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| Falun Gong practitioners appeal in Houston in pouring rain for an end to the persecution of Falun Gong. The Homestead Hotel in Houston has been brought under scrutiny for refusing admission to Falun Gong practitioners during the appeal. |
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The Epoch Times
Feb 23, 2005
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The U.S. Department of Justice has opened an investigation on discrimination by a hotel against the Falun Gong spiritual practice, a legal advocacy group announced on Tuesday.
During an October 2002 visit to Houston by Chinese president Jiang Zemin, 72 Falun Gong practitioners were denied accommodations in the Homestead hotel next door to where Jiang was staying. They planned to join two thousand others who were peacefully appealing the persecution of Falun Gong that was ordered by Jiang.
"Under federal law, private hotels and restaurants may not engage in religious discrimination against anyone," said Hiram Sasser, director of litigation for Liberty Legal Institute.
Liberty announced the suit as part of its role in assisting with bringing the case to the Department of Justice. The Liberty Legal Institute is a Texas-based legal organization committed to the defense of religious freedoms and First Amendment rights.
Those who practice Falun Gong say it is a traditional Chinese practice of self-cultivation and a form of belief. While they don't call it a religion, they recognize that it falls under the category of religion for purposes of legal definitions.
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The U.S. Department of Justice has taken notice of Homestead Hotel's violations.
In 2003, the plaintiffs had announced their own lawsuit against Homestead for civil rights violations and conspiracy with the Chinese Communist Party. Communist party officials have been the subject of numerous lawsuits in the U.S. and other countries for their role in torturing and killing Falun Gong practitioners.
"We welcome the Dept. of Justice's investigation of this case," said Levi Browde, spokesperson for the Falun Dafa Infocenter, a non-profit organization. "This is just a sample of what's been going on all over the world in the CCP's campaign to export the persecution of Falun Gong outside China. We hope this is the first in a series of investigations looking into the CCP's criminal activities."
Source: http://english.epochtimes.com/news/5-2-23/26596.html
HOUSTON The Justice Department is investigating a spiritual group's allegations of religious discrimination against a Houston hotel.
Homestead Studio Suites canceled the group's reservations during an October 2002 visit by then-Chinese President Jiang Zemin (jahng zuh-MEEN').
The group claims the hotel canceled reservations of all identified as being affiliated with spiritual group Falun Gong.
The group had booked the reservations one month in advance and had planned to stay there while protesting Zemin during his visit.
But hotel officials have said the cancellations were prompted by overbooking.
Justice Department spokeswoman Kim Smith confirmed the investigation announced today by the Plano-based Liberty Legal Institute.
Smith declined further comment.
"CHINA CALLS UP SCORN WITH FALUN GONG HATE"
The West Australian reported
this past week "You have to wonder about China's leaders. In the past couple of
years, they've spent millions of dollars and a great deal of energy trying to
play down their human rights abuses and persuade the rest of the world that
China is a suitable country to host the world's greatest sporting event, the
Olympic Games. Now they've apparently launched a crude global telephone hate
campaign aimed at harassing members of the enigmatic spiritual movement, Falun
Gong, with which they have an irrational obsession. It's a sinister act that
will reinforce some of our worst fears about the world's biggest nation. In the
past few days, dozens of people throughout Australia and thousands more in other
parts of the world have been getting recorded messages on their home and mobile
phones demonizing the practice of Falun Gong and claiming that the Chinese
Government is defending human rights by saving people from the movement. The
messages, in both Chinese and English, centre on reports linking Falun Gong with
an alleged self-immolation incident in 2001. Australian Falun Gong practitioners
have called on the Federal Government to investigate the source of the calls and
take steps to block them. ... the Beijing regime has intensified its propaganda
campaign to turn public opinion against the practice while imprisoning,
torturing and even murdering those who practice it. ..."
FOUNDER OF FALUN GONG FORMALLY WITHDRAWS FROM COMMUNIST YOUTH LEAGUE
On
February 14th, Falun Gong's founder, Mr. Li Hongzhi, issued a statement
announcing his formal withdrawal from the Chinese Communist Youth League. The
gesture is the most recent and dramatic instantiation of a trend that started in
December 2004 and has seen some 30,300 individuals publicly renounce their
membership in the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) or CCP-related organizations.
Many of the renunciations have been made online at www.9ping.com. Falun Dafa
Information Center spokesperson Erping Zhang commented: "Although it was Jiang
Zemin who initiated the persecution, claiming that 'the Communist Party must
defeat Falun Gong,' the CCP for over five years has been the instrument through
which the campaign is carried out. The CCP has reached into every corner of
Chinese society and made Falun Gong out to be an 'enemy of the state.' It has
translated into yet another bloody chapter in the CCP's notorious history. They
have ruined millions of families. It's easy now to tell who the real 'evil cult'
is. No wonder thousands are now rushing to break with it."
FALUN GONG JOINS CHINESE NEW YEAR PARADES WORLDWIDE, CCP PRESSURE FINDS LESS OF
AN AUDIENCE
Students of Falun Gong around the world again this year
joined in dozens of parades celebrating the New Year, many wearing traditional
Chinese dress and performing as drum troupes. But unlike in previous years,
Communist Chinese officials had little to say about it this season. Or at least,
little that people felt compelled to listen to. In Sydney, Australia, for
example, Falun Gong was allowed into one such parade for the first time since
1999. That was the year China's launched its suppression of the group. In
Flushing, New York, meanwhile, Falun Gong's large presence brought to the parade
dragon and lion dances, exercise demonstrations, a waist drum troupe, and
graceful "celestial maiden" dancers complete in dazzling Tang Dynasty-style
garments. Organizers had been pressured in previous years not to include Falun
Gong. And happily, in the end, Falun Gong was rightfully a part of San
Francisco's large parade. The San Francisco Chinese Chamber of Commerce had at
first managed to bar the group (on dubious grounds) from participating. In the
end Falun Gong was let in, though on the stipulation that it followed the
parade's tail. "We were a little sad," Falun Gong spokeswoman Sherry Zhang told
The San Francisco Chronicle. "I hope this will end the discrimination of Falun
Gong in San Francisco."
21 TRAGIC DEATHS REPORTED IN
11 DAYS
Over the 11 days from Feb. 11 - 22, the deaths of 21 Chinese
Falun Gong practitioners as a result of persecution in custody were confirmed.
Cases of death as a result of torture and other forms of persecution are being
reported at an increasing rate. In just the first few weeks of 2005 already 114
cases have been documented. In all of 2004, 386 deaths were confirmed; at the
time that was the highest annual total to date. All told, the deaths of 1,379
innocent people as a result of the CCP's persecution of Falun Gong have been
verified since July 1999.
TUESDAY NYC PRESS
CONFERENCE: CCP PHONE HATE CAMPAIGN
Starting Feb 6, 2005, scores of
homes, businesses and individuals in the New York City area were bombarded by
phone calls with recorded messages unmistakably from the CCP's regime. The
calls, which contained Chinese nationalist messages and propaganda demonizing
Falun Gong, utilized a recent controversial article by the Associated Press so
as to give credibility to the CCP's ruthless persecution. A press conference
will be held Tuesday, Feb. 22, at 5:00pm to disclose details of the phone
campaign and the role of the AP article. New York Press Club, Penthouse
Conference Center, 33rd Floor 330 West 42nd Street.
FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT THE FALUN DAFA INFORMATION CENTER
Contacts: Gail Rachlin (+1 917-757-9780), Levi Browde (+1 914-720-0963), Erping
Zhang (+1 646-533-6147), or Christina Chai (+1 917-386-5068).
Fax:
646-792-3916 Email: 
,
Website: http://faluninfo.net/
Feb 19, 2005
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In the summer of 2003, a young mother and her three-year-old daughter came to visit my home. On this particular afternoon, the mother was busy preparing a speech she was giving the next day on Capitol Hill in Washington D.C., so the little girl and I sat on the sofa to read a picture book. The book was called Guess How Much I Love You, by Sam McBratney.
The book is about a baby rabbit who uses different imaginary stories to tell his father how much he loves him. The baby rabbit's father would always respond by saying that he loves him twice as much, until finally the little bunny fell into a comfortable sleep, secure in his father's love. My nieces all enjoy this warm and reassuring children's story.
Since my friend's little girl hadn't started to learn English yet, I translated the story into Chinese for her. As I came to the part of the story that read, "The baby rabbit said, 'I love you as far as my arms can reach!' And the Father rabbit told the baby rabbit, 'I love you as far as my arms can reach,'" my friend's little girl, smiling, corrected me and said, "No, it's a mother rabbit! There is no father rabbit!"
I was seized by a feeling of terrible sadness, for I understood immediately what she was talking about. She didn't remember what having a father meant. Her own father had been killed when she was only fifteen months old.
This little girl is Fadu. Her mother, Jane Dai, read about the death of her husband on a report on the internet. Her husband had been killed in China after being taken into custody by Chinese police because he refused to renounce his belief in Falun Gong. Many days after he was murdered, his abandoned body was found in a hut by the side of the road.
I looked up at Jane and saw her wiping away tears. Obviously, she had heard her daughter's innocent words as well.
Who would have thought that such a warm children's book could cause people to feel so broken-hearted? It had reminded Jane that her adorable Fadu had no father. How many more children's books, meant for children with both parents, would Jane have to avoid in order to prevent more sorrow and tears?
And how can Jane Dai forget her husband Chen Chengyong's tragic death? Fadu looks just like her father. A baby's first words are usually "Daddy," but Fadu's father Chen Chengyong passed away before she could even talk. When Jane sees her daughter, who looks so much like Chen Chengyong, saying the word "Daddy," her sadness is unimaginable.
http://english.epochtimes.com/news/5-2-19/26437.html
Sunday, February 20, 2005
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Gale and his wife Mary Byrom, a visual artist, are following a long tradition of using their creative talents to bring the world's attention to a cause.
Through their art and music, they are portraying the persecution of people who practice Falun Gong, a form of meditative exercise used for fitness, healing and personal growth.
The couple has traveled to New York, Washington, D.C., Chicago and Boston to give concerts, participate in art exhibits, and develop living theater exhibitions that depict the Chinese government's treatment of Falun Gong practitioners.
Falun Gong - also known as Falun Dafa - is related to qigong and tai chi and has philosophical roots in Buddhism and Daoism. Its three principles are truthfulness, compassion and forbearance.
"We try to keep those principles first and foremost in our daily lives, and in our thinking and in our action," said Gale, who has been practicing Falun Gong since 1998.
"That's why this practice became so powerful and so popular in China. Not only did it make people feel better physically, but it made them feel better in their daily lives."
China outlawed Falun Gong in 1999 and began systematically arresting, harassing and abusing those who continued to practice it. Some people were sent to labor camps; others just disappeared.
Followers in the United States and elsewhere have been holding nonviolent protests ever since, trying to get the rest of the world to pay attention.
In 2003, the Maine Legislature passed a joint resolution in support of Falun Gong and condemning the Chinese government's crackdown on the movement. Similarly, the U.S. House and Senate each passed resolutions calling on China to stop its human rights abuses against Falun Gong practitioners. "The next front is corporate America, who obviously is dealing with China and tends to look the other way in these kinds of human-rights things," Gale said.
Gale went to college in the late 1960s and, like a lot of young people at the time, dabbled in yoga and other spiritual traditions. He also got into music and theater before laying down his guitar for 10 years.
When he picked up the instrument again, he started taking it to day-care centers and preschools to play for kids and participate in their music programs. By 1994, he was writing children's songs and performing full-time. Gale, 53, has recorded two children's music CDs and plays at fairs and festivals around the state, incorporating storytelling and puppetry into his performances.
If not for Falun Gong, his musical portfolio might not have gone much further than his popular recordings, "Sing Along, Laugh Along" and "So Glad!"
A LIFE-CHANGING DECISION In 1997, Gale saw a flyer in a bookstore offering free Falun Gong classes. By May 1998, he was learning the practice from a Chinese couple.
"He started it, and he looked so fabulous," Byrom said. "All my friends were talking about it: 'Marcus looks really healthy.' "
By July, Byrom and her friends had signed up for classes, too. Byrom, 52, says the practice has radically changed both her consciousness and the style of her work.
"I became less selfish," Byrom said. "Now I'm actually thinking of someone else, a larger group of people."
Byrom was an abstract painter who, before getting involved in Falun Gong, had never used her art "for anything except the pure act of art."
"I was very focused on being an artist, and it was very private," she said.
The last abstract painting she did is a splash of copper hues, blues, greens and layers of bright gold leaf. But as Byrom practiced Falun Gong, she started to move toward realism.
"I started to see visually," she recalled. "I would actually get visuals of things I wanted to paint that had nothing to do with abstraction."
In her studio next to the house, Byrom now works on landscapes. Studies done during trips to the Rachel Carson National Wildlife Refuge are scattered throughout the room, as she works on her skills painting images and using light and color in a different way.
She is also painting figures and portraits.
"If you can paint a human being, you can paint anything," Byrom said. "I decided that I was going to learn how to do it and become good at it. It's taken me to this whole other realm."
Her first Falun Gong work is based on a Gustav Klimt portrait. Titled "The End of the Dharma-Ending Period," it depicts a Western Falun Gong practitioner instead of the "haughty society woman" in the Klimt work, Byrom said.
The white dress is the same, but in Byrom's painting the woman's demeanor is kind. She is gesturing with her hands, a pose known as the lotus palm.
"By doing this, she is literally clearing out all the evil in the universe," Byrom said. "She's purifying the Earth."
Behind her are Chinese figures who represent the past. In front of her, the gold of her energy field is being transformed into pink lotus blossoms.
"The lotus blossoms are breaking through the outside boundary beyond the painting because the future is transformation," Byrom said.
Gale's creative contribution to the Falun Gong cause has been two original songs, "The Trial" and "The World Knows the Truth."
He is recording a third song, "Why?" which focuses on the plight of the orphaned children of Falun Gong.
"The Trial" is a commentary on the 16 civil lawsuits that have been filed worldwide against Jiang Zemin, the Chinese leader who outlawed Falun Gong. "The World Knows the Truth" is an indictment of what Gale believes are numerous wrongs committed by the government, from the Tiananmen Square shootings to the repression of Falun Gong:
You poison your country, against Falun Gong You torture and kill them; the world knows it's wrong. The world will seek justice and stand up for truth China is lying, and now there is proof. Chorus: Your people are dying, China stop lying Why do you lie, when your own people die? The world is crying, good people dying So many lies, the whole world cries.
The songs have been played all over the world on a Falun Gong Internet radio station, Sound of Hope, which is something like Voice of America, Gale said. He has also been invited to perform them all over the country.
In 2003, UNESCO and the Comparative Human Rights Department at the University of Connecticut invited Gale to participate in an international conference called "Artists in the Cause of Human Rights."
