(Minghui.org) Before Human Rights Day, December 10, 2024, Falun Gong practitioners in 45 countries submitted to their individual governments another list of Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officials who have been involved in the persecution of Falun Gong. Because these officials have participated in the 25-year persecution, practitioners have requested that they, along with their family members, be barred from entering their respective countries, and that their assets be frozen.

The 45 countries include The Five Eyes (United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand), all 27 countries in the European Union (EU) and 13 countries on other continents. The EU countries include Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Netherlands, Poland, Sweden, Belgium, Ireland, Austria, Denmark, Romania, Czechia, Finland, Portugal, Greece, Hungary, Slovakia, Bulgaria, Luxembourg, Croatia, Lithuania, Slovenia, Latvia, Estonia, Cyprus, and Malta. The remaining 13 countries are located in Asia, Europe, and the Americas, and include Japan, South Korea, Indonesia, Switzerland, Norway, Liechtenstein, Israel, Mexico, Argentina, Colombia, Chile, the Dominican Republic, and Paraguay. This was the first time Paraguay has joined the list.

The CCP’s persecution of Falun Gong has continued for 25 years and the regime recently escalated its control overseas. According to a report published by the World Organization to Investigate the Persecution of Falun Gong (WOIPFG), the CCP highlighted a goal in a May 2024 meeting organized by the Ministry of Public Security, “Pay special attention to the cooperation between Falun Gong and Western politicians to sanction high-level Chinese leaders. Stop such behavior at all costs.”

Among the perpetrators listed was Xu Jie, director of the National Security Division at the Hubei Provincial Public Security Department.

Perpetrator Information

Full Name of Perpetrator: Xu (last name) Jie (first name)Chinese Name: 徐杰Gender: Male

Title or Position

Xu Jie has held various high-level positions within the Hubei Provincial Public Security Department. He was appointed as deputy director of the National Security Division in 2013, then became the director in April 2019.

Main Crimes

The National Security Division within China’s public security system specializes in the persecution of human rights and religious beliefs, specifically against Falun Gong practitioners. During Xu’s tenure as director of the National Security Division since April 2019, he actively enforced the persecution policies against Falun Gong practitioners, including ordering several mass arrests of practitioners and taking them to various brainwashing centers. Numerous practitioners died as a result of the persecution.

Select Death Cases

Case 1: Ms. Chen Xuzhen, Released in Critical Condition, Dies a Month Later

Ms. Chen Xuzhen of Danjiangkou City, Hubei Province, was arrested on March 2, 2023, while studying the Falun Gong teachings with several others. She was sentenced to one year in prison with a 2,000-yuan fine. She became critically ill in the Shiyan City Detention Center and was released from the detention center in February 2024. She died a month later on March 14, 2024.

Case 2: Ms. Hu Yongxiu Dies Six Days After Arrest for Practicing Falun Gong

Ms. Hu Yongxiu, a 64-year-old resident of Wuhan City, Hubei Province, was arrested outside of a hospital on March 30, 2023, while talking to people about the persecution of Falun Gong. Her family confirmed on April 5 that she died that day. Her wake at home was closely monitored by the police. Due to strict information censorship, details about her death aren’t available.

Case 3: Ms. Zong Ming Dies Six Days After Arrest for Practicing Falun Gong

Ms. Zong Ming was arrested on April 18, 2022, during the “Zero-out” campaign, which targets all practitioners on the government’s blacklist in order to force them to renounce Falun Gong. She was emaciated and had difficulty talking when she was released after eight months of brainwashing center detention. She passed away on January 1, 2023, six days after being taken back home by her family.

Case 4: Ms. Wei Youxiu Dies in Custody After Over Two Years of Incommunicado Detention

Ms. Wei Youxiu was arrested at Zhongshan Park on June 2, 2018, and her home was also ransacked. She was detained in Wuhan No. 1 Detention Center for over a year. It was reported that the persecution resulted in her becoming a mere skeleton and that she needed help just to walk.

Her family received a notice on August 15, 2020, saying that the 72-year-old woman had died from leukemia. While the authorities refused to provide further information about her, her family suspected that she was tortured to death.

