The Facts of the Persecution of Falun Gong -- July 29, 2005

Issued by Clearwisdom Net

Ms. Wang Guijin found a way to send the following letter from a detention center. Because she firmly practices Falun Gong, she has been detained many times. After her most recent arrest, the authorities aborted her baby when she was nine months pregnant. As if killing the baby was not enough, they sentenced Ms. Wang to five years in jail. After writing the letter, Ms. Wang was transferred away from the detention center, and her whereabouts are unknown at this time.

Dear Fellow Practitioners,

I am a practitioner from Huaiyang County. My name is Wang Guijin. Over the past five years, my husband and I have been brutally tortured by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) for telling people that "Falun Gong is good."

On October 3, 2000, I went to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong together with 17 fellow practitioners, including my husband Mr. Song Zhenling. On our way there, officials from Lutai Police Station and the Huaiyang County 610 Office stopped us. The next day, eight of us practitioners took a detour and made it to Tiananmen Square. Just before we got ready to do the exercises, the police arrested us and took us to Qianmen Police Station, where we were detained for the whole morning. Ren Wei with the Huaiyang County 610 Office and the chief of Lutai Police Station used a rope to tie up my husband up tightly. Then Ren Wei took us to the Zhoukou Government Office, where they took turns torturing us. When they interrogated me, Wu Shengli from the county police department and the chief of Lutai Police Station forced me to my knees and asked me who had organized the trip. When I refused to answer their question, they beat me. They pulled out some of my hair, and my face swelled up. Ren Wei and the chief of Lutai Police Station tied my husband tightly with a rope and handcuffed his hands behind his back when they interrogated him. His face was also swollen from the beating. When they interrogated him the second time, they even tied up his legs and feet. Ren Wei took off his leather shoes and used them to hit Song's face.

We were detained and interrogated like that for two days. Ren took all of our money and did not give us any food to eat.

On October 7, 2000, we were escorted back to Huaiyang County, where Ren Wei, Geng Shouling, Zhao Min, and Chen Jiacang interrogated us again. They first tied up my husband. The rope was wound so tight that it broke the skin on his back. Ren Wei again took off his leather shoes and used them to slap Song's face about 50 times until he was very tired and out of breath. They interrogated me several times. Once, the interrogation lasted over four hours on a very cold night. I refused to cooperate with them, and Geng Shouling beat me.

We practiced the exercises in the detention center, and a guard named Shi Zhongjie reported us to the director of the detention center. The director came and hit everyone with a broomstick. Then he ordered us to go outside, where we were shackled together in pairs by our ankles. They forced us to walk a long distance with the shackles on before they ordered us to return to our cells. They left the shackles on us for three days. Later, they divided us. Half stayed at the same detention center and the other half (including me) was transferred to another detention center, where the director tried in vain to turn us against Falun Gong.

Around December 2000, the county 610 Office held a brainwashing session. My husband and I were deceived because we had not studied the Fa well. We submitted 4,000 yuan and were released. We did things that practitioners should never do and left stains on our practice. After we read Teacher's new articles, "Coercion Cannot Change People's Hearts" and "A Suggestion," we regretted our deeds and immediately published "Solemn Declarations" and returned to practice.

In April 2001, the authorities interfered with me again, and I was forced to leave home. Police from Lutai Police Station often went to my mother-in-law's place to threaten her. They always went in the middle of the night, climbing over the yard walls and using flashlights to shine light into the windows.

With the help of fellow practitioners, my husband and I set up a truth-clarification materials production site near the west gate of Huaiyang County. On November 12, 2001, the authorities arrested us. When we shouted out,"Falun Gong is good," Li Changfeng, Wang Quandong, Geng Shouling, and Zhuang beat us. My face swelled up for a week. They took away all the equipment at the site and put us in the detention center again. They interrogated us and tried to force us to tell them where we got the money to buy the equipment. I refused to tell them, so they made me to sit on the cold concrete floor for over three hours. We started a hunger strike.

Two weeks after we started the hunger strike, the heads of the detention center Li Zhaosheng and Zheng Xianjun ordered Zhang Duoshu to force-feed me. Zhang inserted a bamboo stick into my throat and pinched my nose while force-feeding me. Zheng Xianjun used a sharp tool to pry open my husband's mouth, causing his mouth to bleed a lot. Zheng also used a bamboo stick to hit Song's toes. Song's toes were in great pain before they went completely numb. His toes were black and swollen, even at the time of our release. When our family members went to the detention center to request our release, Ren Wei and Geng Shouling extorted 4,000 yuan from them. Even when my husband and I were at the verge of death after 29 days of hunger strike, Ren still refused to sign our release documents. In the end, Ren reluctantly released us, fearing that we would die and that he would be held responsible.

In February 2004, my husband and I were persecuted again. We established a truth-clarification materials production site in the residential area of the Dancheng County Underwear Company. On the afternoon of February 26, 2004, the authorities arrested practitioners Jia Hong, Liu Xia, and me. They dragged me into a police vehicle. I shouted out loud, "Falun Gong is good" along the way, and they beat me and covered my mouth with dirty rags. When we reached Dancheng County Police Department, I found my husband and son there. They had been arrested by police officer Zhang Yong when my husband went to the kindergarten to pick up our son Song He. My son was crying and asking for his father. The director of the kindergarten was nearly arrested for speaking out on behalf of justice to the police.

