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(Clearwisdom.net) Falun Gong practitioners inside and outside China have been resisting the persecution with peaceful appeals ever since the persecution began on July 20, 1999. Many practitioners outside China distribute flyers in various places and appeal at Chinese embassies and consulates. People often ask, "Do you get paid for doing this?"
When our sisters and brothers are suffering in China, and we call out to the world for help, why would we ask for a reward? Falun Gong practitioners outside of Mainland China suffer right along with those inside China, and as a result appeal for them and protest the savage acts of Jiang's group. How could we ask for money?
The early Christians did not renounce their faith in the face of persecution, even when they were thrown into an arena and mauled to death by lions. Did the early Christians do this because someone paid them? Similarly, Falun Gong practitioners in China go to Beijing to appeal and distribute flyers to people even though there is a great risk of arrest, torture, imprisonment and even death. How can this be measured with money? How much would one have to be paid to risk being jailed and tortured by extremely savage methods?
In fact, many things can't be judged by money. For example, the love that parents have for their children, the commitment between a husband and a wife--these can't be measured with money. Mencius once said, "A gentleman takes responsibility very seriously, whereas a vicious person takes personal interests as the most important thing." Yi (responsibility, loyalty to others) or kind-heartedness exists in everyone to varying degrees.
When we know that Falun Gong practitioners in China are being persecuted ¨C and there are almost daily news accounts of someone dying as a result of the persecution ¨C we would not have a clear conscience if we did not condemn the persecution and ask people from all walks of life to help stop it. Our cries for justice are certainly not motivated by money!
If people require rewards for every act of kindness, then their beliefs are little more than the pursuit of fame and self-interest. The truth is, we simply do not have any funding. All costs for any and all activities practitioners participate in come from their own pockets. The media in China are state-controlled, and spew the propaganda contrived by the ruling Party and its behind the scenes controller: Jiang Zemin. Jiang's propaganda machine constantly tells China's people the story that the American government funds Falun Gong as part of some kind of underhanded scheme to destabilize and attack China. But that simply isn't the case. It is just one of the many ways Jiang uses to deceive the Chinese public, demonizing Falun Gong as a diversion and scapegoat for the multitude of social and economic woes the country faces. He is taking advantage of people's ignorance about the Western world and Falun Gong to stir up fear and hatred, so that he can maintain his tight control over the Chinese government and people. If someone wanted to harm China or any society, would they promote or suppress the belief in "Truthfulness-Compassion-Tolerance"? What Jiang's group fears most is for the Chinese people to learn the truth ¨C that Falun Gong benefits society and it is his policies that are destabilizing China, conducting genocide against millions of innocent Falun Gong practitioners right under people's noses. If the people knew the truth and were allowed to judge the situation with all the facts, would they allow it to continue?
July 17, 2004
(Clearwisdom.net)
Part 1: http://www.clearwisdom.net/emh/articles/2004/8/2/50927.html
2. There is No Mind Control in Falun Gong
In history, both religions and cults have had many followers. The difference between the two is that cults exercise mind control over their members, whereas an orthodox religion educates its followers spiritually. The intentions of the two are completely different.
The intention of a religion is to "save people," make them mature in wisdom and eventually become "enlightened beings," rather than easily manipulated robot-like spiritual slaves. This can only be achieved through spiritual education, not mind control.
Exactly to the contrary, the intention of a cult is to make its followers become tools controlled by its founder. Therefore the cult exercises mind control over its followers, and is unlikely to carry out spiritual education. In other words, with different intentions, the chosen methods are of course also different.
Falun Gong is not a religion, but is a way of cultivation, a self-improvement practice of body and mind. Similar in this aspect with the orthodox religions that developed over history, Falun Gong has no component of spiritual or mind control associated with it.
Yet Jiang's group, which masterminds the persecution of Falun Gong, accuses Falun Gong of "mind control" in attempts to justify its label of "evil cult," because only then could the nationwide campaign to crush Falun Gong ever make sense to the people of China. After all, in the years before the persecution started, the Chinese government praised Falun Gong for the great benefits it had brought to Chinese society. How could it suddenly be bad?
So to justify the persecution, Jiang's group had to come up with some reason, and hence the huge propaganda campaign contrived to demonize Falun Gong in the minds of the public. Step one in any such campaign is defamation, and one of the first lies created was that Falun Gong is guilty of "mind control" and was "therefore an evil scourge that has to be eliminated."
2. a) Falun Gong Teaches People to be Good
Falun Gong's unique teaching and guiding method simply advises people to think for themselves, to be good, and to try to become even better, which is completely the opposite of spiritual or mind control.
Falun Gong's founder, Mr. Li Hongzhi, has traveled to many countries in the world and has taught classes to many people to disseminate the principles of Falun Dafa since it was first introduced in Changchun, China in 1992.
Although Mr. Li Hongzhi (respectfully referred to by students as "Teacher" or "Master") has repeatedly spoken of the precious nature of Falun Dafa, he has never forced anyone to accept his teachings. He has stated very clearly in Zhuan Falun (the primary text of the teachings of Falun Gong, a.k.a. Falun Dafa):
"There is another principle in our universe: If you pursue or want something, others are not willing to interfere. Here, we teach everyone to follow the righteous way, and at the same time explain the Fa to you thoroughly to let you become enlightened on your own. It is your own business whether you want to learn it. The master takes you through the entrance, and it is up to you to practice cultivation. Nobody will force you or make you practice cultivation. It is your own business whether you practice cultivation. In other words, no one will interfere with it in terms of which path you take, what you want, or what you try to get. We can only advise people to be good." (Zhuan Falun)
In addition, Mr. Li established a rule at the beginning of his teaching: there is no organization or hierarchy in Falun Dafa. People are free to come if they want to learn and are also free to leave if they do not want to learn. It is totally up to oneself whether to come or not and there is no formality or membership. Neither is there any giving of money involved in Falun Dafa. All teaching and all activities are free of charge. Practitioners may choose to pay for certain activities or flyers, etc. out of their own pockets, but there is no requirement or pressure to do so.
2. b) Falun Gong Encourages Independent Thinking
Mr. Li has given lectures one after another aimed at helping students overcome problems they face in their cultivation, though he has never forced practitioners to follow what he says. Mr. Li always encourages independent thinking.
The personal experiences of more than 100 million practitioners can prove that Falun Gong has never tried to make us give up or lose the ability of independent thinking, either through force or more subtle means. On the contrary, the practice of Falun Dafa always requires practitioners to think independently.
During the practice of Falun Dafa, independent thinking or "enlightenment" is required at every step of the way because there are no role models or ready-made answers to follow. In the closing part of Zhuan Falun, Mr. Li says,
"This Fa can only be taught to this level. It is up to your own cultivation to attain what is at high levels. The questions raised by some people have become more specific. If I explain all the questions in your life, what will be left for you to cultivate? You must practice cultivation and become enlightened on your own. If I tell you everything, nothing will remain for you to cultivate." (Zhuan Falun)
Mr. Li also stressed that, during the entire cultivation process, from the beginning to the end, there exist tests as to whether one truly believes. The Teacher allows the practitioners to distinguish truth from falsehood through their own independent thinking while facing such tests.
To illustrate this, since the persecution of Falun Gong began in 1999, Mr. Li has only written one letter to the central government of China. Thereafter, even as the Party-controlled media attacked him over and over again with deceitful propaganda contrived to turn public opinion against him, he did not say another word to them, or even to his practitioners for some time. It was only after more than one year later, when he came out and addressed a Falun Dafa experience sharing conference, saying:
"In some specific respects, the minds of some students initially fluctuated a lot amidst what happened from the April 25th event of last year through the July 20th event. That's normal, too, because only when you have ordinary human thoughts can you cultivate; only when you have ordinary human thoughts can you waver; and only when you have ordinary human thoughts can you determine the right path you should take amidst the wavering. This is cultivation. That's why at that time many of you were thinking: "Is this Fa I'm studying correct and righteous? What kind of person is Li Hongzhi? Is there truth to what's said by this evil force that lies to hurt the reputation of others?" Every student thought about these questions--you were thinking about them more or less. This was also to give you an opportunity for reflection. So it wasn't wrong. After you calmed down, you took the path you were supposed to."
("Teaching the Fa at the Great Lakes Fa Conference in North America ")
This is also a kind of enlightenment, the kind of enlightenment required when a cultivator faces tests of whether he or she firmly believes.
For the exact reason that enlightenment is a special form of independent thinking, Mr. Li stresses time and again that there are different Fa-principles at different levels:
"A cultivator's understanding of the Fa is his understanding of the Fa at his cultivation level. Different cultivators understand the Fa differently because they are at different levels."
(From "Non-Omission" in Essentials for Further Advancement)
In actuality, Falun Gong practitioners are all enlightening, and what different practitioners enlighten to when faced with the same problem has never been exactly the same. There are differences in what various practitioners enlighten to, sometimes the differences are quite large. Doesn't this by itself show that they have not lost their ability of independent thinking? Doesn't it also demonstrate that Falun Gong encourages independent thinking?
If Mr. Li is really exercising mind control over his students as China's official propaganda claims, then logically every student's thinking should be exactly the same because each person is following the same teacher, studying the same principles and practicing the same exercises.
2. c) There is No Worship in Falun Gong
There is another common aspect to all cults. Not only do they institute mind-control, but they also encourage worshiping the leader. Falun Gong is completely against this.
(to be continued)
July 7, 2004
(Clearwisdom.net)
Falun Gong practitioners in Mainland China have persistently opposed the persecution during the past five years in a peaceful, rational and non-violent way. This process has made it possible for many new and innovative things to occur, such as tapping into cable TV systems, to name one example. Through tapping into TV signals, Falun Gong practitioners broadcast documentary videos as well information about Jiang Zemin's brutal persecution of Falun Gong to tens of thousands of families in China.
Someone might say, "Doesn't this violate the law? Isn't it also forbidden outside of China to arbitrarily tap into TV signals?" Regarding this, the renowned political commentator Hu Ping had an incisive metaphor: "People should normally walk through the door, but if the door has been blocked, can you blame people for jumping out the window?" People in democratic countries outside China enjoy freedom of speech and can freely have their own voices heard; as such they have no need to intercept a TV signal. In China, by contrast, Jiang and his followers have totally deprived Falun Gong practitioners of their rights of free speech. Even handing out a few flyers to their fellow citizens may result in police abduction, cruel torture or even death as a result of such torture. Under such circumstances, these practitioners clarify the truth to people through the method of intercepting TV signals, which not only has upheld their own freedom of speech, but also has safeguarded the people's right to know what is happening in their own country.
Do not underestimate the need for the right to accurate information. As everyone witnessed during last year's SARS epidemic, because of Jiang's cover-up of the epidemic for the sake of so-called "national stability," the disease spread rapidly and was difficult to control. If they could have known about it sooner, not as many innocent people would have died. All of them were killed because Jiang deprived them of their right to know.
Similarly, Jiang and his corrupt officials and profiteers subvert the law without restraint and embezzle people's hard-earned money. Jiang's son has become a billionaire through this process. If the people had the right to know and the TV reported the truth, where could these corrupt officials and profiteers hide? Furthermore, Jiang's cruel oppression of people not only profoundly harms Falun Gong practitioners, but other groups and individuals have also been greatly affected. For example, one Australian lady recently went to Tianjin to deposit a huge fund, but was later framed and put into jail. If the people had the right to know and the TV would reveal these illegal activities, then all the people would be protected.
