Clearwisdom.net, Saturday, September 18, 2004

(Clearwisdom.net) Ms. He Xiuling was tortured to death on March 11, 2004 for believing in Falun Gong and being a good person in accordance with, "Truthfulness, Compassion and Tolerance". The responsible parties are the 610 Office of Zhifou District, Yantai City, the Detention Center of Zhifou District, and Yuhuangding Hospital of Yantai City.

On the night of March 10th, I arrived at Yuhuangding Hospital of Yantai City and heard that Ms. He Xiuling was in the patient's room in the hospital's basement. I immediately went to look for her. Another patient in the hospital directed me and told me that He Xiuling had received an injection on March 4th. I found He Xiuling at the neurological internal medicine department around 7 pm. She was handcuffed to the bed and could not talk. After a half an hour, the people in detention center drove me out. On the morning of March 11th, He Xiuling passed away.

Later the head of the detention center Zhang Futian said that on March 4th, He Xiuling had felt dizzy. After examination in the hospital, the doctor said it was a blocked artery in her brain and the detention center sent her for treatment on March 5th. Before that, He Xiuling had gone on a hunger strike to protest the illegal persecution. What kind of persecution had she experienced while in detention? When she was on hunger-strike, what did the detention center force-feed her and after she was sent back to the detention center, what kind of drugs were given to her?

On March 13th, the head of the detention center Zhang Futian and the head of the 610 Office Li Wenguang wanted to secretly send He Xiuling's body to be cremated. Even a hearse had been called. When we found out, we told them that whoever destroyed the body would have to take responsibility, and so her body was not cremated that day. I signed a contract with the detention center and sent her body to a funeral home to be frozen, and it could not be cremated without consent from her family. Later I asked Yantai City Public Security organs to confirm the cause of death, but they refused to give me the report. They just said some things to steer responsibility away from the 610 Office and the detention center. During the autopsy, it was found that He Xiuling's intestines were mottled and there was a mass of purple matter inside her uterus.

I have been appealing from the local governments to the Supreme Procuratorate. The 610 Office of Yantai Police Department has sent people to bribe me many times. They even asked my neighbor to pressure me, telling her they'd pay 100,000 Yuan, or even more if necessary on the condition that I gave up my appeals. My neighbor refused. Could money resolve the taking of a life? Isn't there justice? I filed an application to send to Zhifou District head Li Wenguang, Liu Guoyao, and detention center head Zhang Futian to the Procuratorate, and it's still delayed even to this day. The message that China's Supreme Procuratorate will seriously investigate cases which violate human rights has been published for over 2 months; however, no Falun Gong's cases have been investigated.

On July 8th, Shandong Province Police and Procuratorate officials came to Yantai City. At 3 o'clock in the afternoon, they re-opened He Xiuling's case. However, I still have not received the report. More ridiculously, there were over 10 people at the scene. Shandong Province Police and Procuratorate, Yantai City Police and Procuratorate, Yantai City Police Department, 610 Office, as well as Liu Guoyao (who interrogated practitioners by means of torture in the brainwashing class) were there and they all opposed my request to take a photo of He Xiuling's body.

He Xiuling had been detained on Tiananmen Square by Wendeng City police twice and was sent back to Wendeng City to be further detained. The police involved included Wendeng City policeman Li Yinglin. She was detained for one week in Beijing Miyun by the Beijing Tiananmen Police Department, and later she was transferred to Liaoning Province, Jinzhou City Detention Center. Without any legal procedure, she was detained in Yantai City. In August 2003, practitioners He Xiuling, Zhou Shuchun, Ms. Sui Shumei and others were arrested by Wendeng City police and were abducted to the Yantai City Zhifou District brainwashing class.

In the brainwashing class, He Xiuling suffered brutal persecution. Liu Guoyao had handcuffed her hands behind her back and onto the side bars of the bed for 5 days. She could neither squat nor stand, and she was not even allowed to go to bathroom. Under the huge pressure, He Xiuling succumbed to brainwashing. Later she was detained in Zhifou District Detention Center. In the detention center, He Xiuling claimed the repentance statement she made was null and void. On September 27th 2003, Yantai City Zhifou Procuratorate framed He Xiuling and some other practitioners, and approved Yantai City Police Department's 610 Office request to arrest her. In February 2004, He Xiuling was sent to Zhifou District Court, and a Yantai TV Station broadcasted the trial. In fact, He Xiuling and others had been using the law to appeal and to uphold their legal rights. But because Yantai City Zhifou District Procuratorate and Court protected each other and abused their power, He Xiuling died of torture.

The police murdered a person and for over 4 months no justice has been served. Where are the human rights in China? I have no choice but to thoroughly expose the truth of the persecution to the world.

July 18, 2004

Supplementary Information Regarding the Torture Death of Liu Chengjun

(Clearwisdom.net) In December 2003, Dafa practitioner Mr. Liu Chengjun was on the verge of death due to persecution at Jilin City Prison. He was sent twice in one week to a hospital by the Jilin Prison Administration Bureau. The second time he was carried to the labor camp hospital, he was very weak due to his hunger strike to protest the persecution. Some of his teeth had been pried out during force-feedings, and they could not find the veins on his hands.

After the evil deeds of the prison were partially made public, Liu's family members went to the hospital, demanding his release. The labor camp hospital was shocked, and immediately held a meeting to investigate how the news was leaked out. Their fear after discovering that their evil deeds had been exposed was quite significant.

Just one day before Liu Chengjun was tortured to death, due to the pressure from outside public voices, the director of the prison administration bureau made a special trip to the labor camp hospital to discuss possible countermeasures. On the second day, they transferred Liu Chengjun to a better quality hospital, China-Japan Union Hospital of Jilin University. That same day Liu Chengjun died, a victim of injustice, after suffering from one year and nine months of brutal torture.

This is just one persecution story out of many. It is hoped that practitioners and people from different walks of life who know the details can provide more details.

August 21, 2004

The Torture Suffered by Guo Sulan Before Her Death

(Clearwisdom.net)

Introduction

Ms. Guo Sulan was from Group No. 1 of Kuzhu Village in Xinhua Town of Tongnan County, Chongqing City. After Guo Sulan and her family started practicing Falun Dafa in 1997, she and her husband, Kuang Shitai, were able to finally recover from the loss of their son. They became healthy and happy. However, after the persecution against Falun Gong began in July 1999, this family has suffered many tribulations. They have been arrested twelve times and detained and harassed many times. Later the couple and their daughter were sentenced to forced labor. Guo Sulan was eventually tortured to death, and her husband is currently being tortured in the Xishanping Labor Camp. Their daughter, Kuang Wenying, was forced to leave home to avoid further persecution. There is no one at home and their land is uncultivated.

The whole family was detained

Late at night on January 26, 2000, Zhang Fu, director of the Xinhua Town Police Station, and Li Cunxiao, secretary of the village committee, led others and broke into Kuang Shitai's home. They took Kuang Shitai to the police station and forced him to denounce Falun Gong. After he refused, he was transferred to the first division of the county Public Security Bureau on January 27. The director, Zhang Liang, incited about eight people to hold him down on the ground, and they confiscated the book Zhuan Falun and around 50 Yuan (1) in cash from him. He was detained for fifteen days and released on February 10. He was forced to acknowledge in writing that he owed 75 Yuan for living expenses to the detention center.

On the morning of January 27, 2000, Zhang Fu transferred Kuang Shitai to the first division of the county Public Security Bureau. At 1:00 pm that day, he led over thirty people, and once again broke into Kuang's home and ransacked the house for over one hour. They took away three Dafa books and three tapes. Xiao Changrui ruined the portrait of Teacher. Guo Sulan and her daughter, Kuang Wenying, were taken to the Xinhua Town Police Station to denounce Falun Gong. They refused, and were detained until past 11:00 p.m. that night.

On February 28, 2000, not long after Kuang Shitai was released, the town authorities called him in the morning and deceived him into going to the town office. They then took him to the county Public Security Bureau for the second time. Policeman Zhang Liang and others once again put him into a detention center for so-called "surveillance housing." In mid-June, under strong protests from Kuang's family, Zhang Liang agreed to release him if he paid 1,000 Yuan. Guo Sulan rejected his request. He then asked for 500 Yuan, and still was rejected. Unable to extort money from Kuang's family, Zhang Liang detained Kuang until the end of June.

On March 2, 2000, three days after Kuang Shitai was detained, Zhang Fu and others broke into Kuang's home at 10:00 p.m. Once again they took Guo Sulan and her daughter to the police station and forced them to promise in written form not to practice Falun Gong. The mother and daughter said, "Falun Dafa is good. After practicing it, we became healthier and our family is more harmonious. Practicing Falun Gong is not violating the law." Zhang Fu replied, "You can say Falun Dafa is good. But Jiang says it is bad. He said that you cannot practice it, and that you should stop. Otherwise it is violating the law. Jiang is the law. We are under his power. We have no other choice." He also threatened them with handcuffs and electric batons. Policeman Ding Bing insulted Teacher and Dafa. He handcuffed them tightly in order to force them to denounce Falun Gong, but they still refused. At 2:00 p.m. the next day, they were taken to the first division of the county Public Security Bureau. Zhang Liang said, "Your whole family can practice in the detention center." Later Guo and her daughter were also taken to the detention center. Her husband, Kuang Shitai, was next door. It was the season to plant rice but no one was at home to take care of the farm. Guo was so worried that she could not eat or sleep. When she was released on March 19, 2000, she was very underweight due to the stress of the detention. She was forced to acknowledge that she owed 150 Yuan for living expenses in the detention center.

One person shoulders all housework, nine days without eating or drinking

In mid-April 2000, one month after Guo Sulan and her daughter Kuang Wenying were released, Kuang Wenying went to appeal in Beijing and was taken back home on April 18, 2000. After interrogation, Zhang Liang fabricated paperwork and sentenced her to one and a half years in Chongqing City's Maojiashan Women's Labor Camp. With both her husband and daughter detained, Guo Sulan shouldered all the house and farming work. She was exhausted. Besides worrying about her family, town officials constantly harassed her. They attempted to extort 5,000 Yuan from her with the excuse that is was for transportation fees spent to collect Kuang Wenying from Beijing. They also threatened to take away her house. Zhang Liang took over 300 Yuan when Kuang Wenying was arrested, and on June 9, 2000, Kuang Wenying was forced to pay 200 Yuan without being given a receipt.

In early July 2000, about ten days after Kuang Shitai was released from "surveillance housing," Zhang Fu once again arrested him and detained him for fifteen days. He was not released until the end of July. He was forced to acknowledge that he owed 75 Yuan for living expenses in the detention center.

In early August 2000, about ten days after Kuang Shitai was released from his third detention, Zhang Fu led others to arrest him. He was forced to leave home to avoid further persecution.

Guo Sulan was a small person. She not only needed to do all the work (farm four acres of field, and raise fowl and other domestic animals), but also suffered constant harassment. One day in September, perpetrators forced her to denounce Falun Gong; otherwise they threatened to send her to the Tianyuan brainwashing class. Seeing the several hundred pounds of peanuts that were drying in the yard, which she had spent so much effort to harvest, she reluctantly signed her name on the form denouncing Falun Gong. Gradually her health became worse. At last her whole body became swollen. The people who had harassed her came again but snuck away upon hearing that she was so ill. It was very hot, and Guo Sulan had to lie on the ground without eating or drinking for nine days. She finally recovered but remained very weak.

The whole family was forced to leave home

On January 21, 2001, when Kuang Shitai had just returned home after being away for five months, he was reported on by his neighbor Kuang Zongbai. The next day (the Chinese New year's Eve) Zhang Fu and other local officials surrounded Kuang Shitai's house and his relatives' houses. Kuang Shitai managed to escape but was once again forced to leave home to avoid being persecuted. When other families were celebrating Chinese New Year, Kuang's family and relatives were harassed. On the first day of the Chinese New Year, many police surrounded his house, trying to arrest Kuang Shitai. His relatives said, "You are too outrageous. It is the New Year!" The deputy director of the village Xiao Changrui, said "If we are outrageous, we will send his whole family to a labor camp!" Kuang Shitai no longer dared to go home, and left his wife alone for almost a year.

After suffering inhumane torture in the Maojiashan Women's Labor Camp for one year, Kuang Wenying's term was illegally extended for an additional six months. On October 19, 2001, Zhang Fu and Xinhua Town Party Secretary Liu took her back to the Tongnan Detention Center. On the afternoon of November 15, 2001, after ten days of hunger strike, Kuang Wenying finally managed to escape. But only four days later, on November 19, Zhang Fu and others once again forcibly took her to the Xinhua Town Police Station. Party Secretary Liu forced her to denounce Falun Gong but she refused. She was detained until 11:00 p.m. that night.

On November 30, 2001, just ten days after Kuang Wenying was released and returned home, the head of the town Ji Hongguang and three other people broke into her house and attempted to detain her again. She managed to escape and was forced to leave home. Unable to find Kuang Wenying, they insulted her mother, Guo Sulan, and searched everywhere in their house and their neighbor's house. They broke the only radio the family had, and stayed there many days before they finally left.

The endless harassment caused the family to separate. Guo Sulan became increasingly weak until she could no longer walk, and was very thin and unable to care for herself. Finally with her relatives' help, she left home to look for her husband.

In June 2000, Guo Sulan found her husband and started practicing Dafa again. Her health improved daily. They were homeless but at least they were together. But they still did not know where their daughter was.

Torture continues even after the family is separated

On the night of October 30, 2002, when Guo Sulan and her husband Kuang Shitai were posting stickers printed with "Falun Dafa is good" in Tongnan Boshuping, they were taken to the Tongnan's Zhengxing Street Police Station. Policeman Zhang Liang interrogated them while physically torturing them. Kuang Shitai remained unconscious for five hours as a result of the severe beating. Guo Sulan also fell unconscious after being slapped by policeman Li Hengyi. She was not allowed to eat or drink, put on more clothes, or sleep, for two days. They also threatened her by saying that they had arrested her daughter and that she would be sentenced. While suffering severe torture herself, Guo Sulan worried about her husband and daughter. When she was sent to the detention center, she was shivering, hungry and thirsty, and unable to speak. She was not allowed to study the Fa or do the exercises. Unable to eat and drink, she later developed diarrhea, swollen feet, and fatigue. She became very thin, and after being detained for over a month, her weight dropped from 90 Jin (99 lbs.) to only 50 jin (55 lbs.).

One month later, on about November 25, 2002, Zhang Liang and others fabricated paperwork and sent Guo Sulan and Kuang Shitai to a forced labor camp (one year for Guo and two years for Kuang). At the transition station in Chongqing Forced Labor Camp, the doctor saw that Guo Sulan was extremely weak and bony, with blood pressure of 220 mmhg, so he refused to take Guo Sulan.

When the police took Guo Sulan back to Tongnan Detention Center, she was unable to walk. They ordered one female criminal to take her to a cell, and continued the detention and torture until her life was in grave danger. In mid-December, they asked Kuang Zongbai to take her back. Upon seeing that she was critically ill, Kuang Zongbai was afraid that she would die and he would be responsible for it. He refused to take her. Finally Guo Sulan's younger brother Guo Zhigang took her to his home.

As a result of the severe torture, Guo Sulan had heart problems, pain all over her body, diarrhea, fatigue, and swelling. She even had trouble using the toilet. After being tortured for one year, she passed away at noon on November 3, 2003.

Guo Sulan's husband Kuang Shitai was being tortured in Chongqing's Xishanping Labor Camp when she died. Her brother called to request permission for Kuang Shitai to see his wife for the last time. But the camp authorities hid all the information. Kuang Shitai still does not know that his wife has died.

On November 6, 2003, Kuang Wenying came back to attend her mother's funeral. After she just received her mother's body, the perpetrators came to arrest her that night. With help from villagers, she was able to leave home once again. The town officials extorted 3,500 Yuan as a funeral fee from her relatives and neighbors.

A harmonious family is now shattered

This case has been documented on "Fa Wang Hui Hui" (http://www.fawanghuihui.org/, a Chinese website that collects lists of Falun Gong persecutors in China) and Clearwisdom. It has drawn attention from all over the world. The "World Organization to Investigate the Persecution of Falun Gong " is investigating the case. After all of the details are gathered and organized, it will be submitted to the International Court of Justice, the principal judicial body of the United Nations.

People who are directly involved in the torture: Zhang Fu, in his thirties. He was appointed as the director of the Xinhua Town Police Station before 2002. Now he is working at the Longxing Town Police Station. Xinhua Town Police Station phone #: 86-23-44218541

Zhang Liang is forty-one years old. He is the director and policeman in Tongnan County National Security Team.

Ding Bing is in his twenties. He was a policeman in Xinhua Town Police Station in 2000.

Kuang Zongbai is in his fifties. He was the director of the Kuzhu village. He shares the same yard with Guo Sulan. He secretly monitored and reported on her. His home phone #: 86-23-44218743.

Li Cunxiao was the secretary of the Kuzhu village. He lives at the third team of Kuzhu Village

Xiao Changrui is in his forties. He is the assistant director of the Xinhua Town's Honghua Village and known for his vicious persecution of Falun Gong.

Liang Ming lives at the fifth team of Kuzhu Village.

Li Hengyi is in his forties. He is a policeman in Tongnan National Security Team and assistant to Zhang Liang.

Huang Quansheng is in his thirties. He is the director of the Tongnan County Detention Center.

Cai Ping, Li Longyun, and Liu Yongjian are members of Tongnan County "610 Office."

Zhou Jun is the director of the Tongnan Detention Center

Xu Xiangyang is the assistant director of the Tongnan Detention Center

Notes:

(1) Yuan is the Chinese currency. The average monthly salary of an urban worker in China is 500 Yuan.

August 1, 2004

A Partial Account of Tortures Used in Prisons, Forced Labor Camps, Detention Centers and Brainwashing Classes in Hebei Province (photos)

(Clearwisdom.net)

1. Pliers are used to pinch and pull on fingers and toes

The perpetrators first isolate and pinch the two top segments of a practitioners' finger; then they use metal pliers to clamp hard on the bones and fingernails. (The practitioners lose consciousness during this procedure.) They do the same with the practitioners' toenails. This is how they proceed: They first clamp the index finger of the left hand and then they crush the big toe on the left foot.

2. Stomping on the practitioners' bare feet and grinding them into the concrete floor

The perpetrators force the Dafa practitioners to stand on the cement ground barefooted. Then the perpetrators stomp on the practitioners' feet with their heavy shoes. Following that, they stomp down and grind the practitioner' feet back and forth against the rough ground.

3. "Tiger Bench" (another version, see also inserted note)

The perpetrators spread the practitioner's arms out and handcuff their hands separately to some fixed object (such as a bedpost). The practitioner is forced to sit on the cement ground with their feet placed on a chair and their legs lifted. The perpetrator then puts a chair on the practitioner's knees and uses their feet to stomp down on the chair, which causes the practitioner excruciating pain.

4. "Tying the Ropes"

The perpetrators tie the practitioner's hands behind his back with a nylon rope (usually the torturers first kick the practitioner's leg joints to force the victim to kneel down on the ground). They put a rope around his neck and connect it with the rope that ties his hands. They make a slipknot. Other perpetrators twist the practitioner's elbows, press down on his shoulders and lift his wrists up, and at the same time, reduce the distance between the practitioner's neck and hands by tightening the two ropes that are connected to each other, which causes excruciating pain in the practitioner's elbows, shoulders and wrists. They also insert bricks, beer bottles and police batons into the space between the practitioner's back and arms to increase the pain. As this torture is being applied, the perpetrators simultaneously shock the practitioner with electric batons or hit him with police batons. After they untie the rope, the perpetrators often pin the practitioner to the ground and hit his buttocks with police batons. They even increase the intensity of the beating 30 minutes later, just to increase the pain.

