Investigative Report on the Persecution of Falun Gong by Su Rong

Former Deputy Secretary of the CCP Committee of Jilin Province, head of Jilin Province's “610 Office”, and Secretary of the CCP Committee of Gansu Province

December 31, 2020

Full Name of Perpetrator: Su (last name) Rong (first name) (苏荣)

Gender: Male

Country: China

Date/year of Birth: October 1948

Place of Birth: Taonan City, Jilin Province

Title or Position:

1998 - 2001: Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee of Jilin Province, head of Jilin Province's “Falun Gong Issue Leadership Group”

2001 - 2003: Secretary of the Party Committee of Qinghai Province; since 2002, also the director of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress of Qinghai Province

2003 - 2006: Secretary of the Party Committee of Gansu Province

2007 - 2013: Secretary of the Party Committee of Jiangxi Province [1]

During his time as the head of Jilin Province's “Leadership Team Dealing with Falun Gong Issues,” a.k.a the “610 Office,” Su Rong was in charge of the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners in Jilin Province.[2] Su is responsible “brainwashing,” torture, and other such measures that resulted in the death or disability of Falun Gong practitioners during the period he was in office.[3]

From the start of the persecution of Falun Gong, Su Rong vehemently supported and sponsored transforming Falun Going practitioners, facilitating their expulsion from the Party and firing them from their jobs. [4] Su also participated directly in “transforming” Falun Gong practitioners. [5] “Transforming” has been the main weapon used by Chinese authorities in eradicating the Falun Gong group, both physically and spiritually. [6] At a national anti-Falun Gong conference, Su gave a speech on “transforming” and “eliminating” Falun Gong. [7]

During his time as Secretary of the Party Committee of Qinghai Province, Su Rong slandered and defamed Falun Gong at multiple public events. [8] During work research and his inspection of public security, court, and procuratorate systems, Su emphasized the task of persecuting Falun Gong practitioners. [9] Three Falun Gong practitioners were tortured to death during two years of his tenure as a Qinghai Province’s party chief, and at least 23 Falun Gong practitioners were persecuted to death in the time that Su was in charge of the persecution of Falun Gong in Jilin Province [10]

Su Rong continued to persecute Falun Gong during his time in office in Jiangxi Province from 2007 to 2013. In December 2010, Su held a provincial level “610 Office” meeting [11] and requested the organization of a provincial “brainwash center” to intensify the persecution on Falun Gong. In February of 2011, a list of Falun Gong practitioners who would be forced to go to the “brainwash center” was made.[12]

Main Crimes

Gansu Province

After Su Rong assumed the position of Party Secretary General in Gansu Province in 2003, he continued to follow Jiang's regime and further intensified the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners. Su Rong ordered the police to arbitrarily monitor, track, arrest, sentence, and torture Falun Gong practitioners.

Between August 2003 and 2006, at least six Falun Gong practitioners were tortured to death at the Gansu Province Forced Labor Camp: Mr. Song Yanzhao, Mr. Ouyang Wei, Ms. Hou Youfang, Mr. Liu Baiyuan, Ms. Cheng Guilan, and Ms. Liu Wenyu. Several other Falun Gong practitioners were also permanently physically or mentally disabled as the result of torture.[13]

During this same period, other Falun Gong practitioners were persecuted to death at Gansu Province Brainwashing Center. They include Qian Shiguang, Zheng Fengru, Long Lianqiu, Liu Zhifang, and Mao Yaping. Brainwashing centers are extra-judicial black jails organized by the Political and Legal Affairs Committee and the “610 Office.” They are designed to hold and torture Falun Gong practitioners in order to “transform” them by forcing them to give up their beliefs and practice of Falun Gong. A partial statistic shows that by October 2005, more than 100 Falun Gong practitioners had been detained at the Gongjiawan Brainwashing Center in Lanzhou City, Gansu Province alone, with detainees ranging anywhere from teenagers to those who were over 70 years old. Many of these practitioners were left permanently physically or mentally disabled as the result of torture.[14]

Between 2002 and 2006, numerous Falun Gong practitioners were persecuted to death in prisons in Gansu Province. They include Bi Wenming, Yu Jinfang, Liu Zhirong, Zhao Fenglian, Liu Yongchun, and Wei Xinhua. The Lanzhou Prison alone detained at least 63 Falun Gong practitioners.[15]

Below are some of the death cases in Gansu Province that occurred while Su Rong was the province’s party chief.

