Clearwisdom Digest (Issue 25, Dec.8, 2004)

News and Events from Around the World

• Dutch Falun Gong Association Filed Lawsuit against Jiang Zemin for Genocide
• Su Rong Escapes from Zambia, Lawsuit to be Filed Against Him at the International Court of Justice in the Hague
• Brief Stories about Clarifying the Truth in Manhattan
• New York City: Manhattan Celebrates UN Falun Dafa Month, State Officials Send Congratulatory Letters
• Falun Dafa Practitioners in Korea File Lawsuit against Former Chinese Education Minister Chen Zhili

Voices of Justice

• UK Government 2004 Human Rights Report is Critical of China's Human Rights Practice and Treatment of Falun Gong Practitioners
• California: Santa Rosa Junior College Passes Resolution to Condemn the Chinese Communist Government's Persecution and Acts of Atrocity against Falun Gong Practitioners
• US Congresswoman Lynn Woolsey and San Francisco Councilman Chris Daly Talk about the Significance of H. Con. Res. 304
• Korea: Ah-San City Senate Passes Resolution Urging China to Release Falun Gong Practitioner Ms. Gao Chengnu

Facts of the Persecution

• Two of Latest Death by Torture Cases in China at the End of November 2004
• 65-Year-Old Woman Tortured to Disability at Forced Labor Camp in China
• Shibalihe Forced Labor Camp Guards Goads Vicious Inmates to Sexually Torment Female Practitioners
• Forty-Two Additional Persecution-Related Deaths Confirmed in October 2004
• Information about Shao Linyao -- Son of Deceased Falun Gong Practitioner Shao Hui from Jilin Province, China

Media Reports and Opinions

• New York Times Reports on Falun Gong Practitioners' Peaceful Appeals in Manhattan (Excerpt)
• Expatica, Netherlands: Falun Gong Accuse Chinese Leaders Of Genocide
• National Review: Annoy the Chinese Government
• Lat33 (Chile): Bo Xilai - The Feared Chinese Minister Who Comes to Chile

Falun Gong Practitioners' Righteous Action in China

• 241 Falun Gong Families in China File a Lawsuit Against Chishan Prison in Hunan Province
• Clarifying the Truth to Over Twenty People at a Restaurant
• The Stories of Two Elderly Practitioners Who Clarify the Truth with Righteous Actions
• A Man in His 60s From Guizhou Province Walked Almost 1,600 Miles to Appeal for Falun Gong

The People Awaken to the Truth

• Deeply Moved by a Practitioner's Compassion, a Thief Repents
• People in Shenyang Openly Discuss the Falun Gong Documentary Video Spliced into the Beijing Satellite TV System
• Co-workers Eager to Learn Falun Gong

Falun Gong Practitioners' Personal Experiences

• A Senior Physician's Story: Breaking Through Existing Knowledge and Walking the Path of Cultivation
• Medical School Graduate Diagnosed With Advanced Stage Brain Tumor Recovers after Practicing Falun Gong

News and Events from Around the World

Dutch Falun Gong Association Filed Lawsuit against Jiang Zemin for Genocide

On December 2, 2004, the Dutch Falun Gong Association filed a legal complaint against Jiang Zemin, Li Lanqing and Bo Xilai, charging them with committing the crimes of genocide and torture in the suppression of Falun Gong. The Public Prosecutor personally received the complaint at the National Court in Rotterdam and expressed that she would study it and decide what action, if any, to take against the defendants.

On December 3, 2004, the Dutch Falun Dafa Association held a press conference regarding the legal action.

The press statement released by the Dutch Falun Dafa Association stated, "For more than five years, a policy of systematic terror has been waged against Falun Gong practitioners. Money or other means are used to execute this policy and to achieve Jiang's goal, the total elimination of Falun Gong. Jiang Zemin is the initiator and the director of the persecution. He changed the law to justify his actions, but in doing so he violated the Chinese Constitution and universal human rights. He established the 610 Office, a Gestapo-like agency, implemented at all levels of the government for the sole purpose of eradicating Falun Gong physically, mentally, financially, socially and by reputation."

The statement says, "Torture and brainwashing are, even today, applied on a large scale. Examples include force feeding, electric shocks, beating with weapons, long-term confinement in small cells, rape and injection with nerve-damaging drugs. All these inhumane activities have the aim of destroying the faith of Falun Gong practitioners, and as such form a direct attack on Truthfulness, Compassion and Forbearance, the guiding principles of Falun Gong. Communist tactics have been used to turn the whole population against Falun Gong, trying to enforce this policy further. The state-run media is continuously used to brainwash the people and make them believe Falun Gong is bad. Through rewards, fines and penalties, policemen and regular citizens are encouraged to "transform" Falun Gong practitioners. This complete systematic and carefully thought-out approach to eradicate a movement has a legal term: Genocide."

The Hague is famous for being the home of the International Court and the International Criminal Court. The International Court was mainly set up for war offenders but the International Criminal Court can apply to those who seriously violate human rights or commit genocide.

Dutch Falun Dafa Association spokesperson Silvio Verbeek said, "The Dutch are famous in history for evaluating the law. That is why many international legal organizations are situated in The Netherlands, like the International Court and the International Criminal Court. This lawsuit in the Netherlands indicates that the sentencing of Jiang Zemin at the International Criminal Court will take place very soon."

Su Rong Escapes from Zambia, Lawsuit to be Filed Against Him at the International Court of Justice in the Hague

According to most recent information, under an arrest warrant, the Chinese Communist Party Secretary of Gansu Province, Mr. Su Rong, crossed the Chirundu border post in Zambia, and hid in Zimbabwe, then escaped to South Africa and flew back to China Monday evening, November 15, 2004. Falun Dafa practitioners expressed that they will not give up and intend to bring Su Rong to justice by taking his case to The International Court of Justice in The Hague.

The Chinese Communist Party Secretary of Gansu Province, Su Rong, was served with a summons delivered by a Marshall of the Zambia High Court on the afternoon of November 4, 2004. He was on the way back to his hotel while visiting Zambia with a Chinese delegation led by Central Politburo member Mr. Wu Bangguo. Falun Dafa practitioners filed a civil law suit against Su for his crimes of murder, torture and defamation of Falun Dafa practitioners during his tenure as the Head of the Jilin Provincial "610 Office."

Including Wu Bangguo, fourteen other members of the delegation were present when Su was served. Su had to wait behind to appear in court, leaving the delegation at Lusaka.

On November 8, 2004, Su Rong was charged with "Contempt of Court," because he failed to appear in court as ordered. On November 13, 2004, the Zambia High Court held a special hearing on Su Rong's case, but he failed to appear again. Thus, the Zambia police issued an arrest warrant and dispatched personnel to conduct a manhunt. After an extensive and prolonged search, police found Su's personal clothing and belongings at his hiding place, the Chinese Center for the Promotion of Investment, Development and Trade (Z) LTD, but he was nowhere to be found. According to Taj Pamodzi Hotel records where the delegation lodged, Su Rong checked out on November 8, at 2 PM.

Since Su Rong is not familiar with Zambia, he probably escaped with help from the Chinese Embassy. According to reliable sources, Su Rong indicated that after this trip, he would not be easily persuaded to travel overseas again. Falun Dafa practitioners expressed that they will not give up on bringing this criminal Provincial Officialto justice. They will file a lawsuit in the International Court of Justice in The Hague.

Su Rong was the Chinese Communist Party Deputy Secretary of Jilin Province from April 1998 to October 2001. He was the Chinese Communist Party Secretary of Qinghai Province from October 2001 to August 2003 and the Chairman of Qinghai Provincial People's Congress from January 2002 to August 2003. He has been the Chinese Communist Party Secretary of Gansu Province since August 2003. During his tenure in Jilin Province, he was the head of the "Jilin Province Leading Group on the Falun Gong Issue," (associated with the "610 Office"), charged with "handling the Falun Gong issue." During Su's tenure in Jilin Province, he actively supported brainwashing Falun Dafa practitioners, and dismissed them from Party and public positions, since the beginning of the persecution.

Brief Stories about Clarifying the Truth in Manhattan

Today at Times Square on Broadway, we reenacted the torture suffered by Falun Gong practitioners in China. As it was getting dark, five buses pulled up, to the side of the road. We went to talk with the drivers and asked them to distribute our flyers to their passengers. They all happily consented. When I ran up to one of the buses, the door was already closed so we waved our hands at the driver. He opened the door and took our material.

Across the road is a movie theater called the Cadillac Winter Garden. After the show was over, an huge crowd of people walked out. A person who looked like a teacher was chaperoning about a dozen middle-school-aged kids. As they entered a waiting vehicle, we gave the teacher a few flyers saying, "Read this aloud to everybody, please." He smiled in agreement.

There were also a couple of times when the passing New Yorkers voluntarily acted as guides, explaining to friends and colleagues the situation of the persecution of Falun Gong. After a while, we could hear that they were pronouncing the words "Falun Gong" correctly.

In our visitor's book, Aaron Sudovsky signed and wrote, "Chinese Communist Party: Quickly stop! Your lies and deceit cannot prevent God from freeing the Chinese civilians."

A tourist from Rome wrote, "I cannot believe that these things are still happening in 2004. I think the whole world needs to know about what is happening in China. Other than terrorism, everybody should have the freedom to do whatever they would like and believe in whatever they would like."

