Over 500 Falun Gong Arrests and Harassment Cases Reported in September 2024

According to a new report from Minghui.org, in September 2024, the website documented another 253 cases of Falun Gong practitioners arrested and 299 cases of harassment in China.

Of the newly reported arrest cases, 113 took place in September while the remaining cases took place earlier in 2024. The 299 harassment cases also all took place in 2024, with 175 taking place in September.

These statistics are believed to represent only a fraction of the actual number of arrests and harassment cases as reporting these stories is challenging and dangerous due to the regimes tight censorship on information related to Falun Gong. Individuals sharing such information risk the same punishments as the persecuted individuals they are reporting on.

The 552 cases of arrests and harassment occurred in 28 provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities. Beijing had the highest number of arrests with 31 cases, and Hebei Province had the highest number of harassment cases with 60. The individuals whose ages are known ranged from 60 to 87 years old. At least 71 individuals were over 70 years old.

Increased Surveillance Leading up to China’s National Day

In Shanghai, Falun Gong practitioners reported increased surveillance leading up to China’s 75th National Day on October 1, the anniversary of the Chinese Communist Party’s rule. Individuals reported being monitored around the clock toward the end of September. Practitioners said two individuals would watch them for half the day, and then another two individuals would come and replace them.

The individuals monitoring the practitioners followed them on bikes or in cars and appeared to be individuals hired by security forces rather than plainclothes police. In at least one case, police explicitly told a Falun Gong practitioner, Ms. Chen Ping, that she would be monitored between September 30 and October 7. These reports align with a decades long trend of increasing surveillance of known Falun Gong practitioners surrounding politically sensitive dates.

Daily Lives Disrupted

The regular harassment and detention of Falun Gong practitioners not only violates their basic freedoms of religion and expression, but also seriously interferes with these practitioners’ daily lives as well as the lives of their families. On August 19, 2024, 69-year-old Ms. Liu Hongli boarded a train in Xi’an City, Shaanxi Province, intending to visit her mother who was in the hospital in critical condition. However, plainclothes officers approached Ms. Liu and demanded that she present her ID. The officers then proceeded to search her belongings and ordered her to get off the train after they discovered a Falun Gong amulet in her wallet. The officers confiscated her ID, and detained her for hours, preventing her from making phone calls or using the restroom. She was eventually allowed to board another train three hours later.

In Zhejiang Province, Ms. Jiang Xinbo, a teacher, experienced escalating harassment throughout June and July 2024. Police and local officials visited her home multiple times, recording video footage and questioning her about her connection to Falun Gong. The pressure intensified when her school canceled both her summer and autumn classes, effectively ending her employment.

In another case, Ms. Yin Fengying of Xianning City, Hubei Province, was arrested in August 2024 after police accused her of distributing Falun Gong materials. They ransacked her home, took her to the police station, and detained her for five days. Even after her release, Ms. Yin continued to face harassment from local authorities.

Based on an original report from Minghui.org