When Zhang Yong was interrogating us in the police department, Zhao Jishan, Wang Quandong, and Xu Jun from Huaiyang County came in. They recognized us immediately. Later on they sent the five of us to Dancheng Detention Center. Once we stepped inside the gate of the detention center, we started to shout, "Falun Gong is good!" The guards and the armed police were shocked. The director of the detention center was unwilling to take us in, saying that we were trouble. By that time the police from the police department had started to beat us. They also tore at my mouth with their hands and hit my face, leaving dark bruises on it. My son got very scared and cried out loud. Practitioners Jia Hong and Liu Xia remained at Dancheng. My husband, my son, and I were sent back to Huaiyang County.

On February 27, 2004, Wang Quandong and Li Changfeng pressed us for the source of the money we used to buy the equipment for producing truth-clarification materials. We did not tell them no matter what they did, and we started a hunger strike to protest the persecution.

Li Zhaoshu and Zheng Xianjun ordered Zhang Duoshu to force-feed us. Every time I was force-fed, Zhang would insert a feeding tube into my stomach. After that, Zhang would press on my belly once. One day during the force-feeding, Zhang found that I was pregnant and reported the finding to the director of the detention center. On March 16, a police officer from the 610 Office named Wang Liqun took me to a hospital and verified that I was pregnant. On March 18, I was allowed to go home and was monitored there.

Over three months into his hunger strike, my husband, Song Zhenling, weighed only about 60 pounds, and he was in critical condition. Huaiyang County 610 Office sent him to the emergency room of Huaiyang County People's Hospital. The police said that they would rather let him die in the hospital than release him. After spending a day in the hospital, under Teacher's protection, his condition became better. They sent him back to the detention center and continued to torture him. As a result, both of his legs were paralyzed and he lost the sight in both eyes.

On July 16, 2004, Chuanhui Court in Zhoukou City tried Song Zhenling in the detention center and sentenced him to 10 years in jail. By that time, he could not even move. On October 14, they carried him into the No. 3 Prison of Henan Province. His current whereabouts are unknown.

On the afternoon of April 11, 2004, personnel from Lutai Police Station went to my parents' home to arrest me. They went there a few times a day, arrested my father and took him to the police station, and searched the homes of all my parents' relatives. However, they still could not find me. One day, my third brother called my father and said, "The police are trying to arrest Guijin again, so tell her to be careful." The authorities monitored that phone conversation and used it as an excuse to arrest my third brother on April 30, 2004. They detained him for 15 days and extorted 6,000 yuan from him before releasing him on bail. Under Zheng Xianfang's direction, my father was sentenced to one year in jail. Because I was pregnant, they had the head of Lutai Town Wang Xun and Song Duohai monitor me. They detained me inside the Planned Birth Office of Lutai Town and did not provide me with any food. One week later, they transferred me to the Huaiyang County 610 Office, where Zhao Jishan, Li Changfeng, Wang Quandong, Wu Shengli, and Xu Jun monitored me. Later on, they sent me to my parents' home and monitored me there.

On July 19, 2004, officer Chang Yijun from the Huaiyang County 610 Office ordered Lutai Police Station to arrest me. They carried me away and arrested my son Song He. That same night, they took me to the Huaiyang County Planned Birth Station and wanted to abort my baby there, but I refuse to sign the agreement. Around 2 p.m. the next day, eight people, including Song Duohai, Li Guang, and Liang, forcefully induced labor and killed my nearly nine-month-old baby.

They did not allow me to go home after the abortion, and they did not inform my family members. Instead they detained me in the Planned Birth Station and monitored me there without giving me enough to eat.

On August 10, 2004, officials from Huaiyang County Court, including Fang Ruofei, tried me in the Planned Birth Station. Li Yongqing and Mei Fang from the Procuratorate were also present.

Within a month of the forced abortion, Li Changfeng and others sent me back to the detention center. Seeing that I looked sick, the guard at the detention center asked me if I had any disease. I said I felt poorly in general. They sent me to a hospital for a medical exam, which showed that I had Hepatitis B. Still they asked the detention center to take me. After I started a hunger strike to protest, Zheng Xianjun ordered Zhang Duoshu to force-feed me with a funnel. I firmly resisted. Zheng Xianjun and Huang Fan cursed at me loudly, and Zheng Xianjun laid out a rope on the ground in four figure 8s and used it to tie up my arms and legs. Then he ordered Zhang to insert the feeding tube into my stomach. After five minutes, my whole body turned purple and my eyes rolled up into my head. I was in a critical condition. After that, they became scared and stopped inserting the feeding tubes into me.

I refused to cooperate with them in any way. They ran out of things to try, but they still kept me in detention. Later they tied me up on a bench and fed me with an IV. By then I was so weak that the doctors could not even find a vein. The police said that as long as I was alive, they would not release me. Nearly four months into my hunger strike, I was in extreme pain, I did not have any strength, and I was very skinny. I often lost consciousness - sometimes for a short while and sometimes for longer. I also had a difficult time breathing. I knew that they were trying to kill me with the torture. In order to stay alive, I stopped the hunger strike. The four-month-long ordeal had paralyzed my legs, and I could no longer take care of myself. Nevertheless guard Wang Xinqi said that I was faking all my symptoms and that people should not take pity on the "counter-revolutionary trash" (referring to me).

The county court sentenced me to five years in jail. I appealed to the Intermediate Court in Zhoukou City, thinking that I should not recognize the persecution by keeping silent. Early this year, the intermediate court denied my appeal and kept the original sentence.

In order to force us to give in, the authorities monitored my son after I was put into the detention center. I have not had any of news of him since then.

By Wang Guijin, 02/12/2005, in a detention center.

Falun Gong practitioner Ms. Li Limao from Luwan District, Shanghai was arrested in October of 2004 and was sentenced to forced labor. She died in May after being injected with an unknown substance.