A tourist from Quebec, Canada wrote, "I urge you guys to continue your hard work, to give your peace, compassion, and concern to those in China that are in need."

A New Yorker wrote on a drug store receipt, "Our world is in danger, not because of those evil-doing persons, but because of those who look on apathetically."

New York resident Jessica Henry optimistically wrote, "I hope that you can persevere. You need to know that Jiang has limited time to destroy your will. Because God is merciful and will stand by your side, in the end you will be triumphant."

New York City: Manhattan Celebrates UN Falun Dafa Month, State Officials Send Congratulatory Letters

On the afternoon of November 22, 2004, a ceremony celebrating "Manhattan Falun Dafa Month" was held at UN Church Center, across the street from UN headquarters. UN Under-Secretary-General Mr. Jan Egeland, offices of New York Governor and Lieutenant Governor and the South African Delegation to the UN sent congratulatory letters to practitioners to wish them great success in the event. New York State representative Adriano Espaillat and Venezuela's ambassador to the UN, Dr. Fermin Toro Jimenez, also expressed their best wishes to this gathering.

The ceremony started at 2:30pm. The site was decorated with a banner reading, "2004 November 11 Manhattan Falun Month," and many truth-clarifying photos were also displayed. First, a practitioner representative presented the opening remarks, which briefly introduced the spread of Falun Dafa around the world and the contribution of practitioners to the local community. The practitioner also talked about the ongoing brutal persecution of Falun Gong in China. The introduction was followed by a Falun Gong exercise demonstration performed by 5 western and Chinese practitioners.

During the gathering, Mr. Richard Cook, a human rights activist and representative of non-governmental organizations, expounded on the illegitimacy of Jiang regime's persecution of practitioners and the urgency of ending the persecution from several aspects. Mr. Cook said that practitioners made a very good impression on him during his contacts with them and the exercise demonstration deeply impressed him. He said he wanted to become a practitioner as well. Following his speech, Theresa Chu, director of International Advocates for Justice, briefed the audience on the latest situation regarding the global joint effort to bring chief culprit Jiang Zemin to justice.

After her speech, musician Mr. Chen Rutang and his wife, who both practice Falun Gong, performed music composed by themselves, and their son Chen Gang described how he was illegally persecuted in China for practicing Falun Gong.

In conclusion, a video program about Falun Dafa was played.

Several local media conducted interviews during the event, and five students from the New York School of Visual Arts filmed the whole ceremony and interviewed some of the guests and practitioners.

Falun Dafa Practitioners in Korea File Lawsuit against Former Chinese Education Minister Chen Zhili

On November 18, 2004, Korean Falun Gong practitioners Ms. Zhang Shu and her daughter Zhao Yingyi filed a lawsuit with the local procurator's office in Seoul, charging that former Chinese Education Minister Chen Zhili participated in genocide, used extraordinary violence, and interfered with people's normal lives, among other allegations. They requested punishment to the full extent of the law for Chen Zhili, currently the Deputy Prime Minister, who visited Korea from November 18-20, 2004.

On July 19, 2004 during a visit to Tanzania, charges were brought against Chen Zhili for her crimes in persecuting Falun Gong, and she appeared before the court.

Chen Zhili was Education Minister from 1998 to 2003. She used her special relationship with Jiang Zemin and her power to forcefully implement Jiang's policies for persecuting Falun Gong. As a result, the persecution in the educational system was extremely cruel. According to incomplete statistics, as of 2003, at least 435 Falun Dafa practitioners in 210 colleges and universities have been unlawfully sentenced to labor camps or sent to psychiatric hospitals for persecution. Since 1999, at least 61 practitioners have died from this branch of the persecution.

In addition, Chen Zhili held many meetings, personally planning the persecution of Falun Gong. She handed down documents under the banner of the Ministry of Education, forcing teachers and students in China to "declare themselves" [against Falun Gong] as in the Cultural Revolution. She made teachers and students watch movies slandering Falun Gong, and forcefully implemented the "Million Signatures" [petition drive against Falun Gong] in the educational system, thereby harming teachers and students by inciting them to join the persecution. Furthermore, she had contents slandering Falun Gong inserted in the school textbooks and exams, even into the entrance exams of colleges and graduate schools. She used materials from state-run CCTV which defamed Falun Gong as texts for study in colleges, to further incite hatred in future teachers.

Chen also pushed the persecution outside of China through foreign relations, cultural, and educational exchanges. On July 3-4, 2002, Chen attended the meeting of the National Education Foreign Affairs, and gave a speech. Her speech revealed that the Education Departments (offices) in each Embassy and Consulate did a lot of work towards suppressing Falun Gong. Instructed by Jiang and Chen, each Embassy and Consulate spread the persecution to overseas Chinese communities. Under the banner of "cultural/educational exchanges," Chen provided huge sums of money to other countries, trying to interfere in these countries in order to spread the persecution of Falun Gong throughout the international community.

These acts of persecution violate the Chinese Constitution and its laws on education, resulting in long-term injuries to the pure hearts of children. Chen cannot escape the net of justice for her crimes.

Falun Dafa practitioners wish to state that exposing Chen's crimes is for the purpose of stopping such villains from coming to Korea for public activities, and also to warn other persecutors that good deeds will be rewarded with good returns, and evil will be met with retribution.

Voices of Justice

UK Government 2004 Human Rights Report is Critical of China's Human Rights Practice and Treatment of Falun Gong Practitioners

The UK Government published its 2004 Human Rights Report on the 10th of November. The Report stated, "The UK Government continues to have serious concerns about basic human rights in China...Our on-going concerns include: the extensive use of the death penalty; the use of torture; the continuing harassment of political dissidents, religious practitioners and adherents of the Falun Gong spiritual movement; the situation in Tibet and Xinjiang; and severe restrictions on basic freedoms of speech, association and religion."

The Report went on to say, "We also remain concerned at reports of the mistreatment of Falun Gong practitioners in detention and have raised this during the dialogue. The Chinese side denies that Falun Gong practitioners are mistreated in detention, despite clear evidence to the contrary." The report also pointed out that the so called 'Strike Hard' campaign "targeted certain groups such as the Falun Gong".

Regarding "freedom of expression", the report stated that in China "NGOs estimate that the authorities employ 30,000 technicians to track which websites people are visiting and to block off any new routes they find around the national firewall."

California: Santa Rosa Junior College Passes Resolution to Condemn the Chinese Communist Government's Persecution and Acts of Atrocity against Falun Gong Practitioners

Recently, the Inter-Club Council (ICC) from Santa Rosa Junior College in California passed a resolution to express condemnation of the Chinese Communist Government's persecution and acts of atrocity against Falun Gong practitioners. Below is the resolution.

ICC, Santa Rosa Junior College

Resolution

Expressing Condemnation of the Chinese Communist Government's Persecution and Acts of Atrocity against Falun Gong Practitioners

Proposed by: Santa Rosa Junior College Falun Gong Club.

Whereas, at numerous colleges and universities in California and across the United States, the student body includes Falun Gong practitioners, and student organizations include Falun Gong Associations;

Whereas, Falun Gong is a peaceful self-cultivation practice deeply rooted in traditional Chinese culture, with tens of millions of practitioners in over 60 countries; and

Whereas, Falun Gong practitioners aspire to have inner peace and physical health through qigong exercises, meditation, and adherence to the principles of Truthfulness, Compassion and Tolerance; and,

Whereas, Falun Gong is non-religious, completely voluntary, and free of charge; and,

Whereas, the Constitution of the People's Republic of China provides to the citizens of that country freedom of speech, assembly, association, and belief; and,

Whereas, on July 20, 1999, former Chinese Communist Party leader Jiang Zemin, in spite of much opposition from within the Chinese government, officially banned the practice of Falun Gong and initiated a brutal campaign of brainwashing, torture and murder, which continues today; and,

Whereas, former Communist Party leader, Jiang Zemin threatened the entire country of China with a genocide of conscience, exercised power over all parts of society to force the persecution on the government and the people and tried to exercise the genocide of conscience overseas; and,

Whereas, demonstrations by Falun Gong practitioners in the People's Republic of China and the United States have always been peaceful, meditative sessions; and,

Whereas, the 2003 US Department of State Annual Human Rights Report (documented) that, (Chinese) police often use excessive force when detaining peaceful Falun Gong protesters, including some who were elderly or who were accompanied by harassment, fines, job discrimination, imprisonment, torture, and sometimes death; and

Therefore be it resolved, that we condemn the persecution and human rights violations of Falun Gong practitioners in Mainland China and abroad;

Therefore be it further resolved that we condemn the persecution and human rights violations of Christians, Catholics, Protestants, and other religious/spiritual practices by the Chinese Communist Government in mainland China and abroad;

Therefore be it further resolved that the distribution of this resolution include, but not be limited, to:

President George W. Bush
Secretary of State Colin Powell
Assistant Secretary of State in charge of East Asian affairs James Kelly
Senator Diane Feinstein
Senator Barbara Boxer
Congressperson Lynn Woolsey
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger
Speaker Nunez, California State Assembly
Senator Wes Chesbro
Senator John Burton
Assembly Member Joe Nation
The California State Student Association
The University of California Students' Association
United Nations Human Rights Commission
Assembly member Carol Liu, co-chair Asian Pacific Islander Caucus
Senator Kevin Murray, chair Legislative Black Caucus
Assembly Member Marco Firebaugh, chair Latino Caucus
The Sonoma County Board of Supervisors
The Rohnert Park City Council
The City Council of Cotati
The CSU Board of Trustees
Dr. Charles B. Reed CSU Chancellor
CSU Statewide Academic Senate
California Faculty Association
Dr. Ruben Arminana Sonoma State University President
Sonoma State University Academic Senate
Human Rights Watch
Amnesty International
National organization for Women
Dr. Charles Lee

The Nanjing Forced Labor Camp

US Congresswoman Lynn Woolsey and San Francisco Councilman Chris Daly Talk about the Significance of H. Con. Res. 304

On October 4, 2004, the US House of Representatives unanimously passed H. Con. Res. 304 urging the Chinese Government to cease its oppression of Falun Gong practitioners in the U.S. and in China. Recently, a Clearwisdom journalist interviewed Congresswoman Lynn Woolsey, the sponsor of the resolution, and Mr. Chris Daly, Council member of the City of San Francisco, who was himself once harassed by the Chinese Consulate.