There are two types of ropes used in this torture ¨C a thick rope and a thin rope; the thick one is 8-11 mm (0.315-0.433 inch) in diameter. It leaves no scar but can cause internal injuries; the thin rope is 4 - 6 mm (0.16-0.236 inch) in diameter. It cuts into the flesh and the wound it leaves behind heals very slowly.

Scars left on a Falun Gong practitioner after being tortured with the method known as "Tying the Ropes."

5. Force-feeding with alcohol

The perpetrators purposely force-feed practitioners hard liquor, knowing that Falun Gong practitioners do not drink alcohol. Several perpetrators force-feed one practitioner. One of the perpetrators grabs the practitioner's hair and jerks his head backwards; then he pinches the practitioner's nose so the practitioner is forced to open his mouth to breathe; another perpetrator presses and holds the practitioner's arms and legs down so he cannot move, and yet another perpetrator pinches the practitioner's mouth and force-feeds the practitioner with hard liquor from a small glass or ceramic cup.

This torture was carried out at the Hebei Province Capital City Brainwashing Class (Beicheng Road, Shijiazhuang City), and the Forced Labor Camps in Hebei Province, among other places. Two female practitioners near us were force-fed with alcohol at the labor camp where we were held.

6. Force-feeding

Force-feeding is an often-used torture in Chinese detention centers, labor camps, prisons and brainwashing classes. The perpetrators who carry out the force-feeding often do not have any medical knowledge about force-feeding, and as a result they often cause severe injury or death to many Falun Gong practitioners. Some of the perpetrators pin down the practitioner's head; some use their feet to press the practitioner's body down. Sometimes the practitioner is handcuffed on the cement ground with his limbs spread out; other times his hands are shackled to the two ends of a bed, or a practitioner is handcuffed on a bed with his limbs spread out, so that he cannot struggle. They force-feed corn porridge, vegetable soup, high-density saline solution or food mixed with unknown drugs. Sometimes the practitioner experiences loss of bowel control, mental collapse or loses the ability to think clearly after the brutal force-feeding.

Force-feeding has taken place in many labor camps, prisons and detention centers throughout Mainland China.

7. Toothpicks and large pins being pounded under the fingernails

The perpetrators hold the practitioner's body still while pounding a toothpick or a large pin into the practitioner's nail bed. Sometimes they even burn the practitioner's bleeding fingertips with a cigarette lighter. A 40-year-old female practitioner suffered this torture at a police station in Shijiazhuang City in October 2001.

8. Hanging up and beating

The perpetrators handcuff the practitioner and hang him up so his toes barely touch the ground. Then they hit him with electric batons or police batons. Geng Xingjun, Zhou Yilin, Pei, Cui Yanfang and other guards at Division Four in the Shijiazhuang City Forced Labor Camp used this torture on practitioners Zhang and Li during the Dragon Boat Festival in 2001. Practitioners Li and Zhang were hung up and beaten. Li lost consciousness twice, and Ms. Zhang's blood soaked through her pants. Ms. Zhang collapsed to the ground after she was let down and the perpetrators kept on beating her.

9. Sexual insults and beating

The perpetrators strip off all of a female practitioner's clothes. Male police officers ride the practitioner and beat her. He will then grab her hand and demand that she writes a "Guarantee Statement" to give up practicing Falun Gong.

10. Hitting sensitive parts of the body with electric batons

The perpetrators at the Kaiping Forced Labor Camp in Tangshan City, Hebei Province shock the practitioner's sensitive body parts or acupuncture points with electric batons, including the top of their head, the back of their head, their lower backs and the soles of their feet.

11. "Five Horses Splitting the Body"

The perpetrators spread the practitioner's limbs in four directions and stretch his arms and legs, which causes excruciating pain. The practitioner feels as if his muscles are rupturing and bones are fracturing.

12. Placing steel wire through the nipples

The perpetrator penetrates a female practitioner's nipples with a steel wire. Then he walks around pulling her by the wire.

13. Wet nylon rope whipping the buttocks

The perpetrators at the labor camp pull the practitioner's pants down below his buttocks and throw him out in the courtyard in the winter to freeze his buttocks for a long time. After his buttocks become swollen from the freezing, the perpetrators whip him with a wet nylon rope.

14. Alternating freezing-baking torture

In the winter, the perpetrators at the labor camp or brainwashing class throw a practitioner into a freezing room for a long time, then handcuff him to a heating radiator, which causes unbearable, excruciating itching all over his body.

15. IV infusion

At the Kaiping Forced Labor Camp in Tangshan City, the perpetrators tie the determined practitioner to a bed with his limbs spread out and then administer unknown drugs through an IV infusion.

16. Drugs mixed with food

The perpetrators put drugs, including sleeping pills and other unknown drugs, in the practitioner's food.

17. "Training the Eagle" torture

The perpetrators don't allow the practitioner to drink anything (some for as long as two weeks at a time); don't allow the practitioner to sleep (some as long as 49 days at a time) and they don't allow the practitioner to use the restroom for a long time.

18. Shocking female practitioners' vaginas with electric batons

A perpetrator at the Xingtai Detention Center in Hebei Province shocked practitioner Qian Wanyun's vagina with an electric baton and yelled, "I'll do this so you can't be a woman!"

19. Torture of sitting on a metal chair for a long time

The perpetrators force a practitioner to sit in a special metal chair, in which the practitioner cannot move. Practitioner Wang from Shijiazhuang City was handcuffed in the chair for 15 consecutive days and nights.

20. Plank with nails torture

The labor camp has a torture tool, a wooden board with many nails imbedded in it, with their sharp ends facing upwards. The perpetrators force the practitioner to squat slightly above the plank, and if he grows tired and sits down, the nails will pierce his buttocks and the backs of his thighs.

21. Backward handcuffing

One of the most-often used tortures: The perpetrators handcuff the practitioner's hands behind his back and hang him up from the handcuffs, with his feet barely touching the ground. Pei Fuhai, head of the Jize Detention Center in Handan City, first beats the practitioners and then he backward-handcuffs and hangs them for as long as five days and five nights.

22. Use of poisonous snakes and toads

The perpetrators at the Gaoyang Forced Labor Camp in Hebei Province handcuff the practitioners and force them to sit on the ground while shocking them with three or four electric batons. Then they throw poisonous snakes and toads onto the practitioner's body.

Torture Used in Daqing Labor Camp: Rope Tying and Stomping (Photos)

(Clearwisdom.net)

Rope tying

Guards at Daqing Labor Camp, Heilongjiang Province torture practitioners by tying them with rope. If anyone cried out due to pain, the guards covered his mouth with tape, put on shackles and beat him brutally.

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Stomping

Guard Wang Yingzhou called himself "devilkin from Hell" and tormented Dafa practitioner Zuo Guoqing (eventually tortured to death) by stomping on his toe.

Seventy-Year-Old Mr. Peng Yunsheng Brutally Tortured in Anqiu City

(Clearwisdom.net) My name is Peng Yunsheng, I am seventy-two years old, living in Guanzhuang Town, Anqiu City, Shandong Province. I began practicing Falun Gong in February 1999. On May 26, 2000, I went to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong along with other practitioners, but we were arrested at the Appeals Office on the morning of May 28. The police forced me to go back to my hometown.

As soon as I arrived in my hometown and got out of the car, the Vice Supervisor of the town, Qi Yansheng, the Chief of the Forestry Station Zhang Ruiwen, Town Hall staffer Du Guifu and policemen Zheng Hongchang, Zhang Xiao Jin and Li Xinwen beat me to the ground, hitting my face hard and kicking me. Zhang Ruiwen and Du Guifu stomped on my legs and feet fiercely with their hard boots, while Qi was yelling at me, "We'll see if you dare to go to Beijing again!" I couldn't see straight and I lost consciousness. I have no idea how long they kept beating me. During the following one month and two days in detention, I was dragged into a room, where I lay on my stomach and didn't wake up until midnight. My body was black and blue and my legs and feet were bleeding. The various tortures I endured made my legs so swollen that I was unable to walk.

At 9 a.m. the next day, Zhang Ruiwen forced me to stand up, but I couldn't stand, so he grabbed my hair and slammed my head against the wall, causing my face to bleed and to be contaminated with dirt and whitewash. Zhang had someone bring several buckets of cold water and pour it on me using an iron ladle. Then he forced me to lie in the water on the ground, which made my clothes wet for three or four days. The abuse was not over yet. At midnight they would bang on the door and call out my name loudly. They have a rule of punishment for the jailed Falun Gong practitioners who were sent back from Beijing: severely beat the victims with birch switches thirty times first, confiscate the food brought by victims' family members and give them only a quarter of a dinner roll and a little bit of cold water for each meal.

In the summer heat of June, even though my legs were too swollen to walk, they made us run around the field a hundred times. During the hottest days, they forced us to pull weeds in the yard and made us stand still in a line to expose us to the sun. If we moved a little, they would beat us with birch switches.

The above account describes only a part of the tortures I suffered.

July 21, 2004

Jiangsu Province Practitioner Mr. Chen Guanghui is in Critical Condition Due to Head Injury Suffered in Prison

(Clearwisdom.net) Mr. Chen Guanghui is a 38-year-old graduate of Nanjing University, Jiangsu Province. He was a department manager at the Lianyungang Branch of the Bank of Construction, as well as the assistant manager of the department of Computer Systems. Chen Guanghui started practicing Falun Gong in 1995 and was illegally detained on September 10, 2001. A year later, on September 12, 2002, the People's Court in Baixia District, Nanjing City, sentenced him to 8 years in Suzhou Prison.

On July 29, 2004, Chen Guanghui was injured on the back of the head. He was sent to the Department of Neurology in the First Hospital of Suzhou University, where he has remained unconscious and in critical condition. The police did not notify his family until August 4, 2004. His family has visited him, but only under the supervision of the guards from Suzhou Prison.

Recently we heard that Chen Guanghui was still in critical condition, in a deep coma. There is a severe infection in his lungs, and he has a high temperature. When he had just recovered a little, the supervisor from Suzhou Prison transferred him to the hospital of Suzhou prison. The conditions in this hospital are very poor and it is not equipped to handle serious injuries like his brain injury. His parents fear that he has no hope of recovery in such conditions and have asked the head of the prison to present the documents and evidence for his alleged "suicide attempt." [The prison has apparently claimed that Mr. Chen tried to commit suicide in order to avoid their responsibility. It should be noted that Jiang Zemin has given orders that all practitioners beaten to death can be classified as "suicides."] They also requested he be transferred to a better hospital.

The request was said to be "out of the question" according to the head of the prison.

Please visit the following links for detailed information:

http://www.clearwisdom.net/emh/articles/2004/2/8/44907.html

http://www.clearwisdom.net/emh/articles/2004/8/31/51929.html

http://www.clearwisdom.net/emh/articles/2004/8/30/51901.html

Phone numbers of related parties:

Suzhou Prison Principal Office: 86-512-65215988
Suzhou Prison Party Secretary Office: 86-512-65212988
Suzhou Prison Administration Office: 86-512-65212386
Suzhou Prison Operation Office: 86-512-65225635
Department of Psychiatry at the First Hospital of Suzhou University: 86-512-65223637 Extension 8162
First Hospital of Suzhou University Principal Office: 86-512-65238033
First Hospital of Suzhou University Operator: 86-512-652233637
Chairman of the Bank of Construction Lianyungang Branch: 86-520-5411000
Human Resources Department at the Bank of Construction, Lianyungang Branch: 86-520-5412031
Operator at the Bank of Construction, Lianyungang Branch: 86-520-5416111
Office of Baixia District Court, Nanjing City: 86-25-83523108
Administration Office of Baixia District Court, Nanjing City: 86-25-83523167

2004-8-30

Shi Baolong and Jia Zigang Murdered Practitioner Zhao Guo'an in the No. 3 Forced Labor Camp in Henan Province

(Clearwisdom.net) Shi Baolong and Jia Zigang from the No. 3 Forced Labor Camp in Henan Province are directly responsible for the death of 55-year-old Falun Dafa practitioner Zhao Guo'an.

Zhao Guo'an and his wife Zhang Guirong, Falun Dafa practitioners from Zhaozhuang Village, Houji Township, Wuyang County, Leihe City, were abducted by officials from the Political Security Department of the Wuyang County Police Department on May 23, 2003. On August 7, they were illegally sent to a forced labor camp. Zhao was sent to Brigade No. 3 in the No. 3 Forced Labor Camp of Henan Province, which is located in a suburb southwest of Xuchang City. There, he was tortured to death on December 29, 2003.

Shi Baolong is the current leader of Brigade No. 3. He is in his thirties, and originally from Yuanyang County, Xinxiang City. He was the former Assistant Director of the Health Department at the No. 3 Labor Camp, but was specifically transferred to the brigade in October 2000 to persecute Falun Gong. This person is known for being cunning and merciless, and he is very well-known in the labor camp for his brutality. During the past few years, he has been a leader of the persecution against Falun Gong. He was the director of the Education Department at the labor camp, and at the same time the head of "Re-education through Transformation Office," whose main responsibility is to persecute Falun Gong. In February 2003, he was transferred to Brigade No. 3, which specializes in the persecution of Falun Dafa practitioners. He became the leader there and directly ordered and personally attended the torture of Falun Dafa practitioners.

Jia Zigang is also in his thirties and originally from Yulin Township, Xuchang County. He is one of the "Four Villains" in the labor camp. Before he was transferred to Brigade No. 3, he was demoted and/or punished twice for causing some people to end up crippled. One time, he was almost sent to jail. During the summer of 2002, he was transferred to the central squad of Brigade No. 3 as political instructor. He is particularly brutal in persecuting Falun Dafa practitioners. Very soon, he replaced the leader of the central squad, Liu Tianxun. In these years, Jia Zigang directly attended torture sessions of Falun Gong practitioners in his squad and caused over a dozen people to become crippled. Such cases include: the crippling of one arm of a Jiyuan County Falun Dafa practitioner, causing the deafness of a Xinyang Dafa practitioner and of Li Bing, crippling Shangqiu Dafa practitioner Yue Caiyun, crippling the legs of Anyang Dafa practitioner Wang Yukun, crippling Nanyang Dafa practitioner Li Jinke, and causing Wuyang County practitioner Zhao Guo'an's death. Other crimes include causing disability and injury of practitioners Wang Lei (Zhoukou City), Wu Junqing (Leihe Shuanghui Group official), Zhao Yongzhong (Jiaozuo Mengzhou City), Xing Weiwei (Xuchang County), Liu Juntang (Guanxian County of Shandong Province), Ye Hongchun (Taikang County), Cao Guiwen, Lei Zhongchang, Wang Jun, and others.

Liu Tianxun is originally from Zhoukou City, Henan Province. After he completed his service in the army in 2001, he started to work at the No. 3 Forced Labor Camp. At first, he seldom tortured Dafa practitioners and just participated in brainwashing sessions. However, yielding to the temptation of personal gain, he started to directly torture practitioners. After Zhao Guo'an was tortured to death, Liu was immediately transferred from Brigade No. 3.

According to a police guard, in order to force Zhao Guo'an to relinquish his faith in Falun Gong, the guards sealed his mouth shut with tape and tied him up for three days and nights, using almost every kind of torture on him. After Zhao Guo'an died, labor camp officials shamelessly claimed that Zhao Guo'an died of a heart attack in order to avoid responsibility.

According to Zhao Guo'an's wife, Zhang Guirong, the skin of Zhao Guo'an's body from the chin and front of his neck was all peeled off; on his chest, there was another area, about 10 centimeters wide, where all the skin was also peeled off, and the whole area was blood red. Along his shoulders and arms and all the way to his back ran a long gash as wide as a thumb, where the skin had peeled and the muscle had been festering. Both ears and the back of his neck were dark purple. His back and abdomen were also bruised purple, and his legs and feet were so swollen that the skin on his feet looked shiny. His ankles bore two wide gashes, consistent with having been fettered, and a red circular wound was visible on his forehead. The whole body was covered with cuts and bruises.

This is the third Falun Dafa practitioner known to have been killed in this labor camp. After they cremated Zhao Guo'an's body, labor camp officials gave 7,000 Yuan (1) to Zhao's family. In order to suppress news of the incident, they fired Jia Zigang, the leader of the central squad where Zhao Guo'an was detained, and transferred political instructor Liu Tianxun.

Note:

(1) Yuan is the Chinese currency. The average monthly salary of an urban worker in China is 500 Yuan.

August 29, 2004

Jiangjin City Court in Chongqing Sentences Three Dafa Practitioners

(Clearwisdom.net) In the beginning of May 2004, the Jiangjin City Court in Chongqing illegally sentenced Dafa practitioners who were being held in Jiangjin City's Detention Center. Mr. Yuan Zhiqiang was sentenced to nine years, Mr. Wang Xian'an to eight years, and Mr. Liu Wei to two years. According to fellow practitioners who went to visit them, they have suffered from a lot of brutal torture methods and were also beaten when the police attempted to extort confessions from them.

Dafa practitioner Mr. Yuan Zhiqiang from the Beibei District has been incarcerated in Chonqing's Jiangjin Detention Center for over a year. He is now ill with tuberculosis, probably as a result of torture. Nevertheless, he has now been illegally sentenced to nine years of incarceration.

In August 8, 2004, criminal police in Jiangjin City sent Yuan Zhiqiang to the Yongchuan Forced Labor Farm. As he was diagnosed with tuberculosis, administrators at the Yongchuan Forced Labor Farm refused to accept him. He was then sent back to Jiangjin City's Detention Center.

Another practitioner Wang Xian'an reportedly has been detained in Yongchuan Forced Labor Farm for persecution.

Phone number for the Jiangjin City Detention Centre: 86-23-47581372
Chief: Liang Mingquan
Deputy Chief: Gong Nanbi, Zhuo Liming
Deputy Instructor: Tang Fuhua

August 26, 2004

The Persecution Methods I Experienced in Heizuizi Jail and Labor Camp

(Clearwisdom.net) The following is the persecution I personally experienced and witnessed in Heizuizi Labor Camp and Heizuizi Jail of Jilin Province.

The guards there often strip Falun Dafa practitioners naked and shock them with electric batons, and they also kick them with their hard leather shoes. To force the imprisoned Dafa practitioners to renounce Falun Dafa, they handcuff them in painful postures for a long time. Examples include putting the person in a metal chair, with their arms outstretched in handcuffs; handcuffing a person's wrists whereby one arm is extended around the body to the back and is joined with the other wrist that comes over the shoulder; compressing the whole body together in shackles so that the person cannot stretch out their back; and binding the person to a bed. Moreover, they put feces, urine, phlegm, and nasal mucus into practitioners' food, add spoonfuls of salt into the gruel, and stuff practitioners' mouths with the mop used to clean the floor. They do things that a normal person could not imagine.

In the labor camp, going to the bathroom is allowed only during limited times -- once in the morning and once in the afternoon. You must report to the warden if you need to go to the bathroom at any other time. Once, a practitioner named Wang Yuzhi had a stomachache and reported to the warden because she needed to go to the bathroom. It happened to be the wardens' dinnertime, and they cursed at her and drove her away.

If Dafa practitioners were found practicing the Falun Gong exercises, they would incite the other inmates to force them into the lavatory and open all the windows to let in the winter cold. They poured water onto the ground where the practitioners were practicing the sitting meditation. They shocked the practitioners with electric batons and pricked them with super-heated needles. They would carry the practitioners who were on hunger strike to the dining hall and force them bend over the food with their legs straight.

The imprisoned practitioners never had a comfortable meal there. They had to line up and report their roll call numbers in front of the dining hall. Then they receive a bowl and food from the guards, wash the dishes after their meal and finally line up again to leave. The whole process is only allowed to take place within 10 minutes. If someone is a bit slow, the guards would start to curse at them.