Case 5: Ms. Wan Dajiu Dies Weeks After Being Released From Brainwashing Center

Ms. Wan Dajiu, of the Hanyang District in Wuhan, was released on April 12, 2019, after serving four years for practicing Falun Gong. She was arrested again less than a month later, on May 6, 2019, and taken to the Yusun Mountain Brainwashing Center in the Hanyang District. She fell unconscious and couldn’t take care of herself when she was released months later. She passed away in October 2019. Her family suspects that the authorities had drugged her.

Mass Arrests and Harassment of Falun Gong Practitioners

Persecution in 2019

In 2011, the Hubei Political and Legal Affairs Committee (PLAC) and 610 Office used the “World Military Games” in Wuhan as an excuse to intensify the persecution. In 2019, 23 practitioners were sentenced, 353 were arrested, and 176 were harassed. Just in Wuhan, at least 144 practitioners were arrested and 92 harassed. At least 30 were held in brainwashing centers and 59 in detention centers. Four practitioners died as a result of the persecution.

Mr. Wang Xinguo, 67, was arrested in Wuhan on September 5, 2019, and detained for more than a year. He was later transferred to the Wuhan Rehabilitation Hospital. As a result of torture in custody, he almost went blind in his left eye and lost hearing in both ears. He also developed high blood pressure and heart disease.

A mass arrest of at least 40 practitioners took place on September 23, 2019, shortly before the CCP’s 70th National Day on October 1, and the 7th Military World Games held on October 18-27 in Wuhan.

Several months before the mass arrest, officers from the Duoluokou Market Police Station in Dongxihu District had compiled footage of Falun Gong practitioners recorded on surveillance cameras talking to people or passing out information about Falun Gong in or near Duoluokou Market. The police printed out the practitioners’ photos and taped each of the photos onto a large bag, which was then used to store items confiscated from each of the arrested practitioners.

Persecution in 2020

Three practitioners died as a result of the persecution in 2020. 38 were sentenced, 20 were tried, and at least 573 practitioners were arrested or harassed. Some of their homes were also ransacked. The police in Xiantao City even posted a 1,000-yuan reward for reporting a Falun Gong practitioner.

Ordered by the Huanggang City PLAC, the authorities in Macheng City, Hong’an County, Huangmei County, Xishui County, Qichun County, and Wuxue City dispatched a large number of officers to harass the practitioners at their homes, and ordered them to write the statements promising to give up their belief. Defamatory propaganda was displayed in various neighborhood bulletins and on electric billboards. Locals were encouraged to report practitioners who raised awareness about the persecution.

Persecution in 2021

In 2021, eleven practitioners in Hubei were persecuted to death, 38 were sentenced, 123 were detained in brainwashing centers, 321 were arrested, 485 were harassed, and 21 were persecuted financially.

Seven Wuhan residents, including Ms. Zhou Yuying, 83, Ms. Liang, 76, Ms. Liu Yunli, 71, Mr. Xu Nanshan, 70, Ms. Tang Lihua, 66, Ms. Yu Shifang, 57, and Ms. Tong Li, around 43, were studying the Falun Gong teachings at Ms. Zhou’s home on March 11, 2021, when a police officer suddenly broke in after cutting through Ms. Zhou’s window security bars.

The officer opened the door and let in other officers. The police arrested all of the practitioners present and took them to the police station. The practitioners were interrogated and had their photos, blood samples, fingerprints, and footprints taken. Ms. Zhou and Ms. Liu were taken to the Wuchang District Brainwashing Center.

Persecution in 2022 and 2023

At least 19 practitioners died in 2022 and 2023 as a result of the persecution, 71 were sentenced and fined a total of 236,000 yuan, 392 were arrested, 120 were detained in brainwashing centers and five in psychiatric hospitals, and 517 were harassed. Another 49 suffered financial persecution, including having their pensions suspended or being fired by their workplaces.

Mr. Zhou Hongliang, who did odd jobs at a local mall, was arrested at work at around 4 p.m. on March 10, 2023. The five arresting officers from the Xicheng Police Station, only one of whom was in uniform, took him home. After raiding his home, they ordered Mr. Zhou to go with them. He refused to comply and said he needed to care for his 80-year-old incapacitated mother. Four of the officers then whipped him with their belts.