Case 1: Mr. Zhao Xudong beaten to death in detention center

Mr. Zhao Xudong was arrested in his home in December of 2003. On February 7, 2004, only two months after he was sent to a detention center, he was tortured to death at the age of 34. Almost every day, police ordered other prisoners to beat Mr. Zhao. They even put a sack over Mr. Zhao's head and sat on his body while beating him. They even beat him with bricks wrapped by sweaters. The sound of beating and his screams could be heard from far away.[16]

Case 2: Mr. Bi Wenming electrically shocked and beaten to death in prison

In 2003, Mr. Bi Wenming was sentenced to 3 years in prison. At noon on September 3, 2004, the police in Dingxi Prison ordered the criminals to viciously beat Mr. Bi. After the beating, the police shocked Mr. Bi with electric batons, causing him to die on the spot. Mr. Bi was 34 years old.[17]

Case 3: Ms. Liu Zhifang tortured to death at brainwashing center

In July of 2005, Ms. Liu Zhifang, aged 48, died in a brainwashing center as a result of torture. Following secret orders from Jiang Zemin’s regime that “killing Falun Gong practitioners counts as suicide,” the administration of the brainwashing center officially declared that Ms. Liu's case was suicide, and strictly sealed off any information about her death to the public. In order to hide the crime, they quickly cremated Ms. Liu's body without a forensic autopsy.[18], [19]

Case 4: Ms. Zheng Fengru died after being persecuted to mental breakdown

In October 2004, Ms. Zheng Fengru was kidnapped and sent to a brainwashing center. She underwent both mental and physical persecution, and eventually suffered a mental collapse. She passed away in September of 2005. [20]

Jilin Province

Below are some of the death cases in Jilin Province that occurred while Su Rong held a position responsible for persecuting Falun Gong practitioners.

Case 1: Mr. Wang Lixin beaten to death in police custody

On November 27, 2000, Mr. Wang Lixin was illegally arrested and detained in a detention center. While in custody, police ordered criminals to beat Mr. Wang and prevent him from using the restroom or going to sleep. Mr. Wang went on a hunger strike as protest. On the 5th day of his hunger strike, Mr. Wang was force-fed 0.5 kg of concentrated saltwater. Two days later, in early December, police ordered a group of criminals to beat Mr. Wang for more than half an hour. Mr. Wang was sent to the hospital where he died two days later.[21]

Case 2: Mr. Li Zaiji tortured to death and his organs removed

Mr. Li Zaiji, aged 44, was the first Falun Gong practitioner who was persecuted to death in Jilin City, Jilin Province. After being sent to a labor camp in October of 1999, Mr. Li was beaten and forced to do heavy labor work. In July 2000, Mr. Li was force-fed a large amount of concentrated saltwater, and the sound of his struggling could be heard from outside the room. Mr. Li died on the spot. All of Mr. Li’s organs were removed and his stomach was filled with bathroom tissues.[22]

Case 3: Ms. Guo Shufeng killed within 24 hours in custody

Ms. Guo Shufeng was detained by police in November 1999 and was tortured at the police station. She was near death when taken to the detention center that same evening and passed away within a few hours.[23]

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Reference

[1] https://web.archive.org/web/20130927211723/http://news.xinhuanet.com/2013lh/2013-03/11/c_114985743.htm

[2]https://web.archive.org/web/20031220093151/http://people.com.cn/GB/channel1/10/20000709/136132.html

[3] English: http://www.upholdjustice.org/node/197

[4]https://web.archive.org/web/20031220093151/http://people.com.cn/GB/channel1/10/20000709/136132.html

[5] https://web.archive.org/web/20191102154632/http://www.chinanews.com/2000-1-16/26/15639.html

[6] English: http://www.upholdjustice.org/node/60

[7] https://web.archive.org/web/20191102162137/http://news.sohu.com/20/06/news144340620.shtml

[8] http://www.zhuichaguoji.org/media/2019/11/08.pdf

[9]https://web.archive.org/web/20040725095202/http://unn.people.com.cn/GB/channel309/311/1268/200301/02/236983.html

[10] https://www.zhuichaguoji.org/node/426