News and Activities from Around the World
Bringing Jiang and his Accomplices to Justice
Facts of the Persecution
Children Suffer in the Persecution
Practitioners Exchange Insights and Experiences
Clearwisdom Digest
News from China
(Clearwisdom.net)
On December 17, 2004, United States President George W. Bush signed into law the Anti-Atrocity Alien Deportation Act in Washington, D.C. The act authorizes the Justice Department to track down foreigners who have engaged in war crimes, torture, genocide, religious persecution, or other human rights violations. These foreigners will face denial of entry or deportation.
As reported by the Associated Press, this act, introduced in Congress five years ago, was part of the intelligence overhaul bill that Bush signed into law. Under this new legislation, the scope of immigrants subject to deportation and denial of entry has been expanded to those who have engaged in torture, genocide and religious persecution.
This legislation has given the Justice Department expanded powers in tracking down foreigners who have committed war crimes or human rights violations in their home countries. It has also expanded the legal grounds of inadmissibility and deportability covering foreigners who have committed acts of torture or extrajudicial killings abroad and removing the restrictions on "genocide" and "foreign government officials who have committed particularly severe violations of religious freedom."
Sen. Patrick J. Leahy (D., Vt.), who co-sponsored the bill in the Senate, said it updated the charter of the Justice Department's Office of Special Investigations, which was set up in 1979 to prosecute and remove Nazi war criminals who sought refuge in this country. The new law will allow the Justice Department to investigate war criminals of later generations and human rights abusers, as well.
Rep. Mark Foley (R., Fla.), who co-sponsored the bill in the House, said in a statement, "The United States is currently home to many immigrants who fled torture in their home countries. What many people don't know is that their torturers also come here to live."
In March 2004, the World Organization to Investigate the Persecution of Falun Gong (WOIPFG) submitted a list of names of 102 Chinese government officials, including Jiang Zemin, who should take most of the responsibility in the persecution of Falun Gong, and asked the U.S. government to bar them from entering the United States.
List of names of 102 Chinese government officials who have abused human rights, including Jiang Zemin, submitted to the U.S. government
The 102 Chinese government officials on this list should take most of the responsibility in the widespread crimes against humanity committed during the persecution of Falun Gong, including murdering Falun Gong practitioners, torture that has led to injuries and permanent physical disability, sending Falun Gong practitioners to detention centers and labor camps arbitrarily, imposing large fines on practitioners, causing the disappearance of practitioners using the same measures employed by underground figures of organized crime, or otherwise depriving practitioners of their rights to life, freedom, and safety. All of these crimes have been carried out against law-abiding people simply because of their belief in Falun Gong.
The No. 1 perpetrator, Jiang Zemin, and his followers Luo Gan, Liu Jing, Zhou Yongkang, Li Lanqing, Wang Maolin and others are on the list. WOIPFG's document has pointed out that since July 1999, Jiang Zemin, out of jealousy, resorted to torture and other unprecedented measures to systematically force Falun Gong students to give up their belief in "Truthfulness-Benevolence-Forbearance." Jiang has coerced and enticed with economic incentives, officials and police officers to also engage in the crimes. He encourages them to violate their conscience, and has alternately threatened them with implication and promised financial rewards in his mission to turn the entire society against human decency and conscience.
The crimes listed in the report to the U.S. government are supported by hard facts of grave severity. It is expected that more countries will pass legislation that denies entry to those perpetrators who have persecuted Falun Gong students. The evil is to have nowhere to hide.
US Court Affirms That Beijing Party Secretary Liu Qi Is Liable for Crimes of Torture
Some officials have already been found guilty in the U.S. After a one-year trial, on December 8, 2004, Judge Wilkin of the United States District Court Northern District of California affirmed a magistrate's ruling that Beijing Communist Party Secretary Liu Qi is liable for the crimes of torture and anti-humanity of the police under his administration in persecution of Falun Gong.
The civil lawsuit was filed in 2002 by two citizens of China, two Swiss citizens, one French, and one American based on the Alien Tort Claims Act and Torture Victim Protection Act. The six plaintiffs were beaten brutally and tortured in Beijing, including Leeshai Lemish, who was arrested and beaten brutally for appealing for Falun Gong on Tiananmen Square in Beijing in 2001
Liu Qi was Mayor of Beijing at the time, and received the subpoena in San Francisco on his way to Salt Lake City to attend the Winter Olympics as director of the Chinese Olympic team. He was charged for crimes of torture, other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, arbitrary detention, crimes against humanity, and interference with freedom of religion and belief.
On June 11, 2003, a Magistrate found that Liu was guilty and not entitled to the immunity given foreign officials and sent his recommendation to the District Court. On December 8, 2004, the district judge adopted the magistrate's recommendations that Liu was guilty.
Jiang Zemin, among 45 Chinese officials placed on a watch list of Canadian Royal Mounted Police
In September of 2003, the Canadian Falun Dafa Association submitted to officials of Canada-based Crimes against Humanity and War Crimes Program (CAHWCP) a list of names of 15 people who have initiated and actively participated in the persecution of Falun Gong, as well as evidence of the crimes that they have committed. At the end of January 2004, a list of 30 more people was submitted to CAHWCP. As a result, since January 2004, the Canadian Royal Mounted Police has on their watch list 45 leaders of the Chinese Communist Party committees at various levels, heads of 610 Offices, government officials and labor camp officers.
On the list are Jiang Zemin, Luo Gan, Li Lanqing, Liu Qi, among others. The Canadian Royal Mounted Police has accepted the list of names and the evidence. It has been verified that official records have been established in Canada's Crimes against Humanity and War Crimes Program. If any individual who is suspected to have participated in the persecution of Falun Gong enters Canada, the Canadian police will immediately open an investigation. Based on Canada's anti-humanity and anti-war crime legislation, if the charges are held, the person being investigated will face deportation, expulsion, or criminal lawsuits. Such an individual is not qualified for diplomatic exemption.
Evildoers have nowhere to escape but to face trial
In December 2001 the U.S. District Court of the Southern District of New York ruled against Zhao Zhifei, chief of police and second-in command of the 610 Office in Hubei Province. So far, a total of four similar civil lawsuits in the U.S. have already seen judgments in favor of Falun Gong.
Many Chinese officials have since realized that they cannot escape from punishment, no matter which corner of the world they run to. High-ranking Chinese officials participating in the persecution of Falun Gong have been placed in an awkward position in their recent visits overseas, fearing the possible charges brought up against them by Falun Gong students.
The 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 delegation led by Wu Bangguo, Chairman of the standing committee of China's National People's Congress. 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.
After almost ten days of hiding and under an arrest warrant, Su crossed the Chirundu border post in Zambia, and hid in Zimbabwe, then escaped to South Africa and flew back to China on 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.
So far, Falun Gong students worldwide have filed lawsuits against Jiang Zemin and his followers in 28 countries on the grounds of torture and other cruel treatment, genocide, and human rights abuses. History will demonstrate that dictators and their followers who have committed such crimes have nowhere to hide.
December 18, 2004
(Clearwisdom.net) It has been over five years since the Jiang regime began the persecution of Falun Gong on July 20, 1999. In order to let more people learn about the severity and brutality of the persecution and to call for it to end, Falun Gong practitioners held a live anti-torture exhibition and press conference on December 18, 2004 in Hsinzhu.
  People actively sign the petition to oppose the persecution |
  More and more people come to view the exhibition |
  A group of students looks at the truth-clarification display boards |
  Display boards depicting Falun Dafa's popularity around the world |
  People carefully read the display board illustrating the torture methods |
Guests attending the press conference included Deputy Mayor of Hsinzhu City Chen Quangui, directors of the offices of legislators, Ke Jianming and Ke Junxiong, Mr. Liu Huangying from the Falun Dafa Association, Deputy Director of the Association for Rescuing Persecuted Falun Gong Practitioners, Mr. Liu Binghua, and Chinese Economy expert Mr. Wu Huilin. They unanimously condemned the Jiang regime's inhuman torture and abuse of Falun Gong practitioners, and called for an end to the brutal persecution soon to safeguard innocent people's lives and their human rights.
What stunned people at the press conference site was the live anti-torture exhibition. Practitioners reenacted several torture methods used to persecute Falun Gong practitioners in China, including force-feeding, the Tiger bench, slave labor, being hung up, hammering bamboo spikes into fingernails, and torture with a burning metal rod. There were also display boards illustrating other torture methods. Actually, the Jiang regime has employed over 100 torture methods to brutally persecute Falun Gong practitioners. The anti-torture exhibit attracted many people. After listening to practitioners' explanations, many people took the initiative to sign the petition to oppose the persecution, and they repeatedly commented on its brutality. Some parents explained those torture methods to their children after they learned the facts. Many people shed tears after watching the exhibition and listening to practitioners' truth clarification.
Several practitioners peacefully demonstrated the exercises beside the anti-torture exhibit. The peaceful scene formed a stark contrast to the brutality of the torture methods. Some people wanted to learn the exercises after learning the truth. There was also a parade in which the torture methods, Tiger bench and being hung up, were displayed on two vehicles driving through downtown Hsinzhu. More and more people watched closely and took truth clarification materials.
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A businessman said that he had heard about the persecution of Falun Gong in Mainland China, but on this day, after seeing all these truth clarification pictures, he really felt the cruelty of the persecution. A photocopy shop owner said that such tortures could only happen in the Communist system, and that China would have no hope until the Communist party system collapses. A woman was shocked at the brutality of the persecution after taking some literature exposing the brutal tortures. On her way to work, she drove back on her motorcycle to the exhibition site to find out more.
Some people at first were reluctant to accept the truth clarification materials, but after listening to practitioners' explanations about the persecution of Falun Gong in China, they took the initiative to take the materials. Some people, while reading the materials exposing torture methods used to force Falun Gong practitioners to give up their belief, had a hard time believing that such things still happen in modern civilized times. Students from the fourth or fifth grade looked at the display boards attentively and inquired about the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners in China. A man said he had seen these pictures on the Internet, and showed his concern over practitioners' situation on the Mainland. Several young ladies saw the anti-torture exhibition and asked, "Is this true?" After getting an answer, tears immediately welled up in their eyes.
The anti-torture exhibition offered an opportunity for the public to see what is really happening in China and what they saw truly touched their hearts. Since the persecution began, Falun Gong practitioners around the world have been continuously calling for an end to the persecution, and helping people learn the brutality of the persecution so as to awaken their sense of justice and conscience. Falun Gong practitioners believe that in the near future, the power of righteousness will manifest more and more.
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(Clearwisdom.net)
  A passer-by is shocked by the brutality of the persecution |
  People on Wall Street watching the exhibition during lunch break |
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(Clearwisdom.net)
1. The story of a bank CEO
A new practitioner is a CEO of a bank. She likes Falun Dafa very much, and she took the initiative to call me after she heard about Dafa from a practitioner friend of mine. When she was learning the exercises for the very first time, she was able to do the third exercise correctly. This is quite unusual, as many need to see it two or even three times to do it right. She also brought several friends to learn the exercises. Because it is quite cold outside now, she has offered the living room of her house as a practice site.
Practicing the first exercise
2. Falun Dafa is indeed very good!
Alicia learned Falun Dafa about 3 months ago. As soon as she started to practice, however, she enlightened to the importance of Fa study and started to read the Turkish version of Zhuan Falun. She has always been diligent and taken the initiative to organize her friends to practice Falun Gong and to promote the Fa. For example, she made more than 40 calendars with photos of people practicing the exercises, and she mailed them together with Falun Dafa introductory materials to her friends and relatives all over the nation. She also promotes Falun Dafa whenever she has dinners with relatives and friends. Alicia formerly had a big belly which disappeared recently, yet she said that she didn't even try to lose weight. What a miracle! We have noticed that she has become prettier and more energetic than before. She told me: "Nowadays people are so stressed... thank you for bringing us such a great practice which can relax both body and spirit and improve health!" I told her: "You should thank our Master! She said: "Please send my appreciation as well to Master Li!"
Alicia's older sister acquired a lot of Falun Dafa truth-clarifying materials from me, and she makes phone calls to spread Dafa and clarify the truth whenever she has time at home. She said, "Jiang Zemin can't intimidate me! Falun Dafa is indeed very good!"
There is another lady who recently began practicing Falun Dafa. When she was doing the second exercise for the second time, she cried and she was quite emotional. She told me that she practiced other qigong methods before and always felt that it wasn't good to accept qi from others. One day, she saw the book, Zhuan Falun in Alicia sister's home. She opened the book, and the part she happened to read was Master addressing the issue of emitting qi. She came to understand this issue right away. She said: "What a predestined relation! I just opened the book and found the answer to my question." The next day, she quit that qigong class and started to eagerly read Zhuan Falun. From time to time, she asked us to correct her grammar and usage of words, she also asked us a lot of questions.
Alicia's sister and a friend meditating
3. "Falun Dafa Month" in a Shopping Center
This is the second time for the manager of this shopping center to invite us to promote Falun Dafa, because many people asked him about the practice after our last Falun Dafa festival, and a lot people who hasn't seen the practice also wanted to see our exercise demonstration. We thus started our next Fa promotion project at the shopping center. The manager allowed us to hold activities in the shopping center for a month and he provided the space for free
4. International Human Rights Day
On December 10, 2004, International Human Rights Day, practitioners in Mersin held a public event to clarify the truth about Falun Gong and the persecution to the Turkish people.
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(Clearwisdom.net) After Falun Dafa practitioners clarified the truth to a wider audience, more people have come to learn the truth. They not only supported Dafa activities but also wanted to learn the Falun Gong exercises. Therefore, a lot of new practitioners were coming to each practice site. At the Fa-promotion events, there were also many people wanting to learn the exercises.
To meet the large demand for learning Falun Gong, the Toronto University Falun Dafa Club hosted a nine-day class at the Continuing Education Center from December 11 to 19, 2004. The session was free and open to the public.
Learning the Falun Gong exercises
Winter in Toronto is very cold, especially after snowfalls. A few days after the class started, it began to rain and snow heavily in Toronto. But the new students came on time even on snowy days, and listened to the lectures in the classroom. They learned the exercises after the lectures and the exercise-teaching video. Some students also brought their relatives and friends to the lectures. Some people who attended the class this time asked for the schedule for the next nine-day class.
On December 14 and 16, practitioners went to another city to organize the "Uncompromising Courage Art Show" at Guelph University. In order to guarantee the smooth running of the nine-day class, these veteran practitioners drove the 60 kilometers back to Toronto. When the new students heard about it, they listened to the lectures even more carefully. After nine days, all the students learned the five exercises, and some of them felt their attitude on life also changed.
More and more people learned the beauty of Falun Dafa, and more predestined people obtained Dafa and began to cultivate.
(Clearwisdom.net) The 10th of December was World Human Rights Day. To further expose the brutal torture, harassment and persecution against Falun Gong, which has been carried out by Jiang's faction and the Communist Party for the last five years, Falun Gong practitioners gathered at the famous tourist spot of Cologne Cathedral on the 10th and 11th of December. They held a two-day anti-torture exhibition to let more people know about the methods of torture used to force Falun Gong practitioners to give up their beliefs, so as to have more people help to end the persecution as soon as possible.
Torture methods reenactment
When practitioners were setting up the exhibition, several tourists from Mainland China came to have a look. The practitioners took the opportunity to give them some leaflets, and these Chinese people all happily accepted them. They also asked practitioners: "Is it really good to practice Falun Gong? Are there any foreigners practicing it?" When they had listened to the practitioners' answers and saw western practitioners with their own eyes, their doubts lessened. They promised to tell their relatives in China about the persecution, and several of them began to read the display board carefully.
Chinese tourists learning the truth
These two days were at the end of the week and a German traditional Christmas market was being held on the other side of the church, so there was a great increase in the number of people who came to visit the church or to go shopping. At the spot where practitioners staged the anti-torture exhibition, visitors were shocked upon seeing the scenes of torture and expressed their sympathy to practitioners and indignation at the persecution. Visitors came in groups one after another, among which there were also Chinese visitors. Many people took photos of the exhibition.
Signing a petition calling for an immediate end of the persecution
It is now winter and it was freezing in the big square in front of the cathedral. Although people were wearing coats, they were still shaking due to the cold. However, the cold could not prevent kind-hearted people from supporting justice. People came to sign the petition one after another. Once, I saw three Germany boys signing their names on our petition. Shaking due to the cold and hardly able to hold the pen tightly, they signed their names carefully stroke by stroke.
Clarifying the truth
When a couple in their 50s saw the anti-torture exhibition, they were shocked and hurried to ask a practitioner what was going on. They also told the practitioner that their children are doing business in China. When they had learned about the persecution of Falun Gong in China, they asked sincerely, "What can we do?" The couple signed the petition calling for an end to the persecution and said that they will tell their children in China about Falun Gong.
A middle-aged gentleman who appeared to be a scholar passed by and was shocked to see the anti-torture exhibition. He talked to practitioners for a long time. He said: "If all these are true, I am going to write to the Chinese leader. Please tell me his name..."
As practitioners are making more efforts in different forms to raise awareness about the persecution, more and more people are awakening to the truth, speaking out for justice and condemning the evil persecution against Truthfulness, Compassion and Tolerance conducted by the Jiang regime and the Chinese Communist Party.
Source http://www.clearharmony.net/articles/200412/23894.html
(Clearwisdom.net) On a bright sunny day in Canyon Lake, a town in the mountain areas of central Texas, Falun Gong practitioners participated in the Christmas Parade for the first time on December 11, 2004. Their well-decorated float shone in morning sun and won high praise from the parade spectators.
 Falun Dafa parade procession |
|  Exercise demonstration on the float |
|  Parade spectators were happy to learn about Falun Dafa. |
Falun Gong practitioners from Austin, San Antonio and Canyon Lake demonstrated the Falun Gong exercises on the float. A "fairy dance" team from Austin danced in front of the float. Together, they formed a spectacular sight.
Parade spectators were very impressed with the lotus float. Many people said, "This is my favorite float." "Beautiful!" Falun Gong practitioners won the "Future Award" of the parade.
People were fascinated with the beautiful exercises and dance. It was the first time that many people in this little town had heard about Falun Dafa. They were very eager to find out more. When practitioners distributed flyers, people said, "I was wondering what was so beautiful." Falun Gong practitioners also told people about the brutal persecution of innocent Falun Gong practitioners in China.
Friday, December 24, 2004
A federal judge has ruled that a high-ranking Chinese official is liable for crimes of torture and genocide against followers of the Falun Gong spiritual movement.
