Crimes of Deng Yong, Secretary of the Political and Legal Affairs Committee in Sichuan Province

(Minghui.org) Sanctioning human rights abusers has become a consensus among democratic countries. After the U.S. passed the Magnitsky Act in 2016, Canada, the United Kingdom, and the 27-member-country EU enacted similar laws. Australia and Japan are working on the same.

In accordance with these laws, Falun Gong practitioners have compiled lists of perpetrators involved in the persecution of Falun Gong these few years. Every year they submit several lists to democratic governments, urging them to sanction the named perpetrators.

Starting on July 14, 2021, Falun Gong practitioners in more than 30 countries have been submitting the latest list of perpetrators involved in the persecution of Falun Gong to their respective governments, demanding sanctions on these human rights abusers, including denying entry into their countries and freezing their assets overseas.

One name on this list is Deng Yong.

Perpetrator Information

Full Name of Perpetrator: Deng (last name) Yong (first name) (Chinese: 邓勇)Gender: MaleCountry: ChinaDate/year of Birth: July 1961Place of Birth: Beijing

Title or Position: 

May 2015 — March 2017: Deputy Governor and Party Leadership Group Member of Sichuan Provincial Government, Director of the Provincial Public Security Department, Secretary of the Party Committee, Chief Inspector, Deputy Secretary of the Political and Legal Affairs Committee of the Provincial Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Committee

March 2017 — June 2017: Secretary of the Political and Legal Affairs Committee of Sichuan Province, Deputy Governor of the Provincial Government, Director of the Provincial Public Security Department

June 2017 — February 2018: Member of the Standing Committee of the Sichuan Provincial Party Committee, Secretary of the Political and Legal Affairs Committee, Director of the Provincial Public Security Department

February 2018 — Present: Member of the Standing Committee of the Sichuan Provincial Party Committee and Secretary of the Political and Legal Affairs Committee.

Main Crimes

Sichuan Province is where some of the most severe and cruel persecution of Falun Gong practitioners in China is carried out. Sichuan is the home of Zhou Yongkang, who spearheaded the persecution of Falun Gong. The province’s political and legal affairs committee system has actively implemented the CCP’s persecution policy against Falun Gong. According to statistics from Minghui.org, 299 Falun Gong practitioners are confirmed to have been persecuted to death in Sichuan Province. Beginning in May 2015, Deng Yong served four terms as the Director of the Sichuan Provincial Public Security Department, Deputy Governor in charge of Politics and Law, and Secretary of the Political and Legal Affairs Committee. He was the chief planner and commander of the persecution of Falun Gong in Sichuan Province. He slandered Falun Gong in many public speeches and called for “promoting anti-cult work” and “strictly and resolutely cracking down” on the practice. In 2019, he issued an order to sentence any Falun Gong practitioner to at least three years in prison. The severity of the persecution of Falun Gong in Sichuan Province was directly related to Deng Yong’s position of power.

According to available statistics, at least 45 Falun Gong practitioners were killed during Deng Yong’s tenure. Many Falun Gong practitioners were arrested, had their homes illegally ransacked, were sentenced to prison, and imprisoned. Some of them were persecuted to the point of disability, injury, and mental disorders. Deng Yong must bear the responsibility for the persecution of Falun Gong in Sichuan Province during his tenure.

The following are some of the important crimes during Deng Yong’s tenure:

According to available statistics reported by Minghui.org, six practitioners were tortured to death in Sichuan Province in the second half of 2015. In 2016, 461 practitioners were arrested, 87 were unjustly sentenced, 25 were tried out of court, 46 were illegally arrested, and six were tortured to death.

In 2017, 523 practitioners were arrested in Sichuan Province, 2,061 were harassed, 161 were detained in detention centers, brainwashing centers, and mental hospitals, and 14 were tortured to death.

In 2018, 270 practitioners were arrested and their homes ransacked in Sichuan Province, 390 were harassed, seven disappeared, 67 were illegally sentenced, 121 were illegally detained, and three were tortured to death.