Interview with Congresswoman Lynn Woolsey:

Q: How did this resolution get started?

LW: Several years ago, Falun Gong practitioners came to my office in California and we immediately started a very nice relationship with these young people who are so committed to the Falun Gong practice, and helping their peers overseas to be able to practice freely and to be free from torture.

With them I wrote the resolution. It was very clear that we needed bi-partisan support. Congresswoman Ros-Lehtinan took the lead and did a very good job.

It passed unanimously. Once people knew about it and thought about it, they could not possibly not support it.

House Concurrent Resolution 304 demands the immediate end of harassment, detention and imprisonment of Falun Gong practitioners in China and also demands the (Chinese) Consulates in the U.S to stop putting pressure on state and city officials to not support the Falun Gong practitioners to do what they do so peacefully in our area.

Q: What is the significance of the resolution?

LW: It is symbolic. It is a statement from the House of Representatives to say what we believe. But people like me always work to demand the Chinese government to be more humane with their religious rights, civil liberties and allowing people to speak. This is just one step towards that direction.

A resident of Menlo Park, US citizen Charles Lee, went to China and has been physically and mentally tortured ever since. This resolution also calls for his release.

Q: According to the U.S. State Department, Charles Lee has been forced to make Christmas lights.

LW: If I had known that, I would not have bought Christmas lights last year.

The Falun Gong practitioners have demonstrated so peacefully and beautifully--it is clear that if they can be considered a threat, it is because there is a fear of freedom of speech. I definitely appreciate what the Falun Gong practitioners are doing.

Interview with San Francisco supervisor Chris Daly:

CD: I was very excited when I heard the news (about the H. Con. Res. 304). I got the news on Wednesday when my wife was delivering a son. A healthy baby boy named Jack, weighs 71/2 pounds.

The issue is about the interference with local government affairs. I initiated a resolution a couple of years ago to condemn the repression of Falun Gong in China. The Chinese Consulate lobbied very heavily against its passage locally, even to the point of having contributors of elected officials make phone calls, and write letters that were really heavy handed.

It was using the influence of a foreign state on a local political decision. I felt that was really unfair.

I felt that the congressional resolution was a compelling one, so I testified there.

I am really hoping this will have an impact on China--how they engage in politics and on our local politics--and hopefully open up an opportunity for a new resolution like the one I introduced before.

Korea: Ah-San City Senate Passes Resolution Urging China to Release Falun Gong Practitioner Ms. Gao Chengnu

Resolution of the Ah-San City Senate

Urging the Release of Ms. Gao Chengnu, the Wife of a Korean, Who Is Illegally Detained by the Chinese Government

We, all members of the Senate of Ah-San City, are deeply sorry for Byung-ho Kwak, a Korean, who lives in Cheonan City, Chungcheongnam-do, and whose Chinese wife Gao Chengnu has been illegally detained in a Labor Camp in the city of Jiamusi in the Province of Heilongjiang since May of 2004 solely because she is a practitioner of Falun Gong. We strongly support the activities of "Gao Chengnu Rescue Committee" for struggling to release Gao Chengnu.

We, all members of the Senate of Ah-San City, strongly support the resolutions unanimously passed by the city of Cheonan on September 13 2004 and by the Legislative Assembly of Chungcheongnam-do on November 2 2004 respectively regarding the release of Gao Chengnu.

We, all members of the Senate of Ah-San City, believe that the formal marriage of Ms. Gao Chengnu and Korean citizen Byung-ho Kwak doesn't have any conflict with Chinese law and China has no reason to imprison her for her belief in Falun Gong. We urge your relevant authorities to take measures to release Gao Chengnu as soon as possible.

The life of Korean citizen Byung-ho Kwak's wife, Gao Chengnu, is in danger due to suffering severe torture and interrogation. We, all members of the Senate of Ah-San City, are highly concerned over this as being a pressing situation and once again we urge your relevant authorities to release Gao Chengnu unconditionally and ensure that she leaves China for Korea safely.

Head of the Assembly of Senate of Ah-San City,

Republic of Korea (Signature- Stamp)

November 2nd 2004

Facts of the Persecution

Two of Latest Death by Torture Cases in China at the End of November 2004

1. Mr. Wu Junyang Is Tortured to Death on November 27, 2004

Mr. Wu Junyang from Benxi City, Liaoning Province tragically died at his age of 30 on November 27, 2004.

In 1999, he was sentenced to two years' forced labor because he practiced Falun Gong. After being released from labor camp, Mr. Wu was forced to become destitute and homeless for three years in order to avoid being illegally arrested at home. However, he was again arrested on September 16, 2004 by staff from the Benxi City Police Station and detained in a detention center.

On November 16, 2004, his family suddenly received a notice from the police, telling them that Mr. Wu was sick in the City Central Hospital. Police officers from the Qianjin Substation and the Benxi City Station requested that his family members sign his release papers but they refused since they had not seen him yet. The police told them that they would not be allowed to see him until they signed the papers. Since the family members were very eager to see him, they yielded to the pressure and signed the document. They then were allowed to see Wu Junyang lying on a hospital bench, although he did not appear to have received any treatment. The police quickly made their escape. Both of Mr. Wu's eyes were seeping blood. He weakly told his family that he had been beaten by police and wanted to go home. After they got Mr. Wu home, he completely lost his eyesight, then he lost consciousness and became incontinent. His family found bruises all over his body, and saw that his urine had turned purple. Since the family was too poor to take him for medical treatment, Wu Junyang died at 1 am, on November 27, 2004.

2. Ms. Lin Chunfang Beaten to Death by Police in Tianjin on November 23, 2004

Ms. Lin Chunfang is Falun Gong practitioner from Xianshuiku Town, Jingnan District (South Tianjin District), Tianjin City. She was brutally beaten by police after she was arrested. She died from torture on November 23, 2004.

On November 15, 2004, Ms. Lin Chunfang was distributing Falun Gong informational materials in a residential area when she was stopped by policeman Zhao Baogang. The police brutally beat and tortured her. In just 24 hours, this kind middle-aged lady was beaten to the verge of death. Afraid of being held responsible, the police sent Ms. Lin to the hospital. However due to the severe trauma from torture, she died at 6am on November 23, 2004, only 8 days after she was arrested.

65-Year-Old Woman Tortured to Disability at Forced Labor Camp in China

65-year old Ms. Yang Jusheng was sent to the Baimalong Women's Labor Camp in May 2004 for her belief in Falun Dafa. Since then, she has endured various inhumane tortures. She was forced to stand for an extended period of time, which caused a serious prolapse of her rectum and she was not allowed to sleep for 13 days straight. In addition, the long-term physical punishment left both of her feet disabled, and now she can barely walk. The following is Yang Jusheng's account.

My name is Yang Jusheng and I'm 65 years old. I'm from Shuangfeng County, Hunan Province. I was abducted and taken to the Baimalong Women's Labor Camp in Zhuzhou City, Hunan Province on May 10, 2004 simply because I practice Falun Dafa. On September 14, the labor camp officials put me in the "strictly-monitored" section in order to force me to give up my belief in Falun Dafa. I suffered severe tortures in there. That same day, they forced me to stand still from 7:00 p.m. until 8:00 a.m. the next morning. I was not allowed to move at all for 13 hours. Even a slight movement would lead to a severe beating by the guards on duty. The extended standing caused a prolapse of my rectum. Several inches of the rectum slipped out, and I bled a lot. Even so, the policemen didn't allow me to change clothes or take a shower.

At 8:00 o'clock the next morning, policeman Yuan Jia ordered me to squat down with my hands on my lap and my feet together. He forced me to squat in that position for six days straight. I was not allowed to stand up even when eating. This caused excruciating pain in the tendons of my feet. Whenever I moved my body slightly, they violently punched and kicked me. If I let out a groan due to the unbearable pain, the guard on duty, Wang Fang, would take off her socks and shove them into my mouth. The guards ruthlessly beat me. I couldn't hold my neck straight. Feeling sick and dizzy, I could not stay still. I often fell on my back or on my face. I don't remember how many times I fell down. They also didn't allow me to use the restroom. I just had to hold it. After a long time, I no longer had the urge to go to the restroom. My calves and feet were swollen, and I could not stand still.

