Investigative Report on the Persecution of Falun Gong by Yan Zhenggang

Former Director of the Sichuan Provincial 610 Office, head of the Sichuan Province “Study on Countermeasures Against Falun Gong”

January 1, 2021

Full Name of Perpetrator: Yan (last name) Zhenggang (first name) (Chinese: 鄢正刚)

Gender: Male

Country: China

Date/Year of Birth: 1943

Place of Birth: Shehong, Sichuan Province, China[1]

Title or Position:

Current: Member of the Standing Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) of Sichuan Province, Director of the Proposal Committee of Sichuan Province, Consultant of the Sichuan Provincial Association of Social Sciences, and Vice Chairman of Sichuan International Cultural Exchange Center[2],[3]

1994 - 2003: Deputy Secretary-General of the office of the Provincial Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) Committee, Sichuan Province[4]

1999 - 2003: Director of the Sichuan Provincial 610 Office, head of the Sichuan Province “Study on Countermeasures Against Falun Gong”[5]

The Sichuan Provincial 610 Office is the commanding organization the CCP created for the persecution of Sichuan Falun Gong practitioners. As the 610 Office director, Yan Zhenggang is responsible for the persecution that occurred in Sichuan during his tenure.

Main Crimes

When Yan Zhenggang served as Deputy Secretary-General of the Office of the Provincial Party Committee in Sichuan Province and Director of the Sichuan Provincial 610 Office from 1999 to 2003, he actively followed Zhou Yongkang, one of the main persecutors of Falun Gong, and promoted the persecution. During the worst years of the persecution in Sichuan Province, Yan Zhenggang personally authored reports that denigrated, slandered, and fabricated lies against Falun Gong, and ordered his reports be publicized to all parts of Sichuan Province. Yan Zhenggang also ordered all television stations in each city and county of Sichuan Province to arrange for locals who were mentally challenged, terminally ill, or convicted murderers, to falsely portray themselves as Falun Gong practitioners in order to make video programs of these fake Falun Gong practitioners. These videos were then repeatedly broadcasted in an effort to defame Falun Gong. All movie theaters in Sichuan were ordered to screen these fake films. People from schools, cultural organizations, health organizations, CCP organizations, government organizations, enterprises, and institutions, were ordered to book tickets to watch these fake and slanderous films. All newspapers and magazines were also ordered to publish articles defaming Falun Gong. Countless people were brainwashed by this fake propaganda orchestrated by Yan Zhenggang.[6]

In 2001, Yan Zhenggang compiled and published a book titled “Promoting Righteousness and Rejecting Cults - Basics in Dealing with Falun Gong.” The book became the operation manual for the personnel of the 610 offices, prisons, labor camps, brainwashing classes, etc., which directly persecuted Falun Gong and forced Falun Gong practitioners to give up their faith.[7]

As head of the “Study on Countermeasures Against Falun Gong,” in 2001 Yan Zhenggang published an article entitled “Survey on the Transformation Work of Falun Gong Addicts in Sichuan Province and Suggestions for Countermeasures.” The article showed that Yan’s group conducted a one-month “investigation” of Falun Gong practitioners who were illegally detained in brainwashing classes and in labor camps. The article stated that Falun Gong practitioners who had not been transformed “must be resolutely cracked down on and should never be softly handled.” He stated they “should be dealt with using compulsory methods and behavior control.” The article proposed that the leadership should “choose a labor camp for a trial run” of transformation measures and “promote it gradually after gaining experience.” He suggested “group discipline” or “isolated discipline” depending on the specific situation.[8] In the article, Yan also proposed using people who do not know the truth about Falun Gong to spy on Falun Gong practitioners as part of a plan for the long-term monitoring and harassment of Falun Gong practitioners who had been released from illegal imprisonment.[9]

In 2002, Yan Zhenggang published an article called “A Discussion on the Way Cults Use Religion: Methods, Harm, and Countermeasures.”[10]

According to incomplete statistics, when Yan Zhenggang was the director of the Sichuan Provincial 610 Office from July 1999 to early 2003, at least 100 Falun Gong practitioners were persecuted to death in Sichuan. Among those, at least 25 were directly beaten to death by policemen, town militia, or community police; 30 were killed by the national security policemen of various public security bureaus, guards in detention centers, or at the Chengdu Qingyang District Hospital, and another 30 were killed by various forms of torture and brainwashing methods.[11] At least 18 of those who were persecuted to death in Sichuan either had holes in the back of their heads, were reported as dead but the body was never seen, had makeup applied to the faces, or were thickly wrapped in bandages that the family was not allowed to remove. It is likely that their organs were harvested while they were alive.[12]

Yan Zhenggang is currently a calligrapher who often displays his works abroad. His headshot and calligraphy work appeared on the Nasdaq screen in Times Square in New York in May 2019.[13]

Persecution Causing Death

Case 1: Ms. Liu Zhifen refused to give up her belief and was persecuted to death

Ms. Liu Zhifen, female, 60 years of age, was illegally detained and persecuted to death in Chongzhou detention center, Sichuan. On January 6, 2001, the police forcibly broke into Ms. Liu Zhifen’s home and detained her. Policemen repeatedly attempted to force her to give up her faith, but Ms. Liu firmly resisted their orders. Just after New Year’s Day, the detention center forced Ms. Liu, along with other detained Falun Gong practitioners, to watch the “Tiananmen self-immolation” video that was created by the CCP’s CCTV to defame Falun Gong. Ms. Liu saw through the conspiracy, and resolutely started a hunger strike to protest and resist their brainwashing attempts. When the policemen realized that Ms. Liu would not abandon her faith, they pressured her even more severely, beating her across her head while she was pinned against a wall. They then proceeded force feed her. The torture caused all of Ms. Liu’s teeth to loosen and the force-feeding tube punctured her throat and esophagus. Ms. Liu Zhifen suffered both mental and physical torture for adhering to her beliefs. She died in the early morning of February 4, 2001.[14]

