of November 9, 2000, Mr. Hu was beaten and shocked with electric batons for hours. Policeman Liu Guohua slapped Mr. Hu more than 30 times in the face with a shoe. His face, neck, and back were swollen and covered with black marks from electric shocks. Other inmates reported the smell of scorched flesh from the cell and down the entire corridor.

Mr. Hu was brutally beaten again by more than ten police in early March of 2001. They put him in handcuffs and shocked him with electric batons, while kicking him hard with leather boots. Deputy section head Zhang Fusheng grabbed him by the hair and smashed his head against the cement floor. After the brutal beating, he could not turn over for almost five days. His ribs were injured in three places and his left ear lost hearing for half a year.

Mr. Hu Baochun's wife Liu Liyun was also unlawfully arrested a number of times. She was sentenced to four years in prison after her arrest on December 6, 2001.

In Liaoning Women's Prison Ms. Liu Liyun was subjected to all kinds of cruel treatment, including solitary confinement, being tied up and shocked with electric batons.

On July 24, 2002, her elderly father was told by police that she had died from high blood pressure and heart disease. They tricked the old man into signing a form and cremated her body. Her father was only allowed a quick look at her head in a dark room. He saw that her head was swollen.

Related Reports

Information About Ms. Liu Liyun's Death in the Liaoning Province Women's PrisonHuludao Forced Labor Camp in Liaoning Province: Shocking Detainees' Genitals with Electric Batons, Prison Police Enjoy Watching Detainees Being Tortured (Photos)Details of complaint in Chinese language

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.