BECOMING MORE INVOLVED
In May 2004, Gale was invited to Chicago to perform "The Trial." The occasion was a federal court appeal in one of the civil lawsuits against Jiang Zemin.
While Gale and Byrom were there, the organizers asked Byrom if she would help with some of the living-theater displays that were being used in the protest. Byrom worked in theater and costume design in the 1980s in New York City, so she went into the project with some experience.
Upon her return home, she got a phone call asking if she would design and coordinate 12 similar exhibits for the Democratic National Convention. The performances would run 10 hours a day for six days.
"I had to study all the different types of torture, and then I had to design ones that would fit in a really small space and visually would be completely arresting to passers-by," she said.
Three thousand people came from all over the world to take shifts as actors in the tableaus.
She did a similar exhibit in New York for the Republican convention - one that is still going on today. Volunteers fly in from all over the world to take part, Byrom said. The project was the subject of a New York Times story in September.
Each scene is done in black-and-white. The only color is the blood and bruises on the victims.
One scene, for example, depicts a woman in white sitting in a small cage, with some strategically-placed "blood" on her clothes and a bruise on her cheek. A policeman dressed in a black uniform - the police always wear black - stands behind her with his billy club raised. Behind them both is a banner that says "This is happening in China."
Byrom had to balance the graphic nature of the subject with the importance of getting her message across.
"There's something that happens as you look at one," Byrom said. "They are very, very powerful."
In December, Byrom was the curator of a Boston exhibit of paintings, sculptures and etchings by international artists who practice Falun Gong. She is now developing a series of forums for colleges and universities to discuss human-rights violations committed over the years by the Chinese Communist Party.
Byrom and Gale hope their efforts will open some eyes and perhaps make some businesses and organizations think twice before doing business with China.
"I think the real purpose is to educate people and let people make their own decisions," Byrom said. "I'm not ever going to say, 'Don't do business with China.' I'm going to say, 'Please know what's really going on here, and then you make your choice.' "
http://entertainment.mainetoday.com/art/050220protest.shtml
(Clearwisdom.net) When Czech practitioners toured the country to inform people about Falun Gong and the Chinese Communist Party's persecution against the practice, many journalists came to find out more and report on practitioners' efforts. On February 5, an appeal in Hradec Kralove was visited by regional TV reporters, who came to shoot some footage and interview the practitioners.
The report was broadcast that same evening in all three of the station's news broadcasts and repeated the next day. The report on the Falun Gong activity was actually the first feature in that day's news program, so hundreds of thousands of people who tuned in to watch the news learned about Falun Gong's appeal to stop the persecution in China.
Here is a transcript of the report:
Reporter: Today in Hradec Kralove, Falun Gong practitioners held an appeal to stop the persecution of Falun Gong and its practitioners in China. Falun Gong is a practice of exercises and meditation that, due to its positive effects in improving health, spread very quickly not only all over China but also the whole world. The Chinese Communist regime perceived its popularity as a threat, so in 1999 the government banned the practice; people who practice these exercises are now being persecuted, tortured and killed.
Interview with Practitioner: "Activities aiming to stop the persecution like this one are being held all over the world. In our country, we visit at least one city every week, where we perform the Falun Gong exercises and inform people about the persecution using display boards that describe the torture methods."
Reporter: One way that people can express their condemnation and protest against this persecution is by signing a petition, which will be given to a petition bureau of the Parliament of the Czech Republic. More information and the petition itself can be found on the website www.falungong.cz.
Feb 19, 2005
On Dec. 31, Gao Zhicheng, one of the best attorneys in China, published a letter he had sent to the National People's Congress and Wu Bangguo, chairman of the NPC Standing Committee, detailing the case of Falun Gong practitioner Huang Wei of Shijiazhuang, Hebei Province.
Gao pointed out that Chinese judicial officials knowingly break the law, depriving Falun Gong practitioners of their human rights. He called on the NPC to monitor and correct the injustices. Gao has received significant support from both inside and outside China at www.gmwq.com calling for the rights of Falun Gong practitioners to be protected. Epoch Times correspondent Qin Yue recently interviewed Dai Xuewu of Shanghai, one of those who offered support to Gao.
Dai was the public spokesman for the Democratic Party of China in Shanghai from 1999 to 2000. He was arrested in July 2000 for organizing commemoration activities for the 11th anniversary the June 4, 1989, Tiananmen Square massacre. He was imprisoned for three years in the Dafeng forced-labor camp, where he met many Falun Gong practitioners and witnessed the physical and mental torture of the practitioners at the hands of the police. Dai was released in 2003.
Epoch Times: I saw your support for attorney Gao Zhicheng on www.gmwq.com. Why do you support Mr. Gao?
Dai Xuewu: In 2000, without any reason, I was imprisoned in the Dafeng labor camp in Shanghai. I personally witnessed the brutal persecution of many Falun Gong friends. I think Mr. Gao's actions, from what I understand of Falun Gong, are right. It is a concrete step in upholding human rights. So, as a citizen of China and an activist, I had a duty to sign.
ET: Could you describe the treatment of Falun Gong practitioners you witnessed?
Dai: There was a practitioner named Liu Peng who they confined for more than 10 months. I also was in confinement then. I saw them tie him down in the middle of the room. There were also ropes tying him to the sides of the room to prevent him from meditating or doing the other Falun Gong exercises. I frequently heard him scream. I saw how they brainwashed Falun Gong practitioners; it's really unspeakable. Compared with Liu Peng's treatment, the brainwashing techniques used on some other practitioners were even more grueling. Yet, from practitioners I have personally met and from the Internet, I know that Falun Gong practitioners are nonviolent. Falun Gong is a type of cultivation practice, including exercise. The government shouldn't have banned it, and they should not have thrown Falun Gong practitioners into prison.
ET: Why do you think Falun Gong practitioners are treated so unjustly in China?
Dai: These are the usual methods Chinese Communist Party rulers use to maintain their personal gains and power. Within China's politics, they do not allow any opposition. Falun Gong isn't against the party, but the practice promotes truthfulness, compassion and tolerance and spreads very quickly, so they feel a bit scared. They see it as a threat. Thus, they took their course of action, which is mandated by the evil nature of the party. As The Epoch Times' "Jiuping," or "Nine Commentaries on the Chinese Communist Party" states, "The CCP is just a cult organization."
ET: Do you feel that the practitioners are what the government describes them to be?
Dai: No, no, no. The CCP is actually the cult that goes against humankind. On the contrary, Falun Gong promotes truthfulness and compassion and tolerance. It is a civil organization that can vigorously revive our Chinese traditional culture. Because the CCP's nature is contrary to humanity, it will persecute anything truthful or compassionate.
ET: Is there any legal basis to sentence Falun Gong practitioners to labor camps?
Dai: Under the rule of the CCP, China's laws are like poker cards in their hands that they can change at will. In my opinion, its so-called laws cannot be compared to the laws in the rest of the civilized world. The laws they make are laws that go against humanity.
ET: How do you view the labor camp system in China?
Dai: I have personally endured torture in a Chinese labor camp. I know this structure to be the darkest, most barbaric and most inhumane system. This system completely violates the United Nations' human rights conventions. I am also one of the first to demand that the labor camps be abolished.
ET: What were your thoughts and feelings after reading the "Jiuping?"
Dai: I thought they were very well written. Through personal experiences, the commentaries can make readers understand and feel the many methods that the CCP uses against humanity, as well as methods to maintain their dead-end political power. What it revealed was also very deep. Since people like me, 40 or more years old, all experienced the Cultural Revolution, I am extremely familiar with the techniques of the CCP. That is why I feel that it was well written; it's extremely great.
ET: What effects will the commentaries have in China?
Mr. Dai: There are huge effects. Recently, President Hu Jintao suggested learning from Cuba and North Korea; he said that he wants to drive the car of history in reverse. However, when the "Jiuping" came out, many within the party felt very insecure. If they were to try to return to a more repressive time, the general population would not accept it.
ET: What did you experience inside the labor camp?
Dai: Inside, I was imprisoned with Li Guotao, Guo Quanbao and some Falun Gong practitioners. They ordered us to make footballs. These balls were just like those from the Adidas company. The products were mainly for export. They demanded quotas; if we couldn't meet them, they would punish and torture us. I opposed this, so they confined me.
http://english.epochtimes.com/news/5-2-19/26490.html
February 22, 2005.
Tue Feb 22, 1:40 AM ET
Falun Gong spiritual movement members perform during a protest against China's crackdown on Falun Gong followers in Sydney February 22, 2005. Beijing banned the Falun Gong in 1999 after 10,000 members [appealed to National Appealing Office in Beijing for the release of several dozen practitioners arrested in Tianjin, a city about 60 miles east of Beijing]. REUTERS/David Gray
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/050222/ids_photos_wl/r444985270.jpg
Tue Feb 22, 1:43 AM ET
Falun Gong spiritual movement members, dressed as a policeman and a torture victim, perform during a protest against China's crackdown on Falun Gong followers in Sydney February 22, 2005. Beijing banned the Falun Gong in 1999 after 10,000 members [appealed to National Appealing Office in Beijing for the release of several dozen practitioners arrested in Tianjin, a city about 60 miles east of Beijing]. REUTERS/David Gray
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/050222/ids_photos_wl/r1503319233.jpg
Tue Feb 22, 1:29 AM ET
Falun Gong spiritual movement members, dressed as a policeman and a torture victim, perform during a protest against China's crackdown on Falun Gong followers in Sydney February 22, 2005. Beijing banned the Falun Gong in 1999 after 10,000 members [appealed to National Appealing Office in Beijing for the release of several dozen practitioners arrested in Tianjin, a city about 60 miles east of Beijing]. REUTERS/David Gray
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/050222/ids_photos_wl/r1749507331.jpg
Saturday, February 19, 2005
Organizers of the Chinese New Year Parade typically try to keep politics out of the annual procession, but [...] one honoring the spiritual movement Falun Gong will be notably absent from today's parade celebrating the Year of the Rooster.
The Falun Gong group submitted a proposal for a float that would include people in traditional Chinese dress demonstrating the traditional Chinese breathing exercises known as qigong.
"We feel we are part of the Chinese community, and the Chinese government spent so much time spreading propaganda," said Huy Lu, 37, of Daly City. Since 1999, the Chinese government has cracked down on Falun Gong -- also known as Falun Dafa -- [a practice for both mind and body improvement] that emerged in 1992. But organizers rejected the group's application, saying the parade couldn't accommodate everyone who wanted to participate.[...]
The float will be a small part of the parade, which caps two weeks of festivities honoring the start of Chinese Lunar New Year 4703. This year's celebration will showcase about 25 floats. Elaborate corporate-sponsored floats can cost $12,000 to $20,000. The parade also will include marching bands, choruses, folk dancers and a group from China demonstrating a type of kung fu that dates back 1,500 years. A 201-foot-long "golden dragon" will bring up the caboose, as usual.
The parade, which drew an estimated 550,000 spectators last year, will follow the same route from Second and Market streets to Kearney Street and Columbus Avenue. The event runs from 5:30 to about 8 p.m. today. Viewing the parade The Chinese New Year Parade will begin at 5:30 p.m. today at Second and Market streets.
Street closures will begin at 5 p.m. Once the parade has passed and the route has been cleaned, streets will reopen. The parade will end at about 8 p. m.
During the parade, northbound traffic will be able to cross Market Street using Fremont Street to Front Street. Southbound traffic will be able to cross Market Street using the Battery Street to First Street connection, except when parade contingents are passing.
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2005/02/19/BAGKDBE1NV1.DTL
(Clearwisdom.net) The radio and TV broadcasting network in Mainland China serves as a propaganda tool to persecute Falun Gong. This network is controlled directly by the Propaganda Department of the Chinese Communist Party. From the end of the 1980's to the beginning of the 1990's, great strides were made in its development. Especially in the 1990's, heavy investments were made towards developing radio and TV broadcasting technology. At that time, China did not have communication satellites. It leased a foreign communication satellite transponder to launch CCTV programs and those of other provincial TV stations. Meanwhile, heavy investments were directed towards developing China's own communication satellite. By the late 1990's, CCTV and provincial TV stations switched from TV towers to communication satellites. While developing the satellites, cable TV networks were being developed, too. Cable TV makes up 90% of all TV coverage. Previously, one TV set could only receive several programs; now one TV set can receive dozens of programs.
Since July 20, 1999, the CCP has used radio, TV, and cable network to spread its slanderous propaganda about Falun Gong to every household. The broadcasting network has become a tool of the CCP to spread lies to poison sentient beings. When practitioners tapped into nationwide cable TV networks to broadcast the truth about Falun Gong in 2002, government officials were seriously panicked. They issued orders at every level, from provinces to cities, districts and streets to implement every possible means to prevent the broadcasting network from being tapped. Cable TV systems are closely monitored. Special organizations to counter Falun Gong sprang into existence; equipment to monitor network security has been purchased; and staff are assigned patrol duty to guard their areas. Especially during the 16th CCP Congress, so-called emergency methods were used to prevent Falun Gong practitioners from tapping into the network. Everyone in the network was assigned specific tasks.
The authorities used every conceivable method to guard the cable TV system amplifiers. The 610 Office assigned this task to the bottom level neighborhood committees. During the conference, one person in the neighborhood committee had to promise to guard the amplifiers with his or her life. That person would earn 100 yuan for doing so. The cost of guarding the TV system amplifiers in the downtown area of a city in Southwest China totals around 3,000,000 yuan. The cost for patrolling TV systems totaled about 2,000,000 yuan, and this was only in 2002. This only includes the major cable TV networks in the downtown area for one city. Taking into account all the cable TV networks in all cities in China, the cost to monitor the cable networks during this period of time is huge. The result is the persecution of sentient beings and the concealment of lies at the taxpayer's expense.
The chief executives of the TV broadcasting networks, radio stations, and cable companies and the journalists, editors, and anchors have sold their consciences by adding fuel to the flame and poisoning sentient beings for a little bit of personal gain. All the media that have participated in the defamation and slander of Falun Gong have committed sins, and the people who have been involved will receive retribution for their acts. The retribution is happening right now. For example, the ex-chief of the propaganda department of Chongqing City Zhang Zonghai, the ex-chief of the Chongqing radio and TV broadcasting bureau Zhang Xiaochun, the ex-general manager of the Chongqing internet company Ding Jiyuan, and the vice manager Du Hongzhi were all convicted on huge corruption charges and given prison sentences in 2003. These corrupt officials behaved quite arrogantly at the time. At their work meetings, they were waving flags and shouting out plans to slander Falun Gong. It created an evil environment of misinformation, which made the persecution of Falun Gong more severe. All of these political media criminals will ultimately be brought to justice.
