Materials for the Real-Name Report by 550 People on Corruption and Criminal Syndicates Behind Judicial Injustice in the Exercise of Public Power in Shaanxi Province

We are 550 representatives of citizens seeking redress for wrongful, false and erroneous cases, together with their relatives, from various parts of Shaanxi Province, the hometown of General Secretary Xi, who have suffered unlawful infringement or unfair treatment by departments exercising power, including criminal law enforcement、administrative law enforcement and others，through our experiences of contact with public-security、procuratorial、judicial authorities and relevant departments at all levels in Shaanxi during the legal procedures for reporting、filing complaints and submitting appeals，we began initiating joint petitions in 2013 and have continued for more than ten years，growing from the original 46 people to more than 550 today，which is still only the tip of the iceberg of wrongful、false and erroneous cases in Shaanxi Province，among the 550 cases previously signed jointly：there were 65 homicide cases，of which 50 were not formally registered，and 15 were unlawfully given reduced sentences despite serious crimes；there were 36 cases involving real-name reports of official crimes，in none of them was the reported person formally registered for prosecution，while every reporting person suffered retaliation。Those suffering less severe consequences were dismissed from public employment，had their wages and various benefits withheld。Those suffering more severe consequences were framed with unfounded charges and sentenced to prison，resulting in injury，disability and even death；in 430 cases，litigants spent years、decades、or even their entire lives pursuing litigation、appeals、retrial、and petitions in a vicious cycle；in the hundreds of remaining cases involving property violations and forced expropriation and demolition，lawful property owners were arbitrarily bullied by criminal forces formed through collusion between officials and businesses，their persons and property were arbitrarily violated without any legal avenue for redress，and they were blocked at petition offices for years。By contrast，if victims dared to resist，they could at any time suffer more serious personal injury or imprisonment。One bloody case after another has driven ordinary people into despair，into dead ends！

Recently, official news from high-level organs, including the Central Political and Legal Affairs Commission, the Supreme People’s Procuratorate, the Supreme People’s Court and the Ministry of Justice, as well as public-security, procuratorial and judicial departments at all levels in Shaanxi, has been carrying out extensive publicity stating that, beginning in July this year, the country will launch a year-long special campaign to combat organized crime and eliminate criminal syndicates.

Seeing these official reports, we are confused and do not know whether we should believe this grand publicity.

Public officials who fail to register homicide cases and go easy on serious crimes — suspected crimes of bending the law for personal ends and dereliction of duty;

Suppressing reports of official crimes and failing to investigate them while investigating the reporting persons instead — suspected crimes of retaliation and framing (Article 254 of the Criminal Law) and abuse of power;

Officials and businesses jointly carrying out forced expropriation, violent evictions and the interception and detention of petitioners — characteristics consistent with organized illegal crimes by criminal forces and the use of soft and hard violence through public power;

The overall pattern of the 550 typical wrongful, false and erroneous cases in Shaanxi Province involves an interweaving of criminal forces, protective umbrellas and judicial corruption. The cases should be investigated together under the campaign’s mechanism of “striking at the umbrellas and breaking the networks.”

Among our 550 representatives, many have spent decades or more than ten years pursuing redress for wrongful, false and erroneous cases. Some have been successively persecuted to death by local governments without ever obtaining justice.

Whenever so-called central inspection or review teams announce reporting channels, we repeatedly imagine that an upright official will clear our grievances. Our individual report materials are mailed out continuously through China Post like snowflakes, and reporting windows are crowded from morning to night with tens of thousands of citizens seeking redress. Yet each time the result is the same: either the materials disappear without a trace, or the report against someone is handed directly to that person, bringing even more brutal retaliation. In this way, Shaanxi Province has invisibly become a nationally notorious lawless area.

Why do so-called “revenge against society” cases still occur frequently in today’s society? Public opinion is often eager to label perpetrators “extremists,” while selectively ignoring a basic fact: behind the overwhelming majority of extreme violent incidents is a channel for seeking redress that has been blocked. Yang Jia and Zhang Koukou were not born murderers; they were driven step by step into a corner. From the hope with which they submitted their materials, to despair after discovering official protection of one another, and then to anger after their dignity was trampled publicly — this process is essentially a citizen’s psychological journey from “believing in the law” to “the collapse of faith.”

Why is it so difficult to seek redress? Because “the door is open, but the road is blocked.” When you petition at reception halls across Shaanxi, the sign at the entrance says “Serve the People,” and the glass doors are polished brightly. After you push the door open, your phone is first confiscated, followed by layer upon layer of security checks. Worse still, if you want to enter a court to conduct business, you must not only pass security screening but also be scanned from head to toe with an instrument by judicial police and then searched manually — it falls just short of stripping you naked. Once inside, reception staff find all kinds of excuses to pass the buck, delay matters and shirk their duties. The procedures are set by them and the power to interpret them is in their hands. You are merely a low-level “leek”; how are you supposed to proceed? This is called a “closed procedural loop” — confusing you, exhausting you and grinding your last bit of spirit into dust.