The practitioners were forced to perform extended slave labor. Every day we were awakened at 4:00 a.m. and seldom stopped working by 10:00 p.m. More frequently, the work lasted until midnight or even 2:00 in the morning.

Non-Practitioners Awaken to the Truth

Mother Displays a Sign to Rescue Her Son - He is Released with a Not Guilty Verdict

(Clearwisdom.net) An elderly mother displayed a sign requesting justice for her daughter, who was persecuted to death, and her son, who was illegally detained, because they strived to be good people by practicing Falun Gong. The local police were afraid and tried to avoid her, and then released her son thirteen days later.

A young female Dafa practitioner from a city in Northeast China was illegally sentenced to eight years in jail because she firmly practiced Falun Dafa. In January 2004, she was detained in the Heizuizi Jail of Changchun City, and was tortured to death one month later. At the time of her death, this Dafa practitioner's corpse was covered with bruises. Local Dafa practitioners told her family that they should use legal means to sue the perpetrators, and should keep the practitioner's corpse as evidence. Later, under coercion from jail police, her family members were forced to give up this plan, and the police forcibly cremated their daughter's remains. Her mother was deeply grieved.

The dead practitioner's brother, Yuanhang (alias), was persecuted several times by the police for insisting on practicing Falun Gong. One day in May 2004, while he was on his way home, several policemen suddenly abducted Yuanhang and took him to the detention center. There, he firmly resisted the persecution, started a hunger strike, and refused to drink. When local Dafa practitioners heard this news, they exposed the incident on the Clearwisdom website and in their local area. They also found his 60-year-old mother and told her, "Your son is innocent. It is illegal for police to abduct your son, and you can go to the relevant department to ask for your son's release."

After much consideration, in order to get back her son, the mother found a big sign and wrote on it: "My daughter was tortured to death in jail for being a good person, and now my son is abducted by police again. I have lost a daughter... Must I lose my son too?"

This lady hung the sign on her neck and went to the city police department to ask for her son's release. The officers at the police department saw her and tried to avoid her. This lady went every day to the door of the Tax Bureau that was located on a busy street and told passersby about the tragedy that happened to her family.

Several days later, the staff members at the city police department were afraid that more people would learn the truth, so they went to find the old lady's relative working in the Procuratorate's Office and begged, "Could you please ask the lady not to go out with the sign any more? We will try to solve her son's issue." After she heard about this news, the old lady was not deterred and continued going out to ask for her son's release with the sign every day.

Thirteen days later, the old lady's son was set free with a verdict of "not guilty."

Written on August 28, 2004

People Are Awakening

(Clearwisdom.net)

A Little Girl Reminds Her Classmates Not to Sign Anything Against Falun Dafa

One rainy day, I met an acquaintance while I was on my way to conduct some business in the village. She asked me to come to her house and tell her about Falun Gong. After I finished talking, a little girl, about 10-years-old, said, "Yes, I understand. When our teacher asks us to sign our names on papers that say bad things about Falun Dafa, I always tell the whole class not to sign!" Afterwards, the woman took me to another house so I could tell them the facts about Falun Dafa.

A Business Owner Asks Me to Explain the Facts about Falun Dafa

One day, a business owner asked me to do some work for him. When I arrived, more than the usual number of people were gathered there (about several dozen). The owner greeted me warmly and politely, saying, "I did not really ask you to come here to work. My real purpose was to ask you to explain to us the truth about Falun Gong." I handed out truth-clarifying materials that I had prepared beforehand. Some remarked that when they were finished reading them, they would let more people read the materials. Some said they would read them after work. Some people asked for a truth-clarification VCD. The owner told me, "If you have more good informational materials, don't forget to let me know."

Afterwards, whenever the business owner saw me, he would ask whether there were more good things to give him. He also borrowed Dafa books to read. He not only supported and understood the truth about Falun Dafa, but later on, he also started practicing Falun Dafa.

"Falun Gong Will Succeed"

Once I went to a clinic with my sick child. The doctor said to me, "I saw you guys distributing pamphlets and posting the truth-clarification materials again this morning. You guys not only work very hard, but also pay for everything yourselves out of your own pockets. You are truly great and commendable!"

I replied, "I only wish for more people to know the truth about Dafa. That will be our greatest reward."

The doctor then said, "Falun Gong will succeed. Falun Dafa is good. Falun Dafa is really good!" After he finished treating a patient, the patient asked him how much the fee was. He said there was no charge and then added, "I want to learn Truthfulness, Compassion and Forbearance from Falun Gong also."

A Non-Practitioner Personally Experiences the Miracle of Dafa

(Clearwisdom.net)

At 1:25 p.m. on September 24, 2003, on Lianglang Highway, Wuqing District, Tianjin City, there was a major auto accident resulting in six deaths and one wounded.

Originally, 21-year-old Liu Jun from Songchang Village, Tianjin City was driving a three-wheeled passenger vehicle carrying six villagers. Just before colliding with a truck on Lianglang Highway, Liu Jun had switched seats and was riding in the middle of the vehicle. The five other passengers and driver were thrown from the car and killed instantly. Liu Jun was thrown onto the hillside along the highway. Unconscious, Liu Jun was sent to Yang Village Center Hospital in Wuqing District for emergency treatment. The hospital's examination declared that his pelvis was crushed and eight ribs were broken.

When Liu Jun woke up, his first words to his uncle, a Falun Gong practitioner, who was standing watch nearby, were: "I saw Master Li; it was Master Li who saved me." All of his relatives around him (most of whom are practitioners) were surprised, how could he say something like that when he's not a practitioner? His uncle asked him, "Which Master did you see?" Liu Jun said, "I saw Master Li Hongzhi. It was Master Li Hongzhi who saved me!" His relatives wept with gratitude. Liu Jun recovered very quickly. After only ten days in the hospital, he was released. A month later he could move freely. In a few more months he had recovered completely and could do normal farm work.

Liu Jun is not a practitioner, although when he had time, he would read Dafa books to his illiterate mother. Still, the miracle of Dafa manifested in his body. He said, "It was Master Li Hongzhi and Falun Dafa that gave me a new life. I will remember this forever, and never forget Teacher Li's compassionate salvation."

My whole family wants to thank Teacher from the bottom of our hearts. We can only condense it into one sentence: "Falun Dafa is wonderful." We wish that all kind people would treat Falun Dafa kindly, and remember that Falun Dafa is wonderful.

September 5, 2004

Practitioners Exchange Experiences and Insights

My Experiences Clarifying the Truth about Falun Gong to the Chinese People

(Clearwisdom.net) When clarifying the truth to Chinese people about Falun Gong, it has been my experience that they raise many questions. Whether or not I can present them with a good answer is directly related to my comprehension of the Fa. To express it from another perspective, providing an illuminating answer is like a test to see if Fa-study has put us on a firm foundation in Fa-comprehension.

When clarifying the truth face to face, I have met Chinese people who are from all walks of life and have complicated mindsets. Sometimes I've even met people who have previously practiced Dafa but have gone astray. My heart was previously disturbed when clarifying the truth to these people. Sometimes the situation even forced me to question myself as to the fundamental issue of cultivation, and whether I can remain firm in my belief; questions arose such as, "What indeed is cultivation all about?" "Is all of this (my cultivation and my belief) true or not?" "Why do I want to cultivate in the first place?"

The answers to all these questions came from thorough Fa-study and from sharing experiences among practitioners. Together we deepened our understanding of Dafa and we progressed rapidly in our cultivation. In the process of studying and sharing experiences, we realized more the importance of studying the Fa with a calm mind. If we could not study the Fa with calm minds, then questions like the above-mentioned ones might pile up, and they might shake our determination to cultivate. Some questions the Chinese people raised might target our misunderstandings about the Fa and hit on our cultivation shortcomings.

Not answering questions well left a deep impression on my mind. When I studied the Fa, I suddenly understood the concern, "The answers are all here in the book! How come I did not think of that at the time?" A good pattern was thus formed: through truth-clarification, we improved our understandings of the Fa, which helped us to clarify the truth better. After some time I even had a craving to clarify the truth to Chinese people, knowing that as long as we study the Fa well, we can clarify everything to them.

When I first began to clarify the truth about Falun Gong, I used to be quite persistent, ignoring whether or not a person wanted to listen. The outcome was that I scared people away. Now my approach is different - I usually say, "How are you? I am a Falun Gong practitioner. Do you have any opinion about us? If we have done things that need improvement, please give us your valuable viewpoint." Unless they attack Teacher or Dafa, no matter how irritating their opinion might be, I usually say, "You are right. We will seriously consider your opinion. Because we are cultivators of Truthfulness, Compassion and Forbearance, and each of us is striving to be a good person, we must change if there are things we did that are not right." This helps to get rid of any hostility and defensive mindsets. The person feels we are very friendly and will willingly talk to us. If we encounter an evil person, cursing and attacking Dafa, we must not respond by shutting him out. If our righteous thoughts are strong, and we answer with wisdom and humor, the effect will be tremendous. Of course it is not easy to do that all the time. But if we often encounter this circumstance and at the same time diligently study the Fa, Dafa will give us insights and we will naturally know how to handle the situation.

In Boston in 2001, a Chinese newspaper published a defamatory article, alleging that Dafa was a cult that caused practitioners to go insane. Many practitioners called the newspaper then, but I felt it was not enough. I felt it must be dealt with by a deeper method, revealing more thoroughly the evil nature involved. I understand that the Chinese ruling Party uses lies continuously to fool the whole population. Jiang's group in particular uses fabrications to put Dafa in a bad light. Jiang and his followers are truly the greatest evil cult in the world. Considering this, it would be most fitting to stand the allegation of cult on its head. I wrote an article clarifying the facts to the newspaper, and they published it with a note of apology for the incident. The editor also asked us to continue writing articles for the newspaper.

I noticed during Fa-study that Teacher occasionally uses analogies to answer questions. Sometimes Master says it is a joke, but we know for sure it is the Fa, not a joke. This realization really opened my mind. If we answer ordinary peoples' questions directly, sometimes such responses tend to be too difficult for them to understand, but if we use humor or an analogy it is easier to explain.

For instance, when I was once distributing Dafa material, a person approached me and asked, "You look like a student. Your teacher is only a high school graduate. Why do you people with doctor's or master's degrees still believe in his theories?" This type of question is difficult to answer outright, because what Teacher talks of is the Dafa of the cosmos. It does not come from human knowledge and was not learned in school. People will not understand if we answer them so directly.

Many great persons in history did not derive their excellent achievements from school learning. I therefore use an example to answer, such as "Do you know if Confucius is a high school graduate or a college graduate? Yet his ideas have been the center of learning for over 2,000 years. The 6th patriarch of Zen, Hui-neng, could not read. Why did learned people like Zhuang-Yuan Wang Wei worship him? People will follow him if he is right. Who cares if he is a high school graduate or a college graduate? The great American inventor, Thomas Edison, only had an elementary school education. Without Edison's invention of the electric light bulb, we might be still using oil lamps for lighting. There is more. Do you know of the musical genius Mozart? He learned to play the piano on his own, starting to play when he was only three years old. He composed music at age six, wrote a symphony at age nine, and wrote an opera at age twelve. At the age of seven he started a 3-year concert tour." There are many such examples, but it is difficult to tell them all.

Many Chinese tourists come to visit the Yan-Ling Dream House Forum. It is a very good location for clarifying the truth about Falun Gong and to get their reaction. One day a person asked, "A good person... What is a good person? Did you learn the Theory of Relativity? There is no such thing as really good or really bad. For some people, it is worse if you don't let them enjoy power and wealth.... Since there were so many people being persecuted, some to death, because each wanted to be good person, Mr. Li Hongzhi, the founder of Falun Gong, should come forward and ask everyone to stop practicing. Then he should sacrifice himself and return to China. One person can save so many people in misery." For a knowledgeable Dafa practitioner, this involves factors arranged by the old forces to persecute Dafa, but we cannot tell ordinary people of a practitioner's knowledge. One can see from this comment how distorted peoples' minds have become. There is not a single trace of righteousness in this ignorant comment he made.

I would start at the outset by correcting his distorted thinking, opening up his righteous mind. The best example to quote is General Yue Fei (a Chinese hero during the Song Dynasty) who was not concerned about his own life, but was always trying to do the right thing for his country. "What is a good person or bad person? There is a standard. You cannot say Lei Feng (a model citizen in China in the 1970's) is a bad person and Qin Hui (the traitor who persecuted Yue Fei to his death) is a good person, right? Would you say Yue Fei is stupid? Why worry about the country being defeated? Isn't it good enough to be promoted and rich? Why be some kind of hero? If everybody thinks this way, we surely will become a people without a country. Jiang Zemin said that people who believe in Truthfulness, Compassion and Forbearance are an evil cult, are mad and are murderers. Doesn't this turn everything upside down by fabricating such countless lies? These liars put good people in jail and let criminals escape prosecution from the law and allow them do as they wish. In what direction are they pushing the country? A country is in danger when it is full of lies and nobody dares to speak the truth. During the era of the Great Leap Forward, Mao's government officials claimed tens of thousands of pounds of grain per Chinese acre were produced, and yet millions of people died of starvation. During the Cultural Revolution they persecuted Liu Shaoqi (vice president of the country at the time) and almost ruined the country's economy. Zhao Gao (a high-ranking and powerful official during the Qin Dynasty) called a deer a horse and all the officials agreed without objecting. The Qin Dynasty fell quickly thereafter. For the good of the country and the nation, Falun Gong practitioners tell people the truth, and point out these lies, even at the risk of their own lives. Isn't this marvelous? Are there any better people in the world? Doesn't this mean that they sacrifice their own lives for a righteous cause? Moreover, as soon as General Yue Fei returned, he was put to a cruel death." Someone else asked, "Why doesn't your teacher tell people to stop practicing? Not because Falun Gong is not good, but for the safety of the people practicing. If nobody were practicing, who could the Communists persecute?" On the surface, this question does not say Dafa is not good, but it suggests, "If the government won't let you practice, don't practice. If you insist on practicing you are suffering because of yourself." This is a form of deviated thinking! It does represent something, though. Let me give you an example: "If Falun Gong is good, why can't we practice? Are we afraid of any persecution? There is a problem in your logic! For example, when the Japanese invaded China, the Chinese army and the population were defending the country under very difficult circumstances, fighting to the last person. They would rather die than surrender. But according to your logic you would say, "You should surrender quickly. For the sake of protecting people's lives, no one is allowed to defend the country. To be a people without a country is better than being dead." Some people may even say, "Let us all follow the example of Traitor Wang Jingwei, we can all get promoted and be rich!" Is this right? No, it is not! Insist on the truth; insist on righteousness! To do so is the very principle of being a human being.

On the question of why Falun Gong is suffering from persecution, someone asked, "There are so many Falun Gong practitioners. If I were the leader of the country I would also want to kill the potential threat in its infant stage." This is also typical, deviated thinking and it should be corrected. Traitor Qin Kui worked with the inept king Zhao Guo to kill Yue Fei's whole family. This provides a very good example for responding to this comment. "The leader of a country must first of all consider the interests of the nation, making it a good country so that people can enjoy life and work, and so that the country becomes prosperous, rich and strong. He should not just think about his own power and position. He cannot torture and kill at will. That is the way inept kings act. Doing such will only ruin the country. This is just like Zhao Gou, the emperor during Yue Fei's time, who feared Yue Fei because of his accomplishments, and worked with Qin Hui to kill Yue Fei's whole family, thus having become the worst person for thousands of years to come. Isn't Jiang Zemin doing the same thing now?"

Another person asked: "I don't understand. If Falun Gong is really good why is it being persecuted?" This time I thought of the tale of Snow White. I explained: "Actually, the persecution of Falun Gong is the decision of Jiang Zemin himself. Many in the Chinese government objected to the persecution, but were afraid to say so for fear of being suppressed. Just because Jiang says it is not good does not mean it is not good. I think it is because Jiang wanted to be the center of everything. He wanted the people of China to listen only to him. But then he found there were hundreds of millions of people who practiced Falun Gong, and who followed what Mr. Li Hongzhi, the founder of Falun Gong, said. Since there were only about 70 million communist party members, and not all of them listened to him, he became jealous and angry. He decided to start this bloody persecution that has been so detrimental to the country and its people. Have you heard the tale of Snow White? Even though Snow White was hiding in a house in the woods with the seven dwarfs, the ugly and evil queen did everything she could to try to kill Snow White. Was Snow White bad? No. It is the evil queen, who was so jealous of Snow White's beauty and goodness that made queen's ugliness and meanness stand out more. She could not stand it. Isn't it the same with Jiang?

My thoughts on clarifying the truth about Falun Gong are that it is usually very effective to use parallels or examples. It only takes a few words of clarifying the truth to people for them to understand.

Making telephone calls to rescue fellow practitioners is a very good way to validate Dafa and to offer salvation to living beings. When a Dafa practitioner clarifies the truth about Falun Dafa, his righteousness and compassion will lead sentient beings out of danger and scare the evil away. On the one hand we call the public security bureaus and labor camps to suppress the evil, and to reduce the level of their persecution. On the other hand we call the families of Dafa practitioners who were arrested to tell them the truth, to reinforce their upright thoughts and to help them support their loved ones. While visiting incarcerated Dafa practitioners, the family members then tell them about the phone calls from around the world, and tell them that everyone is concerned for their welfare. This encourages them to be strong, as these evil events and deeds will not last much longer.

When we call the judicial and public security departments in China, the people there usually say, "Falun Gong is illegal. Falun Gong practitioners are disobeying the law by distributing materials or telling the truth. Thus, they should be arrested and sentenced to jail;" or, "We have to carry out our duty according to the law." These are things that were not previously experienced while clarifying the truth to the overseas Chinese community. People in democratic countries overseas believe in freedom of religion and freedom of speech. To practice any qigong, and to be able to distribute any truth-clarifying materials are matters of course in these communities. But in China it is a very common problem to be restricted in such activities. Many people, including Dafa practitioners' family members, cannot understand why the Dafa practitioners clarify the truth.

In order to clarify the truth to everyday people, we must have a clear understanding of the Fa, and that practicing Falun Gong and clarifying the truth are not against any laws. It is against the law to lie, to persecute, to hurt and to kill people. Jiang Zemin is really the greatest criminal. He is the one that should be arrested and sentenced to jail. By telling the truth we are really exposing his criminal acts. Should it be against the law to expose these criminal elements? We use this opportunity to tell people stories about the persecution, like those documented in the truth information handouts we are distributing. What follows are two telephone call experiences.

1) Call to government officials

Them: "You always call to disturb people, pasting up slogans, distributing leaflets and damaging the security and cooperation of people."

Us: "Did these things happen before the persecution? If they stop the persecution right now, you will see if there are still people making the phone calls and pasting up the truth. Do you think we have nothing better to do? Actually, the one who damages the people's security and cooperation is Jiang Zemin. He establishes brainwashing classes across the country, monitors telephone calls, uses countless manpower and resources, and wastes millions of Chinese yuan. This is the money earned by the blood and sweat of people. Why not use it for economic development and to improve people's livelihood? Instead, it is used for persecuting good people who believe in Truthfulness, Compassion and Forbearance. There are so many workers without jobs right now who are forced to retire prematurely. Many farmers cannot even find enough food to eat.

2) Policeman

Us: "She is a fellow citizen in Hong Kong. It makes a very bad impression on the international community for the police to arrest people without proper cause. Please think about it."

Them: "She was arrested because she was acting against the law. Anyone acting against the law should be prosecuted."