(Clearwisdom.net)
To the relevant leaders of the Supreme People's Procuratorate and the Hebei High People's Procurator:
We are part of the Falun Gong practitioners and relatives who have been abused by the Gaoyang Forced Labor Camp of Hebei Province. According to the law, we oppose the vicious crimes of maltreating the detainees. Please immediately stop this crime and severely punish the liable persons.
The following is a partial list of the crimes of Gaoyang Forced Labor Camp of Hebei:
Abducting Falun Gong practitioners and maltreating them
From September 30, 2004, the Labor Camp detained Gaoyang Falun Gong practitioners Mr. Yang Linxiang (64 years old) and Mr. Duan Guoqiao (51 years old) for two months and over one month, respectively. The guards also used a rotary telephone, an electric baton and a vicious method of hitting and kicking their stomachs to force them to write the Repentance Statement. It is the second time that Yang Linxiang has been illegally detained. The first time, he was held for more than seven months. The liable persons who directly participated in the persecution include Yang Zemin (the leader of the team), Wang Zhitai, Fang Bao and Chang Jinliang.
Abusing Falun Gong practitioners for a long period of time
They used the hand telephone, electric baton, and beating to torture female practitioners Ms. Qu Xiaoying and Ms. Zhang Sumei repeatedly, causing them mental trauma and distress. The practitioners are presently still being detained. The people who perpetrated the violence include Yang Zemin, Li Xuejun (political instructor), and Fang Bao, Chang Jinliang, Wang Zhitai, Zhang Yanyan (female), Shi Jiangxia (female) and others.
From September 18 to September 28, they used a hand telephone to torture practitioner Qin Peng, who is a Master's degree student of Tsinghua University.
From November 1 to November 15, they used a rotary telephone, an electric baton, violent forced-feeding and burning the skin with hot water to torture Zhangjiakou City Dafa Practitioner Ms. Li Cuiping. This torture caused her to lose consciousness and required that she go to the hospital twice to be rescued. In August, they used a rotary telephone and an electric baton to torture eight male practitioners for over two days and caused Mr. Dong Liyuan to fall unconscious and be sent to hospital three times. After that, they still continued the tortures. The persons who committed these violent crimes include Yang Zemin, Fang Bao, Li Xuejun and Chang Jinliang.
Concealing the evidence of crimes for a long time
1. While using inhuman torture methods and bonus incentives for guards who successfully "reformed" practitioners, the labor camp authorities lied to hide their crimes and obtained a lot of commendations from the Ministry of Justice and Bureau of Reeducation-Through-Labor Administration of Hebei Province.
2. The labor camp forged case histories so as to receive seriously ill people whom they are prohibited from accepting. The seriously ill people are still locked up to this day.
3. The labor camp cemented ten rows of handcuffs to the ground, which were used to persecute Falun Gong practitioners on a large scale from 2002 to 2003. They still keep the ground handcuffs inside a one-story house right now in order to persecute practitioners and they have hired criminals Chang Jinliang and Fang Bao to maintain it. In addition, Fang Bao also privately raised five to six ferocious dogs. The dogs have already bitten and hurt many people, but the Labor Camp still sends detainees to feed them.
4. The labor camp designs variations to the torture methods and teaches them to other labor camps.
(Clearwisdom.net) Ms. Wang Biyu was a retired worker from the Duyun City Food Company in Guizhou Province. After she attended Teacher Li's lectures in Guizhou in August 1993, she began the practice of Falun Gong. Soon her illnesses all went away. Since the persecution of Falun Gong began in July 1999, she had remained firm in her belief in Falun Gong. As a result, she was interrogated, arrested, and detained by local police on many occasions.
On the night of November 29, 1999, the local police broke into the homes of Wang Biyu, Yi Songhua, Liang Zhengfeng, and Zhou Yu and ransacked them. The police took away their Dafa books and personal property, and arrested these practitioners. At the police station, the practitioners were interrogated for 24 hours, nonstop. The police forced them to sign a "monitored residence agreement" (which stated that they must report to the police and get approval whenever they wanted to go out of town; otherwise they would be considered criminals on the run and could be arrested) before releasing them. Even after Wang Biyu returned home, the police often came to harass and threaten her and her family. As a result, her old illnesses recurred. She passed away on July 7, 2000, at the age of 64.
Ms. Hu Deming was a director at the Duyun City Industrial and Commercial Bank in Guizhou Province. She used to suffer from severe neurological illness. After witnessing her husband's health improve after practicing Falun Gong, she also began to practice Falun Gong in 1998. Soon her own illnesses also went away. After the persecution began in 1999, her husband, Du Guilin, went to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong in February 2000, and was sentenced to forced labor and detained in Tianjin City. She had to struggle between work and taking care of her young daughter, all by herself. As a result, her old illnesses recurred.
After her husband was released, the local police often came to their home to harass them. One night in February 2002, the police deceived her husband into going to the police department to have a talk. However, the police detained her husband in a detention center and later sentenced him to three years of forced labor. Later, her husband walked out of the detention center with righteous thoughts. In September 2002, her husband was arrested again for making truth-clarification materials. He was sentenced to eight years. While being detained in Guiyang Detention Center, he was brutally beaten by police and one of his eyes almost went blind due to the beating. Her husband's bitter encounter greatly saddened Hu Deming and her health condition worsened. When she was on the verge of death, she requested to have her husband come back home, but was rejected.
On April 11, 2003, Hu Deming passed away. Before her death, she saw with her third eye a scene of people who opposed Dafa being eliminated, and she kept saying, "Horrific! Teacher has really come here to save people."
Duyun City Political and Legal Committee 610 Office director Luo Zhongfu: 86-854-8224718
Duyun City Police Department Chief: 86-854-8260368, 86-854-8222119
Duyun City Police Department Deputy Chief: 86-854-8229595, 86-854-8249110
Commissioner: 86-854-8223337
Duyun City Police Department Division One police: Yan Ronggui, Huo Zhenshan, Qin Xiaochun: 86-854-8222026,86-854-8253027
(Clearwisdom.net) Falun Dafa practitioner Ms. Zhang Guozhen from Tongnan County, Chongqing City was arrested many times by Tongnan State Security agent Zhang Liang (male) and others, and was sentenced to forced labor in June 2002. She was tortured in the Maojiashan Women's Labor Camp to the point where her entire body became swollen and she was then released from the camp. She died on February 3, 2005.
Ms. Zhang Guozhen was fifty-four years old, and a village doctor who lived in the First Group, First Village, Shouqiao Township, Tongnan County, Chongqing City. Before cultivating Falun Dafa, she had so many illnesses that all her teeth were falling out. Her husband divorced her, and left with their daughter and son. She had to sell her house to survive, and lived a very hard life. All her illnesses and conditions left after she started practicing Falun Gong in 1997. Ms. Zhang had a new life, both spiritually and physically.
After the persecution started on July 20, 1999, Ms. Zhang went to her old group practice site to do the exercises together with more than ten Falun Dafa practitioners. Tongnan State Security team leader, Zhang Liang, arrested and held them in a detention center. Police extorted more than one thousand yuan from her new husband, and then released her. Her husband was terribly traumatized by the terror of Jiang and his regime. He asked Ms. Zhang to give up her practice, but she expressed that she wanted to firmly cultivate Falun Dafa, and was divorced again.
Ms. Zhang had no place to live after being divorced. In January 2000, she was temporarily living in the home of Mr. Zhang Hongxu, a Falun Dafa practitioner in Wachangwan, Tongnan County. On February 29, 2000, State Security agent Zhang Liang stormed into Zhang Hongxu's home, arrested Ms. Zhang Guozhen, and had her detained. One hour later, police arrested Mr. Zhang Hongxu at the store he owned.
The lawless officials detained Ms. Zhang for six months, and fined her five yuan per day (900 yuan in total). Upon her release, Ms. Zhang once again became homeless, and to make a living, became a housemaid for her relatives.
At the beginning of 2002, Ms. Zhang Guozhen was arrested by local police when clarifying the truth in Yibin City, Sichuan Province. She was brutally tortured for more than ten days, and was then picked up by Zhang Liang and sent back to the Tongnan Detention Center. On June 10, 2002, Ms. Zhang was sentenced to two years of forced labor.
Inside the Maojiashan Women's Labor Camp, supervisors and drug addict prisoners inflicted many mental and physical tortures on Ms. Zhang Guozhen. She passed out many times, and then wrote the three statements while under great mental and physical pressure on July 4, 2002. After her release in 2004, police again forced her to sign her name three times. Ms. Zhang Guozhen published the following solemn declaration on Minghui.net on December 25, 2004: "All three statements, three signatures police forced me to sign, and all actions and words not validating Falun Dafa are null and void. I want to negate all arrangements by the old forces, get rid of all attachments, not allow the evil to take advantage of my weaknesses, do the three things a Falun Dafa disciple should do well, doubly amend the loss caused to Dafa, follow Master faithfully, and firmly cultivate Falun Dafa until the end."
Ms. Zhang Guozhen was suffering from a condition where her whole body was swollen, and she had no financial resources. She died on February 3, 2005.
Persons and units involved in persecuting Ms. Zhang:
(Note: for phone numbers, dial country code + area code before all numbers. For cell phone numbers, dial country code before the numbers. Country code: 86, area code: 23)
Chongqing City New Force Labor Distribution Center, 6775-8448; Address, 18-Wannian Village, Renhe Town, Yubei District, Chongqing City, zip code, 401121
Chongqing City Force Labor Administration, 6787-1831, fax, 6787-1831; address, 10th Building, 72-Yangheyi Village, Jiangbei District, zip code 400020.
Chongqing City Women Force Labor Administration, 6785-1863; adress, 21-Wujiang Street, Jiangbei District, zip code, 400024
Fourth Ward of Chongqing City Women Force Labor Camp, 6786-1870
Chongqing City Force Labor Administration Party Secretary Tu Deyu (male, in his 50s) often came to labor camps to encourage further severe on persecution
Hu Hong, (male, in his 30s), former Education Team Leader of Xishanping Labor Camp, but job transferred to Maojiashan Women Labor Camp
Gao Ding (male, in his 30s), former Office Manager and Seventh Ward Education Official of Xishanping Labor Camp, but was promoted to Team Leader in Maojiashan Women Labor Camp.
Chongqing City Police Station, 6384-4756; address, Linjiang Street, Yuzhong District, Chongqing City; Director Zhu Mingguo (male)
Tongnan County Police Station, 4455-1138; address, Zhengxing Street, Tongnan County, Chongqing City, zip code, 402660;Director Yin Jianzhong (male), 44582001 /44556679/ 13908348968(Cell); Deputy Director Wen Yong (male, in charge of persecuting Falun Gong), 44582006 /44551228/ 13709428263(cell).
Tongnan County State Security Team Agents Specific involved in persecution, Zhang Liang (male, Team Leader), Luo Yonghong (male), Li Hengyi (male), Zhang Shimao (male), Liu Yong (male), Li Yonghong (female), phone numbers, 44582011/ 44552429/ 13709428300(Cell).
Villains in Shouqiao Township Police Substation, Chen Jianfu (male, Director), Chen Hengyou (male), Hu Guangjian (male), Lu Xueyang(male), etc. zip code, 402660.
(Clearwisdom.net) Ms. Li Shuping was a practitioner from Dafang Village, Liangzhongqiao Town, Changtu County, Liaoning Province. She was a 70-year-old retired teacher. In the spring of 2004, she went by bus to Changtu County to take care of some business. A person who actively participated in the persecution in her village reported her to the police from Liangzhongqiao Police Station. The police stopped the bus, arrested Li and took her to the police station. The perpetrators then ransacked Li's home and took away some Falun Dafa books and truth-clarifying materials.
Then, the police took Ms. Li Shuping to the Changtu County Detention Center, where she was detained. Because of the torture she suffered in the detention center, negatively affecting her physical and mental health, Ms. Li came down with a life threatening disease. The persecutors from the County State Security Group extorted 5,000 yuan from her family members before they released her. Shortly after she returned home, Ms. Li Shuping passed away.
(Clearwisdom.net) In August 2002, police from the local police station broke into my house and insisted that I write the Three Statements. After I refused to do so, a group of police dragged me into a police car. They demanded my family members to open my study and confiscated the portraits of our Teacher, all the Falun Dafa books, and audiotapes. After they took me to the police station, they shackled me to a metal chair and handcuffed my hands behind my back. Later, they transferred me to the police sub-bureau. The police pressured me to tell them my contacts and how we were connected. My family members begged me to cooperate so that I could be released sooner. I did not betray my fellow practitioners. The police sent me to the Wanjia Labor Camp for further persecution. In the Wanjia Labor Camp, I met several practitioners. One police officer slandered Falun Dafa in front of us. Later, a division head talked to all the practitioners. This division head was very vicious and later met with karmic retribution because of his persecution of Falun Dafa. After the talks, several practitioners wrote the Three Statements. The ones who refused to do so had to squat on a one-foot-square tile until bedtime. All the Falun Dafa practitioners in the training camp were closely monitored. They were not allowed to talk. They were ordered to recite the prison regulations. A few days later, I was sent to the Fifth Brigade of the Changlinzi Labor Camp.
I. The Torturous Brainwashing Tactics in the Fifth Brigade of the Changlinzi Labor Camp
The Fifth Brigade of the Changlinzi Labor Camp is a new brigade established specifically for brainwashing Falun Dafa practitioners. The three brigade leaders are Zhao Shuang, Yang Yu, and another person with the last name of Zhang. The three leaders and several instructors were all very vicious. The common criminal inmates who were selected to watch Falun Dafa practitioners were the roughest ones from various brigades. The head of the inmates was nicknamed "Knife, Gun and Canon"; ::; he had bribed the legal officers in order to avoid a prison term and was instead sentenced to a labor camp. In the labor camp, even the doctors had to apologize to him after saying something inappropriate, to avoid retaliation. This man committed murder again when he was on parole, and other officers were even implicated.
