[Editor’s Note: On October 28, 2014, [the CCP Central Committee] authorized Xinhua to publish the Communique of the Fourth Plenary Meeting of the 18th Communist Party of China Central Committee. The meeting was held on October 20 -23, 2014, in Beijing. The plenum discussed and passed Xi Jinping’s report — “the CPC Central Committee Resolution on a Number of Major Issues Regarding Comprehensively Promoting the Rule of Law. (《中共中央关于全面推进依法治国若干重大问题的决定》)” [1]
In the report, Xi explained the draft process for the resolution and called for the reform of China’s legal and judicial systems. Xi said that in January [2014], the Politburo decided that the 18th Plenary Session of the Party would focus on issues relating to the comprehensive promotion of the rule of law. As the chief, Xi Jinping directly led a working group to draft a resolution for the 18th Plenary Session.] [2]
I. Falun Gong Practitioners File Lawsuits against Former CCP Head Jiang Zemin under the New Guidelines of Rule of Law
According to a document that Chinascope obtained from China, the new resolution regarding the promotion of the rule of law allows Chinese citizens to file lawsuits, complaints, or appeals with the Supreme Court and the court [must] handle cases such as “major or complex” cases with nationwide implications. Below are the guidelines in the document that pertain to this reform. [3]
The circuit court shall examine or handle, in its covered areas of jurisdiction, the following cases which the Supreme People’s Court has accepted:
(1) Major or complex administrative cases in the first instance that pertain to the whole nation.
(2) Major or complex civil cases in the first instance that pertain to the whole nation.
(3) Cases in which an appeal has been filed in disagreement with an administrative or civil judgment or order in the first instance made by a high people’s court.
(4) Cases in which a retrial has been requested regarding a legally effective judgment, order, or resolution through consultation made by a high people’s court.
(5) Criminal cases in which a petition has been filed.
(6) Cases in which a retrial has been brought up per functions and powers in accordance with the law.
(7) Cases of which reconsideration has been asked for in disagreement with a decision a high people’s court made on fining or detention.
(8) Cases sent from a high people’s court, regarding its jurisdiction, to the Supreme People’s Court in request for an order or decision.
(9) Cases in which a high people’s court has requested an extension of the limitation on the period of examination.
(10) Civil cases or judicial assistance cases that pertain to Hong Kong, Macao, or Taiwan.
(11) Other cases that the Supreme People’s Court deems that the circuit court should examine or handle.
(12) In unjust cases, when a party is in disagreement with the decision on appeal, that party can file a petition for up to 20 years so that unjust, false, and wrong cases can be redressed.
(13) Redress can go back 25 years.
(14) All unjust, false, and wrong cases should be completely redressed.
Under the new guidelines of the central government document [3], the Falun Gong practitioners who suffered from the cruel persecution in former Chinese Communist head Jiang Zemin’s campaign to crack down on Falun Gong have started filing lawsuits against Jiang Zemin in China’s Supreme Court by sending their cases through registered mail. From mid-May 2015 up until October 6, 2015, the total number of cases filed through the court system totaled 187,007 such complaints from 158,076 individuals (see figures below, statistics starting from September 20, 2015, courtesy of minghui.org, a website started by Falun Gong practitioners).
In the diagram above, the orange line shows the number of individuals who have filed cases and the blue line shows the number of cases filed.
II. The Central 610 Office Issued a Document to Prevent the Lawsuits against Jiang Zemin
The lawsuits against Jiang Zemin immediately drew the attention of the 610 Office which Jiang had initially established to handle Falun Gong issues. On June 17, 2015, the Office of the Central Anti-Cult Leading Group (or 610 Office for short) issued a “Notice Regarding Resolutely Cracking Down on Falun Gong Initiated and Manipulated False Accusations and Frivolous Litigation Activities by Taking Advantage of the Reforms of the Case Filing Registration System of the People’s Courts (Office Issued Document No. 21 [2015]) (Secret).” The document instructed all relevant regions to attach great importance to strictly guarding against and severely cracking down on Falun Gong. [4]
The Central 610 Office mentioned in this document (Office Issued Document No. 21 [2015]) that “Falun Gong activists have brought up false charges and litigation against our former Party and state leader in an attempt to make a noise and challenge our policy and legal bottom lines.” “All relevant regions are required to attach great importance to, strictly guard against, and severely crack down on [such activities].” Below is a translation of the main parts of the document: [4] [All departments] should coordinate consistently, firmly hold the bottom line, and take strict precautions. The courts and procuratorates should strictly carry out the “3-Don’ts” principle – don’t accept materials, don’t file cases, and don’t issue written decisions). All cases of false accusations and frivolous litigation must be firmly rejected if they are filed, so as to prevent Falun Gong activists from taking the opportunity to bring up appeals and apply for reconsideration, which would introduce false accusations and frivolous litigation into the normal judicial procedure, triggering derived issues. Contingency plans should be made for the procedure of accepting charges and conducting judicial supervision, and measures should be strictly put in place, so that first line case personnel comprehensively and correctly carry out relevant regulations and requirements regarding the case filing registration system, and resolutely prevent the issue of accepting any cases by mistake. Public security organizations should report the name lists and any updates on key Falun Gong persons to the court and procuratorate to facilitate review and gate-keeping. Justice departments and bureaus should effectively manage lawyers, strengthen education and constraint, and absolutely not allow any instances in which attorneys participate in Falun Gong’s false accusations and frivolous litigation.