Ms. Li Limao lived on Huaihaizhong Street, Luwan District, Shanghai. She was reported to the authorities after clarifying the truth to people in October of 2004. She was arrested by policemen from the Ruijin Station in Luwan District and sentenced to one year at forced labor. From April to May 2004, she was bailed out on medical parole because of a liver problem. She was forcibly sent to the hospital by the police, and at the hospital she was injected with an unknown substance. She died several days later.

Ms. Li Limao's husband divorced her about the time she was first detained. Her death was not widely known until February 2005.

Ms. Li Limao formerly suffered from cancer but completely recovered after practicing Falun Gong. She was arrested four years ago by the Luwan District 610 Office. The 610 officials tried to have her sentenced to three years of forced labor, but because of her physical condition, she was instead sentenced to three and half years in prison, which she served in the Shanghai Women's Prison. She was released in the spring of 2004, was harassed under close monitoring by the police until she was arrested again, and died in the hospital, murdered by agents of the 610 Office.

Ms. Fu Rufang is an employee of the Tongnan Disease Control Center in Chongqing. On April 8, 2005, when she was on a trip to her hometown, Ms. Ru was followed and arrested. She refused to eat for eight days and won her way out of the detention center. On May 22 she was again suddenly arrested and once again sent to Maojiashan Forced Labor Camp in Chongqing. In less than one month, she had lost two incisors and had become emaciated and extremely weak as a result of persecution.

On June 2, Fu Rufang's husband Zhou Licheng went to the labor camp to deliver clothes and cash but did not see her. On June 18, Ms. Fu's sister and sister-in-law heard that she was in critical condition in the labor camp. The following day, they rushed to Chongqing. At Maojiashan Women's Forced Labor Camp, they requested to see Ms. Fu. The camp guards refused their request. Li (female) told them that the camp did not receive visitors on Sundays and that they would have to wait until June 28 to see her, because Ms. Fu would have to be "reformed" before they could see her. Fu Rufang's sister said, "We came here from far away and have spent over one hundred yuan on travel. If we cannot see her today, could we see her tomorrow? We could also talk with her on the phone. We just want to hear her voice so we can set our hearts at rest." Li still refused their pleas. Fu Rufang's sister-in-law said repeatedly, "We heard she would not eat, so we came here to persuade her to eat." Li then called her team. The head of team four and another person came out.

Fu Rufang's sister-in-law told the team head she was the person in the past to persuade Fu Rufang to eat. She also talked about Fu Rufang's family situation. The head of team four wrote down her cell phone number and asked them to wait for a message before seeing her.

On the June 22, the head of team four called Fu Rufang's sister-in-law to visit her. The next day, her sister-in-law and nephew went there together to see Fu Rufang. When they arrived at the camp gate, guard Li said, "You have come back again. Who told you to come?" Her sister-in-law explained and showed her the phone number, so Li called the head of team four. Li said to Fu's sister-in-law, "We have made a phone call to the Tongnan Police Department. They said Fu Rufang's whole family practice Falun Gong and they should not be allowed to see her. Only her sister-in-law is not a practitioner, so she can see her."

Fu Rufang's sister-in-law waited there for over one hour and then saw Fu Rufang coming out with the help of two "monitors." Another one followed behind. When her sister-in-law saw Fu Rufang, she was shocked. Her face looked pale, without any color, she could not stand steadily, and her body had become so thin. She also looked smaller than before. Her sister-in-law asked the team head right away, "How could she become like this?" He said, "We heard you were coming today. We saw her condition was a bit better, so we told you to come to see her. Her condition was much worse previously."

Fu Rufang wore blue shorts and a short sleeved, flower-print shirt. This is the labor camp uniform. Her arms and legs were purple and blue. Her legs, particularly the outer area of her left calf, had three one-inch bruises, no doubt caused either by beating or by kicking. Her right arm also had several bruises that looked like needle marks from IV drips. Two top left incisors were missing. Ms. Fu said they were pried out during forced-feeding, during which she almost died. Fu Rufang did not have much energy to speak. The team head let her sister-in-law try to persuade her to eat and said, "I am doing you a favor by telling the truth. If you do not eat, you will starve to death; nobody will take any responsibility, and you will be said to have caused your own death from not eating." Fu Rufang said that the authorities had assigned four inmates to monitor her. She was not allowed to do the Falun Gong exercises, and they would beat her if she did.

Fu Rufang's husband had delivered a bag of clothes and 200 "yuan" cash on June 2. However, when they visited Fu Rufang on the 23rd, she still had not received those items. The 200 yuan had already been written off against her camp account, and she even owed several hundred yuan. Her sister-in-law squeezed out 50 yuan from her travel expenses to deposit in Fu Rufang's account. She asked the police not to deduct them from her account and to allow her to buy something to eat. In the labor camp they do not allow people to deliver food or living expenses. Everything has to be paid for. Sometimes they deduct expenses without the person's consent. The products sold at the camp store are excessively overpriced and are of inferior quality.

When Fu Rufang's nephew Zhang Hongxu went on a hunger strike that began on May 14, 2001, at the Education Division of the Xishanping Labor Camp, policeman Tian Xin broke one of his incisors during a beating. Zhang also suffered from brutal forced-feeding. On the evening of October 24, 2001, when he was doing the exercises in cell seven, he was brutally beaten, resulting in the fracture of the bridge of his nose. When he was released on March 19, 2002, a local person named Liu Rongjian said, "Zhang Hongxu, you probably weigh only about 25 or 30 kilograms."