They did not allow me to sleep for 13 days. I wasn't even allowed to blink my eyes. The long- term torture left both my feet crippled. The soles of my feet turned purple-red. The calluses on the soles of my feet started to peel off. My shins hurt a lot, and my legs were numb. I couldn't bend my right ankle, so I had to drag my right foot when I walked and I fell down and hit my head many times. My head was covered with bumps. It's been more than 40 days, and I have still not recovered. I still limp when I walk.

Shibalihe Forced Labor Camp Guards Goads Vicious Inmates to Sexually Torment Female Practitioners

At the Shibalihe Forced Labor Camp in Zhengzhou City, Henan Province, Zhang Yunqing and Jia Meili, along with drug addicts and sex offenders, have repeatedly tortured steadfast Falun Dafa practitioners. Zhang and Jia, two ex-practitioners, have taken part in devising and executing tortures. They have forced practitioners to stand upright and stay awake continuously for several days and nights. When practitioners become unconscious after severe torture, these evildoers pressure them into signing the so-called transformation letter, a declaration renouncing their belief in Falun Dafa.

Furthermore, Zhang and Jia have goaded other Shibalihe Camp inmates to humiliate and torture practitioners using despicable tactics. One such tactic is to grab women practitioners' breasts and yank them forward to cause bleeding and excruciating pain. The perpetrators have also stabbed practitioners' vaginas with a screwdriver. They have grabbed hold of practitioners' hair and pounded their heads against the wall. Several practitioners in this camp have lost their lives to such savage tortures.

When a practitioner dies, the Shebalihe Camp not only refuses to inform the victim's family, but also unceremoniously disposes of the corpse. Should family members inquire about the status of a detainee, the camp claims that the practitioner was absent. More often than not, this claim indicates that the practitioner has been tortured to death.

At the end of each quarter or the beginning of the next, the Shibalihe Labor Camp forces practitioners to take a written test that fabricates evidence for reducing the term of imprisonment. The camp also imposes a so-called security check that is intended to confiscate any Dafa material. The camp guards conduct a body search on every practitioner and inspect all personal belongings.

Upon returning to his cell after a day of hard labor on April 5, 2004, an illegally detained practitioner discovered that his clothes container had been turned inside out; quilts and clothes were thrown all over the floor, and sheets of paper were torn to pieces.

Though the guards occasionally feel guilty, they claim that, "These are camp regulations. We must obey."

Jiang Zemin, the former head of the Chinese Communist Party who launched the persecution, visited the Shibalihe Forced Labor Camp on July 30, 2004.

Forty-Two Additional Persecution-Related Deaths Confirmed in October 2004

Non-governmental channels and information published on Clearwisdom Net have confirmed that another 42 Falun Gong practitioners have died as a result of the persecution in China. As of October 31, 2004, the confirmed death toll of practitioners has reached 1,101 since July 20, 1999, when Jiang Zemin's political group began its blatant persecution of Falun Gong.

The fact that an additional 42 practitioners have died as a result of the persecution was confirmed in October. Thirty of them died in 2004, four in October alone.

These 42 confirmed cases of practitioners being persecuted to death represent 19 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities: 6 cases in Jilin Province; 5 cases in Hebei Province; 4 cases in Heilongjiang Province; 3 cases in Liaoning Province; 3 cases in Sichuan Province; 3 cases in Hubei Province; 3 cases in Chongqing; 2 cases in Tianjin; 2 cases in Shaanxi Province; 2 cases in Henan Province; and one death happened in each of the following locations: Beijing, Anhui Province, Guangdong Province, Guangxi Province, Gansu Province, Shanxi Province, Ningxia Autonomous Region, Xinjiang Autonomous Region and Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.

These 42 lethal persecution incidents have one thing in common: the practitioners were subjected to both physical and mental torture. These practitioners suffered various forms of merciless beatings, other forms of torture, "reforming" brainwashing, and financial extortion. They were sent to detention centers, forced labor camps, prisons, mental hospitals, and brainwashing classes. They experienced outrages at local police stations and the "610 Office's" cruel persecution that conspired to compel them to give up their belief in "Zhen-Shan-Ren."

Many persecution cases were particularly brutal. For instance, practitioner Mr. Zhou Qingtian from Xi'an City in Shaanxi Province had metal needles imbedded in all ten fingers, which seriously damaged his fingers. Practitioner Mr. Cui Fengqi, from a gas factory with the Tangshan Iron and Steel Company, was abducted many times and paraded in the streets for public display. The police burned Tonghua City railroad employee Mr. Song Wenhua from Jilin Province with a lit cigarette and cruelly beat him after stripping him naked. Practitioner Mr. Ma Jijun from Changji City, Xinjiang Autonomous Region, was not only abducted and forced into a brainwashing class by the local "610 Office" perpetrators, but was also sent to a mental hospital where damaging treatment caused edema in his entire body. He was in torment until he died.

Twenty-four women in these 42 lethal persecution cases accounted for 57% of the total; 23 people were over 50 years old and accounted for 55%. Thirty people died as a result of the persecution in 2004, and four died in late October 2004. The oldest was 68-year-old Ms. Mo Jiaying from Guilin, Guangxi Province; the youngest was 31-year-old high school teacher Mr. Xiao Guobing from the Baihe Forestry Bureau, Antu County, Jilin Province.

Information about Shao Linyao -- Son of Deceased Falun Gong Practitioner Shao Hui from Jilin Province, China

Falun Gong practitioner Shao Hui previously worked at the Hongshi Forest Farm and Hongshi Forestry Bureau Clinic in Huadian City, Jilin Province. He was tortured to death by people from the Jilin City Police Department in August 2002. He was only 31 years old. What follows is some information about his son, Shao Linyao.

Shao Linyao is now eight years old and attends the Xinhua Primary School in Huadian City. When he was one month old, his parents started practicing Falun Gong.

Since July 20, 1999, Jiang's faction arrested his parents time and time again. Since turning three years old, he has been deprived of his parents and subjected to loneliness, helplessness, and terror. His young heart is burdened with suffering and agony far beyond what he should have to bear at such a tender age.

He cried every day after his parents were taken away, but never loudly. Instead, he would just quietly wipe away his tears. In the evening, when others were asleep, he covered himself with the quilt and cried. No one knows how many times he woke up crying from his dreams. At the kindergarten class, he often burst into tears, and when the teacher asked him why he was crying, he told the teacher that his mom and dad were suffering in a forced labor camp and the police were shocking them with electric batons.

After his mother's release on bail for health reasons, after having suffered for nearly three years in the labor camp, Shao Linyao followed her around everywhere for fear that he might lose her again. In the evening, when his mother went out, he would just sit there and wait until she came home, no matter how late it was. When she told him to go to bed earlier because he had school the next morning, he said to her with tears in his eyes, "I'm scared that bad people might take you away again when you go out. I can't stop worrying until you come back home!"

This poor child still does not know that his dad has already died a tragic death. When people ask him what he would like to do when he grows up, he says, "I will be a policeman, and I will deal especially with those evildoing police. I will keep them from arresting good people. Then my dad and my elder aunty (also a Falun Gong practitioner, who was sentenced to 12 years in prison) will be able to come back home. Every day, he is longing to be with his father again.

Media Reports and Opinions

New York Times Reports on Falun Gong Practitioners' Peaceful Appeals in Manhattan (Excerpt)

New York Times correspondent Lydia Polgreen begins her story on Falun Gong's truth-clarification activities in New York in dramatic fashion, stating:

"Cendana Wirasari Adiwarga sat perfectly still, her eyelids shut tight as Quincy Sun dragged a toothpick soaked with fake blood across her plump left cheek.

" 'There, all done,' Ms. Sun said, appraising her handiwork. Ms. Adiwarga's smooth skin had been transformed into a garish tableau of bloody cuts and bruises. Ms. Adiwarga then rose to take her place inside a tiny metal cage, where she planned to sit for three hours on a blustery late October morning opposite a federal courthouse in Lower Manhattan.

" 'Maybe if people here see me suffer, they will know just one tiny speck of suffering in China,' Ms. Adiwarga said."

The article goes on to describe how the two women had flown long hours at considerable expense from the Far East to clarify the truth about the persecution of practitioners of Falun Gong.

These practitioners "and hundreds of other demonstrators from across the globe are flooding the streets and subways of New York, cheerfully but very persistently pressing stacks of literature into the hands of harried passers-by, waving gruesome photographs of victims and simulating brutal acts of torture. They claim that the Chinese government is not only suppressing the practice in China, as has been widely known and largely condemned, but that it is using harassment, spying and intimidation to destroy Falun Gong in the United States."

The report states that independent human rights groups have affirmed that practitioners of Falun Gong in China have been sent to labor camps, subjected to physical and psychological torture and killed since the Chinese government began persecuting the movement's 100 million followers in 1999.

"Thus the demonstrations in New York, which play out in parks and on street corners from City Hall to the Museum of Natural History. They began in earnest with the Republican National Convention in August but have continued, buoyed by volunteers from around the world like Ms. Adiwarga and Ms. Sun, from Indonesia and Australia. Others come from Taiwan, Singapore and New Zealand."

The New York Times quotes Falun Dafa Association spokesman Levi Browde: "Not content with torturing and killing in their own country, the Chinese government has carried out campaigns of intimidation against practitioners in the United States. They send consular officials to intimidate practitioners here in the United States, even American citizens. We think Americans should be aware of what the Chinese government does in their own country."