When people came to the Fifth Brigade, they would be subjected to a body search first, and then the brainwashing would begin. For those practitioners who refused to write the "Three Statements," the police would apply the following tortures: Pushing: the practitioner's mouth is sealed with tape, and they are forced to lie face down with the chest touching the floor; the head is pressed to the floor by a chair with a person sitting on it; the practitioner's arms are held to their sides, then roughly pushed forward to form a 180º arc up over their back and down to the floor in front of the head. Splitting: splitting the fingers and toes with hard implements. Bending: bending the practitioner's legs in painful positions. "Counting Ribs": a hard object is used to painfully poke the ribs one by one. Chopping: chopping the practitioner's neck with a wooden board. "Hammering": repeatedly striking the practitioner's back with the legs of a stool. Electric Shock: electric batons are used to shock the practitioner's body, including the genital area. If the area is burned from the shock, then hot water is poured over the body and the shocks are resumed when the water cools down. Whipping: a rubber baton is used the whip the practitioner's head; a strip of rubber is used for whipping the entire body. Piercing: piercing the body with needles. Slapping: brutally slapping the face. Punching and Kicking: heavy shoes are worn when kicking practitioners. Showering: drenching practitioners with cold water. Freezing: placing practitioners in front of open windows to subject them to the icy winter air. Hanging: practitioners are handcuffed and hung from a bunk bed for several days. They are often prohibited from closing their eyes during this time. Torture with Rats: rats are put into practitioner's pants, and the pants tied closed so that the rats will bit them. Twisting: toothbrush handles are placed between the fingers, and the practitioner's hand is clamped tightly; the toothbrushes are roughly twisted until the flesh on the fingers is torn. Often the bone is exposed by this torture. Squatting: practitioners are forced to squat inside a square-foot tile for long periods of time. Brushing: the back of the neck is rubbed with a wooden block until swollen, then a toothbrush is used to rub the area until it is raw and bloody. Pinching: the perpetrators wear rubber gloves and pinch the practitioner's testicles. Elbowing: hitting the chest with the elbows. Smearing the eyelids with hot pepper powder: this is often done to keep practitioners from falling asleep. Force-feeding: practitioners who are protesting the persecution by staging hunger strikes are force-fed with mustard oil through their nostrils. Highly salted food and concentrated saltwater solutions are also administered. "Drumming": the entire body is repeatedly struck with a heavy object wrapped in wool yarn.
In the labor camp, practitioners were also attacked psychologically: "Practitioner so and so was so determined, but later he wrote the Three Statements. How long can you go on? You will give in tomorrow." Under the extremely brutal torture, some practitioners could not bear it and wrote the "Three Statements." Some practitioners were tortured nearly to death and were transferred to the Wanjia Labor Camp hospital, where they died.
II. The Inhumane Treatment at the Wanjia Labor Camp Hospital
Falun Dafa practitioners were also tortured in the hospital of the Wanjia Labor Camp. The doctors often beat the practitioners who were on a hunger strike. They put a lot of salt in the food and force-fed practitioners. They often ordered the practitioners who refused to write the "Three Statements" to squat, and deprived them of their sleep. They would pierce their body with a needle when the practitioners dozed off. They ordered practitioners to take a cold bath in the winter. Several people nearly lost their lives when taking the cold bath. Regular inmates were also beaten frequently.
In the hospital, two family visits were allowed each month. The food and clothes brought by the family members were taken by the doctors on duty at will. Practitioners were not allowed to take a bath or change clothes. Thus, lice thrived and scabies spread. The doctors used a special spoon to scrape the blisters of the scabies until they bled and then left them uncovered. In the rooms for tuberculosis patients, Rooms 309 and 314, and the Closely Monitored Room, 307, patients were not allowed to lie down during the day and had to sit up the whole time. Their clothes stuck to their bleeding wounds and caused unbearable pain when they were taken off.
The Wanjia Labor Camp only provided half a bun, a bowl of thin vegetable soup, and a few slices of pickles for breakfast and supper, and one bun and one bowl of thin vegetable soup for lunch. The rest of the food was thrown away just to starve the patients. The patients were not allowed to pick up any food from the garbage can. The doctors on duty could collect money from the family members during the visit but he had to turn over some of the money to their superiors. The inmates in charge of the practitioners had to hand in at least 5,000 yuan service fee to the leader Chen. The inmate in charge could sell boiled water (100 yuan per person each month), and liquor (packed in plastic bags, sold for 50 yuan per bag). He determined which doctors would be on duty for each room, and decided on the room and bed for the patients; he also enjoyed a fully equipped kitchen; one person was assigned to wash his clothes and cook his food. A service fee of 300 to 500 yuan was required to use a single bed. Otherwise, the patients had to sit in the room. The bunk beds had two levels, upper and lower, about 4 feet by 6 feet in size, and sometimes the lower level would sleep five to six people. Their legs had to extend outside the bed. The patients who forgot to bring their own quilt, accidentally urinated on the bed, or did not follow orders would be tied to the headboards of the beds. They were not even allowed to go to the bathroom unless they had permission.
Some patients were so badly beaten that their bodies were full of wounds. When Dean Song, the head of the hospital, came to inspect the patients, he told the doctors on duty to be more careful and not to leave obvious marks on the body in case the family members requested an autopsy when the patient died. Because the conditions in the hospital were so poor, on average, five people passed away each day. A metal coffin could contain as many as three bodies.
III. Other Forms of Persecution
The Changlinzi Linzi Labor Camp employed inmates to watch Falun Dafa practitioners in each room, and forced the practitioners to do hard labors from 6 a.m. until midnight. Patients with tuberculosis and heart disease were not exempt.
Practitioners were persecuted by being starved. They were given only a thin porridge for breakfast (sometimes the porridge turned sour) or some vegetable and corn bread or bun for lunch and supper. The bread was made with stale cornmeal, and it looked dark and sticky. The food was so unappetizing that one could become nauseated upon smelling it.
The labor camp was supposed to issue an allowance for medical treatment. No allowance was ever distributed but everyone had sign a statement saying that he had received the allowance. They collected 300 yuan for the blanket that they never provided. If one did not pay, he would not be allowed to see his family members during the family visit. One had to pay for their own medical treatment and a transportation fee. To apply for medical parole, one had to pay the application fee, over a thousand yuan, to the legal division just to check the severity of the illness. On top of that they also had to pay the processing fee, the service fee, and the assistance fee.
During the family visits, practitioners were searched very thoroughly. Even wrappers of instant noodles brought by the family had to be removed, and the entire body was searched for Teacher's articles and cash. The guards used a master key to frequently search the lock boxes in the storage room; many personal items, including some daily necessities, often disappeared.
Extended sentences occurred in the First, Second, and Fifth Brigades. Even when medical parole was approved, the camp would still refuse to release the detainees, until several months later when they became more severely ill. They would, however, notify the family members when someone passed out, for fear that they might have to shoulder the blame if the detainee died.
(Clearwisdom.net) All of the male Falun Dafa practitioners who were unlawfully sent for forced labor in Xinjiang were imprisoned in the Changji Forced Labor Camp in Xinjiang. This article details some of the crimes of persecution committed against practitioners from 2000 to 2002 at the Changji Labor Camp. The practitioner who experienced and witnessed the persecution said, "The degree of evil inside the labor camp was far more severe than what I've recorded." Below is the practitioner's account.
In the first half of 2000, a female guard named Zhang Li forced practitioner Chai Yong (who was eventually tortured to death) to take off his clothes then used an electric baton to shock his body.
In July 2000, practitioner Cai Wenxu was detained in the labor camp and wrote a petition requesting to do Falun Gong exercises. He was consequently beaten by the former head of labor "re-education" and several guards with several electric batons and specially-designed high-voltage electric clubs that make it easy to shock one to death. They beat his body, his face, and his head for more than two hours. The torture was so cruel that even the other labor camp personnel could not bear to watch. However, Cai Wenxu did not give in.
On January 17, 2001, practitioners Chen Yujiang and Sun Bo were abducted and taken to the labor camp. Guards incited other guards and a criminal inmate into beating and scolding Sun Bo in the bathroom and hallway, and to pull Chen Yujiang to the basement and beat him with a wooden stick and knee him. During the beatings, guard Tian Hu heard them, yet not only did he make no attempt to stop them, but he also closed the door and told the guard and the inmate to be quieter so that they could continue the beating. Two guards came and beat the practitioners more violently. It took two months for Chen Yujiang's wounds to heal.
While under the pressure of the guards' brutal beatings, threats, and mind games, some practitioners could not withstand it and superficially (not from their hearts) agreed to give up their belief. When they realized that what they had done was wrong and renounced the declarations, the guards were infuriated and brutally beat and threatened each of the practitioners again.
On January 27, 2001, the practitioners who had previously gone astray while under pressure stepped forward for Falun Dafa again. Practitioners from Sichuan, who were doing the sitting mediation in the hallway, were beaten and humiliated by the guards and warden. When practitioner Xu Junnian came out to stop them, he was also brutally kicked and humiliated by the warden. Female guard Zhang Li shocked practitioner Yang Xinyong with an electric baton in the hallway in front of everyone early in the morning while he was doing the second Falun Gong exercise. Mr. Yang also suffered electric shock torture from labor camp section heads Zhang Yan and Gu Jianhai, and was then bound to a pipe with handcuffs. While practitioner Ge Lijun was sitting in meditation in the room, the section heads Zhang Yan and Gu Jianhai shocked him on the sensitive areas of his body. Then practitioner Liu Anhong decisively told the guards that his previous statements of renouncing Dafa were forced and completely invalid. Practitioners Ma Jujun, Chen Zongquan, Zhong Kai, Wang Lifeng, and Li Xianzheng also expressed in different ways their determination to return to the path of validating the Fa.
When Li Xianzheng began a hunger strike to protest the persecution, he was taken by the guards to the third floor to be shocked with an electric baton. Later he was handcuffed in the corner where it was very cold for over a day and he was not even given a blanket. Then practitioners Wang Hui, Cui Guilin, and Zhao Aijun also went on a hunger strike to support him. Their action shocked the entire forced labor camp, caused the guards to panic, and won the respect of many prisoners. In response, the guards assigned two prisoners to remain with each practitioner, disallowed practitioners to talk, put them under constant monitoring, increased their labor intensity, and intensified the persecution in all areas (mental abuse and deprivation of daily necessities, meals, sleep, etc.).
On June 3, 2001, during the flag raising ceremony, practitioner Chen Zongquan proclaimed loudly, "We want to do Falun Gong exercises and study the Fa," "I have been detained for more than two days," and other statements. The guards were startled and so frightened that they quickly took Chen Zongquan to the torture room. The guard Tian Hu (deputy team head) struck Chen Zongquan's neck with two electric batons. However, Chen Zongquan stood still. The guards locked him with handcuffs to a pipe in the corner for over three days to torture him, yet he did not give up his belief or submit to the evil.
At the end of July 2001, the warden (as instigated by the guards) forced all practitioners to sing a song intended to slander Falun Dafa. All the practitioners refused to sing and pointed out that it was humiliating to them and to Falun Dafa. The practitioners' justice-imposing manner and courage to clarify the truth in front of everyone shocked the guards; they were speechless and had to let it go. During the intensive forced labor work there was one occasion when practitioners had to seam woolen sweaters for three days without rest. Practitioners quite often had to work overnight.
In early August of 2001, the guards instigated the head inmate to lead the collaborators or who seemed to have been "reformed" to sing slanderous songs against Dafa. A practitioner (in his 60's), who was abducted from Miquan, refused to sing. The head inmate slapped his face and it became bruised and swollen. The collaborators often made suggestions to the guards and head inmate to persecute steadfast practitioners. The suggestions included extending practitioners' work hours, increasing the labor intensity, cursing at and applying more pressure on the inmates designated to watch practitioners to get them to hate Dafa and curse at and beat practitioners, and forcing practitioners to accept the brainwashing. Even some head inmates felt that the collaborators were too evil.
Around this time, another round of persecution began. The guards used all means of torture to break the practitioners spiritually and physically. In hot weather the guards did not allow practitioners to drink water, and practitioners were forced to repeatedly count out loud, squat down, stand up, shout slogans, sing, etc.
Practitioners Ma Chao and Liu Anhong refused to wear the camp's uniform and went on a hunger strike to protest the persecution. In response, guards Gu Jianhai, Tian Hu, and Ning Tao simultaneously beat Ma Chao with an electric baton while he was handcuffed and he wore only a t-shirt. In the afternoon these three men used the same torture method to persecute Liu Anhong, and at every mealtime they publicly humiliated Liu Anhong.
The forced labor camp frequently conducted brainwashing tactics on practitioners by forcing them to watch a (brainwashing) video. Practitioners Zhao Aijun, Chen Zongquan, Liu Zhengxue, and others refused to watch the video. Liu Zhengxue directly pointed out that this effort was conducted to deceive and poison people's minds. Upon hearing this, guard Wang became speechless. The practitioner's righteous behavior shocked the guards and made the other prisoners aware of the truth about Falun Gong, and they began to change their attitudes towards practitioners.
In September of 2001, the guards experimented with various cruel methods of torture to persecute practitioners. They did not allow the practitioners to use the toilet, forced them to jog as a punishment if they did not walk in order, and only gave five minutes time to the whole group of each cell for bathing and using the toilet. If anyone exceeded the five-minute limit he was severely scolded or beaten. The guards also forced the practitioners to make monetary donations, which practitioners strongly resisted. The guards consequently forced each group to pay 80 yuan in the name of improving meal quality (for one or two pieces of meat). The total collected was 1,000 yuan, all of which was pocketed by the guards. The guards also ate most of the meat off the bones before giving them to the practitioners.
On November 25, 2001, all of the practitioners requested that they be unconditionally released. They removed the camp uniforms and refused to do the forced labor, which shocked all of the guards, prisoners, and collaborators in the forced labor camp. All of the practitioners were then separated by the guards, monitored by several of the other prisoners, and forced to stay awake for three days straight. Then each of the practitioners was taken to the torture room where the guards used several high-voltage electric batons to shock them all over their bodies.
On April 8, 2002, practitioner Cai Wenxu, once again, wrote directly to the head of the forced labor camp and to the head of the division to clarify the truth and to ask for the release of the practitioners. After that none of the guards dared to torture him. After several days of his hunger strike, the guards started to force-feed him in order to torture him. However, because he maintained righteous thoughts, the guards promised not to force him to do any labor or wear the camp uniform, and let him stay in the room and finally he was released one month early. At that time fellow practitioners (including Zhong Kai, Guo Shuyan, Song Jizhuang, Cui Guilin, Xu Baoquan, Tang Boshi, Yang Xinyong and Wu Shengmin) took a stand against the persecution to validate the Fa. The guards consequently tortured each of them. Guards Gu Jianhai, Ning Tao, and Tian Hu used electric batons to shock these practitioners.
In August of 2002, after line up when they were to mark their timesheets, practitioners Wu Shengmin and Nu Ernan did not mark theirs. They were pulled into a torture cell by guards Gu Jianhai and Tian Hu. The guards first closed the door and shut the curtains and then they handcuffed both of the practitioners. The guards ordered Wu Shengmin to squat down, but he did not cooperate with them. The guards beat him with two electric batons. They beat Nu Erlan with two electric batons, shocking him all over his body. After getting no response from him, they switched to a longer and thicker electric baton to beat him.
At the end of August of 2002, practitioners Yang Xinyong refused to sing a labor camp song so guard Xie Tao tackled him and struck his neck (this guard previously had boxing training). He cursed Yang and struck his back with one fist and kicked him in the lower back. Yang immediately fell to the floor and the bowl in his hand dropped to the floor. Xie Tao dragged him to an office and shocked his hands with an electric baton.
