Changchun: 5,000 Practitioners Arrested in March, Practitioners Killed Almost Daily

Ever since a Falun Gong Programme was broadcast on cable TV in Changchun on March 5, police in Jilin Province have been conducting a large-scale manhunt of practitioners. Police kidnapped Changchun Falun Dafa practitioners Zhou Runjun (female, 51) and Li Yanmei (female, 40), as they are thought to be the ones who installed the cable device. According to inside information, Jiang Zemin has ordered that they be sentenced to death. Conservative statistics show that at least 5,000 practitioners have been kidnapped in Changchun alone so far, that practitioners are being killed almost every day and most of the bodies are being cremated secretly by police. The situation for the Changchun practitioners is very tough. It has also been reported that a Chinese practitioner from the U.S. was kidnapped a few days ago in Changchun and escorted to Beijing to be charged as a spy. We encourage practitioners in other areas and countries who hear this news to use all appropriate means to urgently rescue the practitioners in Changchun.

Sources inside China say that practitioners are killed by torture every day in detention centres and brainwashing classes held by the "610" Office of the Agricultural School in Xinglong Shan City. The following are a few vicious cases we received:

1. On the morning of March 23 in Changchun city, a group of policemen attempted to arrest a Falun Dafa practitioner in a residential building near Nanhu Road. The practitioner resisted and called out to the pedestrians, "Falun Dafa is good," "It's not a crime to follow Zhen Shan Ren [Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance]." and "Restore the reputation of Dafa." The police went upstairs to use force, causing the practitioner to jump from the fifth floor. The police did not take any actions to save the practitioner, but instead spent over 20 minutes on taking photos before taking him/her away. The condition of the practitioner remains unknown.

2. On March 22 in Yushu City, a male practitioner died from falling out of a building. Details are being investigated.

3. On March 22 in Nongan Town, one or more practitioners were killed in a traffic accident while being escorted in a police van.

4. On March 21 in Changchun city, a male practitioner fell from the 6th floor of the city police station office building. His condition is unknown and details will be investigated further.

Inside sources report that since most of the bodies were cremated secretly by the police, it is difficult to confirm the identities and numbers of victims. According to some experts, the main reason for the escalated persecution of Changchun Falun Gong practitioners is the continuous pressure coming from Jiang Zemin. Meanwhile, there are people in the police system and the local "610 office" who want to take advantage of this opportunity to advance themselves, and this has worsened the situation.

Atrocities like these happen in Changchun and China quite often; however, the official media distort the facts into defamation against Falun Gong, saying the deaths caused by police torture or victims' attempts to escape by jumping from buildings are suicides.

(In addition, a staff member from one of the concerned departments once mentioned unintentionally at a practitioner's home that a few days ago, someone phoned and said that he/she belonged to a religious group and threatened to put poison in the water supply. The next day, a person called and said a bomb would be placed in the city hall. The government official judged that the two callers were the same person. When the news was released, it was reported that all hotels and offices must be alert that Falun Gong would take such and such actions. People who know about the situation all disagree with what the government is doing.)

Source: http://www.clearwisdom.net/emh/articles/2002/3/24/20232.html

Chinese version available at http://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2002/3/24/27188.html