Mr. Zhou ran out of his apartment building but the officers caught him in no time and continued to beat him. They didn’t stop even when his neighbors condemned the police for beating such a good person. The police then took Mr. Zhou to his home, conducted a second search of his place, then took him to the Suizhou City First Detention Center.

Mr. Zhou was sentenced to three and a half years in 2024. He was admitted to the Shayang Prison on April 19, 2024.

Persecution in 2024

In the first half of 2024, 117 practitioners were arrested in Hubei Province. At least two practitioners––Mr. Ouyang Haiwen and Ms. Chen Xuzhen––died as a result of the persecution. A mass arrest took place in Xian’an District, Xianning City, Hubei Province at 7 a.m. on April 23, 2024.

Ms. Zhang Haizhen, a 76-year-old Wuhan City resident, was arrested at home by three plainclothes officers on the morning of March 28, 2024. The police confiscated her Falun Gong books, the portrait of Falun Gong’s founder, a media player, and other personal belongings.

Ms. Zhang was taken to the Qianchuan Street Police Station for interrogation. She was photographed, videorecorded, and had her blood sample taken. After being detained in a health center for a day, she was taken to a nursing home on Caizha Street, Huangpi Districti, where she was isolated in a room and ordered to sign statements renouncing Falun Gong.

Brainwashing of Falun Gong Practitioners

Authorities in Hubei have closely followed the regime in suppressing the practitioners since the persecution of Falun Gong began in 1999. They became especially experienced in hosting brainwashing sessions targeting practitioners.

In 2021, there were as many as 27 brainwashing centers in Hubei Province, including 15 in the capital city of Wuhan. At least 123 Falun Gong practitioners were detained in the brainwashing center and forced to study propaganda materials smearing Falun Gong.

To carry out the CCP’s “zero-out” campaign aimed at forcing every Falun Gong practitioner on the government’s blacklist to renounce their faith, the authorities in Wuhan mobilized the police in various districts to arrest local practitioners and place them in brainwashing centers. The city’s PLAC and 610 Office then signed contracts with “collaborators” (former practitioners who had quit the practice) to work for the CCP in the persecution. The city paid these collaborators handsomely to torture and “transform” the practitioners in brainwashing centers. The authorities also hired a retired police officer, who had a record of torturing practitioners, to work in the brainwashing centers in different districts. At least ten new brainwashing centers were set up in Wuhan during this time.

Ms. Li Yuzhen, a 72-year-old Wuhan City, Hubei Province resident, was arrested at home on June 6, 2021. She was taken to the Wangjiahe Brainwashing Center and held in a dark room on the second floor. The guards forced her to watch videos slandering Falun Gong, and ordered her to write statements renouncing Falun Gong. She refused to comply and held a hunger strike to protest. The guards took turns watching her and didn’t let her sleep for four days. She was also forced to stand at times. On the fifth day, the guards force-fed her. She was in great pain, her eyes were rolled back into her head, and she almost died.

In 2022, at least 60 practitioners were detained in nine brainwashing centers in Wuhan, including Etouwan Brainwashing Center in Qiaokou District and Baishazhou Brainwashing Center in Wuchang District.

Ms. Hu Yanhua, a 57-year-old Wuhan City, Hubei Province resident, was arrested on May 31, 2023, right outside her apartment building as she returned home from work. The police raided her home the next day and took her to the Wuhan City Second Lockup for ten days. She was not released on June 11, when her detention expired, but was taken to the Youfu Hospital (a mental hospital to the east of the Hankou Railway Station in Wuhan), where she was held for nearly two months. The police pried open her door and raided her home on August 8. Hours later, they picked her up from the mental hospital and took her to the Jianghan District Brainwashing Center.

Ms. Kong Jiuhong was arrested on October 24, 2023 and taken to a brainwashing center. She went on a hunger strike to protest the persecution. Despite her serious condition, the police refused to release her, and transferred her to the Yunmeng Detention Center. She was taken to the Hanchuan Rehabilitation Hospital on November 12. The Anlu City Court sentenced her to a seven-year prison term in May 2024.