In early September 2002, another round of brutal persecution started. The labor camp brought in guards from the north railway station of Wulumuqi. Whenever practitioners refused to work, wear the labor camp uniform, or eat the labor camp food, the guards dragged them to the torture chamber one by one. Practitioners were first threatened by the labor camp guards, and then they were tortured by the guards from the north railway station. Practitioners Sung Jizhuang, Cui Guilin, Xu Baoquan, Tang Weizhong, Guo Shuyan, Zhong Kai, Chen Yujiang and an unknown practitioner were brutally tortured by the guards with electric batons.
The guards also intensified their persecution of the practitioners who did not refuse to work, and the guards forced them to watch videos that slandered Dafa. Practitioner Chen Yujiang exposed (in front of everyone at the camp) that the guards beat people with electric batons and the lies in the videos. Other practitioners also refused to watch the videos. Shortly after this the guards quietly gave up.
One day in September 2002, practitioners Wang Hui and Sun Bo refused to sing a labor camp song before a meal. A female guard (her last name was Wang) ordered the two practitioners not to leave, however, Wang Hui did not listen and continued to walk away. The guard shouted and ordered another inmate to grab Wang Hui, and then the two of them took Wang Hui to the office and beat him.
In October 2002, the guards began to torture practitioner Zhao Aijun. They force-fed him everyday. They inserted a soft tube into his stomach through his nose. This was very painful, and it continued for more than 20 days. However, he remained steadfast and they eventually left him alone.
In December 2002, guards had everyone provide answers on a so-called examination. Practitioner Yang Xinyong refused to participate and the guards from the discipline department grabbed him by the collar and pulled him out of his seat. They punished him by making him remain standing still for a long time and they threatened to extend his term ten additional days.
On December 25, 2002, practitioner Sun Bo began a hunger strike to protest the illegal labor camp sentencing and maltreatment. Guards Zhang Yan and Tian Hu from the discipline department dragged Sun Bo into the torture chamber. They handcuffed him, pushed him to the floor, sat on his back, and pressed his head down. Then they shocked him with several electric batons for nearly half an hour. Around January 20, 2003, practitioner Nu Ernan took a stand against the persecution and several guards tortured him with electric batons.
The Xinjiang's Chanji Forced Labor Camp extended practitioners' terms without any justification. Liu Yulin's term was extended four more months because he protested the illegal labor camp sentence and the maltreatment. Zhao Aijun's term was extended four additional months because he protested the illegal ban on Dafa and requested a free environment to practice. Ma Jujun's term was extended four additional months when he tried to speak out against the beating of Dafa practitioners. Chen Zongquan's term was extended three additional months because he refused to give up his belief and continued to practice Dafa. Li Zhengxian's term was extended three additional months for protesting the illegal labor camp sentence and demanding the right to practice. Shihezi was sent to a brainwashing class after being detained for 13 days. Zhong Kai protested the labor camp sentence and refused to wear the labor camp uniform; his term was extended four months. Another practitioner (name unknown) started a hunger strike to protest the vicious persecution in the labor camp, and his term was extended four additional months. There have been so many practitioners who were not released at the end of their labor camp terms that it was impossible to compile a complete list.
Because practitioners showed strong resistance against the systematic persecution in the Changji Forced Labor Camp, they were later dispatched to various labor camps.
(Clearwisdom.net) Mr. Liu Xiaobin, a Falun Dafa practitioner, a resident in Jiamusi City, Heilongjiang Province, had become homeless to avoid the persecution. Around February 2, 2005, police arrested him at his mother's residence. Prior to this, the police had also arrested Liu Xiaobin's mother, also a Falun Dafa practitioner. The following are the details:
Mr. Liu Xiaobin suffered from paraplegia in his upper body before practicing Falun Dafa. He could not take care of his own daily needs. His wife divorced him because she saw that he had no hope of being cured. Later, after someone had introduced the Falun Gong practice to him, Liu Xiaobin started to practice Falun Gong. In the beginning he sat on a chair to practice the exercises at the practice site. Later he could stand up on his own. Thereafter he could walk without his crutches and take care of his own daily needs. Everyone who saw the change in him after he started the practice extolled the wonders of Falun Dafa and the miraculous healing effects.
On July 20, 1999, after the Jiang's regime started to persecute Falun Gong, personnel from the Jiadong Police Station in Jiamusi City came to harass and arrest Liu Xiaobin many times.
In 2001, Liu Xiaobin went to Beijing to validate Falun Dafa, but was locked in a detention center for over four months. During the detention period his whole body had scabies and pus oozed from the sores. Since the day of his release until recently, he had been living a homeless life to avoid the persecution. On February 2, 2005, when he went home to visit his family, the police from Jiadong Police Station forcibly took him away and put him in a detention center again.
When Liu Xiaobin was suffering from illness and unable to take care of himself, the government did not bother to ask about him. When he started to follow the principles of "Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance," to learn to become a good person, he was however subjected to unreasonable arrest, detention, barbaric persecution and was forced into exile.
(Clearwisdom.net) A "solemn declaration" is a person's public statement declaring to the world that whatever he or she has done or said under duress or deception that was against Falun Dafa is null and void. Most of these statements have come from Falun Dafa practitioners in China who wished to express regret that, in the face of physical torture and brainwashing, they had signed documents renouncing Dafa and guaranteeing not to practice again. Also, as more and more people in China learn the truth about how they have been deceived and lied to by the Jiang regime, many non-practitioners are also submitting "solemn declarations."
Here are some examples of the Solemn Declarations:
Please click here for more Solemn Declarations.
(Clearwsdom.net) To truly accomplish their historic mission, Fa-rectification practitioners must fundamentally deny the old forces arrangements, thereby reducing evil interference and persecution.
Not long after the persecution started, I felt that I was going to have a big tribulation. I believed that I would win this battle eventually, however things did not turn out the way I wanted. I didn't do well at a most critical moment because of my attachment of fear. I wrote the so-called Guarantee Statement against my will, promising never to practice again. After I did so, I was very depressed and I felt down for a long time. Many practitioners were not afraid of death and went to Beijing to validate the Fa and save sentient beings. I was not only afraid of death but I also damaged the Fa and disrupted my cultivation. If that was a test, I failed miserably. However, I kept on looking for excuses, thinking the statement was only a few words. I didn't scold Teacher or Dafa and I hoped Teacher would forgive me.
For many years I refused to change my thinking on this matter. The old forces used this loophole to persecute me by affecting my physical health. After that, I found my body was changing every day and I had difficulty achieving a peaceful meditation. Eventually I was unable to sit in the lotus position for the usual hour and I couldn't bend down at work or sit straight when sending righteous thoughts. "What went wrong?" I tried really hard to look inward and find the fundamental causes. I didn't seem to find the solution. I only knew that I created a loophole and the old forces were using it to persecute me. Afterwards, I sent righteous thoughts night and day focusing on this issue and tried to deny the old forces arrangement and eliminate the persecution. The results were not good and I was exhausted, in pain, and felt like I was falling apart.
This lasted for a few years. A few months ago, a practitioner encouraged me to write a "Solemn Statement." I didn't think this was very important and believed it to be a formality. I felt it was fine as long as I denied it from my heart. I didn't write the statement for quite awhile. Later I read some articles about this issue in Minghui Weekly and started to realize the seriousness of writing a "Solemn Statement." Guarantee statements written either at work or in the brainwashing centers were guarantees made under evil interference. Even a "Guarantee Statement" of only two words, such as "stop practicing," is used by the evil, who shows it to gods in other dimensions. This gives them an opportunity to interfere and persecute practitioners. If we don't document and void the statement and only think about denying it from the heart, the old forces will persist.
After knowing the facts, my heart brightened up and I immediately wrote a "Solemn Statement" denying the evil and declaring the "guarantee statement" null and void. I totally separated myself from the old forces and listened to Teacher's arrangement for everything.
Even before the statement was publicized, the situation of me sending righteous thoughts that night was totally different from before. The pain symptoms were apparently less and the time I could sit in the lotus position was now longer. My back did not hurt me when I bent down at work and my physical endurance was better each day.
I was very encouraged by these changes. Though I couldn't see what really happened in other dimensions, being a practitioner, I enlightened to the fact that I was transformed from inside out in other dimensions. At the same time I felt so ashamed of myself. I finally understood that what I had thought was "God's will" several years ago, was really what old forces used to persecute me. Suffering passively is the same as approving of the evil's arrangement. Only by eliminating the traps set by the old forces can we truly walk the path Teacher arranged for us.
(Clearwisdom.net) In China, those who have been "transformed" by the authorities have spread rumors that the Minghui website (the Chinese version of Clearwisdom) "fabricates" stories. The Communist Party (CCP) has spread these lies to confuse and deter practitioners. As practitioners though, we should always look inward whenever something like this happens. I would like to share my understanding of this matter with fellow practitioners.
The following are how the rumors may originate:
1. Special agents working for the Chinese government started a rumor when I was detained in the Masanjia Forced Labor Camp. I heard that the Minghui website published an article based on false information, about a practitioner who was persecuted in the Masanjia Forced Labor Camp. This incident rattled many practitioners' faith in Falun Dafa.
Destroying the credibility of the Minghui website has been one of the Chinese government's top priorities in its persecution of Falun Gong. Many practitioners risk being arrested, tortured, imprisoned, and even killed just for downloading and passing on Minghui articles or for writing an article for the Minghui website. Due to the information blockage, it is impossible for Minghui to verify every article that gets published. The Minghui website publishes certain articles based on their trust in the volunteer reporter/practitioner.
Some national security agents and public security agents deliberately fabricate stories and submit them to Minghui. If their article gets published, they use it to discredit Minghui. Most of the time, Minghui is able to tell if the stories are reliable and true. The Minghui staff follows strict procedural guidelines to ensure the credibility of its website. However, should we discredit Minghui simply because one or two articles written by these special agents slips through and gets published? No. The fact that Minghui is the target of special agents, the 610 Office, and the evil at the forced labor camps, speaks volumes for Minghui's righteousness and credibility, its power in shocking the evil and its ability to bring the truth to those who have no other means to obtain it.
According to those who work on Minghui, the evil has never stopped sending fabricated stories. For example, in the daily posting of "Solemn Declarations" where practitioners declare that what they said and did under forced brainwashing is null and void, Minghui receives numerous declarations that are false and that smear Falun Dafa and Teacher. Therefore, in the past few years, all solemn declarations, usually two hundred a day have been screened very carefully to identify and remove the fake ones.
2. There are also times when a reporter, out of inexperience, provides incorrect information that is based on hearsay. For example, when some practitioners hear rumors spread by the special agents and collaborators, they are eager to write about them, and even add in their own interpretations, which can cause misunderstandings. At other times, the writer/reporter may be led by his/her sentimentality and write with flowery or emotional words, which causes the article to lose its objectivity. There have also been times when the editors have caused some errors in the article because they did not try to understand them.
However evil the persecution is, we cannot exaggerate the facts due to our emotions or go into details about things that have little to do with the persecution. This only makes it sound like we are personally attacking someone rather than doing objective reporting. As practitioners, we cannot mix in our emotions with the things we do. Instead, we should use "Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance" to guide our actions and treat everything with compassion and selflessness, especially the articles that expose the evil. This shows our compassion to fellow practitioners and sentient beings and gives due respect to the victims and to the facts.
As practitioners, we should be strict with ourselves. We cannot expect readers or people who know about Falun Dafa but do not practice to be rational and objective. It's not easy to clarify the truth. In fact, one untrue word will render thousands of words from our heart useless.
Therefore, the Minghui reporters and those who provide the information in China should always maintain a calm mind. Although the report may be written by the victims themselves, we should still verify the facts and the details, as required in professional news reporting. Also, before submitting the article, we should remove subjective comments and unnecessary descriptions.
We write to expose the evil. Doing this is truth clarification and it is saving sentient beings. When we are soliciting or writing articles, we should do it according to the basic requirements of news reporting, to collect essential information regarding the incidents. At the same time, we need to combine the overall picture with details in our reporting.
Some practitioners have been writing for Minghui for a long time, without realizing that they have been doing news reporting. Yet, they have not paid enough attention to improving their writing skills and therefore their stories fail to effectively convey the message.
What I have enlightened from the above:
1. How to look at the errors made by Minghui with a perspective
Teacher once said, "It is not that Minghui Net does not make mistakes; however, on important matters, practitioners must pay attention to the attitude of Minghui Net." My personal understanding is that the Minghui's direction is righteous. If there are errors, the reasons may be in part because of the evil's interference, or in part because of practitioners' unresolved cultivation issues. However, we cannot minimize Minghui's role because of such mistakes. Those who believe that Minghui fabricates stories should think about these issues and give serious consideration to this conclusion.
2. We should take the Fa as our guide in our cultivation, not Minghui
Many practitioners while they were detained, failed to remember that they should take the Fa as Teacher. I often heard that practitioners quoted Minghui for direction in their cultivation. This type of attachment is similar to practitioners who are attached to those who are perceived to cultivate well. Any attachment will potentially affect your faith in Dafa. If one is attached to the information provided by Minghui, then when some incorrect information is given, it may cause one to waver.
It is also the same with the fabricated news on TV. Some practitioners try to distinguish which news stories are fabricated and which are real. When they find out a story was indeed fabricated, they will continue to practice. But when they cannot verify that it was wrong, they waver. Whether a news story is true or false is irrelevant. Even though it may be true, it may be from a practitioner who has gone astray and no longer has anything to do with Dafa. If however, the story is fabricated, it is our responsibility to clarify the truth and it becomes an opportunity for us to talk to people. Firmly believing in the Fa should not depend on whether the news is true or false.
3. The mentality of worship
The Minghui website plays an important role in the Fa-rectification and Teacher has acknowledged this. We remind ourselves not to be attached to practitioners who cultivate well. Yet, have we reminded ourselves not to look up to the practitioners who work for Minghui? In China, some practitioners have a mentality that those who work for Minghui are like practitioners who used to be close to Teacher. They perceive that those who work for Minghui are like those at a command center. They even envy the work of the Minghui staff. No matter what we do, it is part of cultivation, and it is what we should be doing. Practitioners who worship Minghui have an attachment that can result in problems and causes difficulties for Minghui.
I would like to emphasize that cultivation is a serious matter and we cannot mix our emotions with cultivation, especially the frontline reporters. This is also doing what we can to support Minghui.
(Clearwisdom.net) During the past three months, the female Falun Gong practitioners detained in Changping Detention Center have denied the persecution using their righteous thoughts and righteous actions.