Jiang's group has deprived the population of its right to know, using the excuse of so-called "stability comes first" and making use of the media to fill people's minds with lies. The stability of the Jiang regime is maintained solely by extortion, by force and by tyranny over the population.
Mr. Liu Chengjun, a pioneer in intercepting TV signals, died as a result of torture at the hands of Jiang's followers, and Dr. Charles Li, an American citizen who went to China in an attempt to clarify the truth through broadcasting documentaries about Falun Gong is still being persecuted in prison. The China of the future will remember and honor these noble individuals. When the house was on fire and the door was blocked, it was these heroes who tried to open the window so that the people in the house could escape.
July 21, 2004
(Clearwisdom.net)
The above is a view of the road taken by the long-distance bus from Liuhua Station in Guangzhou City, to Chini in Huadu District. After getting off the bus at Chini, one can rent a motorbike and go directly to the No. 1 Forced Labor Camp.
| It takes ten minutes to get to the camp by tricycle. |
| Once you get closer you can clearly see the sign, "Labor Camp." |
The mountain you see in the photo is the mining area, which borders the labor camp. It is a very important source of income for the labor camp. If you enlarge the photo you can see the grayish color. That is the color of the ore. At the end of the road you can see a small gate, which leads to the mining area. Passing this gate and going forward for about 50 meters, you can see a huge pit.
The arrow on the left points to the entrance to the mining area. The arrow in the middle points to the route towards the forced labor camp. The circle in the middle shows the famous Poluo Mountain in Guangzhou. The arrow on the right points to the area where the forced labor camp enslaves the inmates.
This is the direction towards the gate of the forced labor camp. Looking right at the end of the arrow you will see the main gate. To the left of the cement electricity pole is the huge pit.
Some of these houses in front of the forced labor camp used to be occupied by the guards. Later, when the forced labor camp began to turn a profit off of the inmates' slave labor, it built new houses. The old houses are no longer occupied. Only occasionally some of the guards stay there.
Arrow no. 1 points towards the quarry. One can clearly see a huge pit. Arrow no. 2 points towards the main gate of the forced labor camp. This pit is very big. The diameter of the pit is several hundred meters. As shown in the next photo, before 2001 the No. 6 Division and the No. 2 Division of the forced labor camp were responsible for loading the stones by hand on the trucks. The guards with their dogs used metal whips made of finger-thick copper wire, or very thick wooden batons, to force the inmates to work harder. The guards behaved like slave drivers.
The forced labor camp has detained Falun Gong practitioners since 2000. It abolished the heavy manual labor to avoid public attention. Instead, it began to force the practitioners to do handicrafts for a prolonged time. The guards still talk about how "glorious" things were before that change.
The pit is enormous. It's the size of a dozen soccer fields!
The next photo shows the front of the main gate of the forced labor camp, with our tricycle parked nearby. Owing to security, we did not get closer to the gate.
This is the photo we took from the back of the forced labor camp after we detoured through a small lane. It shows an area of the No. 2 Division, specially built to persecute Falun Gong practitioners. It is actually a 3-story building, which cost more than two million yuan (1) to build. The buildings in the photo are the living quarters of the guards. There are six rooms. Each night there are at least four guards on duty. There would be a deputy head or a higher up person to head the group, a guard who was in charge of ordinary inmates, and two depraved guards who were specially designated to deal with Falun Gong practitioners. Later on, the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners was carried out on the ground floor of this building.
This building was built in July and August of 2001 and was put into use around the beginning of 2002. When it was first built, the top floor of the building was the living area for the guards, the second floor was the office area and the ground floor was a "classroom." This was actually a place for study and entertainment for those former Falun Gong practitioners who renounced Falun Gong after being brainwashed. Every day, the depraved guards would force the Falun Gong practitioners to go there to watch slanderous videos and to read vicious materials intended to "transform" the practitioners. Two criminal inmates supervised these activities. By October 2002 the situation changed dramatically. The "classroom" was not used for "study" any more. It was divided into four to five small rooms with cement walls, and each room was fitted with an iron gate with a peephole. (The person inside the room was monitored from outside, but they could not see out of the room.) The forced labor camp was so desperate to escalate the persecution that it locked the practitioners into these rooms when the cement walls were still wet. The criminals used peepholes to constantly monitor the Falun Gong practitioners. Whenever they found that the practitioners wanted to go to sleep, or did not sit properly or performed the hand gesture for sending forth righteous thoughts, they would rush into the room and beat the practitioners. These criminals also observed the practitioners' every behavior and action, and reported them to the guards.
Those who had been detained in that building were not allowed to meet or talk to anyone, including the ordinary criminals. Steadfast practitioners were only allowed to use the toilet when other criminals had either gone to bed or were working in the workshops. The practitioners were also not allowed to sleep. As there was no chair in the room, the practitioners had to stand at all times. In each room there were three to five criminals. The depraved guards ordered them to keep surveillance on Falun Gong practitioners. These criminals adopted all kinds of cruel methods to torture the steadfast practitioners, including kicking and punching, beating with sticks and spraying with hot pepper water. The depraved guards used these methods to try to force the practitioners to renounce Falun Gong. If all such efforts failed within two days, the guards would use even crueler methods. The guards learned these methods during an autumn training session in Beijing. As far as I know, the guards who went to Beijing included the former Deputy Head of the No. 2 Division, He Guichao, guards Bi Dejun, Head of the Correction Division Zhou (given name not known) and guard Li Weicheng.
After October 20, 2002, the forced labor camp used these extremely cruel methods to deal with those Falun Gong practitioners who refused to renounce their beliefs. Li You was one of the practitioners who was tortured in one of the dark small rooms on the ground floor of the building. The director of the forced labor camp, Zhou Yangbo, and the political instructor, Li Guomin, selected a group of the most cruel and ruthless people from various divisions within the forced labor camp. These were mainly drug addicts or members of organized crime groups. In the evening, or during the day after the inmates had left for work, these criminals would drag Falun Gong practitioners to the bathroom of the confinement area. There, five to six hefty criminals would use a long cloth strip to tie the practitioners' hands first and then tie the arms under the armpit. That would stop the blood circulation in the arms. (The guard with a surname of Zhou said that he was able to make a practitioner renounce Falun Gong without using handcuffs and ropes. Now it becomes clear that he used cloth strips.) The depraved people would then bend the practitioners' arms back forcefully, cross their arms and tie them up with the cloth strip. This is an extremely painful torture. These criminals would do the same with the legs. They tied the practitioners' ankles and the top end of their thighs. Then they placed one leg on top of the knee of the other leg and tied them up with cloth strips. After that the criminals would place the other leg up as well. Because one leg had already been tied to the knee, it would be very difficult to pull the other leg up. However, they used a lot of force to do it and then tied it up with cloth strips. Then, two criminals at each side of the practitioner would pull the practitioners' feet in opposite directions. It would be tremendously painful and the legs would gradually become numb. Finally the criminals would push the head of the practitioner toward his legs and tie it down with the cloth strip from the legs. This would make breathing very difficult. Sometimes, the criminals would step on the practitioner's legs or tie a cloth strip to his hands, which were already tied up from the back, and hang the practitioner from a window frame. This would last from five to forty minutes. It was extremely painful for the victim. The blockage of circulation would make the victim's legs swell and become numb. It would be difficult to breath and one would feel mentally and physically exhausted. The majority of people are unable to endure such pain. Usually, terrible cries could be heard from that area. When the legs were untied half an hour later they were ice-cold. The untying was even more painful for the victim. After a while the depraved guards would tie their legs again and resume the torture.
Before tying up the practitioners, the depraved guards would hold Teacher's (the founder of Falun Gong) photos on which they printed some very dirty words and then they would stuff the photo into the practitioners' mouths, anus and privates parts, while whispering depravities into their ears. Thus, the practitioners suffered also a great deal mentally. Due to the excruciating physical pain and a breakdown in righteous thoughts, many steadfast practitioners yielded to the evil. Once they surrendered, the evil guards would repeatedly force the practitioners to do bad things. They printed a lot of Teacher's photos with dirty words on them. They would force these practitioners to write dirty words on the photos, swear at Teacher, and use a pen to scratch the eye of Teacher in the photos and burn the photos. The guards would take photos of all these actions, and then claim, "These are the evidence of your treatment of your Teacher. We will send these photos to Clearwisdom.net and see if your Teacher would still consider you as his student." In this way, many of the practitioners were forced to give in. It also explains the reason why at a certain period of time the rate of practitioners denouncing Falun Gong rose sharply. Some of the practitioners had been repeatedly tortured and even when they were unconscious the guards did not stop their torture. It clearly shows how evil these criminals are!
Those who were involved in the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners include:
Zhou Yangbo, the former Director of the No. 1 Forced Labor Camp
Li Guomin, Political Instructor of the No 2. Division
Bi Dejun, a guard
Li Weicheng, a guard, directly forced the practitioners to write the "Three Statements" (2).
He Guichao, Deputy Head of A Division, was in charge of instilling the practitioners with vicious thoughts.
Chen Fumin, a guard, was in charge of delivering documents and keeping a close watch on Falun Gong practitioners.
Hong Yuanpeng, a guard, was responsible for the daily administration work related to the persecution of Dafa practitioners.
1. This is the clinic. One can see a very tall tree. The depraved guards often used this site to force-feed those practitioners who went on a hunger strike to protest the persecution.
2. This building houses the No. 3 Division, where Falun Dafa practitioners Luo Xiao, Shan Jincheng (no one knows their current whereabouts) and Luo Song were once held. The building that is close to the clinic is the workshop, producing spare parts for mechanical watches.
3. This building houses the No. 7 Division where Falun Dafa practitioners Zhang Mengye, Shen Wei, Liao Xiaohong and He Jianhong were held. In October 2002, they did not yield to the evil and walked out of the detention center with righteous thoughts. The products produced in the No. 7 Division were similar to those of the No. 3 Division.
4. This building houses the No. 1 Division where Shen Min (whereabouts unknown), Zhang Wenxue, Yang Ziren (whereabouts unknown), Yan Yong, Li Jiacong (in 2002 he was tied up and cruelly tortured for several days and nights. His righteous thought was very strong and he did not yield to the evil. By the end of the 2002, he left the forced labor camp), and Li Weiguo (whereabouts unknown) were detained. They mainly produced handicrafts such as plastic and cloth flowers. All these products were for export.
5. This is the workshop of the No. 5 Division. It was crowded with people producing plastic toys such as cartoon figures hanging on key rings. They specialized in producing colored drawings.
6. These are the prison cells of the No. 5 Division where Rao Zuoyuan (in August 2002 his neck was broken as a result of the cruel torture in this division. He died shortly after at Huadu Hospital), Li Guojun, Zhang Wenxue, Wu Zhiping, and Huang Dehua were detained. Wang Feng who was directly involved in the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners was transferred from this Division to the No. 2 Division.
7. This is the prison cell of the No. 8 Division. Practitioners Guo Zhimin, Li Zhenrui, Wang Keng and Lu Haiyun were held there. This Division produced handicrafts, and the living conditions were inhuman.
8. This is the workshop of the No. 7 Division. Since the building is made of corrugated iron, it becomes extremely hot inside when the scorching sun is directly overhead.