Fu Rufang's husband Zhou Licheng: 86-13072332726 (Cell)
Fu Rufang: 86-23-44559365 (Office), 86-23-4455936544552255 (Home), 86-13389653025 (Cell)

Work units and individuals who participated in the persecution:

Tongnan County Police Department
Tongnan Police Department Address: Zhengxing Street, Tongnan County (Zitong Town), Chongqing, 402660
Telephone Exchange for Tongnan Police Department: 86-23-44551129, 86-23-44551432 86-23-44551743, 86-23-44551330
Office of Tongnan Police Department: 86-23-44551138
Duty Office of Tongnan Police Department: 86-23-44551762

Head of Tongnan County Police Department
Yin Jianzhong: 86-23-44582001 or 86-23-44555178 (Office), 86-23-44556679 (Home), 86-13908348968 (Cell)
Deputy Head of Tongnan County Police Department
Wen Rong: 86-23-44582006 (Office); 86-23-44551228, 86-23-44552773 or 86-23-44551399 (Home); 86-13709428263 (Cell)

Tongnan County National Security Division: In 2000 it was called the First Section of the Police Department. Zhang Liang, male, in his 40s, was the section head. Zhong Ming was the deputy head. Later, the First Section became the National Security Division. After Zhong Ming retired, Zhang Liang has taken over. He is responsible for all the fabricated accusations and reports sent to his superiors, based on which practitioners were sentenced to forced labor or jail terms, and he has committed serious crimes. Zhang Liang said that Ms. Fu Rufang had widely reported on his deeds in 2004 and that this incarceration was his revenge against Fu Rufang.

Police Officers in the National Security Division: Zhange Liang, Li Hengyi, Luo Yonghong, Li Yonghong, Zhang Shimao, Liu Yong, Yuan Xueping, Shulin and Gao Xiang (deputy head who came recently in 2005).
National Security Division: 86-23-44582011(Office), 86-23-44552429 (Home)
National Security Division Head Zhang Liang: 86-23-44582011 (Office); 86-23-44552429 (Home); 86-23-44553568, 86-13709428300, 86-13709428301 (Cell)
Zhang Liang's phone number in the cafeteria: 86-23-44569059, 86-23-44900206 (Cell)

Tongnan County Disease Control Center:
Yuan Nailiang, male, in his 50's, Head of Tongnan County Disease Control Center, colluded with the National Security Division to persecute practitioner Ms. Fu Rufang and others in his work unit. 86-23-44559391 (Office), 86-23-44550292 (Home), 86-13389653001 (Cell)

Tang Shuxian, male, in his 40's, Office Manager of Tongnan Disease Control Center, colluded with the National Security Division to persecute Fu Rufang and others. 86-23-44551189 (Office), 86-23-44551061 (Home), 86-13389653003 (Cell)

Note: Yuan Nailiang and Tang Shuxian are criminals and persecutors at Fu Rufang's work unit. They are responsible for sending Fu Rufang to the labor camp this time.

Administration, Maojiashan Women's Forced Labor Camp of Chongqing: 86-23-67851863

Address: 21 Wujiang Road, Jiangbei District, Chongqing, 400024
team four of Maojiashan Women's Forced Labor Camp of Chongqing: 86-23-67861870

Ms. Wen Xiuzhi and Li Shuxian, two elderly Falun Gong practitioners in Lingyuan City, Liaoning Province, were illegally arrested on June 22, 2005, for clarifying the truth. Li Qiang, the CCP secretary in Wafangdian, reported these practitioners to the police. Both practitioners were once again arrested and taken to the Lingyuan First Prison. They have been charged with "counter-revolutionary" crimes by the local authorities. Ms. Wen and Li recently went on a hunger strike and were brutally force-fed. Both of them are held in the Lingyuan City First Prison. Relatives are not being allowed to visit Wen or Li.

Mrs. Wen Xiuzhi, 68, is from Sanjiachun Village, Lingyuan City. Before starting practice, she suffered liver, lung, and heart diseases, and sciatica. She consulted many doctors to no avail, and she became paralyzed for more than six months. Once she started practicing Falun Gong, all of her diseases disappeared.

When the persecution of Falun Gong began on July 20, 1999, Ms. Wen upheld her belief in Falun Gong. She clarified the facts by telling people about the bloody persecution and her miraculous recovery from so many chronic illnesses. Ms. Wen has been illegally detained eight times and has had nearly 5000 yuan exhorted from her.

During Ms. Wen's imprisonment, the police ruthlessly beat her to the brink of death. Once she was illegally detained for more than 14 days by the Linghe Public Security Bureau. For more than 10 days she was handcuffed in a small, poorly ventilated cell. She was tortured until she vomited blood. She was denied all contact with others while imprisoned in a large room and was severely tortured. The police exhorted 2500 yuan from Ms. Wen's relatives.

Relevant Contact Information:

Zip code: 122500

Liaoning Province Lingyuan City Wafangdian Police Station: 86-421-6420055
Zhao Guohai, Station Chief: 86-421-6420004 (Office), 86-4216865718 (Home), 86-13504216302 (Cell)
Liu Shaoquan, Director: 86-421-6891513 (Home), 86-13500419533 (Cell)
Chen Guojun, Police officer: 86-421-6900185 (Home), 86-13842143316 (Cell)

Lingyuan City Public Security Bureau

Guo Shaolin, Bureau Chief: 86-421-6883101 (Office), 86-13904912586 (Cell)
Yang Minghui, Deputy Bureau Chief: 86-421-688310 (Office), 86-421-6824813 (Home), 86-13904213390 (Cell)
Dong Zhimin, Deputy Bureau Chief: 86-421-6883106 (Office), 86-421-6816719 (Home), 86-13904916066 (Cell)
Fu Yanling, National Security Team Leader: 86-13500416011 (Cell)
Chen Zhi, National Security Team Deputy Leader: 86-13842156895 (Cell)

