Egregious Treatment of Women and Seniors, US Reacts to Russia

Dear Reader,

EVERY TIME I VISIT MY IN-LAWS, I never worry that I would end up in prison by the end of the day. Yet that’s what happened to Ms. Yu Jianli and all seven of her family members. By the afternoon, Ms. Yu was arrested and sentenced to seven years in Jilin Province’s ill-famed Women’s Prison. Each of her family members were also sentenced to seven or more years, and the prison is currently denying Ms. Yu any family visits.

July reports allege that the Women’s Prison is continuing its reputation with egregious torture methods to force practitioners to renounce their faith in Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance. Whether woman, child, elderly, or the sick, the Chinese regime stops at nothing to “zero-out” Falun Gong in mainland China. From the reports gathered in 2021 so far, harassment numbers alone are nearly twofold compared to last year. Seniors are sentenced and harassed at a great degree.

In the diplomatic space, the U.S. State Department condemned the Russian government for criminalizing Falun Gong in the Khakassia region. The decision by the Russian court of Kemerovo was a continuation of Russia’s attempts to label peaceful groups as extremist solely to justify abuses against them.

Today’s newsletter wraps up with two thought-provoking pieces: journalist Janet Levy explores how Beijing has silenced mainstream media in the States on the topic of Falun Gong, as award-winning director Leon Lee vividly illustrates the story of Yingying, a little girl orphaned by the persecution, in his stop-motion film Ragdoll.

OVERALL PERSECUTION TREND

PERSONAL ACCOUNT

Illustration of waterboarding, a torture method commonly used in Jilin Women’s Prison.

More on Jilin Province Women’s Prison below.

RUSSIA NEWS

Bitter Winter—U.S. Department of State Reacts To Russia’s Criminalization of “Peaceful Practice”

On July 9, the U.S. Department of State condemned “the designation of the Khakassia regional branch of Falun Gong as ‘extremist’” in a decision where judges “criminalize the peaceful practice of their spiritual beliefs. Russian authorities harass, fine, and imprison Falun Gong practitioners for such simple acts as meditating and possessing spiritual texts.” This decision follows years of growing relations between Moscow and Beijing, especially after both regimes paradoxically won seats in the UN Human Rights Council last October. 

The DOS continued to state that the court’s decision against Falun Gong “is another example of Russian authorities labeling peaceful groups as ‘extremist,’ ‘terrorist,’ or ‘undesirable’ solely to stigmatize their supporters, justify abuses against them, and restrict their peaceful religious and civic activities. The Russian government has done so against a number of groups, whose members face home raids, extended detention, excessive prison sentences, and harassment for their peaceful religious practices.”

The U.S. Department of State noted that this is just another example of the Russian practice of misusing the ‘extremist’ designation as a way to restrict human rights and fundamental freedoms: “We continue to call on Russia to respect the right of freedom of religion or belief for all, including Falun Gong practitioners and members of other religious minority groups in Russia simply seeking to exercise their beliefs peacefully.”

MEDIA RESPONSE

American Thinker— Falun Gong is the “Most Oppressed Group in China, Ignored by the Media”

Journalist Janet Levy writes, “The largely unreported story of Falun Gong is one of persecution, enslavement, torture, and rape orchestrated by the CCP. Since 2000, Falun Gong adherents have also been subjected to forced organ-harvesting to feed China’s multi-billion-dollar transplant industry, documented in great detail in the report Bloody Harvest/The Slaughter. But for The Epoch Times and some small media outlets, no one would have known of the horrific oppression of this harmless group, for the mainstream media have ignored it completely.

The free world has been complicit in this repression, blinded by its desire to cultivate Chinese leaders for business. So-called liberal academics and reporters — who find it easy to speak out in democracies like America, which they vow to systemically change — have succumbed to the fear of pressure from Chinese embassies, denial of visas, other travel restrictions and suspension or loss of press and academic credentials. Payments and other benefits have also been used to coopt them. 

Chinese clout has extinguished negative reports of atrocities against Falun Gong. Promised a Chinese version of its newspaper, the New York Times declared Falun Gong dangerous and suppressed an article on China’s forced organ-harvesting. Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, and other forever protesting rights groups look away. The United Nations called China’s brutal crackdown on Falun Gong “an issue of good governance” and sponsored an international conference allowing the CCP to justify itself.”