"The demonstrations are graphic," states Ms. Polgreen. "Photographs depict emaciated corpses, or victims with faces burned or battered. Over the past couple of months they have become a fixture on the city's streets, deeply unironic bits of street theater, drawing very mixed responses."

" 'At first I thought it looks like a performance, some kind of art theater,' said Reinhard Kressner, a Berliner visiting New York, who stopped to look at a particularly gruesome demonstration in Lower Manhattan, and was moved enough to sign a petition supporting Falun Gong. 'This is about human rights. No one should suffer like this.'"

The article points out that the current protests "are aimed largely at publicizing a concerted effort by the Chinese government to harass practitioners and their supporters in the United States and other countries. Practitioners of Falun Gong have filed several lawsuits in recent years against Chinese officials and embassy employees. They have compiled a list of incidents that runs 300 pages."

Citing why such lawsuits are necessary, the article states: "In an example cited in a federal lawsuit, a practitioner was attacked by men believed to be associated with the Chinese consulate in San Francisco while handing out Falun Gong literature in a public park. Tires were slashed on the car that a practitioner in Flushing used to transport Falun Gong materials, the papers said. The complexity of serving papers on a sovereign government has held up the lawsuit, which was filed in Federal Court in Washington in April 2002, according to Jason Dzubow, a lawyer handling the case, but arrangements to serve papers though the State Department are currently being finalized, he said."

The reporter also interviewed Ms. Gail Rachlin, a real estate broker in New York and an unofficial spokeswoman for Falun Gong in New York. She "said that the practice was peaceful, and that its adherents had no political aims.

" 'People engaged in gentle exercises to improve their health who embrace truthfulness, compassion and forbearance are no threat to the Chinese government,' Ms. Rachlin said. 'All we seek is the right to practice without fear of death and torture.'"

The New York Times also noted that "Congress passed a resolution last month demanding that the Chinese government 'immediately stop interfering in the exercise of religious and political freedoms within the United States, such as the right to practice Falun Gong, that are guaranteed by the United States Constitution,' and urging the attorney general to investigate allegations of harassment and intimidation by Chinese officials."

In conclusion, the Times reporter interviewed Henny Chen, a 35-year-old merchandiser for a garment company in Jakarta, who "took two weeks off work, paid $865 for a round-trip ticket to New York and crammed into a room with other practitioners in a Times Square hotel."

" 'If American people know how the Chinese government hurts people, maybe they would ask their government to help us,'" Ms. Chen said. " 'We are here to show the truth.'"

Expatica, Netherlands: Falun Gong Accuse Chinese Leaders Of Genocide

AMSTERDAM - The Falun Gong spiritual movement is seeking to have three senior Chinese officials, including former president Jiang Zemin, prosecuted in the Netherlands for genocide and torture.

Lawyer Liesbeth Zegveld said at a press conference on Friday that the "symbolic" case was timed to coincide with the upcoming EU-China summit in The Hague.

Zegveld said two of the victims of the persecution of Falun Gong in China were Dutch citizens and this justified launching a case in the Netherlands on Wednesday.

"There are now [similar] law suits in 44 countries against these eminent figures, making it difficult for them to move around freely," Zegveld said.

The Chinese officials named in the complaint are Jiang, Trade Minister Bo Xilai and Li Lanqing, a former member of the secretariat of the Communist Party. Bo was governor of Liaoning province where many of the Falun Gong followers were prosecuted, the lawyer claimed.

The public prosecutor's office in Rotterdam confirmed it had received the complaint. Justice officials will study it to decide what action, if any, to take against the three.

Falun Gong was outlawed as [slanderous words omitted] in China by Jiang in 1999 and the group claims 1,600 of its members were tortured or beaten to death since then.

The organization is said to have 100 million followers in China and thousands more around the world. Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, is a meditation and exercise practice.

It is not really clear why the Chinese authorities decided to crack down on the spiritual group. Falun Gong adherents claim Jiang was afraid its popularity threatened the Communist Party's hold over the country.

National Review: Annoy the Chinese Government

How do you make the government of the world's most important rising power quake in fear? You hold a few signs, pass out brochures and engage in peaceful street theater half a world away.

That is what practitioners of Falun Gong have been doing in the streets of New York, San Francisco, Chicago, and other cities, protesting their persecution in China. The demonstrations have prompted the Chinese government to try to export as much of its ham-handed repression to our shores as possible. For a little whiff of the people's power revolution that is convulsing Ukraine at the moment, and has brought democracy to places as far-flung as the Philippines and Eastern Europe, consider a street corner in any American city where Falun Gong has set up shop. They aren't going to topple the Chinese government, but the theme is the same - individuals confronting a brutal state in a nonviolent manner.

Falun Gong is a form of an ancient Chinese practice [based on principles of truthfulness, compassion, tolerance]. It shouldn't be the least bit threatening to a rational government, but Beijing has a Communist dictatorship's traditional distrust of any organization outside the control of the government. It is still on edge from a peaceful demonstration in 1999 that had 10,000 Falun Gong demonstrators [appealed to the national appeals office] outside the compound in Beijing where the Communist leaders live. A five-year-long crackdown on what the government invariably labels [a slanderous term] has seen practitioners killed, tortured, and sent to labor camps.

The latest protests, with a particular focus on New York City, are an attempt to remind people of what's happening in China. "We focused on New York because it's the media center of the world," says Falun Gong's unofficial spokesman here, Gail Rachlin. The seemingly ubiquitous demonstrations are like Falun Gong itself, earnest and a little strange, often featuring someone sitting in a small cage or in chains, dabbed with fake blood to reenact the torture faced by practitioners in China.

For the Chinese government, what's most disturbing is just how attention-grabbing the demonstrations are. Try as it might, the government can't crush Falun Gong. In fact, in exquisite demonstration of the law of unintended consequences, the government crackdown has coincided with the creation of a worldwide Falun Gong movement. [...]

Chinese officials in the United States have reacted with bluster and thuggery. "Chinese diplomats spend a lot of time writing letters and making visits to governments, local newspapers and television outlets, politicians and others, warning them about the movement," according to the Wall Street Journal. Chinese officials have attempted to shut down Falun Gong-related conferences, art exhibits, and movies here in the United States. Falun Gong sympathizers tell darker tales of cars being burned and apartments being broken into.

A recently passed congressional resolution deplores the harassment of Falun Gong in the United States. It mentions a beating of practitioners outside a Chinese restaurant in New York by men allegedly connected to the Chinese government; an assault against protesters outside the Chinese consulate in Chicago, which led to the conviction of two individuals with ties to the consulate; and the physical abuse of Falun Gong practitioners in San Francisco by men later seen at the San Francisco consulate. "People don't realize what is going on here in America," says Rachlin.

"Chinese officials are completely not used to protests," says [Danny Schechter, author of Falun Gong's Challenge to China.] "When they see a bunch of people outside their consulate, consular officials get freaked out."

Falun Gong is not a political movement. All its practitioners want to do is live peaceably in accord with their beliefs. For anyone near a Falun Gong protest in the United States, the imperative is clear: Annoy the Chinese government - take a brochure or exchange a kind word.

Lat33 (Chile): Bo Xilai - The Feared Chinese Minister Who Comes to Chile

On November 15^th, 2004, Lat33, a monthly magazine in Chile that covers topics ranging from politics, economy, arts and different social topics, published a 4 page article written by Maria Eugenia Fernandez about Bo Xilai and his direct involvement in the persecution of Falun Gong in China. The following is an excerpt.

The powerful Chinese Minister of Commerce comes to Chile for the APEC summit, at a time when serious accusations in the matter of human rights fall upon him, as a result of the persecution against the Falun Dafa spiritual movement, with thousands tortured, killed, and people forced into labor camps or put in psychiatric hospitals. Could the same thing happen to him as to Pinochet; could he get detained in Santiago?

[...]

Bo Xilai has since five years ago participated in the persecution of the Falun Dafa spiritual movement, a "cultivation practice" that expounds on the study of three principles "truth", "compassion", "tolerance", along with five exercises similar to those of yoga, to enrich the inner life of people (see section below).

According to Amnesty International, since 1999 when the Falun Dafa movement was first forbidden in China, more than 800 people have died as a result of torture, tens of thousands have been detained and taken to labor camps without trial or forced into psychiatric hospitals, and 500 people have been sentenced to 18 years in prison.

A Shower of Accusations

Falun Dafa denounces that between 1999 and the year 2000, when Bo Xilai was Mayor of Dalian city, at least 15 followers of this movement died. Dalian was one of the areas with the harshest repression. Between 2000 and 2004 Bo was governor of Liaoning province, where by December of 2003 ninety deaths had been confirmed, caused by the same repression: this was the fourth largest in the country. Six months after the persecution began Human Rights Watch stated that 13 percent of those detained lived in Liaoning province.

From the ex President Jiang Zemin on downwards, numerous Chinese officials and ex Chinese officials face lawsuits abroad for genocide, torture and crimes against humanity. Bo is one of the ones who top the list. The reason? The violation of international laws regarding human rights, and the UN Torture Convention, signed and ratified by China in 1988.

Last August, while Bo was traveling in Russia, he was surprised by a group of Chinese citizens that filed a lawsuit for his involvement in the persecution of Falun Dafa. It was not the first time that this happened to him. In June of this year, while in Poland, he was legally accused of crimes against humanity. Last March he had to suspend his visit to Germany because of protests against him. In addition, he has accusations in England, where it has been asked that he be named persona non grata, as a last resort to a difficult situation: Bo Xilai has diplomatic immunity because he is a Minister.

