(Minghui.org) Eight Falun Gong practitioners from Jilin Province filed separate complaints with the Chinese Supreme People's Court and the Supreme People's Procuratorate in late May against the former Chinese Communist Party (CCP) leader Jiang Zemin for ordering the persecution of Falun Gong in July 1999.

Home to the founder of Falun Gong and where the practice was first introduced to the public, Jilin is among the nation's top three provinces where the persecution is most severe. In 2014 alone, at least 635 Falun Gong practitioners were arrested, 40 were tried and 15 died as a result of the persecution.

Selected Details of Complaints

Among the eight practitioners, including two men and six women, six had been arrested either for distributing Falun Gong informational materials or appealing for the right to practice Falun Gong. Among the six, five were sentenced to a forced labor camp, with sentencing terms ranging from one to three years.

At the forced labor camps, the guards tortured and brainwashed the practitioners in the hopes that they give up practicing Falun Gong.

“I was forced to sit on a small stool from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m., with only a15 minute meal break. My buttocks festered, but the guard didn't allow me to take a shower. Scabies developed all over my body, which they didn't allow me to scratch. Disobedience resulted in brutal beatings,” Mr. Xu Chuanlin recalled in his complaint.

Mr. Xu was sentenced to three years at Jiutai Forced Labor Camp in 2000 after he was arrested in Beijing for appealing for the right to practice Falun Gong. His workplace also fired him.

“To try to force me to renounce my belief, the guards surrounded me and shocked me with electric batons on my fingers, mouth and eyebrows. My face was scorched and began blistering.” Ms. Xu said. He was also beaten with leather belts and exposed to freezing weather.

Ms. Yang Mingyan described in her complaint the torture she suffered at Heizuizi Forced Labor Camp in Changchun.

“We had to work about 16 hours daily. They didn't allow me to sleep. I was forced to perform intensive physical labor and was put under tremendous mental pressure,” Ms. Yang Mingyan wrote in her complaint.

She further stated, “All my ailments that were gone after I started to practice Falun Gong recurred, including heart problems that resulted in several heart attacks,”

Mailing receipt of Ms. Yang Mingyan's complaint to the Supreme People's Court and Supreme People's Procuratorate

Ms. Yang mentioned that the labor camp doctor drew blood from her, but refused to give her a reason for doing so. She believed that this was related to the CCP's forced organ harvesting from living practitioners.

Ms. Yang was released on medical parole because she could no longer walk.

After her release, her workplace paid her 200 yuan (about 32 US dollars) living expenses each month, which caused a great financial burden to her family.

In addition to the torture and financial persecution of practitioners, the complaints also stated that the persecution and constant harassment by police caused deep emotional scars and mental distress to their families, especially their young children.

Complainants also included Mr. Xu Chuanlin's wife Ms. Zheng Mingxia, Mr. Liang Baofan, his wife Ms. Liu Junmei, and his daughter Ms. Liang Jing, Ms. Wang Wenjun, and Ms. Guan Hui.

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.