NEW YORK (FDI) – Jiang Zemin’s regime’s persecution of Falun Gong has claimed the lives of ten more Falun Dafa practitioners. Throughout this persecution, which has now spanned nearly four years, Jiang Zemin has spared no effort in devoting China’s resources to abuse and violate both human rights and freedom of belief. The number of officially verified deaths has now passed 700.
- Mrs. Wang Xiulan was killed by intense psychological and mental torture. While on her deathbed, guards still dared to extort money from her family. (full story below)
- Mrs. Xiao Guiying was a practitioner from Yueyang City, Hunan Province. Because of the persecution of Falun Gong in China, her husband, wanting to preserve his political career as the Chief of the Commercial Bureau in Yuefang Financial Bureau, began to abuse Xiao and, attempted to divorce and even murder her. (full story below)
- Mr. Li Junchen was tortured intensely for 7 months in Shachang Police Substation under physical torture and attempted brainwashing. He died on November 20, 2001. (full story below)
- Ms. Li Shunfeng, 57, from Fuyang County, Jilin Province died just three days after she was illegally detained. Police labelled her death from torture as a suicide and coerced her family to sign an affidavit to corroborate their story. (full story below)
- Mr. Yang Bin, 26, was tortured to death fifteen days after his detainment at the Pingfang District Public Security Bureau. On March 5th 2003 his body was cremated before his family even had a chance to appeal or seek justice for him. (full story below)
Formerly Healthy Practitioners Die Within Days of Release From Torture in Forced Labour Camps in Jilin Province:
- Mr. Song Changguan from Changchun City, Jilin Province died at his home within 10 ten days of being released from the No.3 Brigade of Chaoyanggou Labour Camp where he was brutally tortured.
- Mr. Ding Yunde, a 43 year-old male from Baishan City, Jilin Province was fired from his job at Tonghua Mineral Bureau and sent to the No.4 Brigade of Chaoyanggou Labour Camp to serve a 2-year forced labour sentence. He died at his home in January 2002, 11 days after being released.
- Mr. Wang Jinian, a 28 year-old male from Songjianghe Town, Fusong County, Baishan City, Jilin Province was sentenced to 3 years of forced labour in the No.4 Brigade of Changyanggou Labour Camp. He died at his home in January 2002 immediately following his release. Steadfast in his heart, his final words were: “Falun Dafa is good.”
- Mr. Zheng Yongping from Shiren Town in Baishan City, Jilin Province worked at Shiren Chemical Plant laboratory prior to being illegally sent to Chaoyanggou Labour Camp for 2 years of labour education. He died immediately following his release in January 2003 after serving almost all of the 2-year term.
- Mr. Xu Xijun from Changchun, Jilin Province. Further details of this case are under investigation.
Details of Individual Death Cases:
Guards Show No Mercy to Dying Elderly Woman
Fifty-seven year old Mrs. Wang Xiulan was a resident of Shuangcheng City, Heilongjiang Province. She started to practice Falun Gong in 1995.One morning in April 2000, she was doing Falun Gong exercises in Chengxu Park in Shuangcheng City. The police arrested her and sent her to Shuangcheng No.2 Detention Centre.
In the detention centre, the guards force Falun Gong practitioners to memorize the prison rules. Especially with the incentive for a financial bonus for meeting quotas and “reforming” practitioners, the guards use any means to gain control over practitioners, including: hiring local thugs to watch Falun Gong practitioners; forbidding their family members to visit them; forbidding family members to send them quilts; forbidding them to use the toilet; depriving them of sleep; brainwashing and deceiving practitioners to “admit that practicing Falun Gong disturbs the societies stability.” The guards even said that there’s no need to feed them well, just enough to keep them alive to see whether they would be “transformed”. They physically and verbally abused practitioners.
Wang Xiulan protested all the inhuman treatment by starting a hunger strike, and demanded an unconditional release.
Under the harsh environment, however, Mrs. Wang’s health soon deteriorated while her family worked tirelessly to have her released. Still the guards extorted 500 Yuan from Mrs. Wang’s family before releasing her. Because of her strong will, Wang Xiulan recovered quickly at home.
On December 18th 2000, Mrs. Wang and her husband travelled to Tiananmen Square, Beijing, and unfurled a banner to peaceful appeal for the end of the persecution. Mrs. Wang was immediately arrested and sent to Guan County Detention Centre where she was forced to sleep on a cement floor with no blankets or heating. The freezing cold kept her from falling sleep. A few days later, she was transferred her to Laofang Prison where the torture continued.
By the end of February 2001, Mrs. Wang Xiulan’s body was visibly swollen and she was having difficulty breathing. She was obviously close to death. In March 2001, the guards stole the remaining few hundred Yuan she had on her and released her. After she returned home, her husband and other family members spent 3000-4000 Yuan on medical treatment in an attempt to save her life. But what she endured was too severe for her body to handle, and she passed away on March 17th, 2002.
Mrs. Xiao Guiying Dies After Pressure from Authorities Led Her Husband to Turn Against Her
Mrs. Xiao Guiying was a practitioner from Yueyang City, Hunan Province. Before she started practicing Falun Gong in 1996, she suffered from osteophytosis and other diseases for years. Soon after she took up the practice of Falun Gong, all of her illnesses went away.
Mrs. Xiao Guiying’s husband, Yan Youhua is the former chief of the Consumer Section of the Yueyang City Financial Bureau. Yan Youhua pressured his wife to give up practicing Falun Gong because he feared losing his job if she did not. Xiao reluctantly gave up practicing Falun Gong but soon her illnesses came back, and she became paralyzed.