Us: "She has done nothing against the law by practicing Falun Gong and telling the truth about Falun Gong. The Constitution guarantees freedom of belief and freedom of speech. The Falun Gong practitioners are all good people. They just want to practice to improve their health. They do not hinder any one, but they were arrested and jailed. You are the people's policemen. You are supposed to protect people. You should arrest bad people, not good people! I think you are a person of good conscience. I hope you will not arrest good people. Please, treat Falun Gong practitioners well. Falun Gong is very well respected all over the world."

Them: "In China, Falun Gong is illegal. It is against the law to practice. We must do as the law requires."

Us: "Actually, Jiang and his cronies are the ones that are really against the law. He gave the order, 'Beating to death is counted as suicide" and 'No need to investigate.' He has been sued in several countries around the world for his genocidal offenses. Jiang Zemin is really the greatest criminal. If you really want to do as the law requires, you should go and get Jiang Zemin and prosecute him to the fullest extent of the law! In China today, you are innocent if you lie and persecute people, but you are guilty if you tell the truth. Murderers are free from prosecution, but the one trying to be a good person is persecuted! How could we have such a law in the world, past or present?"

While making telephone calls we might also have the occasion to talk to someone who has embraced an evil way or is converted in detention. They might ask, "Why cultivate? Isn't it for Consummation? And what is Consummation for?" This is a question I asked myself countless times. It was also frequently and hotly discussed in our Fa-study group. It could take thousands of words to explain, but I can only answer briefly: "Human beings originally came from higher realms, from very good worlds. They dropped down to the dirtiest level, earth, because of not being good enough. Then we must try our best to return to our original realm. The purpose for living as a human being is not to be human, but to return to one's original self so one can return to where he or she came from, as Mr. Li has told us. It is just like if one fell into a ditch of human waste; the only priority would be how to get out of it. Would you even bother to ask why you would want to get out? Could it be very comfortable staying in the ditch of human waste?"

In the process of clarifying the truth I cgenuinely feel the power of Dafa. Many ordinary people's questions look difficult at first glance, but during Fa-study, practice and sending forth righteous thoughts, good ideas constantly evolve. Sometimes it is just like what it says in Zhuan Falun, that one might have a headache thinking about a problem, walking around the house and yet not doing anything. Then, if one stops thinking about it and sits down to rest a while, an answer comes to mind. One other thing - frequently many good ideas, which are the result of the Dafa practitioner's collective wisdom, come out in experience sharing sessions.

Actually, when I clarify the truth by talking to people I don't have to think much. Often I feel that my mind is quite clear and my brain works great when I am talking to people; before they finish asking a question, I already have the answer in my mind. I don't mean to say I am smarter; Dafa is the source of all our wisdom. Let us cherish everything we have now. If we lose it, we will never recover it. Work harder still. Be sure not to waste what Mr. Li has done for us with many sacrifices.

Thank you, Teacher. Thank you, everyone!

News and Events from Around the World

The 2004 Indonesia Falun Dafa Experience Sharing Conference Successfully Held at Jakarta (Photos)

(Clearwisdom.net) On September 12, the 2004 Indonesia Falun Dafa Experience Sharing Conference was held in the Hilton Hotel in Jakarta. Near 600 practitioners and guests from more than 10 regions of Indonesia attended the conference.

The conference site was decorated solemnly. Two giant banners, "Enlighten to the Right Path" and "Cultivate Diligently", were displayed on both sides of Master's portrait. The director of the Indonesia Tourism Bureau sent greetings to the conference, and the former vice chairman of the National Political Consultative Conference attended a conference of this kind for the first time. The Taiwan Falun Dafa Association sent a congratulatory letter to the conference: "During this period where good and bad are often turned upside down, the Indonesia Falun Dafa Association has overcome arduous hardships and is holding the 2004 Indonesia Experience Sharing Conference. We wish you a great success. We hope that this conference will help more people know the truth of the persecution of Falun Gong, help practitioners reach the requirement of Fa Rectification and thus become great Dafa disciples that validate the Fa and assist Master in Fa Rectification, as well as saving sentient beings during the Fa Rectification period."

The conference site

Practitioners sharing experiences

A blind practitioner reciting "Lun Yu" (On Buddha Law, preface of Zhuan Falun)

Indonesia is a nation of tens of thousands of islands. In the past few years, the number of practitioners has increased constantly. The conference provides a venue for new and veteran practitioners to exchange understandings of the Fa and discover shortcomings in their own cultivation. Indonesia's first national experience sharing conference was held in Jakarta in 2002, and the second conference was held in Bali in May 2003. In May 2004, the Eastern Indonesia Conference was held at Surabaya.

Many practitioners from Medan, Batan, Tanjung, Padang, Palembang, Semarang, Solo City, Yogyakarta, Tuban, Tulung Agung, Pasuruan, Surabaya, Bali and Yakarta attended the conference. The venue was packed with practitioners, and organizers had to add chairs for those who couldn't find seats.

Cultural performance

Practitioners who gave speeches came from all over Indonesia. A student from a school for the blind in Bali recited "Lun Yu" (the preface of Zhuan Falun), and the principal of the school presented the Dafa Association with a plaque to express appreciation for Falun Dafa's contributions to the school. Xu Wentai accepted the honor on behalf of the association. Besides experience sharing, the conference also had many cultural programs, including Tang attire dancing, singing by a choir temporarily formed by Jakarta and Medan practitioners, and other performances.

One day before the conference, practitioners from all over Indonesia held a grand parade to expose Jiang Zemin's crime against practitioners. The procession, which consisted of floats, exercise demonstrations, anti-torture exhibition and symbolic trial of Jiang, ranged for 1 kilometer

Reporters from several TV stations said that they had heard about Falun Gong before, but they only knew Falun Gong was being persecuted in China. They never knew that the practitioners' cultural troupe was so wonderful. The reporters commented: Each practitioner has a bright face! Having endured so much persecution, their expressions don't have even a tiny bit of anger or hatred.

The grand parade

Symbolic trial of Jiang Zemin

Korea: Raising Awareness of the Persecution to the 7th International Conference for National Human Rights Institutions (Photos)

(Clearwisdom.net) From September 14 to 17, the 7th International Conference for National Human Rights Institutions was held in Seoul. The theme of this year's conference is "Upholding Human Rights during Conflict and Countering Terrorism". The conference was the largest one to date, with representatives from human rights, international and non-governmental organizations from 70 countries. Korea practitioners first clarified the truth about Falun Gong to the Korea National Human Rights Commission. Practitioners visited the commission and delivered materials to each individual office, and we urged them to pay more attention to the persecution of Falun Gong in China.

Anti-torture exhibition outside the Korea National Human Rights Commission

Attendees viewing the exhibition

Sending righteous thoughts

Before the conference opened, a NGO (Non-governmental Organizations) Forum was held on September 12 and 13. Representatives from more than 40 human rights organizations across the world, as well as most Korean human rights organizations, attended the forum. Before the forum started, Falun Gong practitioners distributed books and materials exposing the persecution of Falun Gong by the Jiang Zemin regime to NGO representatives at a booth at the forum site. With the forum sponsor's permission, a photo exhibit of the persecution was also held during the forum.

In the afternoon of the Forum's first day (Sep 12), Falun Gong practitioners joined all four of the discussion groups and told NGO representatives from different countries of the persecution of the innocent Falun Gong practitioners in China.

Representatives from different countries viewing the exhibition

The anti-torture exhibition site

Distributing materials to NGO representatives

On the second day (Sep 13), practitioners came to the conference site in the early morning to set up a photo display. Those who didn't see the photos and hadn't obtained Falun Gong materials came to the photo exhibition during break time. They also asked a lot of detailed questions about the persecution. In the afternoon, some media came to view the exhibition, and they said that they would pay closer attention to the persecution in the future.

September 13 was also the day for most foreign participants of the conference to enter Korea. The practitioners decided to go to the conference staff offices to distribute materials. Practitioners put open letters, stories of Chinese practitioners who can't go back to China and Video-CDs into hand-made flower baskets, and delivered the baskets to every room. Hopefully, they will develop a positive understanding of Falun Dafa and learn more about the persecution after reading the materials.

The International Conference for National Human Rights Institutions opened on September 14. A lot of conference attendees commuted between the conference site (Lotte Hotel) and the Korea National Human Rights Commission. The practitioners held a photo exhibition there. Many people expressed their concern after they viewed torture photos and articles about how practitioners' human rights have been violated in China.

Some practitioners also obtained conference passes and went into the conference site to expose the persecution. Practitioners told the delegates about the seriousness of the human rights violations and urged them to pay closer attention to the persecution. Meanwhile, practitioners also asked them to include the persecution of Falun Gong as part of their formal discussions.

In the afternoon, after the conference activities adjourned, the non-Korean members visited the Korean National Human Rights Commission. On the way to and back, the human rights activists were able to see the anti-torture exhibition. Some of them accepted interviews and expressed their view on China's human rights.

During this international conference, from the NGO forum before the conference, to the conference and outdoor activities, the practitioners coordinated well to clarify the truth to representatives of human rights organizations from all over the world. The result of their efforts was quite good.

Spain: A Series of Activities During Jia Qinglin's Visit to Spain (1) (Photos)

(Clearwisdom.net) Barcelona was the first stop for Jia Qinglin during his visit to Spain. On the very morning of Jia's arrival, there was an unusual rainstorm in Barcelona. The weather had been fine, but it suddenly changed at 9 o'clock in the morning and the black clouds gathered as if it were nightfall. All of a sudden, the rain was pouring down. It was so difficult for vehicles to move that they stopped along the roadsides.

The Falun Dafa practitioners arrived at the airport ahead of time and sent strong righteous thoughts for a long time. Gradually the black clouds went away and the sky cleared up.

At 3 o'clock, Jia Qinglin, together with his delegation, arrived at Barcelona Airport. The Falun Gong practitioners, who had been waiting for hours, opened banners reading "Falun Dafa" and "Immediately Stop the Persecution of Falun Gong Practitioners."

Afterwards, the practitioners drove to the hotel where Jia Qinglin was staying to peacefully appeal. Just as the banners were unfurled, two police vehicles arrived and a number of policemen jumped out and surrounded the practitioners. They were not very friendly at first, but practitioners took the time to explain the facts to them about the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners in China, telling them the reason why they took such actions. The policemen changed their attitude after they heard the facts. They allowed the protest to continue and condemned the persecution. In the end, the policemen each took some information and thanked the practitioners in a friendly manner. Apart from demonstrating the exercises, practitioners also explained the facts to hotel staff, tourists staying in the hotel, and passersby. Many people found out about Falun Dafa and the persecution that's taking place in China. The practitioners were especially encouraged by the fact that many from the Chinese delegation also accepted informational materials.

At the end of the activity, a few practitioners went to the reception and asked that a letter and an information package be forwarded to Jia Qinglin. The desk clerk who knew the truth promised practitioners that she would forward the materials to Jia and let the practitioners know that they could telephone Jia's room directly.

The next morning, two practitioners phoned Jia's room and Jia's secretary answered. When he learned that Falun Gong practitioners were calling, he dared not ask Jia to answer and immediately hung up.

Source: http://clearharmony.net/articles/200409/21968.html

Finland: Falun Gong Practitioners Take Part in "Compassion Day" in the City of Turku (Photos)

(Clearwisdom.net) On Sunday the 29th of August, 'Compassion Day' was held in the city of Turku, the purpose of which was to awaken the compassion in people to care more for one another. In the opening speech of 'Compassion Day', the organizers urged people to have a compassionate attitude towards everyone they come in to contact with in the next 30 days, as if that person is the most important person in the whole world.

Falun Dafa practitioners enriched the event by telling people about the benefits and principles of Falun Dafa, which emphasizes goodness and compassion in its teachings. Practitioners also raised awareness of the cruel persecution that Mainland Chinese Falun Dafa practitioners have been subjected to. Almost every visitor and exhibitor in the event came to support practitioners by signing the petition that demands an immediate end to the persecution in China.

Many children and their parents got folded lotus flowers from the practitioners' table. Children were taught how to fold the flowers themselves and the teacher from the kindergarten took several flowers as a gift. The Lotus flower is known as a symbol of cultivation practice and purity in Asia.

While watching the Falun Dafa exercise demonstration, a woman said that she felt very relaxed and calm. She noticed that the practice was good for both body and mind. Many people stopped to talk with practitioners about the principles of Falun Dafa and the nature of practice. The attendees were supportive and positive towards Falun Dafa.

Translated from Finnish at http://fi.clearharmony.net/articles/200409/1735.html

Source http://www.clearharmony.net/articles/200409/21989.html

Sweden: A Poster about Falun Gong has been Placed on Trams and Passenger Boats in Gothenburg (Photo)

(Clearwisdom.net) In Gothenburg during the past two weeks, passengers traveling by trams in the city and by boats going to the archipelago have been able to see a poster concerning the persecution of Falun Gong.

Falun Gong practitioners in Gothenburg arranged to put up this poster in order to inform the citizens on a larger scale about the cruel persecution that is taking place in China.

The poster has been posted on forty trams and boats in the city and those going to the archipelago for the next two weeks.

The Falun Gong poster explains briefly about the practice and includes examples of torture methods.

The text on the top and left side of the poster reads:

Falun Gong (Falun Dafa) is a qigong and cultivation practice for body and mind.

In addition to doing five tranquil exercises, emphasis is put on living according to Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance.

Falun Gong is practiced in over sixty countries.

You can find more information at www.falundafa.org or www.clearharmony.net

The text on the bottom of the poster reads:

Five years' persecution of Falun Gong - Cruel torture in modern times. Wang Lixuan and her eight month old baby were tortured to death in October 2000. On the child's body, marks from handcuffs were clearly visible and the body was covered in bruises and wounds. The autopsy indicated that the baby had been hung upside down.

Examples of torture methods:

Practitioners are stripped naked and locked in small iron cages with sharp spikes around the cage. The cages are submerged in dirty water. Practitioners hung up in the air so that their feet don't touch the ground and their arms are severely injured.

Source: http://clearharmony.net/articles/200409/21971.html

Rhode Island: Falun Gong Practitioners at the NBC10 Health Expo (Photos)

(Clearwisdom.net) Falun Gong practitioners in Rhode Island and surrounding areas participated in the Health Expo sponsored by NBC10 in the Convention Center in Providence, Rhode Island on September 12, 2004.

The practitioners demonstrated the Falun Gong exercises at 3:30 in the afternoon wearing traditional Chinese Qigong uniforms. Exercise music and narration filled the exhibit hall. The narration recounted the history of Falun Dafa from its introduction, wide-spread popularity, to the practitioners' unwavering will under tremendous difficulties.

The audience was deeply moved by the demonstration and narration, and gave them warm applause. Two boys from the audience joined the practitioners on stage and mimicked the exercise movements. When the demonstration was over, the practitioners were surrounded by people who wanted to learn the practice. Introduction materials went very quickly, and the audience left with a happy experience.

Los Angeles: Falun Gong Practitioners Display Their Elegant Demeanor in Mexican Independence Day Parade (Photos)

(Clearwisdom.net) On September 12, 2004, Los Angeles Falun Gong practitioners participated in the annual Mexican Independence Day Parade held by the Latino community. As estimated by the organizer, about 200 groups participated in the activity and nearly 100,000 spectators watched the parade. This was the largest celebration event held by the local Latino community this year. It is the first time that Los Angeles practitioners have applied to participate.

Groups participating in the parade included people from different professions, governmental organizations, non-profit organizations, and the media. Several congressmen, California senators, the Los Angeles mayor, and city councilors also joined the procession.

The Falun Gong practitioners' elegantly decorated float, graceful exercise demonstration, traditional Chinese dancing, and energetic waist drum performance were well received by spectators along the parade route.

Falun Gong practitioners in the parade

Practitioners wearing large, traditional Mexican style straw hats, holding banners with words in Spanish, congratulating the Mexican people for their festival.

Falun Dafa float was a highlight in the parade

Exercise demonstration

Waist drummers troupe

Dance group

Spectators give a warm welcome to the practitioners

Practitioners hand out truth clarifying flyers

Video: Los Angeles Channel 34 (Univision 34) reported Falun Gong practitioners participated in the parade

Real format Online viewing (2'27") Download(4.2MB)

(How to download: Right-click mouse, select "Save Target As...").

The host said, "Falun Gong has brought different culture to this parade. Falun Gong is a peaceful, relaxing practice, and can bring health to people. They truly charge no fee at the teaching sessions every day or week... Two girls raised Mexican flags to show they are happy to celebrate this holiday with Mexicans... Meditation, lotus flowers, ... How beautiful! It's genuine art! Falun Dafa -- an ancient practice that can uplift mind and body."

Bearing Witness to History

A Miraculous Personal Experience of Master Teaching Falun Dafa in Wuhan City

(Clearwisdom.net) I had been suffering from several diseases. I had gone through surgeries many times and the pain I suffered are very hard to describe. I had practiced several kinds of qigong after the hospital could not cure my diseases. However, I still could not see my problems being solved.

In March of 1993, Falun Gong was spread to Wuhan City. I was fortunate being able to purchase a ticket for a Falun Gong Class from the city qigong association. The ticket I bought was for a ten-day session, the price was 50 Yuan for the first time attendant and 25 Yuan for the second or more times attendant. Usually, any half a day seminar from a qigong master would cost 100 Yuan. I got so interested in Master's profound great-law after listening to the first class at the city hall auditorium that I completely forgot about my "diseases." It was like what I had been looking for hundreds of thousands years was this great-law. The miraculous thing was that I did not see Master curing the disease for me. However, all the diseases that had made it difficult for me to survive had all suddenly gone. It was like a chain that had been tying me up closely was suddenly removed. While I was going home on a bicycle after that day's class, it was as if I was being pushed forward by someone. When I looked back, nobody was behind me. I remembered that Master said the law body would protect us, and it is indeed true.

The joy of my body feeling light and disease free prompted me to take the initiative to pass the wonderfulness of Falun Dafa to more people with predestined relationships.

A remarkable thing happened during the classes. We all felt Falun Dafa is so good, so I asked a practitioner who went to the class with me to go with me to buy a new tape recorder and tapes for recording the ten days' classes. We wanted to tape Master's teaching of the Fa. On the class of the second day, we pressed the record button. Then, someone told us that Master did not allow tape recording. At that time, our enlightenment qualities were poor so we still kept busy with our recording. When we got home and took out the tape, we found the tape had been broken into many pieces. All practitioners on the scene were shocked.

Later on, when Master was on a show answering the listeners' questions at the Changjiang Economy Radio Station, we asked Master if we could tape the show, Master smiled and said yes, so we made our recording.

There was an acquaintance who had a serious medical problem and could only stay in bed. When her family members went to work, they turned on the radio to let her listen. It was just then when Master was listening to another patient's question on radio. Master asked this patient to support his body with his hands on a table and relax the whole body. Following Master's instruction, this acquaintance put her hands on a bedside cupboard and relaxed whole body as well. She could right away get off the bed and take care of herself. When her family members got home, they were all very happy. Many of her family members later on started cultivating in Falun Dafa.

August 30, 2004

A Look Back: Thousands of Dafa Practitioners in Dalian City Peacefully Appealed on July 20, 1999

(Clearwisdom.net) On July 19, 1999, Jiang personally directed the illegal arrests of Falun Gong practitioners and volunteer assistants in Dalian City, Liaoning Province. From July 19 to July 21, thousands of Falun Gong practitioners from Dalian City went to the city government and the Appeals Office to ask for the people arrested. The city government, however, did not release those people. Instead, it used large numbers of military policemen and teams of anti-riot police to suppress them.

On the morning of July 20, 1999, thousands of Falun Gong practitioners from Dalian City lined up near the sidewalk outside the city government buildings, forming four lines all together. Hand in hand, they peacefully expressed their wishes to the government.

