Crimes of Yang Dongqi, Former Secretary of the Political and Legal Affairs Committee in Heilongjiang Province

(Minghui.org) Sanctioning human rights abusers has become a consensus among democratic countries. After the U.S. passed the Magnitsky Act in 2016, Canada, the United Kingdom, and the 27-member-country EU enacted similar laws. Australia and Japan are working on the same.

In accordance with these laws, Falun Gong practitioners have compiled lists of perpetrators involved in the persecution of Falun Gong these few years. Every year they submit several lists to democratic governments, urging them to sanction the named perpetrators.

Starting on July 14, 2021, Falun Gong practitioners in more than 30 countries are submitting the latest list of perpetrators involved in the persecution of Falun Gong to their respective governments, demanding sanctions on these human rights abusers, including denying entry into their countries and freezing their assets overseas.

One name on this list is Yang Dongqi.

Perpetrator Information

Full Name of Perpetrator: Yang (last name) Dongqi (first name) (Chinese: 杨东奇)Gender: MaleCountry: ChinaDate/year of Birth: September 1962Place of Birth: Gannan County, Heilongjiang Province

Title or Position:

September 2018: Deputy Secretary of the Shandong Provincial Party Committee

August 2018: Deputy Secretary of the Shandong Provincial Party Committee and Director of the Organization Department

February 2016: Member of the Standing Committee of the Shandong Provincial Party Committee and Minister of the Organization Department

November 2013 – February 2016: Member of the Standing Committee of the Heilongjiang Provincial Party Committee, Secretary of the Political and Legal Affairs Committee

November 2005 – February 2013: Deputy Secretary-General, Secretary-General, and Director of the General Office of the Heilongjiang Provincial Party Committee

May 2004: Deputy Secretary, Commissioner of the Administrative Office; Director of Forest Management Bureau, Daxinganling District Committee, Heilongjiang Province

February 2001: Deputy Minister of the Organization Department of the Heilongjiang Provincial Party Committee

Main Crimes

During Yang Dongqi’s tenure as the Secretary of the Heilongjiang Provincial Political and Legal Affairs Committee from November 2013 to January 2016, he actively implemented the CCP’s policy of persecuting Falun Gong. As a result, many Falun Gong practitioners were arrested, had their homes searched without a warrant, and were arbitrarily detained. Ten of them were persecuted to death: Zhu Jinrui, Feng Xue, Li Youqin, Wu Qiu’e, Zhang Xianlong, Wang Jinhua, Ren Wanjie, Shang Fenglan, Sun Yajie, and Kong Lingjin. In 2015 alone, at least 1,865 practitioners in Heilongjiang Province were persecuted. Yang Dongqi is responsible for these crimes.

Examples of Practitioners Who Were Persecuted to Death:

Mr. Zhu Jinrui was sentenced to four years in prison in 2013 and detained in Bei’an Prison. He was tortured to death on the evening of May 6, 2014, at the age of 44. The prison informed his family that he had died of a heart attack. After the family got to the prison, they saw blood in Mr. Zhu’s mouth and suspected that he had been beaten.

Mr. Feng Xue and his wife Ms. Guan Shuli were arrested on December 6, 2013, by officers from Xinnong Police Station in Harbin City, Heilongjiang Province. Mr. Feng was arbitrarily sentenced to nine years in Hulan Prison and Ms. Guan to 11 years in Heilongjiang Province Women’s Prison. On the afternoon of August 10, 2015, Mr. Feng was tortured to death in prison at the age of 47.

Ms. Wu Qiu’e was an 80-year-old practitioner who lived in the Jiagedaqi District in Heilongjiang Province. On October 28, 2015, Liu Rui and other police officers broke into Ms. Wu’s house without a warrant. They ordered her to sign and put her fingerprints on a penalty notice. Due to fright and mental stress, she fainted and collapsed after the police left. When her family found out, they took her to the hospital, where she was pronounced dead.

Leading and Directing the Persecution of Falun Gong Practitioners

Yang Dongqi facilitated several arbitrary arrests and sentences in Heilongjiang Province. He also oversaw harassment campaigns targeting the practitioners who sued former CCP head Jiang Zemin, who launched the persecution in 1999. The “Jiansanjiang Human Rights Case” that Yang Dongqi was involved in was reported by Amnesty International.