In an attempt to stop the practitioners' sending forth righteous thoughts, Changping Detention Center made a rule that forces Falun Dafa practitioners to lie down to sleep during three of the four global times for sending forth the righteous thoughts each day. Practitioners are not allowed to sit up during these times. It is very easy to fall asleep when sending forth righteous thought while lying down, so the practitioners decided to send forth righteous thoughts in a sitting position during all four times every day. In the beginning, some of the guards tried to stop the practitioners from doing it. The practitioners gave letters to the police telling them the reason and purpose for their sending forth the righteous thoughts. They also clarified the truth about Falun Gong and advised the authorities against participating in the persecution. However, some of the guards still continued to prevent practitioners from sending forth the righteous thoughts. They incited other detainees to stop practitioners from doing so and prevent the practitioners from sitting up during the rest periods. One day at midnight a sudden jarring siren woke up all the detainees. The guards forced non-practitioner detainees to stop practitioners who were sending forth righteous thoughts. But no matter what the practitioners had to suffer, they just sat there like mountains. In the end, the guards acknowledged the practitioners' actions and allowed them to freely send forth righteous thoughts in the sitting position.
To deny the persecution entirely, the practitioners refused to follow the rules of the detention center and practiced the Falun Gong exercises when they were required to sit on the floor. They practiced the first four exercises in the morning and the sitting meditation in the afternoon. They refused to eat or drink. Two days later, on October 8, 2004, the guards separated Ms. Liu Bing and Ms. Zhu Jiaying, a 51-year-old award-winning teacher, and sent them to different detention cells with handcuffs and fetters.
Ms. Liu Bing, 31, is an advanced English teacher with double bachelor degrees. She was abducted in April 2004 by the officials from Changping 610 Office and police from the National Security Brigade while she was at work. Now, her unemployed husband is barely making a living while supporting their two-year-old child. With the handcuffs and fetters, Ms. Liu has been experiencing great difficulties. She can't use the bathroom or even eat by herself and has to stoop over while walking. It is even more painful while sleeping.
In such harsh conditions, Ms. Liu wrote a few letters to the section chief and the director asking them to release her from the torture instruments. Other practitioners also tried different means to rescue Ms. Liu from the persecution. Ms. Liu was released after seven days, but it didn't last long. Seven days later, police put the handcuffs and fetters back on her because she practiced the exercises during the forced sitting time.
Two days later another practitioner, 41-year-old Liu Zhujiang, was abducted and taken to the detention center because she distributed truth clarification materials about Falun Gong. As soon as she arrived she shouted out "Falun Dafa is great," and "Unconditionally release all the detained Falun Gong practitioners." Two other practitioners joined her. The detention center director sent the three practitioners to confinement immediately, and the guards put torture devices on Ms. He Tongjuan, and Ms. Liu Taojiang. (Ms. He Tongjuan, 63, is a senior engineer from the Chinese Space Navigation Bureau. Her employer has suspended her salary for more than four years.) The three practitioners asked Gao Deying, the detention center director, to stop the torture and release them from the handcuffs and fetters. From 8:00 a.m. until 2:00 p.m., the three practitioners loudly shouted "Falun Dafa is great." They were released back to the detention cell at about 8:00 p.m., still wearing the handcuffs and fetters.
When Ms. He Tongjuan was shouting "Falun Dafa is great," she was dragged out and handcuffed and fettered. Because the handcuffs were so tight, her hands became swollen and she couldn't feed herself. Soon after, she developed a heart condition. After a two-day hunger strike and several days of sleep deprivation, she passed out on the floor. An examination showed that she was very sick. Given this situation police finally removed the handcuffs and fetters, but her hands are still numb and she still has chest pain.
After Ms. Liu Taojiang was handcuffed and fettered, her hands became badly swollen. Thirteen days later when she was released, she almost fell down as she tried to stand up, but Ms. Wang Aimin caught her. While walking back to the detention cell, she couldn't feel her legs and couldn't stop in the door by herself. Inside the cell, she had to practice walking for a long time while being aided by Ms. Wang Aimin. Her legs are still numb. Her hands and legs have many injuries, and remain black in color.
Ms. Liu Taojiang and Ms. Liu Bing have been shouting "Falun Dafa is great" every day after they were handcuffed and fettered. They also wrote letters to the section chief and the director of the detention center demanding that the torture stop. On the twelfth day, Ms. Liu Bing took off the handcuffs herself. She continued practicing while still wearing the fetters. Before she was sent to court, she gave the handcuffs to the director and asked the director again to remove the fetters, but was refused. The police from the court said that she was the first lady they had seen who had to go to court with fetters on. Other practitioners actively tried to rescue the three heavily tortured practitioners. They sent letters to the director, appealed their concerns to the section chief, and sent forth righteous thoughts. On the fifteenth day, the other two practitioners were released from the torture devices.
Practitioners shout aloud "Falun Dafa is great" every day. Gao Deying, the director, told the other detainees to swear back at the practitioners, but they all understand the truth and no one followed the order.
The Communist Committee of Changping District
19 Government St., District of Changping, Beijing, 102200
Secretary of the committee: Zhao Fengtong.
Deputy-secretaries of the committee: Dong Genzhu, Li Fuzhong, Wang Gang, and Wang Shuhe.
Committee members: Yang Xuming, Zhu Guangtong, Dai Wei, Pan Jianxin, Cao Pengcheng.
Wang Shuhe, secretary of the Political and Judiciary Committee, is mainly in charge of persecuting Falun Gong. Tel: 86-10-89703046
The Government of the District of Changping
19 Government St., District of Changping, Beijing, 102200
Tel: 86-10-69742730 Office
Director of the district: Dong Genzhu
Deputy-directors: Yang Xuming, Hong Qizhong, Ren Xueliang, Feng Weili, Chen Qiusheng, Jin Hui
The Police Division of Beijing Police Department
Hongqi Rd.102200, District of Changping, Beijing
Tel: 86-10-69742115, 86-10-69746215, 86-10-69742197
Administration Office 86-10-69742041, 86-10-69742500
Political Section 86-10-69746231
Criminal Police Team: 86-10-69746178
The National Security Brigade
Liu Gang, a director, Tel. 86-10-89797974
Chen Hailong, a director, Tel. 86-10-69746618
Cheng Aiwei, a director, 86-10-69746804 (Office), 86-13801380382 (Cell)
Wang Yu, a director, 86-13621188535 (Cell)
The 610 Office of District of Changping
Liang Shiqiang, director: 86-10-89741645 (Office)
Kang Li, female officer: 86-10-89741539 (Office)
Sun, female officer: 86-10-69748505 (Home)
Lian Xuezheng, officer: 13681027211 (Cell)
Gao Ruihua, female, very actively cooperated with the 610 Office to persecute Falun Gong, Tel. 86-10-89707827 (Home)
Ding Guili, female: Tel.: 86-10-69747839 (Home)
Wang Huiru, female
Ren Huaijie,
Gao Deying, the director of the Detention Center of Changping: Tel.: 86-10-89798349
(Clearwisdom.net)
1. Dafa Saved Me and My Family Again and Again
Since the day I started working, I cared so much about personal fame and gain in life, and became very narrow-minded. I had deeply rooted jealousy and a competitive mentality, which did not allow me to eat or sleep well, and ruined my health. I'd developed all kinds of diseases, including neurosis, rheumatic arthritis, pain in my legs and lower back, an ice cold feeling on my back, numbness in half of my body, cataracts, hypotension, and dizziness. Whenever I had a headache, I had to bang my head on the wall to counteract the pain. After suffering all these horrible symptoms, I was so pleased to begin practicing Falun Gong through introduction by friends in 1996. I watched the videotapes of Master's nine-day lectures in Guangzhou, and it felt like Master was right by my side. I could feel Master's benevolence and kindness. The Fa is exactly what I had been looking for.
I paid attention to every word Master said. After three lectures, while I was half asleep, Master helped purify my body. Falun was spinning above my head. After I finished all nine lectures, my body experienced huge changes, from being bed-ridden to becoming full of energy. According to my doctor, I was supposed to stay in the hospital. But after I listened to Master's lectures, I felt very well and could even go to work without any problem. Since that time, eight years ago, I haven't taken any medicine. Dafa is so miraculous. Since that day, I have been cultivating in Falun Dafa. I cut out all my bad habits and followed Dafa's requirements.
Since the first time I read Zhuan Falun, I've treasured this great book. I could feel the righteousness between the lines. Zhuan Falun directly points to human hearts. It requires practitioners to observe laws and regulations, do their jobs well, be kind and honest citizens, look within themselves when facing conflicts, think more of others, care little about personal fame and gain, and give up all attachments. After you have let go of the attachments to fighting for self-interest and competing with others, you will live a much more relaxed life. Master teaches us that we should cultivate while conforming to ordinary society's way of living as much as possible. We don't need to renounce our families and become monks. Instead, we cultivate ourselves with clear minds amongst everyday people in the ordinary society. Through three years of cultivation, my diseases were all cured completely. Dafa made my family live happily and in harmony. My body felt so light and my heart was filled with happiness.
While I was enjoying all these things, on July 20, 1999, Jiang's regime, utilized by the old forces, started the brutal persecution of Falun Gong. They started the propaganda slandering Falun Gong by using newspaper, radio and TV stations. The police launched a mass arrest of practitioners all over the country. Practitioners, who appealed to the higher authorities for help, were arrested, detained, and jailed. Jiang's regime took away the freedoms and basic constitutional rights of Falun Gong practitioners. All of a sudden, Falun Gong was slandered and demonized, and practitioners were persecuted.
After that, the local police in our area had a conversation with me and asked me to write a guarantee statement saying I would no longer practice Falun Gong. They asked about my thoughts. I told them that the TV programs that slandered my Master were all fake and wrong, and that I wouldn't write that guarantee. One policewoman begged me, "Please write it, for the sake of our job and for your family." My human heart surfaced after all her begging. So I wrote the guarantee statement unwillingly and cooperated with the evil's arrangements. I wasn't able to validate and protect the Fa at that critical moment.
The persecution was getting worse and worse. I once lost my freedom and was monitored by the local police. I was a Dafa practitioner who had benefited from the Fa. How could I not take any actions while witnessing all this unfair treatment of the Fa? I went to Beijing to appeal in October 1999. I wanted to tell the media and the Appeals Office the truth about my personal experience. I wrote down my experiences and sent it to the media. The situation in Beijing was horrible at that time, and no matter how much you tried to follow procedures, there was nowhere to tell your story. You would be accused of disturbing social order and arrested and detained for that. Police in Beijing arrested me illegally. I was then transferred to my hometown's liaison office in Beijing and then to a detention center. I was illegally kept there for a month. During that time, I told the police the truth of how wonderful Dafa was. They were all moved by my words and behavior. I told them how to be a good person and not hurt others. Among the prisoners, there were murderers and grafters. After they listened to me, they were no longer fighting with each other. They even helped to cover us when we practiced and studied the Fa.
Friends and relatives all tried to persuade me: "If you think Falun Gong is good, then practice at home. Why bother staying there and suffering? If you insist, they'll send you to a forced labor camp. How could you stand that? Be realistic..." Due to many attachments, and being afraid of hardship, I began to waver. I developed fear and selfishness and wrote a guarantee statement and a repentance statement. Later I was released. I surrendered to the evil and didn't firmly protect the Fa. I felt so ashamed of myself. I felt that I had betrayed Master's compassionate salvation, and my heart was aching as if being twisted with a knife.
During the critical time, I chose to protect myself and followed the old forces' arrangements. I missed many opportunities and was controlled by the evil. After I returned home, my body started to show signs of sickness. I felt dizzy and my lower back became very painful.
In January of 2000, all of a sudden my son started having a headache. I initially didn't pay much attention. But when he got up one morning, he couldn't speak clearly. His mouth was slanting, and he couldn't shut his eyes. He was losing his memory and his hands couldn't hold anything. He had all the symptoms of cerebral thrombosis. I immediately took him to the hospital. The diagnosis was Cerebral Aneurism. There were two Cerebral Aneurisms in his brain stem. It was very severe. I immediately took him to Beijing Capital Hospital, where the reputable doctor Ling Feng gave him a check-up. The doctor said the position of the aneurism was very serious, and operating would be very difficult. Even if it was successful, he might enter into a coma. If it was not successful, my son might not survive. They could give it a try if the family insisted. So we talked to my son and he said, "Let's go home. No operation. I'll go home and practice Falun Gong."
So my son didn't have the operation. He started practicing Falun Gong. When his headache bothered him so much that he couldn't sleep, the only thing that worked for him was to listen to Master's lectures. During the daytime, after he finished watching all the videotapes of Master's lectures, he started practicing the exercises. He fully recovered in one month. After two months, he was able to do all of his daily work and all of his memory recovered. It's been four years now, and he's in excellent condition. It is Dafa that gave my son his new life. This is another miracle of Dafa. Once again, Master kindly showed his compassion towards me and protected and saved my son. Many famous doctors and professors thought that my son could only live for 10 days, 20 days, or a year, and that the aneurism was like a bomb that could explode any time. My son's belief in Dafa is based on conscience and practice, and not just following blindly as some people think. Such belief is firm and cannot be shaken by any force.
It is our great Master's compassionate protection that helped me pick myself up again and again after I tumbled in tough and difficult situations. I completely negate the old forces' arrangement and am firm in my belief now. What we have experienced proves once again that Falun Dafa is a superior science. In my own cultivation experience, Master purified my body again and again. I have become so healthy, and my life is rich and happy. I'm steadfast on my cultivation path.
2. Master's Boundless Benevolence Enabled Us to Become Fa-Rectification Period Dafa Disciples
I became more and more mature during the evil tests arranged by the old forces. I gradually got rid of my fear, apprehensions, and selfishness, bit by bit. The evil factors are negated and cleared by my righteous thoughts.
During my cultivation and Fa-rectification, I gradually was able to distinguish between the old forces' arrangements and the arrangements made by Master. For example, when my living environment was interfered with and damaged or when I was interrupted the moment I wanted to clarify the truth or study the Fa, besides looking inward at my own xinxing, I would always completely eliminate the evil's interference. Everything that prevents me from doing the three things that Master asks us to do needs to be eliminated, because that is the old forces using dark minions to stop me from validating the Fa. I always send forth righteous thoughts before I clarify the truth, whether face to face or indirectly. I always have a thought: I want to save sentient beings. Usually, I receive good results. I've improved a lot in my cultivation during the process of clarifying the truth and saving sentient beings.
I'm deeply grateful for our Master's merciful, arduous salvation. He gives us the most precious cultivation opportunity and makes us the Fa-rectification period Dafa disciples.
