Summary of Other Articles and News - July 9, 2004

(Clearwisdom.net)

Commentary on Current Events

On June 19, 2004, a legal forum entitled, "Searching for Justice: Counteracting Hate, Torture and Crimes against Humanity" was held at Concordia University in Montreal, Canada. David Matas explained the judicial basis for the current legal actions against Chinese officials who spread hate propaganda. Mr. Matas pointed out that a diplomatic official becomes the subject of a lawsuit as soon as he or she utters words of hatred; diplomatic immunity does not apply to consular officials who violate human rights by inciting hatred. Moreover, diplomatic immunity is not absolute and can be rescinded.

Political commentator Hu Ping (1), in a recent interview with a reporter from the Falun Dafa Information Center, said he believed that members of Jiang's political group are behind the recent shooting incident in South Africa. This is widely believed to be so because only Jiang's group has been so focused on the issue of suppressing Falun Gong. In the past years, the Party has always monitored Falun Gong practitioners and has even sent thugs to beat Dafa practitioners and political dissidents abroad, and this incident is only an escalation of such practices. Hu Ping pointed out that the Party has become completely corrupt in terms of its moral ground by hiring assassins on foreign soil. Foreign governments, human rights organizations and people from all segments of society must have a clear understanding of the true nature of the chief instigator behind the shooting incident in South Africa, because only condemnation from around the world will achieve the goal of bringing the perpetrators to justice.

The Shooting Incident in South Africa

On July 5, Falun Gong practitioners from Israel went to the South African Embassy in Israel and delivered a letter of appeal to the embassy officials. The practitioners pointed out in the letter that Jiang's group has intensified its persecution of Falun Gong practitioners abroad, and they made a request to urge a thorough investigation of the crime.

Dafa Practitioners in Sichuan Province Condemn Jiang's Group's Murderous Actions

We, the Dafa practitioners in Sichuan Province, China, strongly condemn Jiang's group's terrorist behaviors abroad, and we send our most sincere greetings and good wishes to the injured fellow practitioner and his family and hope he will recover soon.

Peoples' Hearts Determine their Future

The 56-year-old sister of a female Dafa practitioner in Tongliao City, Inner Mongolia Autonomic Region lived in the countryside. Whenever a marriage, births or funerals took place, the practitioner always went and gave out truth clarification materials to the fellow villagers present. Her sister always helped her to give out the materials. Sometimes when there were left over flyers she said to her sister, "You can leave them at my house, I promise I will give all of them out." Sometimes she put Dafa truth clarification flyers and pamphlets on her coffee table for whoever wanted to take them. She used to suffer from all kinds of illnesses, all of which have now disappeared.

Facts of the Persecution

Mr. Gao was the head of a Judicial Bureau and he was held at the Kaifeng City Detention Center in Henan Province because he was a Falun Dafa practitioner. The Kaifeng Daily sent a reporter to interview him and then published a false report, claiming Mr. Gao had "realized his mistakes and gave up Falun Gong practice." When he saw the report, Mr. Gao wrote to the newspaper asking for a retraction, but he never heard back from them.

According to other reports, in April 2004, Falun Gong practitioner Ms. Lu Yanna, a teacher at the former No. 1 Occupational Institution in Longkou City moved to Qianshan County, Anhui Province to avoid the persecution. Her child was only ten days old and her husband was not home, possibly having been abducted by police. Later, perpetrators from Longkou City went to Qianshan County and abducted her.

In July 2000, 61-year-old Falun Gong practitioner Tian Xiangcui in Qujiagou, Fengyi Town, Longkou City died as a result of the persecution.

My name is Zhang Zhifen. I am a 51-year-old Dafa practitioner and I live in Group 4, Tashui Village, Sanyi Town, Pengzhou City, Sichuan Province. After I began practicing Dafa I became healthy again. I went to Beijing to appeal for Dafa on January 9, 2000. The perpetrators from the local government ransacked my home and extorted 7,000 Yuan (2) from my family. They sentenced me to one year of forced labor. I was released in August 2001 but the perpetrators abducted me many times and beat me. They looted our family-owned drugstore twice, which caused us great financial difficulty.

Around 10 a.m. on June 3, 2004, Li Daichun, an officer from Hesheng Town's Police Department in Wenjiang, Chengdu City abducted practitioner Zhang Qingshu and sent him to Wenjiang Detention Center. He also ransacked Zhang Qingshu's home and arrested Dafa practitioner Chen Jinhua, a retired government cadre. In the morning, Li Daichun searched the homes of female practitioners Yang Qunying and Luo Jurong in Hesheng Street. At 3:00 p.m. he ransacked the homes of the two practitioners. He never produced any warrants and followed no legal procedures.

Around 11:00 p.m. on June 28, 2004, police officers from Hong'an County, Hebei Province broke into the homes of several Dafa practitioners. They also abducted Dafa practitioners Du Liurong and Duan Shuzhen. Two other practitioners escaped and are now forced to live away from home in order to avoid being arrested.

Hu Xuezhong used to be the head of the Huoju Police Precinct under the Saertu District Police Department and is now the head of the Dong'an Police Station. He is very devoted to Jiang's group and the persecution in order to advance his own political career. During his term as head of the Huoju Police Precinct, he ordered the ransacking of many practitioners' homes and the arrest of many practitioners. In 2002, Hu Xuezhong was transferred to Dong'an Police Station, and the persecution in that area escalated.

Dafa practitioner Song Zhezi, a retired employee from the Dongjiao Supply and Distribution Society in Changde City, Hunan Province was abducted when going to Beijing to appeal. He was held in prison for a long time. In November 2003, Song Zhezi held an 86-day long hunger strike at the Baimalong Prison in Zhuzhou City and was eventually released. In the following six months, Song Zhezi was abducted five times and sent back to prison. On May 31, 2004, Song Zhezi was sent to a brainwashing class and is now being held at the Wulingpo Detention Center in Changde City. In the past few years, Song Zhezi's family has suffered tremendously from the persecution. His family-owned business worth more than 100,000 Yuan went bankrupt and the officials unlawfully froze their savings accounts. His oldest daughter was sentenced to three years in prison and is now being held at the Changsha Female Prison, and his younger daughter's whereabouts are unknown.

Dafa practitioner Liu Yulan from the Zhongshan District, Dalian City was around 72 years of age. She went to Beijing to appeal in early October 2000, was abducted at the Dalian Train Station and sent to the Mingze Police Station where she was illegally held for three days. In addition, 3,000 Yuan in cash was extorted from her. The perpetrators ransacked her home while she was in detention. The enforcers from the police station, the street committee and the residential committee often went to her home to harass her, which greatly upset her. Ms. Liu Yulan passed away on September 28, 2003.

Notes

(1) Hu Ping is the editor-in-chief of Beijing Spring (a Chinese magazine in North America), a regular commentator of Radio Free Asia. He has written extensively on the protection of the citizen against abuse of power by the government with an emphasis on freedom of speech.

(2) Yuan is the unit of Chinese currency; 500 Yuan is equal to the average monthly income of an urban worker in China.