In April, four Chinese citizens filed a lawsuit in the United States. "All of them were subject to Bo Xilai's jurisdiction and authority as governor of Liaoning, and they suffered and were mistreated with Bo's help and supervision", states the text of the complaint. In October, the US Congress passed Resolution 304, which requests investigating Chinese consular officials that abuse North American citizens and residents who practice or support Falun Dafa. It also asks for the prisoners of conscience in China to be freed and for an end to the persecution in China.

Sentenced to "Reeducation"

International human rights organizations have followed these events closely. In 2002, Amnesty International denounced that the trials against Falun Dafa followers were secret, that only a few were made known and that in these cases there was no evidence that the actions being tried constituted a crime, according to international standards.

On the other hand, a report this very year by Human Rights Watch states that very few Falun Dafa practitioners, currently detained, had been arrested legally. It also denounced that close to ten thousand people had received severe "reeducation" sentences, and also revealed the abuses against detainees which include heavy blows, electric shocks, force feeding and the administering of psychiatric drugs.

Some torture cases have become emblematic, such as the case of Tan Yongjie, a Falun Dafa member in Guangdong province, who ended up with more than ten third degree burns on his legs. Tan [escaped to] the United States and was treated in Houston, where doctors transplanted skin so that the gouges would close. Two months later his wounds were still too shocking to look at.

One of the difficulties these lawsuits face is that China is a great power that has grown at an infernal speed of 9% on average annually since 1986, according to the World Bank, and only the opportunity to trade with a giant market of 1.3 billion people usually causes the persecutions taking place over there to be forgotten. [...]

Millions of Practitioners

In the case of Falun Dafa, after the movement was first introduced in 1992, the government supported it to reduce the costs of healthcare. But everything changed in 1998 when a poll showed that 70 million Chinese were practicing it. The theory purported by the movement is that this number surpassed in popularity that of the Chinese Communist Party, and Jiang Zemin, the President in those years, may have seen his leadership overshadowed, - a thesis which Human Rights Watch shares.

In 1996 a campaign began outlawing the books, and the next year police harassment began. Until then in 1999, while in broad daylight, armed police attacked hundreds of practitioners in the city of Tianjin and detained 45 of them. Two days later ten thousand people peacefully gathered to appeal in Tiananmen Square to demand their liberation. Today, actions taken [by the Government] have gone so far as to close Internet sites and detain citizens of other countries in Chinese embassies or consulates.

According to Amnesty International, since 1999 when the Falun Dafa movement was first forbidden in China, more than 800 people have died as a result of torture, tens of thousands have been detained and taken to labor camps without trial or forced into psychiatric hospitals, and 500 people have been sentenced to 18 years in prison.

What is Falun Dafa?

Falun Dafa or Falun Gong is not a cult or a religion, but a cultivation practice. As a practice, it develops the body through five exercises. The cultivation aspect, is the improvement of mind and spirit through the study of three universal principles: truth, compassion, tolerance.

As with Chinese medicine, Falun Dafa is ancient: the practice states that for centuries it was passed down from teacher to disciple in the mountains and in remote placed in China. But it was in 1992 when its founder, Master Li Hongzhi, taught it as part of a series of seminars organized by the Chinese government itself, and from that year until 1999 its practitioners grew in an exponential fashion: they number between 70 and 100 million in sixty countries, according to the organization.

The movement has no political goals or interest. Participation is free and is taught voluntarily and free of charge. In Chile it is not well known, and it tends to blend in with yoga or tai-chi.

[...]

In the middle of this year Pia-Maria Sandas, a [practitioner] of Falun Dafa, came to Chile to reveal the truth. Five media covered the topic, but mostly its spiritual aspects. Few of them spoke about the human rights violations. "I noticed that some of the media did not want to touch the topic of the persecution so as to not anger the powerful Chinese economy. It is very sad that economic benefits are more important than the lives of human beings", Sandas commented, visibly troubled.

Falun Gong Practitioners' Righteous Action in China

241 Falun Gong Families in China File a Lawsuit Against Chishan Prison in Hunan Province

Recently, 241 Falun Gong practitioners' family members in China sent a letter to the Ministry of Justice branch of the Supreme People's Procuratorate, and the Judicial Bureau of Hunan Province, which presides over all the prefectural levels of the Procuratorate and Judicial Bureau of Hunan Province.

The letter was sent in order to expose the cruel torture that their relatives have suffered at the hands of lawless guards headed by Zi Wei, who is the deputy director of Chishan Prison in the city of Yuanjiang, Hunan Province. They strongly request that the authorities bring to justice the guards who are responsible for the torture.

The letter points out that the policemen who participated in the persecution publicly beat the Falun Gong practitioners, used torture instruments, and criticized and denounced practitioners at public meetings. They also forced practitioners to do hard labor, and if they could not finish the assigned work, the policemen cruelly tortured the practitioners. These acts violate article 234 of the Criminal Law provisions - the crime of intentional injury, article 247 - the crime of extorting confessions through torture, as well as article 397 - the crime of abuse of power. They also violate the "Labor Law" and "Prison Law," so the practitioners' families have filed these lawsuits based on the law, requesting an immediate investigation.

The letter lists facts about the persecution that some Falun Gong practitioners have experienced and also lists the names of the guards who are responsible for the persecution.

Clarifying the Truth to Over Twenty People at a Restaurant

By a Falun Gong practitioner Liaoning Province , China

One day, I saw a middle-aged woman who worked in a restaurant taking a break outside. I went over to say hello to her.

After awhile, I told her that I practice Falun Gong. She said, "You still dare to practice?" I told her how Falun Dafa is being spread all over the world, and that Master Li Hongzhi (founder of Falun Gong) teaches people to abide by the principles of "Truthfulness, Compassion, Tolerance." I also told her how Falun Gong could cure illness and completely restore one's health.

As I was talking, another two people came out to listen. I talked a little bit louder and continued telling about the beauty of Falun Dafa and the severe torture happening to practitioners in China.

After they heard what I said, they went inside and told more people to come out and listen. In total, nineteen people came out, including cooks, waitresses and the other employees. There were also passersby who stopped and listened to what I was saying.

I told them, "The police use over sixty methods to torture Falun Gong practitioners. There are over one hundred psychiatric hospitals that still jail practitioners, injecting them with unknown drugs that damage their nervous system and memory. Some practitioners are tortured into disability, insanity, and even death."

They were shocked and said, "Why are they doing something so inhuman?" They continued, "This is violating the law and committing crimes! You should go to the court to file a lawsuit against them!" I said, "Jiang Zemin issued an order: 'Beating them [practitioners] to death counts as their committing suicide. Cremate the body directly without identifying the person. These cases will be handled without investigating or affixing responsibility.' We have been appealing for Falun Gong in accordance with the law. As a result, we are arrested and sent to prison or labor camps. Where can we go to file the lawsuit?" They were then able to understand why we have to go out to clarify the truth to the public.

By this time, there were several passersby who stood there and listened, and I continued to talk about Miss Wei Xingyan, who was raped by uniformed policeman right in front of two female prisoners. I also told them about Ms. Gao Rongrong, a practitioner from Shenyang City who was shocked with electric batons for seven hours by two policemen from Longshan Labor Camp, Shenyang City. Ms. Gao's face was seriously burned and disfigured. I told them about Mr. Chen Chengyong, a practitioner from Guangzhou city, whose body was dumped outside and abandoned after the police tortured him to death.

I then continued to talk about the local police substation and labor camp torturing Mr. Qiu Zhiyan and Ms. Zhang Cuizhen to death, and the fact that the police from Hedong Police Substation, Benxin City, beat Ms. Wang Lianying to death, a woman who was over 70 years old. I talked about Ms. Ma Yumei and Ms. Jiang Chunyan, who were tortured to the point of mental collapse.

One person asked me why they hated Falun Gong so much. I told them that their supervisors gave them a quota to "reform" a certain number of practitioners. If they failed to meet the quota, they would be punished. In order to meet the quota assigned to them, or in order to get a bonus, some of the police went all-out. They had simply lost their conscience and would torture the practitioners in order to increase their salaries or get promotions and bonuses. The head of the 610 Office Liu Jing said to practitioners in the labor camp, "While forcing the practitioners to reform, some have become disabled. You people should understand that the Party and Country demand forced reform, and the purpose is to save you." He not only did not punish the officers who committed those brutal acts, including murder, instead he asked the practitioners to understand them!

One of the listeners said, "The police committed such serious crimes. You should go to the Central Government." I said, "Yes, but Jiang himself violated the Constitution and the law and gave the orders that began the persecution. That is the source of all the evil, so where can we go?"

One of them said, "Jiang should meet with karmic retribution! Otherwise, you should use violence to solve the problem." I told him, "We would never use any means that violates the law, nor would we resort to violence. Some people accused us of being against the Party. However, we are actually just against the persecution and have opposed it peacefully and rationally. We want to safeguard our human rights and freedom of belief."

Nineteen people from the restaurant were all listening to me. Sometimes they went inside to take care of their customers. Later, those that had left came back and listened some more. This went on for over 2 hours. They told me, "Falun Gong is so great. Your Master is so great. He teaches his practitioners to be so brave and determined. You can even talk openly to us about the truth under the current situation."