(Clearwisdom.net)
I'm 79 years old and I started practicing Falun Dafa in 1996. Before that, I had numerous illnesses and they were all stubborn, chronic problems. For example, I suffered from cataracts, prostate hyperplasia, bronchiectasis, hepatic cyst, constipation, lumbosacral strain, and arthritis. I was often sick with colds that would last a long time and then leave me with complications. I was in constant pain, and my illnesses also brought misery to my family and increased costs for my country. But since I started practicing Falun Dafa, I have never been sick once nor have I had to take a single pill--I have not needed to submit any medical claims. This has brought happiness to my family and has lessened the financial burden on my country. Here I would like to talk about some of my cultivation experiences over the past 9 years:
1. Personal Benefits of Mind and Body and Dramatic Changes
I had cataracts for more than ten years before I started practicing Falun Dafa. I was not able to clearly see an object when it was only one meter (three feet) away. When I taught my classes, if a student sitting in or after the fifth row raised his/her hand, I would not be able to see it. Therefore, I had to take disability leave ahead of my time for retirement. Constipation was my biggest hidden ailment. It was common for me to not have a bowel movement for six to seven days and I was in terrible misery. Three years before I practiced Falun Gong I started to have prostate hyperplasia, which forced me to get up 4 to 5 times to urinate in the night. My urination was urgent and painful and I often had blood in my urine. I was in excruciating pain with all sorts of different illnesses. Neither western nor Chinese medicine worked for me; I spent all my monthly wages on medical bills. Nonetheless, I was in debt, which put big pressure on my family's financial condition. Under such difficult conditions, I was fortunate enough to start practicing Falun Dafa through a relative's introduction. In the beginning, I did not know anything about Falun Dafa and I thought I'd just give it a shot. I found an assistant at a practice site and my first question was how much it cost. He told me that Falun Dafa practitioners taught the exercises on a volunteer basis and did not charge any money. He told me to go to a bookstore to buy the Falun Gong book. He also said that if I thought it was good after reading the book, then I could go ahead and practice it; otherwise, I should simply not practice it. I immediately went to Xinhua bookstore and bought a copy of China Falun Gong. After reading the book, I felt it had a rich, broad and profound content. Meanwhile, I listened to Teacher Li's lecture tapes at the practice site and that motivated me to practice Falun Dafa. This way, I entered the cultivation practice of Falun Dafa.
After cultivating in Falun Dafa for a period of time, some of my stubborn, chronic illnesses gradually disappeared without medical intervention. I also witnessed some miracles, so I cultivated even more diligently. After practicing Falun Dafa for a month, I started to feel that my feet had become strong. One time I walked for more than three hours straight. I walked about 30 kilometers without a break, but I did not feel tired at all and was able to do some chores upon returning home. That was indeed a miracle. Now I walk like I'm treading on air. I walk with my head held high and with long strides. My vision has also shown miraculous improvements. Once I came across an old newspaper and I was able to read it clearly without eyeglasses. Ever since then, I've no longer needed eyeglasses for my near-sightedness when I read or write. My vision is now as good as when I was young. Isn't it a miracle to be able to thread a needle without eyeglasses when I'm almost 80? In the past, what I dreaded most was winter. When the temperature dropped to below 10 degrees Celsius, my bronchiectasis, lower back and leg pains, and arthritis would act up. Especially when I tossed and turned in bed and let in a little fresh air during the night, it would keep me violently coughing nonstop, which affected my sleep and even led to insomnia. I felt so miserable. However, I lived safely and soundly through the first winter after I started practicing Falun Dafa. My symptoms of bronchietasis, arthritis, constipation, prostate hyperplasia and other illnesses all disappeared. My whole family was happy for me. Now it's been eight to nine years since I said goodbye to the hospital.
After studying the Fa and cultivating, my level of awareness has also made constant improvement, my life has been enriched, and I have a goal. I read the book Zhuan Falun whenever I have time and I don't know how many times I have read it. I gain something different and new every time I read the book. The more I read it, the more I want to read it. Indeed, I can read the book hundreds of times without getting bored. I have also taken fame and wealth less seriously.
2. One Person Practices and the Whole Family Benefits
My wife was sick and my children each had to pay their share for her medical bills. There was also monetary support from the younger generations of my relatives. After I practiced Falun Dafa, all my illnesses disappeared and my wife no longer needed to take medicine. For the past eight to nine years, we have never taken a cent from our children. We actually took out some of our savings and gave it to my daughter-in-law to improve their living conditions, to develop farming byproducts, and to buy food for and give an allowance to my granddaughter. These are all things that we can actually see with our eyes. There are also some invisible, indirect benefits.
3. Experiences of Being Spared After Brushes with Danger
Teacher says:
"Debts have to be settled. So on your cultivation path some dangerous things might happen. But when these things happen you won't be scared, and we won't let you get into real danger." (Zhuan Falun)
A) One Sunday before July 20, 1999, a young fellow practitioner gave me a ride on his bike to go into town for the group Fa-study. On my way there, I unexpectedly fell off the bike and lay on the street on my back, and the bike also flipped over. So he and the bike both fell on top of me and the situation was very dangerous. People on the street were all stunned. With bystanders' help I got to my feet and was unharmed. I went into town in time for the group Fa-study.
B) Once I climbed up a two-meter high fence with a wooden ladder to pick some peas and I accidentally fell down. My feet were caught in the ladder. My wife, who was inside the house, was alarmed by the noise and helped me to get to my feet. After carefully examining my body, I did not find any injury. Again, it was a false alarm.
C) One Sunday this year, I went shopping in a small store. I had to cross a ditch to get to the store. The edge of the ditch was cemented and filled with slippery moss. After crossing the ditch I stepped on the moss and fell to the ground. My watchband was broken and the watch landed 2 meters away. The storeowner was shocked. He grabbed me and helped me get up. I had mud all over my body, yet I was safe and sound without a scratch. There are some other miraculous incidents in which I was spared after brushes with danger, but I'll not talk about them now.
4. Persecuted Since July 20, 1999
Because I did not cooperate with the evil to create falsifying evidence or to deceive people, supervisors, security patrols, police department's instructors, police and other unknown personnel in my town constantly came to my home to harass me. They forbade me to make appeals or make group efforts with others, and they imposed their rules (which I would destroy after they left) on me, but I ignored them. They wiretapped my phone for more than 100 days in a row and requested that I personally answer the phone every day. If I were not home they would find me and get me home to answer the phone. They also assigned my neighbors to watch over me. If I went out or contacted someone they were suspicious of, they would immediately report it to the public security office in my town. I also noticed that several times when I went into town to pick up my paycheck, someone would follow me. When I found out, I maintained my righteousness and ignored it, and it did not happen again since. In addition, the Qionglai TV station came to my home twice for a videotaping. They were accompanied by supervisors in the town, headmaster and Party Secretary of the village and personnel from the city. They asked me to make slanderous statements and testimony. I told the truth, so they eventually did not play the videotape.
Because of various reasons I have been staying home and have not been able to step forward, mainly because I have had a serious attachment to fear. Firstly, being old, being slow in movement and actions, and with impaired hearing, I am afraid that I will bring losses to Dafa that would be hard to recover. Secondly, I was afraid that I would bring some serious consequences to my family. These are all human mentalities and are attachments that a cultivator should cultivate away.
I recently read Teacher's new article "Let Go of Human Attachments and Save the World's People":
"For a Fa-rectification period Dafa disciple, personal liberation is not the goal of cultivation: when you came, saving sentient beings was your great aspiration, and that is the responsibility and mission history has bestowed upon you in Fa-rectification. Thus great numbers of beings are to be saved by you. Dafa disciples, don't forsake the magnificent responsibility that has been bestowed upon you in Fa-rectification, and even less should you disappoint those beings, as you are now their only hope for entering the future. For this reason, all Dafa disciples, students both new and veteran, should get to work and begin comprehensively clarifying the truth. This is especially so for the Dafa disciples in Mainland China: each must come out and clarify the truth, bringing it to every field and valley, mountain and hill, not omitting a single area where there are people."
After reading this, I felt ashamed of myself and I criticized myself. From now on, I will use every opportunity to step forward to clarify the truth to people around me and to my colleagues, including telling them in detail about the great changes in my mind and body, so that they are able to understand that Falun Dafa is good and is a righteous way, and that they should not listen to the tricks and slander fabricated by TV and radio stations.
(Clearwisdom.net) [Linqu County, Shandong Province] Mr. Zhang Yuxiang Held in the Detention Center [Henan Province] Ms. Chen Awen Held in Custody in Runan City [Inner Mongolia] Ms. Li Shenggeng and Her Husband Wei Jianxin from Aohan Banner Arrested [Hengyang City, Hunan Province] State Security Sub-Unit Officers Arrest Ms. Yang Zhilan [Yishui County, Shandong Province] Ms. Hao Maofen Again Taken into Custody [Shuangyashan City, Heilongjiang Province] Ms. Wang Junhong and Ms. Zhang Xiangzhen Sentenced to Forced Labor [Jilin Province] Mr. Liu Ziwei Sentenced to Three Years of Prison in Baishan City [Shandong Province] Ms. Han Huiqiong, an English Teacher at Shandong Petroleum University, under Arrest; Her Home Ransacked [Harbin City, Heilongjiang Province] Ms. Liu Shuzhen Held at the No. 2 Detention Center [Beijing] Ms. Wang Aihong Held in Custody
1. [Linqu County, Shandong Province] Mr. Zhang Yuxiang Held in the Detention Center
Ms. Zhang Yuxiang lives at Luozhuang Village in Sitou Town, Linqu County, Shandong Province. At 5:00 p.m. on December 16, 2004, officers from the county's State Security Unit arrested her and ransacked her home. Ms. Zhang is being held at the detention center.
Relevant telephone numbers:
Linqu County State Security Unit: 86-536-3219997
Tan Qingjun, director of the state security unit: 86-536-3218145, 86-13905362119 (mobile)
2. [Henan Province] Ms. Chen Awen Held in Custody in Runan City
Ms. Chen Awen, in her forties, is a hairdresser. Officials from the Zhumadian City 610 Office and the Leihe City 610 Office arrested her. Ms. Chen is being held in Runan City.
3. [Inner Mongolia] Ms. Li Shenggeng and Her Husband Wei Jianxin from Aohan Banner Arrested
Ms. Li Shenggeng and her husband, Wei Jianxin, are both disabled. Mr. Wei was stricken with kyphosis, commonly known as "hunchback," and could not maintain a normal life or do any physical labor. After practicing Falun Dafa, both his mind and body benefited immensely. Since July 20, 1999, when Jiang Zemin and his followers launched the persecution of Falun Dafa, Mr. Wei has twice been sent to forced labor camp, simply for speaking the facts that contradicted the widespread lies of the government controlled media. He was sentenced to one year of forced labor in 2000 and again for two years in 2002 and was then released before the Spring Festival in early 2004.
From May to October 2004, Mr. Wei's elderly brother, who worked out of town, was twice abducted and taken to a brainwashing center for simply practicing Falun Dafa and for striving to be a kindhearted person. During this period, Liu Keqin, an official at the brainwashing center, showed up several times at Mr. Wei's home to harass him.
On December 1, 2004, under the instigation of Guo Xiaoguang, leader of the brainwashing center, Ms. Li Shenggeng and Mr. Wei Jianxin were abducted and taken to the Chifeng City Brainwashing Center. Ms. Li's parents, both approaching 80 years old, were left at home unattended. Her mother suffers from bronchitis.
Relevant telephone numbers:
Guo Xiaoguang, leader of the 610 Office: 86-476-4331835 (home)
Liu Keqin, a brainwashing center official: 86-476-4336295 (home), 86-13847659056 (mobile)
4. [Hengyang City, Hunan Province] State Security Sub-Unit Officers Arrest Ms. Yang Zhilan
At around 10:00 a.m. on December 19, 2004, officers from the Shigu Branch Police Department and the State Security Sub-Unit arrested Ms. Yang Lanzhi at her home and took her to the Hengyang City No. 2 Detention Center. Ms Yang has been on a hunger strike for ten days to protest the illegal arrest and persecution. The official in charge of her case has denied her family any visitation, and all information related to Ms. Yang's case has been blocked.
Relevant telephone numbers:
Country code: 86, area code: 734
Hengyang City No. 2 Detention Center in Hunan Province: 8401943, 8493020
Shigu District Political Affairs Office of Hengyang City Police Department: 8190681
Zhou Zhuowen, deputy head of the Hengyang City State Security Subunit: 8208189 (office), 8218485 (home), 86-13907345665 (mobile)
Xie Liguo, director of the Hengyang City 610 Office: 8866779 (office), 884709 (home), 86-13907346998 (mobile)
Deng Deyuan, deputy director of the Hengyang City 610 Office: 8866612 (office), 8801382 (home), 86-13507340455 (mobile)
5. [Yishui County, Shandong Province] Ms. Hao Maofen Again Taken into Custody
Ms. Hao Maofen is a Falun Dafa practitioner from Gaoqiao Town, Yishui County, Shandong Province. On December 17, 2004, she was cooking a meal at her home when she was abducted by the authorities. On December 18, Ms. Hao was sent to a brainwashing center in Linyi City.
Ms. Hao has been arrested without cause in the past. She had been held in a detention center for nine days before the police allowed her to have a meal. It was only after her relatives paid the police 5,000 yuan that she was finally released from this inhumane treatment. It was reported that the reason for Ms. Hao's latest abduction was because her previous mistreatment at the hands of the authorities had been exposed on the Internet.
6. [Shuangyashan City, Heilongjiang Province] Ms. Wang Junhong and Ms. Zhang Xiangzhen Sentenced to Forced Labor
Ms. Zhang Xiangzhen and Ms. Wang Junhong were arrested in October 2004. They have been sentenced to one and two years of forced labor, respectively.
Relevant telephone numbers:
Chang'an Police Station: 86-469-4216539
Bai Shuwen, prison affairs director of the Shuangyashan Detention Center: 86-13091805888 (mobile)
Zhu Yaru, female guard at the detention center: 86-469-8598099
7. [Jilin Province] Mr. Liu Ziwei Sentenced to Three Years of Prison in Baishan City
Mr. Liu Ziwei has been on a hunger strike since having been recently taken into custody at the Baishan City Detention Center. On his eighth day there, the authorities sentenced Mr. Liu to three years of forced labor and transferred him to the Chaoyanggou Forced Labor Camp.
Relevant telephone numbers:
Country code: 86, area code: 439
Baishan City Political and Judiciary Committee: 3223197
Baishan City Detention Center: 3225416
Bai, chief of the Dongxing Branch Police Department: 6110177
Zhao Yongbin, of the Dongxing Branch Police Department: 86-13843909026 (mobile)
Dongxing Branch Police Department: 3330110
8. [Shandong Province] Ms. Han Huiqiong, an English Teacher at Shandong Petroleum University, under Arrest; Her Home Ransacked
Ms. Han Huiqiong is an English teacher at the Petroleum University School. The officials at the school suspended Ms. Han from her teaching position simply because of her practicing Falun Gong, following the principle of "Truthfulness-Benevolence-Forbearance," and for being a kind-hearted person.
