Notice to Investigate the Involvement in the Persecution of Falun Gong by Zhang Dejiang, the Chairman of the National People's Congress Standing Committee of the People’s Republic of China

Zhang Dejiang (1946-), the incumbent Chairman of the12th session of the National People's Congress (NPC) Standing Committee of the People’s Republic of China (PRC), was the Secretary of Zhejiang Provincial Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Committee from 1998 to 2002; the Secretary of Guangdong Provincial CCP Committee, and the member of the Politburo from 2002 to 2007; the Deputy Premier of PRC from 2008 to 2013; and the Secretary of Chongqing Municipal CCP Committee from March to November 2012.

Since the beginning of the persecution of Falun Gong in China, Zhang Dejiang has been vigorously following Jiang Zemin’s persecution policy in Zhejiang Province, Guangdong Province, and Chongqing Municipality, slandering, defaming, and suppressing Falun Gong. Falun Gong practitioners in these areas suffered severe persecution. Zhang Dejiang is suspected of committing the Crime of Genocide, the Crime of Torture, and Crimes Against Humanity. WOIPFG hereby initiates an investigation of Zhang Dejiang. Some of Zhang’s involvement in the persecution of Falun Gong is listed below.

As the Secretary of Zhejiang Provincial Party Committee, utilizing media propaganda to suppress Falun Gong (1999-2002)

Shortly after the CCP started persecuting Falun Gong on July 20, 1999, Zhang Dejiang promoted anti-Falun Gong rhetoric via the media.

During a media interview, Zhang Dejiang, then Secretary of Zhejiang Provincial Party Committee, claimed that to suppress Falun Gong was "not too late" and considered the persecution as “an opportunity to strengthen the Party organization and ideological control.”

In early March 2000, Zhang Dejiang slandered Falun Gong during an interview with the People's Daily.

In July 2000, Zhang Dejiang continued to incite hatred against Falun Gong and the founder. He emphasized that anti-Falun Gong was "completely correct."

In mid-June 2002, Zhang Dejiang gave a speech on the Eleventh Party Congress of Zhejiang Province, the content was published in Zhejiang Daily. Zhang claimed that firmly cracking down on Falun Gong was a factor "to ensure the national security and social stability".

When Zhang Dejiang was the Secretary of Zhejiang Provincial Party Committee, his active participation in the persecution of Falun Gong in Zhejiang Province resulted in many Falun Gong practitioners being illegally kidnapped, extorted, imprisoned, tortured, subject to force labor or killed by forced organ harvesting. According to incomplete statistics, at least five Falun Gong practitioners have been persecuted to death. For example, Falun Gong practitioners Zhou Fengping in Zhuji City, and Geng Guodong in Jiaxing City, Zhejiang Province, were tortured to death in 2001 and 2002 respectively.

Implementing policies against Falun Gong during his tenure as Secretary of Guangdong Provincial Party Committee (2002-2007)

Early in May 2004, during his inspection tour to Jiangmen City, Guangdong Province, Zhang Dejiang gave a speech which was published later in the Jiangmen Daily. He requested: "Strictly guard against and severely crack down on Falun Gong, in order to ensure social and political stability in Jiangmen City."

By the end of October 2005, the Guangdong Provincial Party Committee held the Ninth Congress seventh plenary session (7/27-29). Zhang Dejiang ordered more prisons to  be built, and thoroughly transform Falun Gong practitioners to reach a higher transform rate. (Note: Transform refers to a Falun Gong practitioner giving up the belief.)

In November 2005 Zhang Dejiang visited Shantou City, where he recognized and praised the city’s effort to actively prevent and suppress activities of Falun Gong.

In the period he was in charge of Guangdong Province, medical institutions were suspected of harvesting organs from living Falun Gong practitioners on a large scale. The hospitals include Guangdong Military General Hospital and the Third Affiliated Hospital of Zhongshan University in Guangzhou, where Chen Guihua, the former director of the liver transplant center, performed 246 liver transplants in 2005 alone.

According to incomplete statistics, during the first eight months in 2005 at least 108 Falun Gong practitioners were illegally arrested across Guangdong Province. By February 2006 at least 64 Falun Gong practitioners in the province had been persecuted to death. One tragedy was on November 22, 2002, when 29-year-old Falun Gong practitioner Luo Zhixiang was kidnapped and taken to Huangpu Drug Addiction Treatment center for brainwashing by Guangzhou's Tianhe District 610 police. She was tortured to death on December 4 when she was three months pregnant. Zhang Dejiang cannot escape the responsibility of severe persecution of Falun Gong practitioners in Guangdong province, especially being heavily involved in organ harvesting from living Falun Gong practitioners.

Intensifying the persecution of Falun Gong in Chongqing (March-November, 2012).

On March 15, 2012, Zhang Dejiang replaced Bo Xilai as Secretary of Chongqing Municipal CCP Committee. After he took over the office a number of mass human rights protests happened in Chongqing city. To distract public attention, Zhang Dejiang began to aggravate the persecution of Falun Gong. According to reports from Minghui website, since April 2012, a brainwashing center in Huangguashan, Yongchuan County, detained a large number of Falun Gong practitioners. The Board of Education in Beibei District of Chongqing City required nearly 50 primary and secondary schools in the district to establish a special bulletin board with anti-Falun Gong content. On August 19 of the same year, more than 20 Falun Gong practitioners in Chongqing were kidnapped.

During April 10-11, 2012, tens of thousands of residents and students held a grand parade in Wansheng District of Chongqing City. The local government dispatched armed police forces to repress the parade resulting in bloodshed. Zhang Dejiang utilized the media to blame Falun Gong. Wansheng Jingkai District Television Stations and newspapers claimed that the grand parade was planned and initiated by Falun Gong practitioners and drug addicts. Local people were given financial incentives to disclose information.

In view of the above facts, WOIPFG hereby establishes a case to investigate Zhang Dejiang, and calls those who have evidence of Zhang Dejiang’s participation in the persecution of Falun Gong to contact WOIPFG promptly.

WOIPFG’s principles are: whoever has committed the crime is responsible for it; individuals are responsible for organized crimes; instigating a crime is the same as directly committing a crime. Based on these principles, all the crimes conducted in the name of organizations, units, and systems will eventually be the responsibility of the individuals. All the responsible persons who have participated in the persecution of Falun Gong will be investigated thoroughly and be brought to justice.

We hereby warn those who have participated in the persecution of Falun Gong: the persecution of Falun Gong is a crime of genocide and a crime against humanity. It is the same crime committed by the Nazi war criminals. Carrying out instructions can’t be used as an excuse for exemption. All the participants must take personal responsibility. The only way out is to turn himself in and confess, and to reveal more criminal evidence to make atonement.

Established in 2003, WOIPFG has the mission to investigate the criminal conduct of all institutions, organizations, and individuals involved in the persecution of Falun Gong; to bring such investigations, no matter how long it takes, no matter how far and deep we have to search, to full closure; to exercise the fundamental principles of humanity; and to restore and uphold justice in society.

World Organization to Investigate the Persecution of Falun Gong

Tel: 1-347-448-5790; Fax: 1-347-402-1444；
Post Address: P.O. Box 84, New York, NY 10116, USA