Summary of Other Articles and News - July 21, 2004

(Clearwisdom.net)

Facts of the Persecution

Changle Labor Camp in Weifang City, Shandong Province has been playing the role of a persecution tool for the Jiang regime since July 20, 1999, especially since the beginning of November 2000, when the No. 2 General Division turned into a division exclusively for the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners. Practitioners in other divisions were transferred to that division for brainwashing and persecution. Around 200 practitioners were subjected to horrifying physical and mental torments. Changle Labor Camp staff force Falun Gong practitioners to do excessive slave labor and work overtime to "polish gems." As a result of the overwork, practitioner Xin Dongsheng almost lost his life.

Falun Dafa practitioner Liu Shuchun was abducted and taken to the Changle Labor Camp on January 3, 2001 and was detained on the 4^th floor of the 2^nd Team of the No. 2 Division. He was beaten to death in less than an hour after his arrival.

On June 10, 2004, Dafa practitioner Liu Yongjin from Linyi City, Shandong Province was abducted by officials from the local "610 Office" and sent to the Linyi City Detention Center, where he held a hunger strike for seven days and nights. The police there did not allow him to sleep for seven days by constantly scratching and pinching him. They even used thistles and thorns to prick his face and body. On June 17, when the guards were force-feeding him, they inserted the tube into his windpipe, causing him to pass out from extreme pain. Later, Liu Yongjin was transferred to the Shandong No.2 Male Prison (also known as the Wangcun Labor Camp), where Liu Yongjin went on a hunger strike. They force-fed him so brutally that he vomited blood and passed out again. He was sent to a hospital for emergency treatment. At present, Liu Yongjin is still on a hunger strike and his life is in danger.

In February 2000, Yishui Town's perpetrators in Yishui County, Linyi City, Shandong Province carried out a large-scale persecution of Falun Gong practitioners. More than 20 practitioners were arrested and detained in the south courtyard of the Chengjiao Police Station in Yishui Town. Practitioner Zhang Jun'e was forced to sit in the snow for a long period of time, while practitioners Su Li was handcuffed and hung from a tree. Many others suffered savage beatings. From July 1999 to September 2000, Yishui Town's perpetrators ran nine brainwashing classes, every one of which was marked with brutality. Each practitioner suffered various kinds of beatings and other tortures. Each time the authorities would extort money from these practitioners, the amount ranging between 500 Yuan and 4200 Yuan. (1)

Ms. Peng Wenxiu, 69, is from Pengjia Village, Xizhuang, Jianshui County, Yunnan Province. She has suffered a lot for practicing Falun Gong. On June 3 of this year, police from the county police department and officials from the "610 Office" searched her house and took away her older son, her daughter-in-law and grandson for interrogation. They also searched through and confiscated possessions from her second daughter Yang Lihua and third daughter Yang Lihui's homes. They also took Yang Lihua away to Jianshui County for interrogation and detention for 36 days from June 6 to July 12. On July 13, she was sentenced to two years of forced labor and transferred to the Dabanqiao Forced Labor Camp in Kunming City on July 14.

In the evening of June 17, 2004, at around 8 o'clock, Falun Gong practitioner Tian Yuzhen and her family from Nanxiaozhuang Village, Liangji Township, Jing County, Hebei Province were having dinner. Suddenly, eight thugs broke into her house, one of whom said, "We are from the Hengshui City Police Department." They took Tian Yuzhen and her husband Zhang Weidong (non-practitioner) to an inner room and kept them there. Then they turned the house upside down. In the end, before they left, they confiscated Dafa books and recordings of Master's Fa lectures. Tian Yuzhen's 80- year-old mother was so frightened that she had a relapse of an old illness. The two young children were scared by the sudden intrusion, as well.

News and Activities from Around the World

In the afternoon of July 19, Falun Gong practitioners from the Bay Area in Northern California held a photo exhibition in front of the Chinese Consulate. They clarified the truth about Falun Gong and the persecution to a Chinese business delegation headed by provincial governor Liang Baohua from Jiangsu Province. Practitioners also hoped to take this opportunity to deliver a letter to Liang Baohua. They wanted to ask him to help release U.S. citizen and Falun Gong practitioner Charles Li and to stop the persecution of practitioners in Jiangsu Province. A conference to attract foreign investments was held in the Chinese Consulate, which was heavily guarded. The consular staff refused entry to practitioners who had gone there to deliver the letter.

1. Yuan is the official Chinese currency. The average urban income in China is around 500 Yuan.