(Clearwisdom.net) Since July 20, 1999 when Jiang Zemin started the persecution of Falun Gong, Falun Gong practitioners have had no way to appeal and have been denied their basic right to speak out. Those practitioners who choose to remain steadfast face the pressures of detention in labor camps, jail sentences, inhuman torture, and some have even lost their lives.

As of January 10, 2004 twelve Falun Gong practitioners in the Daxing'anling area, Heilongjiang Province have been sentenced. The lightest sentence was 5 years and the heaviest 14 years. Over 50 practitioners have been sent to labor camps, whereas four practitioners were forced homeless and cannot return to their homes without risk of further persecution. There are over 100 instances of detention. Many of them have been forced to stop working and have had their salaries withheld. The total amount of fines adds up to over 200,000 Yuan [500 Yuan is the average monthly income for an urban worker in China.]. In order for Falun Gong practitioners to avoid persecution, their family members have had to be extremely careful with basic necessities such as food and clothing, and borrow money everywhere. Individual case details follow:

Jiagedaqi District:

1. Ms. Liu Jinyu, 41, is a former cadre of the Bureau of Price Administration. She was sentenced to a one year term in a labor camp in 2000 and to a three year term in 2001.
2. Mrs. Ren Wanjie, is a 62-year-old retired worker. She was sentenced to two years in a labor camp, released after being detained for 6 months.
3. Ms. Li Ping, 35, is the daughter of Mrs. Ren Wanjie, and a former cadre of the railroad hospital. She was sentenced to one year in a labor camp. Later, she was kidnapped and badly beaten, her toe was broken and crushed. Afterwards she was sentenced to 5 years of detention. During her detention period in the Jia district, she resisted the persecution and went on a hunger strike. The head of the detention center locked her in a small cell ² to persecute her. She is now detained in Harbin Women's Prison.
4. Mrs. Chai Shumei, 30, is the daughter-in-law of Mrs. Ren Wanjie, and worked in the railroad hospital. She was sentenced to one year in a labor camp.
5. Ms. Liu Chunlan was sentenced to one year in a labor camp.
6. Ms. Gong Benhua, 54, was sentenced to three years in a labor camp.
7. Ms. Yang Huaju, 54, was sentenced to two years in a labor camp
8. Ms. Song Yujie was sentenced to one year in a labor camp, and later was sentenced to 5 years.
9. Ms. Cao Jinhua was sentenced to three years in a labor camp.
10. Ms. Wang Cuilin was sentenced to two years in a labor camp.
11. Ms. Wang Yanlin was sentenced to two years in a labor camp.
12. Ms. Jia Zhongjuan was sentenced to two years in Qiqihar Shuanghe Labor Camp.
13. Ms. Zhang Xiuzhi, 60, was sentenced to two years in a labor camp. She was turned in and later sentenced to 5 years in the Harbin Women's Prison.
14. Ms. Wang Jianping was sentenced to 5 years.
15. Mr. Yang Dong, who used to work in the Beishan Hotel, has been forced into homelessness to avoid further persecution.
16. Ms. Wang Xiulan is over 50 years old, and was sentenced to three years in the Qiqihar Shuanghe Labor Camp.
17. Ms. Li Haiyan, 29, was sentenced by the Jia District Court to 13 years in prison. She lived in Dayangshu Town, and was kidnapped by Jiushan policemen in Jia District. She did not cooperate with the persecutors during the trial and did not give her name and address. She was badly beaten for 14 hours, with injuries covering her body. The policemen locked her on the "tiger bench"(1) and beat her with a metal club. Her back was covered with bruises, and she could not walk. During the torture, they inserted a lit cigarette in her nose and poured liquor into her mouth. She was on hunger strike for over 20 days during her detention, and was force-fed twice. She is currently detained in the Harbin Women's Prison and her life is in danger.

Xilinji Forest Bureau:

Ms. Kong Qinyan, 49, was sentenced to one year in a labor camp because she went to Beijing to appeal.