9. This is the confinement area where Falun Gong practitioners were tortured. Later on, all the tortures were carried out here mostly in the evening or at night.
In this photo, Buildings nos. 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, and 17 are workshops that have been in use since 2003. Building 9 originally belonged to the No. 2 Division from 2000 to the end of 2001, and is now used by the No. 6 Division. Building 1 originally belonged to the No. 6 Division. At the end of 2001, a three-story building was constructed, and a special administrative division was set up.
From the photo we can see that No. 6 Division is unoccupied. This is because after the swap between No. 2 Division and No. 6 Division, the whole building of the No. 6 Division was seriously damaged and was on the verge of collapse. Therefore, the entire No. 6 Division moved to the workshop belonging to the No. 1 Division. The dining room and the canteen have been moved to the workshop of the No. 8 building shown in Photo 17.
Falun Gong practitioners Mr. He Kaiqiang, Mr. Chen Ruichang, Mr. Zhang Pan, Mr. Bao Diansheng, Mr. Zhang Wenxue, Mr. Shan Jincheng and Mr. Tan Weichan were held there.
From this photo one can clearly see the No. 2 Divisions, No. 6 Division and the square.
The rooms designated as no. 7 served as "classrooms" in 2000 and 2001 by the No. 2 Division. This is the place where Falun Gong practitioners were constantly bombarded with vicious brainwashing techniques. The mango tree (no. 11) and the kapok tree (no. 8) next to it were used to tie up Falun Gong practitioners. Many practitioners were tied up because of their protest against the persecution or when they became sober-minded after renouncing Falun Gong due to brainwashing and cruel torture. Mr. Bao Diansheng still clearly remembers the time when he was tied to the mango tree. In April 2002, Mr. Bao resisted the attempts to "transform" him, so he was thrown down to the floor by the head of the Correction Division, surnamed Huang, and guard Liang. They forced him to embrace the tree with two arms and tied him to the tree for two days. Criminals in the No. 6 Division, He Zhiming (currently held in the No. 2 Division.), He Zhihua and Zhang Guobang were all involved in the persecution of Dafa practitioners. These criminals were all locals from Huadu District, Guangzhou City. Those practitioners who were tied up to the kapok tree include Mr. Zhang Guoliang (he became sober-minded after having been forced to renounce Falun Gong) and Mr. Zhang Mengye. Many practitioners had been tied to the other mango tree (no. 10) as well.
The number 9 designates the drill grounds.
The blackboard marked by the number 12 is a tool for the propaganda. On it they posted information that viciously attacked Falun Gong.
The buildings marked no. 20, no. 3 and no. 4 were places where the No. 2 and No. 6 Division enslaved the practitioners. The building (no. 20) was made of corrugated iron, and was therefore very hot in summer. The practitioners were forced to work 20 hours a day in that building.
Building no. 6 is a canteen.
The places marked no. 2 and no. 19 were small cells, used to persecute Falun Gong practitioners. The window shown in no. 19 was the only window in that area. The forced labor camp reshaped the room in October 2002. This place served as the office for the so-called "People's Administrative Committee," where those key members of the former Falun Gong practitioners who had renounced Falun Gong after being brainwashed discussed how to "reform" other practitioners. The building was reinforced with concrete and fitted with iron gates and peepholes. This is the first area of persecution. Robust criminals dragged the steadfast Falun Gong practitioners there. After arriving there, they would be punched and kicked, forced to stand still against the wall for a long period of time, deprived sleep for several days and they were forced to copy articles slandering Falun Gong. If these tortures failed to work within a few days, the practitioners would be dragged to the confinement area marked no. 9 in Photo 17 for even more inhuman torture. Then they would be sent to the small confinement cells on the ground floor of the building marked 1 (you can see it slightly, near the location marked 2). There they were isolated and watched by the criminals selected by the guards. These criminals would use the cruel torture of tying up, beating and depriving those practitioners of sleep. Falun Dafa practitioner Mr. Huang Hehua, a second-year university student, had been tortured there for a long period of time and it is said that he suffered a mental collapse at the beginning of 2003.
During 2002, the No. 6 Division cruelly persecuted Falun Gong practitioners. The main perpetrators of the persecution were as follows.
Liang Yongkai, a political instructor, ordered criminals to cover the practitioners with books and then beat them with heavy hammers. This cruel torture would cause injury to the internal organs, without leaving any visible traces on the surface of the body.
Huang (given name not known), Head of the Correction Division, shouted at the practitioners, "It's better for you to die than me! I'm sure that I can make you renounce Falun Gong. I will hang you on a tree for seven days and seven nights!"
Yi Ming, a guard, provided criminal inmate Luo Guolin with several bottles of hot pepper spray and ordered him to spray the face, body, private parts, buttocks and other sensitive parts of the practitioners to force them to renounce Falun Gong.
A guard named Liang incited the criminals to daub a sugar mixture on the trees, in an attempt to attract ants to bite the practitioners who had been tied to the trees.
Criminal inmates directly involved in the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners include He Zhiming, He Zhihua, Zhang Guobang and Luo Guolin. These criminals were all from Guangzhou City.
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Notes
(1) Yuan: Chinese currency, the monthly salary for an average Chinese urban worker is about 500 yuan.
(2) The Three Statements: Practitioners are coerced under brainwashing and torture to write these as proof that they have given up their belief. Created by the "610 Office" (3), the three statements consist of a letter of repentance, a guarantee to never again practice Falun Gong, and a list of names and addresses of all family members, friends and acquaintances who are practitioners.
(3) The "610 Office" is an agency specifically created to persecute Falun Gong, with absolute power over each level of administration in the Party and all other political and judiciary systems.
(Clearwisdom.net) On February 8, 2002, local police from Tuanjie Police Station arrested practitioner Mr. Yang Lidong, who is from Songyuan City, Jilin Province, after they ransacked his house. Yang was brutally beaten and tortured and sentenced to two years of "reform through forced labor" because he would not give up his belief. He was sent to the Jiutai Forced Labor Camp in Jilin Province on February 11, 2002.
Yang Lidong after he was persecuted (picture was taken on July 5, 2004)
Right after Mr. Yang arrived at the Jiutai Forced Labor Camp, he was persecuted because of his belief. Officer Gao Ke, was the political instructor of the "education" team for the labor camp at that time. He is one of the criminals who tortured practitioner Sun Shizhong to death, and he often orders the criminal inmates to torture practitioners. He is currently the Captain of the Agricultural Brigade at Jiutai Labor Camp. His cell phone number is 86-13314315816. Officer Gao Ke ordered criminal inmates Zhang Laoqi and Zhu Laoliu (both are pseudonyms) to tie Yang Lidong's arms and legs to a bed and beat him with wooden and plastic rods. One time when Yang shouted "Falun Dafa is great," these inmates tied him to the bed and flipped it so Yang was upside-down for half an hour. Yang went on a hunger strike for more than 20 days, grew very thin and lost mobility in his arms. The labor camp had to take Yang to the Jiutai City Hospital.
In May 2002, Yang Lidong was sent to the 4th team (the basic construction team). The place took 5-10 points every month off the firm Dafa practitioners, which meant their sentences were prolonged 5-10 days every month. Mr. Yang refused to sign the paperwork and officers Yang Yiping and Zhang Xin beat him with whips made by twisting thick iron wires together. Yang Lidong was covered with blood after the beating, but was still forced to work.
In February 2003, Yang Lidong refused to watch a movie that slandered Dafa. He also refused slave labor. Yang was locked in a small cell. After Yang got out of the small cell, he was locked in a "strict-monitoring" cell. There, he had no freedom and was tortured mentally and physically for a long time. Yang was persecuted until he was emaciated and had a big hump on his back. He could only walk by dragging himself and was denied medical treatment. The police would not allow him to study Falun Dafa teachings and do the exercises. On February 7, 2004, the labor camp would not release him when he had served his term and tried to force him to write the "Guarantee Statement" (1). Yang refused to do so. By February 22, 2004, Yang's life was in danger and the labor camp officials did not want to be responsible for his death. They asked the Tuanjie Police Station to take him back. Yang has still not recovered.
Note:
(1) Guarantee Statement -- A statement to declare that one is remorseful for practicing Falun Gong and guarantees not to practice Falun Gong again, not to go to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong, and never again associate with any Falun Dafa practitioners.
(Clearwisdom.net)
Accusation Letter
The Supreme Procuratorate of the People's Republic of China
The Supreme Procuratorate of Heilongjiang Province
We are Falun Dafa practitioners that were illegally held Harbin City Prison. We hereby accuse the unlawful criminal actions of the Harbin City Prison personnel.
During the time that we were in Harbin Prison, the law-enforcement personnel in the prison carried out the so-called "forced education" to achieve their hypocritical political goals. They implemented extreme inhumane persecution and ill-treatment to Falun Dafa practitioners in the prison, which resulted in the death of two practitioners. (Wang Weihua in No. 2 Ward died on June 9, 2003; Wang Dayuan in No. 2 Ward died on April 5, 2004.) Several dozens of other people suffered brutality and torture of different degrees. Those who suffered heavily became handicapped due to the untreatable outcome of the persecution.
The hatchet men-like behavior of some police personnel and their assistants have brought huge physical and mental trauma to the Dafa practitioners and their families. Those personnel have also severely violated the Chinese Constitution, the Prison Law as well as the Human Rights Declaration and the Convention for Politics, Economics and Culture that our country has signed with the United Nations. As victims, we hope that the Procuratorate will thoroughly investigate these incidences and bring the criminals to justice.
Accusants:
Thirty Dafa disciples now transferred and imprisoned in Daqing City Prison
Wang Shusen, Xia Yong, Bu Fanwei, Zhang Zidong, Cheng Yu, Zou Guoyan, Deng Qingshan, Zhang Yuliang, Yang Yizhong, Qiu Xuezhi, Zhang Xiufeng, Liu Guifu, Li Zhanbin, Cheng Peiming, Sun Tienong, Gong Haiou, Wu Chunwen, Wang Yudong, Sun Renhui, Zhang Jian, Sun Dianbin, Li Chengyi, Wang Mi, Li Huifeng, Chen Chunlin, Yuan Qingjiang, Chen Fukui, Zhao Qingshan, Liu Jingfeng, Li Chao
July 8, 2004
(Clearwisdom.net)
Ning Bo is a 73-year-old Dafa practitioner from Xi'an Village, Dawa County, Panjin City, in Liaoning Province. On May 19, 2004, he was abducted from his home by director Zhang Mingjiang and instructor Gao Xianbao from the Xi'an Police Station. While being taken to Dawa County Detention Center, he was brutally beaten by Zhang and Gao. When his family went to the detention center to see him on June 9, 2004, they found he suffered severe injuries all over his body. He lost hearing in his right ear and he couldn't move his right arm. His lower back was severely injured and he couldn't walk on his own. Ning Bo told his family that after being beaten, he sometimes feels dizzy and muddleheaded. On June 7, he even passed out for over an hour. Ning Bo's family went to Xi'an Police Station to argue with Zhang Mingjiang, but Zhang didn't show up for three days in a row. Later Ning Bo's family filed a lawsuit against Zhang and Gao. Finally the Prosecutor's House has accepted the case. Learning of the news, Zhang was very scared and shocked. He was outraged that someone dared to sue him. He claimed that he would seek revenge from Ning Bo's family. At present, Ning Bo is still being detained in Dawa County Detention Center to be persecuted.