U.S. District Judge Claudia Wilkin ruled Dec. 8 that Beijing Party Secretary Liu Qi violated U.S., international and Chinese law, based on the application of the standard of command responsibility, aiding and abetting, and conspiracy.
The United States does not have jurisdiction to pursue Liu in domestic court, but the plaintiffs hope to bar Liu from visiting.
The Chinese government has cracked down on the Falun Gong, a movement that emerged in 1992.
Six plaintiffs from Australia, Canada, China, Germany, Sweden and the United States filed the federal lawsuit in 2002.
Liu, who was then mayor of Beijing and head of China's Olympic committee, was served with legal papers at San Francisco International Airport the same year while en route to the Salt Lake City Winter Olympics.
Both the Chinese government and State Department had submitted statements urging that the case be dismissed.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/chronicle/a/2004/12/24/BAGEEAGJC01.DTL
(Clearwisdom.net) It has been one year since Mr. Li Wensheng passed away. His voice and his image are still in my heart. As a friend of Wensheng, I wrote this letter to cherish his memory and to speak out on his behalf, to share his thoughts and feelings, with the folks of his hometown.
Mr. Li Wensheng was an elementary school teacher. Although he is now gone, I can still see him correcting his students' papers under his desk lamp, or patiently giving instructions to the mischievous students in the front of his desk, or carrying the elementary school children on his back one by one across the river in heavy rain.
He was an excellent teacher. In the parent-teacher meetings, the parents remarked, "Because our children are taught by the teacher who practices Falun Gong, we can surely set our minds at ease." After hearing the news of Mr. Li Wensheng's death, those who knew him cried, including his students, co-workers, friends and family.
Before practicing Falun Gong, Li Wensheng was stubborn and rude, but after he started practicing, the obstacles that blocked his heart came undone. Since then he has become more optimistic and confident. Wensheng understood that "Truthfulness-Compassion- Forbearance" are the principles that cultivators should follow at all times, and that only compassion could change anything. Under his influence, his students became more sensitive and considerate of others.
However, the Jiang regimes' persecution of Falun Dafa and Dafa practitioners made Wensheng's happy and peaceful life disappear forever.
On the morning of July 24, 1999, Wensheng was arrested after his home was searched by the Lingbei police. At the Lingbei police station, Wensheng was fined and beaten by Li Fengshan, causing him to be physically injured and mentally distraught. Then on January 4, 2001, the Lingbei police again took him away from school. He was forced to suffer outside in the cold of winter and he was not allowed to eat for a whole day. Eventually a relative came and bailed him out. The fines imposed on him added up to over 5,000 yuan. Li Wensheng's life was often threatened and disrupted by the police and the township government; there was no peace for him at all.
In the middle of September 2001, Li Wensheng went to his hometown of Sihedang for business. Unfortunately, in order to get a promotion, the school principal Wang Delin led the township government officers to Sihedang to arrest him. Wensheng was then forced to leave his home. Afterwards, Wang Delin used over 10,000 yuan of Wensheng's unpaid salary to rent a car in order to search for and capture Li Wensheng. He also hired some retired teachers to watch and track his relatives. Wang Delin always said that he was helping Mr. Li, but repeatedly asked the police station and the 610 Office to arrest him many times and even suspended his relatives' salary.
We hope that all the people of Mr. Li Wensheng's hometown will come to know the truth about Falun Gong and to distinguish between good and evil. I also hope that Wang Delin and the police officers who persecuted Li Wensheng will wake up and take the right path.
- Wensheng's friend
(Clearwisdom.net) Ms. Liu Guohua, 61, the wife of retired Beijing Machine Tool Institute employee, Ge Peijun, passed away on February 28, 2004. Her death was the result of being frequently harassed by the authorities, and by her husband's persecution in a labor camp. These caused her long-term mental stress, which led to the recurrence of an old illness.
The couple began their Falun Gong practice in 1998. After the persecution of Falun Gong on July 20, 1999 by Jiang's regime, they went to Beijing to appeal to the government. Both of them were illegally arrested and jailed for more than a month before being released.
On September 17, 2002, Xu Minrui, deputy secretary of Ge Peijun's work unit, and Guo Yahuang of the public security division, collaborated with police and arrested Ge Peijun. He was sent home only after being tortured nearly to the point of dying. After a short recuperation, when asked why he was in such bad shape, he replied, "I was thrown into jail and persecuted by the Communist Party because I practice Falun Gong." After hearing this comment, police arrested him again, and sentenced him to two years of hard labor.
Unable to cope with the long-term mental stress from both her own harassment by security officials, and her husband's persecution in the labor camp, Ms. Liu Guohua passed away on February 28, 2004.
(Clearwisdom.net) Falun Gong practitioner Mr. Liu Ziwei from Hunjiang City, Jilin Province was sent to the Changchun City Chaoyanggou Forced Labor Camp on October12, 2004. He had been on a hunger strike the whole time, and suffered inhuman tortures because he remained firm in his belief. Liu Ziwei died as a result of torture on December 13, 2004. The following is his story:
Mr. Liu Ziwei was 29 years old and lived in Hunjiang City. On December 10, 2004 he was illegally detained in the Changchun City Chaoyanggou Forced Labor Camp. Before then he had already been on a hunger strike in the police station for six days. After he was sent to the forced labor camp, Mr. Liu continued the hunger strike and shouted "Falun Dafa is great! 'Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance' is great!" He suffered inhuman torture at the hands of the police, including being confined in a solitary compartment (1), force-feeding and a method calls the "Big Hang Up"(2). After a long time, Mr. Liu's wrists were bleeding and he was hung up for another 24 hours and not allowed to sleep. The policemen also gagged him with dirty socks in order to prevent him from shouting out. They continued to do so until about 11:00 p.m. on December 13. Then they found his life was on the brink of death. Liu Ziwei died on the way to a hospital.
After that, the Chaoyanggou Forced Labor Camp authorities dispatched people to remove the rings from the wall where Mr. Liu was hung up in the solitary compartment cell, in order to destroy the evidence.
We call on international organizations to investigate the crimes at the Chaoyanggou Forced Labor Camp and bring the criminals to justice!
December 21, 2004
Notes
(1) Being confined in a solitary compartment: The so-called "being confined in a solitary compartment" refers to locking up a single detainee in a solitary cell, which contains a basin and a pair of handcuffs. The basin is used both for face washing and relieving oneself. One end of the handcuffs fastens to the wrist and the other end attaches to the door bars. The handcuffs can be fastened onto the door bars at three different heights. In the highest position, the detainee has to extend his or her arm upward. The middle position is at waist level. In the lowest position, the detainee can sit on the ground.
(2) "Big Hang Up": There are two forms of this torture: 1) With both hands cuffed behind the back and only the toes touching the ground, one is hung up by a rope that is tied to the handcuffs and to a metal window frame; 2) One hand of a practitioner is cuffed to one bunk bed and the other hand to another bed, and the two beds are pulled in opposite directions. The victim feels extreme pain as the body is pulled.
(Clearwisdom.net) Ms. Zhang Chunlan, 55 years old, was a teacher from the Changjiang Road Primary School in the Xigang District, Dalian City, Liaoning Province. She was awarded the distinction "Outstanding Teacher" in both the city and province many times. Since she started to practice Falun Dafa in 1997, Ms. Zhang had benefited much, both physically and mentally.
In 2000 Ms. Zhang went to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong, and was detained at the Xigang District Police Department of Dalian City. During that period, she was fined and her home was searched. She lost tens of thousands of yuan in the process. As she was persistent in practicing Falun Dafa, Zhang Chunlan was illegally sentenced to forced labor for two years and was sent to Dalian City Forced Labor Camp. She was forced to do heavy labor, and the living conditions there were extremely terrible. Under these conditions, and being isolated from the outside world, her health was seriously damaged. Ms. Zhang's weight dropped to about 34 kilos (75 pounds) from about 70 kilos (154 pounds). She died tragically on August 29, 2003.
December 21, 2004
(Clearwisdom.net) Falun Dafa practitioner Mr. Du Weifeng from Lingyuan City, Liaoning Province, was illegally detained four times, illegally subjected to reeducation through forced labor twice, dismissed from his public service position twice, and was persecuted until he sustained a mental collapse at the Chaoyang Reformatory. The police department, however, said it was the result of "practicing Falun Gong." Many of Mr. Du's family members also practice Faun Dafa, and they have all been persecuted to varying degrees. Witnessing this persecution of her family gravely affected Mr. Du's mother, He Guihua, both mentally and physically. As a result, she passed away in 2002.
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| Mr. Du before he suffered the brutal persecution | Mr. Du three days after he was checked into a mental hospital |
Mr. Du Weifeng, 27 years of age, was a former plumber at the thermal power plant of the Lingyuan Iron and Steel Company and was a staff member of the Lingyuan Iron and Steel Industrial Corporation. In 1994 he started to practice Falun Gong. He became very healthy and his moral character improved. After Jiang's regime started to persecute Falun Gong, Mr. Du went to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong three times - on April 25, 1999, July 20, 1999, and in the middle of October 2000. The last time he went, Mr. Du rode a bicycle to Beijing. After he came back, he was illegally detained. At the Second Lockup of Lingyuan, after his sentence was extended for one month, Mr. Du was sentenced to be "reeducated through labor" for two years and was imprisoned in Xidayingzi Reformatory, Chaoyang City, Liaoning Province. He was forced to work beyond human limits in both the Second and Third Brigades. He was punished by being forced to stand for a long time, by being shocked with electric batons, by being subjected to brutal brainwashing attempts, and by being severely tortured physically and spiritually. This relentless persecution seriously devastated Mr. Du's mind and body.
In 2002, when Mr. Du removed a poster slandering Falun Dafa, the Lingyuan Public Security Sub-bureau imprisoned him. He was shocked with electric batons, barbarically beaten and then fined 3,000 yuan.
Before July 1, 2003, because Mr. Du mailed two letters containing "Falun Dafa is good" cards inside, Instructor Jin from the Linhe Public Security Sub-bureau seized him and detained him for two weeks. Du Weifeng was secretly sent to Chaoyang Reformatory and illegally imprisoned there for "reeducation" under a three-year sentence. He was imprisoned with several dozen other Falun Gong practitioners. He experienced the full bitterness of the ultra-intense physical labor, the electrocutions, the physical punishment, and the forceful brainwashing.
On February 23, 2004, under the instructions of Jin Yucheng, the vice-president of the reformatory, a new wave of persecution was enacted in an attempt to force practitioners to transform [renounce Falun Dafa]. Mr. Du was regarded as a key figure. The chief of the Fourth Brigade, Qi Yongshun, incited the squadron commander, Tian Shushan, to apply electric shocks to Mr. Du in an attempt to force him to renounce Falun Dafa. Tian Shushan locked Mr. Du in a classroom and shocked him on and off for an entire afternoon, for more than four hours. After that, Tian Shushan punished Mr. Du by forcing him to stand until midnight and then hauled him back to the classroom and continued to shock him with electric batons. His intermittent, miserable cries awakened even people who slept soundly. During mealtime on the second day, Mr. Du's eyes were filled with tears, and he could not eat any food. Tian Shushan forced Mr. Du to stand up and insulted him in the presence of others. After another day's torture, Mr. Du's spirit collapsed and he became mentally unbalanced. During breakfast the next day, Du Weifeng climbed up on the roof of the four-story building and threatened to jump. After the police stopped him, he came down on a rope. The reformatory used him as an example to aggravate the persecution and kept him in solitary confinement. Mr. Du was forced to wear a heavy helmet, his hands and feet were restrained with handcuffs, and his arms and legs were chained to the floor in solitary confinement for a month. Visits were allowed on March 15. Even though he could see his son for only five minutes, Mr. Du's father witnessed with his own eyes the results of the severe torture his son had been subjected to.
The persecution of both his spirit and his body put Mr. Du's health in grave danger. He became extremely fearful, and he had serious schizophrenia. Chaoyang Reformatory had persecuted Mr. Du until he suffered a mental collapse. Everyone was amazed.
On the morning of March 29, 2004, in order to shirk their responsibility, Clerk Zhang and another three policemen from the reformatory sent Du Weifeng home and told his parents that he was released because of his neurosis.
Because Du Weifeng had been persecuted for so long and so profoundly, his mind was greatly damaged. After he came home, he could not get over the deep impressions the persecution had made on him. His condition continued to worsen. He ran naked outside and randomly smashed the furniture. Other practitioners contributed a thousand yuan to send him to a mental hospital for treatment. See the two pictures above. The first one was taken before the persecution and the other one was taken on the third day of his hospitalization.
All three people in Mr. Du's family participated in the lecture series and instruction classes given by Teacher Li at the Lingyuan Iron and Steel Company in February 1994. All of them obtained great health as a result. On April 25, 1999, the entire family went to Beijing to appeal for Falun Dafa and clarified the truth to the government. After the persecution began, Mr. Du Weifeng's father, Du Faming, rode his bicycle to Beijing to appeal in 2000. After that, he was twice subjected to reeducation through labor, for a total of four years. (He was dealt with by Ma Riming from the Hongshan local police station and Instructor Jin from the Linhe Public Security sub-bureau). During that period, Du Faming bore the hardships of torture and corporal punishment, suffering shocks by electric batons, intense labor, and brainwashing in Chaoyang Reformatory (whose vice-president is Jin Yucheng) and Fuxin Reformatory (whose vice-president is Xin Hongshun). Ms. He Guihua's husband and son were illegally imprisoned and subjected to reeducation through labor, yet she was repeatedly denied visitation rights. Her grief and indignation led to illness, and she did not have money for treatment. Mrs. He died two years ago as a result of the persecution of her husband and son.
Mr. Du's family was persecuted to destruction. The direct economic loss reached 50,000 yuan, and the extended effects of this persecution are still harming his family.
(Clearwisdom.net)
1. How Falun Dafa Practitioners Are Being Persecuted at Huairou Detention Center in Beijing
On January 28, 2001, the police arrested many Falun Dafa practitioners on Tiananmen Square, who were appealing to the government to stop the persecution of Falun Gong. About 40 to 50 practitioners were taken to Huairou Detention Center. The guards at the detention center administered corporal punishment to those practitioners who refused to give their names. At first, these practitioners were forced to stand in the courtyard for a long period time without food. Later, the guards punished practitioners who still refused to give their names using other means, including interrogation throughout the night. The following pictures illustrate the abuse suffered by practitioners, based on first-hand descriptions from the practitioners who were involved.
The guards forced a woman in her fifties or sixties to squat down barefoot on the snow-covered ground. They also pressed her hands onto the ice. Guard Ruan even kicked the practitioner.
Another guard, Li Shunhua, forced me to stand barefoot on the snow. She also threatened to punish me more harshly the next day. Finally, she tricked me into telling her my name. Later, I was illegally sent to a forced labor camp.
Guard Ruan told me to sit on a pile of snow. I refused. So Ruan tripped me and kicked my shoes off. Ruan forced me to sit on the snow until my cotton-padded trousers were soaked all the way to my waist.
A girl in her twenties was forced to stand in the snow for several hours dressed only in her underclothes. They forced her to bend her upper body down with hands extended out carrying a shoe in each hand. By the time she returned to the cell, she was frozen stiff. At night, this girl practiced the Falun Gong exercises with three other practitioners. The guards saw them through the monitor and came and stopped them. In the end, she was the only one who insisted on practicing. The guard grabbed her by the hair and smashed her head against the wall. This girl had gone to Tiananmen Square four times to hold a banner and clarify the truth about Falun Gong. When we were detained together, she still had the scar on her mouth caused by the electric shocks she suffered at Miyun Detention Center.
By the time I left Huairou Detention Center, my purse (worth 200 yuan) was confiscated. The female guard who conducted a body search stole a jade ornament from me (worth 20 yuan). The guard who was taking pictures extorted another 50 yuan from me. He claimed it was for food. In fact, I was on a hunger strike the whole time, so I did not eat anything. Later I found out the detention center is not supposed to collect any money from detainees. The guards took the money for themselves.
2. Abuse Suffered at the No. 3 Detention Center in Jilin City
In February 2001, Wang Ying, Mu Hua, and I were illegally detained at the No. 3 Detention Center after going to Beijing to validate Falun Dafa. Since we refused to recite the prison regulations, female guard Li Xiaomin punished us by forcing us to squat down for almost two hours (as shown in photos 2 and 3).
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3. My Experience at Yinmahe Forced Labor Camp in Jiutai City, Jilin Province
On March 1, 2001, Fan Yegang sent me to Yinmahe Forced Labor Camp in Jiutai City because I peacefully appealed for Falun Gong in Beijing. Fan is the section chief of the Political and Judiciary Section, Chuanyin Sub-bureau, Jilin Police Department. I was assigned to Brigade 6.
There were nine police officers at Brigade 6. They were instructor Wang Xiuyan, captains Yu Li and Yang Liqiu, secretary Zhang Yin, guards Qu Wenfang, Jin Ying'ai, Song Shelan, Zhang Wen, and Zhang Yujie. They all participated in persecuting me.
Yu Li and Qu Wenfang forced me to stand for long periods of time and did not let me sleep at night. Sometimes, I could only sleep for two hours at a time. Qu also kicked me from behind. Other practitioners who were forced to stand were Wang Ying, Wang Pinhui, Lu Jianjie, Wang Xingshan, Zhou Yelin, Zheng Xiaomin, and Han Huiyang.
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On March 24, I was caught by Captain Yu Li while I was reading some Falun Dafa articles. When I refused to reveal where I got the articles, six police guards joined him in torturing me on March 27. Their purpose was to "transform" me [force me to give up Falun Gong]. At first Wang Xiuyan used an electric baton to shock the backs of my hands and lower arms. She threatened me and kicked me to the ground over and over again. Then they decided that two people should shock me with batons at the same time. Because my eyes were half closed, I only saw Qu Wenfang and Jin Ying'ai press the electric batons to my face and neck in such way that the metal wires, which emitted the most electricity, were touching my skin. They also kept twisting the batons on my skin. The voltage from each baton was forty to sixty thousand volts. The shocks caused my facial muscles to twitch, and my neck and head shook involuntarily. When Jin Ying'ai saw that I made no sound, she forced me to open my eyes and look at her. She also forced me to loosen my fists. Finally, she shouted, "Take off her pants and shock her lower body." Other practitioners who refused to renounce Falun Dafa were forced to watch me being shocked. A practitioner from Tonghua City, Ms. Zou Hongmei, 58, was so frightened that she pleaded to go to the restroom. When she returned, she agreed to give up the practice against her own true will.
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Once in a while, the guards asked me, "Can you last until the end?" After two hours of electric shocks, I still made no sound. They finally stopped, after using up four electric batons. After that, the chief of the administration section, Pu (female), came over and threatened me again.