Tuqiang Forest Bureau:

1. Ms. Kong Xiangli is a 42 years old worker
2. Ms. Kong Xiangzhi is the elder sister of Ms. Kong Xiangli
3. Ms. Kong Xianchun is the younger sister of Ms. Kong Xiangli

In 1999 Ms. Kong Xianli, her sisters, and their mother, Mrs. Lin, went to Beijing to validate Dafa. Four of them were sentenced to labor camp. During the detention period in Beijing, they were badly beaten. They did not give their addresses and were so steadfast that they were honored by the policemen as being "No. 1 in the Northeast Region." They were released after being found not guilty after being detained for 81 days. When they were again arrested in 2000, they were sentenced to one year in a labor camp. After their release, they were abducted again in 2002 as they were clarifying the truth. They are currently detained in the Shuanghe Labor Camp.

4. Two sisters, Ms. Zhang Qiulan and Ms. Zhang Qiuju, were sentenced twice for clarifying the truth, and are currently still detained.
5. Ms. Meng Fanguan, a worker, was sentenced to one year in a labor camp.

Amuer Forest Bureau:

1. Ms. Li Yushu, 56, is a retired cadre from the education department, and was sentenced in 2000 to one year in a labor camp. She was arrested again at the Jia District in May 2002. She was given a 12-year sentence and is currently detained in the Harbin Women's Prison.
2. Ms. Wang Xiuqing and Ms. Wang Xiuxia, two sisters, were each sentenced to one year in a labor camp.
3. Ms. Zhang Liming was sentenced to one year in a labor camp.

Hanjiayuan Forest Bureau:

1. Wang Guizheng and Chang Xiuwei, a married couple, were arrested and taken to a labor and education center after they went to appeal in 2000. After they were released in 2001, they were again detained for another 10 months. They were unlawfully arrested at home in 2002 and sent to a labor camp.
2. Ms. Wang Min, 44, was sentenced to one year in a labor camp. She went to appeal in 1999, was arrested, and her collarbone was fractured during a beating.
3. Ms. Yao Yuming was sentenced to one year in a labor camp. Her whereabouts are currently unknown.
4. Ms. Li Jinhua, 48, was sentenced to one year in a labor camp. She has since been released.

Tahe:

1. Mr. Sha Zhaojin, 41, was a railroad cadre. He was sentenced to one year in a labor camp because he went to appeal for Dafa in 2000. Policemen in Xinlin area caught him after he was released in 2001, and he was beaten for a whole night. Later he escaped with righteous thoughts, but he was caught, tortured, and badly beaten in Qiqihaer City.
2. Ms. Zhang Lihua, formerly a cadre in a bank, was sentenced to three years in a labor camp.
3. Ms. Liang Jiangying, a Tuqing railroad cadre, was twice sent to a labor and education center.
4. Ms. Lv Xiufen was sentenced to one year in a labor camp.
5. Ms. Xin Shuying was sentenced to one year in a labor camp.
6. Mr. Chen Tianjie, 32, was sentenced to one year in a labor camp. After he was released, he was given a harsh 11 year sentence for appealing for Dafa.
7. Mrs. Yang Zhongying (Mr. Chen Tianjie's wife) was sentenced to one year in a labor camp.
8. Yang Zhongbo was sentenced to one year in a labor camp.
9. Yang Zhonghai was sentenced to one year in a labor camp and has now become homeless in order to avoid being arrested at home.
10. Mr. Bian Fanwei was sentenced to one year in a labor camp. He was later abducted in Beijing and heavily sentenced.
11. After he was sentenced to one year in a labor camp, Mr. Sun Yaosen left home in order to avoid being arrested there.