Xi'an Police Station: 86-427-8892110
Zhang Mingjiang: 86-427-8892541 (office); 86-427-6870056 (home)
Zhang Mingjiang's wife Wang Chunxiang: 86-427-6870166 (office)
Dawa County Political and Legal Committee Party Secretary: 86-427-6862905
Dawa County Police Department Chief Yang Wanguo: 86-427-2684201
Dawa County Police Department Deputy Chief Liu Jingli: 86-427-2684007 (in charge of persecuting Falun Gong)
Dawa County Police Department Political Security Division Chief Yu Chenghua
Dawa County Detention Center: 86-427-2684130
Dawa County Detention Center Director: Deng Guorong
Dawa County Detention Center Deputy Director: Dai Shujie
Dawa County zipcode: 124000
(Clearwisdom.net) There is an old lady from Qingdao City of Shandong Province, who is turned 87 this year. A few years ago, she was diagnosed with a stroke and relied heavily on injections and medications each day to survive. In July 2003, she suddenly couldn't move and was taken to hospital for emergency treatment. The doctor said that the blood vessels in her brain were all dead and nothing could cure it. She stayed hospitalised for a while and was still unable to move. Soon it was August and the illness became worse. The doctors couldn't do much more after giving her emergency treatment, so they sent her home to rely on daily injections to survive. The old lady lay in bed every day without being able to move at all and she could only eat a spoonful of food at each meal. She just wanted to die because the suffering was too much.
At that time, her eldest daughter came and told her about the truth of Falun Gong. Her daughter is a practitioner and she told her, "Mom, only Falun Dafa can save you." Initially the old lady could not believe in any of her daughter's words because she was fully affected by the lies and propaganda about Falun Dafa on TV. Her daughter told the old lady, "Falun Gong teaches people to be kind to others, to be good people, and one should consider others first and one should look within oneself if there is a conflict. Many also experience magnificent health improvements." Slowly the old lady started to understand the truth and some of the principles of Dafa. Her daughter taught her to say: "Falun Dafa is good" and "Truth-Compassion-Tolerance is good." The old lady recited these words every morning, and before sleep. About 2 months later, she miraculously began to be able to move her limbs; soon she was able to eat, and within another 10 days all the symptoms she had all disappeared!
The old lady was very excited saying, "Falun Dafa is so magnificent. As long as I truly thought and recited to myself: ¡®Falun Dafa is good' and ¡®Truth-Compassion-Tolerance is good', my illnesses which the hospital couldn't treat suddenly recovered. Falun Dafa has truly saved my life!" The old lady became very energetic. In her dream, she saw Master Li helping her to eliminate her karma. One month later, she was even able to wash her clothes herself. Later, she started to listen to Master's Fa lecture cassettes. The more she listened, the more she enjoyed listening to them. For the next several months, the old lady was doing very well, able to eat and sleep like a normal person.
In March and April this year, however, the old lady suddenly experienced karma-dissolving tribulation 4-5 times. One night, she suddenly couldn't move and the symptom was similar to the emergency situations she'd had in the past. Her family members were afraid that she couldn't move again and the children all came to her bed and asked if she wanted to be taken to the emergency section. But the old lady said: "I've been there before. The hospital even said that they cannot treat me." Her daughter asked her if she was scared, and she answered: "No, Master Li is here. There is nothing to worry about. You can go out now, and I'll be OK tomorrow." Then the old lady slept until the next morning. When her children went to have a look at her, she was sitting on her bed as if nothing happened the night before. The whole family experienced the power of Falun Dafa. She is in great condition now.
This year, when the lady turned 87, the whole family was there to celebrate her birthday. She said: "My life today has been given by Falun Dafa, by Master Li. If there wasn't Falun Dafa, I wouldn't be able to sit happily here today. I don't know how I can express my gratitude towards Dafa and towards Master Li. I will take Master's teachings seriously and cultivate myself diligently." Nowadays all her family as well as friends have all witnessed the power of Dafa and Master Li's compassion, and are now able to be freed from Jiang's lies. Some of them even began their own cultivation path in Falun Dafa.
2004-7-18
(Clearwisdom.net) On July 22, 2004, US Congressman Chris Van Hollen from Maryland presented a citation to Falun Gong practitioners of the world in support and recognition of their efforts to end the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners in China and around the world.
Chris Van Hollen
Member of Congress
8th District, Maryland
This Citation Is Presented To
Falun Gong Practitioners of the World
In support and Recognition
Of your efforts to end the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners in China and around the world. I commend your Great Wall of Courage and Persecution Meets Principle art exhibit. May your bravery and courage give you strength in the face of adversity.
Chris Van Hollen
Member of Congress
On This Day
July Twenty-Second, Two Thousand and Four
August 2, 2004
It is confirmed that since the former president of China Jiang Zemin issued the order to persecute Falun Gong in July 1999, Chen Zhili, Minister of Education from 1998 to 2003, has been treading on Jiang's heels and became an active advocator and a willing participant in Jiang's genocide policy against Falun Gong in China's educational system.
The persecution of Falun Gong has penetrated into all venues of education, including graduate schools, colleges, middle schools, primary schools, and even kindergartens, and is unprecedented in the education history of the world in terms of the ranges it has reached, the vast number of people it has victimized and the depth to which these people have been persecuted, and the vicious approaches it has adopted.
Chen took advantage of her special relationship with Jiang Zemin and the privileges she thus received to forcibly carry out Jiang's genocide policy within China's educational system.
She held numerous meetings to personally deploy Jiang's order; she issued documents in the name of the Ministry of Education and carried out a Cultural-Revolution-like pledge in all levels of schools in China, demanding everyone, ranging from faculty members, staffs, to students to speak out against Falun Gong; she forced these people to watch slanderous propaganda movies; she launched the Million Signature campaign to force students to sign a petition against Falun Gong; she directed the Ministry to compile teaching materials and exam papers, including college and graduate school entrance exams, with anti-Falun Gong materials.
She went so far as to use the anti-Falun Gong programs produced by the Chinese Central TV Station (CCTV) as study material in normal schools to infuse animosity into the minds of future teachers in an effort to accomplish long-term mind control.
Documented Cases fall into the following categories:
1. Physical and Mental Torture of Teachers and Students Who Practiced Falun Gong
2. Inciting Hatred and Using Youths to Start Mass Anti-Falun Gong Movement
3. Utilizing the National Resources Designated for Educational Development to Repress, Slander Falun Gong
4. Exporting the Persecution to the International Community
Detailed reports can be found in the main body of the report that is downloadable from at the following link:
http://www.flgjustice.org/report/Reports_TextOnly.zip
http://www.flgjustice.org/report/Reports_withPictures.zip
Source http://sydney.indymedia.org/front.php3?article_id=44271&group=webcast
Press Release
WASHINGTON, DC, July 29, 2004 -U.S. delegates to this weekend's Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meeting in Singapore should pressure China to grant full religious liberty to its citizens, Freedom House's Center for Religious Freedom said today.
Non-official Chinese churches and practitioners of Falun Gong are particularly persecuted by Chinese authorities. "Religious persecution is on the upswing in China," said Center for Religious Freedom director Nina Shea. "It is imperative that the U.S. delegation to APEC make clear to their Chinese counterparts that restrictions on religious freedom are intolerable."
Draconian measures have been taken against practitioners of Falun Gong, A peaceful spiritual movement founded in China that promotes meditation and physical exercises. In 1999, the government outlawed the movement, which has at least 100 million members. Hundreds of thousands of members have since been detained, and approximately 100,000 are estimated to have been sent to labor camps. At least 1,000 members have been killed in custody, according to the Falun Dafa Information Center, which monitors Chinese repression of Falun Gong.
According to a recent survey conducted by Forum 18, a Norwegian religious news service, the Chinese government blocks access to Internet sites related to Falun Gong, Protestant house churches, and major Protestant and Catholic organizations, including the Vatican.
The U.S. State Department has named China a country of particular Concern (CPC) for "systematic, ongoing, and egregious violations" of religious freedom.
July 31, 2004 Saturday Final Edition
Most of us are familiar by now with the disturbing images of the abuse to
which the Iraqi prisoners have been subjected by their U.S. captors while being
detained.
As the world expresses its indignation over such disgusting displays of cruelty,
we remain almost silent and even unperturbed by China's systematic persecution
of millions of its own citizens because they wish to practise the meditation
system of Falun Gong.
The persecution was launched by dictator Jiang Zemin five years ago this month
in a fanatical effort to eradicate the group, and since then countless people
have been detained, tortured and murdered. The human rights group Freedom House
estimates that as many as 10,000 are dead and/or missing. Catholics who follow
Papal authority and others with their own spiritual beliefs are suffering a
similar plight.
As our Canadian government develops an ever closer relationship with the most
populous nation on earth, do we not trade something of our conscience when
remaining silent in the face of such injustice? All forms of terrorism are
abhorrent, and while our attention is focussed on Iraq, China's regime remains
largely unchallenged over its human rights atrocities.
Terrorism is not exclusive to certain factions. It is time to take a stand
against man's inhumanity to man on all fronts, against every despot and
dictator. As Edmund Burke said, "All that is necessary for evil to triumph
is for good men to do nothing."
Joan Delaney,
Victoria.
July 29, 2004
By Andy Carvin of the EDC Center for Media & Community
Crossing through the Boston Common during lunch today I happened upon a large Falun Gong protest decrying the treatment of its practitioners by the Chinese government. When I lived in DC, the Falun Gong were a fixture of north Dupont Circle, where they camped out and meditated in front of the Chinese ambassador's residence. Here in Boston, though, they've added rather graphic visuals to their protest.
Along the main path that crosses through the Common, Falun Gong [practitioners] (1) have set up human dioramas depicting torture of their [practitioners]. In one booth, a woman in a blood-spattered blouse hangs from two ropes as a baton-wielding thug stands behind her. To her left, an old woman sits on the ground, her right hand pressed onto a small table, as two men pull out her fingernails. Another woman is bound inside an animal cage, while yet another woman, in a large cage, is forced to work a Singer sewing machine, producing goods labeled "Made in China."
A Falun Gong [practitioner] protests by posing in a cage
Beyond the torture exhibit, more Falun Gong could be seen
meditating and practicing [tai chi ¨Clike exercises], as can be seen in this
video clip.... -andy
http://edwebproject.org/andy/blog/000589.html
(1) Note: The term "member" was replaced with "practitioner."
(Clearwisdom.net) On July 29, 2004, Dan Sanchez wrote a critical letter to SanGabriel Valley Tribune (CA) about local government officials' improper comments on Falun Gong. Mr. Sanchez pointed out that Falun Gong is now freely practiced in more than 60 countries while unfortunately it is being suppressed in China since 1999. Because of the persecution, he said that there is documentation of at least 1,000 practitioners being persecuted to death, while actually number is much higher.
"Hundreds of thousands have been detained, with hundreds of thousands sentenced to prisons, forced labor camps, brainwashing centers, and mental hospitals, typically without trial," Mr. Sanchez wrote in the letter.
Dan said that his own daughter Gina went to Tiananmen Square to tell Chinese that Falun Gong is good and is being freely practiced in many other nations. Gina and other western fellows were brutalized and arrested by Chinese police, Dan said.
In conclusion, Dan said: "Local U.S. government officials should support efforts to eradicate human rights abuses and not knowingly or unknowingly repeat defamatory slander against persecuted groups like Falun Gong."
