Internet Survelliance in the Persecution of Falun Gong

3 Falun Gong practitioners persecuted to death and 108 jailed and tortured

May 2004

By World Organization to Investigate the Persecution of Falun Gong

(www.upholdjustic.org)

A 2003 Reporters Without Borders (RSF) report indicated that the number of people in China who have been incarcerated as a result of Internet publishing ranked first in the world.

According to incomplete statistics, WOIPFG has found that as of the end of April 2004, as a result of Internet-related activities, 108 Falun Gong practitioners have been incarcerated, illegally sent to labor camps, and tortured. Three identified Falun Gong practitioners arrested for Internet-related activities were tortured to death. Among the Falun Gong practitioners who have been arrested and persecuted as a result of Internet surveillance, those with advanced degrees constitute a relatively high percentage.

It has been confirmed that among these 108 practitioners, at least eight are university professors and teachers from Qinghua University, Southwest University, Southwest College of Petroleum, Shenyang University of University Industry, Beijing University of Chemical Engineering, and the China Academy of Science.

In addition, more than 20 other victims of Internet surveillance have bachelor¡¯s degrees or more advanced degrees. More than 12 have master¡¯s degrees and Ph.D. degrees. Around 90% of these 108 Falun Gong practitioners are under 40 years old. The majority had good and stable jobs such as bank employees, company professionals, and governmental staff. Some of them were college students. These statistics are provided to show that the people who are being persecuted, vilified, and tortured by China¡¯s suppression of freedom of information and belief are exemplary and law-abiding citizens.

A January 28, 2003, Amnesty International report indicated that the number of people in China who have been arrested and incarcerated as a result of publishing dissent or exchanging information over the Internet has been rising sharply. During the year 2003, the number of people arrested increased 60% from past years. Those who have been arrested include students, dissidents, Falun Gong practitioners, blue-collar workers, writers, lawyers, educators, public servants, former government officials, engineers, and businessmen. The reasons for their arrests include signing Internet petitions, calling for an end to corruption, planning to establish pro-democracy groups, exposing the truth about SARS, communicating with overseas organizations, objecting to the persecution of Falun Gong, and demanding a redress of the government's suppression of the 1989 pro-democracy movement.

An important factor behind these arrests and persecutions is the Golden Shield System¡ªInternet monitoring and Internet police have played an insidious role.  Those who are unfamiliar with the Golden Shield System can reference the thirty-nine-page report by Canada's International Centre for Human Rights and Democratic Development:  ¡°China's security apparatus announced an ambitious plan: to build a nationwide digital surveillance network, lining national, regional and local security agencies with a panoptic web of surveillance.¡± (http://go.openflows.org/CGS_ENG.PDF) This Golden Shield security communication system demonstrates how Chinese police and security bureaus have used technologies developed by international corporations for commercial purposes to track and suppress China¡¯s dissidents. This system gives China¡¯s current regime unprecedented power to monitor and follow human rights activists and pro-democracy activists.

During the process of confirming these persecution cases, the investigators from WOIPFG found out that none of the communications or information exchanges by these Falun Gong practitioners involved any hint of anti-Chinese Communist Party, subversion of the Chinese government, or any sort of illegal content. Almost all the information they posted on the Internet is related to their personal beliefs and exposing how local Falun Gong practitioners were arrested and persecuted. However, these innocent people were treated as ¡°enemies¡± by  the Chinese authorities and police (including Internet police) and were suppressed and persecuted. Many Chinese policemen tried to justify their illegal persecution of Falun Gong practitioners by claiming they are only ¡°following Jiang Zemin¡¯s orders.¡± However, those who follow inhumane orders will also be held responsible for their crime. For example, all officers and soldiers who followed the illegal orders of Hitler to kill Jews were eventually brought to justice in the international courts.  We hope all officials, policemen, and Internet police who follow Jiang¡¯s illegal orders to persecute Falun Gong will stop immediately. We at WOIPFG will continue to accomplish our mission to investigate the criminal conduct of all institutions, organizations, and individuals involved in the persecution of Falun Gong to full closure.

This article is one part of a systematic exposure of the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners via Golden Shield System and Internet monitoring. For more information, please take note of WOIPFG's latest report at www.upholdjustice.org. If you would like to supply WOIPFG with more information, please email it to media@upholdjustice.org.

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