FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - 11/14/2001 [ http://www.faluninfo.net/ ]

NEW YORK, November 14, 2001 (Falun Dafa Information Center) - Falun Gong practitioner Mr. Mo Shuijin was illegally incarcerated by police in Sichuan province and was tortured and tormented until he was coughing up blood. Fearing that he would die in jail, police finally released him. Mr. Mo died two weeks later.

An official in the local "6-10 Office" who refused to be named, confirmed Mo Shuijin's death but refused to reveal the time of his detention, his age, or other relevant details.

It is commonly understood that the conditions in Chinese prisons are deplorable. Experts say the lack of basic hygiene and food, the mental torment and physical discomfort, often accompanied by beatings and torture, cause many prisoners to succumb to serious diseases or other physical ailments. Sources familiar with Mr. Mo's case say his health was obviously deteriorating, but police refused to release him until he had been coughing up blood for more than ten consecutive days. At that point, witnesses say he could no longer speak or open his eyes, and a hospital examination indicated that he had "lung cancer". He died two weeks later after his release.

The man in charge of the local "6-10 Office," General Secretary of the Provincial Committee of the Chinese Communist Party of Sichuan Province, Mr. Zhou Yongkang, was served legal papers in August of this year while traveling in New York, forcing him to cut short his trip and return to China. Zhou was accused of crimes committed against humanity under the Torture Victims Protection Act and the Alien Tort Claims Act. The lawsuit was filed by a man whose sister is a Falun Gong practitioner. She had been previously arrested and tortured in Sichuan, but her whereabouts are currently unknown and her family fears the worst.

"We're calling for the abolition of the '6-10 Office', and to bring its leader, Luo Gan, to justice," said Ms. Yuan Feng, a spokesperson for the Falun Dafa Information Center. "Every day there is more innocent blood on his hands, and more innocent families destroyed. Jiang Zemin's persecution campaign against Falun Gong has devastated the lives of millions of Chinese citizens - This must stop before more innocent lives are lost."

Mr. Mo is the 22nd Falun Gong practitioner in Sichuan province known to have died under the persecution of Jiang Zemin's regime. Since July, 1999, when Jiang Zemin ordered the "annihilation" of Falun Gong and those who practice it, more than 310 people are confirmed to have died under the persecution. Government officials, however, reveal that the actual number is more than 1,000.

FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT THE FALUN DAFA INFORMATION CENTER- Contacts: Gail Rachlin 917-501-4441, Adam Montanaro 917-405-4507, Erping Zhang 646-533-6147, or Feng Yuan 646-523-5676. Email: faluninfoctr@nycmail.com, Website: http://www.faluninfo.net/

Category: Deaths