Seeking redress is even harder because “you speak reason, while they speak power.” You bring legal provisions, and they talk about personal relationships; you talk about personal relationships, and they talk about the bigger picture; you talk about the bigger picture, and they bring up stability; you say stability cannot be achieved at the expense of fairness, and they say you “do not understand politics.” You talk politics, and they behave like political thugs. Going around in circles, you are always below, while they are always above. It is not that the law does not protect you; it is that the road that protects you has been blocked by various “soft nails” — networks of relationships, chains of personal ties and circles of interests, layered one upon another. When you pierce through one layer, countless more remain beneath it.

All we want is an “explanation” — those who handle cases unlawfully and treat human life with contempt must be held accountable under the law. Governing the country according to law cannot stop at slogans. In principle, these wrongful, false and erroneous cases could be investigated and clarified by grassroots departments. But why can they not be clarified? Because clarification would mean that someone must assume responsibility, someone must return money and someone must go to prison. Thus, “unable to clarify” has become the best protective talisman. The more urgently you press, the more they delay; the more you protest, the more they say you are “emotionally unstable”; if you truly risk your life, they call you an “extremist.” Because we seek redress, local governments use every means available to mobilize everyone around us to isolate us. Our children’s schooling is affected, contact with relatives and friends is severed, and when we buy train tickets we are pursued and intercepted as though we were wanted criminals……

In Shaanxi Province, this lawless area, we must acknowledge a bloody fact: today the cost of seeking redress is absurdly high, while the cost of breaking the law is laughably low. A citizen seeking redress must first learn to write a complaint, understand legal provisions, run from office to office and withstand pressure, and in the end must still have a life long enough to await the result. A lawbreaker, by contrast, needs only a mouth, a stamp and a telephone call when the “relationship is in place.”

People say it is cool under a big tree, and that when one person attains enlightenment, even his chickens and dogs ascend to heaven. Yet as petitioners from General Secretary Xi’s hometown, we live such a tragic life, worse than death. We do not know why the winds of governing the country according to law and lifelong accountability have never reached this lawless area of Shaanxi, leaving us wronged people shivering year after year in the bitter cold wind of judicial corruption.

To break this deadlock, genuine action is needed.

First, petitions must not merely be “passed around”; they must “land.” The system of territorial administration must be abolished immediately. Every report must have a number, a person responsible, a deadline for completion and a feedback mechanism. Failure to handle it by the deadline must automatically trigger accountability. The people’s demands cannot be allowed to mold in piles of documents. Major and difficult cases must be transferred to higher-level jurisdiction and handled under supervision.

Second, government affairs must be disclosed with “ironclad certainty.” The destination of every penny must be searchable by citizens on their phones; if it cannot be found, they must be able to ask; if no one answers, they must be able to sue.

Third, the interests of grassroots officials must be “severed.” A wall must be built between power and capital. Whoever climbs over it must step down.

Fourth, and most fundamentally, the law must truly become a “tiger with teeth.” It must not be a decoration, a prop or a tool for the wealthy. Whoever violates the rights and interests of ordinary people, regardless of his background, must pay the price. The price must be so high that he will not dare to reach out; if he reaches out, his hand must be cut off.

Ultimately, seeking redress is difficult because “trust” has been exhausted. Ordinary people are not unreasonable; it is that no one listens when they reason. They do not want to break the law; it is that obeying the law cannot protect their lives. When “follow the procedure” becomes “delay according to the routine,” and “act according to law” becomes “use the law to deal with you,” this fire will eventually burn. If petitioners in Shaanxi could also possess the lawful right to bear arms as in democratic countries, what would happen to those public-security, procuratorial and judicial officials who deliberately handle cases unlawfully? Would they learn to know and obey the law?

The tragedies of Yang Jia and Zhang Koukou are a warning and, even more, a disgrace. They remind us that a society that leaves honest people with nowhere to turn is pathological, and a system that makes those seeking redress exhaust their entire lives without result requires radical treatment. The best stability is not suppressing voices but responding to them; it is not blocking gun barrels but removing the fuses.

Only when a citizen can seek redress without selling his home and land, without his family being torn apart and without staking his life will we truly be worthy of the two words “rule of law.”

Regarding this special campaign to combat organized crime and eliminate criminal syndicates，we put forward only the following demands:

1. The Central Office for Combating Organized Crime should assign unified numbers to the leads concerning the 550 wrongful, false and erroneous cases in Shaanxi, conduct cross-checks and eliminate local interference;

2. For major and difficult cases, the National Commission of Supervision should initiate case-registration supervision and criminal reviews, and all persons involved should be held accountable for life;

3. Victims who report wrongful, false and erroneous cases and their families should be provided with state compensation and personal protection;

4. Protective umbrellas confirmed by investigation should be transferred to the judicial authorities in accordance with discipline and law; internal disciplinary action must not be used in place of criminal liability;

5. The Central Office for Combating Organized Crime should provide written feedback on its investigation conclusions, and real-name reports should receive a response within the prescribed time limit.

Alas, perhaps this round of the special campaign to combat organized crime and eliminate criminal syndicates is merely a political power struggle, while the “leeks” are once again dreaming the Chinese dream that wrongful, false and erroneous cases can be corrected. Never mind — let us wash up and go to sleep. Once asleep, there is everything in dreams.