In 2019, 530 practitioners were arrested and their homes ransacked in Sichuan Province, 51 were illegally sentenced, 185 were illegally detained, and nine were tortured to death. 

In 2020, 390 practitioners were arrested in Sichuan Province, 720 were harassed, 57 were illegally sentenced, and four were tortured to death.

From January to May 2021, three practitioners, Liao Chuanjiang, Lin Shoujing and Mao Kun, were tortured to death.

Some typical cases of death caused by persecution:

Case 1: Ms. Li Guixiang was killed in Chengdu Longquanyi Prison and her body was cremated on the same day

Falun Gong practitioner Ms. Li Guixiang was arrested on October 6, 2013. In 2014, she was sentenced to three years and six months in prison. On the afternoon of September 29, 2015, Ms. Li’s daughter received a call from Chengdu Longquanyi Prison, saying that her mother would be sent to Sichuan Jintang Prison for “rescue and resuscitation.” At 3 a.m. the next day, Ms. Li’s daughter received a call from Jintang Prison, saying that the rescue efforts failed. After Ms. Li’s death, her family was deceived and threatened by prison guards, Guanghan 610 Office, and the local village committee several times. Ms. Li’s remains were forcibly cremated that morning.

Case 2: Ms. Chen Shikang was tortured to the verge of death and died after returning home.

Ms. Chen Shikang was arrested from in front of her home on the night of June 26, 2013 and was sentenced to five years in prison. She was tortured in Chengdu Women’s Prison and suffered serious illnesses during her time in prison. The family members asked for medical parole, but were refused by the prison. Before the 2016 Chinese New Year, Ms. Chen was sent home secretly due to her severe illness. The prison guards threatened Ms. Chen’s family not to tell anyone she developed her illness in prison. Just over 20 days later, Ms. Chen passed away at the age of 59.

Case 3: Female piano teacher was persecuted through brainwashing classes and died.

Ms. Xie Xia, from Panzhihua, graduated from Sichuan Conservatory of Music and taught at Huayang Vocational High School in Shuangliu District. As a piano teacher, she achieved outstanding results in her teaching. Ms. Xie died at the age of 56 after being persecuted through injection of poison in Xinjin Brainwashing Center in July and August of 2016.

Case 4: Ms. Hu Xia was tortured to death for refusing to renounce her faith.

Ms. Hu Xia, was arrested and her home illegally ransacked on July 18, 2015. On March 11, 2016, Ms. Hu was sentenced by the court and in May 2016, she was detained in Chengdu Women’s Prison. While in custody in May 2016, she was forced to stand for prolonged periods of time and was beaten so severely that her teeth fell out and her legs and buttocks were bruised. Because Ms. Hu refused to renounce hre faith in Falun Gong, she was only allowed to have one or two meals a day, causing her to become emaciated. The prison guards also instructed the prison criminals to repeatedly submerge Ms. Hu’s head into a large tub of water in the prison cell, subjecting her to water torture. The torture left Ms. Hu physically and mentally devastated. One week before February 10, 2017, Ms. Hu was detained alone in a punishment room, beaten, sleep deprived, and forced to stand still for prolonged periods of time. A few days later, Ms. Hu was persecuted so severely that she suddenly became mentally confused and her eyes became vacant. She often sat in a daze and relieved herself in her pants while sleeping. The Chengdu Women’s Prison’s long-term persecution of Ms. Hu caused serious physical and psychological damage. She died in prison on December 19, 2017. She was 55.

Case 5: Ms. Liu Suzhen in Chengdu was beaten to death by police.

Ms. Liu Suzhen, a Falun Gong practitioner in Chengdu, was arrested by the Huangwa Street Police Station on December 24, 2018 while distributing facts about Falun Gong and she died shortly afterwards.

Case 6. Ms. Ding Guoqin, a kind woman from Luzhou City, was tortured to death.