At about 7:00 a.m., groups of policemen began attacking these Dafa practitioners in public, starting with the male practitioners. After the young male practitioners, they then began pulling out the rest of the male practitioners from the lines, regardless of their ages, and savagely beating them. Several policemen would beat one practitioner. Practitioners' heads were bleeding, their bodies were badly wounded and most had lost their shoes. Then the policemen tossed them into one police vehicle after another, and took them to Xinghai Harbor in Dalian City. There, they searched their persons, robbed them of all their cash and then pushed them from the vehicles. These injured practitioners, now barefoot and penniless, bravely walked back to the Dalian City Government compound to continue peacefully appealing and making their voices heard. By the time they reached the government gate, it was already 3:00 p.m. Those Dafa practitioners who were still in front of the government building remained unshaken and had refused to leave, even after the policemen kicked and beat them, shocked them with electric batons and hit them with hard rubber nightsticks. The scene was brutal to behold yet moving at the same time.

At about 5:00 p.m., the city government officials pushed all the practitioners into buses that had been dispatched. From there, the practitioners were transported to schools in the suburbs that were temporarily used for detention. They were held there past 10:00 p.m. and were not released to go home until after they were forced to write down their names and work units.

During this time, the Falun Dafa practitioners saw some sacred scenes. At about 7:00 a.m., a little Dafa practitioner beside me suddenly clapped his hands and said happily, "Master has come! Master has come!" The practitioners looked up into the sky and each saw a different scene. Ignoring the feet, fists, batons, and sticks with which they were being beaten; the practitioners exchanged looks and communicated with one another. What I saw then was that the sky was filled with Faluns. Master was sitting on a huge Falun, surrounded by numerous Fa-guarding Gods. Countless Faluns floated down from the sky, landing on fellow practitioners, houses and streets. Some practitioners saw dragons and phoenixes, while others reported seeing heavenly soldiers and generals.

At that time, the policemen stopped beating practitioners and also looked up into the sky, seeing brightly colored lights and constantly changing clouds that were very unusual.

Such sacred scenes lasted for at least twenty minutes, after which, the policemen stopped beating people. They just pushed the Dafa practitioners to the outside. The anti-riot police that had been summoned from the adjacent counties and cities were the ones who beat people later on.

Reference Material

AP: Chile Court Strips Pinochet of Immunity

SANTIAGO, Chile (AP) -- Chile's Supreme Court stripped Gen. Augusto Pinochet of immunity from prosecution Thursday, paving the way for possible trial of the former dictator on charges of human rights abuses.

The court voted 9-8 to lift the immunity the 88-year-old Pinochet enjoys as a former president, a court spokesman said.

The decision removes a major legal hurdle for prosecutors seeking to bring Pinochet to justice, adding to his legal woes after Chilean investigators recently opened a probe into multimillion dollar bank accounts in the United States.

The ruling came in a lawsuit brought on behalf of victims of "Operation Condor,'' which they say was a coordinated plan of repression against opponents by the military dictatorships that ruled South American nation in the 1970s and '80s.

Although Pinochet has never been indicted in connection with "Operation Condor,'' government spokesman Francisco Vidal signaled the ruling clears the way for a possible investigation.

"Nobody is above the law,'' Vidal said. He did not elaborate on what many observers predict would be a protracted legal battle.

The Supreme Court had ruled in the past that Pinochet is physically and mentally unfit to stand trial. The Supreme Court spokesman, Juan Cristobal Mera, did not immediately release details of the court's opinion.

Lawyers had presented new evidence suggesting Pinochet was capable of withstanding trial. The evidence included a 2003 televised interview in which he calmly answered questions about his rule.

Pinochet spokesman retired Gen. Guillermo Garin expressed surprise at the ruling.

"This does come as bit of a surprise since the health of the ex-president has not changed at all,'' he said, adding that the general's health problems "are progressing and irreversible.''

A 2002 report by court-appointed doctors stated that Pinochet has a mild case of dementia. He uses a pacemaker, suffers from diabetes and arthritis, and has had at least three mild strokes since 1998.

In November 2003, Pinochet appeared in an interview with a Miami-based Spanish language television station, saying he views himself as a "good angel'' and blaming the abuses of his regime on subordinates.

Pinochet took power in a bloody September 1973 coup that toppled elected leftist president Salvador Allende. Family and followers of Allende said he committed suicide in his presidential palace in flames, after it had come under attack.

Pinochet went on to rule until 1990 and a report by the civilian government that succeeded him said 3,197 people died or disappeared during his 17-year regime.

Lorena Pizarro, who heads an association for relatives of victims of repression under Pinochet's dictatorship, said prosecutors now had to move quickly to bring him to trial.

"Pinochet has to be tried!'' she said. "He must pay for all the crimes for which he is responsible. This has to be the window of opportunity bring human rights violators to justice.''

A group of about 100 Pinochet opponents cheered when the court's decision was announced in Santiago, where the protesters had kept up a courthouse vigil beside police barricades this week.

Other legal problems now confront Pinochet.

He recently came under scrutiny after authorities said a U.S. investigation raised suspicions he kept accounts at the Washington-based Riggs Bank with deposits ranging from $4 million to $8 million.

Earlier this month, Pinochet answered questions during an appearance before a judge investigating the source of the money.

News from China

Beijing Bus Company Rejects Job Candidates Who Have Practiced Falun Gong

(Clearwisdom.net) BEIJING BASHI CO., LTD is one of the first publicly owned enterprises in Beijing's public transportation system. The main business of this company is providing public transportation in Beijing.

In February 16, 2001, Beijing Bashi Co., LTD went on the Shanghai stock market. As a share-limited corporation, Beijing Bashi established a website http//www.newbjbus.com

and published information about the company. This reflected part of the company's efforts to meet international standards and increase its transparency.

On the company's website, one can see the following descriptions:

Our enterprise's spirit: Humanity is the foundation and good faith is the soul.

Our enterprise's mission: Full devotion to customers is our responsibility.

Our enterprise's slogan: To establish the BASHI's image and to promote BASHI's style and goodness.

However, what follows doesn't seem to be right. In the job requirements for bus drivers and conductors, words like this appeared: 3. Good political thinking, no records of violation of laws or rules before the job interview, never joined illegal organizations such as Falun Gong; (please see details at http://www.newbjbus.com/frontend/pages/gsdt/zxns.htm)

Good political thinking. What does this mean? Does it mean persisting in the Four Fundamental Principles? Supporting the Communist party? Supporting the "Three Represents?" It was not stated clearly, and seems to be up to the recruiting manager's own judgment.

No violations of laws and rules. What defines a violation of laws? No violation of criminal laws or no violation of traffic rules? What does "violation of rules" mean? The act of spitting in public places will be fined and would be called a violation of rules. How do you make sure that applicants do not have any violations of laws and rules? The definition is not clear and seems to be up to the hiring manager's discretion.

Never joined illegal organizations such as Falun Gong, etc. So as long as someone practiced Falun Gong before, whether that person is still practicing or not, he or she has no right to apply for a job? What kind of requirement is this? Even the official propaganda of the Communist Party against Falun Gong dared not to be so direct. Is it said that opportunities should be given to those people? If other companies or work units acted like this, aren't millions of Falun Gong practitioners (including those who practiced before) automatically deprived of employment opportunities? Isn't it the company's basic rule that humanity is essential? Aren't Falun Gong practitioners human beings? How could they be treated differently than others?

Jiang Zemin wanted to treat Falun Gong like this: "Ruin their reputations, bankrupt them financially, and destroy them physically." Since there was not any documentation on paper for these words, some people do not believe that Jiang Zemin could be so evil. The requirements for this company's jobs provide first hand proof of this policy. The Communist party wants to not only eliminate Falun Gong, but also to persecute anyone who has practiced Falun gong before.

There are two legal representatives for the company posted on the web:

Ms. Zhao Wenzi, 45, MS degree and senior politician. She was deputy secretary of the Beijing Communist Youth Party and the party secretary of the organization, vice chairwomen of Beijing Youth Union, vice secretary of Beijing Construction Committee. She is now the head of the board of BEIJING BASHI and the communist party secretary of Beijing Public Transportation, Inc.

Mr. Zhang Guoguang, 49, MS degree and financial management specialist. He has been assistant CEO of the Beijing Motor Bus Company, vice president of the No. 1 Bus Company, party secretary and assistant CEO of a public transportation and real estate development company, CEO and deputy party secretary of a motor bus company, and CEO of the passenger bus branch company of Beijing Public Transportation Inc. He is now deputy head of the board, CEO, and vice party secretary of BEIJING BASHI.

Ms. Zhao and Mr. Zhang: I want to say a few words to you. It is not wise for your company to do things like this. In any democratic society, what you did would be illegal. Even in China today, what you have done is extreme. Please look at the people around you who practice Falun Gong. Are they not good, honest people who are devoted to the society and abide by the laws? Many leaders in work units tried various ways to protect Falun Gong practitioners in their organizations because they are the most reliable employees. Where can you find these good people in today's society? But you have clearly stated that you want to exclude them as job candidates.

In addition, I also heard that Falun Gong overseas has formed the "World Organization to Investigate the Persecution of Falun Gong." This organization will expose and sue those who participate in the illegal persecution of Falun Gong. I heard that once they have confirmed evidence, those persons, together with their spouses and children, are not allowed to enter those democratic countries. Your company's job requirements are definitely part of the persecution. How can you stop Falun Gong from investigating you? Being the chair and vice chair of board committee, how can the two of you avoid this? Please think it over carefully. Is it worth it to help Jiang Zemin persecute good people?

Thanks for your company's transparency. Your publicly listed contact information is:

Email: bjbashi@btamail.net.cn
Tel: 86-10-68477383
Fax: 86-10-68731430

August 18, 2004

Latest New from China - August 29, 2004

(Clearwisdom.net)

[Changchun City, Jilin Province] Practitioner Zhou Guoqing Will Hunger Strike Again to Protest the Unlawful Incarceration

[Yanbian Korean Nation Autonomous Region, Jilin Province] The Persecution Cai Fuchen Suffered for Practicing Dafa

[Acheng City, Heilongjiang Province] Repeat Arrest of Practitioner Chang Liping

[Harbin City, Heilongjiang Province] Practitioner Lin Yongmei Is Arrested

[Manzhouli, Inner Mongolia AR] Arrest of Practitioner Liu Xiaodong

[Wuhan City, Hubei Province] Arrest of Practitioner Li Yanlin

[Yuxi City, Yunnan Province] Practitioner Li Xiulan Arrested for the Third Time

[Dianbai County, Guangdong Province] Su Weiquan's Teaching Contract Canceled for Writing Letters Clarifying the Truth about Falun Gong

[Dianbai County, Guangdong Province] Arrest of Dafa Practitioner Deng Po

[Yushu City, Jilin Province] Arrest and Detention of Several Dafa Practitioners

[Zhangjiachuan County, Gansu Province] Arrest of Dafa Practitioner Zhang Run at Hengshui City, Hebei Province

1. [Changchun City, Jilin Province] Practitioner Zhou Guoqing Will Be on a Hunger Strike Again to Protest the Unlawful Incarceration

For practicing Falun Dafa, teacher and practitioner Mr. Zhou Guoqing, from Changchun City's Puyang Elementary School, was fired. On August 4, 2004, Zhou Guoqing went to the school to explain that there was nothing wrong with practicing Dafa, and requested to be allowed to go back to work. The school authorities sent him to talk to the city's Educational Committee. He went to the Committee and stated his situation while clarifying the truth, but the committee asked him to go to Luyuan District's "610 Office." He went to talk to the "610 Office," who called officers from Luyuan District's Police Precinct and had Zhou Guoqing taken to Changchun City's Second Detention Center.

On August 18, Zhou Guoqing was sent to the Chaoyanggou Forced Labor Camp. Zhou Guoqing kept shouting out "Falun Dafa is great" ever since he was put into the camp. He also held a hunger strike. The bureau authorities sent personnel to the forced labor camp to get involved in force-feeding him.

Zhou Guoqing stopped the hunger strike recently and wrote a formal complaint to sue the responsible units for the illegal persecution. He decided to resume the hunger strike on August 28 to protest the illegal incarceration.

2. [Yanbian Korean Nation Autonomous Region, Jilin Province] The Persecution Cai Fuchen Suffered for Practicing Dafa

Practitioner Mr. Cai Fuchen is from Yanbian K.N.A.R., Jilin Province. Since Jiang Zemin's regime started persecuting Falun Gong practitioners on July 20, 1999, personnel from his work unit spoke frequently with Cai Fuchen and asked him whether he wanted to pursue Falun Gong practice or Communist Party membership. Because he insisted on practicing Falun Gong Cai Fuchen was sentenced to two years in a forced labor camp.

Cai Fuchen closely followed Master and the Fa-rectification process, and did the three things well [study the Fa, explain the facts, and send forth righteous thoughts]. He was followed while validating the Fa and doing Dafa work, and he is currently being detained by the authorities. His wife is unemployed and his father has a blood clot in his brain. The entire family is in a difficult situation.

3. [Acheng City, Heilongjiang Province] Repeat Arrest of Practitioner Chang Liping

Ms. Chang Liping lived in the dormitory area for the Polyester Fabric Factory in Acheng City, Heilongjiang Province. She started practicing Falun Gong in 1999, and in 2000 she was arrested for appealing for Falun Gong in Beijing. She was sentenced to one year in a forced labor camp. She was arrested again after her release, at her home in 2001, and was released two weeks later. At around 7:30 a.m. on August 26, 2004, personnel from Acheng City's Chengbei Police Precinct searched Chang Liping's home, confiscated Dafa books and cassette tapes of Master's lectures, and arrested Chang Liping again. This was her third arrest. She has been sent to Acheng City's Detention Center.

The Chengbei Police Precinct (Country code: 86, area code: 451, Please do not dial area code before a cellular phone number):
Meng Qingyi (Supervisor): 53712480, 53740889, 13904507277 (cell)
Zhang Qingzeng: 53711111, 53748008, 8500717
Liu Weiren (Deputy Supervisor): 53711111, 53720552, 8502188

4. [Harbin City, Heilongjiang Province] Practitioner Lin Yongmei Is Arrested

On August 24, 2004, her work unit leader duped practitioner Ms. Lin Yongmei, who is an employee of the Fourth Harbin Pharmaceutical Factory, to come to the factory. Lin was later arrested on the same day. Her whereabouts are unknown.

Directly responsible person: Secretary of the Party's committee of the Fourth Harbin Pharmaceutical Factory: Zhao Changjiang
Telephone number of the executive office: 86-451-84335387

5. [Manzhouli, Inner Mongolia AR] Arrest of Practitioner Liu Xiaodong

On March 24, 2004, persons from the National Security Guard arrested practitioner Mr. Liu Xiaodong, who had come to Beijing for his education from Manzhouli, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. Persons from the Manzhouli "610 Office" and the Manzhouli local police office informed Beijing authorities, who arrested Liu Xiaodong. During Liu's detention, the security special agent enticed and tried to force Liu Xiaodong to be a spy, but Liu refused. Soon after, Liu Xiaodong was forced to quit school and sent back to Manzhouli. So far, Liu has been detained for three months. Due to Liu's refusal to cooperate with the police, the Manzhouli police office released information that Liu Xiaodong would be sentenced.

6. [Wuhan City, Hubei Province] Arrest of Practitioner Li Yanlin

Ms. Li Yanlin lives on the fourth floor of Building No. 107, Jianghan Street, Wuhan City, Hubei Province. On December 26, 2000 she was arrested and taken to the No. 1 Division of the No. 7 Section because she distributed materials clarifying the truth about Falun Gong. She was detained for three years. During the detention, Li was once sent to the Shizishan Mental Hospital for abuse and mistreatment, but she has been steadfast in her Dafa belief the entire time, with righteous thoughts and righteous actions. Other prisoners respected her, and when her term expired, the other prisoners held a farewell party for her, which was unprecedented in the forced labor camp.

On August 23, 2004, personnel from Wuhan City's "610 Office" and the Jianghan District "610 Office" arrested her again in her home. She was taken to the Tangjiatun Brainwashing Center in Jianghan District. Currently, Li's family members are not allowed to visit, so more detailed information is not available.

7. [Yuxi City, Yunnan Province] Practitioner Li Xiulan Arrested for the Third Time

Three months ago, practitioner Ms. Li Xiulan from Yuxi City, Yunnan Province was secretly arrested because she clarified the truth about Falun Gong to related government offices. This was the third time that Li Xiulan was arrested, and the news was blocked until a month later.

Several days ago, police arrested practitioners Ms. Li Shaofang and Zhang Hong from Xinping City while they were photocopying truth-clarifying materials.

8. [Dianbai County, Guangdong Province] Su Weiquan's Teaching Contract Canceled for Wring Letters to Clarify the Truth about Falun Gong

Dafa practitioner Su Weiquan from Dianbai County graduated from Guangdong Province's Education College in 2004 and was recruited as a teacher in the Linnan Secondary School in Dianbai County. He wrote letters to Dianbai County's Education Bureau to clarify the truth about Falun Gong. When he signed the teaching contract, personnel from the education bureau recognized his handwriting. The education bureau administrators and the county's "610 Office" then canceled his contract.

(Country code: 86; area code: 668)
Education bureau phone Number: 5522134, 5522164
Human Resources Section: 5530703
Secretarial Section: 5523676
Labor Union: 5526450

9. [Dianbai County, Guangdong Province] Arrest of Dafa Practitioner Deng Po

Dafa practitioner Deng Po from Dianbai County makes a living doing motorcycle repair. In 2000 he went to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong, and was thus sentenced to one year of forced labor. The savage torture in the forced labor camp made him give up cultivation, but later he changed his mind. When he distributed truth-clarifying materials, he was reported to police, and personnel from the Haibin Police Precinct in Dianbai County arrested him. They sentenced him to three years of forced labor in the Sanshui Forced Labor Camp.

***********************************************************

Because Dafa practitioner Deng Hanzhao from Dianbai County distributed truth-clarifying materials, a villager reported him to the Chen Village Police Precinct. Personnel from the police precinct often went to Deng Hanzhao's home to arrest him. He has been forced to leave home to avoid being persecuted.

Related phone numbers (country code: 86, area code: 668):
Dianbai County Police Department: 5531296
Legal Systems Section (the County's "610 Office"): 5527951
Administration Detention Center: 5536047
Haibin Police Precinct: 5513100

Chen Village Police Precinct: 5860371 or 5861519
Chen Village Court: 5860242

10. [Yushu City, Jilin Province] Arrest and Detention of Several Dafa Practitioners

In July 2004, officers from the National Security Team of Yushu City's Police Department arrested practitioners Ms. Xuan Zhaoru, Jiao Mingfeng, and Zheng Lijia in Yushu City. Three computers that belonged to Xuan Zhaoru and her children, a large amount of cash, and other valuables were looted. Xuan Zhaoru and Jiao Mingfeng were sentenced to one and a half years of forced labor. Jiao Mingfeng and Zheng Lijia have by now been released. Further details are under investigation.

Another Dafa practitioner, Ms. Liu Shujuan from Yushu City, has been detained for nearly five months.

11. [Zhangjiachuan County, Gansu Province] Arrest of Dafa Practitioner Zhang Run at Hengshui City, Hebei Province

Before lawless police officers Ma Xiaowu and Wang Tao from Zhangjiachuan County arrested Dafa practitioner Zhang Run on or about August 19, they had been to Hebei Province's Hengshui Secondary School to persecute practitioner Mr. Hai Guozhi and extorted 15,000 Yuan (1) from him. Hai Guozhi's work position has been suspended, his computer was confiscated, and he is being monitored.

