In March, information about 25 deaths and 116 wrongful convictions of Falun Gong adherents managed to penetrate China’s internet firewall to reach U.S.-based organization Minghui.
Based on first-hand reports, the list of deaths includes victims from 51 to 77 years old, from over 11 Chinese provinces. Because of the difficulty of getting information out of China, some of the deaths go back almost a decade, while a number are recent.
The list of wrongful convictions spans 19 provinces and includes a number of elderly people, with the oldest being 83.
Falun Gong incorporates meditation exercises with a body of teachings based on the principles of truthfulness, compassion, and tolerance. After estimates were made in the ’90s that there were 70–100 million followers, fearful of Falun Gong’s popularity, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) launched a brutal campaign against the movement in July 1999….