On March 20, 2014, four lawyers, Tang Jitian, Jiang Tianyong, Zhang Junjie, and Wang Cheng, along with several practitioners’ family members, went to the Legal Education Base of Heilongjiang Provincial Land Reclamation Administration located in the back of the Qinglongshan Public Security Bureau of Jiansanjiang District, Heilongjiang Province (otherwise known as the Qinglongshan Brainwashing Center of the Jiansanjiang District). They asked that all arbitrarily detained practitioners in the center be released.

On the morning of March 21, the four lawyers and seven practitioners were arbitrarily arrested and later tortured. The lawyers were detained on criminal or administrative charges. After they were released, they all had broken ribs. Four of the seven practitioners, Shi Mengwen, Wang Yanxin, Li Guifang and Meng Fanli, were held in custody and later sentenced.

On June 1, 2014, the Heilongjiang Provincial Party Committee ordered officials to “severely crack down on religious extremists, cult organizations, and illegal religious activities” as well as to “severely crack down on ‘Falun Gong’ and other cult organizations and strengthen the ideological field in the fight against separatism, strictly preventing the spread of illegal thoughts and speeches.”

On July 16, 2015, 12 practitioners from Suileng County (Sun Chuantong, Xiu Zhongchen, Shen Qingyun, Meng Xianrong, Meng Zhaohua, Cui Mingyue, Zhuang Jintian, Wang Shufang, Gu Yanwen, Wang Yanxia, and Zhang Fengtian) were arrested by officers from the Heilongjiang Provincial Public Security Department and Public Security Bureaus of Suileng County and Qing’an County.

Shen Qingyun, Sun Chuantong, and Xiu Zhongchen were detained in Suileng County Detention Center. Gu Yanwen and Wang Shufang were detained in Qing’an Detention Center. Yang Dongqi as secretary of the Heilongjiang Provincial Political and Legal Affairs Committee issued the orders. Heilongjiang Provincial Public Security Department officers organized, planned, and arbitrarily arrested the 12 practitioners in Suileng County. Police officers from the Suileng and Qing’an counties actively participated in these actions. In January 2016, Shen Qingyun and six other practitioners were tried and sentenced.

On October 28, 2015, practitioners who were persecuted in the Qinglongshan Brainwashing Center in the Jiansanjiang District jointly filed criminal charges against the relevant government entities and individuals responsible. With their relatives and friends, they also sued the leader of the persecution, former CCP head Jiang Zemin.

In response to this class action case, the Ministry of Public Security established the “10.28 Task Force.” The Heilongjiang Provincial Political and Legal Affairs Committee and its associated 610 Office also issued an urgent confidential order that required all levels in their organizations to focus on suppressing the plaintiffs. They were told to “initiate a case for investigation, find responsible individuals, and severely crack down.” Officers from the Public Security Department of Heilongjiang Province were sent to local police stations and instructed the officers to arrest and torture Falun Gong practitioners. A total of 28 practitioners were affected.

According to available statistics from Minghui, 407 practitioners were arbitrarily arrested in Heilongjiang Province in 2014, and 666 were arbitrarily arrested in 2015. Forty-three practitioners were sentenced in Heilongjiang Province in 2014 and 60 in 2015.

On May 1, 2015, after the Supreme Court of China announced that “All lawsuits must be dealt with,” Falun Gong practitioners in Heilongjiang Province filed numerous lawsuits against Jiang Zemin, the former CCP head who started the persecution of Falun Gong in 1999, with the Supreme People’s Procuratorate and the Supreme Court. At the end of July 2015, the Heilongjiang Provincial Party Committee held a meeting with seven governmental departments, including the Political and Legal Affairs Committee, the 610 Office, the Public Security Bureau, and the Armed Police. They coordinated a unified campaign throughout the province to arrest those practitioners who had filed lawsuits against Jiang. The major participants in carrying out the campaign were the Political and Legal Affairs Committees and the 610 Offices of Harbin City, Jiagedaqi City, and Daqing City.

Hundreds of practitioners who had sued Jiang Zemin were arrested in Harbin City and Daqing City. On September 1, 2015, Mr. Yu Lianhe from Dalianhe Town in Yilan County was arrested by Dalianhe Town Police Station officers and detained in Yilan County Detention Center. He was tortured and beaten and sustained severe injuries. After returning home, he was in pain and coughed up blood. He passed away on February 5, 2016, at the age of 56.