After the torture, my entire face below my eyes was swollen. My ears swelled as big as bells. My neck was enlarged, and my skin was a dark brown color. According to fellow practitioners, my face was full of blisters. The parts of my body that were shocked were so painful that it was difficult for me to lie down. Half a month later, the skin on my chin scared over. It took a long time for my body to recover.
Yu Li later talked to me. She said the reason I was being tortured so severely was that they had received an order from the prison administration section urging them to transform Falun Gong practitioners by force.
Between the middle of May and the beginning of August 2001, practitioners Jin Wenjuan, Zheng Xiaomin, Shi Yunpei and I were locked in our cells. They tried to force us to give up Falun Gong through isolation and loneliness.
In September 2001, guard Zhang Wen slapped me on my face (photo 9). Guard Zhang Yujie also threatened to arrest my mother, who is also a practitioner. Later, Zhang Ying handcuffed me to the railings on the second floor balcony with my arms extended to each side. The next day, Yang Liqiu demanded that I recite the prison regulations. I refused. Soon after that I was released from the handcuffs.
Photo 9
a) Forced Labor
During the time I spent at Jiutai Forced Labor Camp, there were over 200 people from Brigades 5 and 6 that were forced to work on a farm. The work included transplanting seedlings, planting vegetables, digging potatoes, thinning, weeding, planting flowers, and planting plants in pots. Since transplanting the seedlings was the most laborious task, the police always had the steadfast practitioners who refused to give in do the work. As we were transplanting the seedlings, guard Song Shulan stood by making sarcastic remarks. For ten days, we got up at around 4:00 a.m. and did not return from work until after 6:00 p.m. each evening. Sometimes our lunch was only steamed buns and soup made of chives and fatty meat; some people ended up having diarrhea due to the diet.
During this time, my supervisor, co-workers, and husband came together in a van to visit me in the prison. There were seven or eight of them in the van. Although I knew they were there, the prison director Guo and section chief Pu refused to let them see me, and treated them poorly. So they left the fruit they had brought for me and asked the guards to give it to me. I was told the guards kept half of it. Later, after I was released and returned to my job, a co-worker told me the guards at the labor camp were not civilized at all.
b) Illegally Extending Prison Terms
During the time I spent at the labor camp, my prison term was extended by four months. One time I read that the reason for extending the sentence was for "contradicting prison officials." Since I refused to sign the paper, the reason was changed to "refusing to reform." In fact, they always trumped up nonsense charges to detain me longer.
c) Extorting Money
In August 2001, the Jiutai Forced Labor Camp required practitioners to participate in "skills training." Those of us who refused to give up practicing Falun Gong were forced to participate. We had to pay several yuan. Even those who did not have any money had to borrow some. At the beginning, we were told that the choices were hair styling, cooking, and tailoring. Everyone ended up taking cooking, but we did not learn anything in the class, because the training consisted of having another practitioner, Zheng Minxia, read from a book while the rest of us took notes. There was no certificate issued either. Later, I was sent to Hezuizi Forced Labor Camp. There I learned that the skills training was conducted at all the prisons and labor camps in the province. And those at Hezuizi Forced Labor Camp did not charge a fee, which proved that the guards themselves kept all the money we paid at Jiutai Forced Labor Camp.
d) Threats and Intimidating
One characteristic of Jiutai Forced Labor Camp was that they kept male and female inmates in the same compound, which is against regulations. In order to force practitioners to give up their practice, one time guard Yu Li threatened to put Ms. Wang Pinghui into the men's jail if she still refused to give in. Ms. Wang was a singer at the Entertainment Center of Tonghua Steel Group.
Guard Song Shulan threatened me more than once saying, "The electric batons are being charged right now. I will shock you."
Guard Zhang Yujie humiliated and threatened me.
Guard Zhang Ying threatened, "How long do you want your sentence to be extended!"?
4. The Suffering I Experienced at Heizuizi Forced Labor Camp in Changchun City
On September 11, 2001, ten practitioners including myself were transferred to Heizuizi Forced Labor Camp for further persecution. The other nine practitioners were Jin Wenjuan, Zheng Xiaomin, Shi Yunpei, Yang Lihua, Shao Lihong, Gong Qiumin, Zuo Guirong, Pu Lianhua, and a practitioner surnamed Lin.
On September 30, in order to resist the persecution, I refused to put on a prison uniform or wear a nametag. I believe it is not a crime to be a good person and therefore I was not a criminal and should not be subject to the prison regulations. In the morning, the captain of Brigade 3, Xi Guirong, and a guard from Unit 3, Wang Xiaolan, summoned me to the office. They told me to put on the prison uniform and nametag. Seeing that I would not cooperate, they started to push and shove me around. Wang Xiaolan grabbed my chin so hard that one could see blood marks on my neck. They instigated a couple of former practitioners (who had given up the practice under brainwashing and torture) to pin me to the ground and put the uniform on me. I resisted. As soon as they released me, I took the uniform off. Later, they had the two people stand by my sides holding me to keep me from taking the uniform off. Then another guard captain with the surname of Fu gave an order to have me handcuffed to the legs of an office desk. I was being slapped in the face, and kicked. They hit me so hard that I was dizzy and had blurred vision. My ears rang and I could not hear anything. The guard captain claimed he would rip off my skin.
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Later, with the consent of Prison Director Tian (female), I was locked up in the storage room of Brigade 3. I was tied to a small bed with my hands cuffed to two corners and my feet tied to the other two corners. They also asked prison doctor Li (female) to force-feed me, claiming I was on a hunger strike. The inmates who were assigned to watch me were Dou Yuhua and Wei Momei. The guard had them dissolve a large amount of salt in some water and then mix it with a bag of bean powder. It was called "feeding bean powder." The first time they force-fed me, the feeding tube was fixed to my face, and made it difficult for me to breathe. I felt nauseated and could not swallow. I pulled the tube out and I vomited the salt water, soaking my hair and clothes. Nobody bothered to clean me up, and later the smell attracted flies.
The next day, Prison Director Tian visited me. I requested she let me brush my teeth and rinse my mouth. She agreed on the condition that I give up practicing Falun Gong. I refused. On October 5, I was again force-fed with salt water. Because the tube was inserted into my trachea, I passed out right away and vomited blood. The prison director was at the scene. My blood pressure was 240, and my pulse was 180. I could have died at any minute. I was sent to Jilin Police Hospital by ambulance.
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My Treatment at Jilin Police Hospital
On October 5, 2001, I was sent to Jilin Police Hospital. When the doctor saw me being carried inside, he did not come over and check on me. Instead, the doctor took notes from prison guards Xi Guirong and Wang Xiaolan. They only told the doctor I was on a hunger strike and did not mention the force-feeding. I corrected them from the side, but no one paid attention to me. After x-rays were taken, I was led to a room on the third floor. I asked the guards to borrow a basin so that I could wash my hair, but they refused. Without any questioning, I was injected with an unknown substance. I felt so much pain in my chest that I was afraid to turn over, and I had difficulty getting off the bed. I was later diagnosed with tuberculosis.
Two days later, in protest of the persecution, I went on a hunger strike refusing to eat, drink, or receive any medical treatment. One section chief of the hospital came to my room and threatened me. He kept kicking the bed. I was put in shackles, and my hands were cuffed to the bed. They forcibly injected me with drugs.
Another Falun Dafa practitioner, Wang Shouhui (who has since been persecuted to death), was in the next bed. She also refused to eat, drink, or receive treatment. Later she was injected with drugs to treat tuberculosis without even being diagnosed. Ms. Wang said she would sue them, before they finally stopped injecting her with drugs.
On October 9, the police notified my family that I was to be released for medical treatment. At the time, I could hardly walk. The doctor wanted to lend me a basin so that I could wash, but I refused. My hair was messy and my face dirty. My family came into my room and released the handcuffs and shackles themselves and took me home. The doctors would not get close to me for fear of being infected. My family had to give 1,000 yuan as a deposit to the labor camp, and they still have not received the money back.
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(Clearwisdom.net) Falun Dafa practitioner Ms. Zhang Lanfang and her husband are from Dongxiaoying Village, Guojia Township, Hanting District, Weifang City of Shandong Province. The couple started to practice Falun Gong in 1996. In a very short period of time, both the wife and husband became quite healthy from the practice. As a result, they lived a happy life. The villagers witnessed their changes and all praised Falun Gong. Around 30 other people also began to learn Falun Gong. Combined with the practitioners from neighboring villages, the total number of people that practiced Falun Gong in their area was more than 60 at that time. Zhang Lanfang's home became a very outstanding practice site, and more and more people came to learn Falun Gong. The village secretary introduced the practice to the village council and the council agreed to support it and rented two spacious rooms to Falun Gong practitioners. Every practitioner was very diligent and followed the high moral standards for practitioners. The village secretary was so impressed that he would praise practitioners to everyone he met.
On July 20 of 1999, out of jealousy, Jiang Zemin launched the nationwide persecution of Falun Gong, instigating the violent oppression of Falun Gong practitioners. Zhang Lanfang and her husband suddenly became a target of persecution in Guojia Township. Some officers started to harass Ms. Zhang's family regularly and a truck was parked right in front of the walkway that led to the family's front gate, completely blocking the passage.
Zhang Lanfang and her husband went to Beijing several times to appeal for fair treatment for Falun Gong, and to report the facts about Falun Gong to government officials. They told people there that Falun Dafa is good and it that it is a righteous practice. Every time this couple was arrested and brought back to their hometown, the local officials would beat them up, fine them heavily, ransack their home, and detain them beyond the legally allowed duration. The Communist Party Committee of the local township imprisoned the couple and forced them to do heavy physical labor. The couple was also publicly humiliated in front of many people. They were not allowed to have a blanket when they slept at night, and they were told that they wouldn't be released if they didn't pay bribes to the officials. Zhang Lanfang's children had to borrow money and gave the money to the officials in order to have their parents released. The family spent 2,000 yuan each for them to be released. The couple was also fined more than 10,000 yuan for going to Beijing to appeal.
During the past four years, Zhang Lanfang has been detained more than ten times at various places such as detention centers, the police station, and the town administration building. She has been fined more than 10,000 yuan. Zhang Lanfang and several other female practitioners including Wang Lihua, Yang Mingzhen, Yuan Qingxia, Zhang Dexiang, Wang Li and Zhang Yujuan were detained in the Hanting Detention Center. In order to validate Falun Dafa, all the practitioners in the detention center practiced the exercises and recited poems from Hongyin every day. The guards beat and verbally abused these practitioners every time. They were handcuffed to the doors or windows and hung up there until they lost consciousness.
The guards at the Hanting Detention Center came up with a torture method to specifically abuse Falun Dafa practitioners. They ordered the inmates to build a wooden frame using three timbers. Two timbers stood upright on the ground while the other one was placed horizontally on top of the vertical ones. Practitioners' legs would be shackled to the two standing timbers, with the legs wide apart and the arms would be cuffed to the horizontal bar over the head. This torture method was dubbed "crucifying" by the guards. Once being constrained in such a position, one simply couldn't move at all. The guards did not allow them to use the restroom. Afterwards, someone has to help the practitioners move around and feed him or her as well.
Once, practitioners Wang Li, Zhang Yujuan and Yuan Qingxia were all handcuffed together and it was extremely difficult for them to move. Because Zhang Lanfang was somewhat older than the rest of the practitioners, she was not shackled with them. She then helped the others to use the toilet and also fed them. The practitioners' legs and hands were all swollen as a result of the torture. Sometimes, the guards would beat Zhang Lanfang and call her names, or they would order the criminal inmates to lift her from the bed, drop her onto the ground and kick her.
One day, a group of inmates led by a chief police officer suddenly rushed into the room where the practitioners were being jailed. At that time, the practitioners were doing the sitting meditation. The guards grabbed practitioners Zhang Yujuan and others by the hair and started beating and kicking them. The chief officer slapped their faces with the rubber sole of a slipper. They also handcuffed some practitioners' arms to a pipe, which was as much as two meters (six and a half feet) above the floor. Soon afterwards, most of these practitioners were covered with sweat. Their shirts were soaked with sweat and sweat dripped from their hair. Most of them passed out from the pain. Eventually, they were released from the pipe and then they were immediately tied to the wooden frame. Some of the guards made explicit sexual gestures and made sexual comments to insult the practitioners (policeman Li Yong was one of them).
Practitioner Zhang Yujuan was handcuffed to the frame for 5 days and she was bitten up by mosquitoes. One guard used a book to slap her face. Wang Li was handcuffed to the frame for 8 days and her joints did not recover even after six months. Practitioner Guo Hua was once tied to the so-called "Death Bed" for more than one month. Only when the guards saw that she was in very serious physical condition did they release her. It is hard to describe with words the horror of the tortures that the practitioners suffered at the Hanting Detention Center.
In October 2002, Zhang Lanfang and her husband were both sentenced to 3 years in prison. Zhang Lanfang was sent to a forced labor camp in Jinan City, Shandong Province. At that time, her family was already in a very difficult financial situation. Zhang Lanfang was taking care of her eldest son's five-year-old child (the son had divorced) and her second son's child (who was only three years old), while her youngest son's wife had just given birth to a new baby.
Zhang Lanfang's husband was sent to a forced labor camp in Changle City, Shandong Province. He was restricted from visiting the restroom and experienced endless abuse suffering. He was forced to attend brainwashing sessions. Once, Zhang Lanfang's husband and five other practitioners were beaten violently by the guards. The guards also stomped on the practitioners. Practitioner Liu Shuchun from Changyi City, Shandong Province was beaten to death, while Ms. Zhang's husband lost consciousness from the beating. Blood oozed from his mouth and nine of his teeth were knocked out. During the past three years, Ms. Zhang's husband has been isolated in a small cell, and had his prison term extended for another three months. The police did not allow the family to visit him and completely blocked communication between Ms. Zhang and her husband.
(Clearwisdom.net) Falun Dafa practitioner Mr. Sun Youfa, from Lishu County, Jilin Province, was tortured to death on January 13, 2001, when he was only 24 years old.
Listed below is the current circumstance of Sun Youfa's daughter, Sun Qing.
Name: Sun Qing (also called Sun Nannan)
Gender: female
Age: 4
Current address: Weijia Village, Taiping Town, Lishu County, Jilin Province
Caretaker: her mother, Xu Yanhong
Sun Qing lives with her mother, Xu Yanhong, who teaches at the Taiping Town Second Middle School in Lishu County. She is remarried and lives in the Weijia Village, Taiping Town.
Qing's father, Sun Youfa, used to work for the Sanwandun Industrial Alcohol Factory in Lishu County. On December 31, 2000, he went to Beijing to appeal for Falun Dafa. He went to Tiananmen Square, unfurled a Dafa banner and called out, "Falun Dafa is good!" He endured savage persecution by the police: they confiscated his money, clothes, shoes and even socks, force- fed him saltwater, handcuffed his hands and feet together, and shocked him with high-voltage electric batons. On January 6, 2001, Mr. Sun was tortured to the brink of death. The police then left him at the train station. A kind-hearted driver called another practitioner in Beijing, and he was brought back home. Sun Youfa died in the early morning on January 13, 2001. His daughter was barely 2 months old then.
For detailed information regarding Sun Youfa's death from the persecution, refer to the following article: "Practitioner Sun Youfa from Kangping Village in Lishu Town, Lishu County, Jilin Province, was Tortured to Death"
http://www.clearwisdom.net/emh/articles/2001/1/31/4910.html
(Clearwisdom.net) On December 4, 2004, five policemen broke into Falun Dafa practitioner Ms. Li Aiying's home in Yitong County, Jilin Province intending to arrest her. To avoid being subjected to further persecution, Ms. Li made a rope from bed sheets and attempted to lower herself to the ground from the window. Unfortunately, in the process, she accidentally fell and died. The following describes the current circumstances of her second daughter, Zhao Qin.
Name: Zhao Qin
Gender: Female
Current age: 16
School: The fifth class, the first grade of high school in the Tenth Middle
School of Yitong County, Jilin Province.
Caregiver: Her father - Zhao Haijie
Zhao Qin is now being taken care of by her father, Zhao Haijie, the Deputy Town Supervisor in Dagushan Town, Yitong County. He has remarried. Zhao Qin was in the third grade of junior high school in the Twelfth Middle School of Yitong County when her mother died.
Zhao Qin's mother, Li Aiying, was 48 years old. She worked at the Yidan Forest Farm in Yitong County, Jilin Province. Her apartment was on the Sixth Floor, Center Unit of the residential building of the Yitong Town Medicinal Materials Company in Yitong County.
As Ms. Li Aiying had greatly benefited from practicing Falun Gong, she went to Beijing to appeal in November 2000 after the persecution had begun. She was illegally seized by police in the appeals office and held for over a month in the Yitong County Detention Center. The police did not release her until her family paid them an enormous amount of extortion money to buy her release. In the spring of 2001, Ms. Li Aiying was again picked up by authorities and taken to the Party School of the Yitong County Committee, where she was subjected to intensive brainwashing.
Around 6:30 on the morning of December 4, 2003, Zhao Qin got ready for school and opened the door to leave the house. Five police officers led by Liu Tiejun and Xie (female) from the Yongning Street Police Precinct had been waiting outside for a long time. They seized this opportunity to forcibly enter her home without any warrant or legal document. Ms. Li Aiying quickly hid in the bedroom and locked the door. While her family members were arguing with the police, two young policemen started to kick open the door and threatened that they would break down the door if she didn't open it. To avoid being subjected to persecution again, Ms. Li tore a bed sheet into strips, tied the pieces into a rope and attempted to lower herself to the ground from the window. In the process she accidentally fell. Her ribs and internal organs were severely damaged as a result of the fall and she died. Her body was cremated on December 6, 2003.
Ms. Li's husband, Zhao Haijie, was at home when she died, but he wouldn't tell anybody anything. It is said that Yang Feng, the then head of the county, talked to him in person, and promised him something if he didn't talk about the incident.