Lingyuan City First Prison:

Yu Hailong, Prison Chief: 86-421-6883215 (Office), 86-421-6824383 (Home), 86-13904916383 (Cell)
Zhang Xianlin, Director: 86-421-6883216 (Office), 86-421-6882183 (Home), 86-13942106968 (Cell)

Lingyuan City Second Prison:
Sun Liansheng, Prison Chief: 86-421-6883185 (Office), 86-421-6823998 (Home), 8613942116989 (Cell)
Li Zhixue, Director: 86-421-6925583 (Home), 86-13842162635(Cell)

Falun Gong practitioner Mrs. Du Guihua is from Jiamusi City, Heilongjiang Province. She was illegally arrested in October 2002 and sentenced to three years in the Jiamusixigemu Forced Labor Camp, where she suffered all sorts of torture and brutal persecution, and developed numerous tumors in her body. She was released in 2005 after her family's persistent requests.

Mrs. Du Guihua lives in the Gongnong District of Hegang City and is 44 years old. On October 23, 2002, when she came downstairs to go to work, six or seven people who claimed that they were security officers appeared, pushed her back upstairs, and forced her to open her door. After they broke into her home, five more people came and searched her house without a warrant. They found a small "Truthfulness, Compassion, Forbearance" pamphlet that introduced Falun Gong.

Mrs. Du Guihua was taken to the No. 1 Detention Center and brought to a third-floor meeting room, where the police started their interrogation. They handcuffed her hands behind her back and restrained her arms with a thin rope, which they tightened and released at least four to five times that afternoon. They slapped her face until it was swollen and handcuffed her to a heating pipe overnight.

Two days later, the police sent her to the No.1 Detention Center. Dr. Yang from the Detention Center checked out the wounds on Mrs. Du's face and wrists and let the police sign their names. After two weeks, six or seven people from the City Public Security Bureau came to bring her to a trial. They hung her up at least three times to torture her. The Hegang City Public Security Bureau later sentenced her to three years in a forced labor camp with fabricated criminal records.

At least 200 practitioners from all over the country have been sentenced to that labor camp. Mrs. Du was in the No. 8 Squadron. The labor camp police started their so-called "transformation" process.

Mrs. Du Guihua was locked into a small room, and the agents initially talked to her with false kindness, asking her to give up her practice and slandering Falun Gong. When Mrs. Du refused to write the so-called Guarantee Statement, they started to threaten her with behind-the-back handcuffing. (The practitioner's hands are tied behind the back with one hand over the shoulder and the other hand against the lower back. The police then apply a great deal of force to pull the hands toward one another and handcuff them together.) They also verbally abused her.

In the middle of July, because Mrs. Du refused to write a "Weekly Facts" essay against Falun Gong, policemen Jiang Jianan, Hong Wei and inmate Wang Jie dragged Mrs. Du out to behind-the-back handcuff her. They intensified the torture and forced her to sit on a "small stool." (The "small stool" is an enamel-insulated wire spindle with sharp corners. If someone sits on it for more than three days, their skin will tear and the flesh will gape open.) She had to sit straight and absolutely still with her hands on her knees. If she moved even a little, the other inmates were instructed to hit her. She was forced to sit on it from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. each day. She was not allowed to do anything except have meals. The police forced her to sit like this for over two weeks. She did not give in, and the police administered the behind-the-back handcuffing on her again.

In February 2004, Mrs. Du refused to cooperate, and police officers Jiang Jianan and Hong Wei and inmate Wang Jie again used the behind-the-back-handcuffing on her again. They also forced her to sit on the small stool and made her listen to and watch videos slandering Falun Gong. They also shocked her with electric batons at the same time.

In February 2005, Mrs. Du Guihua fell down the stairs and could not walk any more. The guards still tried to force her to write a statement to give up her practice, but she refused. Female police officers Gao Xiaohua, Li Xiujin and Lu Yu forced her down to write and sign the papers.

On March 22, police officers Gao Xiaohua and Xun Limin and the labor camp's director Liu took Mrs. Du to the City Center Hospital for a general exam. The physician diagnosed a cervical tumor, an ovarian tumor, and fibromyoma. On March 25, Jiamusi Medical College Hospital consulted on Mrs. Du and the results were the same. Despite her condition, the labor camp and the Hegang City 610 Office still found excuses to refuse to release her. However, in response to her family's persistent requests and with help from other departments, Mrs. Du Guihua was finally released on April 6, 2005.

To International Human Rights Organization(s):

Mr. Zheng Zhihong is a Falun Gong practitioner from Huanggang, Hubei Province. His father, Mr. Zheng Zhong, died because he was severely persecuted for his belief in Falun Gong. On March 11, 2004, his father's work unit organized a memorial service for him. Mr. Zheng Zhihong delivered a eulogy at the service. On May 20, 2004, he was arrested because of the eulogy.

Mr. Zheng was locked up in a detention center for nearly one year, during which period the procuratorate filed charges of "instigation" and "using a [slanderous words omitted] organization to disrupt the administration of law" against him. The local court issued a preliminary verdict and Mr. Zheng appealed it. On February 28, 2005, the intermediate court denied his appeal and upheld the original sentence, a five-year prison term. Mr. Zheng, other Falun Gong practitioners and people with a sense of justice think he should be cleared of the charges. Since there is no way to achieve this goal in China, they have decided to ask an attorney to seek help from international human rights organization(s) to assist them in obtaining justice.

