U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) Commissioner Vicky Hartzler on Oct. 16 condemned the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) over the recent deaths of Falun Gong practitioners in the regime’s custody.
“The treatment of Falun Gong practitioners is just horrific by the CCP,” Hartzler told The Epoch Times.
Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, is a spiritual practice made public in China in the early 1990s. The practice teaches the principles of truth, compassion, and tolerance, and is generally regarded as a religion outside of China.
In 1999, the CCP launched a violent persecution against Falun Gong practitioners, using a propaganda campaign to paint the peaceful followers as enemies of the state overnight. In the early hours of July 20 that year, mass arrests were carried out, and thousands were sent to labor camps under a then-existing Chinese law that allowed for “reeducation” by labor for three- to five-year sentences without trial or conviction.
The persecution has continued unabated, and includes arbitrary detention of prisoners of conscience, forced labor, torture, brainwashing, and even live organ harvesting.
Cases against prisoners of conscience by the CCP are often held in secret, so information is often piecemeal.
Minghui.org, a website run by a network of volunteers around the world, has documented the CCP’s persecution of Falun Gong through first-hand accounts out of China since 1999 and represents the most thorough collection of incidents.
Reports on the persecution are sourced from interviews, direct accounts, official documents, and admissions from Chinese entities. The site is run anonymously to protect administrators from retribution by the CCP, allowing them to facilitate information flow between the heavily censored Chinese internet and the international community.
After lying about their identities to get Zhang’s family to open their door, authorities broke in, dragged her out, and jailed her, according to family accounts told to Minghui. Zhang suffered a massive brain bleed, and the family had said they were unable to obtain information about how it happened.
In another case reviewed by the nonprofit group, on Sept. 12, Li Qiaolian died from torture in police custody.
The 70-year-old woman had been taken by police in 2022 and sentenced to three years and nine months in the Gansu Women’s Prison, also known as the Lanzhou Women’s Prison, according to documents and family accounts obtained by Minghui.
Li began vomiting blood in April 2025, and her family sought medical parole repeatedly, according to the family account. They were repeatedly denied and told it was because Li would not renounce her faith.
“The reports of the untimely deaths of those prisoners is very, very concerning,” Hartzler said.
“The world needs to call out the Chinese government and demand accountability for this.”
According to Minghui, at least 164 Falun Gong practitioners died from CCP persecution in 2024. The site notes that the cases gathered are an incomplete representation of the situation in China.
Two-thirds of the documented cases were women, between the ages of 40 and 91.
International Religious Freedom Act
In 1998, Congress passed the International Religious Freedom Act, elevating religious freedom in foreign policy to the same level as economic and security issues, Hartzler said, meaning the United States has a responsibility to call out the CCP on religious freedom.
“It should be and is a priority of our government in every discussion with foreign leaders who are not respecting religious freedom,” she stated.
“As our government is getting ready to meet with [CCP leader] Xi Jinping in the near future, USCIRF encourages him to bring up these issues in that discussion, along with tariffs and other issues, because religious freedom is a human right. It is upheld by international standards, and it is foundational to America’s other freedoms.”
President Donald Trump is set to travel to South Korea for an APEC summit on Oct. 29 and has said he expects to meet with Xi on the sidelines. Beijing has yet to confirm Xi’s attendance, but Trump says he has also been invited to China early next year and will make the trip.
The United States designates China as a “country of particular concern” when it comes to religious freedom. The designation allows for sanctions, visa restrictions, and grounds for denying cultural or financial opportunities.
“I would encourage our government to look at all of those options and to bring them out at full force in order to help save the lives of so many Chinese individuals,” Hartzler said.
“We need to continue to be a light shining on the hill, speaking out for those who can’t speak up for themselves.
CCP Oppression ‘Grown Considerably’ in Recent Years
USCIRF on Oct. 16 held a hearing on the CCP’s religious freedom violations, with witnesses of different faiths detailing the regime’s oppression.
“Religious freedom is pretty non-existent in mainland China right now,” Hartzler said. “The CCP is at war with faith, and they are imposing their CCP philosophy [and] practices onto every religion and aspect of faith in the country.”
She pointed to how the regime only recognizes religious activity approved by the Party, which involves “requiring all the religions to incorporate CCP philosophy, slogans; replace pictures of Jesus and Mother Mary with pictures of Xi Jinping; rewriting religious texts, including the Bible, hymns; having a say over the sermons that are presented and the religious leaders that are chosen for the various faith groups.”
“It is total oppression and total control over religion in the country,” she stated.
“Religious oppression in China has been there for decades, but it seems to have grown considerably more in the last four or five years.”
Hartzler warned that the CCP is “purposefully targeting any entity that continues to operate outside” of its control and that “it’s very concerning.”