Phone numbers of related persons:
Responsible unit: The Political and Security Section, Yitong County Police
Department: 86-434-4228701
Section Chief: Li Xiaodong
Yongning Street Police Precinct, Yitong County, Jilin Province:
86-434-4222708
Head: Wang Lin, Deputy Head: Mu, Political instructor: Sun Xiaohui
Dagushan Town Government, Yitong County, Jilin Province: 86-434-4510320, Zip: 130713
The Twelfth Middle School in Yitong County, Jilin Province: 86-434-4223283,
86-434-4264377
Principal: Lei Chuntian, Jiang Xiaochun
Former Deputy Principal: Hu Shuzhi 86-434-4266108
Former Teacher in charge of the class: Qian Jie 86-434-4220412
The Tenth Middle School in Yitong County, Jilin Province:
86-434-4223186 (Duty Office) 86-434-4230740 (First Grade)
Principal: Wang Minghui 86-434-4234453
Teacher in charge of the fifth class, the first grade: Zhao Jinmei:
86-434-4233021(Office)
Zip code for Yitong County, Jilin Province: 130700
December 14, 2004
(Clearwisdom.net) Although I am a new practitioner who began practicing Falun Dafa only four months ago, I have already deeply experienced the power of Dafa.
Twice-missed Opportunity
I began to show a special interest in the origin of human beings when I was little. After I matured, I became fascinated with ancient Chinese culture, such as martial arts and the Book of Changes.
I first came across Falun Dafa during my senior year of high school. At that time, a new student transferred to my class. He had been practicing Falun Dafa for over a year. I had the good fortune to get a glimpse of Zhuan Falun and was fascinated by the part about prehistoric civilization. It's a pity that I did not finish reading the book due to my thought karma and other interference. This was the first time I missed the opportunity to obtain the Fa. However, the seeds were planted in my heart.
After I entered University in 1998, I again pursued my ideal of cultivation practice. I went to the University library to check out qigong books and theories about qigong. I started to follow the instructions given in the books and practiced every night. As a result, instead of curing my illnesses, the various qigong practices actually messed up my body more.
Right before the suppression of Falun Gong started in 1999, an alumnus came to our university to promote Falun Dafa. However, when I read the parts about not practicing or cultivating dan [an energy cluster] and that we should not be concerned with time or direction of practice, and that the Fa cultivates practitioners, I thought that it was too good to be true. Therefore, I developed doubts about Dafa, missing the opportunity to obtain the Fa for the second time, which I now intensely regret.
When all the lies and propaganda started to spread on July 20, I also misunderstood Dafa and even drifted with the tide, saying disrespectful things about Dafa and Master. When I think about how I felt at that time, I realize how important it is to let other people know the truth in order to offer them salvation.
After Traversing Peaks and Valleys I Finally Understood how Long I had Waited
In April and May of this year, I fortuitously received some software designed to break the Internet blockade from one of my classmates. With the help of this software, I was able to visit foreign websites containing news about Falun Gong. I got to know the truth about the persecution by downloading the video about the Tiananmen Square self-immolation incident and Dafa practitioners' articles exposing the persecution.
My first response was that I wanted to read the original Dafa books. After six years, I read Zhuan Falun again and suddenly discovered that my desire to cultivate had returned. After I finished reading Zhuan Falun, the unanswered questions that had remained from when I was studying Buddhism and Taoism were all resolved. It was during the summer holiday, and I was so excited that I could not find suitable words to describe my happiness. With Master's benevolent protection, my roommate got a computer. From then on I was able to watch the videos with Master teaching the exercises and I began to practice the exercises by following Master's instructions. I made up my mind to persist in my practice, and I have walked the shining path of a Dafa disciple ever since.
Striving to be Diligent, Stepping Forward to Oppose the Old Forces
I began my cultivation of Falun Dafa on July 20 of this year. At first I came to Dafa with the pursuit of curing my illnesses. As I studied the Fa more deeply, however, I gradually discovered my attachment to illness and identified it as an obstacle in the path of my cultivation. Therefore, I gradually abandoned my desire to cure my illness and, as a result, my stomach trouble that had been bothering me miraculously disappeared. One week after I had started my cultivation, I decided to quit smoking cigarettes, drinking alcohol, and taking medicine, and thereafter my health improved markedly. I strongly felt the power of Dafa. A more important and deep-rooted change was that I found the true purpose of life.
When I followed the requirements of Dafa to assimilate to the characteristics of the Universe, I gradually changed from being an ill-tempered and selfish person to a peaceful person. I used to like to play soccer very much and quarreled a lot with others on the soccer field. After I started to practice Dafa, I did not get upset even when my forehead was bumped and started to bleed. Instead, all I said was, "It's all right." Even my good friend was surprised by my response.
While I am making progress in my personal cultivation, I have begun to understand that new practitioners should also step forward. Since we have chosen to be Master's disciples, we should follow the requirements set by Master and do the Three Things well. My understanding is that, as Dafa disciples who will reach consummation with the next group, we will still have the opportunity to complete our personal cultivation in the future. However, we won't have any opportunities to clarify the truth after this period of time.
With great conviction, I would like to tell those veteran practitioners who haven't stepped forward, "Please don't take the evil path again. This is a matter of life and death. Once the opportunity is gone, it will be gone forever. There will be no second Fa-rectification in the future Universe. What you do today contributes to your everlasting glory in the future. Any mistakes you make today will not be easily erased."
When I am clarifying the truth to people, I make use of various methods. For example, I downloaded some truth-clarifying materials from Minghui.org and edited them before I went to distribute the flyers in residential areas. So far, I have chosen to go at night, placing the printed materials in every home's mailbox or in the crack of the door. I began to do this only one month after I had started my cultivation. By now, I have almost covered all the major residential areas close to my home. I also use Dongtai.net to send information to other people in Internet chat rooms. Every hour, there are about 100 friends chatting online, and I post materials explaining the truth about Falun Gong. Once when I went out to post materials explaining the truth about the self-immolation, it was raining hard. I sent forth righteous thoughts while walking, asking Master to strengthen me. Miraculously, it stopped raining as soon as I arrived at the place where I had planned to post the materials. I finished my job without problems, experiencing the miracle of Dafa yet again.
Of course, the most effective way to clarify the truth is to talk with others face to face. For the sake of safety, I began to explain the truth about Falun Gong to my friends and relatives who live far away from me. After he understood the truth, one of my friends is now studying the Fa while preparing for his graduate exams. He said, "I must try my best to catch up with the others." My mother also gradually has become aware of the truth. She once received some truth-clarification materials distributed by practitioners. When I was clarifying the truth to one of my classmates, he even recalled part of what he had read from Zhuan Falun in the past. At present, I mainly use indirect ways to explain the truth to my classmates when talking to them or sending them e-mails with information about Dafa. As the situation changes, I will find opportunities to directly let them know the truth.
I think that no matter when we obtained the Fa, we must follow Master's teachings to do the Three Things well, since we have chosen to follow the path of the truth of the Universe. This is particularly true for new Dafa practitioners. Won't our diligence and our best efforts to clarify the truth combine with our sending forth righteous thoughts to help end this persecution earlier and save more sentient beings? Seen from this angle, aren't we opposing the old forces' arrangements? I now understand that the ability of new Dafa practitioners to step forward also negates the old forces and shows our responsibility to sentient beings.
December 5, 2004
(Clearwisdom.net) I began practicing Falun Dafa in March of 2002. During the past two years, I experienced many miracles and truly felt that Teacher has been guiding me and protecting me every moment.
Before practicing Falun Gong, I suffered from gynecological disorders and bone spurs. In October of 2001, I had an accident in which my right eye hemorrhaged, and the retina in my left eye became detached. After medical treatment, my eyesight was only 0.01 in both of my eyes. I became a burden to my family and felt helpless. When I lost hope and confidence, my daughter's friend told me: "I heard that practicing Falun Gong can cure some diseases that hospitals cannot cure." However, he himself did not practice Falun Gong. In addition, there was a lot of slanderous propaganda against Falun Gong at that time. I was anxious to learn more but he could not provide me with more information. I wondered whether I could practice and who could teach me.
Several days later, a long-lost friend visited me. He told me that his wife had bought two sets of Falun Gong books and audiotapes several years ago, but she did not practice Falun Gong. She also worried that she would be persecuted if others knew that she owned these materials. I then asked him if she could give me one set. He wanted to give me just the audiotapes, since I could not read, but I insisted on having both the books and tapes.
When I listened to the first lecture, Teacher's voice was so compassionate, and I felt a warm current flowing throughout my body. My body felt light and I wanted to listen more.
Several days later, a practitioner came to my house to teach me the exercises. I learned the five sets of exercises and I felt the spinning of countless falun [Law wheels]. Very soon Teacher purified my body.
In twenty days, I could read on my own! The diseases that had tortured me for over ten years all disappeared. Just like what Teacher said in the book Zhuan Falun, the wrinkles on my face have waned and my skin developed a fair and rosy complexion. My menstrual period also returned.
This miracle instantly changed my family's attitude towards Falun Gong. Knowing that Dafa can improve one's health and uplift morality and that it teaches people to be truly good by following the principle of Truth-Compassion-Forbearance, they are very grateful for Teacher and Dafa. My family came to realize that all the propaganda launched by Jiang's regime is false and that it slanders Teacher and Dafa.
As my family came to know the truth, my husband's high blood pressure was cured. My children became more considerate and my family life became more harmonious.
During the past two years, I have been following Teacher's words. Through studying the Fa, practicing the exercises and cultivating my xinxing, I have given up all my former bad habits and attachments such as selfishness, the fighting mentality and jealousy. Before, I would not forgive and was intolerant of others if they made mistakes. I would blame and insult others. However, Dafa and Teacher changed me. I know how to be a good person. My compassion has blossomed naturally and I no longer care about personal fame and gain. I have become calmer when I talk to others and show more consideration towards my family. I am also more energetic now.
For those people who came to visit me or were concerned about my health, I would always tell them of the miraculous effect of Falun Gong and the truth about Dafa, so that they would no longer be deceived by the false propaganda. I told them that many practitioners were tortured to death and many others have been detained in labor camps, mental hospitals and prisons, where they have been brutally tortured. Seeing that my eyes completely recovered and my diseases were cured, everyone was happy for me and they were also convinced that Falun Dafa is good.
I clarify the truth to all of my friends, colleagues, and relatives using my own experience as an example, and I also give them Falun Dafa VCDs. In addition, I visited the family that gave me the Dafa books, to express my gratitude. Seeing the changes in me, they also started practicing Falun Dafa last year.
On the path of validating Dafa, I have truly felt that one righteous mind suppresses hundreds of evils. As long as we are righteous, Teacher is watching over us all the time. Whenever I go out to distribute truth-clarifying materials, my body feels very light. Not long ago, I noticed that there were always police vans waiting at a major road and policemen at every entrance of some communities. However, other practitioners and I still managed to post banners reading, "Falun Dafa is good," and "Jiang Zemin has been sued in international courts for persecuting Falun Gong" at popular sites. We also posted truth-clarifying materials at every building on some streets. The police have no idea how we did all this, right under their noses. Our righteous deeds and acts efficiently suppressed the evil. As a result, those police vans disappeared soon. Everything we do is for validating Dafa and saving sentient beings. Meanwhile, we are eliminating the evil and showing the magnificence of Dafa.
After reading Teacher's article, "Let Go of Human Attachments and Save the World's People," I realized that what I have done previously is so little. I see clearly that I still have the attachment of fear and other human notions and I need to catch up and try my best to save more sentient beings with the wisdom gained from Dafa. I am confident that I can do better, with a firm belief in Teacher and Dafa and as long as I keep a pure heart and righteous mind at all times. Otherwise, I will let Teacher down and am not worthy of Teacher's compassion.
It is Teacher who purified me and guided me to the path of returning to my origin. I am determined to cultivate myself into a person who is without selfishness and who always thinks of others first. I am determined to truly become a particle of the boundless Dafa. I will follow Teacher's every word and direct myself according to the principle of Truth-Compassion-Forbearance.
December 10, 2004
(Clearwisdom.net) Recently I asked a friend, who is a professional, some questions about telephone security. The explanation that follows will permit practitioners to adopt appropriate security methods based on this advice.
Detecting the Location of a Cell Phone
All mobile devices can be located with network locating techniques. In simple terms, as long they are turned on or being charged, they will always contact their nearest base station for a signal. Since the base station's location is fixed, an "approximate location" of the phone can be calculated using the relationship between the device and the base station. As this method depends mainly on the base station, busier places with more base stations will provide accuracy of between 100 and 200 meters, while in suburban districts the error is around 1,000 meters and even more in the countryside. Certain locations like resorts, big buildings, large-scale markets, large hotels, subways and underground parking lots have their own small base stations installed, so locating cell phones in these places is very accurate. For example, as cell phone signals are very strong in the elevators of certain buildings, due to the installation of mini base stations in them, cell phones can even be located in these elevators. In addition, the location at which a cell phone is turned off can also be detected. So practitioners should turn off their cell phones before arriving at a Dafa materials production site or another practitioner's home to avoid exposing them.
Some mobile devices contain a GPS receiver. Since these kind of devices can receive satellite signals, they can be located accurately, to between 5 and 50 meters outdoors. When there's no satellite signal, they can also be located through network locating methods.
If the number of a mobile phone or other mobile device is exposed, the location of the device with this number can be checked at any time.
A record of a cell phone's location can be automatically set up in advance every hour, day or month. Afterwards the locations during this period can be checked.
A program can be set up in advance to automatically record all the numbers of devices entering a particular area, such as a building, on one day or over several days. These cell numbers can be checked immediately or afterwards.
Due to the use of these three location methods, I think the following security rules should apply: if practitioners in China need to go to a materials production site, some other practitioner's home, or attend some important activity, it's better to turn off their cell phones in advance, or not bring them at all. Otherwise, if a practitioner is tracked, the materials production site, another practitioner's home or anyone who has been there, could be exposed as well.
Speech Recognition
There are two kinds of speech recognition techniques for any type of phone: recognition according to keywords or by monitoring of the subject's voice. The latter is quite complicated, and the detection device is expensive. However keyword recognition is easier, although not every place is equipped with this function. So practitioners in China are advised not to talk for too long while clarifying the truth over the phone to avoid using keywords. Also, they should change location after making each phone call.
It is more complicated to recognize the speech of a monitored subject. Therefore it is rarely used except to monitor an important person or to search for a key figure in a major case. If a monitored person's voice has been recorded (many practitioners' phones have been bugged and recorded), once they call from any phone within the monitoring range, they can be found based on the voice recording.
I think we need to have righteous thoughts concerning this security issue. While we are sending forth righteous thoughts, we should do our best to comply with things in the ordinary world and adopt the necessary security measures. This is also a righteous thought, and doing it is a righteous action. We should also study the Fa more diligently and send forth righteous thoughts more frequently, using our divine powers to eliminate interference.
November 26, 2004
News and Events from Around the World
Falun Gong Practitioners' Righteous Action in China
The People Awaken to the Truth
Falun Gong Practitioners' Personal Experiences
News and Events from Around the World
Chile & Bolivia: Criminal Lawsuits Filed Against Jiang Zemin And Other High Ranking Chinese Officials
During Chinese president Hu Jintao's visit to Chile for the 2004 APEC Summit, Falun Gong practitioners filed a criminal lawsuit for the crimes of genocide and torture against former Chinese President Jiang Zemin and other high ranking Chinese officials.
On the 18th of November 2004, the same day Hu Jintao arrived for the APEC Summit, a criminal lawsuit was filed in the Chilean capital of Santiago against various Chinese officials who are directly implicated in the persecution of Falun Gong. The lawsuit specifically accuses four Chinese officials, Jiang Zemin, China's former president; Luo Gan, former Minister of Public Security; Li Lanqing, a high ranking member of the Communist Party, and Bo Xilai, the current Minister of Commerce and former governor of Liaoning Province, for crimes committed against Falun Gong practitioners during the persecution. Their crimes include genocide, kidnapping, torture and cruelty. Chile's legal code recognizes the principle of universal jurisdiction for such serious crimes. The lawsuit was signed by five Falun Gong practitioners, who were represented by three Chilean human rights lawyers, Mrs. Hiram Villagra Castro, Mr. Hugo Humberto Galvez and Mr. Cristian Pablo Campos.
Chile was the final stop for Hu Jintao during his visit to South America, having visited both Brazil and Argentina before arriving for the APEC Summit, where he signed various lucrative trade agreements between these Latin American nations.
On the afternoon of November 16th, 2004, another lawsuit was filed in neighboring Bolivia. The Bolivian lawsuit is against Jiang Zemin and Luo Gan for the crimes of genocide, torture, reduction to the state of slavehood or a similar state, threats, and the violation of liberty, which has been inflicted on millions of Falun Gong practitioners. It is a criminal lawsuit and was filed by Bolivian lawyers Don Marcos Zabalaga and Don Miguel Mardonez. The lawsuit itself came as the result of one the lawyer's personal interest in this persecution, after having been very moved when he first learned about it. The defense of human rights, life and people's dignity should be carried out in all countries of the world. This was the message lawyer Miguel Mardonez conveyed to explain the legal actions in Bolivia. The lawyers offered their time and efforts free of any charge, having been deeply moved from their hearts.
Bolivia's general prosecutor, with his office in the city of Sucre, received the lawsuit on November 16th. The lawsuit details the brutal persecution of millions of practitioners of Falun Gong and the cruel practices carried out in labor camps and the horrible tortures and mass murders. The crimes are the direct responsibilities of Jiang Zemin and Lou Gan. Lou Gan was director of the 610 Office, an extrajudicial body that coordinated and directed the persecution across China. The lawyers specifically requested that the prosecutor send a copy of the lawsuit to the Ambassador of China in Bolivia, so that he, as the Chinese authority in Bolivia, have knowledge of this legal action.
In the lawsuit the prosecutor is asked specifically for international arrest warrants for Jiang Zemin and Luo Gan, so that those responsible for the crimes can be brought before the Bolivian courts. The lawsuit for genocide is based on the Bolivian criminal code, which states that the Bolivian justice system is competent to prosecute the crime of genocide.
The lawsuit has been supported by 16 victims and was signed in the presence of one of the victims, Mrs. Dai Zhizhen, whose husband was tortured to death at the young age of 34, leaving without a father his daughter recently born.
Human rights affect the entire international community and therefore, all countries should show solidarity to put an end to acts of genocide and torture, like those carried out by defendants Jiang Zemin and Luo Gan, asking that ultimately justice be made for the victims and their families.
Truth-clarification Stories from Manhattan
A 10-year-old Boy Comes to Understand the Persecution
A 10-year-old boy was looking at the truth-clarifying posters. A practitioner walked over and asked him if he understood what the posters depicted. He said that he understood. The practitioner smiled and asked, "Would you please tell me what you know about it?" The boy answered, "In some places in China, good people are persecuted." The practitioner told him that the persecution is happening throughout the entire country of China. Because tyrant Jiang was jealous of so many people practicing Falun Gong, he started suppressing Falun Gong. The boy said, after listening to this, "Then they could just stop practicing." The practitioner asked him, "Do you have any hobbies?" He answered, "I like taking care of animals." The practitioner asked him, "If you were in China and many people including you enjoy taking care of animals, but the tyrant does not allow you to look after animals, what would you do?" The boy thought about it for a second and said, "The persecution is wrong." The practitioner showed him all the posters exposing the torture methods used against Falun Gong practitioners in China and explained them one by one. He shook his head while listening and said, "Terrible! Terrible!" Later, he signed the petition calling for an end to the persecution.