Some of them asked, "Falun Gong is so good. Can we also practice?" I said, "Of course. I have books at home. If you want to know more about Falun Gong, go and read the books of Falun Gong. The books are really priceless." They said, "We'll gladly take them home and read them."

Before leaving they said, "We liked listening to what you said. When you are free, please come to talk to us again." Looking at them, I could not help feeling happy for their bright futures.

The Stories of Two Elderly Practitioners Who Clarify the Truth with Righteous Actions

Senior practitioner clarifies the truth

Ms. Zhangliu is eighty years old. She started practicing Falun Gong in March of 1996. She used to be very weak, unable to walk and could not even care for herself. After hearing that Falun Gong could cure diseases, she had her daughter-in-law push her to the Fa-study site in a wheelchair to watch Teacher's lectures on video. After the lecture she took the stairs by herself. Her daughter-in-law wanted her sit in the wheelchair to push her back home, but she refused and walked home by herself. The Fa-study site is about one mile away from her home, but she would walk back and forth every day to watch Teacher's lecture. She insisted on studying the Fa and practicing the exercises every day and she has not needed to take any medicine since.

There was a time, after the persecution began, when someone wrote slanderous words about Dafa and Teacher on walls and electricity poles. She immediately scrubbed them off. On May 30, 2003, when she was standing on the side of the road, her neighbor accidentally knocked her down and rendered her unable to move. After being sent to the hospital, she was diagnosed with an "upper left thighbone fracture." The doctor did not recommend surgery, as she is too old, so she went back home. According to the doctor, she needed to be under special care. Because seniors have poor blood circulation and low immunity, they tend to develop bedsores easily. It would be very dangerous if complications occurred.

Her neighbor felt guilty and wanted to pay for her medical expenses, but she and her son refused to accept any payment. Her neighbor felt very grateful and repeatedly said, "Your family is too kind."

She told her neighbor, "We are Falun Gong practitioners and we don't worry about those things. I only have one favor to ask, "If you see words slandering Falun Gong and Teacher, could you please remove them for me because I can't go out these days."

Since then, slanderous words no longer appear in that area. Her neighbor also tells people, "Falun Gong is good!" Three days later, the elderly woman was able to sit up on her own. One month later she could walk normally. Now she has completely recovered.

Where does the money come from to make informational materials?

I recently went to a store run by a couple. After I clarified the truth to them, they both felt that Falun Dafa is good. They said that it was truly incredible that practitioners make truth-clarifying materials at their own expense. In fact, there are many such touching stories.

This April, I was forced to leave home to avoid further persecution. I stayed at a senior practitioner's house. She has a grandchild to care for and only has 400-Yuan as her monthly pension. Therefore she is very thrifty. In order to save gas, she would warm up water near a heating pipe or under the sun before boiling it. She would keep the light off when practicing the exercises. Even the refrigerator became a decoration and is never plugged in. In order to save electricity, she also keeps the light off when she cleans the dishes at night and she eats simple food. Her twenty-year-old grandchild often wears pants with patches. I initially thought that she did this because she did not have much income.

Several days before, she had given fellow practitioners 400 Yuan and said, "I already saved enough for my daily expenses. I saved this for making truth-clarifying materials." I told this story to another practitioner and he was also moved to tears.

A Man in His 60s From Guizhou Province Walked Almost 1,600 Miles to Appeal for Falun Gong

In February 2000 Gong Xueshun, a man in his sixties from Guiyang City, Guizhou Province, walked to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong. He walked about 1,600 miles. His toenails fell off, his little toes were worn away, and his legs swelled up. His action shocked the world.

Gong Xueshun is retired from the Guiyang Steel Plant. He went to Beijing to validate Falun Dafa twice. After he appealed for Falun Gong, his pension was reduced, and he only had 54 yuan with him. He was in a difficult financial situation, so he decided to go to Beijing on foot to validate Dafa for a third time in February 2000.

At that time, it was snowing all over China. Mr. Gong walked along the railroad tracks from Guiyang to Beijing. When he was tired, he slept along the side of the tracks or in caves. When he got hungry, he ate the food people tossed out of the train windows or that he got through begging. He walked day and night, over hills and mountains. When his shoes were worn out, he would sew them up. His feet were in terrible shape. The toenails on his big toes fell off, and he lost half of each of his little toes. His legs swelled up. It was very painful and difficult for him to walk. When people were celebrating the Spring Festival, he dragged his heavy legs and moved forward step by step, just to get to Beijing to tell people that Falun Dafa is good and that the persecution is wrong.

Along the way there were two guarded tunnels that no one was allowed to pass through. Old Mr. Gong had to climb over the mountains. Every time he climbed over a mountain, it would take him an entire day, but he did not stop.

One day, old Mr. Gong was begging for food in Hunan Province, but nobody was willing to give him any. He then ran into three piles of cooked noodles (about nine pounds worth), which might have been tossed from the kitchen of a train. It was enough for him to eat for some time.

On another occasion old Mr. Gong was begging at a farmer's home in Henan Province. A woman and a little girl were in the yard. He asked, "Can you give me some food?" The woman went to the kitchen. The little girl took her steel bowl and got him a bowl of silver mushroom soup. Her hands were shaking because the bowl was so hot. Gong was moved to tears.

This respectable elderly man has been illegally detained many times and was inhumanly tortured in Guiyang City's Nanming District Detention Center and Guizhou Province Zhongba Labor Education Center. During the 16^th People's Congress in 2002, in order to get promotions and bonuses or to get their sentences reduced, the police and the criminals at Zhongba Labor Education Center forced Mr. Gong to stand for 18 days. Everyday Gong was only given a small amount of food. He was not allowed to sleep. The police and the criminals also poured cold water on him.

There are many stories like Mr. Gong's. Jiang's regime has so far officially persecuted to death at least 12 practitioners in Guizhou Province. In China, over 1,000 people have been killed for sticking to their belief in "Truthfulness, Compassion, Tolerance." Tens of thousands of practitioners have been detained, sentenced to prisons, sent to labor re-education camps, brainwashing centers, or to mental hospitals. They are probably being brutally tortured at this very moment. We appeal to all kind-hearted people to extend your help, support justice and righteousness, and resist this evil persecution together with us!

The People Awaken to the Truth

Deeply Moved by a Practitioner's Compassion, a Thief Repents

I am 70 years old, a retired engineer. As a result of my practice of Falun Gong, I am in an excellent health. I am quick in movement and thinking. With a few extra rooms available, I am able to rent them out. Naturally they have become a good place for me to clarify the truth of Falun Gong and save sentient beings.

During the past few years, many of my tenants have come and gone, and they have left behind many touching stories. Below is just one of these stories. I would like to share it with you as it demonstrates the greatness of Falun Dafa.

A few days ago, a drunken man in his thirties came to me to rent a room. In response, I briefly explained to him the conditions for renting the room. "As a Falun Gong practitioner, I will accommodate you as much as I can. I will provide you with boiled water. You will not be charged for water and electricity. Falun Gong practitioners all have good moral character and strive to be good people," I said. He replied that he would move in that afternoon.

On the second day, however, he claimed that he lost 50 Yuan. A few moments later, he said there were too many mosquitoes in the room and that he wanted to move out. As a result, I immediately returned his deposit.

I quickly discovered that a very expensive tea set had disappeared together with three thick books of family trees. Realizing that his theft was exposed, he asked me to give the tea set to him as a gift. I refused and took it back instead. In addition, he returned one of the family tree books, while holding onto the rest.

I then cooked a bowl of Wonton and fried a pie for him. I also served him a cup of tea. He was so touched by my compassion that he started to cry.

Sobbing, he told me that nobody had ever treated him so well and that nobody had ever cared for him. He started to tell me the truth. "I lost my job. To make ends meet, I steal and rob every day," he said.

He began to take out the things in his bag, including a piece of very expensive medical apparatus. He wanted to give it to me in return for my kindness. "I have never taken and will never take a penny from anyone," I said. Suddenly he knelt down in front of me. "Madam, I will never forget you. Please forgive me for causing you so much trouble," he said.

I persuaded him to give up alcohol. "You're so young. Why don't you try to find a real job and become an honest person. As a young man, you should respect your own dignity," I told him. "By taking other people's things, you will lose virtue. Whether you do good deeds or commit crimes, Gods will always be watching you. Let me tell you a universal law: doing good is rewarded and doing evil is punished. Remember that Falun Dafa is good and Truth-Compassion-Tolerance is good. Just tell other people that Falun Gong practitioners are good people. Don't believe in the slanderous propaganda about Falun Gong."

Weeping in grief, he replied, "I'll keep in mind your advice." Then he left by bike. Soon he came back, took the other two books of family trees out of his bag, and returned them to me.

People in Shenyang Openly Discuss the Falun Gong Documentary Video Spliced into the Beijing Satellite TV System

On Saturday, November 20, 2004 at 8 PM, the Beijing Satellite TV System was compromised by a truth-clarifying broadcast of the documentary video, "Between Heaven and Earth." The program revealed the truth about the persecution of Falun Dafa. Many people in Shenyang City, Liaoning Province viewed this program, and are discussing what they saw with great enthusiasm and joy. They are saying, "Falun Gong is remarkable!" "The Party's cover-up of the truth is so underhanded!"