Ms. Ding Guoqin was arrested on October 16, 2017 and was sentenced to two years and six months in prison in late August 2018. On August 22, 2018, Ms. Ding was arrested and sent to the Chengdu Women’s Prison for persecution. When Ms. Ding’s sons and daughters visited the prison for the first time, they saw that their mother was unable to move her hands or feet and had been carried into the visitation room by inmates. They learned that Ding Guoqin had been tortured into quadriplegia after being in prison for less than three months. Within a few days, her family received a notice from the prison that Ms. Ding was critically ill and had been sent to the prison hospital. On May 21, 2019, Ms. Ding passed away in the prison hospital at the age of 69.

Case 7. Mr. Luo Xuefang and his wife were sentenced heavily, and Mr. Luo Xuefang was persecuted to death in Jiazhou Prison.

Mr. Luo Xuefang and his wife, Ms. Li Kunju, were arrested in July 2014. On October 27, 2016, both Mr. Li and Ms. Luo were sentenced to seven years of imprisonment. Mr. Luo was arrested and sent to Jiazhou Prison in Sichuan Province, and his wife Ms. Li was arrested and sent to West Sichuan Women’s Prison. In April 2017, Mr. Luo was imprisoned in Jiazhou Prison for persecution. At the beginning of April 2020, Ms. Luo, who had been severely persecuted many times and had been healthy after practicing Falun Gong, was persecuted to death in Jiazhou Prison. The prison authorities lied to his family and said that Mr. Luo died of a sudden cerebral hemorrhage.

Case 8. Ms. Mao Kun was heavily sentenced and died from persecution in a detention center.

Ms. Mao Kun, an accountant, was repeatedly imprisoned for refusing to give up her belief in Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance. She was detained twice in a labor camp and was illegally sentenced to five and a half years in prison. At 3 p.m. on July 10, 2019, Ms. Mao and the five Falun Gong practitioners who were guests at her home, Huang Sulan, Li Jun, Huang Xiuhua, Jiang Jiefang, and Zhang Zhenhua, were violently arrested by police. The police surrounded and beat Mao Kun and broke her arm. On the morning of December 28, 2020, Ms. Mao was sentenced to 11 years and six months in prison and was tortured to death in a detention center on April 11, 2021. She was 57.

Cases of mental disorder caused by persecution:

Falun Gong practitioner Ms. Ding Hui from Chengdu, about 50 years old, was arrested by police who forcibly entered her house on the evening of December 21, 2015 and detained her at the Xindu District Detention Center. While in the detention center, Ms. Ding was severely beaten by the police and other inmates under orders by the police. Ding Hui was handcuffed to a death penalty bed and was injected by the police with an unknown substance which caused her to sleep for three days. 

By October 2016, Ms. Ding was in a state of complete mental disorder and was unable to take care of herself. Prisoners often berated her and made her lie on the ground behind the toilet. She was also tied to torture equipment for long periods of time. On November 24, 2016, under the control of the 610 Office, Ms. Ding was sentenced to three years in prison and was transferred to Chengdu Women’s Prison, where she was forced to ingest psychiatric drugs for a long period of time. In prison meetings, the prison guards would then announce that “Falun Gong caused her to become mentally ill” in order to defame Falun Dafa. 

The Sichuan Provincial Political and Legal Affairs Commissioner “supervises” the arrests 

In 2019, the Sichuan Provincial Political and Legal Affairs Committee and the 610 Office arrested at least 214 Falun Gong practitioners during the three months from July to September 2019, just before the “70th National Day” of the People’s Republic of China. On July 10 alone, 40 Falun Gong practitioners were arrested and their homes were ransacked in Chengdu. Eleven practitioners were arrested in Liangshan Prefecture on the same day, seven were arrested in Nanchong City, two were arrested in Suining City, one person was arrested in Mianyang City, and one person was arrested in Panzhihua City.