On the evening of December 20, 2004, officials from the university's security division led officers from the Binhai Police Department to Han Huiqiong's home. They forcibly grabbed her keys while she was walking down the stairs to buy dinner. Without presenting any legal documents, they ransacked her home, confiscating a personal computer and peripherals. Ms. Han is being held at the brainwashing center located at the Consolidated Transportation Company, in the Shengli Oil Fields.
Relevant telephone numbers:
Country code: 86, area code: 546
University officials:
Zheng Qixu: 8392201
Tong Zhaoqi: 8392601
Ji Xiaotian: 8392202
Li Yangchu: 8392357
Xu Hengjin, director of the university's administrative office: 8392205 (office), 8392315 (home)
Wang Dezhao, deputy director of the university's administrative office: 8391040 (office), 8396868 (home)
Wan Yunbo, deputy director of the university's administrative office: 8392199 (office), 8392191 (home)
9. [Harbin City, Heilongjiang Province] Ms. Liu Shuzhen Held at the No. 2 Detention Center
Ms. Liu Shuzhen is an employee of the Harbin Bearings Manufacturing Plant in Heilongjiang Province. The police received reports that she and other practitioners were clarifying the truth at a shopping center. On November 16, officers from the Anbu Police Station in Xiangfang arrested Ms. Liu. She is being held at the Harbin No. 2 Detention Center, in the Yaziquan area, leaving her mentally ill husband alone at home unattended.
10. [Beijing] Ms. Wang Aihong Held in Custody
Ms. Wang Aihong, 31 years old, lives on Yonganli Lane in the Chaoyang District of Beijing. On April 7, 2004, the State Security Division, including two officers named Xu Yongnan and Fan, arrested her at her home.
Presently, Ms. Wang is being held at the Guanzhuang Detention Center, a subsidiary of the Chaoyang District Police Department. Since her arrest, Wang Aihong has had two court hearings in the Chaoyang District Court.
Relevant telephone numbers:
Country code: 86, area code: 10
Detention center lobby: 65484821
Ma Ying, judge: 65958855 ext. 5219
Yu Xiang, secretary: 65958855 ext. 5212
(Clearwisdom.net)
Facts of the Persecution
1. Practitioner Mr. Zhu Zhongguo from Fengcheng City, Liaoning Province, Is Tortured in Dabei Prison in Shenyang City
Falun Dafa Practitioner Mr. Zhu Zhongguo from Fengcheng City, Liaoning Province, is being tortured in the Dabei Prison in Shenyang City. He started cultivating Falun Dafa in 1995. During the busy spring seeding season in 2001, the Fengcheng City 610 Office (formed mainly by the Party Political and the Judicial Committee) arrested Mr. Zhu and placed him in the Brainwashing Center for twenty days. In June 2002, government official Yu Chunbo (male) and officer Ma Guoquan (male, now transferred) led two thugs to storm into Mr. Zhu's house. Mr. Zhu resisted the illegal arrest and tried to reason with them, but he was beaten. Mr. Zhu ran to his neighbor's yard and shouted, "I am being mistreated! I am being wronged!" They chased him and then brutally beat him until bruises covered his entire face and body. They arrested him and took him to the Fengcheng City Detention Center again. Several months later, his family heard that he had been sentenced to five years in the Dabei Prison in Shenyang City. His wife and twelve-year-old daughter are at home alone, living a very hard life. His daughter will soon quit school due to financial difficulties. They plan to visit him soon and try to persuade the guards and administrators to release him on a medical parole.
http://minghui.ca/mh/articles/2005/2/8/95077.html
2. Practitioner Mr. Liu Jingxin from Changchun City Jilin Province, Is Arrested and in Jilin Prison; His Family Exposes the Police Torture
We are relatives of Mr. Liu Jingxin, who is jailed in the First Ward of Jilin Prison. We are exposing the crimes of Li Yongsheng, a man in the Education Department. Mr. Liu Jingxin was arrested on March 11, 2002, from his work place without any reason. Police interrogated him the whole night, while eight or nine police beat him one after the other. Some of them used a rubber baton, and others used a mop handle that broke into pieces from beating him so hard. Some kicked his chest with their leather boots, while others beat his head and ears. They cuffed his hands behind his back onto a chair for more than thirty minutes while they beat him, leaving visible marks on his wrists to this day. The most unspeakable torture they used was placing a plastic bag over his head to suffocate and terrorize him. On March 13, 2002, he was sent to the Tiebei First Detention Center in Changchun City. He was detained there for more than one year. After a rushed trial, he was sentenced to three and half years in Jilin Prison. He was tortured until both his feet were swollen and numb. He cannot sleep normally, has become very weak, and his day-to-day existence is very difficult.
When we visited him on January 6, 2005, we heard that Li Yongsheng had mentally tortured him for three days beginning on January 4, 2005. On February 1, 2005, when we visited him again, we found he had changed into a different person. He was terribly weak, with a blank stare and pale face. Li Yongsheng from the Education Department had been trying to force him to succumb to the brainwashing since January 4. Mr. Liu Jingxin had put him in a Strict Monitoring Cell for 12 days to create severe psychological trauma. We demand the following:
1. That the torture of Mr. Liu Jingxin be stopped. 2. That Li Yongsheng stop torturing and beating/cursing Mr. Liu at once. 3. That Li Yongsheng be held responsible for his actions in causing Mr. Liu Jinxin's severe mental and physical trauma. 4. That the Education Department be brought to justice for promoting such atrocities. 5. That Mr. Liu Jingxin be immediately and unconditionally released.
http://minghui.ca/mh/articles/2005/2/8/95090.html
3. Police Actions Against Practitioners in Lushuihe Town, Fusong County, Jilin Province
On October 14, 2004, police in Lushuihe Town, Fusong County, Jilin Province, together with police from the Bao'an Branch Substation, went to Falun Dafa practitioner Ms. Yuan Shufang's home and arrested her and then detained her in the Fusong County Detention Center. She was sentenced to eighteen months in the Heizuizi Women's Labor Camp in Changchun City. Because she was tortured while in detention, she failed her physical examination, and the labor camp refused to accept her. But the Town Police Station Deputy Director Lu Hongyan (male) forced the camp to accept her. Police abducted another Falun Dafa practitioner Qiao Guilan, because he wrote, "Falun Dafa is great." The Lushuihe Town Police Station Director Chen Gang slapped her face, decided to detain her in the Fusong Detention Center, and sentenced her to eighteen months of forced labor. The labor camp refused to accept her because of her advanced age, but Chen Gang said he would rather lock her up for eighteen months until her sentence ends.
http://minghui.ca/mh/articles/2005/2/8/95074.html
(Clearwisdom.net) European Falun Gong practitioners' Chinese New Year celebrations started with a press conference. The first speaker, the chairman of the French Falun Gong Association, said that under the persecution initiated by Jiang Zemin and the Chinese Communist Party, nearly 1,400 Falun Gong practitioners have lost their lives and hundreds of thousands of others are being tortured in forced labor camps. He urged everyone to strive together to help the world become more peaceful and tolerant.
  Chairman of the French Falun Dafa Association gives a speech |
A practitioner read out the New Year's greetings from the magistrate of Paris City's 19th District, where a parade was held after the press conference, as well as other messages of New Year's greetings from an MP, the current mayor of Versailles and a member of the French Ecology Party. They either wished all the Chinese people and Falun Gong practitioners a Happy New Year or expressed their support for Falun Gong practitioners' endeavors to appeal for their rights and freedom.
  A practitioner reads out New Year's greetings from the magistrate of Paris City's 19th District, an MP, and the current mayor of Versailles |
Next was a speech given by Mr. Fabrice Orlandi, the lawyer entrusted with launching legal action after the poor treatment of Falun Gong practitioners by French authorities last year. During Chinese leaders' visit to France at the end of January 2004, several hundred Falun Gong practitioners gathered in Paris to peacefully request China to stop the persecution against the practice. Regrettably, bowing to pressure from the Chinese Communist regime and violating its own basic principles, French law enforcement agencies carried out arbitrary searches, arrests and detention of Falun Gong practitioners. This not only infringed on the practitioners' personal freedom, but also led to more serious consequences: Falun Gong practitioners were impeded in their efforts to expose the brutal persecution of Falun Gong in China to the governments, media and people; this unwittingly helped the persecutors of Falun Gong.
  Lawyer Fabrice Orlandi, entrusted by Falun Gong practitioners to represent them in a lawsuit |
The day before the parade, on behalf of Falun Gong practitioners, Attorney Fabrice Orlandi filed a lawsuit with the Tribunal de Grande Instance de Paris, requesting a comprehensive investigation into the French police's harassment of Falun Gong practitioners at the end of January 2004.
In his speech and interview with the media, Attorney Fabrice Orlandi said, "In democratic countries like France, it is totally unacceptable that people are arrested purely because of their philosophical thinking and that people's freedom of expression is taken away just because of a Chinese leader's visit. Your rights must be maintained. The path ahead could be long, but we will walk it to the end. This is the Year of the Rooster; the Rooster is symbolic of France and it also symbolizes the will to fight. Let's hope that our fight for maintaining our rights will extend over national boundaries and reach the shores of China."
  Attorney Fabrice Orlandi being interviewed by the media |
The last speaker was the chairman of the European Falun Gong Association. He said that Chinese culture especially emphasizes a high degree of harmony in people's hearts, coordination between human beings and their environment, as well as harmony between humanity and nature, and that self-cultivation is one of the ways to achieve this high degree of harmony. He also hoped that Falun Dafa's principles of Truthfulness, Compassion and Tolerance would bring well-being to all people around the world.
Source: http://clearharmony.net/articles/200502/25036.html
(Clearwisdom.net) On February 19, 2005, practitioners from Yilan County introduced Falun Dafa during the Lunar New Year Celebration held by the Association of Fujian Provincials and were warmly received by attendees and guests from all walks of life. In recent years, numerous introductory activities have been held in Yilan County, allowing Falun Dafa to gradually reach people from different circles. It happened that several practitioners are also members of the Association of Fujian Provincials, so they utilized the opportunity of the annual gathering to convey the goodness of "Truthfulness, Compassion and Forbearance," and allow the guests to learn more about Falun Dafa.
As members of the association registered, practitioners broadcasted 30-minutes of selected programs from the Taipei Performance of the New Year's Gala sponsored by New Tang Dynasty TV. About 20 practitioners from Yilan County demonstrated the five Falun Gong exercises. Their elegant movements and the peaceful and melodious exercise music were highly praised by the guests. Before the exercise demonstration, the principal of Huideng Middle School, Mr. Hong, who has been practicing Falun Gong for several years, briefly introduced Falun Gong, including its emphasis on xinxing cultivation, its wide spread in more than 60 countries around the world, the physical and spiritual benefits that Falun Gong has brought to over 100 million people, the Jiang faction's persecution of the practice, and the lawsuits filed in many countries against Jiang, the chief perpetrator. Mr. Hong especially stressed that Falun Gong is based on the principles of Truthfulness, Compassion and Forbearance. The practice helps people to improve their moral standards and their physical health, and it purifies the mind and body. Its remarkable effects and benefits have been recognized and honored and the practice has received more than 1,300 proclamation from different countries around the world.
While watching the exercise demonstration, many people from the audience, either standing or sitting, followed practitioners to learn the movements. After the demonstration, Mr. Hong encouraged the guests to visit local practice sites to learn the exercises or attend a 9-day Falun Gong introductory seminar. When the banquet began, a lot of people were still talking about Falun Gong. The effect was very good. The Yilan City mayor, speaker of the Yilan County Council and council members, as well as other board members of the association and the restaurant staff unanimously praised the exercise demonstration. It made the gathering fresh and new, and added a peaceful and auspicious atmosphere to the meeting hall.
(Clearwisdom.net)
Fa Study and Experience Sharing During the New Year's Holiday
Dozens of young Falun Gong practitioners in Yilan, Taiwan got together during the Chinese New Year's holiday in February 2005 to study the Fa and do group exercises. Their clear voices vibrated in the room, creating a peaceful and warm atmosphere.
Group Exercise and Spreading the Fa in Sports Park
After more than one hour of Fa study and experience sharing, the young practitioners and their parents went to Sports Park to do group exercises and spread the Fa. This popular park was busier than usual during the New Year holiday. The young practitioners did their exercises in high spirits and kindly introduced Falun Gong to park visitors.
When they started the exercises, many people were fascinated by their group practice. The young practitioners could concentrate so well, making their innocent faces look all the more lovely.
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Dozens of Falun Gong practitioners in Yilan County are school teachers. They teach "Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance" in their schools and families. One mother said, "My children are so good because they practice Falun Gong. They won't be polluted by the bad things in society."
Falun Dafa Benefits Whole Families
Ms. Lin and her two elementary-school-aged children from Wujie Village participated in this activity. Ms. Lin said her children have been following the standard taught in "Zhuan Falun" to improve their heart-mind nature and virtue. They were top students in their schools and had been selected as Model Students many times.
Mr. Li is a high school teacher. He used to be overly strict with his students. After learning Falun Gong, he began to solve problems with his students and children with a kinder and more compassionate heart.
Practicing Falun Gong has cured Ms. Guo's stubborn diseases. She said her children have had improved health, and their characters and school performance have improved since they started learning Falun Gong. Having benefited from Falun Gong themselves, many practitioners and children in the Minghui School have participated in activities to introduce Falun Gong to others and to expose the lies and persecution of Falun Gong by Jiang Zemin's regime.
Hundreds of Millions of Children under Persecution
Dr. Chen said the persecution of Falun Gong in China has put three hundred and sixty million children under all kinds of persecution. Innocent children in China are imbued with false information and hatred against Falun Gong and "Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance." Fourteen million children and teenagers are under the fear of being expelled from school, losing their parents or having to leave their homes due to the pressure of the persecution. Former Chinese Education Minister Chen Zhili, who was sued in Tanzania, forced schools to spread hatred toward Falun Gong. Children were forced to watch Falun Gong-slandering videos and thus became victims of the persecution. Their inherent sense of goodness has been terribly distorted by this propaganda.
Dr. Chen said he was worried about the next generation in China because of the hate propaganda by Jiang's regime. To create a sharp contrast, many Falun Dafa camps have been held in the summer in Taiwan over these past several years. Falun Gong practitioners who specialize in different fields have introduced Falun Gong to school teachers. Because of the inspirational effect of the courses, they were welcomed by the Education Bureau, principals and teachers. Those who take these courses receive credit. Dr. Chen hoped that more people with a sense of justice would pay attention to the situation in China and help stop the persecution, so that children in China would have a normal and healthy climate in which to develop.
Greetings to Master Li on the Lantern Festival
The Lantern Festival stands for reunion. Falun Gong practitioners in Yilan especially miss their Teacher at this special time. They took a group picture to send to Teacher and wished Teacher a great holiday!