(Clearwisdom.net) On July 23, 2004, to commemorate over 1,000 Falun Gong practitioners who have been confirmed persecuted to death in China, Falun Gong practitioners gathered at the Chinese Consulate in Gothenburg to hold a peaceful candlelit vigil.
The practitioners practiced the Falun Gong exercises and sent forth righteous thoughts together at the Chinese Consulate. Many cars honked their horns in encouragement. Today, it is now more than five years since the Chinese regime started to persecute Falun Gong practitioners. Sadly enough, this persecution has spread beyond China's borders in different forms through the Chinese Embassies and Consulates.
Through our peaceful activity, we wish to make clear to the representatives from the Chinese regime at the Consulate that this brutal persecution against Falun Gong practitioners must come to an end immediately. The costs of this persecution in terms of human lives and resources are huge and disastrous. We also want to appeal to the staff of the Consulate that they should follow their conscience and not the illegal orders from the Jiang group to participate in this persecution of innocent people abroad.
Source: http://clearharmony.net/articles/200408/21139.html
(Clearwisdom.net) In order to have more Chinese people know the truth of Falun Dafa and the persecution, I overcame difficulties and went to Hong Kong on three occasions to clarify the truth to Chinese tourists at popular scenic sites. Several practitioners came to a scenic site where Chinese tourists had enjoyed a light show at night and were waiting for the bus to go back to the hotel. There were crowds of tourists. When we explained the facts of Falun Gong and the persecution to one tourist from China, others around could hear too. Hong Kong practitioners set up poster boards with photos showing the facts of the persecution and played truth-clarification movies. Tourists from Mainland China watched the movies, read the posters, and listened to our explanations.
There are crowds of Chinese tourists at the Hong Kong dock, the bus station and scenic sitesAfter the experience of face-to-face truth-clarification, I returned to Taiwan and made phone calls to explain the facts to more Chinese people on the Mainland. Now, making truth-clarification calls is very easy for me. I don't have any fear and I am not moved even when being verbally abused. In considering the security of our fellow practitioners on the Mainland, we overseas practitioners should make more efforts to call those people and departments that are directly involved in the persecution.
(Clearwisdom.net) On July 16, a group of Falun Gong practitioners from Northern England finished the third "Car Tour" activity. Practitioners visited five different cities in Northern England. They promoted Falun Gong and let people know about the five-year campaign of genocide that has been waged against the practice.
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Practitioners visited Leeds, Huddersfield, York, Middlesbrough and Darlington. In each of these cities they distributed leaflets, demonstrated the five sets of Falun Gong exercises and collected petition signatures to support the rescue of UK practitioners' friends or relatives who are suffering in Chinese prisons and labor camps because they practice Falun Gong. A separate group of practitioners visited the council and media to tell them about the persecution.
Some people did not need any encouragement to sign the petition forms and rushed to do so as soon as they looked at the posters exposing the persecution. Many were shocked by the torture and suppression depicted on the posters and could not believe that such a thing is happening in the world today.
Two young people stood in front of our exhibition stand for a long time. One of them said, "It is totally without reason, it is too crazy!" They said they could not understand how people can be persecuted for doing such peaceful exercises. They came to ask practitioners for more information that they can distribute to let others know about this persecution.
There were also many Chinese people who came to know the truth. Two Chinese ladies came to our exhibition stand and accepted some information. However, one of them did not know the truth of the persecution. Due to the rumors and propaganda of the state-controlled media in Mainland China she had developed some misunderstandings. A practitioner told her the truth about what is happening in China. Her friend was already aware of the persecution and said to her, "If you practice Falun Gong in China, the neighborhood committee, local police station and neighbors will all watch on your every move." After discovering the truth, she said good-bye to practitioners with a smile. There were also people asking about the details of free local Falun Gong exercise classes. Some of them even started to learn the exercises immediately.
The practitioners who visited the media and local council felt that this was an effective approach. The Huddersfield Daily Mail published a special report on our activities, Falun Gong spreading to over 60 countries around the world and the persecution in China.
Source: http://clearharmony.net/articles/200408/21151.html
(Clearwisdom.net) To mark the fifth year in the Jiang regime's relentless persecution of Falun Gong, practitioners from Nordrhein-Westfalen and Dortmund organized two exhibitions to explain the facts about Falun Gong and the persecution. In the afternoon of July 20, practitioners came to the City Administrative Square in Nordrhein-Westfalen. They demonstrated the beauty of Dafa and exposed the persecution by the Jiang regime.
When practitioners arrived at the square, it was raining heavily. The city government kindly provided permission for us to set up our stand under the roof of the building. When we finished sending righteous thoughts for the first time, the rain stopped. Passersby no longer hurried past with their umbrellas and took a look at our exercise demonstration and enquired about the persecution. Because another activity was taking place in the square, there were many young people around. Classes of pupils led by their teacher came to attend the activity. Many pupils wanted to find out more and were keen to take our leaflets. When they asked their teacher about our appeal, we could hear their teacher explaining to them about the human rights abuse of Falun Gong in China and what Falun Gong is. This showed that the truth about the persecution is becoming known widely. A councilor of the city government was very kind to us and signed our petition to show his support for Falun Gong and his opposition to the persecution.
Later, practitioners came to Dortmund city center to hold a live anti-torture exhibition. They used posters and live demonstrations to expose the brutality of the persecution endured by Falun Gong practitioners in China. The torture scenes shocked many people and the poster displays were also very effective. Streams of people came to sign our petition to express their support for Falun Gong and to denounce the Jiang regime's human rights abuses.
Source: http://clearharmony.net/articles/200408/21144.html
(Clearwisdom.net) The Grand Day Parade was held in the city of Minneapolis in July. Falun Gong practitioners' procession appeared in this parade for the first time and won rounds upon rounds of applauses. Many people happily waved their hands towards practitioners. Some made hand gesture as letter "V" to wish practitioners success in stopping the persecution with their peaceful movements. Most people, including Chinese people, were willing to accept truth-clarifying materials handed out by practitioners. The parade organizer appreciated our float very much. She said to us, "Thank you for bringing us such a beautiful float!"
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Shared at 2004 Washington DC Falun Dafa Conference
(Clearwisdom.net) Greetings to venerable Teacher and fellow practitioners,
I remember that, on my cultivation path, I used to always think about how to pass a certain test or how to eliminate a certain attachment. At the end of last year when I thought back about my cultivation path, everything became so simple. That is, when I put together the several incidents that had the biggest impact on me, I realized that the cultivation path is a journey of cultivating "selflessness."
After I'd been practicing Falun Gong for about a year, whenever I read the part in Zhuan Falun that says, "But as more beings are created, community-like social relationships form. Some of the beings might grow selfish and gradually lower their levels, so they can't stay at that level and have to drop," I always wondered why it said that selfishness might "grow stronger" instead of that selfishness might "form." At that time I couldn't quickly find the answer to this question so I didn't think much about it. Through studying the Fa constantly, my understanding now is that "selfishness" must have permeated all the way up to very high levels. The level we are supposed to cultivate to is the level at which we are no longer selfish.
In 1998, I took a required course in Law. The professor who taught the class talked very fast. Half of the people in my class took a small recorder with them and taped the professor's lectures. I did very well on the first exam, so gradually some of my classmates wanted to start borrowing my notes. Without any hesitation I lent my notes to three or four classmates, then to seven or eight classmates. But when half of the class and even people from other classes wanted to borrow my notes, I started to feel increasingly unsettled. I thought to myself, "Don't you all have your tape recordings, why don't you go home and transcribe from your tape recordings? I had to spend a whole night transcribing from my tape and you people just casually take away the notes that I worked so hard on." As a cultivator I clearly knew that it was my attachment that was at work, therefore, whether I liked it or not, I never refused any classmate's request.
In March 2001, during the sessions of Geneva's human rights commission, I went to Geneva to join the peaceful activities. On my way back to my hotel after attending an activity, I passed by some stores and saw a handbag that I liked very much. I wanted to purchase the handbag but my husband disagreed, and in the end I didn't buy it. I was very unhappy. I just couldn't understand--my husband never cared what I bought before, why would he just not let me buy it this time? However, while being unhappy, at the same time I also thought about what attachment I needed to discard. While on the flight back to New York, there were two "me's" asking and answering questions back and forth. The me on the one side asked, "If all the money you make were spent on making truth-clarification materials, and not one penny was spent on yourself, would you embrace that?"
When I was asked that question, the "me" that felt wronged was caught by surprise, "Wow, not a penny for myself! But, I made the money, can't I spend a little?" The "me" on the other side replied firmly, "No, not a penny for yourself, and you would live in a shed and drink plain tea and eat simple food. Your whole salary would be spent on making truth-clarification materials. Would you embrace that?"
Asking myself that question, the "me" that was an ordinary person started to hesitate. A picture actually started to form in my mind: a small shed standing in the wilderness; the wind continuously blowing away the straw on its roof; only one bed in the shed; me standing right by the bed, with a bowl in my hand in which there's only rice soaked in water.
Although I was just asking myself the question, I felt as if I had personally gone through the experience of losing my home that I always thought was a comfortable one, not spending any of my salary on myself, and eating rice soaked in water in that shed with nothing but bare walls.
I thought for a while and told myself, one word at a time, "I - would - embrace - it."
As soon as that thought emerged, I felt a release in my mind. I suddenly understood something that I had not been able to understand.
Once, several fellow practitioners came over to my home. During lunch a practitioner accidentally stained my new tablecloth. The fellow practitioner felt very bad about it. At the time I did not really mind and thought to myself, "I'll just wash it and it'll be okay." When I discovered that I couldn't wash it out, right away I got upset about it, and I started to complain about that fellow practitioner's carelessness. At the time I didn't realize why I thought it was okay when I assumed the dirty tablecloth could be washed clean, yet started to complain when I found out that it couldn't.
When I decided to embrace the idea of living in a shed, drinking plain tea and eating simple food, and giving up all the money I make and not leaving a penny for myself, I understood the following: I used to think that I was "selfless," but actually, that was not "selfless," that was just a display of ordinary human generosity where the precondition was that my self-interest would go unharmed.
At the end of 2001 I became an official part of the TV station. Before the TV programs were to be broadcasted via satellite, we had about two months to practice and prepare. During that time I went to the TV station after I got off work. Going home around 12:30 a.m. was considered early for me, and instead, I usually went home at around 1 a.m. Practitioners whose job was program editing worked even harder--they usually couldn't leave until 3 or 4 a.m. And we all had to work the next day.
The first training I had was in pronunciation and makeup. A fellow practitioner whose profession was in makeup taught me how to put it on. I looked at the cosmetics on the desk and could only recognize a few of them, and even then I didn't know how to use them. Of course, makeup was just one of the many things--there was hair, clothing, accessories, and then when I'm on the air, there's the expression on my face, the tone I use, and the speed and articulation of my words. Putting all these elements together presents to the viewers the whole image of a TV anchorperson, and at the same time, the image of an anchorperson is also the image of a TV station.
During the two months of practicing for the satellite launch, something happened that had an enormous impact on my cultivation.