The Righteousness of a High School Student
A high school student noticed that Falun Gong practitioners have continuously held anti-torture exhibitions and clarified the truth to people in all kinds of weather for several months. She decided to do some research about this. She went online to search for information about Falun Gong and downloaded some photos depicting the torture suffered by practitioners in Mainland China. She told practitioners that when she attended her government class the day before, she told all her classmates about Falun Gong. Some classmates asked her, "How would you know that all of this is true, since the media does not report much on them?" She answered, "You can do the research online."
She also told practitioners enthusiastically that she wanted to learn Falun Gong and she would ask her mother to learn the practice with her. She said that she already found a practice site, which was just opposite her house. She also expressed her understanding that people's attitude towards Falun Gong was really important.
A Kind Gentleman
A gentleman passes by an anti-torture exhibition site every day. Each time he passes, he stops to talk with practitioners and asks them if they have updated Falun Gong truth-clarification materials. He said that his job was to provide financial information to investors. Since he learned about the persecution experienced by Falun Gong practitioners in China, he said he has become more cautious when he provides financial advice. It was extremely cold the other day and he was very concerned about practitioners. He told practitioners that they should stay inside the building, as it was too chilly outside. A practitioner told him that we need to do what we are supposed to do. Upon listening to that, he murmured to himself, "I need to think of a way." The practitioner said goodbye to him and told him to keep himself warm. The man's eyes were welling with tears and he was unable to speak, and had to turn around to avert his eyes.
Although it has been extremely cold these few days, it seems that more people accepted truth-clarifying materials. Many young people enthusiastically signed the petition. Some people said with a smile that they already had the materials. Some people nodded toward practitioners to show their admiration. Perhaps, the great compassion and tolerance that practitioners have embodied in the cold weather have moved people's hearts.
US Court Affirms That Beijing Communist Party Secretary Liu Qi Is Liable for Crimes of Torture
After one year trial, on December 8, 2004, Judge Wilkin of United States District Court Northern District of California affirmed a magistrate's ruling that Beijing Communist Party Secretary Liu Qi is liable for the crimes of torture and anti-humanity of the police under his administration in persecution of Falun Gong.
On December 13, Falun Gong practitioners held a press conference in front of Chinese Consulate in Los Angeles to announce the news.
A practitioner in Los Angeles said that the civil lawsuit was filed in 2002 by two citizens of China, two Swiss citizens, one French and one American based on Alien Tort Claims Act and Torture Victim Protection Act. The six plaintiffs were beaten brutally and tortured in Beijing, including Leeshai Lemish, who was arrested and beaten brutally for appealing on Tiananmen Square in Beijing in 2001 for Falun Gong.
Liu Qi was Mayor of Beijing and received the subpoena in San Francisco on his way to Salt Lake to attend the Winter Olympics there as director of Chinese Olympic team. He was charged for crimes of torture, other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, arbitrary detention, crimes against humanity, and interference with freedom of religion and belief.
The Center for Justice and Accountability (CJA) in San Francisco and Ms. Terri Marsh, an independent human rights lawyer, represented the plaintiffs and filed the lawsuit. CJA is a human rights organization to help victims of human rights violations abroad.
On June 11, 2003, a Magistrate found that Liu was guilty and not entitled to the immunity foreign officials and sent his recommendation to District Court. On December 8, 2004, the district judge adopted the magistrate's recommendations that Liu was guilty.
Since Zhao Zhifei, vice director of Public Security Bureau, Hubei Province, was found liable for persecution of Falun Gong by a US Federal Court, Chinese high-rank officials have been lost in four civil lawsuits filed by Falun Gong practitioners. The former Communist Party Secretary, Jiang Zemin, who initiated the persecution, has been sued in many countries. Practitioners legal efforts to safeguard basic rights and stop the persecution is receiving wide attention around the world.
According to the Epoch Times, on the press conference on December 13, Associate Professor Wu Yingnian from Department of Statistics, University of California at Los Angeles said that the lawsuit was one of the 47 filed in 28 countries. The lawsuit scale was seldom seen after Nuremburg Trial of Nazi criminals. More lawsuits will be conducted and possibly in China.
Mr. Leeshai Lemish said that the court ruling was encouraging and provided a good reference for suing Chinese communist officials involved in the persecution of Falun Gong. Though the judge faced pressure from the Chinese regime, he made a ruling based on the facts. It sent an important message to China: those persecuting Falun Gong will be brought to justice.
Mr. Lemish said that some officials in the Chinese government violate China's law to persecute innocent people. They must be punished with international law. They must be held liable for what they have done.
Reports on 2004 Australia Falun Dafa Conference and Activities on World Human Rights Day
Falun Gong practitioners from different areas in Australia held a three-day series of activities to introduce Falun Dafa and clarify the truth. On December 10, 2004, World Human Rights Day, Falun Gong practitioners held an anti-torture exhibit for a whole day at the Queen's Square in front of the High Court in Sydney to expose the brutal persecution of Falun Gong happening in China. The practitioners also held a press conference regarding Falun Gong practitioner Chinese artist Ms. Zhang Cuiying's lawsuit against Jiang Zemin. They also built a Great Wall of Courage on Macquarie Street and Elizabeth Street to peacefully appeal for putting an end to the persecution.
During the morning of December 11, a large-scale group practice was held at the famous Darling Harbor in Sydney, attracting many tourists to stop and watch, and inquire about the Falun Gong issues. In the afternoon, practitioners handed out lots of Falun Gong truth clarification materials in nearby areas of Sydney. The practitioners also held an anti-torture exhibit. During the evening, some practitioners were invited to participate in a multicultural arts performance by the Hurstville local government. Some practitioners took part in a candle-light vigil and parade, and most practitioners participated in group Fa study and exchange of understandings.
On December 13, Falun Gong practitioners attended the Falun Dafa Experience Sharing Conference held at Rockdale city hall. The Falun Dafa conference enhanced Australian practitioners' coordination and cooperation as a whole entity, and practitioners became more close and harmonious through learning from each other and sharing experiences.
New York: Organizations Gather in front of UN Headquarters on World Human Rights Day to Condemn the Chinese Communist Party's Persecution of Falun Gong
On December 10, 2004, the World Human Rights Day, wind blew hard and misty drizzle fell. Falun Gong practitioners and a number of non-governmental organizations gathered in front of the United Nations Headquarters in New York to hold a press conference. They requested the United Nations to stage an open investigation on the Jiang's regime and the Chinese Communist Party's violations of Falun Gong practitioners' fundamental human rights and help stop this suppression.
Director of Unitarian Universalist United Nations Office Conference on Human Rights and Committee member of Unitarian Universalist Association of churches, Mr. Richard Cook said that the Chinese government's persecution of Falun Gong directly violates the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and it must be held accountable.
Cook spoke at the conference that Falun Gong practitioners' rally in front of the UN Headquarters today is to remind UN of Chinese authorities' continuous persecution of Falun Gong. He said that this totalitarian government employed political means, torture, imprisonment, and reeducation through forced labor to persecute Falun Gong. Its crimes are against humanity.
Mr. Cook pointed out that the Chinese government signed and ratified the UN Declaration. Falun Gong practitioners should also enjoy the rights mentioned above. The Chinese Communist Party's persecution of Falun Gong practitioners directly violates the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights and it must be held accountable.
Falun Gong practioner, professor from Metropolitan College of New York, Mr. Feng pointed out that Jiang's faction has employed a quarter of the nation's resource to persecute Falun Gong for more five years. During this period, Falun Gong practitioners and people from all walks of life continuously stage petitions and appeals. Falun Gong practitioners in China have risked their lives and all kinds of pressure to peacefully resist the oppression.
Mr. Feng stated that currently the suppression of Falun Gong is still going on. We call upon all countries in the world to send out voice of justice and help stop the persecution.
Speech by Lord Thurlow, Former UK Under-Secretary of State, on World Human Rights Day
The following speech was given at a press conference opposite the Chinese Embassy in London on World Human Rights Day by former UK Under-Secretary of State Lord Thurlow.
We have in recent years become increasingly insensitive to the horrors that continue throughout the world. We become thick-skinned to the reports of violence, and genocide even. What is the most massive, most terrible, continuing, abusive human rights situation in the world today? Alas, it is in China, even though China has a great history and great tradition of culture which we, throughout the world, respect.
In 1999, Jiang Zemin, overriding the wishes of his colleagues in the Chinese Politburo, introduced a campaign to suppress the innocent group Falun Gong for nothing but their beliefs, amounting to no less than 100 millions Chinese citizens. Suppression of people for their beliefs is known under international law as genocide. The Chinese Government is guilty of genocide and those who have introduced this horror that has lasted for more than 5 years must be brought to justice.
Over 20 Lawsuits have now been filed in different countries around the world with former leader Jiang Zemin as the principal alleged criminal. His principal collaborators, who enforce the policy of violence, torture, rape of women and even the killing of small children, must be brought to an end and they are responsible to pay the penalty.
This week, we in the United Kingdom are joining those in other countries who have filed applications for criminal charges against former Chinese leader Jiang Zemin. If he or the other main collaborating criminals set foot in countries at which we and others have extradition agreement, it will be possible to bring them to justice in the court here or elsewhere. We have Pinochet as a precedent.
Today, week-by-week, we hear the growing reports of the increasing economic and international weight of China. China, in the future, may become a principal engine of world economic expansion, but to achieve this there must be cooperation between the governments and industrial leaders of the world with interests in China. I know from nearly 40 years of work in international relations that international cooperation is not a matter of getting around tables and delivering impressive documents. It all depends on trust and there cannot be any trust between principal Western countries and China until its abuses of human rights come to an end.
On World Human Rights Day, we assert the intention to continue to protest to the Government of China to bring this horror to an end. Our protests are not going to cease. We are going to continue in every forum to bring to the attention of public opinion throughout the world, the disgrace to the reputation of this great country. China has in its culture a great respect of her reputation and we are confident that things below the surface are beginning to move.
We appeal to the public and the media to give all possible support to our government in their continued protest. When our Ministers meet Chinese Ministers they are bringing the abuses again and again to their attention. Foreign Secretary Jack Straw made a resigning statement in July on the intention of the British Government to increase its efforts to bring torture, throughout the world, to an end. Persecution received by Falun Gong is the main example of that abuse. On this annual occasion, we assert the intention of this country, like all the free countries in the world, to use every means help to induce the Government of the People's Republic of China to stand side by side with others in a cooperative world of freedom and justice.
Lord Thurlow
10 December 2004
UK: Member of the European Parliament Write on the International Human Rights Day in Support of Falun Gong
European Parliament
Member of the European Parliament
Wednesday, December 8th, 2004
Dear Denise,
Thank you for your letter and invitation to speak at your press conference to mark your continued struggle for the human rights of Falun Gong practitioners in China on World Human Rights Day.
Unfortunately I am engaged on Friday with a number of meetings relating to European Parliamentary business in Brussels. I very much regret not being able to attend and I enclose below a statement of support, as you suggest.
"The struggle to defend human rights is more urgent than ever, with the so-called 'war on terrorism' and the ongoing pursuit of free trade and ever-greater profits taking precedence over upholding international law and human dignity in international relations.
"As we approach the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights the world order has changed significantly. No longer are we concerned primarily with human rights abuses conducted by our supposed 'enemies' -- but by those conducted by our Governments and allies.
[...]
"It is vital that we do not allow our own governments to backtrack or their legal human rights obligations -- or continue to turn a blind eye to those governments of other states which treat human rights with contempt.
"China continues its bloody repression of the Falun Gong movement -- and its unlawful and vicious occupation and ethic cleansing of Tibet -- and yet EU foreign ministers are considering lifting the EU arms embargo on China this very week for the sake of improving trade relations with a fellow WTO member.
"Today especially, we must condemn human rights violations whenever they take place -- China, the UK, the US, the Palestinian occupied territories, Sudan, to name a few -- and re-affirm our commitment to the peace and security which comes from respect for international law, human dignity and the right to live a life with basic material needs met and free from persecution, discrimination and abuse."
I hope this statement of support meets with your approval and reaches you in time to read at your press conference, with which I wish you every success.
Yours sincerely,
Caroline Lucas MEP
UK: Statement from Jill Evans MEP on World Human Rights Day: "I Share the Concerns of Many about the Treatment of Practitioners of Falun Gong."
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December the 10th saw the annual World Human Rights Day. Member of European Parliament Jill Evans sent the following statement to a press conference held by Falun Gong practitioners. The conference took place opposite the Chinese Embassy in London, site of UK Falun Gong practitioners' 24-hour peaceful appeal that has been ongoing for over two years.
"I share the concerns of many about the treatment of practitioners of Falun
Gong. Peaceful freedom of expression is a fundamental human right that no
government should violate.
This week the Chinese Government asked the European Union to lift its embargo on arms exports to China. Both I and my parliamentary group strongly oppose this move - there can be no reasoning for doing so whilst the human rights situation in China remains as it is.
We must work together at the local and European level to bring pressure to bear on the Chinese regime so that it addresses our legitimate concerns on human rights."
Mr. Liu Yongqi from Jilin Province Dies Within Three Days of Being Sent to Forced Labor Camp in December 2004
Falun Gong practitioner, Mr. Liu Yongqi from Baishan, Jilin Province died from the consequences of brutal torture on December 13, 2004 at the Chaoyanggou Forced Labor Camp in Changchun City, Jilin Province. This happened on the third day after he was unlawfully taken there for custody. The labor camp authorities have blocked any information regarding Mr. Liu's death.
On December 10, 2004 after 1:00 p.m., practitioner Liu Yongqi from Baishan was sent to the Chaoyanggou Forced Labor Camp. He was taken into custody at Unit No. 5 (the so-called "Renaissance Unit"). Mr. Liu called out loudly "Falun Dafa Is Great" as soon as he was taken into the yard of the labor camp. Everyone in the surrounding buildings heard him. He could be heard calling out "Falun Dafa is good" throughout the whole night.
By December 13, Mr. Liu had died from torture. He Jianxin, the head of Unit No. 5, was the official on duty during that night. After Liu died, his body was carried out on someone's back. On the morning of December 14, the entire Chaoyanggou Labor Camp learned about his death. At a little past 8:00 a.m. on December 14, Zhang Jianxin, division head of the Forced Labor Division of the Changchun City Justice Department, arrived at the labor camp to handle this incident.
The details of the tortures Mr. Liu Yongqi had to suffer before his death are not yet available, as the labor camp authorities have blocked any information regarding this incident.
The Brutal Treatment of Women Detained in Liaoning Female's Prison
The following are facts of the persecution of practitioners illegally detained in Liaoning Female's Prison:
1. Ms. Liang Yanjun
Falun Gong practitioner Ms. Liang Yanjun is from Lingyuan City, Liaoning Province, China. The police from Qianmen Police Station in Beijing abducted her in September 2001 when she clarified the truth about Falun Gong at Tiananmen Square, and threw her into Beijing's Shijingshan Detention Center before she was transferred to Lingyuan City's First Detention Center in her hometown. She was illegally sentenced to three-and-a-half years in prison because she refused to renounce Falun Gong.
Ms. Liang Yanjun suffered from severe physical and mental torture during her detention in Liaoning Female Prison. She was forced to read materials slandering Falun Gong and watch video programs attacking Falun Gong. She was also forced to squat with her knees together from 6:00 A.M. to midnight. She had to get permission of the captain of the torture team in prison to go to the bathroom. She was denied the need to take a shower or brush her teeth. At night, Falun Gong practitioners were under the watch of prison inmates, and were not allowed to speak to each other. They were under prison inmates' close watch around the clock. The prison inmates would even follow Falun Gong practitioners for short trips to the bathroom in the middle of the night. They had absolutely no freedom at all.
In order to force Ms. Liang to renounce Falun Gong, prison inmates Ms. Su Li and Ms. Du Ping, repeatedly beat up Ms. Liang. They hit her on the head and her face with a plastic bottle filled with water, punched her abdomen and lower body, and pulled her hair. They even threatened to strip off her clothes. When Ms. Liang asked them to stop their violence, the inmates replied, "You have brought it on yourself! Because you refuse to renounce Falun Gong, you have ruined our chance for a reduction of our prison terms." They added, "I couldn't care less whether you renounce your belief or not! But if you ruin my chance for a sentence reduction, I will certainly make life hell for you!"
2. Ms. Wang Lanzhi
Ms. Wang Lanzhi is a Falun Gong practitioner from Jinzhou City, Liaoning Province, China. She has suffered from appalling torture in Liaoning Female Prison. On her very first evening in the prison, she was forced to stand in the water room where a bunch of prison inmates repeatedly beat her and whipped her on the head, shoulders and face with shoes. Her agonizing wails woke up and shocked every prison inmate.
It is freezing in November in Liaoning Province, but Ms. Wang Lanzhi was forced to stand in only her underwear in the chilly water room every night, and during the day she was forced to stay in the dark, cold machinery room and told to repent for her decision to practice Falun Gong. She was subject to the prison inmates' beating and cursing. When Ms. Wang refused to read books that slandered Falun Gong, a female prisoner named Zhang Yanping who was in for manslaughter would slap her on the face. Then Zhang would knock her to the ground, pull her up by the hair, and then repeat the torture. When Ms. Wang Lanzhi traveled from one place to another, Zhang Yanping would drag her by pulling her collar. In just a few days of torture, Ms. Wang Lanzhi suffered a mental collapse and would stare into emptiness.
3. Ms. Guo Hongxiu
Ms. Guo Hongxiu is a Falun Gong practitioner from Gai County, Liaoning Province, China. She is a 27-year-old woman with a bachelor's degree. In May 2004, she was sent to the First Brigade in Liaoning Female Prison. On her first evening in the First Brigade, the prison inmates used extreme violence to try to force her to renounce Falun Gong. For two nights in a row, the inmates took Ms. Guo Hongxiu out of her cell and tortured her until early morning. Despite the violence and hostility, Ms. Guo refused to renounce Falun Gong and tried to clarify the truth about Falun Gong to them in a kind and patient manner. However, these prison inmates refused to listen, and continued their violent torture. During the day Ms. Guo was forced to stand and show repentance, and in the night she was taken out of her cell to the torture chamber. In just two days, her face became swollen and was full of blue and purple bruises. She had difficulty walking and was in a great deal of pain as she struggled to walk. Compared with how beautiful she was two days ago, she looked like a completely different woman.