Policemen Ma Xiaowu claimed that no one could save Zhang Run. The county's prosecutor has been involved in this case. Ma Xiaowu is the reason for six practitioners being sentenced to forced labor by framing them and reporting them to county and city authorities. This time he again intended to put Zhang Run into prison.

Wang Tao, responsible policeman: 86-13321381399 (Cell)

Note:

(1) Yuan is the Chinese currency. The average monthly salary of an urban worker in China is 500 Yuan.

August 29, 2004

203 People Declare that their Words and Deeds Under Forced Brainwashing are Null and Void

(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:

Dafa Practitioners' Solemn Statements [7/26/2004]
Solemn Declarations by Non-Practitioners[7/29/2004]
Solemn Declarations by Young Dafa Practitioners [7/14/2004]

Please click here for more Solemn Declarations.

Truth Clarification Material

English NYC Flyer: "Why are millions persecuted for doing this?"

(Clearwisdom.net)

NYC "millions" Flyer

"Why are millions persecuted for doing this?"

Last updated September 13, 2004

The print-ready PDF (5.6M) is available for download here.

PDF (5.6M) with visible margins and folding guides is available for download here. Please note that the print-ready file includes 1/4" bleed on all sides.

The original Mac Indesign 2.0 document (33.1M), fonts and images can be downloaded here

Please contact Susan with questions or problems about this flyer.

(outside of flyer)

(inside of flyer)

Clearwisdom Digest

Clearwisdom Digest (Issue 19, Sept 15, 2004)

News and Events from Around the World

Exposing Jiang's Persecution and Brainwashing Campaign on the Streets of Manhattan
U.S. Citizen Charles Li Plans to Appeal from Prison
The U.S. 7th Circuit Court of Appeals Affirms the Original Decision in the Lawsuit against Jiang; Plaintiffs Will Appeal to the Supreme Court
Falun Gong Practitioners File a Lawsuit Against Jia Qinglin During His Visit to Austria
New York City: Mayor Accepts Falun Gong Truth-Clarifying Material on Broadway

Voices of Justice

Albany: New York State's Capital City Unanimously Passes Resolution in Support of Falun Gong
Australia: Independent Member for Bligh Clover Moore Requests Government to Protect Falun Gong Practitioners in Australia
Letter from a Swiss Labour Union Representative to the Chinese Embassy Concerning the Refusal of a Passport Extension
Texas State House Representative Garnet Coleman Condemns the Act of Violence Targeted at Falun Gong Practitioners
New Zealand Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Expresses Government's Concern over Reports of Human Rights Abuses against Falun Dafa Practitioners

Facts of the Persecution

China: Details of the Torture Death of Mr. Jiang Yong: An Open Letter to the Responsible Authorities
25 Torture Methods I Personally Experienced in China's Forced Labor Camp
China: A Ninety-Five-Year-Old Disabled Lady in Yunnan Province Calls For Release of Her Daughter
Police Forcibly Abort a 9-Month Fetus, Henan Province, China

Media Reports and Opinions

Radio Free Asia: Jia Qinglin Meets Protests and Lawsuits During His European Visit
La Tribune de Geneve (Switzerland): Five years of persecution for Falun Gong followers
Chile: The Largest Newspaper, Las Ultimas Noticias, Introduces Falun Dafa
Radio France International: Book Introduction: Falun Gong's Challenge to China

Falun Gong Practitioners' Personal Experience

The Miracle Falun Dafa Brought to Me

The People Awaken to the Truth

The World is Awakening - Anti-Torture Exhibit on the Edge of New York City's Central Park
A Manhattan Musician: "Evil Will Never Prevail Over Goodness and The Evildoers Will Definitely Receive Retribution"

News and Events from Around the World

Exposing Jiang's Persecution and Brainwashing Campaign on the Streets of Manhattan

Falun Gong practitioners have been using innovative methods to resist the Jiang group's information blockade about Falun Gong on the streets of New York City. During the U.S. Republican National Convention, about 15,000 news reporters gathered in New York. Media outlets began reporting stories about nearly a thousand Falun Gong practitioners gathered in Manhattan to distribute flyers and to otherwise explain the facts about Falun Gong and the persecution taking place in China.

On August 29, when the Mayor of New York City, Mr. Bloomberg, and the Governor of New York State, Mr. George E. Pataki, were walking on Broadway, they encountered a practitioner from Canada who was distributing Falun Gong truth-clarifying leaflets. They accepted the leaflets.

Falun Gong practitioners' truth-clarifying activities also included performances by the waist drum team and traditional Chinese dances. In Central Park, the largest park in New York City, the practitioners' performance became the focus of attention of New York citizens and media outlets. Correspondents from The New York Times and NBC-TV came to interview practitioners. Some New Yorkers said that they also saw many Falun Gong practitioners in Battery Park and Central Park. They said, "Falun Gong is everywhere and there are thousands of Falun Gong practitioners on the streets."

In some high-traffic areas, where numerous people constantly come and go, one can often see Falun Gong practitioners' live reenactments of the torture methods used against their fellow practitioners in China. Three or five practitioners wearing clothes stained with blood were tied on the "Tiger Bench" or hung up and beaten by police officers or locked in a small cage. They were not concerned about their own comfort, when exposing the persecution encountered by Falun Gong practitioners in China.

Manhattan is the world's major finance and information exchange center. There are the world's most famous stockbrokers and media in Manhattan. Residents in Manhattan correspond to the more than 1,000 nationalities in the world and Manhattan is the focus of the world. Falun Gong practitioners hope that people here would spread the real story about Falun Gong to the entire world.

Were it not for the real persons standing in front of them and telling them about it, the Americans who are immersed in the Wall Street Stock Markets would have never imagined that in the 21^st Century there is still such brutal human rights persecution. It's even less likely for them to imagine that Falun Gong practitioners who have been suffering such inhuman tortures are so peaceful and serene.

Falun Gong practitioners are telling people, "What we follow are Truthfulness, Compassion and Tolerance, the most beautiful characteristic of humankind. Jiang's group tries to coerce us to "transform." In the process of upholding their belief and resisting the persecution, Falun Gong practitioners have sacrificed all they have, even their lives."

The busy New Yorkers often stopped to accept a leaflet and asked, "What is Falun Gong?" "Why does China suppress Falun Gong?"

At an anti-torture exhibition held at the intersection of Lexington Avenue and 59^th Street, after learning the details about the persecution of Falun Gong, a woman asked practitioners whether she could take photos of the torture reenactment. When she got their permission, she took the pictures and said that she would post the photos on the Internet so as to allow more people to be aware of the persecution. She then signed the petition calling for an end to the suppression.

An elderly woman came over and told practitioners who conducted the anti-torture exhibition, "I support you very much! Many residents nearby have received your materials and learned about the facts. You can go to more places and let more people learn about this."

A man who had come from Israel to the U.S. joined in the Falun Gong practitioners' truth-clarifying effort. He not only asked his two companions to sign the petition, but he also asked all passers-by: "Have you signed the petition? Have you signed it?" He said, "Signing the petition can help stop the persecution." He spent more than one hour standing there and asking people to sign the petition.

U.S. Citizen Charles Li Plans to Appeal from Prison

U.S. State Department Consular Affairs spokesperson Kelly Shannon said in an interview that on August 19, a consulate official in Shanghai visited U.S. citizen Charles Li in a Nanjing prison.

Ms. Shannon said that Charles Li appeared healthy and talked with the consulate official about appealing the ruling of a Yangzhou Court. Charles Li had not yet selected a lawyer to help in his appeal.

On March 23, 2003, a Yangzhou Court sentenced Charles Li to three years of imprisonment and deportation based on speculation that accused him of "damaging national TV and broadcasting facilities." Charles Li refused to accept the ruling and appealed on March 31, 2003, but his appeal was rejected on May 5 and he has been confined in Nanjing Prison since then.

A friend of Charles Li in the U.S. said, "Since Jiang's regime initiated the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners in 1999, the regime has violated the Chinese Constitution and has never followed the law when dealing with Falun Gong practitioners, including Charles Li."

The friend said, "Jiang Zemin ordered his '610 Office' and followers throughout the country to implement the policy that, 'No one will be held responsible if Falun Gong practitioners are beaten to death, just count them as suicide; No investigation is needed, just have them cremated.' No lawful procedures are followed. In China, Falun Gong practitioners who were tortured appeal to courts, but the courts do not process the appeal, and those culprits [who are] killing, beating, raping and robbing Falun Gong practitioners are not punished, but [instead are] rewarded."

Charles Li's friend continued, "Like the staged Tiananmen self-immolation incident, the Yangzhou Court designated a so-called 'defense attorney' for the benefit of the U.S. consulate official during the trial on March 23, 2003. It is easy to imagine what kind of defense was mounted, because the law has never been followed in dealing with Falun Gong practitioners in China."

The U.S. 7th Circuit Court of Appeals Affirms the Original Decision in the Lawsuit against Jiang; Plaintiffs Will Appeal to the Supreme Court

On September 8, 2004, the U.S. 7th Circuit Court of Appeals presented its opinion in the lawsuit against Jiang Zemin and the "610 Office." The higher court upheld the lower court's decision issued on September 12, 2003. Although the court expressed sympathy with the legal points made by the plaintiffs, it insists, "success depends on diplomacy, not United States courts."

The U.S. 7th Circuit Court of Appeals didn't render an opinion regarding the plaintiff's argument as it pertains to Jiang's immunity as a former head of state

The plaintiffs' lawyer clearly stated the reasons in the appeal why the lower court should not have granted Jiang Zemin immunity. Nevertheless, the judges at the U.S. 7th Circuit Court of Appeals didn't comment on this argument.

The plaintiffs' lawyer Terri Marsh noted, the principle articulated in Plaintiffs' briefs and in oral argument, that "immunity is not impunity." Even apart from the House of Lord's decision in the Pinochet case, the recent Pinochet decision in Chile, or the ICJ ruling in Belgium v Congo - all supportive of the nonimmunity of former heads of state -- the principle of nonimmunity applies to Defendant Jiang Zemin under U.S. case law which clearly states that "alleged acts of torture, execution and disappearances of a dictator are not official acts...because the officer is not doing the business he was empowered to do." (Hilao v Marcos, 25 F. 3d 1477).

Countless evidence in past human rights reports and investigations made by international human rights organizations show that Jiang started the persecution against Falun Gong only to satisfy his personal political desire, and it's not a decision made by the Party or the government as a whole. Jiang's brutal persecution has lasted over five years, and countless innocent people of Chinese mainstream society had their families broken up and they were forced to leave home. This is a severe human rights violation well known around the world. How can immunity be granted in consideration of the law, justice, morality and conscience?

The international society and China now know the true nature of the persecution

Both the international society and China now know that Jiang's persecution is wrong.

CNN's senior China Analyst Willy Lam wrote, "Jiang has mobilized a Mao-era mass movement against... Falun Gong, ... and the most severe criticism leveled at Jiang's handling of Falun Gong is that he seems to be using the mass movement to promote allegiance to himself."

Falun Gong's Clearwisdom website publishes reports on the persecution and torture deaths of Falun Gong practitioners on a daily basis. Jiang used the whole government machinery to systemically and brutally persecute Falun Gong, and the means with which the tortures were carried out are shocking.

Human rights reports by Mark Palmer, the former U.S. ambassador to Hungary, CNN's senior China Analyst Willy Lam, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and the human rights reports of the U.S. State Department all have mentioned that innocent children, young mothers, babies, and the elderly were tortured, brainwashed and murdered as well as being subjected to other forms of physical and mental torture; the scope of the persecution includes China and other countries around the world.

The U.S. 7th Circuit Court of Appeals granted Jiang immunity, even after learning the truth and knowing that the persecution should be stopped; the plaintiffs have decided to appeal to the Supreme Court

In fact, people in the judicial, legislative and executive branches of the U.S. government know the persecution against Falun Gong is wrong and should be stopped. The 7th Circuit Court of Appeals also clearly understands the severity and brutality of the persecution against Falun Gong practitioners as stated in the plaintiffs' appeal.

The Court's sensitivity to the issues presented by the Plaintiffs-Appellants is clear throughout their Opinion. For example, the Court acknowledged former President Jiang Zemin's role in initiating the persecution, by among other things, the establishment of the legal Office 610, his issuance of the July 1999 edict banning Falun Gong, followed by arrests and alleged "farcical trials, torture, forced labor, re-education, and the killings of members." This language, and especially their characterization of the "mock trials" of Falun Gong practitioners as "farcical" underscores the huge gap between the rights guaranteed to the Chinese people by their Constitution and the Jiang regimes' use of the legal system to not only deprive so many Chinese citizens of these very same rights, but to torture, brainwash and exterminate them unlawfully.

Although the U.S. government requested the court grant Jiang immunity during the in-court arguments in May 2004, Department of Justice attorney Douglas N. Letter described the persecution as "heinous." In the past years, the United States' legislative arm has also passed resolutions to call for the end of the persecution or to condemn the brutality of the Jiang's regime.

Falun Gong practitioners and their lawyers around the world believe justice will prevail

Human rights advocates around the world believe that the persecution of Falun Gong will not last much longer. The Falun Gong practitioners are suing Jiang Zemin and his followers to bring the head perpetrator to justice and make it possible for more people to learn the truth about the persecution of Falun Gong in China.

Lawyers of the "Global Trials Against Jiang Zemin Attorneys Group" said that they would never give up in their efforts to bring the perpetrator to justice. They will continue to file lawsuits against Jiang and his followers until they receive just punishment.

Falun Gong Practitioners File a Lawsuit Against Jia Qinglin During His Visit to Austria

After visiting Korea, Jia Qinglin arrived in Austria on the 30th of August 2004. During his visit, the Austrian Falun Dafa Association, the International Human Rights Association, the human rights organization 'Society For Threatened Peoples', many individuals, and practitioners who were persecuted in Beijing jointly filed a lawsuit against Jia Qinglin in the Vienna Procuratorate for torture.

On August 31, the Austria Falun Dafa Information Center and International Society for Human Rights jointly held a press conference regarding Jia's visit. A spokesperson of the center exposed how Jiang persecuted practitioners during his tenure as the Party's General Secretary in Beijing. Representatives of the International Society for Human Rights introduced legal details of the lawsuit.

Upon hearing that Jia was to visit Austria, Austrian practitioners, while preparing a lawsuit against Jia, used all possible methods such as personal meetings, phone calls, and mail to expose Jia's crime in the persecution to Austrian officials. August 31 was the first day of Jia's visit. Though weather in Austria had been good, the temperature suddenly dropped and the sky was covered with black clouds on this day. It started to rain in the morning. At Salzburg, Jia's first stop, practitioners held an information day and displayed "Jia Sued for Torture and Persecution" and "Bring Jiang Zemin to Justice" banners. The delegation, including Jia himself happened to pass by, and quite likely saw the banners.

Tourists from all over the world saw the practitioners' posters and peaceful exercise demonstration. When Chinese tourist groups passed by, many of them also took fliers with them. An English-speaking tourist was shocked by Gao Rongrong's disfigured face (shown in a poster), and she asked if such things were still happening. After listening to the practitioners' explanation, she was outraged by the persecution.

In the evening, Jia visited the Austria Prime Minister's Office, and practitioners displayed banners in front of the Office. As the banners were hoisted very high up, Austrian officials and Chinese delegates inside the Office could see them clearly. Some Chinese officials asked Austrian police to order the practitioners to lower the banners. Pointing out that Austria has no limitation on the elevation of banners, the police rejected this unreasonable request.

New York City: Mayor Accepts Falun Gong Truth-Clarifying Material on Broadway

On August 29, 2004, while New York City Mayor Bloomberg and New York State's Governor Pataki were walking along Broadway, a famous street in the Theater district, they ran into a Falun Gong practitioner from Canada who was distributing truth clarification fliers, and accepted the fliers from the practitioner.

On August 28, prior to the Republic National Convention, more than a hundred Falun Gong practitioners from Toronto, Canada arrived in New York City, to assist in public awareness activities that explained the facts of the persecution to the wide range of people living in and visiting New York. Practitioners participated in activites such as the "Great Wall of Courage" where they line up for several blocks across from a famous hotel where prominent people were staying and also the "Corners of Courage" where practitioners held banners on each corner for several streets to clarify the truth to the public.

In the afternoon, RNC delegates in dark suits streamed into Broadway in groups from all directions, many delegates showed interest in the flyer Falun Gong practitioners distributed entitled, "How the Persecution of Falun Gong Affects the US."

Shortly after, in the company of more than 30 plainclothes police and 20 reporters from the media, three prominent figures quickly walked down Broadway. A Falun Gong practitioner wearing a T-shirt with words, "Stop the Persecution of Falun Gong," was standing in the middle of the street distributing fliers. The practitioner came into contact with the three VIPs, and handed out a flier to the one in the middle first and to two others beside him. All the media caught the scene of the two VIPs accepting the material. According to a bystander, the man in the middle was New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, the one beside him who accepted the material was New York State Governor, George. Pataki.

Falun Gong practitioners from Toronto noticed that most of New York residents not only have learned about the truth of Falun Gong, and the persecution in China through practitioners' truth clarification, some people with a sense of justice also offered help and suggestions to practitioners. A local university professor, stayed with practitioners for an hour and learned about the facts of the persecution, he took the initiative to tell practitioners where most of RNC delegates gathered and where the VIPs gathered. Seeing practitioners being so quiet, he said, "You must shout loudly to let those people hear your voices, let me show you how." So, he shouted loudly to RNC delegates passing by, "Please help stop the persecution of Falun Gong!" He said, "You should be like those New Yorkers, be tougher!"

Voices of Justice

Albany: New York State's Capital City Unanimously Passes Resolution in Support of Falun Gong

On July 8, 2004, The Albany City Common Council unanimously (12 to zero) passed resolution 44.71.04R in support of the rights and freedom of those who practice Falun Gong. This is the second unanimously passed resolution that supports Falun Gong. The first one, 71.122.00R, was passed on Dec. 18, 2000.

A copy of this resolution will be forwarded to the Embassy of the People's Republic of China, Congressman Michael McNulty, United States Senator Charles Schumer and United States Senator Hillary Clinton.

The Resolution was issued on August 30, 2004. Below is the text of the Resolution.

Council Member Brown offered the following, which was approved:

Resolution Numbers 44.71.04R

Resolution of the Albany Common Council in Support of the Rights and Freedom of Those Who Practice the Self-Improvement Activity of Falun Dafa.

Whereas, the peaceful practice of religious beliefs is formally recognized as an essential human rights in the First Amendment to the United States Constitution and in many documents with universal appeal that celebrate human liberty; and

Whereas, the practice of Falun Dafa (also known as Falun Gong) is rooted in ancient Chinese culture and involves the peaceful cultivation of mind, body and spirit with the emphasis on the universal principles of Truthfulness, Compassion and Tolerance; and

Whereas, tens of millions of people from different nations, races, social and cultural backgrounds have willingly embarked upon a path of self-improvement through the practice of Falun Dafa; and

Whereas, while the people of the New York State who practice Falun Dafa freely enjoy its

benefits, many people in the People's Republic of China who peacefully participate in the practice of Falun Dafa have been oppressed by the totalitarian control of the Chinese government; and

Whereas, more than 949 Falun Dafa practitioners are known to have been tortured to death by the government of the People's Republic of China for their belief in freedom; and

Whereas, the practice of Falun Dafa remains banned by the government of the People's Republic of China in violation of basic human rights and practitioners continue to be imprisoned and tortured for their peaceful participation in this non-violent means of expression; and

Whereas, the practitioner's of Falun Dafa have demonstrated a courage and dedication to adhere to one's faith despite the threat to life and liberty that should be honored and supported by all freedom loving people; and

Whereas, the Albany Common Council is the legislative body that represents the interests of all residents of the City of Albany and the Council's constituents have demonstrated an interest in supporting the right to religious freedom and ethical practice as a fundamental human right.