One night I was rehearsing for reporting TV news. I rehearsed with a program editor, and we rehearsed as if we were actually making the news program. I was in front of the camera from 8 p.m. until 12 o'clock midnight. On my way home I thought, "After four hours of work, we should probably have produced a half-hour news program." The next day I asked the editor, "How long was the news program we produced last night?" "Ten minutes," he said. I couldn't believe my ears, so I asked, "Only ten minutes of news?" "Yup, only ten minutes." On my way home I kept thinking, "Four hours for ten minutes. So in order to do a thirty-minute news program, we'll have to work twelve hours. If we started working at 8 p.m. and worked until 8 a.m. the next morning, then I would be able to make it to work by 9 a.m." I thought I could stay up and work all night. But I didn't know how long I could last.
Ever since I started practicing Falun Gong, I had never been fearful of any tribulation or test, because I have Dafa, and as long as I study the Fa I can pass any test. Nevertheless, at that time, I felt that making a half-hour news program was harder than climbing up to the sky. I thought about how some other practitioners who did truth-clarification work, consistently and clearly understood what they were doing. Then I thought about myself. I understood before that what I did was necessary for truth-clarification, yet now I was doing ordinary people's programs. How do I understand the connection between that and truth-clarification and saving sentient beings? Should I go back to doing what I used to do? Some practitioners had already filled the roles I had left. Should I continue doing TV programs? After thinking about all this, I still wasn't able to understand the link between what I was doing and validating Dafa and saving sentient beings. At that time I felt deeply that not being able to find my role in validating the Fa and saving sentient beings was something more painful than any other tribulation or test I had ever encountered in my cultivation.
Then the 2002 New York Fa Conference took place and Teacher sent out a congratulatory statement. I kept reciting these words from the "Congratulatory Statement to the New York Fa Conference," "At present, all that you are doing is the most sacred, all that you are doing is for the sentient beings..." I told myself, "Teacher said that what we're doing is the most sacred, so that must also include the TV programs that I'm working on. Teacher affirmed what we're doing. Just go ahead and do it and it will be alright, and I'll be doing what a Falun Dafa disciple is supposed to do." I kept reciting those words in order to strengthen my righteous thoughts.
During those few days, I kept reciting another sentence from that same congratulatory statement: "...everything of yours that is pure and righteous will be what ensures that the colossal firmament has formation and stasis, but not destruction." I enlightened from Teacher's words that how long future beings live depends on how pure and righteous my cultivation is. The more pure and righteous my cultivation is, the longer those beings will live.
One day while on my way to work, I thought to myself, in order for those beings to live longer, I have to make more sacrifices in my cultivation now. I do not know how many beings there will be in my world in the future. And even if there are only about a dozen of them, in order for them to live longer, no matter how difficult it is, I'll persist in cultivating and making it through.
As soon as this thought came out, I immediately felt a release in my mind. The attachments that I did not know how to get rid of just a few seconds ago now disappeared completely. At that moment I felt a thought coming from a very distant place and connected straight to me in this dimension: "In this cosmos, a being exists for the benefit of sentient beings--that is the most meaningful life."
At that moment, I had a new understanding of cultivation. To me, cultivation instantly became very simple and turned into a simple sentence: "Teacher uses this great Fa to teach me how to be selfless."
Afterwards, I did TV programs calmly and steadily.
Once when I was in front of the camera, I asked myself, "What do I have that can compare with America's main TV anchors?" I thought about my hair, makeup, clothing and reporting skills, and I said to myself, "Nothing." Those anchormen have professionals to market them, while I have to rely on myself and I cannot use other practitioners' time for that. Then I thought, "What do I have?" And I told myself, "I have Dafa. I want to display in front of the camera the peace and kindness that we cultivate from Falun Dafa, through my expressions and words, so that viewers can feel Falun Dafa's goodness through a cultivator's peace and kindness."
Here, I'd also like to mention another thing. On an extremely busy night, in the time spent from 8 p.m. to 12 a.m., I did a total of five programs, which included one five-minute program, one fifteen-minute program and three half-hour programs.
At the end of last year, I wasn't able to handle well the matter of spending time helping a friend who was a non-practitioner and I was caught up in human affection and could not break out of it. I felt that when I tried to follow Dafa disciples' standards to cultivate away human affection, everything in this dimension clung tightly to me and would not let me go. I told myself, as if I was telling those substances that I could not see, "No matter how difficult it is, I will definitely do what Teacher asks us to do. If I followed human attachments, I'd be walking toward a dead end. Only by doing what Teacher asks us to do can we have a bright future."
I understood that it was very important to clarify the truth. I also understood that I should put my mind to saving people. Yet, on the other hand I told myself, "Recently your cultivation was awful, why don't you cultivate yourself well first?" Then, more and more I thought about myself, and in the end I started to worry that I might have fallen down because I hadn't done well. Worrying about my cultivation level was an attachment I had when I first started practicing Falun Dafa. I thought to myself, "It's been so many years since that time, how come I've started to worry about this again?" For about two days what I thought was just, "Have I fallen?"
I knew that such a state was not right, so I calmed my mind and sorted out my thoughts. I asked myself, "What's the most important responsibility for a Falun Dafa disciple at present?" "It's clarifying the truth." "And what are you doing?" "I'm worried that I might have fallen." All of a sudden I realized: It turns out that when time is so precious and should be used to save sentient beings, I've been spending my precious time worrying about if I've fallen. It all boils down to being selfish. I told myself, even if I have fallen all the way down to the bottom, today I'll cultivate back up, starting from ground zero.
As soon as this thought emerged, all the other thoughts that interfered with me immediately disappeared.
Clarifying the truth is for the sake of saving sentient beings. Cultivating oneself well is also for the sake of saving sentient beings. Whenever I read this line, "And when you return, they will truly regard you as their Lord, their King, and have boundless reverence for you, because you saved them, you sacrificed for them, and you gave them everything they have," (Touring North America to Teach the Fa) I feel that countless pairs of eyes in this cosmos are watching me and these countless pairs of eyes are filled with expectation. I remind myself that I must cultivate myself well. I must live up to their expectation.
Teacher has saved me. I am giving my life to sentient beings. I'm using each and every moment of my eternal life that exists for sentient beings to be worthy of Teacher's grace in saving me.
(Clearwisdom.net) This coming November will see the U.S. presidential election that takes place every four years. After finding out that the Democratic Party presidential candidates would come to North Carolina and hold a campaign activity one Saturday at the North Carolina State University, local practitioners realized that this would be a good opportunity to inform a lot of people about the persecution and the goodness of Falun Dafa.
The meeting site was scheduled to open to the public at 1 p.m., and the two candidates would then make an appearance and address the crowd at 4:30 p.m. Although all the practitioners are busy with many other activities related to Falun Dafa, some practitioners still proposed to go to the site early and distribute fliers so that people would have a chance to see Falun Dafa for what it truly is.
If we look at this from a non-cultivator's perspective, the rally is a political activity, and those who practice Falun Dafa should never participate in any politics. Teacher (1) said,
"Other than doing a good job with his work, a cultivator will not be interested in politics or political power of any sort; failing this, he absolutely isn't my disciple."
("Cultivation Practice is Not Politics" from Essentials for Further Advancement)
If we distribute fliers near the meeting site, will the organizers and the public misunderstand us? The practitioners taking part realized that as long as we keep a righteous mind and are clear on the fact that the purpose of our activity is only to tell people that "Falun Dafa is good," that the persecution has now been going on in China for the past five years, and also to inform them about the shooting incident in South Africa.
We wondered how we could distribute the fliers in a rational way? Teacher told us to think of others first in doing anything. We thought of the hosts and respected that it was their event so we chose a site near the entrance where we wouldn't cause a disturbance to those coming to the activity to distribute the fliers.
Some other practitioners practiced the five-sets of Falun Gong exercises in a grassy area nearby. A staff member came to inquire what we were doing, worrying that the practitioners' distributing fliers might have an adverse effect towards the candidates. We told him that we were not protesting the meeting and that we were only hoping to let people know the true situation of the persecution. Practitioners explained that one of the candidates clearly indicated (in his letter to some practitioners) his belief that the persecution of Falun Gong is a blatant act against human rights, and that he has been seeking for a dialogue with the Chinese Government with regards to the Falun Gong issue. The staff member was relieved, and he then proceeded to support and help the practitioners.
Although it was a very hot day, about 25,000 people showed up, far more than had been estimated. Most people accepted the fliers that we handed to them as they waited in line to enter. Over a thousand fliers were passed out in a short time. The practitioners present all realized that the fliers they prepared were not nearly enough. While waiting in line, many people read the fliers and some even started to talk about the persecution, finding the brutal torture used against Falun Dafa practitioners in China inconceivable. A lady returned to the practitioners after she read the fliers and asked the practitioners whether they had sought help from Amnesty International. Some even returned to ask for a few more fliers for their friends.
Some citizens and volunteers of the event gave practitioners several tickets, so some practitioners could go inside. They distributed informational packages to all the media present. Some reporters said that they already knew about the persecution of Falun Gong. Some practitioners hoped to get close to the stage so that they could have a chance to talk to the candidates and clarify the truth to them, but it was very crowded and they were not able to approach them.
At the Fa (2) study session on the next day, practitioners exchanged their experiences, thinking that the fliers were well prepared: they are very easy to carry, so people tend to accept them.
This is the first time practitioners in North Carolina clarified the truth at such an activity. Some opportunities were missed because we weren't familiar with the situation. The practitioners all stayed in only one area outside. They missed other areas and did not clarify the truth to the media and the politicians. Many Congressmen from North Carolina were present. They gave their greetings to the citizens on their way to the entrance. Had the practitioners done a better preparation job, they could have clarified the truth better to the politicians and media before the event started.
A practitioner shared his experience about distributing the fliers, saying: "It is very important to keep a righteous mind while passing out the fliers. Whether I truly cherish each flier and realize how solemn and precious the fliers are, and whether my mind is pure all the time. When my righteous thought is very strong, people can feel it. When I sincerely looked into their eyes for even one second, I could feel at that moment that their knowing side is very clear about how precious the fliers are."
Another practitioner said that when we cherish everyone we meet so that they could also share the truth about Falun Gong to their friends and relatives.
Notes:
(1) Teacher - referring to the founder of Falun Gong, Mr. Li Hongzhi
(2) Fa - universal principle, Falun Dafa teachings
(Clearwisdom.net)
When I was a student, given my financial situation, I could only selectively attend one or two Falun Dafa experience sharing conferences each year. But, I made sure to attend the Washington DC Falun Dafa experience sharing conference every year. I started on a job this year and my financial situation has improved, but I have few holidays left. I cherish every precious chance to share experiences, but I actually feel rather disappointed about this year's conference. The turmoil in the conference room was the worst that I had experienced and the acoustics were also the worst. People who sat in the middle and back of the conference room could barely hear the speeches.
At the very beginning, Teacher came and spoke for 30 minutes. After Teacher left the conference room, nearly all the volunteer security personnel immediately left and the conference hall open to anyone. Many practitioners thought they had achieved the goal of attending the conference (listening to Teacher's speech). Therefore, they attended to "private matters," which included eating, chatting with "old friends," project team meetings, etc. The dining room on the top right side of the conference room was always full of practitioners who were talking and eating.
The hosts asked for silence several times, and for these practitioners to please be more considerate of others, but nothing much changed. In the afternoon, the practitioners sitting in the back of the conference room could not hear the practitioners' speeches, because small meetings were held in the open space at the rear of the conference room. The conference site was noisy and chaotic. Rambunctious children also started to join the main conference hall and even raced around outside the hall in the public areas, deserting their special conference room. The hosts also had to make an announcement about this situation, but little changed.
