Falun Gong practitioners still illegally imprisoned in China

The Society for Threatened Peoples (STP) demands the immediate release of Yuande Ding and all other Falun Gong practitioners whom the Chinese government unlawfully brought to court a year ago, merely because of their religious affiliation. In a wave of show trials shortly before the EU China Summit, in November and December of 2023, the Chinese government had convicted 22 Falun Gong practitioners from Rizhao in the southeastern province of Shangdong.

The proceedings against Yuande Ding started on November 28, 2023. He was sentenced to three years in prison and had to pay a fine of 15,000 Yuan (around 2.000 Euros). He has been in jail since March 20, 2024. “My father was brought before the People’s Court in Wulian solely because he follows the Chinese meditation movement Falun Gong. There was no legal basis for the trial at all,” his son Lebin Ding told the STP. “In jail, he is submitted to brainwashing, as a means to get him to reject and denigrate Falun Gong. He is most likely suffering from torture. During his time in prison, he might also become a victim of forced organ harvesting, as the Communist Party of China is said to have introduced this as a punishment for political prisoners.”

“We stand with the Ding family and will continue to advocate for the freedom of Yuande Ding and the protection of his wife, who, after being imprisoned in May 2023, has meanwhile been released,” emphasized Jasna Causevic, STP expert on genocide prevention and the Responsibility to Protect. “The Chinese government must put an end to the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners, which has now been going on for 25 years. These crimes – committed by the Chinese state – include acts that violate fundamental human rights and international norms. Those responsible must be brought to justice in accordance with Chinese laws and on the basis of the UN Convention against Torture.

The Chinese government has also intensified transnational repression and espionage activities against Chinese human rights activists living in Germany. The Communist Party of China is trying to silence me because of my public and ongoing advocacy for my parents,” stated human rights activist Lebin Ding, who lives in exile in Germany.

“The German Federal Government must vigorously stand up for the rights of people living in Germany who fled from repression by the Chinese Communist Party,” demanded human rights activist Jasna Causevic. “Further, we are calling on German politicians to use talks with representatives of the Chinese government to advocate for the release of imprisoned Falun Gong practitioners, political dissidents, Christians, Muslims, members of ethnic minorities, and other population groups in China.”