Now Therefore, Be It Resolved, that the Common Council of the City of Albany hereby strongly urges and calls upon the People's Republic of China to respect the human rights of those who practice Falun Dafa in a peaceful and non-violent manner.

Be It Further Resolved, the Common Council of the City of Albany hereby directs that a copy of this resolution, suitably engrossed, be forwarded to the Embassy of the People's Republic of China, Congressman Michael McNulty, United States Senator Charles Schumer and United States Senator Hillary Clinton for their consideration so they may take appropriate action regarding this important human rights matter.

Resolution Number 44.71.04R was Co-Sponsored by Council Members Conti, Curry-Cobb, Foskey, Fox, and Scalzo.

Passed by the following vote of all the Council Members elected voting in favor thereof:

Affirmative -- Brown, Calsolaro, Conti, Curry-Cobb, Foskey, Fox, Igoe, Morris, O'Brien, Sano, Scalzo, and Torncello

Affirmative 12 Negative 0 Abstain 0

I, John C. Marsolais, City Clerk and Clerk of the Common Council, do hereby certify that the legislation set forth in this document was passed at the meeting of the Albany Common Council on July 8^th, 2004.

In Affirmation thereof, I hereto set my hand and affix the Seal of the City of Albany this 30^th day of August 2004.

(Signature)

City Clerk and Clerk of the Common Council

Australia: Independent Member for Bligh Clover Moore Requests Government to Protect Falun Gong Practitioners in Australia

On August 23, 2004, State Independent Member for Bligh (including east part of the City of Sydney) Clover Moore wrote to the Minister Alexander Downer of the Foreign Affairs to request government's protection for Falun Dafa practitioners in Australia, on behalf of David Liang, a Australian Falun Dafa practitioner who was recently shot through both feet while traveling in South Africa.

Clover Moore
Member for BLIGH

23 August 2004

The Hon. Alexander Downer
Minister of Foreign Affairs
Canberra
ACT 2600

Dear Minister

Protection for Falun Dafa Members in Australia

I write on behalf of David Liang, of Unit 6' 10A Durkin Place, Peakhurst. David is an active member of Falun Dafa who was recently shot through both feet while traveling in South Africa.

David believes this attack was coordinated by the Government of the People's Republic of China as part of its policy to eradicate the Falun Dafa. In Australia, David says that Falun Dafa supporters have experienced telephone taps, other surveillance and property damage by the Chinese government. He believes that the Australian Government has prevented legitimate protests by the Falun Dafa in the ACT.

As an Australian, David is entitled to legal protection from these types of persecution, but he believes he has not received appropriate action from the Commonwealth Government.

Could you please investigate David's concerns and inform me what action you have taken?

Yours sincerely,

Clover Moore
Member for Bligh

Letter from a Swiss Labour Union Representative to the Chinese Embassy Concerning the Refusal of a Passport Extension

Industry Trade Union for Trade and Services
3001 Bern

Embassy of the People's Republic of China (PRC)
Your Honour
Kalcheggweg 10
3006 Bern

Bern, July 13th 2004.

Re: The situation of Falun Gong practitioners in Switzerland: Refusal of passport extension or issue of passport

Your Excellency,

We approach you on behalf of the members of the Suisse Trade Union SMUV-unia, citizens of your country, the People's Republic of China (PRC). They are granted, as trade union members, under article 28 of the Federal Constitution, freedom of association.

We understand that our members have been denied for years the renewal of their passports or the issuing of a travel passport. Alleged reasons include technical difficulties. For all this time and up to today, no further clarification has been provided, nor can we find any indication that such difficulties were remedied.

Therefore, we conclude that there are in actuality not technical difficulties, but unprecedented actions against those who practise Falun Gong. These people are being intentionally discriminated against by their respective Embassy and thus must bear consequences and difficulties arising from such actions. Without a valid passport, they in effect have no right to take up permanent residency in Switzerland. Thus, they are dependent on exceptions and special approvals that depend on the goodwill of the respective Cantonal and Confederate States within Switzerland.

We understand from media releases that practitioners of Falun Gong have been persecuted and are detained for years in China's prisons. They are accused of violating PRC's security. Such accusations are far-fetched and unbelievable, given all information available to us. We therefore assume that the denial of a valid passport or such extension is another form of persecution and repression of Falun Gong. We take the opportunity to inform you that the PRC is violating international laws with such actions. In particular, China is violating United Nations Accords to which it is signatory, notably in the area of political, civil and human rights.

Herewith, we request that you inform your government of our concerns. We especially ask you to recognise all your citizens' rights, including those of Falun Gong practitioners, and to desist from any kind of repression, discrimination and harassment.

In this spirit, we request that you issue or extend the passport of all citizens of the PRC, male and females, no matter if they practise or do not practise Falun Gong.

We fight for the rights of male and female workers, for social and civil equity, including human and citizens' right worldwide. We believe that we are solidly united with your country in such strife.

We sincerely hope that the aforementioned problems are resolved as soon as possible. We want to see all members of our trade union enjoy all civil and citizens rights.

Sincerely,

Trade Union SMUV-unia Region Bern
Ruedi Keller, Regional Secretary

Copy:
- Foreign Ministry Department overseeing Foreign Relations, Bern
- Falun Gong, Bern

Texas State House Representative Garnet Coleman Condemns the Act of Violence Targeted at Falun Gong Practitioners

On August 6, 2004, Texas State House Representative Garnet F. Coleman wrote to Falun Gong practitioner, condemning the acts of violence targeted at Falun Gong practitioners.

Representative Coleman wrote in the letter: "I share your concerns about violence targeted at Falun Gong practitioners worldwide. It is abhorrent when any group of people is targeted because of their religious or philosophical beliefs."

Representative Coleman said: "Any threat directed at members of the Houston community should be immediately addresses by the proper authorities. We cannot allow such intimidation to take root in any community of our city." "I join you in condemning these acts of violence."

New Zealand Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Expresses Government's Concern over Reports of Human Rights Abuses against Falun Dafa Practitioners

On August 23, 2004, New Zealand Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Hon Phil Goff, expressed in a letter to Falun Gong practitioner that the New Zealand Government remains concerned at reports of human rights abuses against Falun Gong practitioners, and that they continue to urge the Chinese Government to allow Falun Gong practitioners to follow their beliefs and practice their movements without restriction.

The New Zealand Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Hon Phil Goff, pointed out on the shooting incident of Falun Dafa practitioners in South Africa that "the New Zealand Government remains concerned at reports of human rights abuses against Falun Dafa practitioners. In discussions with the Chinese Government at both ministerial and officials' level, we continue to urge the Chinese Government to allow them to follow their beliefs and practice their movements without restriction. In response to Chinese Government claims about it being an 'evil cult', we have pointed out to them that the New Zealand Government has experienced no such problems with Falun Dafa in New Zealand."

Hon Phil Goff said in the letter that "The New Zealand Embassy in Beijing holds regular discussions about human rights with the Chinese officials and our annual Foreign Ministry Consultations with China also allow us to express our concerns on this issue. New Zealand also raises our concerns about China's human rights situation in the United Nations, most recently through our statement to the United Nations Commission on Human Rights in Geneva in March. In our statement we drew attention to the continuing restriction on freedom of expression and religion, the widespread use and scope of the death penalty, and reports of arbitrary arrest and detention in China."

Facts of the Persecution

China: Details of the Torture Death of Mr. Jiang Yong: An Open Letter to the Responsible Authorities

By practitioners in Changchun

To the National Security Team of the Changchun City Police Department and Tiebei Detention Center:

Falun Gong practitioner Mr. Jiang Yong, 46 years old, is from Section 10, Guangming Village, Xingfu Township of Changchun City. He had a strong body and was in perfect health. However, such a strong and healthy man was tortured to death within a short period of only a few weeks. In the light of day, you dared to willfully kill an innocent man!

Jiang Yong used to be bad-tempered and overbearing before he began practicing Falun Gong. Since he began practicing in 1996, he went through extraordinary changes. He became a good person who did not fight back when hit or cursed. He no longer fought for self-interest, but instead he put other's interest before his own. He disciplined himself according to the principles of "Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance." All his friends and family members were amazed by his remarkable changes.

Like hundreds of thousands of Falun Gong practitioners, Jiang Yong also suffered from the persecution. He had been abducted and detained many times, sent to forced labor camps, and his home was searched. His wife was also persecuted and sent to forced labor for one year. During the police raids in their home, their child became so frightened that he hid himself and their elderly parents were trembling with fear. Since 2000, Jiang Yong had been staying away from home and travelling about to avoid persecution. A happy family was torn apart due to the persecution.

On April 13, 2004, you [Tiebei Detention Center authorities] illegally abducted Jiang Yong. You exhausted all the torture methods, including the "Big Hang Up" (1), "Tiger Bench," "Hammering Bamboo Sticks under the Fingernails" (2), shocking him with electric batons, force-feeding him with pepper water, and suffocating him by covering his head with plastic bags. Seven practitioners who were abducted along with him also suffered these tortures. Falun Gong practitioner Mr. Guo Wenshui's vertebrae were broken, and you are still trying your best to block the news. After being continuously tortured for eight days, Jiang Yong was at the brink of death. Not only did you refuse to release him, instead you sent him to the provincial police hospital for further persecution. After more than 30 days in the hospital, on May 26, Jiang Yong was sent back to the Tiebei Detention Center. Because he refused to cooperate with your evil requests and instigation to renounce Falun Gong, and instead protested the cruel tortures with a hunger strike, you then incited the murderers and drug addicts to torture him both physically and mentally. You made him suffer every single second. Within 38 days, Jiang Yong passed away -- what a shocking injustice!

On July 4, you [Tiebei Detention Center authorities] sent the death notice to his family, claiming the cause of death to be "acute disease" and fabricated a so-called "explanation of death" document. With a single phoney document, you attempted to deny the fact that you murdered him.

Jiang Yong was very healthy and did not have any illness since he started practicing Falun Gong. "Died from acute disease?!" Why is there a black and blue bloody scar on his neck? Why is his whole body black and blue? Why did blood spill out from his mouth when his body was turned over? Why was toilet paper put into his anus? Why did you falsely report the time of his death? Why did you change the clothes on his body? Why you are afraid of his family's taking photos of his body? Why did you even beat them away in order to prevent the photos from been taken?

Jiang Zemin and his followers who persecute the innocent have been sued by practitioners all over the world for genocide, torture, and crimes against humanity. The Global Coalition to Bring Jiang to Justice was also founded in 2003.

We hereby advise you: Do not deceive yourselves. Good is rewarded with good and evil is eventually met with retribution. It is simply a matter of time.

25 Torture Methods I Personally Experienced in China's Forced Labor Camp

By a Falun Gong practitioner from China

I have personally experienced and witnessed 25 different torture methods Jiang's regime has used to torture Falun Gong practitioners while I was held in a detention center and a forced labor camp. I have summarized these torture methods below.

1. Hung up

There are two forms in this torture: (1) Normal Hanging Up: One is hung by a rope that is tied to the ceiling, with both feet off the ground. Those who have suffered from this kind of torture will feel numbness in their arms for several years. If tortured to a more severe extent, both arms will become crippled. (2) Being Hung up with Hands behind the Back: With both hands twisted behind the back and feet off the ground, one is hung with a rope. The pain is intense, and when used for prolonged periods of time, this torture may cause death.

2. Tied to a big board

The four limbs of the victim are stretched into four directions, and the victim is tied with strips of fabric onto a big wooden board. The whole body, except the head, is held down tightly. The victim is not released from this position, even during eating or relieving himself.

3. Pumping air into one's rectum

With the victim bound, the torturer inserts a high-pressure bicycle pump nozzle into the victim's rectum and pumps air into his body which causes excruciating cramps.

4. Freezing the practitioner

The victim is forced to hold a block of ice in his hands or stand barefoot on the snow for a long time. A more horrifying form of such punishment is putting an icicle into a condom and forcibly penetrating a female practitioner's vagina as a form of sexual torture.

5. Force-feeding with liquids, including excrement and urine

With the victim bound to a bed or chair, the persecutor pries his mouth open and force-feeds the victim using a funnel or tubing reaching into the stomach. The victim is fed with liquid food, or a concentrated saline solution, or sometimes excrement and urine. Force feeding human waste can cause massive infection and death in a short period of time. Some practitioners are subjected to force-feeding through the nostril by use of a rubber tube as thick as one's little finger. In order to try to force practitioner to give in, a doctor named Zhang Jingfu in Qinglong County, Qinhuangdao City in Hebei Province came up with the torture of injecting large quantities of liquid into one's rectum.

6. Hung upside down

The victim is hung upside down. Both feet are cuffed and hung onto a wooden frame. Very quickly, the victim's head is swollen, with the blood rushing to his head. The eyes will especially feel the excruciating pressure. Sometimes the guards put an electric hot plate right below the victim's head, using the heat to further torture the practitioner.

7. Punishment by having burning paper wedged between fingers and toes

With the victim bound onto a bed or a chair, paper is rolled into thin tubes and inserted between the practitioner's fingers and toes, and then lit on fire. The fingers and toes immediately suffer blisters from the burns as the flame travels down the rolled tube very rapidly. Other variations of this torture include burning one's nails with a lit cigarette. Punishment by burning is a most painful torture.

8. Smoke inhalation

The victim is bound in a corner of the room and the head immobilized against the wall, and he is inundated with smoke. It doesn't take long before he is overcome and loses consciousness.

9. Hanging up in a Strait Jacket

Clearwisdom Net has reported such torture methods. The victim's arms are twisted and tied with rope, and then put into a strait jacket. Then the torturers hang up the victim by the arms, which has led to the deaths of several practitioners.

10. Pouring cold water onto the victim

With the victim pushed to the ground, the perpetrator pours cold water onto the victim, one barrel after another. The victim usually is shivering from the freezing cold after several barrels of cold water. There's another form of this known as, "water drops dripping through a stone," which is having water continually dripping onto a person's head for long periods of time in the winter. I know of a practitioner who had over 200 barrels of cold water poured on him.

11. Sharpened bamboo splinters torture

The guards tie the victim onto a bed or a chair, and hammer sharpened bamboo splinters into the victim's fingers under the tips of the fingernails.

12. Letting insects bite practitioners

During insect and mosquito season, the victim is bound on a chair in a place where mosquitoes and insects are swarming. The victim is subjected to great numbers of bites from these insects while immobilized and unable to scratch the bites or fend off the insects, leaving the victim susceptible to disease carried by the insects.

13. Smothering

With the victim is tied onto a bed, the guards put a thick quilt over him, and sometimes as many six layers of quilts. The victim is left in the sweltering heat, wrapped tightly in the thick quilts.

14. Body-folding ?

"Body-folding" refers to standing with two legs straight and close, and bending the head down as far as it will go toward the feet and pressed onto the wall. The arms are tied behind the back and lifted high onto a wall above one's head. The head is upside down, making the body to form a 90-degree angle. Maintaining this position for just several minutes will cause one's heart to pound and one would become muddle-headed. The victim also sweats a lot. The victim is typically forced to keep this position until he or she passes out.

15. Holding a Big Tree

The victim is forced to encircle a big tree with both arms, and the guards then cuff his hands together. This is referred to as "normal holding." Sometimes the practitioner is forced to hold the tree behind his back and has both hands cuffed together in that position. In the winter, the victim is forced to hold the tree while wearing a thin shirt or even half-naked, so as to freeze the victim. In the summer, the victim is forced to wear thick cotton jackets and a winter hat and "hold the tree" for several days under the baking sun.

16. Forced to maintain an awkward posture

The victim is pushed against the wall. With the heels off the ground and only toes touching the floor, his knees and nose are pressed onto the wall. The victim is forced to stretch his arms and curve his legs. Only after a few minutes, the victim will be exhausted but still forced to maintain this posture.

17. Striking with Sticks

The perpetrator strikes the practitioners' back, hips and legs with a pickaxe handle or rubber clubs. Those who have been beaten cannot walk, even two weeks later. Moreover, the more vicious police apply salt onto the wounds and bruises to exacerbate the pain.

18. Little White Dragon (Hitting with a white plastic pipe)

The guards use white plastic pipes, which is used in construction, to strike the victim. The victim is stripped naked and forced to lie on his stomach on the ground. The guards beat the victim from the upper body to the ankles. After this abusive punishment, the victim cannot move at all and has to stay in bed for over two weeks before he can stand on his own.

19. Pulling out Hair

The victim is tied down first. Then the guards will pull out his moustache, beard or pubic hairs to cause pain.

20. Punishment with Toothbrush

This refers to placing a toothbrush between the fingers of the victim and pinching and twisting the fingers. Such torture can abrade the skin on the fingers to the extent that the bones become visible. In addition the toothbrush is also used to harshly scrub the arches of a victim's feet and genital areas.

21. Sleep Deprivation

The victim is deprived of sleep for a long time. As soon as the victim closes his eyes, the guards will strike his face with a shoe.

22. Punishment by Taking the Riding Posture

The victim is forced to stand in the posture as if he were riding a horse. If the victim tries to move a little bit, the guards will beat him fiercely.

23. Hung up on a Tree

The guards hang a practitioner onto a tree with both hands twisted behind the back and tied with rope. Both feet are off ground, and the two arms are behind the back and high above one's head. The guards hang up practitioners in all kinds of postures. In winter, practitioners also suffer from extreme cold. This torture makes one's arms and hands numb and swollen. In Hebei Province's First Forced Labor Camp, there are nearly 100 persimmon trees and poplar trees used together with utility poles as torture instruments, dedicated to torturing practitioners.

24. "Swallow Flying"

The practitioners' hands are pulled backwards, behind the back, and tied with a special bandage on the wrists. Then one is hung onto a beam or a window. Practitioners' heads are bent upside down and become swollen.

25. Confined to a Metal Cage

The guards lock up a practitioner in a specially-made metal cage and hang him with arms above the head. Then the guards shake and wobble the metal cage.

China: A Ninety-Five-Year-Old Disabled Lady in Yunnan Province Calls For Release of Her Daughter

I am Yao Jiali's mother, and I am 95 years old. My daughter, Yao Jiali, is a chief pharmacist at the Chinese Medicine Hospital of Dongchuan District, Kunming City, Yunnan Province. She has been persistent in her practice of Falun Gong. On July 27, at about 4 o'clock, six policemen suddenly broke into our home, and without giving any explanation, ransacked everything including our beds, wardrobe, spittoon, and flowerpot on the balcony. In the end, they took away two plastic bags full of things, and at the same time they arrested my daughter. She was held at the Mushulang Detention Center, and no relatives were allowed to see her. My granddaughter sent her some clothing, but it did not reach her. No one knows what torture she has been subjected to.

Jiali lost her father when she was very young. As a peasant woman and a mother of four children, I had to do labor to earn working points in the production team, so I had no time to take care of them. When Jiali was six years old, she suffered from asthma after she ate some ice during the winter, but there was no medicine or doctors in that rural area. One reason she chose to study medicine was to cure her own disease. She became a chief pharmacist after she went to work in the Chinese medicine hospital. The cadres and the old doctors in the hospital cared about her very much, and they allowed her to take the best medicines in the hospital for her condition. However, she remained out of breath despite taking good amounts of liquid medicine, and large doses from big bottles by injections every day. Due to her disease, my son-in-law divorced her. As for me, I became disabled when I fell more than ten years ago, and I have been unable to walk since then. During these years, I have been dependent on Jiali for survival. She had to take care of me while raising the children, of which only I knew the hardship.