Later, the fire alarm inside the conference room was set off by mistake, and it lasted for quite a while. The experience sharing ground to a halt. Most practitioners began to send forth righteous thoughts to clear away the interference, but some practitioners left the conference room. Nearly half an hour later, when the problem was finally fixed, the conference room finally was restored to order and quietness.
I think we should all understand clearly that we are responsible for the disorder in what was originally the most dignified and holy of conferences. I was also not righteous at all times. When I was unable to hear the speeches clearly, I began to read new materials instead.
I found also a problem with the activities before the conference. For example, the "Great Wall of Courage" was found to have an actual number of participants much smaller than the numbers announced to the media. Probably there were some detailed operational issues, and the original intention was good. However, we need to look at the actual result of doing things. It was not accidental. Nothing happens by chance. Practitioners can only meet the cultivator's standard when they conduct themselves according to "Truthfulness, Compassion, Forbearance" at all times and in all places. Before and after the DC activities, did we ignore basic cultivation factors and allowed the attachment of doing things and pursuit of greatness and success to dominate our words and deeds?
Also, after the assembly and parade, a large amount of truth-clarification materials were not taken care of properly, so that many were damaged in the rain afterwards. It was not only a waste of money!
When I read that Teacher mentioned, "it is close to return to your real place" (draft translation, from Hongyin II), I felt extraordinarily calm, with no joy or reaction. I asked myself, have I done all I should do? Have I done all well? I hope everyone altogether can walk every step well on the path of cultivation and Fa-rectification, no matter if it is the first step or the last step, no matter if it is the most difficult one or the easiest one, just walk steadfastly, so we won't disappoint all the sentient beings, and so we stay within the bounds of Teacher's guidance.
Once again, I kindly ask everyone to cherish our Falun Dafa experience sharing conferences. Not all practitioners are as fortunate as the practitioners in North America, who can often attend a conference without having to travel far, and listen to Teacher lecturing the Fa in person. Think about the practitioners from abroad who flew across oceans to attend the conference. Their time and financial contributions are far higher than that of the North American practitioners. In some locations, the practitioners have to plan the event as one body, as not all the practitioners who would like to come can be accommodated. Wouldn't they treasure every minute and second of a Fa conference? Let us also think of those practitioners who would like to attend, but are unable due to financial or other hardships. Think of the new practitioners who attended the conference for the first time, and the managers and staff of the conference site, what kind of impression did we leave them?
Note: If you have not used your metro tickets, and if there is still a considerable balance on your Metro pass, please consider mailing it to Washington DC practitioners so the elderly folks who have been going to the Chinese Embassy year after year can ask a little less from their children, or afford a decent lunch.
(Clearwisdom.net)
| Celebrating May 13 World Falun Dafa Day |
| Falun Dafa |
| Falun Dafa is great! |
| Bring back our Teacher's good reputation! |
| Bring Jiang Zemin to Justice |
| Heaven and earth celebrate together World Falun Dafa Day - May 13. |
| Falun Dafa is great! |
| Falun Dafa is great! |
(Clearwisdom.net)
1. [Guizhou City, Guiyang Province] Dafa Practitioners Held in the Zhongba Forced Labor Camp are Forced to Work Nearly Nineteen Hours a Day
The main products of Zhuhai City's Chili Electronics Co. Ltd. in Guangdong Province are colored bulbs. The products are exported to Japan, the U.S., France, and other western countries, but the cheap labor the company uses is Dafa practitioners and criminals held at this and other prisons, and at forced labor camps all over China.
The No. 28 Workshop in the Zhongba Forced Labor Camp of Guiyang City has increased working hours compared with last year. In any 24-hour-day, except for three hours devoted to eating and sleeping, practitioners work the rest time, from 5:00 a.m. until 12:00 a.m. daily.
2. [Kaifeng City, Henan Province] Personnel from the National Security Department Arrest Dafa Practitioners Wang Xiaohua and Yang Yong
At around 2:00 p.m. on Thursday, July 8, 2004, personnel from Kaifeng City's National Security Department arrested Dafa practitioner Wang Xiaohua. They confiscated a laptop computer, a printer, some Dafa truth-clarifying materials, and Dafa books. Later, the personnel ransacked Wang Xiaohua's house once again and confiscated Wang's desktop computer and other personal belongings. Wang Xiaohua was taken to the No. 4 Section of Kaifeng City's Detention Center.
On the night of July 8, 2004, personnel from Kaifeng City's National Security Department broke into Dafa practitioner Yang Yong's home and stated they would "arrest someone." Their charge: Yang Yong has a desktop computer that connects to the Internet. They then grabbed the computer and took Yang Yong to the No. 4 Section of Kaifeng City's Detention Center.
3. [Dalian City, Liaoning Province] Dafa Practitioners Chen Zhanshan and Ying Shifeng Arrested While at Work
On the morning of June 23, 2004, administrator Liu, from the Discipline Committee of Dalian City's Railway Bureau, led security personnel who had collaborated with an official named Ma, and some other personnel from the Wafangdian Railway Police Station, to arrest employee practitioners Chen Zhanshan and Ying Shifeng while they were working. They beat the two practitioners in front of many employees and bystanders. They restrained the practitioners, threw them into a police car, and took them to a so-called "care" school for brainwashing.
Telephone numbers of units and personnel who participated:
(Country code: 86, area code: 413)
Liaoning Province "Care" School (Brainwashing Class): 4460688
Liu Yi, head of the Discipline Committee, Dalian City's Railway Bureau: 82833293
Wafangdian Railway Police Station: 82823139, and 85613043.
4. [Changde City, Hunan Province] Personnel from "610 Office" Take Dafa Practitioner Li Yinhong to a Brainwashing Class
Personnel from Wuling District's "610 Office (1)" forcibly took Dafa practitioner Ms. Li Yinhong from her home and forced her to attend a brainwashing class.
Personnel from the Dingcheng District, Wuling Town's "610 Office" forcibly sent Dafa practitioner Mr. Hu Zhengxi to a mental hospital. The practitioner suffered all kinds of torture.
Zen Fanmin from the Chengdong Police Station forcibly sent Dafa practitioner Ms. Han Changdi to Zhuzhou City's Baimalong Forced Labor Camp to serve a term of one and a half years.
5. [Longxi County, Gansu Province] Dafa Practitioners Yang Faqiang and Wang Yanmei Arrested
In the morning of June 8, 2004, Ma Xianwu, deputy head of Longxi County's Political & Judiciary Committee, led two officers from the County Police Department to the Xijiao Police Station at the Northwestern Aluminum Factory. They called for Dafa practitioner Ms. Wang Yanmei and tricked her into accompanying them into a van parked near the Xijiao Police Station. They then tricked another practitioner, Mr. Yang Faqiang, in a similar manner. Yang Faqiang didn't play along with the persecution against him, and didn't cooperate with their orders and instructions. Eventually, several policemen and eight or nine security personnel from the Northwestern Aluminum Factory forcibly carried him into the van. Later, the two practitioners were sent to Lanzhou City's Gongjiawan Brainwashing Class for further persecution.
6. [Qingyuan County, Liaoning Province] Dafa Practitioners Gao Shan and Gao Guilan Are Abducted and Held in Shenyang City's Dabei Prison
At 2:00 p.m. on July 12, 2004, Dafa practitioners Ms. Gao Shan and her sister, Ms. Gao Guilan from Qingyuan County, were illegally arrested. The persecutors were officials from Qingyuan County's Political and Judiciary Committee, along with Cui Yonggang, the associate warden of the Dashagou Detention Center, who was the former secretary in the police department. The older sister, Gao Guilan, was abducted from her home and Gao Shan was taken from her workplace. According to an insider, officials from the Political and Judiciary Committee and other departments sent the sisters to Shenyang City's Dabei Prison on the second day.
7. [Hebei Province] Dafa Practitioners in Shijiazhuang City's Mine Machinery Limited Company Are Being Persecuted
Since 1999, Fan Xizheng, the former chairman of the Shijiazhuang City's Mine Machinery Limited Company (currently retired), has closely followed Jiang's regime to persecute Dafa practitioners. Several employees who practice Dafa have been unreasonably fired:
Ms. Li Xiumei, an employee of the Power Workshop, has been detained in the Yuejin Police Precinct several times because she appealed for Falun Gong. Later she was fired because of appealing for Falun Gong.
Ms. Wang Shengying, an employee of the Casting Steel Workshop, was fired in 2000 because she appealed for Dafa and openly practiced the Dafa exercises.
Ms. Jing Qiuju, an employee of the Fittings Workshop always worked hard. In 2000, because she refused to give up practicing Falun Gong, her employment contract with the company was suspended.
Ms. Zhao Fengjiang, an employee of the Heat Treatment Workshop, has been detained for one month for distributing truth-clarifying flyers. One year later she was fired because of she refused to give up practicing Falun Gong.
Shijiazhuang City Mine Machinery Limited Company
Address: No. 111, Yuejin Road, Shijiazhuang City, Hebei Province, P. R. China
Phone number: 86-311-5916746
8. [Weifang City, Shandong Province] Dafa Practitioner Lu Hongyue Is Arrested by Officers from Linqu County's Police Department
During the afternoon of July 18, 2004, Dafa practitioner Mr. Lu Hongyue from Weifang City was arrested by policemen from the Linqu County Police Department at a market in the county. Later, lawless policemen searched the store owned by his wife (who currently doesn't practice Dafa) and intended to confiscate a computer, but were stopped by his wife's stern words. Then the policemen forced his wife to leave. They searched Lu Hongyue's house and confiscated his daughter's computer without providing any receipt.
9. [Panzhihua City, Sichuan Province] Ru Chaozhen and Two New Practitioners Are Arrested While Practicing Falun Gong at Home
In July 2004, when Ms. Ru Chaozhen, living at the No. 5 Commune of Shuitang Village, Panlian Town, Miyi County, Panzhihua City, Sichuan Province, and two new practitioners were practicing exercises at home they were reported to the police. Yang Zihua, chief of the National Security Team and policeman Zhou Lin drove two cars to Ru Chaozhen's home. They searched her house without showing any legal documents and confiscated Dafa materials and exercises tapes. Ru Chaozhen is currently being detained at Miyi County's Detention Center. Details about her situation are unknown.
10. [Jilin City, Jilin Province] Arrest of Dafa Practitioner Yu Danjiang
Dafa practitioner Mr. Yu Danjiang is in his 30s, and was previously an employee of Jilin City's Refrigerator Factory. He lives at the factory's residential area in Shijinggou Street, Fengman District, Jilin City. Because he went to Beijing to appeal for Dafa, he was sent to a forced labor camp. Due to the brutal conditions in the camp, he contracted a severe case of scabies and was thus bailed out for treatment. After he had been back home, lawless officers from the Shijinggou Police Precinct often went to his home to harass him. Yu Danjiang's wife couldn't bear such suffering and divorced him. Yu Danjiang also had to leave home to avoid illegal arrest.
Later, Yu Danjiang was arrested twice for clarifying the truth of Falun Gong. He had temporarily lived at his sister's home. At 1:00 p.m. on July 5, 2004, two lawless policemen broke into his sister's house to arrested Yu Danjing without showing an arrest warrant. At the same time they confiscated all Dafa materials. Currently, Yu Danjiang is being held at Jilin City's No. 3 Detention Center.
