A report released by the banned movement offers horrific details of the continuing persecution.

by Massimo Introvigne

The persecution of Falun Gong in China started in 1999 and quickly became famous for its extreme cruelty. In twenty years, more than 4,000 practitioners were persecuted to death. While the CCP claims that in several provinces Falun Gong has been almost completely eradicated, and its persecution is now focused on other banned groups such as The Church of Almighty God, against all odds Falun Gong practitioners continue to defy the CCP. They also continue to die.

A report released this week by Falun Gong claims that 96 Falun Gong practitioners have been persecuted to death in China in 2019, bringing the total death toll from 1999 to 4,363. Their age ranges from 28 to 87, and 53 of the victims are female. 19 died in police custody, some a few hours after their arrest.

One 41-year-old woman, Ms. Li Yanjie, fell to her death on December 7, 2019, while trying to escape with her husband from the window of her sixth-floor apartment the police was entering. They used a rope made by tying several bedsheets and curtains together. The rudimental rope broke. Her husband was able to survive the fall and escape, but Ms. Li died.

Other practitioners died of exhaustion in their homes, after years of arrests, imprisonment, torture, and harassment. The province with most victims was Shandong (16), followed by Heilongjiang (11) and Liaoning (10).

As in the past, there are cases with serious suspects of organ harvesting. In 2019, the independent China Tribunal in London concluded that organ harvesting is still going on against Falun Gong practitioners and other prisoners of conscience, and that claims by the CCP that the practice never existed or was discontinued are just fake news.