4. Ms. Zhao Junfang
Falun Gong practitioner Ms. Zhao Junfang is a medical doctor from Xiliu Twon, Liaoning Province, China. In April 2004, she was sentenced to serve time in Liaoning Female Prison. During the day, Ms. Zhao was forced to watch a video program and read books slandering Falun Gong. During the night they deprived her of sleep and kept torturing her until early morning in order to force her to renounce Falun Gong in writing. In the end of September 2004, Ms. Zhao declared her words and deeds under forced brainwashing to be null and void. On the same day, two female prison inmates, Zhang Yingchun and Zhu Yajing, repeatedly beat her up until Ms. Zhao was covered with bruises and injuries and lost the ability to walk. Despite her disability, the torturers had two prison inmates haul her out of the cell to perform hard labor.
5. Ms. Fang Guiyun
Ms. Fang Guiyun is a Falun Gong practitioner from Fushun City, Liaoning Province, China. In Liaoning Female Prison, Su Li, Wang Lijie (who was in for manslaughter), and several other prison inmates kept beating Ms. Fang until she became disabled. Ms. Fang's severe injuries would send chills to anyone's bones.
In July 2003, Ms. Fang Guiyun was sentenced to seven years in Liaoning Female Prison. Once in the prison, she was subject to inhuman physical tortures and abusive curses. Every day she was subject to beatings and curses without any reason. Every day she was subject to intimidating interrogation without any reason. During the brainwashing sessions, Ms. Fang's face was swollen and full of bruises every day. Her hair turned brown and then gray rapidly, and became thinner each day. She looked like a completely different person than when she arrived. Prison inmates Su Li and Wang Lijie subjected her to cruel tortures. Su Li kicked her lower body violently, pinched her lips, pulled her hair and stuffed her mouth. When Ms. Fang lost her ability to walk, Su Li forced Ms. Fang to squat on her feet and read books that slandered Falun Gong. Whenever Su Li was not pleased, she would beat up and kick Ms. Fang. She slapped Fang Guiyun on the face numerous times. Su Li kicked Ms. Fang's lower body so hard and so frequently that her entire legs and feet were a shade of dark purple. Her feet were too swollen to fit into her shoes. Also, she lost the ability to walk.
Su Li and Wang Lijie decided that Ms. Fang was pretending to be ill, so they forced her to walk and to continue the forced hard labor. Su Li forced Fang Guiyun to walk upstairs without leaning on the handrail. As a result, Fang had to struggle to go upstairs. The difficulty caused Fang to sweat profusely. To get on each stair, she had to pull her left leg up and then hop up. She was forced to travel from the first floor to the third floor in this fashion. She often tripped and fell, but no one dared to step out and give her a hand because Su Li would curse whoever tried to help her. At the end of each day when everyone else returned from the hard labor, they would see Su Li and Wang Lijie dragging or hauling Fang Guiyun and beating her along the way. In the end, Fang Guiyun had become a withering frame, but Su Li and Wang Lijie were rewarded a reduction of their prison terms for their crimes. Moreover, Fang Guiyun's severe bruises and injuries on her legs were left untreated, and became infected. Her right leg is now 2.5 inches shorter than her left one, but they still did not give her any medical treatment.
6. Six Falun Gong Practitioners in Huludao City
Three police officers from Huludao City, Liaoning Province, including Ms. Xu Jun, Mr. Wang Hongli, and Mr. Yang Ruoqing, abducted six Falun Gong practitioners in Huludao City and threw them into Liaoning Women's Prison on October 10, 2004. One of the six practitioners was attacked instantly. Another practitioner, Ms. Mu Qin, used to suffer from myocardial ischemia (insufficient blood flow to part of the heart,) but became perfectly healthy since she started to practice Falun Gong. When the police hauled her to Liaoning Women's Prison, her myocardial ischemia surfaced again. Liaoning Women's Prison refused to take her at first, but the three police officers used disgraceful ways to make the prison take all six of them. When they watched the prison take away the six Falun Gong practitioners, they celebrated the practitioners' misery with a smile.
Among the three police officers, Yang Ruoqing used to be a prison doctor at Huludao City Detention Center. He had subjected Falun Gong practitioners on hunger strike protest to force-feeding, and had beaten up Falun Gong practitioners. Xu Jun is a policewoman in Huludao City. She has repeatedly used violence against Falun Gong practitioners and whipped them with shoes.
Ms. Mu Qin is 43 years old in 2004. Her husband and her son also practice Falun Gong. Her husband was sentenced to six years in prison in 2001, and is now detained in Liaoning Province Second Prison. Mu Qin was abducted in April 2004. Her 13-year-old son is now alone at home without anyone to look after him. In order to help rescue her mother, her son went to the police station alone and went on a hunger strike protest there for two days. He is still living by himself at home without anyone to look after him.
Violation of Professor Zhang Mengye's Human Rights for Practicing Falun Gong
Mr. Zhang Mengye is a 66-year-old former Associate Professor from the Guangdong Electric Power Institute. He is a former classmate of Hu Jintao, President of the People's Republic of China, from the Water Conservation School of Engineering of Qinghua University. Since Jiang Zemin banned Falun Gong and began the brutal persecution on July 20 of 1999, Mr. Zhang has been detained at Guangzhou Tianhe Detention Center. He was also detained at Guangzhou City No. 1 Forced Labor Camp for 2 years and 37 days. He was tormented physically and mentally. When he was released on February 10, 2002, this 5'4" man weighed less than 70 pounds. His eyes were dull and sunken, and his face was pale.
Three months later, on the morning of May 17, 2002, Guangzhou police officers arrested Professor Zhang and his wife without due cause, and sent them to a temporary "re-education center" (brainwashing center) at Huangpu District in Guangzhou City. Mr. Zhang went on a hunger strike to protest the persecution. The "assistance team" tied him tightly to a chair and force-fed him with saltwater and water that contained hot chili pepper powder. They humiliated and tortured him with different cruel methods. Policemen Qiu Chaohua, Wang Jianbin and two others tightly tied his hands and feet and hung him up in a painful position for several days. Afterwards, they shoved his head into the filthy water in a sewage pit. He nearly suffocated. The policemen pulled his head up and let him breathe several times, then pushed his head into the water again. They tortured him like this repeatedly.
Professor Zhang Mengye grouped the persecution he suffered into six sections. On October 12, 2004, he reported them to Guangzhou City People's Procuratorate. However, the people in charge refused to accept the case. They said, "The Falun Gong issue is the responsibility of the government," "when taking actions during 'reform' work, it is difficult to avoid injury," and so on.
Young Female School Teacher Is Mentally Disabled as a Result of the Persecution
Ms. Liu Weishan was a young schoolteacher at Xiangfan City's Hanjiang Machinery Company. She was well known for her kind heart among her colleagues, and the students loved her. Ms. Liu was imprisoned on trumped-up charges. Since she refused to plead guilty, prison guards brutally tortured her. After two years in prison, we recently learned from someone at the Wuhan City Women's Prison that Ms. Liu Weishan became mentally disabled from the abuses she suffered.
Seeing people deceived by lies and slander on TV, Ms. Liu conscientiously clarified the truth about Falun Gong to people. She told people how righteous Truth, Compassion, Tolerance are and told people not to believe the lies on TV. For doing these things she was arrested and imprisoned in Xiangfan City's No. 1 Detention Center.
Ms. Liu appealed several times at the detention center but did not receive any replies, so she went on a hunger strike. The guards inhumanly tortured her during force-feedings. Several strong criminals held her head, hands and feet down, and roughly inserted a tube from her nose into her stomach. In the meantime, the guards incited other criminals to pinch her, pull her hair, slap her face; they even stripped Ms. Liu naked, only covering her with a sheet, claiming it was for her convenience. The force-feeding occurred twice a day. After 40 days of abuses, Ms. Liu's health deteriorated. To avoid their responsibilities, the guards secretly sent her to the Wuhan City Women's Prison, where Ms. Liu suffered more vicious abuse.
Guards urged criminals to abuse Falun Gong practitioners. In the No. 2 Section, guard Li Feng locked all of the practitioners into a very remote, small cell, cuffed their hands behind them and left them there with out any food or a place to sleep for several days. When practitioners went on hunger strikes, guards poured the left-over food from other criminals into a dirty barrel, and force-fed practitioners with the rotten, smelly liquid. Such mental and physical abuses mentally incapacitated many practitioners, and some even died. One of the practitioners there, who was a Ph.D. student at Beijing University, mentally collapsed and is now sweeping the floors in the prison everyday.
Ms. Liu Weishan is mentally disabled at present. She has lost lots of weight and her hair was shaved, also. The guards were afraid that she might die in the prison, so they often dragged her to the medical office for an infusion. Ms. Liu is now in critical condition, yet she was tied with her hands behind her to a metal bed frame.
Ms. Liu Weishan followed her conscience and refuses to give up her faith, even if she has to lose her life for it.
An Appeal from an Overseas Chinese Student: "Please Release my Mother"
My name is Wang Xiaoyang and I am a student in Switzerland. My mother, Qiu Minghua, is a Falun Dafa practitioner in Shuzhou City of Jiangsu Province.
There are three elderly people in my family in China. My Grandmother is eighty-four years old. My father is approaching sixty and has been suffering from poor health since he had a stroke. My mother is the pillar of the family, both from an economic and spiritual point of view. My family members are dependent on one another for survival and only want to lead a peaceful life.
At 1 o'clock on the 25th of November 2004, the police suddenly broke into my parents' home. They began searching the house and confiscating my parents' property. It wasn't long before everything was in a mess as if the house had been ransacked. A personal computer, a printer, a spare selenium drum, an address book and even a stapler were confiscated. The police illegally questioned my father. Facing such a situation, my grandmother went into a state of panic. My father's blood pressure alarmingly increased after this event.
On that afternoon, my mother was abducted when she arrived home from work. The police asked her to make a statement. Since she started to practice Falun Gong in 1997, my mother has not only been in good health but has also lived according to the principles of Truthfulness, Compassion and Forbearance. Her neighbors and colleagues all say that my mother is a good person. Practicing Falun Gong, being a good person and being open and above-board: why did she have to go to the police station? The police took away my mother without considering my elderly grandmother and my father's poor health. Later, I got to know that my mother is being illegally detained in the No.1 Detention Center.
My father hasn't seen my mother although he tried by every means. Why am I deeply concerned about her safety? Falun Gong is being brutally persecuted in China. 1,157 Falun Gong practitioners have been tortured to death, at least 6,000 practitioners have been illegally sentenced to prison and treated inhumanly, over 100,000 people have been sent to forced labor camps and thousands more have been forced into mental hospitals and injected with dangerous drugs. I have also found out that the state security spies and police in Shanghai and Shuzhou are using many different methods of torture on Dafa practitioners. Through acts of deception, they are forcing practitioners to write statements of repentance and are trying to destroy their spirits.
My grandmother and my father were dealt a deadly blow to both their bodies and minds when facing with the sudden change at home. They looked on helplessly as their own family member was kidnapped. Now my grandmother has taken to her bed and always asks when her daughter will be allowed to come home. My father has been warned that he will lose his life if another stroke occurs.
I am the only child of the family and am also a Falun Dafa practitioner. I have been unable to go home since the persecution of Falun Gong was launched by Jiang's Communist regime in 1999. On hearing that my mother had been kidnapped, I couldn't figure out what crime my mother had committed. She is over fifty; she has to go to work and look after her family members. If something bad happens to any member of my family because of this, it will be the greatest sorrow in my life.
For the past five years, tragedies like this have been happening every day in China. How many families have been broken up and how many children have lost their parents? All this is owing to the fact that they want to be good people and to tell the truth. I am now sternly warning those police who persecute good people: I hope that you can make a clear distinction between right and wrong. You should be responsible for both your own behavior and your family's: good is rewarded with good, and evil meets evil. I also hope that the world's people can stop the inhuman persecution. Then my mother, together with all Falun Dafa practitioners who are illegally detained and persecuted, can have their freedom and regain their own basic human rights.
I request that those who know the inside story please provide more information.
Radio Free Asia Interviews German Falun Gong Practitioner on World Human Rights Day
Falun Gong practitioner Ms. Xiong Wei, who was interviewed by Radio Free Asia during activities on the World Human Rights Day, said that two years of detention in a forced labor camp made her realize that the Chinese Communist Party not only abuses human rights but has done something even worse: the Chinese Communist Party makes the Chinese people completely forget their basic rights as human beings through years of propaganda and suppression. The following is an edited version of a report by Radio Free Asia's Tian Yi.
December 10 was World Human Rights Day. Ms Xiong Wei, who was arrested and imprisoned for two years after distributing leaflets disagreeing with the Chinese government's suppression of Falun Gong, took part in activities held by international human rights organizations and Falun Gong practitioners. According to her personal experiences, she called on the Chinese people to recognize human nature and human rights, as well as calling on international society to stop human rights abuses in China. Concerned about this issue, Ms. Xiong Wei accepted RFA's interview.
"Recently, I read an article called 'Nine Commentaries on the Chinese Communist Party', which gave me a great shock. Due to accepting communist education from birth, my mind has been distorted unconsciously by many notions produced under the Communist Party's unbalanced education - for example, my knowledge of human rights. In China, there are no human rights guidelines for treating people. Human rights violations don't only happen in prisons and labor camps, and they don't only happen to Falun Gong practitioners. In Chinese society and the treatment Chinese people receive, there is no sign of respect toward human rights or education leading to basic knowledge of human rights."
According to the Chinese Government's propaganda, "Chinese people don't need human right as Westerners do." Ms. Xiong Wei said emotionally, "Of course Chinese people need human rights. Chinese people need even more knowledge of basic human rights than people in other countries. The Communist Party's evil propaganda and education benefits its own domination. Chinese people don't even know the meaning of human rights and what kind of rest and food we need for our basic subsistence. This has been reflected even more prominently in labor camps. The food we ate was so filthy: it was hardly washed and there were many insects. We didn't even know whether we had the right to sleep. We never got paid for that heavy physical work. Where could we get our human rights from?"
With regard to this, Ms. Xiong Wei believes that to the Chinese society and people, the worse damage was, "The Chinese Communist Party's control of the media with its power to give people unbalanced information for years, which has concealed basic respect towards human rights and human nature. This was much worse for people than being hurt physically."
Migros Magazine 45 (Switzerland): "A wonderful energy began to circulate throughout my body"
2 November 2004
This is the story of a little girl who was very ill in her childhood, "Oh, not to the point of dying, I was never taken to casualty, but I was constantly in pain." An extremely serious form of eczema from the age of 9 months treated with a tar-based ointment, asthma that made her lungs shrink and restricted her breathing; day after day she fought against oppression. "The positive side, as for many children with health problems, is that it left me extremely sensitive to the suffering of others, I knew that more or less everywhere around the world people were suffering, like me."
In Geneva, she goes to the school of Châtelaine, then to the Voltaire college. She also becomes a Guide, head of the Tuareg patrol, of the Catholic group of Saint Mary of the People.
"Hummingbird" is her totem name. "I found the Guides magnificent! And I really liked my totem of hummingbird. I had been told: the hummingbird is a tiny little bird with a very big beak, with lots of stamina and which can travel many kilometres to find food for its young."
A young girl such as this hardly exists any more - far removed from today's youth - who has never smoked a joint, and for whom, far from materialism, it was of prime importance "to apply concretely in one's life the values and ideals discovered in adolescence." Moreover, "surrounded by admirable people, including the priest Andr?Fol who was actively engaged in social work", she also belonged to a contemplative group "to become a better Christian". "Think of others, be altruistic, that was my guide."
In 1985, having qualified as a lawyer, she immediately became a legal officer in the cantonal tax office where, following the death of a director, she was propelled at 27 years to one of the highest positions! She directed the division of registration rights, succession rights and land taxes, with some 40 colleagues under her. "I was the first woman to occupy such a high post." When her friends ask her what on earth she is doing at the tax office, she replies: "I try to put into practice my code of ethics and sense of justice." But a 70-hour working week over five years finally became too heavy a burden for her -- "and I passed the baton". She decides on a new course of life: to work 60 per cent for the administration of Geneva University and during her spare time to become involved in more social causes such as social mediation and handicapped people.
Between Buddhism and Taoism
At the same time, in Changchun, China, in 1992, Mr Li Hongzhi brought to the public the very ancient practice of Falun Gong (a traditional method of Qigong) and today practised in 60 countries (since 1996 in Switzerland).
From the outset, the Chinese Government gave full support and encouragement to the practice. That is, until Jiang Zemin, former Chinese President, became aware of the speed with which the method was spreading, simply by word of mouth, through all strata of society, and to what extent this new, harmless but powerful practice was winning hearts and minds, assisting perhaps towards their liberation. Towards the close of the 1990s, Mr Li Hongzhi having emigrated to the United States in 1995, a survey carried out by the Chinese Government brought to light 70 million practitioners in China, 1 person in 12: Jiang Zemin ordered their persecution on 20 July 1999, just as in the Roman Empire that of the Christians was ordered.
Strange coincidence! That same year of 1999, Marielle Pun becomes ill, suffering from backache around the clock. "Fibromyalgia syndrome" the doctors say. Something continues to whisper, like a wellspring within her: Think of others. Yet in summer 2000 it is sick leave.
Passed on by old practitioners
Her father tells her about a cousin in Canada who practises Falun Gong. Marielle Pun makes some enquiries in Geneva, discovers this discipline with its absolutely informal organization, "where experienced practitioners teach the beginners without charge, where no one asks you for a penny, not even for your name: not even the need to register in order to follow the class -- which is why the exact number of practitioners remains unknown". One drops in when one likes, leaves the class when one likes, always as free as the air. "Within six months, I had come through the problem." Once again she took flight.
In her apartment at Charmilles, she gives you a short demonstration. It is not complicated. "After three sessions of one and a half hours I had learned the exercises ... nothing simpler, no need to do your head in! There are only five exercises, four standing and the fifth, if possible, in the meditative lotus position (which everyone does according to his or her capability). Above all, what captivates her, she says, "is the philosophy of Falun Gong: an inner work, personal, at his or her own pace, to cultivate freely within, in daily life, these principles of truth, benevolence and forbearance. This practice brings you harmony and inner strength and allows the energy to circulate in a marvellous way throughout the body". It uplifts, calms, relieves stress and tiredness, "opens up the meridians", and allows one's masks to fall away.