The Central 610 Office document (Office Issued Document No. 21 [2015]) also asked all relevant regions to investigate and verify on a person by person basis, and resolutely deal with each case according to the law. When a court, procuratorate, or calls and visits office receives a letter involving false accusations and frivolous litigation, it should promptly be reported to the anti-cult office, and be forwarded and briefed to the public security organization. The public security organization should investigate and verify the persons that are involved, on a person by person basis. In the case of filing the charges with a person’s real name, that person, with no exception, should be included in the scope of primary attention, and based on the person’s current situation, the organization should crack down on the person if so applicable, put the person under control if so applicable, or transform the person if so applicable – all should be recorded on file.
The Central 610 Office document (Office Issued Document No. 21 [2015]) stated that dedicated information, investigation, and surveillance tasks should be strengthened, so as to take initiatives in this struggle. Public Security and National Security organizations should fully fulfill their functionary roles, promptly gather leads to relevant activities, find out the lead persons and core activists, pay attention to the collection of fixed evidence, and conduct a precise crack down. Regarding Falun Gong’s activities against the law, each one should be held accountable for criminal responsibilities based on Article 300 of the Criminal Law. When it does not amount to a crime, then punishments should take the form as specified in the Public Security Administration Punishments Law.
Examinations and control need be strengthened as preventative measures. Regarding Falun Gong persons, comprehensive, thorough and dynamic examinations should be carried out to get to the bottom of the situation, so as to have a good grasp on each person’s evolving thoughts and whereabouts. It should be made clear who are the key persons for management and control and what corresponding measures are to be carried out. Close attention should be paid to trends of Falun Gong persons’ joining hands with key lawyers to engage in false accusations and frivolous litigation. Any such leads should be called into attention so that early discovery, education, and control tasks can be done effectively, and any potential trouble should be eliminated in advance. Close attention should be paid to public sentiments expressed over the Internet, which should be properly handled without delay. The public security and other functional organizations should fulfill the role of the coordination mechanism that manages online cult information, and enhance surveillance of online sentiments. Harmful information from overseas websites regarding Falun Gong’s false accusations and frivolous litigation should be discovered promptly, reported promptly, and blocked and deleted promptly.
Local Branches of the 610 Office Followed Suit with More Specific Action Orders
Based on a document that Chinascope obtained from China, a provincial 610 Office issued a document giving specific orders to prevent all lawsuit letters from reaching China’s legal system. Below is the document from a provincial 610 Office. Due to security reasons, the name of the province has been omitted.
Each Relevant Organization:
Based on the requirements of relevant outlines that the Anti-cult Office of the [Chinese Communist Party (CCP)] Provincial Committee issued in recent days, in consideration of the actual situations of provincial level organizations, to accomplish the implementation of relevant work tasks, we now make the following arrangements:
1. Each organization please place emphasis, currently, on preventing the mailing out of indictments and preventing [people] from going to Beijing to make trouble; enhance organization and leadership [roles], and take the utmost strict measures to safeguard overall stability.
2. Each organization please place emphasis on guarding against and controlling Falun Gong persons within the organization, make and implement plans on management and control measures, and reduce the risk of their trouble-making to the greatest extent.
3. Each organization please conduct a screening, including: those who have gone abroad and engaged or participated beyond the border in Falun Gong and other cult activities; cult-related contents on internal websites in your organization must be cleaned up promptly; regarding any Falun Gong persons or cases discovered, records need be set up for each person, each case, with each corresponding counter-measure, so as to implement a precise crackdown.
Each organization please, per the above arrangements, earnestly implement and put into effect these tasks. In so doing, one has to thoughtfully organize and earnestly treat these tasks, and at the same time pay attention to maintaining confidentiality. If any information related to the above scenarios is discovered (if none is discovered, there is no need to report), please file reports with the Anti-cult Office at the Operating Committee of Provincial Level Organizations of the [CCP] Provincial Committee before July 20, 2015.
The Anti-cult Office at the Operating Committee of Provincial Level Organizations of the [CCP] Provincial Committee
July 14, 2015
According to feedback from China and reports from minghui.org, at the post offices, the Public Security and National Security departments are blocking letters that contain charges filed against Jiang Zemin. Some letters have been held up locally by the Public Security and National Security departments. Some have been held up in Beijing. The Public and National Security officers, have collected lists of names of Falun Gong followers who have filed lawsuits against Jiang Zemin. Then at post offices, procuratorates, courts, and other organizations, the police, officials of comprehensive management agencies, and community administrative personnel have investigated, harassed, threatened, or even taken into custody Falun Gong followers who are on the lists.
