Summary of Other Articles and News - February 29, 2004

(Clearwisdom.net)

Facts of the Persecution

The Jiutai City Detention Center of Jilin Province detains Falun Gong practitioners without trial for as long as 19 months--far exceeding the legal time limit allowed. The detention center conspired with the Jiutai City administration and the court to secretly try Falun Dafa practitioners. During their trials, practitioners' necks are tied to prevent them from speaking in their defense. On September 5, 2003, the court held a secret trial of seven Falun Dafa practitioners. The practitioners were not allowed to speak in the court. The police used electric batons to shock any practitioner who even tried to open his or her mouth. One practitioner, Ms. Lu Yaxuan, had one of her teeth knocked out during the trial. Practitioners had injuries from electric shocks all over their bodies. On November 7, 2003, the Jiutai City Detention Center took thirteen practitioners to court to be illegally tried and sentenced. During the trial, practitioners' hands were handcuffed behind their backs, and ropes were tied around their necks. The ropes were so tight that practitioners' lips turned purple, and their faces turned blue. When practitioners shouted, "Falun Dafa is good," they were again shocked with electric batons.

Falun Dafa practitioner Ms. Liu Dan lives on the Luowang Tree Farm, Yueyang City, Hunan Province. In December 1999, Ms. Liu went to Beijing to peacefully appeal for Falun Gong and was illegally detained for one month as a result. She was forced to pay 600 yuan ⁽¹⁾ to cover the cost of her living expenses in the detention center. On February 12, 2000, Ms. Liu again went to Beijing to appeal and was detained in the Yueyang City Detention Center for two months. She went on a hunger strike to protest her illegal detention, and was thus released. However, she was forced to pay several hundred yuan for living expenses along with a 3,000 yuan fine. In addition, Ms. Liu's mother was forced to sign a paper acknowledging that they owed an extra 3,000 yuan. On December 27, 2000, Ms. Liu went to appeal in Beijing for the third time and was sentenced to one and a half years in a forced labor camp. She was released in mid-October 2002.

Falun Dafa practitioner Mr. Wang Huaifu is a retiree of a grain distribution station in Weicheng County, Youxian District, Mianyang City, Sichuan Province. In October 2003, the police abducted Mr. Wang when he was handing out truth-clarifying materials outside the grain distribution station. He was sentenced to one year in a forced labor camp. He is currently imprisoned at the Xinhua Forced Labor Camp in Mianyang City.

Falun Dafa practitioner Ms. Deng Meiju has been under illegal surveillance by the police. She has been followed and threatened by police, and her home has been ransacked and searched unlawfully. In addition, Sun Renzhi, a Falun Dafa practitioner from Yongxin County, Mianyang City was abducted by police while he was clarifying the truth in public in Weichen County. Mr. Sun was sentenced to one year in a forced labor camp. He is currently jailed at the Xinhua Forced Labor Camp in Mianyang City.

On February 6, 2004, Falun Dafa practitioner Ding Xinqiao was abducted by police from the Wuluo Police Station, in collaboration with the local "610 Office" ⁽²⁾ and the National Security Agency of Yunmeng County, Hunan Province. Mr. Ding was charged with handing out New Year's greeting cards containing facts about Falun Gong at Xinfa Elementary School. He was taken to Yunmeng County Detention Center. In order to protest his illegal imprisonment and persecution, Ding Xinqiao began a hunger strike. By February 13, he had been on hunger strike for eight days and his life was in danger. Instead of releasing Mr. Ding, the police from the detention center bribed the doctors at Yunmenng Chinese Medicine Hospital to torture him with force-feeding.

Mr. Ye Ximing is a Falun Dafa practitioner from Xian Township, Dawa County, Panjing City, Liaoning Province. He was once imprisoned at the Panjing Forced Labor Camp, where he was subjected to the most inhuman torture. He was released after he served his sentence. On February 13, 2004, police from the Pinan Police Station of Dawa County arrested Mr. Ye again while he was spray-painting "Falun Dafa is good" on a wall [Note: With access to all normal means of communication such as newspapers, magazines, TV and radio denied to them, Falun Gong practitioners have resorted to many creative and sometimes unusual methods for clarifying the facts about the persecution of Falun Gong to the Chinese people]. He is currently being jailed at the county detention center. On February 15, the county police department and the local "610 office" illegally searched and ransacked Mr. Ye's home, as well as the homes of practitioners Nin Bo, Liu Shibao, and Li Chungang. On February 14, practitioner Xiao Zhijun was abducted when he was distributing truth-clarifying materials.