Then, suddenly, an atrocious contrast to the glimpse of these harmonious movements, she shows you horrible photographs. People being tortured, shocked with electric batons, burned alive, skinned alive, covered with scars. She says "in China there could be from 4,000 to 10,000 deaths and hundreds of thousands of people in re-education camps, others in mental hospitals".
Defamatory propaganda
She produces the documentation that, since the beginning of the persecution, shows many reactions at the international level -- the European Parliament in February 2001, the unanimous vote of the American Congress in July 2002, March and October 2004 -- as well as at the local level: that of Joseph Deiss, the then head of the Federal Department for Foreign Affairs, who in March 2000 told the United Nations Commission on Human Rights of his concern; a petition with 27,000 signatures addressed to the federal Chambers in November 2000, which supported it; the position taken by the federal Council which "condemns the repression of which Falun Gong and minorities in general, notably religious, are the target". Or, again, the resolution of the Grand Council of Geneva, concerned in October 2002 by the "cruel and inhuman or degrading treatment" inflicted on the Falun Gong practitioners. Not forgetting Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and many others ...
"The focal point of this repression is the defamatory propaganda spread far and wide, hence the prime importance and responsibility of the media", Marielle Pun insists. "To give accurate information is our only antidote, the sole means we have to stop these atrocities in China." She sincerely believes that to speak truth allows for more space in which justice can prevail. She thinks that the word itself has wings.
Leicester Mercury (UK): Chinese prison abuse highlighted
December 11, 2004
Practitioners of Falun Gong, an Eastern art of refining the body and mind through exercises and meditation, are staging an exhibition in Gallowtree Gate. They say police in China imprison people they suspect of following Falun Gong and then carry out horrific torture techniques, including burning, hanging prisoners from their wrists until they lose circulation. Some of the horrors will be acted out in the demonstration.
Organiser Li Heping says he was imprisoned and tortured by the Chinese police for refusing to give up Falun Gong, and eventually fled the country.
He now lives in Leicester and has applied for asylum in the UK, but had to leave his wife and young daughter behind.
He has not heard from his father, who also practices Falun Gong, since he was taken into a labour camp earlier this year. The exhibition will run from 11am to 5pm on Saturday and Sunday.
The Age, Australia: Chinese leader sued in Sydney court
December 10, 2004
A Sydney woman allegedly imprisoned and tortured for eight months in China is suing the country's former president Jiang Zemin in the NSW Supreme Court.
Bankstown artist Zhang Cuiying, 42, today formally began her lawsuit against the former leader and his "610 Office", alleging they were responsible for her "brutal torture" at a Chinese detention center.
Ms. Zhang said she was arrested in March 2000 for speaking out against Zemin's persecution of Falun Gong practitioners, and spent eight months in prison before the Australian government intervened to have her freed.
It was the fourth time she had been arrested, she said.
Ms. Zhang said she was chained with heavy shackles and forced to work 10 hours every day for eight months, sharing a "damp, dark cell" with a mental patient.
"Bruises covered my entire body and the pain made me unable to sleep," she said, speaking through an interpreter, outside the court.
"The skin all over my body began to rot and fester, and since I refused to give up Falun Gong practice, the guards put me into the quarters for male prisoners to humiliate me."
A prison guard sent a letter to her husband who then appealed to the federal government, she said.
[...] then, she said, did the Australian Consulate intervene to secure her freedom.
The civil action against Jiang and his office was first filed in the NSW Supreme Court on September 15 and was today stood over, pending further legal advice, until February 28 next year.
Ms. Zhang's solicitor, Shanny Su today told the court the action had been served but Jiang had refused to acknowledge and accept the service.
The 610 Office - or Chinese Falun Gong control office - had received and acknowledged the claim, Ms. Su said.
Neither defendants were represented in court today.
Ms. Zhang said the action was not about the damages but bringing Jiang to account.
"It is for upholding justice that I'm taking Jiang Zemin to court for his grievous violations of human rights and crimes against humanity," she said.
The Australian case was one of 46 lawsuits currently filed against Jiang in 26 countries, Ms. Su's representative Elizabeth Higgins said.
"It's part of the biggest human rights case in the world since World War I," Ms. Higgins said.
Falun Gong Practitioners' Righteous Action in China
A Government Official in the Judiciary: Writing Letters to Clarify the Truth of Falun Gong
By a Falun Gong Practitioner from Hubei Province, China
I am a Falun Gong practitioner, and by profession a government official in the Judiciary. I began practicing Falun Gong on June 26, 1996.
I was demoted because of my Falun Gong practice. However, I felt it was important to let my former boss know that we Falun Gong practitioners were being persecuted. I wrote a four to five thousand word letter and sent it to the Chief Procurator of the Provincial Procurator's Office. In the letter, I told my story of practicing and cultivating Falun Gong, what Falun Gong was, and how the persecution was conducted. I also hoped that he could understand the Fa, treat his staff, which had practitioners, well and tell the goodness of Falun Gong to his friends and relatives. The letter was delivered to him directly through his nephew. He accepted and acknowledged the reception of the letter.
Later, I wrote a letter of about five thousand words to the former immediate supervisor at my workplace and hand-delivered it to his office. The letter clarified that the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners was ongoing. I hoped that he could be kind to the Falun Gong practitioners on his staff and provide a good environment for practitioners, which he has really done since then.
I not only clarified the truth to the upper level officials, but also to the officials on my level by writing them letters. My colleagues worked at the Political and Judiciary Departments. They have more knowledge of law than most people and they are easy to communicate with when you link your points with the law.
Therefore, using their understanding of the law, I listed how illegal Jiang's regime's persecution of Falun Gong was, and exposed the role of the 610 Office by focusing on its illegality. I pointed out in my letter that the 610 Office is the headquarters for the persecution led by Jiang's regime. It has authority over the law and every level of the government; it is a big tumor which needs to be eliminated completely. I wanted my colleagues to know the truth of Falun Gong, and that it is a righteous Fa.
I also wrote letters to my friends that I met in the military, my former colleagues, and my former classmates. I felt that they all had the chance to understand Falun Gong. Over the past several years, I have clarified the truth to them many times.
In the meantime, I continued clarifying the truth of Falun Gong to my relatives. My brother-in-law, who used to be the Deputy Division Chief, was upset about my demotion due to practicing Falun Gong. I wrote a letter to him hoping that he could understand the real truth.
Clarifying the Truth at a Birthday Party for an Older Practitioner
An elderly woman celebrated her 80th birthday this October. Her sons and daughters are fairly wealthy and wanted to organize a big birthday party celebration for her. Hearing the news, a fellow practitioner had a sudden inspiration: since the elderly woman's health had improved dramatically after practicing Falun Gong and her story was widely known in our area, her birthday party might be a great opportunity to clarify the truth with her personal story. The elderly woman happily accepted the suggestion.
The birthday party was bustling with activities, including a band playing music and drama troupes performing on stage. Almost one thousand people came to the celebration to enjoy the shows and to congratulate her on the birthday. Fellow practitioners used the opportunity to talk about the changes the elderly woman experienced after she started to practice Falun Gong. Her story manifested the wonders of Falun Dafa.
The elderly woman had congenital trachea problems and asthma since her childhood, which later led to heart disease and lung disorders. When she was just over 30 years old, she was no longer able to work. For many of years she was unable to lie down to sleep. Her lips always looked purple, and she was very skinny. To her, one day seemed like a year. Although she visited many hospitals and doctors, her condition did not improve.
In 1997, this elderly woman started to practice Falun Gong. For seven years since then she has practiced the exercises and studied the principles. All the diseases she had suffered in the past disappeared without any treatment. Nowadays she looks vigorous and can get about easily. Seeing her and hearing her story, people at the party all praised the miracle of Falun Dafa.
Some people who had been deeply influenced by the lies on TV, such as the concocted "Tiananmen Self-immolation" story, the "suicides," and so on, and they were still doubtful. Fellow practitioners further clarified the truth to them by exposing the Jiang faction's fabrications. These people suddenly realized what had actually happened. They felt very close to Falun Gong and were eager to read the materials. Three hundred copies of truth-clarifying materials and over 20 CD's were quickly handed out.
That day, a man asked for Dafa information. When a practitioner gave him a CD, he refused and said, "I have seen that CD many times. I wanted a copy of the CD that teaches the exercises." That night, when a practitioner took the CD to his home, he was so happy he said, "Am I a practitioner now? Can my home be a practice site? If anybody nearby wants to learn, they can come to my house to see the CD."
Not only did the local practitioners do very well that day in clarifying the truth, spreading the Fa, and keeping righteous thoughts and righteous actions, but practitioners from other places also cooperated very well. They worked together and functioned as one body in clarifying the truth to offer salvation to people. This was one of the important factors that made the event so successful.
Correcting the Environment With Righteous Thoughts
By a Falun Gong practitioner in China
My family previously supported my practicing Falun Gong. After July 20, 1999, when the persecution began, however, my husband's attitude changed because he was afraid of being persecuted.
My husband said to me repeatedly, "Stop practicing Falun Gong! The Chinese Communist Party has so many ways to crush you! No one can ever go against it!" He would become angry whenever he saw me doing the Falun Gong exercises or studying the Fa. I tried to practice in secret but I could not hide it from him. One time when I was concentrating on studying the Fa, he suddenly shouted at me, "You are reading the book again!" His voice was so loud he frightened me. I asked myself, "Why can't I read Dafa books? Why should I hide? What did I do wrong?" I thought about it and realized that I should not practice secretly because there is nothing wrong with Falun Dafa. From then on I studied the Fa and did the exercises openly, and my husband stopped interfering with me.
From then on, I practiced in front of my husband but he didn't change his mind about Dafa. He was worried and afraid. Once he received some truth clarification materials at work and he gave them to his supervisor and asked him to turn it in to the police. I said to him, "You did a wrong thing! The person who sent it to you did it out of compassion, but you repaid him by reporting this to the police, which can possibly result in him being illegally arrested." He yelled at me, saying, "I don't care!" I felt bad and decided to help him, by rectifying the environment at home.
Several days later, my husband fell ill and was hospitalized for over a week, without any improvement. I advised him to go home and take Chinese medicine. One day I tried to read the book Zhuan Falun to him but he didn't want to listen. I said, "You are always worried about me and you think practicing Falun Gong is wrong. You should listen and find out what your wife is really doing! See for yourself if there is anything bad in the book, and don't jump to conclusions!" He quieted down and listened to me reading the book. I finished reading Zhuan Falun to him in a week. I asked him, "Now can you tell me, is there anything wrong with Falun Gong? Is there anything wrong with Truth, Compassion, and Tolerance?" He didn't say anything.
Slowly my husband changed. He started to help me buy supplies for truth clarification materials, and helped me solve computer problems related to Dafa work. His work unit once organized an exhibition. I sensed it would be a Dafa-slandering exhibit and asked him, "Would you go if it attacks Dafa?" He said, "Absolutely not!" He not only did not go but he also asked his friends not to go. Now he reads truth-clarification articles online on a frequent basis. Recently I gave him a piece of jewelry with the words "Falun Dafa" on it and he accepted it and carefully put it away, although he has always claimed to be a "materialist from head to toe."
Our two sons support me in practicing Falun Gong, however they often ask me not to go out and clarify the truth because they think it's too dangerous. I gave them flyers and explained things to them. Soon they said they believed my choice was correct. During the past few years, my younger son helped me buy supplies and make flyers, and both sons sometimes even helped me distribute flyers. I told them that Master said, "One righteous mind can subdue one hundred evils." (Zhuan Falun), and that they shouldn't be afraid, because their mother is doing the most righteous thing, and they are doing the most righteous thing by supporting Falun Dafa.
One time a group of police officers suddenly went into a bar where my younger son was, and announced that they were going to search the bags of all people present. My son was a little nervous as he remembered he had a stack of flyers in his bag. He quickly calmed down and told himself nothing was going to happen to the flyers. Miraculously, the police stopped checking right before they got to him. My older son has also encountered similar situations that all ended without incident.
Another time a fellow practitioner, who was on her way to my home to pick up flyers, called me and said she was being followed, and that I should go into hiding (I was not at home at the time). I told her it's not that serious, and at the same time I sent forth righteous thoughts. I tried to stand very tall and straight, and I didn't stop distributing flyers.
Another time when I went to visit a friend, personnel from the public prosecutor's office suddenly barged in to ransack her home and I got up to leave. The officers stopped me and said, "According to the rules, we have to search you." I was a little nervous because I had many flyers in my bag. I had one thought, "They can't see the flyers!" I started sending forth righteous thoughts. They carefully searched my bag and took a long time to look over each piece of paper inside it. They looked at all my papers and books. They also did a body-search, including my underclothes. Because of my righteous thoughts and righteous actions, they did not see the flyers placed in the middle pocket of my bag.
My supervisors and the heads of my department all know that I practice Falun Gong. They didn't say anything but they kept an eye on me. Earlier this year I planned a trip to USA. and my supervisors said, "She is not allowed to go to USA. I told the person who broke the news to me, "They don't get to decide that!" I received my visa within one week.
Making a Breakthrough and Openly Clarifying the Truth Door to Door
Written by a Falun Gong practitioner from Hebei Province, China
Previously, the way I always clarified the truth about Falun Dafa and the persecution was by talking to my relatives and friends and distributing some truth-clarification materials. However, after I read Teacher's article, I reconsidered whether this way had its limitations.
When I walked down the street and saw the shops and street venders, I used to think that it would be good if there was an environment to openly clarify the truth to them, and it was a pity that the persecution still had not ended. Then I got a hint in a dream. After waking, I understood that this thought was actually a barrier, with the attachment of fear causing it. I realized that around me the evil almost did not exist. It was myself who thought the evil to be very big. After that, I started to clarify the truth to various stalls and shops door to door.
At the beginning of openly clarifying the truth door to door, I had some fears and difficulties. After entering a store, I asked about this and that, how the business was going and so on. After chatting a while, I would clarify the truth. After I did this in several stores, my feeling was that this was not as complex as I had previously imagined. Later, when chatting I almost always went straight into clarifying the truth. The results were very good. Finally, I would give them a greeting card or a copy of truth-clarification materials. But there were also some very tenacious people who clung to the lies and slander of the Jiang faction. I tried to systemically and in an understandable way clarify the truth to them. If some of them really cannot understand, I try to find an opportunity to speak to them again later on.
The People Awaken to the Truth
Taxi Driver Chases Practitioner to Ask for Truth Clarification Materials
One day in the fall of 2004, an elderly Falun Gong practitioner in Kangping County, Liaoning Province passed by a square and saw two taxis parked there. He went over to clarify the truth about Falun Gong to one of the two taxi drivers and gave him some truth-clarification materials. When the practitioner was about to leave, a voice came up from behind saying, "Wait a minute!" He thought that someone was trying to catch him in order to turn him in, so he ran away quickly while sending forth righteous thoughts.
The person drove up behind him shouting, and then parked in his way and asked, "Could you give me a copy of the brochure?"
Realizing that the person just wanted truth-clarifying materials, the practitioner gave him a copy. The taxi driver took the brochure and thanked him many times. Then he parked his cab in a nearby alley and began carefully reading it.
Protecting Falun Gong Books and Surviving an Accident Unscathed
Mr. Lu is 48 years old. After the persecution of Falun Gong began on July 20, 1999, a person was going to dispose of his Falun Gong books due to pressure from the government. Although Mr. Lu could not read, he knew Falun Gong was good, so he bought the books, including the book Zhuan Falun, from that person. From then on, Mr. Lu stored the books with care and often said, "Falun Dafa is great."
One evening in late August 2004, Mr. Lu was riding a three-wheeled motorcycle with a co-worker when a taxicab suddenly hit them head on. Mr. Lu's motorcycle was knocked over by the cab. The co-worker was thrown several meters and was injured in many places. The front of the motorcycle was severely damaged. However, Mr. Lu was safe and sound without any injury. Afterwards, he often said to people, "It is Teacher Li Hongzhi who saved me because I protected Dafa books and repeated the words 'Falun Dafa is great'."
Witnessing the Miracle of Falun Dafa
My second elder brother was very stubborn and always refused to say, "Falun Dafa is great" when I asked him to do so. He had high blood pressure, high blood cholesterol, hemiplegia (total or partial paralysis of one side of the body that results from disease of or injury to the motor centers of the brain) and prostatitis (inflammation of the prostrate gland). Recently, he was diagnosed with diabetes and suffered from incontinence and could not walk. He was sent to the emergency room of the County Hospital many times. The doctor said that he had to undergo surgery, and the incision would take a long time to heal since he had diabetes and he was already 74 years old.
The hospital director said that even though a large amount of money had to be spent on the surgery and for his medication, he might not survive due to his advanced age and the multiple illnesses from which he suffered. During the surgery, a tube was inserted into my brother's abdomen and pumped out a lot of pus and blood. People who knew the severity of his situation said he would probably live for 3 days at most. Eventually the family spent over 10,000 yuan in just five days and bought a lot of medicine. Later my brother was transferred to a village branch hospital.
After two days, his belly was swollen and it was hard for him to breathe. The doctor refused to treat him any more. I told my niece, "Ask your father to say 'Falun Dafa is great'. You can also say it on his behalf." Since he had nothing to lose, my brother agreed to do it.
Thus, my brother kept repeating, "Falun Dafa is great" from then on. He would say it silently when he was too tired, and say it out loud once he woke up. Within 2 days of repeating these words, my brother could eat and walk by himself. His condition gradually improved day by day.
The day before yesterday, my niece told me that the pus was gone and her father would be released from the hospital in a couple of days. Falun Dafa is magnificent! Another life has been saved.
Falun Gong Practitioners' Personal Experiences
Woman's Terminal Cancer Completely Healed after Practicing Falun Gong for Only Five Days
By a Falun Gong practitioner in Jilin Province, China
My name is Ding Xianglan and I am 54 years old. I live on Chengde Street in the Longtan District, Jilin City and I am a retiree of the Jilin Chemical Engineering Institute. In October 2004, I went to Beijing to visit my son and I suddenly developed a high fever. I went to a hospital in Beijing for an examination. My temperature at that time was 39.5o C (103.1o F) and I was coughing. Blood tests showed that my white blood cell count was normal. After a CT scan, the doctor found that I had terminal lung cancer. The cancerous growth was obvious on CT film. I went to Beijing for treatment and after I exhausted my savings, I went back to Jilin City. I first went to the Second Hospital of the Jilin Chemical Engineering Institute to get injections. The injections cost 200 yuan each day. I then went to the First Hospital of Jilin Chemical Engineering Institute for a CT scan, and they again confirmed that I had lung cancer.
