[Minghui Net] Ren Pengwu was a 33-year-old male from Harbin City, Heilongjiang Province.

Before his death, he was a technician at the Harbin City Third Thermal Power Plant in Heilongjiang Province. He conducted his daily life in an upright and honest manner, enjoyed good health, worked conscientiously, and bore his burden of responsibility. Many times he was given awards such as "advanced worker," "youth of five virtues," "the good example," "the factory model employee," the "Heilongjiang Province power system model employee," and others.

On February 16, 2001, while Ren Pengwu was distributing Falun Gong truth-clarifying materials about the Tiananmen "self-immolation" incident, he was illegally arrested by the Hulan County police and thereafter detained in the Hulan County Second Detention Center. Before dawn on February 21, he was tortured to death.

The officials declared that Ren Pengwu died due to heart disease. But, the real story is totally different. Many eyewitnesses confirmed that during his imprisonment, many times Ren Pengwu endured long-lasting, merciless beatings and cruel force-feedings by the police. After suffering the debased police's brutal, unrestrained beatings, it became obvious before dawn on February 21, 2001 that Ren Pengwu's life was in danger. The common prisoner in the cell with him saw that he was near death and immediately reported this to the police, but the police didn't take any action until 4 hours after receiving the report. Only then did they send Ren Pengwu to the hospital, but he was dead on arrival.

After they had tortured Ren Pengwu to death, the murderers, in order to cover their evil deeds and in an effort to obstruct evidence, didn't permit Ren Pengwu's family members to take photographs of the body. Without obtaining the family's permission, under the guise of "legal investigation," they illegally and completely removed all of Ren Pengwu's bodily organs, from his pharynx and larynx to his penis, then hastily cremated his body.

Losing her beloved son, Ren Pengwu's mother could not withstand either the sudden brutal attack on her heart or the intimidation and threats from the police. She became seriously ill and was hospitalized. She could not even get up to have a last look at her son before Ren Pengwu was cremated.

Now, in the Hulan County Detention Center, they are still holding several dozen illegally imprisoned Falun Gong practitioners. The detention terms of many people have already exceeded their illegal detention period several times over. For the majority of them, the reason for their unlimited, extended detention was simply because they refused to sign the "three statements" ["guarantee, repentance and exposing"] and also because the families of some were incapable of paying the "imprisonment expenses" and large fees for bail.

We appeal to the international community and the international human rights organizations: Please, pay close attention to what Jiang Zemin is doing to us and begin to investigate this criminal group's brutal persecution towards Falun Gong and its practitioners.

Falun Gong practitioner in China

April 18, 2001