Involvement of Li Zunying, Deputy Secretary in the Persecution of Falun Gong

Hebei Province is one of the worst in China for its persecution of Falun Gong. Since February  23, 2004, ninety-three cases of Falun Gong practitioners having been tortured to death have been verified, making Hebei the fifth highest province in regard to deaths resulting from persecution. In Hebei’s capital city of Shijiazhuang, fourteen deaths have been confirmed – seven of which are in direct relation to the operations of the city’s judicial system. The victims Li Chouren and Ding Gangzi died in the Shijiazhuang detention center; Tao Hongsheng and Wang Hongbin died the city’s forced-labor camp; and Liu Yingxiu, Zhao Fengnian, and Zuo Zhigang died while in custody at the Public Security Bureau branch and police station. It has been confirmed that one person, Li Zhishui, died in the city’s brainwashing center1. Li Zunying is the authority in charge of the Shijianzhuang City judicial system, and is responsible for the “transformation” (or “reeducation” through brainwashing and torture) of Falun Gong practitioners.

Li Zunying’s Background

Li Zunying is the Deputy Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Committee of Shijiazhuang City and oversees that city’s judicial system. In the CCP, there is a secretary and several deputy secretaries at each level of the Party Committee, with each deputy specializing in one area of administration. As Li Zunying serves in a supervisory capacity for the local judicial system, he is always seen in attendance with both the City Political and Judicial Committee Secretary and the Deputy Mayor (in charge of the judicial departments), during visits to the various judicial branch divisions2, 3, 4, 5.

Two of the organizations that Li Zunying has authority over are the The Legal Education and Training Center of Hebei Province Capital and the Teenager Education and Protection Center of Hebei Province Capital 6. The Legal Education and Training Center is the place specifically used for “transforming” Falun Gong practitioners through brainwashing7. Systematic, excrutiating physical and mental abuse is adminstered to Falun Gong practitioners in a so-called “transformation class” 8. In an article published in the Washington Post, dated August 5, 2001, a CCP official interviewed by the reporter said that there were three elements necessary in forcing the transformation of Falun Gong practitioners: violence, propaganda, and brainwashing. “Each aspect of the campaign is critical,” he said. “Pure violence doesn't work. Just studying doesn't work either. And none of it would be working if the propaganda hadn’t started to change the way the general public thinks. You need all three. That’s what they’ve figured out.”9

References:

1. Minghui Net statistics table of Falun Gong practitioners persecuted to death. http://media.minghui.org/gb/d-stats/stats.html
2. Shijiazhuang Daily reported on January 29, 2004.
3. New Century Jails Network reported on October 14, 2003.
4. Yanzhao Police View Network report.
5. Shijiazhuang City Internet News Window report
6. Shijiazhuang City Internet News Window report entitled “The City Leaders Greet Special Education Workers” by Reporter Zhang Mingxing
7. Shijiazhuang City Chronicle 2001 in the Legal/Legal Management section
8. Minghui Net report: The Shijiazhuang City Brainwashing Center, officially called the “Legal Education and Training Center of Hebei Province Capital,” is located on Beicheng Street, Shijiazhuang City. It’s a place focused on persecuting Dafa [a.k.a. Falun Gong] practitioners. Since late August 2001, steered by the provincial and city-level “610 Office,” many Dafa practitioners in various places were abducted there for brainwashing. Each brainwashing session lasts three months. The center claims that “ those who are not transformed will be sent to the forced-labor camp directly.” So far there have been 6 groups of Dafa practitioners, a total of almost 100 Dafa practitioners have been abducted. … The heads from the provincial and city-level “610 Office” and the Political and Judicial Committee directed the persecution onsite.

People directly involved in the persecution:
1). Zhao Shiju, the provincial Deputy Secretary of the CCP Committee
2). Wang Yongzhi, head of the Hebei Province “610 Office”
3). Li Zunying, Shijiazhuang City’s Deputy Secretary of the CCP Committee
4). Zhang Zhenjiang, the director of the Political and Judicial Committee of Shijiazhuang City
etc.
  
9.   Washington Post, “Torture is Breaking Falun Gong,” August 5, 2001:
The government's campaign against Falun Gong, launched in July 1999, struggled at first, hampered by uneven enforcement and a split between central government leaders, who viewed the group as a threat to the party's rule, and local officials, who did not. But over the past six months, China's security forces have regrouped and devised an approach they say is producing results.

That approach has three ingredients, according to another government adviser.

The first, he said, is violence. The crackdown has always been associated with police and prison brutality, but the adviser said it was only this year that the central leadership decided to sanction the widespread use of violence against Falun Gong members. Citing government reports, he said practitioners who are not beaten generally do not abandon the group.

The adviser said the second element, a high-pressure propaganda campaign against the group, has also been critical. As Chinese society turned against Falun Gong, pressure on practitioners to abandon their beliefs increased, and it became easier for the government to use violence against those who did not. The self- immolation of five purported members in Tiananmen Square on Jan. 23 was a turning point. A 12-year-old girl and her mother died, and the party made the incident the centerpiece of its campaign to discredit Falun Gong. By repeatedly broadcasting images of the girl's burning body and interviews with the others saying they believed self- immolation would lead them to paradise, the government convinced many Chinese that Falun Gong was an “evil cult.”

Finally, the security apparatus has begun forcing practitioners to attend intense study sessions in which the teachings of the Falun Gong leader are picked apart by former followers. These brainwashing classes have been key to persuading members to quit practicing Falun Gong, the government adviser said.

“Each aspect of the campaign is critical,” he said. “Pure violence doesn't work. Just studying doesn't work either. And none of it would be working if the propaganda hadn't started to change the way the general public thinks. You need all three. That's what they've figured out.”

World Organization to Investigate the Persecution of Falun Gong

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