Statement of Appeal

Plaintiff: Mr. Zheng Zhihong, male, born on October 14, 1957, was a cadre at the Huanggang City Salt Company in Hubei Province. He lived at the company dormitory in Huanggang City and is currently detained at the Qinduankou Prison in Hubei Province.

Entrusted agent: an attorney in Hubei Province; named withheld for safety reasons

Defendants: The Huanggang City 610 Office, the Huanggang City National Security Bureau, the Huangguang City Police Department, the Huanggang City Court, the Huangzhou District Police Department, the Huangzhou District Procuratorate and the Huangzhou District Court.

Purpose for lawsuit: to reverse an unlawful verdict and prison sentence

Requests:

1. Overturn the verdict and unconditionally release Mr. Zheng Zhihong; withdraw the No. 88 Criminal Sentencing Statement from the Huangzhou District [2004] issued by the Huangzhou District People's Court and the No. 32 Criminal Sentencing Statement, issued by the Huanggang City Intermediate People's Court [2005].

2. Compensate the plaintiff for his losses resulting from the unjustified sentence.

3. Prosecute the local judicial bureau officials and legal administrators for abusing their power and violating the law; investigate and prosecute individuals and higher government agencies that directed Mr. Zheng Zhihong's persecution.

Facts

At 8:00 a.m. on March 11, 2004, the Huanggang City Foreign Trade Bureau held a courtyard memorial service for cadre Mr. Zheng Zhong. Some bureau officials and Falun Gong practitioners attended the service. Mr. Zheng Zhihong delivered a eulogy in which he stated that his father regained his health after practicing Falun Gong, that the police had monitored and pursued his father since 2002 and forced him into exile, that his work unit suspended his salary and that he passed away under tremendous pressure and poor living conditions due to lack of money. Many people in the audience shed tears. Falun Gong practitioners trailed the casket and called out "Falun Gong is great," and "Respect human rights."

After the persecution of Mr. Zheng Zhong was exposed online, a group of officials from the central "610 Office" and from the Hubei Province Party Committee headed by Huang Yuanzhi, the vice governor of Hubei Province, went to the Huanggang District. They called it the "March 11 Priority Case" and transferred the head of the Foreign Trade Bureau.

Starting on March 13, they arrested about eight Falun Gong practitioners who had attended the memorial service. On May 20, 2004, Chen Shuming, the Huangzhou District Police Department political head, led a group of officers to break into Mr. Zheng's residence and arrested him. They held him at the No. 1 Detention Center. Later, in June, they issued an arrest warrant and in November, they filed charges of "instigation" and "using a [slanderous words omitted] organization to disrupt the administration of law" against him. On December 23, the Huangzhou District Court held a preliminary trial and sentenced Mr. Zheng to five years in prison. Mr. Zheng appealed the sentence on December 29. The Huanggang Intermediate People's Court denied his appeal on February 28, 2005, and upheld the verdict. The legal references the court cited included Section 1, Article 300 of the Criminal Law of China, and Section 4, Article 1 of the Explanation of Specific Law Enforcement Applications Regarding Cases in Which People Organize Cults to Commit Crimes.

The attorney expressed that Mr. Zheng was following the traditional Chinese custom of filial piety by delivering a eulogy at his father's memorial service and spoke words from his heart. How can it be called instigation? Because Mr. Zheng's father was a Falun Gong practitioner, the government considered Mr. Zheng himself to be associated with Falun Gong. Furthermore, since Falun Gong practitioners had attended the service and appealed for justice, the local officials convicted Mr. Zheng on orders from provincial officials. The judicial bureau not only failed to uphold justice; it convicted the innocent. A Chinese citizen was completely deprived of his human rights because those in power abused and violated the law and issued arbitrary orders.

We need to also consider the charge "using a [slanderous words omitted] organization to disrupt the administration of law," which led to the prison sentence.

Basically, the crucial point here is whether or not the legal references the courts cited in this case apply to Falun Gong practitioners. Did the laws that state Falun Gong to be a [slanderous word omitted] go through the procedures necessary to establish new laws? What is wrong with the starting point of the charges against Mr. Zheng Zhihong? What are the facts that prove these charges? Did Mr. Zheng Zhihong lie about his father's life in his speech? What are the legal foundations and the larger societal outlook for Falun Gong practitioners who appeal for justice? Please read the following:

I. The charges against Mr. Zheng Zhihong have no legal basis. They in fact contradict the Constitution of China.

This case shows Mr. Zheng Zhong and his son Mr. Zheng Zhihong to be Falun Gong practitioners. Because the people in power arbitrarily labeled Falun Gong as a "[slanderous word omitted]," the judicial department based its decision on this arbitrary claim, rather than on the law. It therefore regards Falun Gong as a "[slanderous word omitted]," so it decides Falun Gong practitioners are members of an "[slanderous word omitted]." Therefore, all of the practitioners' words and actions are outside the scope of law. That is the reason for the court accusing most Falun Gong practitioners of "using a [slanderous word omitted], organization to disrupt the administration of law." In any civilized society, the law should punish a person's behavior and not his identity. Mr. Zheng was convicted because he is a Falun Gong practitioner. This is obviously an illegal lawsuit and is against any principles of rule-by-law. The verdict is arbitrary and will cause long-term damage to society.