Case 2: Zhang Chuansheng believed to have been strangled to death by police during Chinese New Year

Zhang Chuansheng, male, 54 years of age and an associate professor, was strangled to death after being beaten by detention center police on February 15, 2002 (Chinese New Year) for persisting in practicing Falun Gong. On the eve of Chinese New Year in 2002, Mr. Zhang was abducted by the police, taken to the police station, and then held illegally at a detention center. Just a few days later, Mr. Zhang’s family received a notification from the police station stating that Mr. Zhang had died of a heart attack. Family members who saw Mr. Zhang Chuansheng’s body discovered that he had a bluish-black and purple face, bloodstains on the corners of his face, and a deep blue-violet scar on his neck.[15]

Case 3: Wang Yuru refused to give up her practice and was killed by police in a detention center

Wang Yuru, female, 60 years of age, was abducted and sent to a detention center in late January 2000 for going to Beijing to appeal to the government and present the true situation of Falun Gong. On February 4, police in the detention center attempted to force her to write a pledge to no longer practice Falun Gong, but she resolutely refused. As a result, the police officers severely beat Ms. Wang, and once again attempted to force her to write a “guarantee abandoning cultivation.” Ms. Wang told them that she would not give up her faith even if she was killed. It was only a short while later that Ms. Wang was beaten to death by police. When the forensics doctor conducted identification of Ms. Wang’s body, it was determined that her heart had stopped due to a fatal blow.[16]

Case 4: Zhang Xiaohong was tortured to death in a labor camp

Zhang Xiaohong, male, 29 years of age, was abducted and sent to a labor camp in July 2001, where he was forced to read books and watch videos on a daily basis that slandered Falun Gong. On one occasion, Mr. Zhang was assigned to cleaning duty, and while cleaning, proceeded to erase slanderous words against Falun Gong written on a blackboard. When the guards discovered this, they beat him so badly that his head was left bloodied and bruised. The guards used an electric baton to deliver several-hundred-thousand-volt shocks to sensitive areas of his body, including the base of his ears, navel, lips and arches of his feet, resulting in painful burns on his flesh. They also tied him up with thin ropes until he finally lost consciousness. Due to this cruel torture, Mr. Zhang’s health declined sharply. The police still attempted to force him to write the “Three Books” (guarantees of renunciation of faith) during a time when Mr. Zhang could not eat nor drink. Mr. Zhang Xiaohong adamantly stated, “Even if I am going to die, I cannot ignore my conscience.” Mr. Zhang Xiaohong passed away on August 4, 2003.[17]

Case 5: Wang Xuzhi was killed for his resistance to the persecution

Wang Xuzhi, male, 30 years of age, was abducted and sent to a labor camp in mid-January 2000. Because of his resistance to the persecution, Mr. Wang was repeatedly beaten about the head with the butt of a gun by armed police and tied up with rope. The policemen instructed prisoners to beat and slap Mr. Wang repeatedly. They also forced him to work throughout the night without sleep. Mr. Wang questioned the police regarding their illegal behavior, angering them. The police then brought in five or six criminals to inflict various forms of painful and cruel torture on Mr. Wang. In August of that year while Mr. Wang Xuzhi was out on bail for medical treatment, he was examined and found to be in terrible physical condition. His ribs had been broken, he could barely move, and he was unable to eat. Within 11 days, Mr. Wang Xuzhi died as a result of the torture he suffered.[18]

Case 6: Senior lady, Ms. Ye Wenying was persecuted to death in a brainwashing class

Ye Wenying, female, 61 years of age, was abducted in June 2002 by the police, detained in a detention center, and then put into a brainwashing class. Ms. Ye resisted the persecution, and for this the police beat her with a stick. The national security police shouted that Ye would be kept locked up in the detention center until her death unless she renounced her faith. The police repeatedly punched and beat Ms. Ye Wenying to the point that her arms and feet sustained multiple fractures. On another occasion, a policeman kicked the area of Ms. Ye’s heart while wearing sharp leather shoes, causing her to fall several meters backward. Afterwards, Ms. Ye opened her mouth to speak but was unable to do so for some time. There was also an incident where police dragged Ms. Ye from a one-meter-high concrete bed, causing her to fall heavily onto the concrete floor. From June 2002 to November 28, 2003, Ms. Ye Wenying suffered inhumane torture in the detention center. Her muscles atrophied, her bowel function stopped, her stomach was damaged, and her belly became swollen. In order to avoid blame, the national security police released her and carried Ye Wenying to her son’s house. Ms. Ye died later that same day.[19]

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Reference

[1] https://web.archive.org/web/20191215134910/http://yanzhenggang.art.ccgx360.com/about

[2] http://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2011/3/31/-238347.html#11330234153-4

[3] https://web.archive.org/web/20191230205343/http://www.zhuichaguoji.org/media/2019/12/10.pdf

[4] https://web.archive.org/web/20191230205220/http://www.zhuichaguoji.org/media/2019/12/11.pdf

[5] https://web.archive.org/save/https://www.zhuichaguoji.org/node/473

[6] http://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2012/6/18/-258913.html

[7] https://web.archive.org/web/20191231212025/http://www.zhuichaguoji.org/media/2019/12/06.pdf

[8] https://web.archive.org/web/20191231214421/http://www.zhuichaguoji.org/media/2019/12/07.pdf

[9] Ibid

[10] https://web.archive.org/web/20191231222041/http://www.zhuichaguoji.org/media/2019/12/08.pdf