People at work in Sheyang on the morning of November 22 were talking openly about the incident with excitement. One gentleman said, "I received a friend's call on Saturday evening at 8 PM, 'The TV is broadcasting Falun Gong!' I quickly turned to the channel, and found that both the Jilin and Heilongjiang TV networks were broadcasting the 'Truth of the Tiananmen Self-immolation.' After a little while, there were some advertisements, but then the 'Truth' program continued after the ads ended. I viewed it for more than 10 minutes."

Another lady said, "A colleague of my husband saw it. He told us later, 'The TV network was broadcasting Falun Gong again. I watched it for more than half an hour!"

A young lady said, "Jiang took away the people's right of free speech. The Party's cover-up of the truth is so underhanded!"

Another gentleman saw a truth clarifying VCD before, but he had feared discussing it with others and said, "Don't ever tell others I saw the VCD." This time, he changed completely; he told everyone he met: "The TV network broadcast a program about Falun Gong! Falun Gong is remarkable!"

Co-workers Eager to Learn Falun Gong

As people started to see the vicious tactics used by Jiang's regime in persecuting Falun Gong, many people in Shenyang City told Falun Gong practitioners that they wanted to learn Falun Gong and hoped the persecution would end as soon as possible.

A security guard of a certain work unit learned the five sets of exercises. He told a Falun Dafa practitioner in his work unit, "Jiang Zemin did so many bad deeds. Now he has stepped down. In the future if you have any new Falun Gong materials, please show them to me. I am going to practice the exercises every morning from now on."

The veteran practitioner then told him, "In Falun Gong cultivation, Fa (1) study and cultivating our characters are the most important things." The janitor remembered that and now reads Dafa books whenever he has the chance.

A young man in an office read many truth-clarification materials and decided that he wanted to read the Falun Dafa books. A practitioner gave him an electronic copy of Zhuan Falun (the principle text of Falun Dafa) and showed him how to break through the Internet blockade to access other materials. The young man was very happy.

Another middle-aged co-worker looked for a practitioner and said, "I want to read the Falun Gong book." The practitioner told him he could get him a book in a few days. The co-worker said anxiously, "Can you give it to me tomorrow?" Now he reads the book every night.

One day after work, several co-workers who had read Falun Gong books gathered together to discuss it. "Falun Gong is great. But we cannot just benefit from it. We should at least tell our friends and relatives the facts about Falun Gong." "Jiang Zemin is really evil. He persecuted Falun Gong and should be punished by law. That way we could all go out to practice the exercises together."

Falun Gong Practitioners' Personal Experiences

A Senior Physician's Story: Breaking Through Existing Knowledge and Walking the Path of Cultivation

I am a physician and have been involved in clinical practice for over twenty years. I have had five years of formal Western medicine studies and five years of formal Chinese medicine training. I have since used the knowledge and skills of Western medicine to treat numerous patients in various specialties such as pediatrics, internal medicine, geriatrics and others. My medical practice has led me to the discovery that, although medicine continues to improve and new treatments keep being developed or invented, there are still countless illnesses that cannot be conquered, such as arteriosclerosis, diabetes, various cancers and other diseases. Moreover, strange new diseases such as AIDS, mad cow disease and the like continue to make their appearance. As a doctor, I deeply feel the patients' pain, yet so often can offer no solution. "What is the meaning of so many diseases? What method could I employ to resolve the underlying cause of the problem?" I desperately searched for answers.

Though I am a physician, I could not avoid falling ill myself. When I was twenty years old I developed glaucoma and problems with my cervical vertebra. I knew the outcome of these diseases extremely well. One could lead to blindness and the other, paralysis. In the following twenty years, I did extensive research to find the causes and cures for these illnesses. I tried various treatments, and yet none of them solved the fundamental problem. I could only rely on medication and physical therapy to relieve the symptoms and control their progression. With advancing age I continued to develop many new problems such as diarrhea, influenza, chronic cough and joint pain. As a result I had to rely on medication. How could I be set free from all this illness and suffering? Are humans supposed to live helplessly from birth, aging, sickness and death?

In May of 1995, one of my colleagues gave me the book Zhuan Falun, which contains the main teachings of Falun Dafa. That night I was mesmerized by the broad and profound explanations in the book. How come I had never thought of stepping out from the premises of medicine to look at illnesses from another perspective? Why is it that I had never thought of breaking through the barriers of existing knowledge, to re-evaluate humans and the universe?

Holding the book in my hands, I felt like I had just received a priceless treasure and could not put it down. I read six lectures in one sitting. At the end of May I started to read the book intently for the second time. I realized that there is another field of even broader and higher knowledge beyond what I had learned throughout the years that I could only obtain through cultivating in Falun Gong. I repeatedly read Zhuan Falun, and through enhancing my understandings, I finally took the path of cultivation at the end of June. I also learned the five sets of exercises and followed the standards of practitioners to improve my character.

Through cultivation, obvious changes continued to occur in my body and many illnesses vanished. Because of my cervical vertebra problem, in the past I had to wear cotton gloves when going outdoors; otherwise if my hands got cold I would lose sleep at night, for my arms would turn numb and become extremely painful. In the winter of 1995, when it was about -10 ⁰C (14 ⁰F) I did not wear any gloves outdoors, yet slept like a baby at night with no discomfort at all. My body was very sensitive to heat and cold in the past. I could not survive without a fan in the summer, and had to put on many layers of clothing following a slight drop in temperature. Now, after practicing Falun Gong I no longer feel the intense heat of summer. When others are sweating profusely I, on the other hand, do not perspire much. During the fall, I have not yet felt the autumn chill when everyone starts putting on sweaters. Furthermore, my body was also very sensitive to hunger pangs before. I would feel weak and dizzy if I missed a single meal. Now, even when my work becomes demanding and I find no time to eat, I am still full of energy.

I am proof that a person approaching fifty with a body full of illnesses can undergo a major transformation in health by practicing Falun Gong. This is something that cannot be explained with our present-day knowledge of the human body. I realized through my own cultivation experience that what we know today is extremely limited and that Falun Gong is a true science!

Medical School Graduate Diagnosed With Advanced Stage Brain Tumor Recovers after Practicing Falun Gong

I used to have an advanced stage brain tumor.

I was born in a small village. To get out of the village, I studied very hard. As my health was very poor, I applied for a medical college. Luckily I fulfilled my dream of becoming a college student. During the school years, I often felt dizzy, but I took it as anemia and thought it was due to lack of nutrition. I didn't take it seriously.

I started my medical practice right before my graduation. My dizziness got worse, and so did my eyesight. Just like other young people my age, I had to struggle to make a living shortly after my graduation from college. As the workload became heavier, my health suffered. I felt dizzier, became thinner, and began to walk awkwardly. My poor health condition finally alarmed me, so I decided to get a thorough checkup. I was diagnosed with a brain tumor.

Everybody in my family was worried. They took me to visit doctors in various places. It was the same diagnosis in every hospital: open-skull surgery had to be performed to remove the goose-egg sized tumor. There would be a tremendous amount of medical expenses. I also knew that the consequences of the operation might be horrific. If anything went wrong, if even a single nerve was mishandled, I might be blinded, disabled, or worse.

I began to hesitate. Unwilling to take the risk of surgery, I decided to try to make the most of my remaining days. Nevertheless, my headache was torturing me. I knew what it meant. In despair, I couldn't eat or sleep, and my spirits were very low. I felt that I was critically ill, and I completely lost hope.

One day, a relative of mine came to visit me. He used to suffer from stomach cancer, but he recovered from the illness after practicing Falun Gong. He explained to me how good Falun Gong was.

It was hard for me to believe in Qigong-like phenomena, but out of desperation, I took the book Zhuan Falun and started to read. To my surprise, I had hardly finished reading lecture one when I started to feel hungry. I asked my nephew to buy a bowl of noodles for me. With no appetite for quite some time, I was surprisingly able to eat the whole bowl of noodles. I quickly finished reading the whole book.

On the second day, I joined a nearby practice group to learn the exercises. Concerned about my health condition, my mother-in-law accompanied me to do the exercises. With more practice of the exercises and more study, gradually my mood was better and I regained my appetite. Two months later, my symptoms of dizziness and headache became much less severe. I no longer caught colds once every few days as before. I felt like a different person. My pale face became rosy again. Everybody was stunned by how quickly I had recovered from my illness.

After practicing for a time, I started to live a normal life, even better than before. In addition, my character experienced great changes. Before my practice of Falun Gong, I used to love to compete and argue with others, even when I knew that I was wrong. I often had conflicts with others over trivial matters. In contrast, I have changed completely after practicing Falun Gong and following its teachings. One day, my brother-in-law was drunk. He walked upstairs, kicked my door, and claimed that he wanted to kill me. He yelled, "Country bumpkin, why do you treat me so badly?" Half awake, I thought he was swearing at his own son, so I decided to go out to stop him. Trying to punch me through the glass in the door, he broke the glass and it deeply cut the back of my hands. Despite the pain, I forbore, without fighting back, because Master Li taught us that as practitioners, we shouldn't hit back when attacked or talk back when insulted. Facing such an insult, I would have fought back tooth and nail if I hadn't practiced Falun Gong. As a practitioner, I didn't even swear back at him.

Falun Dafa has made me a better person, and I'd like to do even better. Having truly benefited from Dafa, I sincerely hope that everyone reads Zhuan Falun and get the same benefits that I got.