Xinlin District:

1. Ms. Wang Yanxing, a former post office cadre, was sentenced to three years in a labor camp and is still detained.
2. Mr. Liu Hongyan, a former cadre in the transportation department, was sentenced to three years in a labor camp.
3. Mr. Lv Qing was sentenced to one year in a labor camp.
4. Ms. Meng Chaohong, formerly a nurse in a hospital in Tahe, was sentenced to one year in a labor camp in 2000. In November 2001, when she was distributing truth-clarifying materials in Jiagedaqi District, she was caught and persecuted by the political security section of the Jia District Police Department. She was sentenced to three years in a labor camp after she was detained for over 4 months in the Jia District Detention Center. She was sent to the Shuanghe Labor Camp in Qiqihar City, Heilongjiang Province. During the detention period in Jia District Detention Center, Ms. Meng was on hunger strike for 15 days. Policeman Wang Youming force-fed Ms. Meng. When he inserted the tube into her stomach, he grabbed her hair, pinched her chin, and firmly pressed her head down and backwards. Ms. Meng Chaohong's pinkie finger was fractured during the struggle. During the force-feeding, Wang Youming took a bunch of salt, mixed it in with the food, and force-fed it into her stomach. It seriously damaged her stomach lining. She vomited the food up along with the lining. She later had blood in her stool. When she was discovered sending forth righteous thoughts, they locked her in a "small cell," and kicked and beat her.

Songlin District:

1. Mr. Lui Haikang was sentenced to one year in a labor camp in 2000 because he validated Dafa. He was arrested in 2002 while he was clarifying the truth, then cruelly tortured and beaten in the Yusonglin Detention Center. He was sentenced to 7 years and is currently detained in the Tailai prison.
2. Mrs. Sun Chunhuan is the wife of Mr. Lui Haikang. She was sentenced to labor camp in 2000 and was later sentenced to 5 years of detention.
3. Mr. Lu Yuping, 44, was formerly a cadre in the tax department. He was sentenced for three years in 1999 due to steadfastly practicing Falun Dafa. He was often harassed and monitored at home after he was released, and thus he was forced to leave home to avoid further harassment and persecution. He was abducted in the Jia District and tortured for 14 hours at the Jia District Detention Center by policemen from Nenjiang Jiusan. The policemen locked him on the "tiger bench," grabbed his hair in their hands, and whipped his head with a leather belt that had a metal buckle. They poured cold water on him when he fainted. He was left without a piece of unharmed skin, with bruises all over his body. They inserted a lit cigarette in his nose and poured liquor into his mouth. Finally, they stripped off his clothes, pressed him to the ground, and brutally beat him. He had difficulty breathing with his heart and lungs under such pressure, and also had difficulty walking. Nonetheless he was locked in a cell. He went on hunger strike for 20 days to protest and was beaten by the prisoners. During the torture period, there were some kind-hearted guards that stopped the other policemen from applying more torture. He was secretly sentenced to 14 years by the Jia District Court. He is currently detained in the Tailai Prison and continues to be persecuted there.
4. Ms. Wang Xiulan is over 70 years old. She was sentenced to three years.
5. Ms. Qiao Yuhua, 56, was sentenced to one year in a labor camp.
6. Ms. Xu Yawen, 60, was sentenced to three years of detention.

The persecution facts listed above are only part of the whole story. There are many practitioners who are often monitored, threatened, and harassed by their companies, by the police stations, by the street committees, and by their local police departments. We were unable to list them all here.

(1) "Tiger Bench": Practitioners are forced to sit on a small iron bench that is approximately 20 cm (6 inches) tall with their knees tied together. With their hands tied behind their backs or sometimes placed on their knees, they are forced to sit straight up and look straight ahead. They are not allowed to turn their heads, close their eyes, talk to anyone or move at all. Several inmates are assigned to watch over the practitioners and force them to remain motionless while sitting on the bench. Usually some hard objects are inserted underneath the practitioners' lower legs or ankles to make it harder for them to tolerate this abuse (see illustration on <http://www.clearwisdom.net/emh/articles/2001/11/24/16156.html>)

(2) Locked in Small Cell: A small cell is a room of less than three-square meters. It has no window, no bed, no water, and no toilet. A victim is locked in a small cell for months, having to eat, sleep, and relieve themselves in the same small area. Since the height of the room is less than 1.5 meters, one cannot stand straight. To exacerbate the agony, the guards often handcuff the victim in the small cell door so the victim cannot sleep for many days.

February 17, 2004