So far, no law has clearly stated that Falun Gong is a "[slanderous word omitted]." The National People's Congress and the Standing Committee, the highest power structure in the country, have never passed any law that says Falun Gong is a "[slanderous word omitted]." In other words, there is no legal reference for determining the legal nature of Falun Gong practitioners' behavior, no precedent applying any law to the Falun Gong organization, nothing that is contrary to the relationship between Falun Gong practitioners and a Falun Gong organization, no relationship between Falun Gong and a cult, and no parameter that describes what behavior of Falun Gong practitioners constitutes a crime. Falun Gong, therefore, is not a [slanderous word omitted]. An individual person's words and will cannot be regarded as illegal. They only represent that person's opinion. It is against the law to punish Falun Gong practitioners simply for their beliefs.

II. By the same token, there is no legal ground for the instigation charge against Mr. Zheng. The court cited Section 1, Article 300 of the Criminal Law of China, and Section 4, Article 1 of the Explanation of Specific Law Enforcement Applications Regarding Cases in Which People Organize Cults to Commit Crimes, and claims Zheng Zhihong used words of incitement that caused Falun Gong practitioners at the memorial service to call out for justice. He is therefore deemed guilty of instigation and "using a [slanderous word omitted] to disrupt the administration of law." Since there is no law that says Falun Gong is a [slanderous word omitted], it is wrong to use Article 300 of the Criminal Law to convict Mr. Zheng. There is no factual evidence that proves Mr. Zheng guilty of "using a [slanderous word omitted] to disrupt the administration of law."

Many facts are lacking. Where are the physical evidence and eyewitnesses? How did he misuse the law to disrupt the administration of law? What resulted from his behavior? The verdict statement did not answer any of these questions. Isn't it wrong that the statement vehemently claims Mr. Zheng's whole eulogy to be an incitement speech that led other Falun Gong practitioners to protest? Falun Gong practitioners are Chinese citizens and have rights endowed by the Constitution of China. In his eulogy, Mr. Zheng was exercising his freedom of speech as a family member of the deceased and he reflected on the hardworking, law-abiding life his father had led. It is only natural that he explained the cause of his father's death to the audience, because it is an inevitable part of his father's life. There were no overly emotional words of hatred in his eulogy, neither were there any false or slanderous words. "Instigation" is a false charge. Mr. Zheng was really convicted because he mentioned Falun Gong in his speech.

III. Mr. Zheng Zhihong did not exaggerate in his speech. The persecution of Mr. Zheng Zhong and Mr. Zheng Zhihong are absolutely true. Please investigate:

1. The persecution of Mr. Zheng Zhong. Mr. Zheng Zhong was 68 years old when he passed away. Before he started practicing Falun Gong in 1996 he had severe pleurisy, a lung disease, high blood pressure and other serious illnesses. He was hospitalized twice for a stroke and received long-term IV infusions. After he started practicing Falun Gong, all of his illnesses disappeared. Not only did he become healthy, but his character and his morals improved as well. During the seven years that he practiced Falun Gong, he saved his work unit a lot in medical expenses. When the persecution of Falun Gong started, Mr. Zheng Zhong was not spared. The police in the Huangzhou District held him in a detention center five times. Once he was held 70 days past the end of his term. Mr. Zheng Zhong and his wife later went into exile and became homeless to avoid the police and the persecution. The police and the "610 Office" not only monitored his home and followed his two sons; they also tapped his home phone and often harassed and threatened his daughter-in-law and her parents. Mr. Zheng Zhong passed away on March 9, 2004, due to the tremendous mental pressure and the financial difficulty he suffered.

2. Mr. Zheng Zhihong was also persecuted before he was arrested for his speech at his father's memorial service. Before he practiced Falun Gong, Mr. Zheng had stomach disease, cholecystitis, and severe hepatitis that resulted in pathological changes. Medical treatments failed to help him. All of his illnesses disappeared miraculously after he started practicing Falun Gong. In 2000 he went to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong and was escorted back to Huanggang City. He was held at the No 1 Detention Center in Huanggang City for one month. After he was released, the work unit said the police department spent 8,000 Yuan escorting him back and made his work unit pay the expenses. His work unit threatened to fire him, so Mr. Zheng paid the amount to his work unit. Nevertheless, his work unit still cut his monthly salary from over 1,000 Yuan to 400 Yuan.

In 2001 the police took Mr. Zheng Zhihong from his work unit without any legal evidence and held him at the No 2 Detention Center for 15 days. After he returned home, his work unit took his desk and chair and lowered his monthly salary from 400 Yuan to 200 Yuan. His work unit also withheld his year-end bonus of over 7,000 Yuan and deducted money if he was late to work or if he left early. After numerous attempts at dialogue with his work unit failed, Mr. Zheng was forced to stay home and not go to work. His home is far from his work unit. His monthly transportation costs amounted to more than 200 Yuan for bus fare. His wife divorced him due to pressure from his work unit and from the government. Mr. Zheng suffered a broken family and lost wages due to the persecution.