My name is Liu Shuping. I am a 49-year-old woman from Wuqing County, Tianjin City. Simply because I wish to be a good person by following the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Tolerance, I was illegally sentenced to one year in the Banqiao Women's Labor Camp. Because I refused to write a "guarantee statement," "repentance statement," and "criticism statement" renouncing Falun Gong, my sentence was extended twice, by six months each time. After spending an extra year in the forced labor camp, when the time of my release was approaching, the prison guards continuously forbade me from sleeping for more than a month. Because I refused to yield to their demands, in early 2003, they transferred me to a local detention center and had me sentenced to three years of forced labor. In less than two weeks, they sent me back to Banqiao Women's Labor Camp and returned me to the same team as before. In the labor camp, I have been subjected to all sorts of physical and psychological abuses.

My name is Wang Tongchun. On March 20, 2002, because of my belief in Falun Dafa, I was kidnapped by police from the Youtian Police Station, a branch of the Songyuan City Police Bureau of Jilin Province. The police tried to force a confession from me by torturing me, and they extorted 10,000 yuan from my family. On April 17, 2002, I was sentenced to one year in the Yinmahe Forced Labor Camp in Jilin Province. The police threatened me, trying to frighten me. They beat me and prodded me between the ribs with wooden sticks. They beat me so hard that the sticks would often break. They also used a hard plastic tube to drill into the flesh under my armpits until the flesh became raw. They even thrust a stick into my mouth, causing my teeth to become loose.

My name is Huang Yanzhen, female. I live in Yushen Village, Xiqin Township, Shuangcheng City, Heilongjiang Province. For many years, I suffered from internal injuries and illnesses related to my kidneys, lungs, and stomach. Since I began practicing Falun Gong in 1997, all my illnesses disappeared. However, I have suffered countless forms of torture since July of 1999. When I was in Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong, the police beat me. When I was being detained in the Shuangcheng City Detention Center, I was tortured several times. The head of the detention center, Director Cui, grabbed me by my hair and slammed my head repeatedly against the wall. The hair on top of my head was all pulled out, and my head was covered with bumps from all the impacts. I almost lost consciousness. Because I went on a hunger strike to protest my illegal detention, I was force-fed many times with highly concentrated salt water through tubes inserted through my nose. The pain was excruciating. In 2002, I was sentenced to two years in the Wanjia Forced Labor Camp in Harbin. When I went on a hunger strike to protest, the prison guards taped my mouth and put me on a "Tiger Bench" ⁽³⁾ to torture me until I was near death. I was then sent to the labor camp hospital for emergency treatment before I was released.

Forty-two-year-old Ms. Liu Xiaohong was a lecturer in the Department of Engineering Management of the Jilin Institute of Mechanical and Electronic Technology. Her husband, 41-year-old Wang Zhongfu, was an assistant researcher at the Jilin City Academy of Agricultural Science. Both of them were persecuted because of their belief in Truthfulness-Compassion-Tolerance. Their home was searched and ransacked three times. Ms. Liu has been incarcerated in detention centers and brainwashing centers on several occasions, and has lost her job. Her husband was sent to forced labor camps twice, and has been subjected to all kinds of torture. He is currently being imprisoned and persecuted in the Yinmahe Forced Labor Camp in Jiutai City, Jilin Province. His shoulder blade was fractured from beatings, and he can no longer take care of himself. He is suffering from an irregular heartbeat and symptoms of edema all over his body.

The Hainan Provincial Women's Forced Labor Camp has imprisoned several hundred Falun Dafa practitioners in the last few years. The prison guards act in collusion with criminal inmates to torment practitioners. For instance, they forbid practitioners from sleeping; they take turns wearing down practitioners; they punish practitioners by forcing them to stand for extended periods of time; they beat, scold, and tie up practitioners with ropes and hang them up at will. Ms. Shi Chunmei is covered with cuts and bruises from the torture she has endured. Ms. Lin Hongpin has severe injuries to her back and stomach from being kicked repeatedly. Practitioners are tied up and force-fed when they go on hunger strike. Many practitioners' throats have been damaged and injured during the insertion of the force-feeding tubes. Ms. Xie Hui lost consciousness from the unbearable pain while being force-fed.

(1) Yuan, Chinese currency; 500 yuan is the average monthly income for an urban worker in China.

(2) The "610 Office" is a bureau specifically created by the Chinese government to persecute Falun Gong. It has absolute power over each level of administration in the Party, as well as over the political and judiciary branches.

(3) "Tiger Bench" is one of the torture methods used on practitioners. A practitioner is forced to sit on a small iron bench that is approximately 20 cm (6 inches) tall with knees tightly tied on the bench. Usually some hard objects are inserted underneath the practitioner's lower legs or ankles to make it harder for them to tolerate this abuse.