11. [Jilin City, Jilin Province] Persecution of Practitioner Ma Yan
Practitioner Ms. Ma Yan from Shijinggou Village, Fengman District, Jilin City, is in her 30s. She has benefited both physically and mentally since starting to practice Falun Gong in 1998. After July 20, 1999, when the persecution began, she took the initiative to clarify the truth of Falun Gong. One time when she visited a practitioner in Changchun City's Heizuizi Forced Labor Camp, she tore all the slogans slandering Dafa off the walls in the labor camp.
In November 2000, Long Zhi, the Fengman District Shijinggou Precinct police chief, levied unjust charges against Ma Yan and sentenced her to three years of forced labor in the Heizuizi Forced Labor Camp.
While in the No. 3 Division of the labor camp, and subjected to police threats, horrific treatment, and brainwashing, Ma Yan embraced a wrongful path, taking part in persecuting Dafa practitioners and defaming Dafa, which left some stains on her own cultivation path. At the end of 2003 she was released, before the expiration of her detention term.
After returning home, free from the threats in that evil den, Ma Yan regained her clear mind. With other practitioners' help she studied the Fa and discovered her serious problems. After becoming clearheaded, she published her solemn announcement to rectify her own path. When she began making up for the losses she caused and again joined Master's Fa-rectification process, officers from the Shijinggou Police Precinct again persecuted her.
On July 15, three policemen including Ni Jun abducted Ma Yan from her downstairs neighbor and forced her to open her own home. These police officers looted a personal computer, a printer, a Dafa booklet and two exercise tapes from her home. Ni Jun forced Ma Yan to sign the confiscated items list, but Ma refused. Then Ni Jun asked her parents to sign, but Ma Yan stopped them. Afterwards, policemen tried to arrest Ma Yan, but Ma Yan protested and spoke out loudly, "Falun Dafa is great." The policemen forcibly carried her into a police car and sent her to a detention center. Ma Yan's 11-year-old daughter was left home without care.
Ma Yan has three sisters. The oldest sister, Ms. Ma Fang, was arrested; the second oldest sister, Ms. Ma Lan, had her house ransacked. The police frightened her younger sister during her pregnancy. Her parents' home was searched, and in order to avoid being persecuted, her parents had to hide in a cornfield overnight. Policemen even beat her 70-year-old father.
12. [Chongqing City] Arrest of Practitioner Fu Rufang at Her Workplace
At around 11:00 a.m. on July 19, 2004, policemen from Tongnan County arrested practitioner Ms. Fu Rufang from her workplace at the examination section of Tongnan County's Hygiene and Disease Prevention Station in Chongqing City. The detailed information is under investigation.
13. [Xinjiang Autonomous Region] Arrest of Several Practitioners
On April 26, 2004, when practitioner Ms. Hou Yanni was preparing food for her elderly mother-in-law, police from Shuimogou District's Political and Security Brigade in Wulumuqi City forcibly arrested her. The section chief, Yang Xinmin, and the deputy chief put handcuffs and shackles on Hou Yanni. They interrogated her, and did not allow her to sleep for two days. Afterwards, they sentenced her to two years of forced labor for her determination in Dafa practice.
In 2000, practitioner Chen Yujiang was sentenced to three years of forced labor for his/her Falun Gong practice. During the illegal forced labor, Chen received a head injury. After being released, he recovered after taking medication. On April 28, 2004, the brigade arrested Chen again because of Chen's validation of Dafa. Since the labor camp refused to accept Chen, Chen was subjected to torment and abuse in the detention center. Chen's head injury relapsed at the center, but when Chen requested to be bailed out for hospitalization, his request was refused. Currently, Chen has to suffer daily persecution.
14. [Huhehaote City, Inner Mongolia AR] Detention of the Majority of Male Dafa Practitioners in the Wuyuan Forced Labor Camp
Every practitioner detained at the Wuyuan Forced Labor Camp is watched by two people and they are not permitted to talk to each other. They have to report to a guard before they go to the restroom, otherwise they are beaten. Police force practitioners to give up their belief by using brutality and deprivation of sleep. Their torture devices include handcuffs, ropes, iron clubs, wood sticks, and high-voltage electric batons. Beatings of practitioners are commonplace.
Most female practitioners from the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region were held at Huhehaote City's Shuaijiayingzi Female Forced Labor Camp, which has three divisions. Male policemen often beat these practitioners. In order to prevent practitioners from bumping into the wall when they were undergoing excruciating torture, policemen designed a kind of helmet for practitioners to wear. The forced labor camp's office phone number is 86-47-5692967.
15. [Tianjin City] Arrest of Many Practitioners in the Baodi District
On July 20, 2004, practitioner Zhang Hanping was on a trial in Baodi District Court, so practitioners Ms. Cao Xiuzhen, Li Fengchun, Wu Jianzhong, Ms. Qin Jiang'e, Ms. Tan Mengfei, and Ms. Xiao Wenxia from Cuihuangkou Town, the Wuqing District, went to send forth righteous thoughts in close proximity to the court. Unfortunately they were reported to policemen, who followed them back home. Thus, policemen from Baodi District's Police Department and Cuihuangkou Town's Police Precinct arrested those practitioners and confiscated materials, copiers, and some other equipment. They sent those practitioners to the Wuqing District Detention Center that same night.
16. [Sichuan Province] Information on Practitioners Held at Chengdu City's Detention Center
Practitioner Gao Yonghui was sentenced to five years of forced labor, Ms. Yu Xuemei to three years of forced labor, and Ms. Fan Meirong was also put into a forced labor camp. Practitioners held there long term include Zhu Xuezhi, Li Xiaobo, Luo Yingjie, 74, professor Luo from Sichuan University, a graduate student from the Huaxi Medical University, and many other practitioners.
In June 2004, practitioner Chen Guihua was arrested. Practitioner Zhang Fengqing was mentally traumatized and then transferred to the Nanmusi Forced Labor Camp. Policemen were using the principle "guilt by association" to prevent practitioners from doing exercises by taking advantage of practitioners' compassion. As long as a practitioner does the exercises, policemen do not punish the practitioner, but punish other detainees, to force the practitioner to stop practicing.
17. [Zhangjiakou City, Hebei Province] Arrest of Practitioners Hou Shulin and Yang Shuzhen
At around 5:00 p.m. on June 28, 2004, policemen from Zhangbei County arrested practitioners Hou Shulin and Yang Shuzhen from Zhangbei County, the Zhangjiakou area in Hebei Province, and put them into the Zhangbei County Detention Center.
Note:
(1) 610 Office - An agency specifically created to persecute Falun Gong, with absolute power over each level of administration in the Party and all other political and judiciary systems.
July 20, 2004
(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.
Solemn Declaration
I am an elementary student. When I was in second grade, I participated in the school-organized anti-Falun Dafa signature movement. I hereby declare that all of the things I wrote are null and void. From now on I will be a true practitioner; I will follow "Truthfulness, Compassion and Tolerance" and be diligent. I will redouble my efforts to compensate for the damage I have done to Dafa.
Lin Xin, July 13, 2004
(Clearwisdom.net)
Facts of the Persecution
Changle Labor Camp in Weifang City, Shandong Province has been playing the role of a persecution tool for the Jiang regime since July 20, 1999, especially since the beginning of November 2000, when the No. 2 General Division turned into a division exclusively for the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners. Practitioners in other divisions were transferred to that division for brainwashing and persecution. Around 200 practitioners were subjected to horrifying physical and mental torments. Changle Labor Camp staff force Falun Gong practitioners to do excessive slave labor and work overtime to "polish gems." As a result of the overwork, practitioner Xin Dongsheng almost lost his life.
Falun Dafa practitioner Liu Shuchun was abducted and taken to the Changle Labor Camp on January 3, 2001 and was detained on the 4th floor of the 2nd Team of the No. 2 Division. He was beaten to death in less than an hour after his arrival.
On June 10, 2004, Dafa practitioner Liu Yongjin from Linyi City, Shandong Province was abducted by officials from the local "610 Office" and sent to the Linyi City Detention Center, where he held a hunger strike for seven days and nights. The police there did not allow him to sleep for seven days by constantly scratching and pinching him. They even used thistles and thorns to prick his face and body. On June 17, when the guards were force-feeding him, they inserted the tube into his windpipe, causing him to pass out from extreme pain. Later, Liu Yongjin was transferred to the Shandong No.2 Male Prison (also known as the Wangcun Labor Camp), where Liu Yongjin went on a hunger strike. They force-fed him so brutally that he vomited blood and passed out again. He was sent to a hospital for emergency treatment. At present, Liu Yongjin is still on a hunger strike and his life is in danger.
In February 2000, Yishui Town's perpetrators in Yishui County, Linyi City, Shandong Province carried out a large-scale persecution of Falun Gong practitioners. More than 20 practitioners were arrested and detained in the south courtyard of the Chengjiao Police Station in Yishui Town. Practitioner Zhang Jun'e was forced to sit in the snow for a long period of time, while practitioners Su Li was handcuffed and hung from a tree. Many others suffered savage beatings. From July 1999 to September 2000, Yishui Town's perpetrators ran nine brainwashing classes, every one of which was marked with brutality. Each practitioner suffered various kinds of beatings and other tortures. Each time the authorities would extort money from these practitioners, the amount ranging between 500 Yuan and 4200 Yuan. (1)
Ms. Peng Wenxiu, 69, is from Pengjia Village, Xizhuang, Jianshui County, Yunnan Province. She has suffered a lot for practicing Falun Gong. On June 3 of this year, police from the county police department and officials from the "610 Office" searched her house and took away her older son, her daughter-in-law and grandson for interrogation. They also searched through and confiscated possessions from her second daughter Yang Lihua and third daughter Yang Lihui's homes. They also took Yang Lihua away to Jianshui County for interrogation and detention for 36 days from June 6 to July 12. On July 13, she was sentenced to two years of forced labor and transferred to the Dabanqiao Forced Labor Camp in Kunming City on July 14.
In the evening of June 17, 2004, at around 8 o'clock, Falun Gong practitioner Tian Yuzhen and her family from Nanxiaozhuang Village, Liangji Township, Jing County, Hebei Province were having dinner. Suddenly, eight thugs broke into her house, one of whom said, "We are from the Hengshui City Police Department." They took Tian Yuzhen and her husband Zhang Weidong (non-practitioner) to an inner room and kept them there. Then they turned the house upside down. In the end, before they left, they confiscated Dafa books and recordings of Master's Fa lectures. Tian Yuzhen's 80- year-old mother was so frightened that she had a relapse of an old illness. The two young children were scared by the sudden intrusion, as well.
News and Activities from Around the World
In the afternoon of July 19, Falun Gong practitioners from the Bay Area in Northern California held a photo exhibition in front of the Chinese Consulate. They clarified the truth about Falun Gong and the persecution to a Chinese business delegation headed by provincial governor Liang Baohua from Jiangsu Province. Practitioners also hoped to take this opportunity to deliver a letter to Liang Baohua. They wanted to ask him to help release U.S. citizen and Falun Gong practitioner Charles Li and to stop the persecution of practitioners in Jiangsu Province. A conference to attract foreign investments was held in the Chinese Consulate, which was heavily guarded. The consular staff refused entry to practitioners who had gone there to deliver the letter.