The Political and Legal Affairs Committee directly instructed that Falun Gong practitioners must be sentenced to more than 3 years in prison

On January 7, 2019, the Bazhou District Court of Bazhong City illegally sentenced nine Falun Gong practitioners, including Zhang Xinwei, Zhang Minglang, and Kang Zunliu. Among them, Zhang Xinwei (89 years old) was sentenced to three years in prison, Zhang Minglang (82 years old) was sentenced to five years, Kang Zunliu (71 years old) was sentenced to three years and six months, Zhu Tiangui (71 years old) was sentenced to two years and six months, Yue Yingcong (70 years old) was sentenced to four years. 

According to court personnel, the case was directly supervised by the Sichuan Provincial Political and Legal Affairs Committee and it took more than a year to close the case. The procuratorate returned the case to the public security bureau several times for lack of evidence, but the Provincial Political and Legal Affairs Committee repeatedly applied pressure to make this case go through, and even threatened to take organizational disciplinary measures against disobedient prosecutors and judges. The Politics and Legal Affairs Committee directly instructed that the sentence must be more than three years, and no matter how old the practitioners are, they must be sentenced, and fines and heavy penalties must be imposed. 

After the Falun Gong practitioners and their family members appealed the sentences, through intervention by Deng Yong, the family members were notified to go to the court to receive the verdict, which was not sent for review by lawyers, and they were denied the chance to appeal their sentences. The family members made further inquiries to the court and were told that “a second court session will not be held.” The defendants’ right to appeal was thus arbitrarily deprived.

Persecution Through Defamation and Forced Brainwashing

The Sichuan Provincial Political and Legal Affairs Committee has produced and spread lies for a long time, and continues to use propaganda, cultural, and educational institutions to defame Falun Gong and deceive the general public in various ways. 

On the morning of February 17, 2017, a dozen exhibition boards slandering Falun Gong were displayed at the gate of the Jianghua Community Neighborhood Committee. Slogans and signs slandering Falun Gong were everywhere on the roadside, misleading the public.

On April 11, 2017, the “610 Office” of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China held a “National Grassroot Anti-cult Propaganda and Education Experience Exchange Meeting” in Chengdu. The main content of the conference was to emphasize the importance of the so-called “anti-cult” propaganda, and at the same time promote various so-called “anti-cult” propaganda experiences and methods. In reality, the purpose of “anti-cult” measures is to strengthen anti-Falun Gong propaganda and cooperate with the CCP on the suppression of Falun Gong. Deng Yong attended the meeting and gave a speech.

From May to June 2017, police and community members in the Shuangliu District of Chengdu continued to harass Falun Gong practitioners. In May, they took a list of more than 20 Falun Gong practitioners and harassed them one by one, asking them whether or not they were still practicing Falun Gong. Falun Gong practitioner Li Jing was arrested on November 7, 2017 and taken to the so-called “Chengdu Law Education Center” (Xinjin Brainwashing Center) for illegal detention and brainwashing persecution. 

On April 15, 2020, the municipal and legal affairs committees of all parts of Sichuan Province, together with the anti-cult association that slandered Falun Gong and many other departments, carried out various rumors and “anti-cult” propaganda campaigns and slandered Falun Gong in various places. 

In July 2020, the Sichuan Political and Legal Affairs Committee used the “Chinese-foreign cultural exchange activities” to spread rumors and propaganda slandering Falun Gong among foreigners in the most concentrated area of Chengdu where foreigners live.

On January 5, 2021, the steering group of the Sichuan Provincial Political and Legal Affairs Committee inspected and guided the Xingwen County Anti-Cult Association, and “gave more than 300 square meters of activity space and 100,000 yuan of work funding” for the organization. The organization was required to “carry out ‘anti-evil’ propaganda and create ‘anti-cult’ songs to be sung throughout the country.” In 2020, the slanderous propaganda manuscript written by the organization was adopted by several CCP websites that specifically slander Falun Gong.