NEW YORK (FDI) -- The details of four more Falun Gong deaths have been confirmed by sources in China. All four of these practitioners were sentenced to forced labor camps in attempts to have them renounce their practice of Falun Gong. In each case, the practitioners refused to recant their beliefs. As a result, they were brutally tortured to the edge of death. Three of them were released to die quietly at home as officials attempted to shirk responsibility for the deaths they have caused.
á
á
School
Teacher Ms. Liu Yuhong Dies as a Result of Police Persecution
Ms.
Liu Yuhong, a schoolteacher in her thirties at Nanshan No.2 High School in Hegang City, Heilongjiang
Province, endured relentless persecution in her workplace. She refused school officials' repeated
attempts to force her to give up her belief in Falun Gong, so the officials removed her from her
job.
On
the evening of April 16, 2002, Gongnong Police searched Ms. Liu Yuhong's home in a mass roundup of
Falun Gong practitioners. Three practitioners, Ms. Liu Yuhong, her older brother Mr. Liu Zhenchang,
and Zhang Hua were all taken away. A week later, Ms. Liu Yuhong's sister Liu Yixia was also picked
up as the mass arrest campaign continued.
Liu
Zhenchang was sentenced to ten years in prison. The others were sent to forced-labor camps. Ms. Liu
Yuhong immediately began a hunger strike in protest. When given a medical examination due to her
declining health, it was determined that she had a heart condition. Fearing her death, the labor
camp authorities released Ms. Liu Yuhong in May 2002.
The
police continued to harass Ms.Liu and her family, and she passed away from the heart condition
developed while in the forced-labor camp on August 20, 2002. Persecution
at Qinghai Province's Women's Labor Camp Kills Ms. Tan Yingchun
Ms.
Tan Yingchun (46) was a biology teacher at Kunlun Middle School in Xining City, Qinghai Province. In
2000, she was arrested and served a year in the Duoba Women's Labor Camp, in Qinghai Province.
In
the spring of 2001, Ms. Tan Yingchun traveled to Beijing to appeal for justice for Falun Gong. She
was arrested and held in a Tianjin City detention center, where she endured harsh treatment. In
attempts to coerce her to reveal her name, Liu Yingchun was stripped naked and tied to a metal bed
(also known as a "death bed") while police heaped ice onto her body and left it there to
melt.
After
months in custody in Tianjin, Ms. Tan Yingchun was sentenced to three years of forced labor in the
Xiashilipu Women's Labor Camp in her hometown of Xining City, Qinghai Province.
She
was locked up in a cell with over 30 collaborators (so-called "reformed" practitioners) in
attempts to brainwash her and force her to renounce her practice of Falun Gong. She staunchly
refused to be brainwashed, so her captors began to torture her brutally. In December 2002, Ms. Tan
Yingchun died as a result.
In
order to cover up their crimes, the police claimed that Ms. Tan Yingchun had committed suicide, and
they fabricated a series of lies to back up their story. They also attempted to force other
practitioners being held captive in the labor camp to sing to Ms. Tan's dead corpse, however, the
practitioners firmly refused. To deceive the public, the Kunlun Middle School (where Ms. Tan had
been employed) held a funeral for Ms. Tan, claiming that she had died from natural causes. Intense
Torture Leads to a Young Man's Death
Mr.
Ding Feng (29) from Wujin Town, Chengdu City, went to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong in November
of 2001. For his peaceful appeal, Mr. Ding Feng was sentenced to two years of forced labor in Xinhua
Forced Labor Camp in Mianyang City.
Seeing
Ding Feng's health deteriorate from the torture inflicted on him, camp officials released him for
medical reasons. Fortunately Mr. Feng's health recovered, however in December 2002, Xinjin County
policeman Zhang Lin sought Mr. Ding Feng out. To avoid arrest, Mr. Feng was forced to flee his home.
In
January 2003, Mr. Ding Feng was again arrested and sent back to Xinhua Forced Labor Camp. The police
again tortured Ding Feng to the edge of death. Realizing the rapid deterioration of Ding Feng's
health that they had caused, the police released him in February 2003. Ding Feng died two days later
in his home.
á
Police
in Huanxiling Labor Camp in Jilin Province Murder Practitioner Chen Yongzhe
Sources
in China confirm that Mr. Chen Yongzhe's incarceration at Jilin Province's Huanxiling Forced
Labor Camp began March 8, 2001 with the guards stealing all blankets from the bed, leaving him with
only bare wooden boards to sleep on in the late winter chill.
On
April 27, 2001, Captain Xu Xuequan, and guards Wang, Cui, and Pan began to torture the practitioners
in the camp. Cries were heard echoing from the torture room. The guards began to torture Mr. Chen
Yongzhe that evening. As a result, Mr. Yongzhe's face was black and blue, his mouth and chin badly
swollen. He could not even wash his face. He had endured two and a half hours of torture.
Two
days later, Chen Yongzhe went to ask the guards in the torture room to stop torturing practitioners.
The guards became enraged and tied Mr. Yongzhe to the bed. Five guards tortured Chen Yongzhe, each
with an electric baton, for three hours. Chen Yongzhe's body was burned in many places, his neck
covered in blisters. Chen Yongzhe's health took a serious turn for the worse at this point.
On
June 12, 2001 the guards at Huanxiling Labor Camp took Chen Yongzhe for a medical examination. Cheng
Yongzhe was found to have a serious case of pulmonary tuberculosis. Seeing that Mr. Yongzhe was near
death, they released him for "medical treatment".
Chen
Yongzhe never recovered from the mistreatment he received in the camp. He died in his home on May
14th 2002. He was 34 years old.
The four are:
How can you help stop the persecution of Falun Gong in China?
NEWS - Mar. 12, 2003
Falun Dafa Information Center, www.faluninfo.net
Background
Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa (about), is a practice of meditation and exercises with teachings based on the universal principle of "Truthfulness-Compassion-Tolerance." It is a practice that was taught in private for thousands of years before being made public in 1992 by Mr. Li Hongzhi. Falun Gong has roots in traditional Chinese culture, but it is distinct and separate from other practices such as the religions of Buddhism and Taoism. Since its introduction in 1992, it quickly spread by word of mouth throughout China, and is now practiced in over 50 countries.
With government estimates of as many as 100 million practicing Falun Gong, China's President Jiang Zemin outlawed the peaceful practice in July 1999 (report), fearful of anything touching the hearts and minds of more citizens than the Communist Party. Unable to crush the spirit of millions who had experienced improved health and positive life changes from Falun Gong, Jiang's regime has intensified its propaganda campaign to turn public opinion against the practice while quietly imprisoning, torturing and even murdering those who practice it.
The
Falun Dafa Information Center has verified details of 610 deaths (reports / sources)
since the persecution of Falun Gong in China began in 1999. Government officials inside China,
however, report that the actual death toll is well over 1,600, while expert sources estimate that
figure to be much higher. Hundreds of thousands have been detained, with more than 100,000
being sentenced to forced labor camps, typically without trial.
FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT THE FALUN DAFA INFORMATION CENTER
Contacts: Gail Rachlin (+1 917-501-4441), Levi Browde (+1 914-720-0963), Erping Zhang (+1 646-533-6147), or Feng Yuan (+1 917-941-1097).
Fax: 646-792-3916 Email: faluninfoctr@nycmail.com, Website: http://www.faluninfo.net/
Mailbox of FalunInfo editor@faluninfo.net