(Clearwisdom.net) Upon learning that more than 40 Falun Gong practitioners in Shuangcheng City, Heilongjiang Province have been recently abducted, and three of them have been tortured to death in just a few days, northern California Falun Gong practitioners rallied in front of the Chinese Consulate in San Francisco on March 11. Once again, practitioners strongly demanded an end to the persecution and punishment of the murderers.

San Francesco Bay Area Falun Gong spokeswoman Dr. Sherry Zhang said: "It has been reported that '610 office' agents and policemen in Shuangcheng City, Heilongjiang province started to illegally abduct Falun Gong practitioners on February 11, 2004. According to an incomplete investigation, more than 40 practitioners have been abducted and 3 practitioners have been tortured to death in just a few days. Among them, Ms. Gu Xiuxiang started a hunger strike to protest after she was abducted on February 28. She was later force-fed and she died on March 4. The other two practitioners' situation is unknown. "

Since Jiang Zemin launched the persecution of Falun Gong in 1999, in the past more than 4 years, hundreds of thousands of Falun Gong practitioners have been detained in forced labor camps, prisons and mental hospitals, where they have been subjected to torture. Dr. Zhang said: "Practitioners have been subjected to being beaten, shocked with electric batons, drugged, and much more. To date, more than 900 hundred Falun Gong practitioners have been persecuted to death."

Zhang said that it is appalling that Jiang Zemin and his accomplices continue to disregard the International Human Rights Convention to brutally persecute Falun Gong practitioners in spite of the coming 60^th session of the UN Human Rights Commission and the condemnation of the international community. She said: "We call upon all nations around the world to condemn the Chinese Government's persecution of Falun Gong, stop the killing and bring the murderers to justice."