After the persecution began in July 1999, Xiao decided to stand up to defend Falun Gong and began to practice again. Not long after she started practicing was she able to walk with ease. However, to preserve his political career, Yan Youhua began to abuse Xiao and attempted to divorce and even murder her. On January 17th 2002, Xiao Guiying was driven out of her own home. While escaping from place to place, she continued to clarify the truth to people about the persecution of Falun Gong.
Yan Youhua collaborated with police to plot the capture of his wife Xiao Guiying from her mother’s hometown. The police took her back to Yueyang City and handcuffed her to a tree. Yan, himself, then sent Xiao to Rongjiawan Detention Centre in Yueyang City where she endured over half a year of detention.
After enduring this persecution Xiao Guiyang was unable to pass a medical examination that was given before being transferred to another labour camp. On the way back from the labour camp, Xiao Guiying managed to escape. She continued to clarify the facts about the persecution of Falun Gong to the people around her and was arrested once again. After she was released, Yan Youhua again persecuted his wife and forcibly sent her to Yueyang Rehabilitation Hospital (a mental hospital) where she was persecuted to death in March 2003. The officials tried to cover up this death by claiming Mrs. Xiao had died of lung cancer.
People Responsible For Xiao Guiyang’s Death:
Seven Months of Torture at Shachang Police Substation Kills 46 Year-Old Man
Mr. Li Junchen was a resident of Zhoukou City, Henan Province. Before Mr. Li started practicing Falun Gong, he suffered from liver cancer and the doctors said that he would live for a maximum of three months. In March 1999, he came across Falun Gong and after a few months of practice, his liver cancer had disappeared. So, since July 20, 1999, when Jiang Zemin started his campaign to eliminate Falun Gong, Junchen strongly believed in Falun Gong and practiced diligently at home.
On January 24, 2000, the police broke into Mr. Li’s home and kidnapped him to Shahebei Detention Centre in Chuanhui District while stealing 200 Yuan. The policemen in the detention centre tortured Li Junchen until his family came up with 2000 Yuan in exchange for his release.
Again, on January 15th 2001, without any legal procedures or documents, Li Junchen was kidnapped while preparing a meal in his home. They detained him in the Shachang Police Substation and guarded him around the clock. After three months of detention, he was sent to the brainwashing centre organized by the Zhoukou City "610 Office" and continued to persecute him. Li Junchen refused to be brainwashed and was subsequently detained for 7 months.
During these 7 months he was subject to many forms of cruelty such as being beaten with plastic batons and shocked by electric batons. Enduring this left his body swollen and weak. Li Junchen developed severe pain in his chest. However, the public security guards Gao Fen and Huang Jingqi and the chief of detention centre Dou Yankui, turned a blind eye to Li' suffering. Finally, on September 20, 2001, Li' family members spent more than 700 Yuan to bring him home. Unfortunately, Mr. Li Junchen’s health did not recover and he passed away on November 20, 2001.
Police Label Woman’s Death From Torture as a “Suicide” and Coerce Family To Sign a Fake Affidavit to Corroborate Their Story
Li Shunfeng, a 57 year-old woman from Fuyang County, was frequently harassed in her home by local police because she practiced Falun Gong. On February 8th, 2001 Mrs. Li went to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong, and was illegally detained. Just three days later, on February 11, 2001, she was dead in the hands of Beijing police.
When her family members received news of her death and went to Beijing, they found her naked body frozen with her clothes lying next to her. Beijing police claimed that Mrs. Li had committed suicide by jumping from a building, and forced her family members to sign an affidavit corroborating their story.
(Note: One of the directives passed down from Jiang’s regime to local authorities was that any practitioners killed were to be officially reported as suicides. This served two purposes, on the one hand helping to demonize Falun Gong by falsely alleging that the practice encourages suicide, and on the other hand, by relieving authorities of any responsibility for the atrocities they commit.)
Pingfang Public Security Bureau Kills Practitioner, Cremates Body Before Notifying Family
Mr. Yang Bin was a 26 year-old Falun Gong practitioner who worked and lived at the Dongan Factory in Harbin City, Heilongjiang Province. Because Yang Bin persisted in practicing Falun Gong, he was driven out of the dormitory to avoid further persecution from his workplace.
After the 2003 Lunar New Year Celebrations, Mr. Yang Bin was illegally arrested and detained at the Pingfang District Public Security Bureau Detention Centre. Only fifteen days later he was tortured to death. On March 5th 2003 his body was cremated before his family even had a chance to appeal or seek justice for him.
People Responsible for the Persecution of Yang Bin: Pingfang Public Security Sub-Bureau of the Harbin Municipal Public Security Bureau: Harbin Municipal Public Security Bureau: Background
Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa (about), is a practise of meditation and exercises with teachings based on the universal principle of “Truthfulness-Compassion-Tolerance.” It is a practise that was taught in private for thousands of years before being made public in 1992 by Mr. Li Hongzhi. Falun Gong has roots in traditional Chinese culture, but it is distinct and separate from other practises such as the religions of Buddhism and Taoism. Since its introduction in 1992, it quickly spread by word of mouth throughout China, and is now practised in over 50 countries.
With government estimates of as many as 100 million practising Falun Gong, China’s President Jiang Zemin outlawed the peaceful practise in July 1999 (report), fearful of anything touching the hearts and minds of more citizens than the Communist Party. Unable to crush the spirit of millions who had experienced improved health and positive life changes from Falun Gong, Jiang’s regime has intensified its propaganda campaign to turn public opinion against the practise while quietly imprisoning, torturing and even murdering those who practise it.
The Falun Dafa Information Centre has verified details of 724 deaths (reports / sources) since the persecution of Falun Gong in China began in 1999. Government officials inside China, however, report that the actual death toll is well over 1,600, while expert sources estimate that figure to be much higher. Hundreds of thousands have been detained, with more than 100,000 being sentenced to forced labour camps, typically without trial.
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