Jiali recovered from the disease after she started to practice Falun Gong in 1997. In the past seven years, her physical condition became better and better without taking any medicine or injections. At the same time, her temper improved, she always treated her cadres and colleagues with kindness, and the neighbors loved her. After seeing all these changes in her, I was very happy.

As a 95-year-old handicapped old woman, I am living with good health and good mental status. All these are attributed to my daughter's practice of Falun Gong, from which I benefit greatly. I know that Falun Gong is good, and the principle of Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance is good, and that Falun Dafa is righteous.

I know that Falun Dafa teaches people to be good, and is capable of curing diseases and bringing people good health, both physically and mentally. I simply cannot understand why the government forbids such a practice, which is good both for the practitioners themselves and for the government.

I do know that the police are supposed to protect people from bad villains. My daughter didn't do anything bad. What crime did she commit by practicing Falun Gong and trying to be a good person? Why did the police ransack my home, arrest my daughter, hold her in a detention center, and forbid her relatives from seeing her?

My daughter didn't break any laws by practicing Falun Gong. I hereby request that the police return my daughter. I hope that the government will take responsibility for its people. I ask all levels of governments and all levels of cadres to handle my case. My daughter is a good person, so please release her as soon as possible. She still has much to do in order to raise her children and take care of her old mother. I think that all levels of cadres also have parents, wives, and children, and should have a conscience.

Police Forcibly Abort a 9-Month Fetus, Henan Province, China

Mr. Song Zhenling and his wife Ms.Wang Guijin both in their 30's, from Huazhuang Village, Lutai Township, Huaiyang County, Henan Province. Police in Lutai Station forced Wang Jingui to abort her 9 month old fetus. Ms. Wang was admitted to the County Birth Plan Technical Guidance Station, and put under 24 hour a day monitoring by 4 policemen.

In 2000, this couple was detained in Huaiyang County Detention Center because they went to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong.

On February 26, Dancheng County police arrested them again, along with their 4-year-old child, because the police found Falun Gong Books and a notebook computer in their rental house, and suspected that their place served as an internet connection point. In Huaiyang County Detention Center, Mr. Song Zhenling has been on hunger strike nearly 200 days now. Ms. Wang Guijin was also on a hunger strike for 22 days so the detention center released her and her son for fear of being responsible for their death.

After one month, the County "610 Office" and police from the township police station came to their home to arrest her, but failed. They took away her father and some of her relatives instead. Her father was sentenced to a 1-year prison term for the so-called ""crime"" of ""hiding criminals"." Her relatives had to be bailed out and cost the couple several thousand yuan in fines. The deputy of the county police department, Zheng Xianfang, claimed, "If we can not arrest her, we will arrest all those we can find, no matter if they are adults or children."

Later the police arrested Ms. Wang again and locked her up in Huaiyang Detention Center. They found out she was pregnant and then released her. The County "610 Office" instructed Lutai Police station to monitor Ms. Wang. The station chief Dai Zhengyun was afraid he would not be able to torture Ms. Wang after she gave birth to the child, so he had the idea of forcing her to abort her baby, using birth control as the excuse. Ms. Wang was resisting the torture, but several policemen pressed down on her belly to force the baby out, and killed the baby in the process.

Ms. Wang is still being watched closely in the County Birth Plan Technical Guidance Station. Police are waiting for her one-month recovery period to end so they can take her back to the detention center for further torture.

Media Reports and Opinions

Radio Free Asia: Jia Qinglin Meets Protests and Lawsuits During His European Visit

Jia Qinglin, the former Mayor of Beijing and current Chairman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, visited three European countries and received lawsuits and protests from human rights organizations and Falun Gong practitioners. The following is a summary recording by special reporter Tian Yi in Germany.

Jia Qinglin left South Korea last week and started his three-country visit in Europe. The reporter learned from international human rights organizations and the International Rescue Association of Those Being Persecuted that Jia's European trip provided an opportunity to sue him. Regarding this, the reporter interviewed Mr. Wang Yong, who was involved in the lawsuit against Jia.

Wang: He is visiting four countries in Asia and Europe, and he came to Austria after South Korea. For the lawsuit, two human rights organizations, the Falun Gong Association of Austria, and more than ten individuals jointly filed the lawsuit.

Regarding details of the lawsuit, Mr. Wang said: The lawsuit was filed with the prosecutor in Vienna, and is mainly based on the United Nations Convention against Torture. Both China and Austria signed the convention in the 1980s. The convention against torture also puts forward bringing those who conduct torture to justice. For various reasons, in China it is now almost impossible to sue high-level officials such as Jia when it comes to the persecution. Under this situation, as a signature country, Austria has the ability and obligation to investigate and bring those committing such crimes to justice.

Mr. Wang said that Jia would be served with similar lawsuits in other European countries.

Mr. Wang: We have the opportunity to submit the lawsuit. Everything is moving forward. The next lawsuit will be filed in Spain for his crimes of genocide and torture.

The reporter learned that Jia was protested in Spain by human rights organizations and Falun Gong practitioners. On September 3, a lawyer for Falun Gong practitioners filed a criminal lawsuit against Jia in Spain's National Court for his crimes of genocide and torture.

La Tribune de Geneve (Switzerland): Five years of persecution for Falun Gong followers

Geneva, 19 July - 20 July marked a terrible anniversary. The persecution against Falun Gong practitioners in China has been raging now for five years and without giving rise to any particular media interest worldwide, despite the more than alarming numbers involved. According to unofficial sources, we estimate, to date, between 4,000 and 10,000 deaths. As for torture, the Swiss Falun Gong practitioners chose to act out these scenes on the street in Bern. Indeed, it seems that, today, pictures carry more force than words. [...]

Despite the numerous appeals launched by many NGOs, such as Amnesty International. OMCT [World Organization against Torture] and ACAT [Christian Action against Torture] or Human Rights Watch and numerous interventions by famous political figures, as well as different resolutions adopted by the European Parliament to condemn this persecution, China continues to turn a deaf ear, claiming to whomsoever will listen that human rights are fine in China and that torture does not exist there. And yet, The United Nations Special Rapporteur on torture, The van Boven, has just had his official visit postponed. The Chinese Government would have liked - or so they said - to better prepare for his visit. What this said to Nicolas Becquelin, representative of the NGO Human Rights in China, was that it leads one to suppose China had something to hide.

Today, the repression continues to assume disturbing proportions, since it is spreading outside China. Volunteer practitioners who are denouncing the persecution in various countries and filing criminal lawsuits against the Chinese perpetrators for genocide, crimes against humanity and torture, are now finding themselves under threat. Several days ago, Australian practitioners having gone to South Africa to register a complaint against two [visiting] Chinese officials were fired upon from a car pursuing them. The driver, Australian practitioner David Liang, was seriously wounded in both feet and an inquiry is under way to establish responsibility for such an act.

In view of the unacceptable rise in violence extending now outside China and aimed directly at practitioners worldwide, will our countries finally react with a greater degree of firmness and prevent such acts from being committed on our soil? Should not our countries unite to condemn these massive violations through making China understand that in our democratic countries we respect the freedoms of expression and belief.

May Bakhtiar

Chile: The Largest Newspaper, Las Ultimas Noticias, Introduces Falun Dafa

The largest-selling newspaper in Chile, Las Ultimas Noticias, carried an article by reporter Carolina Aicardi, interviewing Falun Gong practitioner Pia-Maria Sandas. The article described how she maintained serenity in mind, and a healthy body.

The Beautiful Finland Native Introduces the Beauty of Falun Dafa in Chile

The reporter stated in the article, "Tens of millions of people in more than 60 countries practice Falun Dafa, which helps to relieve addictions to drugs and alcohol, and delays aging."

The author stated that everyone walking near Pia-Maria Sandas feels that she is an uncomplicated and serene person. Her behavior and graceful voice are very well balanced and peaceful. The tall, smiling, golden-haired Finish woman has a secret to maintain her energetic body. And she wants to share it with everyone.

Ms. Sandas was a fashion model on stage and TV, and worked for four years on TV's Venga Conmigo program in Chile. She was also a spokeswoman for an international name-brand product. Currently she is in charge of marketing the renowned international cosmetic, Isadora, in Spanish-speaking countries. She said that she missed Chile after leaving seven years ago, so she came back to Chile.

Reporter: Are you tired of the stressful work of maintaining your image on stage?

Sandas: That is work suitable for short term. I feel it is short of a challenge. But I'd like to develop other aspects of my true self.

Reporter: Generally models are criticized for only paying attention to outer appearance and not to seeking knowledge.

Sandas: Yes. That is what I'd like to overcome. I like my job. But it is not related to my whole life. And it needs a change.

Falun Dafa

During her busy travels around the world, Pia-Maria Sandas used to be constantly weary. Because of this, she was happy to find Falun Dafa, an ancient Chinese practice system for purifying body and mind via meditation and special teachings.

Reporter: How did you start practicing Falun Gong?

Sandas: Five years ago in Sweden, I met a person practicing the exercises. When I saw him, I felt surprised that his surroundings were so serene. He gave me a book, and I learned the exercises and have practiced the system ever since. It is the most graceful thing I know. It changed me. I wish to recommend Falun Gong to the whole world.

The model said affirmatively, "Falun Dafa improves health in mind and body. One can practice it in parks and it is also free of charge. Tens of millions of people in more than 60 countries have benefited from the practice."

The article stated that the practice is based on the principles of Truth, Compassion, and Tolerance, and has countless benefits: stress relief, energy increase, eliminating addiction, and delaying aging, as well as improvement of chronic illnesses.

Brutal Persecution

Between 1992 and 1999, there were approximately 100 million Falun Dafa practitioners in China. In July 1999, Jiang Zemin's regime initiated a campaign of slander and persecution against Falun Gong practitioners. The practitioners were detained, imprisoned, tortured, and killed. So far there are about 1,022 practitioners verified to have been tortured to death.

Radio France International: Book Introduction: Falun Gong's Challenge to China

On the morning of August 31, Radio France International broadcasted to Mainland China and Mandarin-speaking areas of Paris in its column "Book Introduction" the following report.

The report said, "I've got a new book. Mr. Zhang, an audience member from Paris sent it to me. The book is entitled, Falun Gong's Challenge to China. The book which was written in English can be considered as the first book reporting Falun Gong from the perspective of a western reporter. It also remarked how western media reacted and reported this issue.

Author of the book, Danny Schechter is very famous in the U.S. He is a senior reporter on human rights. He has more than 30 years of experience of being a reporter. He has worked as correspondents from a number of radio stations, TV stations and newspapers. He also won twice the New England Emmy. In his book, he said that he himself is not a Falun Gong practitioner but he believed that the Falun Gong incident was a tragedy in the field of media. Western media did not bear the responsibility of reporting the truth.

In the book, Danny Schechter stated some facts about Falun Gong practitioners that he had observed. He also tried to present some evidence of certain facts in his book. The more-than-300-page book has 19 chapters and about 200,000 words. Starting from China's transformation from the Cultural Revolution to the market economy, the author lays out the spiritual belief of Falun Gong and introduces Mr. Li Hongzhi, founder of Falun Gong as well as his impression of interviewing Mr. Li.

The author also quotes various sources to analyze the reasons of the China's suppression of Falun Gong and the measures applied. He especially discussed in a great depth related reports from western media outlets as well as attitude of western countries and non-governmental organizations. Another valuable point about the book is that it collects many materials and references related to Falun Gong. The Chinese version of this book, Falun Gong's Challenge to China is published by Broadcast Inc.

Falun Gong Practitioners' Personal Experience

The Miracle Falun Dafa Brought to Me

By A Practitioner in U.S.

A miracle happened on March 16, 2002. I propped myself against a desk and tried to do the Falun Gong exercises. That very day, I was able to rise from my bed and go down the stairs, to meet a few people coming to the house to read my deceased husband's poems. It would have been his 73^rd birthday. I was able to sit up till 11 p.m. The visitors (who had heard that I was 'deathly ill') said that they had not seen me look so well. I felt like a phony, as if I had been faking my high blood pressure, the tremors, vertigo, left arm pain, difficulty in breathing, allergic rashes, joint problems, water retention and so on. My blood pressure was often unreadable, and it was 279/135 or thereabouts when it could be gauged. I was rushed by ambulance to hospitals. The doctors said that the base line of my heart was affected. I was also suffering from reactions to prescribed medications. On March 16, my blood pressure started dropping, within days it had dropped 120 points. I was able to stop taking all medications. I am no longer housebound because of my poor health.

To understand the enormity of this miracle, I need to give you a bit of my background. I was born in India, 70 years ago. I came to the US on a Fulbright 41 years ago, and married another Fulbright grantee from India. We lived in Chicago. My husband died unexpectedly nine years ago. He had been in perfect health; he was slim; he had no gray hair; he exercised daily; and he was the author of 25 books. He was greatly admired and appreciated in many countries, and so his sudden death was a great shock to many people.

I have been a student all my life; I received a Ph.D. from the University of Chicago.

I have written several books, and taught people who have become published authors. I was working six days a week, running a creative writing school for professional men and women. My health had been poor since 1976. As a result of surgery, and reactions to medications, I have had a horrible time. I needed alternative doctors, as I have had life-threatening reactions to penicillin, sulfa, cortisone, steroids, fiorinol, morphine, novacane etc. I have spent a fortune on complimentary medicine. I went to the best people in each field: Acupuncture, acupressure, bio-energy, yoga, biofeedback, Nampudripad Allergy Elimination, Nutritional Therapy, Naturopathy, Naprapathy, homeopathy, along with regular visits to chiropractors, massage therapists, and reflexologists. They alleviated the symptoms, but could not cure me.

I moved three years ago. I was now without the alternative healthcare people. In the last year or so, I became very ill, my blood pressure was often unreadable, and I could barely walk. I said, "Old age needs a lot of courage." My daughter was no longer sure that I would make it this time.

At that point my friend at the University of Chicago who had written a witness report in A Journey to Enlightenment (http://www.clearwisdom.net/emh/download/publications/enlighten_index.html) about his own recovery played an active role in putting me in touch with the Falun Gong books. It took me three weeks to read the books, as I could scarcely hold the books in my hand as I lay in bed. When I had grasped some of it, I propped myself against a desk and tried the exercises.

That very day, I rose from my bed and came down the stairs. It was a miracle. My Chicago friend sent me the Falun Gong video and audio tapes. He arranged for two practitioner-volunteers to come to my house to teach me the exercises. One of them happened to be one whose witness report was in A Journey to Enlightenment (http://www.clearwisdom.net/emh/download/publications/enlighten_index.html), which had both amused and inspired me. They demonstrated the exercises for over two hours, and then urged me to come to the practice site in St. Paul.

The second volunteer had met me at an acupuncture doctor's office where she was studying Chinese medicine. At that time, she had been very compassionate to me, a "very sick" person. My poor attempt to do the exercises from the book had visibly improved my appearance.

I do not drive outside my neighborhood. I employed a driver to go to the practice center every week. My driver showed an interest in practicing and cultivating.

I have a long ways to go: I have only glimpses of understanding; I realize daily my shortcomings; I have trouble emptying my mind, having cultivated an over-active mindset; I cannot yet do the double lotus; I can only take in a few pages of Zhuan Falun each time. But I see also miraculous changes: my surgery scar hurts me less, my feet feel healthier; my joints no longer hurt; I no longer take medications, not even vitamins; my heart is not being squeezed painfully; my left arm does not hurt; I have no tremors; I can get up in the morning without vertigo and breathing problems... I am less alienated from the life around me; I feel less anxious about the welfare of my children; I enjoy my garden more...

After I designed a copper pyramid 8ft tall and 3ft wide for my garden, my Chicago friend tells me: "Master Li Honghzi mentions the pyramid in Zhuan Falun. The three sides of the pyramid represent the three central virtues sought by all practitioners of Falun Gong: truthfulness, compassion, and forbearance." I am so thankful. I find that there are no words to adequately express my gratitude.

The People Awaken to the Truth

The World is Awakening - Anti-Torture Exhibit on the Edge of New York City's Central Park

During the US Republican National Convention, Falun Gong practitioners held weeklong anti-torture exhibits in several places in New York City. In front of the exhibit on the edge of Central Park, streams of people passed by and many of them were shocked and signed a petition to condemn the persecution and seek international help to stop the terror from continuing in China.

"The Chinese government is afraid that people have freedom and fears the truth. I hope the persecution will be ended soon. The world is awakening. Wake up!" A middle-aged woman living in New York City who just learned to practice the exercise from practitioners, said, "I feel great. I believe there is energy existing in the universe, and it is helpful to people. The persecution is terrible. It's a tragedy to the whole world. If the persecution is found out in one country, it may also occur in other countries."

Several practitioners flew to New York from Atlanta. One of them was a nearly 70-year-old woman who began practicing Falun Gong six years ago and has benefited greatly. During the day, she reenacted the torture methods used to persecute Falun Gong practitioners in China. She said, "I can't speak English, I feel the anti-torture exhibit can attract people's attention, so I reenact the tortures practitioners in China suffer, and try my best to let people know the truth." She and others took turns reenacting "being locked up in a small cell" and "Tiger Bench." For lunch and dinner she ate some cold food brought from home. She had only one thought, to let people know about the persecution in China and to stop it. Two years ago before she came to the US, she was under surveillance 24 hours a day, and had no freedom at all.

A man from New York viewed the anti-torture exhibit and signed the petition, and said, "It is savage to use such torture and to forbid people to practice these exercises."

A Manhattan Musician: "Evil Will Never Prevail Over Goodness and The Evildoers Will Definitely Receive Retribution"

Stanley is musician in Manhattan. He often gives performances in New York City. On September 10, as he was going to an apartment building in Manhattan, he saw several Falun Gong practitioners dressed in yellow T-shirts. He greeted the practitioners and expressed his support for Falun Gong. He said that the persecution would definitely be stopped because evil would never prevail over goodness and the evildoers would definitely receive retribution.

When Stanley saw Falun Gong practitioners dressed in yellow T-shirts, he called out, "Falun Gong!" He said that he was aware of the brutal persecution encountered by Falun Gong in China. He said that the authorities do not even leave women and children alone. He knew that Jiang Zemin single-handedly initiated this persecution. He believed that Jiang is a malicious person who will definitely receive retribution for his evildoing.

Stanley also told practitioners that what they have been doing is great. He said that people could see Falun Gong practitioners in many places in Manhattan and many people in Manhattan have learned about Falun Gong. He said that people were all talking about Falun Gong and Falun Gong practitioners.

Then Stanley introduced himself. He is a musician and plays jazz in Manhattan. He came from Nigeria, Africa. He said that his country was once an autocratic country, where there was no freedom of belief. Because of that, he himself had been imprisoned for one year. In prison, he was tortured and the scars can still be seen on his back.

Stanley believes that everyone should enjoy the freedom of believing in God or having other religious beliefs. It is unreasonable that people are imprisoned and even tortured simply because of their belief. When saying "goodbye" to practitioners, Stanley said: "On the other hand, the evil will never prevail over the good. The persecution will definitely be stopped and those evildoers will definitely receive retribution."

Stanley expressed that he would like to introduce Falun Gong and the persecution it is suffering during each of his performances, so as to allow more people to learn about Falun Gong and to support Falun Gong. He said that he would also tell businesspeople not to invest in China as long as the persecution continues.

Since August of this year, on many streets and avenues in Manhattan, one can often see Falun Gong practitioners dressed in yellow T-shirts. Some demonstrate the Falun Gong exercises, some talk with passers-by to introduce Falun Gong and expose the persecution, and some distribute truth-clarifying materials. In high-traffic areas, people can also view poster exhibitions and anti-torture demonstrations -- reenactments of the torture methods being used against Falun Gong practitioners in China. Numerous passers-by often stop to watch and find out more information. More and more New Yorkers are becoming aware of the facts about Falun Gong.