By this time, I was so skinny that I looked totally different from how I was before. My family's economic condition was not good and my whole family was trying to arrange money for me to undergo treatment. They planned to sell our residence to get money for me to have an operation. But how could I have the heart to let them sell our residence for my treatment! At the same time, there was an employee at my institute who was also affected with lung cancer. She died only three days after she started chemotherapy and she suffered a lot. Her death gave me a heavy blow and I did not have any hope for my cancer.
When I was in this desperate situation, one of my relatives who practices Falun Dafa came to my house. She advised me to practice Falun Gong and said, "Quite likely only Falun Gong can save your life."
At the beginning I was suspicious. But I thought later, "There is no other hope for me anyway and there are so many people who still persistently cultivate Falun Dafa under such a harsh persecution. Falun Gong must be something supernormal. There is nothing wrong with Truthfulness-Benevolence-Tolerance." I made up my mind -- I stopped chemotherapy, decided not to have an operation and decided to practice Falun Gong.
On November 20, I started to study the principles and practice the Falun Gong exercises. It was miraculous, but from the first day I started to practice Falun Gong, I began to recover rapidly. I changed every day. On the fifth day, I went to the Second Hospital of the Jilin Chemical Engineering Institute for an X-ray, and found that the cancer had completely disappeared. The diagnosis of the expert was, "The lung cancer has completely healed." The doctors thought that it was incredible that in five days, a patient with terminal lung cancer could become a healthy person. My face was a healthy, glowing color and I was energetic -- just like a healthy person.
All my family members and friends were astounded by my changes. Falun Gong is great! My family and I don't know how we can express our sincere gratitude to Master Li and to Falun Dafa. Here, I am only writing down my true experiences and I take full responsibility for what I have recorded.
A Lymphoma Patient's Life is Saved by Practicing Falun Gong
I am a student in a college in Heilongjiang Province, China
In August 2002, after I had completed my first year of high school and was about to begin my sophomore year, I began to feel pain from swollen lymph nodes in my lower jaw. My father took me to the hospital for a check up and the hospital confirmed that it was cancer originating in the lymph nodes and that the cancer had already spread to other parts of the body. I had to withdraw from school.
My father took me to a military hospital in Beijing for medical treatment, and through a friend, he found a well-known cancer specialist to treat me. The specialist said after examining me, "I cannot treat the cancer with surgery, so you may return to Harbin for treatment." Therefore, I returned to Harbin's Provincial Hospital for Cancer Treatment. Beginning in November, the doctor prescribed a total of 38 radiation treatments and I was sent home in January 2003. A month later, I returned to the hospital for a check up and this time the doctor prescribed two chemotherapy treatments. I felt particularly ill from the medicine injected into my body through an intravenous drip.
Despite the radiation therapy and chemotherapy, my condition worsened. When I went back in August 2003 for a re-examination, the doctor confirmed that the cancer had spread to my bones, and they administered more than 20 radiation treatments. My condition continued to worsen and by February 2004, my whole body ached. I went back to the hospital for another check-up, the doctor found the cancer had already spread throughout my body and I went through more than 20 radiation treatments again. Returning home afterwards, I could not eat or drink and any amount of food made me feel bloated. I became emaciated, dropping to about 53 kg (equivalent to about 116 lbs). My aching body kept me awake at night and neither sitting nor lying down gave me any relief. The medical specialist thought that the only thing for me to do was to wait to die.
Just when all seemed hopeless, suddenly the idea came to mind, "I should try practicing Falun Gong. Only Falun Gong can save me now." My mother was very pleased with my decision, as she is a Falun Gong practitioner. In the past, she had tried many times to urge me to practice Falun Gong, but I had not been receptive to her suggestion. Now, I began to practice Falun Gong. Not long afterward, I began to notice a change in my body; I could eat and drink all kinds of food.
The yearly college entrance examination was approaching, and I decided to participate in the examination. When I told others, everyone thought I was crazy, including my parents, my teachers and my classmates from high school. They wondered how a late-stage cancer patient who had only one year of high school education could possibly pass the entrance exams? However, I was very confident and I started to review and study for the tests. I worked hard for over a month and was accepted into a college in Heilongjiang Province. Classes started in September, and I also began military training. For two weeks I went to the training field everyday to deliver drinking water to my classmates. Amazingly, I found my weight had increased from about 53 kg to 59.5 kg (approximately 131 lbs.).
My experience again validates the splendor of Falun Dafa. I am grateful and thankful to our Teacher. It was Falun Dafa that gave me a new life.
(Clearwisdom.net)
1. [Chongqing City, Sichuan Province] Police Arrest Practitioner Yang Zuolin
Practitioner Yang Zuolin is from Jiangjing City, Sichuan Province. After being released from a forced labor camp, he went to Chongqing City to help with the preparation of truth clarification materials. On the morning of December 7, 2004, he was forcibly arrested from his rental house in Liudianzi District, Shiqiaopu area. The police confiscated two computers, many Falun Dafa books and a large quantity of truth-clarification materials. Eyewitnesses said that after Mr. Yang's arrest, they found blood on a piece of white cloth on the ground.
2. [Tieling City, Liaoning Province] Prison Doctor Fed a Large Amount of Unidentified Medicine to Practitioner Yin Wenlan
Practitioner Ms. Yin Wenlan was arrested on the evening of March 31, 2004. She was detained at the Tieling City Police Department. During interrogation, she was tortured by policemen Yu Honghai (male, 49 years old) and Wang Hong (male) to obtain a confession. They used electric batons to shock and beat her. Yin Wenlan suffered tremendously both physically and mentally.
In October, Yin Wenlan was illegally sentenced to 9 years of imprisonment. Her appeal to the Tieling City Intermediate People's Court was rejected.
During her detention at the Kaiyuan City Detention Center, Yin Wenlan showed symptoms of high blood pressure, heart disease and an inflamed gallbladder. No treatment helped. On the evening of November 30, 2004, prison doctor Hu Bo administered a large amount of unidentified medication to her. The next morning, on December 1, the detention center sent Yin Wenlan to Lianning Women's Prison without disclosing to them her medical condition. Subsequent to the November 30 medication, Yin Wenlan showed a variety of symptoms: a state of mental fog for some time, temporary memory loss, a burning sensation in her internal organs and extreme difficulty breathing. Additionally, she barely had any feeling in the area above her chest, felt numb in the arms and legs and had night sweats. Yin Wenlan was diagnosed with lack of blood in the myocardium, high blood pressure, pancreatitis, high concentrations of alanine in her system and signs of liver disease.
Perpetrators:
Head of the Kaiyuan Detention Center: Wang Min, 86-410-3712881 (Office)
The Office of the Head of Tieling City Police Department, 86-410-2843001
The Head of the Kaiyuan City 610 Office: Zhang Chunhua, 86-410-3834610 (Office), 86-13841073630 (Cell phone)
Head of Kaiyuan City Political Security Division, Wang Jiping (he is in charge of the persecution of Falun Dafa practitioners), 86-13804102771 (Cell phone)
3. [Antu County, Jilin Province] Practitioners Quan Li, Lin Yufang and Another Practitioner Sent to a Brainwashing Center for Distributing Truth-Clarifying Materials
One night in late October 2004, practitioners Ms. Quan Li and Ms Lin Yufang, who work for the Baihe Forestry Bureau in Antu County, Jilin Province, went with another practitioner by the last name of Ma to Baoma Village, Erdao Town, to distribute truth-clarification materials. They were arrested and detained in Antu County Detention Center. Their homes were searched, and six practitioners were detained and later sent to a brainwashing center.
Relevant Phone Numbers:
Antu County Political and Judiciary Committee: 86-433-5822481
Antu County Police Department --
Office of the Police Department Head: 86-433-582269 or 5822457
Office of the Communist Party Secretary: 86-433-5823489
4. [Beijing City] Practitioner Yang Lingpu Arrested for Distributing Truth- Clarification Materials
Practitioner Ms. Yang Lingpu, 66 years old, is from Beijing City. On October 22, while handing out truth-clarification materials to people in Xuanwu District, she was arrested by a plainclothes police officer. She was first taken to the Xuannei Police Station, and later to the Xuanwu District Police Station. Family members were not allowed to either visit or send clothes to her.
5. [Lanxi County, Heilongjiang Province] Several Practitioners Arrested
Practitioners Mr. Gao Yanhai and Ms. Jiang Zongyu are from Yulin Town, Lanxi County, Heilongjiang Province. On November 23, 2004, they, with two other female practitioners, went to Hulan County to distribute truth-clarification materials. On their way back, while passing by the Limin Police Station, they were arrested by officers there. Police officers were also sent to search their homes. The practitioners are now detained at a detention center in Hulan County. It has been said that Gao Yanhai has already been transferred to Harbin. The detention center refuses to allow family members to visit them.
At around 7:00 p.m. on November 24, 2004, the head of the Lanxi County Police Department Political Security Division, Wu Lizhong, with several policemen from the Yulin Town Police Station, went to practitioner Mr. Li Dekui's home with a camera. Li Dekui's residence is in Xiaofangsheng Village, Yulin Town. The police took pictures of one wall in Li Dekui's home. The wall has phrases like, "Falun Dafa is good," and, "Truthfulness, Compassion and Forbearance." They also called the county Police Department to report that there were several people practicing Falun Gong in Li Dekui's home. They then used force to arrest several people present at the time: Mr. Qin Yunfeng (Li Dekui's son-in-law), Mr. Li Dekui, Ms. Li Jifeng (Li Dekui's daughter), Ms. Wang Fenghua, and Ms Wang Huanying. These practitioners are now detained at the Lanxi County First Detention Center.
About a week later, practitioner Li Yunyan, from Linjiang County, Lanxi County, was arrested while she was clarifying truth about Falun Dafa to a man on a Linjiang Street. She is now also detained at the Lanxi County First Detention Center.
6. [Guizhou Province] Practitioner Han Wei Secretly Arrested by Special Agents from China's National Security Bureau
Practitioner Ms. Han Wei is about 38 years old. She used to be a doctor at the infirmary of Guizhou Industrial University. She was secretly arrested by special agents from China's National Security Bureau.
7. [Changping District, Beijing City] Practitioner Li Shiying Arrested by Police Patrol While Clarifying the Truth About Falun Dafa to People on the Street
Practitioner Ms. Li Shiying is in her 60's. In September 2004, while on her way to another practitioner's home to obtain Teacher's new articles, she was followed and arrested by the police. After her release, she maintained her righteous thoughts and continued to clarify truth about Falun Dafa to people. On November 24, 2004, Li Shiying was telling people the truth about Dafa on the street. Many passersby were surprised to learn the real story behind the persecution. This helped to eliminate their misunderstanding of Dafa. In a little while, a patrolling police car noticed this, and the officers roughly dragged Ms. Li into the patrol car in front of everyone, and then drove away. The crowd was astonished by the policemen's violence.
Li Shiying is now detained at the Beijing City Police Department, Fengtai Branch.
8. [Jingmen City, Hubei Province] Practitioners Yang Guiping and Yang Benquan Arrested for Clarifying the Truth About Falun Dafa
Practitioners Ms. Yang Guiping and Ms. Yang Benquan are outstanding nurses at the First People's Hospital in Jingmen City, Hubei Province. Because they believe in Falun Dafa and clarified truth about the persecution, they were arrested by officers from the Quankou Police Station in Jingmen City. Since then, they've been detained at the Huyaguan Detention Center for two months. When they went on a hunger strike to protest the persecution, they were force-fed.
9. [Jilin City, Jilin Province] Practitioner Wang Yuzhen Sent to Heizhuizi Labor Camp for One Year of Forced Labor
Practitioner Ms. Wang Yuzhen is 43 years old. Her home is close to the Chuangshang Hospital in Changyi District, Jilin City. At around 10:00 a.m. on November 4, 2004, Ms. Wang was arrested by policemen from the Jilin City Police Department National Security Section. Without proper legal procedures, Wang Yuzhen was sentenced to one year of forced labor and was sent directly to Heizhuizi Labor Camp in Changchun City. The main reason for Wang Yuzhen's one-year forced labor sentence was that she had written letters to national leaders to tell them the facts about Dafa and the brutal persecution of Dafa practitioners.
10. [Gansu Province] Gansu Women's Labor Camp Authorities Cruelly Torture Imprisoned Practitioners
Gansu Women's Labor Camp imprisons female practitioners who have been sentenced to forced labor. These practitioners are from different places in Gansu Province. It is said that a "100-day Safety Competition" campaign is going on right now in all the forced labor camps in the province. In order to force practitioners to give up their belief in Falun Dafa, guards use various tortures: heavy labor, beating, punishment by forcing practitioners to stand for a long time(see note below), sleep deprivation and isolation. Recent reports from the Women's Labor Camp reveal that practitioner Ms. Yan Ping wasn't allowed to sleep for 9 consecutive days. She was forced to do heavy physical labor both day and night, was not allowed to sleep, and also suffered physical abuse.
Note: The so-called "Punishment by forcing inmates to stand for a long time," means that the victim has to stand, facing a wall all day long except for the time spent eating, sleeping and using the toilet, from the time s/he rises at 5 a.m. until 1 a.m. or 2 a.m. the next morning, when s/he is allowed to go to bed. This abuse usually lasts several days. If someone cannot withstand the intensity of prolonged standing and loses consciousness, the guards will then force-feed him or her with drugs.
11. [Shanghai City] Practitioners Song Qiyue and Lu Hongmei Detained
Practitioners Song Qiyue and Lu Hongmei (a couple) were born in Jilin Province. After they obtained their Master's degrees in Beijing, they went to work at the Northern Vehicle Research Institute in Beijing City. In Fall, 2001, because Song Qiyue refused to give up his belief in Falun Dafa, the Research Institute planned to arrest him and take him to a brainwashing class. Using his righteous thoughts, Song Qiyue managed to escape. To avoid further persecution, he went to Shanghai. At the end of 2003, personnel from the Research Institute went to their parents' homes to ask them to transfer their residence registration back to their birthplace. On November 2, 2004, Song Qiyue and Lu Hongmei were arrested by the Yangpu Police Department's National Security Section in Shanghai. Their arrests came after Song Qiyue's personal correspondence was obtained illegally and then opened by the police. The opened letters contained truth-clarification material. Song Qiyue is to be put on trial soon.
12. [Kunming City, Yunnan Province] Falun Dafa Practitioners Mr. Di Jianchao and Mr. Wang Shiqing Arrested for Clarifying the Truth About Falun Dafa
Practitioners Mr. Di Jianchao (39 years old) and Mr. Wang Shiqing work for the Shipping Machinery Ltd. in Kunming City, Yunnan Province. On November 20, 2004, while they were explaining to people the truth about Dafa and distributing truth clarification materials, they were arrested by the Anning City Police Department. On November 22, Mr. Di and Mr. Wang were taken to the Anning Detention Center in Yunnan Province. The detention center will not allow anyone to visit them.
(Clearwisdom.net) A "solemn declaration" is a person's public statement declaring to the world that whatever he or she has done or said under duress or deception that was against Falun Dafa is null and void. Most of these statements have come from Falun Dafa practitioners in China who wished to express regret that, in the face of physical torture and brainwashing, they had signed documents renouncing Dafa and guaranteeing not to practice again. Also, as more and more people in China learn the truth about how they have been deceived and lied to by the Jiang regime, many non-practitioners are also submitting "solemn declarations."
Here are some examples of the Solemn Declarations:
Please click here for more Solemn Declarations.
(Clearwisdom.net)
1. [Nanning City, Guangxi Province] Dafa Practitioner He Wanjin and Her Family Are PersecutedOn September 28, 2004, Pan Guojian, head of the 610 Office in Nanning City, Guangxi Province, ordered the police from the public security sub-bureau in Chengbei District to ransack Dafa practitioner He Wanjin's home and abduct Ms. He and her daughter Ruan Yuhua (also a Dafa practitioner) without any legal procedures. The police locked up the mother and the daughter separately in the First and the Second Detention Centers respectively. The next day the police abused Ms. He and fabricated charges against her. They tried to extort a confession from her by threatening her. Ms. He has a 93-year-old mother who has trouble moving around. The police threatened that they would arrest her whole family and leave her mother alone at home unattended. Under the intense physical and mental abuse, Ms. He fell into convulsions and passed out several times. Ms. He's daughter has now been locked up in a forced labor camp and sentenced to a two-year imprisonment.
2. [Shenyang City, Liaoning Province] Shi Shengying, Wang Xibin, and Others Abducted by Tiexi District Police for Clarifying the Facts of Falun GongAt around 7:00 p.m. on November 30, policemen from the Tiexi District Public Security Sub-Bureau in Shenyang City abducted Dafa practitioners Shi Shengying, Wang Xibin, and Zhang Li in the presence of everyone at Xinghua Park. Later, Zhang Li was released. On December 1, 2004, Shi Shengying and Wang Xibin were sent to the Shenyang Detention Center. People who now visit Xinghua Park all talk about this illegal incident, since these Dafa practitioners did not do anything but talk with people about how to be a good person according to the principles of "Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance." Shi Shengying had been imprisoned in Masanjia Labor Camp before. In September 2002, she came out of the labor camp without giving up her practice of Falun Dafa. Because Ms. Shi was locked up and abused in an isolated small cell for a long period time, her whole body was covered with pus and she was close to death when she was released. Wang Xibin was sentenced to three years of imprisonment. She held a hunger strike in the prison and lost six of her front teeth due to the forced-feeding torture. She was released only three months ago.
3. [Dalian City, Liaoning Province] The Persecution of Ms. Bao Caixia at Dalian AirportMs. Bao Caixia, 36, graduated from the Chinese Commercial Aviation Institute. After graduation, she was assigned to the Dalian International Airport to work. After July 20, 1999, the airport director tried to force her to give up Falun Dafa practice. However, she refused to give up her belief and has been steadfast in her Falun Dafa practice ever since then. In January 2000, when she was four months pregnant, the airport officials started persecuting Bao Caixia. They first took away her position of associate director and only gave her 200 yuan each month for living expenses. On June 5, 2001, they fired Ms. Bao, using the excuse of "absence from work."
In April 2001, while Ms. Bao was still breast-feeding her baby, the airport leaders made the decision to send her to a forced labor camp at the end of her breast-feeding period. To avoid further persecution, she left home with her baby upon hearing the news. The airport officials searched her home and all her relatives' homes, and tried to abduct her by waiting in front of her house, but failed. On June 5, 2001, the airport fired Bao Caixia. She and her baby were forced to be destitute and homeless for a very long period of time.
