(Clearwisdom.net)

Facts of the Persecution

On November 17, 2003, the Falun Dafa practitioners being held in the Fourth Brigade at Harbin Female Prison were taken outside where their hands were cuffed behind their backs and they were forced to squat for an extended period of time, beaten, and verbally assaulted. Many practitioners were injured and one even suffered a broken leg from the beating. On November 28, many practitioners were thrown into small cells while the rest were forced to go through military-style training outside. At night, they were again made to squat as further torture. By the 29th, only eight practitioners were left in the hall, out of the 30 being held in the brigade. Also, those what were held at the First Brigade went on a hunger strike to protest maltreatment of practitioners.

In Sichuan Province Female Forced Labor Camp, authorities abused and tortured the Falun Dafa practitioners being held there. Ms Sun Fenghua was not allowed to sleep for 50 days. Ms Gao Huifang, Luo Meng, and Ms Peng Shiqiong were not allowed to sleep for over 20 days. After getting up at 6 a.m., they were forced to stand or sit facing a wall all day. The other prisoners, many of whom were drug addicts, could hit or yell at the Falun Gong practitioners as the guards directed and condoned this behavior. Hunger-striking practitioners were force-fed. Ms Zan Min developed pneumonia as a result of the force-feeding. She lost so much weight that she became emaciated. Some practitioners were hung up and beaten while others where shocked with electric batons.

Shifu Police Station of the Changyi Township, Shandong Province, ransacked practitioner's homes and took away their valuables when arresting and jailing the practitioners. Mr. Li Huiqiang's and Mr. Lin Yongshun's tricycles were taken away. The police stole personal items worth 10,000 Yuan [Chinese currency, the monthly salary for an average Chinese urban worker is about 500 Yuan], as well as the 15,000 Yuan worth of items from Mr. Yu Shenghe alone. In 2001, the police again went to Yu Shenghe's home and confiscated a 29-inch TV and a bankbook listing 20,000 Yuan that had been saved for Yu's son's wedding. The guards from Changyi Detention Center even extorted 10,000 Yuan from Yu's son. The police tried to force Falun Gong practitioners at Shifu Township to write guarantee letters promising not to practice Falun Gong any more and fined them as well.

Since November 2003, the local "610 Office" [an agency specifically created to persecute Falun Gong, with absolute power over each level of administration in the Party and all other political and judiciary systems.] of Huanggang City, Hubei Province, Legal Office, and Public Security Bureau have abducted four practitioners to a brainwashing center to fulfill their required quota. Ms. Tong Jinxian, a teacher and Ms Lu Chunzhen, a credit union worker, were forced to leave their homes to avoid being abducted. Their already impoverished families suffered even more.

In September 2003, a dozen Falun Dafa practitioners were arrested by the authorities of Shouguang Township, Weifang City, Shandong Province, for talking to people about Falun Gong. The police brutally beat the practitioners in public. Many villagers protested and tried to stop the police. The spouse of Wang Xiurong was arrested and beaten for speaking out against the beatings. Since September 2003, two material production sites have been sabotaged. Local practitioners also learned that the five arrested practitioners would be sentenced to prison. The local police station was on a rampage to arrest the practitioners.

On April 28, 2001, the police arrested five practitioners from Daqing City for distributing truth materials in Mingshui Township. They were sent to the local detention center, and held for 11 months. During their detention, they were subjected to abuse and torture. They were not allowed to eat and were beaten regularly. During this time, Public Security Bureau Chief Min Pengju, Section Head of the Legal Office Kang, and Head of the Political and Security Section Ma Jinglin took but did not return 2,500 Yuan in cash from the practitioners. Ma Jinglin even confiscated one practitioner's car. One of the practitioners was sent to jail for seven years and the other four were sent to a to forced labor camp.