III. An Instruction from the Marketing Operations Department on How to Handle Letters to the Supreme Court
Despite the orders from the 610 office Falun Gong practitioners’ lawsuit letters against Jiang Zemin continue to flood into the Supreme Court. It appears that an instruction that is different from that of the 610 office has allowed the mailing [of lawsuits] to go through. According to a telegram (fax) from a provincial Marketing Operations Department which Chinascope has obtained, letters addressed to The Supreme People’s Court, The Supreme People’s Procuratorate, and The State Bureau for Letters and Visits (referred to below as the Two Supremes and One Visits) are not only given the green light to go through the mailing and reception system but are also protected from inspection of the contents. Below is a translated copy of a telegram that Chinascope obtained. For security reasons, the name of the province has been omitted.
Telegram via fax
Dispatching unit: Marketing Operations Department of the provincial branch company Urgency: Extremely urgent Series: … No. 51 [2015]
Total number of pages: 2
Recipients: All prefecture and city branch companies,
All county (and county-controlled city) branch companies,
… District central post offices
CC: Marketing Operations Department of the provincial branch company,
Network Operations and Maintenance Department of the provincial branch company,
Safety and Security Department of the provincial branch company,
Provincial Letters and Advertisement Bureau,
… Provincial Packaging Business Bureau,
China Postal Express & Logistics Company Limited,
…Province Branch Company
Notice regarding proper handling of mail addressed to the “Two Supremes and One Visits”
To better handle acceptance and shipment of mail addressed to the Supreme People’s Court, the Supreme People’s Procuratorate, and the State Bureau for Letters and Visits, we issue the following notice on relevant requirements:
1. Identification of mail addressed to the “Two Supremes and One Visits”
The addressees are:
The Supreme People’s Court,
The Supreme People’s Procuratorate,
The State Bureau for Letters and Visits.
Or the addresses are:
27 Dongjiaomin Alley, Dongcheng District, Beijing
147 Beiheyan Avenue, Dongcheng District, Beijing
8 South Yuetan Avenue, Xicheng, Beijing
It applies to both standard mail and express mail.
2. Time frame to be enforced for business
Starting time: July 10, 2015
Ending time: to be notified separately
3. Scope to be enforced
All prefecture, city, county (county-controlled city, district) acceptance branches and all levels of pick-up organizations.
4. Requirements for [mail] acceptance
All prefecture and city branch companies should offer training to clerks and pick-up personnel. For all mail addressed to the “Two Supremes and One Visits” of which a receipt is issued, when recording the full names and addresses, “(Beijing)” should be uniformly appended to the recipient’s address in the business information system.
5. Handling of shipment
All mail accepted by prefecture and city business offices or taken from drop-off boxes, if the first line of the recipient’s address is identified as the “Two Supremes and One Visits”:
It should, without exception, be individually bundled, individually sealed, with individual manifest and routing tickets, and be marked on the manifest and routing tickets with the words, “Two Supremes and One Visits”; a tag should be uniformly attached manually, with “Two Supremes and One Visits” marked on the tag; and it should be individually handed over to the city collecting person for signing names and time.
All sorting and shipment offices, upon receiving mail tagged with “Two Supremes and One Visits,” should follow the above requirements for centralized and individual handling.
6. Inquiry of mail
Regarding the inquiry of mail addressed to the “Two Supremes and One Visits,” internally … the province is responsible for uniform interpretation. All acceptance offices should communicate promptly with …, and proactively handle the inquiry from the sender.
7. Notes of attention
(1) This set of requirements should be timely communicated, in all prefectures and cities, to business, sorting, and shipment offices, so as to guarantee that the requirements in this notice are carried out, and avoid instances like mail being returned to the sender.
(2) Business offices, in all prefectures and cities, should conduct seamless examination and inspection of articles. Attention should be paid to any document-type mail, to find out whether anything has been slipped in against the regulations. If any non-paper material has been found, the articles inside should be examined and inspected; however, the content of the letter must not be examined or inspected. If a customer refuses to have the mail examined or inspected, it should, with no exception, be rejected for acceptance and shipment.
Contact information
Host organizations:
Marketing Operations Department of the provincial branch company
Network Operations and Maintenance Department of the provincial branch company
Drafted by:
Marketing Operations Department of the provincial branch company
Time sent: July 10, 2015
Endnotes:
[1] http://news.xinhuanet.com/politics/2014-10/23/c_1112953884.htm
[2] http://news.xinhuanet.com/politics/2014-10/28/c_1113015372.htm
[3] Internal source from China
[4] Internal source from China