3. The National Security Bureau and the "610 Office" called Mr. Zheng Zhong's memorial service, held on March 11, 2004, as the "March 11 Priority Case." The government regarded Falun Gong practitioners who attended the service as criminals. The provincial and city governments oversaw the persecution of the practitioners. On May 20, 2004, when Mr. Zheng left home, a group of plainclothes police officers surrounded him. Without presenting any identification, they put Mr. Zheng's arms behind his back, threw him in a police car and took him to the No. 1 Detention Center. During the arrest and detention, Mr. Zheng's family went to the police department many times but was told this was an order from higher up. The police expressed sympathy but could not do anything about it. His family went to the "610 Office," the procuratorate and the Political and Judiciary Committee and received basically the same answer. The police department told his family to turn in another "organizer" or Mr. Zheng would be considered the organizer. After Mr. Zheng's family appealed many times, the procuratorate dismissed the lawsuit and ordered the police department to supply supplemental evidence. In the end, the police turned in to the court a comment that reads, "be severe in handling this case," written by Huang Yuanzhi, the deputy governor of Hubei Province. Although his family showed powerful evidence that Mr. Zheng had nothing to do with the Falun Gong practitioners' appeals and protests, the court did not give the evidence any consideration. The judicial department followed orders and not the law. Did the Falun Gong practitioners even violate the law? No one organized the Falun Gong practitioners at the service, and Mr. Zheng didn't ask any Falun Gong practitioner to attend the service. He didn't use any words of incitement in his eulogy. The Huanggang Judicial Bureau clearly knows there is no so-called organizer, yet due to pressure from governmental officials higher-up, they handed Mr. Zheng a heavy prison sentence against their conscience. If we look at the trial history of the Huanggang District Court, there has never been a single previous case where a person was sentenced to prison only for something he said. It was learned that the five-year prison sentence was internally decided by the central "610 Office" before the trial even began. This shows that the central "610 Office" is the one that disrupts the administration of law.

4. Falun Gong practitioners were being rational and exercising their legal rights by appealing for the victim. When judging Falun Gong practitioners' appeal for justice, the judicial department should not only consider the breadth, prerequisite and context of the application of law. It should also consider the complex elements that play into the whole situation. Otherwise it would reach an ambiguous conclusion.

The background for this whole dilemma is this: Without any law being passed through normal procedures, Jiang Zemin arbitrary claimed in the mass media that Falun Gong is a "[slanderous word omitted]," and persecuted it. During the past six years, more than 2,676 Falun Gong practitioners have died as a result of torture under this persecution. More than 100,000 practitioners have been sentenced to prison or forced labor. Thousands of practitioners have been sent to mental hospitals and have been injected with psychotic drugs that damage the central nervous system. Many more have been sent to brainwashing centers to be physically tortured and mentally tormented. Much money has been extorted from them. Their families, relatives and friends have all been punished. Countless families have been broken up, and many practitioners and their beloved ones have been compelled to go into exile.

Falun Gong practitioners have risked their lives and are still risking their lives to clarify the truth about the persecution to the Chinese people, because the Chinese government blocks all channels of appeal. Their effort to restore Falun Gong's reputation has never stopped. Over the past six years, they have constantly clarified the truth, called for respect for human rights, to be allowed to practice their belief unhampered and for an end to the persecution. For the victims to rationally clarify the truth is a form of self-defense. From a legal perspective, appealing for justice is a form of self-defense. All of the Falun Gong practitioners at the memorial service were targets of persecution, and each one of them was calling for upholding human rights and freedom. The practitioners' appeal, therefore, is not directly related to Mr. Zheng Zhihong. It was an action to uphold human rights. It is completely legal for the victims to call out when faced with threats to their human rights, nor does it constitute harm to society. Political power should be restrained by law and should not interfere with the equity of law. If that happens, it will lead to chaos. The law should not be allowed to degenerate into a tool to serve those in power, nor should it be used to retaliate against the victim or to create wrongful cases.

Based on the reasons stated above, the charges of "instigation" and "using a [slanderous word omitted] to disrupt the administration of law" against Mr. Zheng Zhihong do not stand. To send him to prison constitutes an abuse of the law! The law, justice and heavenly principles should not permit this. Jiang Zemin's group is the real perpetrator in the persecution of Falun Gong. I hereby request that international human rights organizations conduct an investigation and uphold justice by helping Falun Gong and Mr. Zheng Zhihong. Falun Gong is innocent and Mr. Zheng Zhihong is innocent!

Appellant: a man with a conscience and Falun Gong practitioners in the Huanggang District, Hubei Province.

Qianan City Police Department Fabricates Charges against Falun Gong Practitioner - Brutal Tortures Take Place at Hehuakeng Forced Labor Camp

In April 2004, several officers from the Qianan City Police Department and from Division 5 of the Qianan Steel Corporation abducted practitioner Jing Dapeng because his wife clarified the truth about Falun Gong. They took Jing Dapeng to the police station and beat him. Without following any legal procedure, they held Jing Dapeng under administrative detention for 15 days and later held him under criminal detention for a month. They also fabricated charges stating that Jing Dapeng posted truth clarification materials. Jing Dapeng was transferred to a brainwashing class. Ten days later he was sentenced to three years of forced labor and was sent to the Hehuakeng Forced Labor Camp in Tangshan City. Jing Dapeng has been held for over one year and brutally tortured. He was not given enough food and is in terrible physical condition. His wife was also arrested and is being held at the Kaiping Forced Labor Camp. She has suffered similar persecution. A happy family was torn apart, and their child is left without care.

Qi Zongmin, Officer from the Lingfeng Police Department in Chaoyang City, Liaoning Province, Persecutes Falun Gong Practitioners

On September 21, 2004, police officer Qi Zongmin, along with another perpetrator, broke into the home of Falun Gong practitioner Yu Haibin, ransacked it, and arrested his wife Li Yunyun. On September 20, 2004, Qi Zongmin and Ma Yue, head of the Street Committee, ransacked Falun Gong practitioner Zhang Litian's home and sent him to a forced labor camp. On September 22, 2004, Qi Zongmin and a perpetrator named Wang broke into the home of practitioner Huo Huixian and took her to the Shijia Detention Center. In March 2004 they broke into Chen Xiuqin's home and took her to the police department. They also extorted 3,000 yuan from her family. On March 12, Qi Zongmin, Tian Xiaoyang, Han Xiaolong and Da Gang, the driver from the Lingfeng Police Station, broke into practitioner Cui Yongxiao's home and ransacked it. They confiscated Falun Gong books and tapes.