Falun Gong practitioner Liu Chengjun from the city of Changchun was one of the practitioners responsible for tapping into the local television network to broadcast the facts of the persecution against Falun Gong on March 5th, 2002. After enduring cruel torture in prison for one year and nine months, Liu Chengjun passed away at the Jilin University Sino-Japanese Friendship Hospital at 4 a.m. on December 26, 2003. On the same day, the Jilin police forcibly cremated the body at 11 a.m. The cremation was done without an autopsy and against the family's wishes. Eyewitnesses stated that Liu Chengjun's body had bloodstains near the nostrils, ears, thighs, and other areas.
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After learning this sad news, Falun Gong practitioners in Washington DC held a press conference at noon on December 29, 2003 in front of the Chinese Embassy to call for bringing Jiang Zemin to justice and punishing the murderers and related unlawful policemen.
The statement said, "The Falun Gong practitioners' freedoms of speech and belief have been completely stripped away. The Falun Gong practitioners who exercise their freedoms of speech and belief have been subjected to a violent persecution, and the Jiang regime's state-run media have done their utmost to cover up and disguise the use of violence and torture to persecute Falun Gong practitioners. In order to have more people understand the facts of the Jiang regime's slander and persecution of Falun Gong, Chinese Falun Gong practitioners have again and again stepped forward to expose the persecution in spite of the danger, and in some cases, lost their lives."
Attendees of the press conference had a moment of silence to bid farewell to Liu Chengjun.
A participant said, (paraphrasing) "This reminds me of the SARS outbreak this year. Doctor Jiang Yongyan from No. 301 Hospital in Beijing revealed in his letter to the media last April that the Department of Health, controlled by Jiang Zemin's cronies, covered up the SARS epidemic, and deceived the public and the international community. He was thus respected by people. Jiang's regime brutally persecuted Falun Gong and at the same time blocked all information from the public. In order to expose the Jiang regime's persecution and information blockade, Liu Chengjun gave his life to broadcast the truth, to safeguard the sacred right to freedom of speech and belief constitutionally guaranteed, and safeguarded the people's right to know the truth. He is really admirable."
Mr. Wu from Maryland said that many facts of the persecution have not yet been exposed. There are at least eight confirmed torture deaths related to the tapping into cable TV signals, and thousands of people have been arrested.
On March 5, 2002, eight channels on the Changchun cable TV network aired "Falun Dafa Around the World," "Self-immolation or Staged Event," and other truth clarification programs. The broadcast lasted 40-50 minutes without interruption. The broadcast allowed many people to find out the truth about Falun Gong being slandered and persecuted, sending shockwaves throughout Mainland China, as well as outside China. Liu Chengjun was a major part of this courageous act. Chinese dictator Jiang Zemin, who single-handedly started the persecution against Falun Gong, became furious and extremely scared. He gave the order to "kill [those responsible] without pardon." More than 5,000 Changchun Falun Gong practitioners were illegally arrested. Another practitioner, Hou Mingkai, who participated in the TV-tapping was arrested on August 21, 2002 and tortured to death within two days. According to the media reports, at least six practitioners in Changchun City were abducted at the time with the excuse of the TV-tapping and then were murdered.
Falun Gong practitioner Mr. Fan who drove more than an hour to participate in the press conference said, "I'm very sad. Liu Chengjun is a true hero. The Jiang regime's persecution of Falun Gong is inhuman; its evilness and degradation are unprecedented. I read about a female Falun Gong practitioner in Dalian City who was sexually abused, and I feel the Jiang regime is like a beast. The persecution of Falun Gong has lasted for more than four years, even though the Chinese authorities fully understand that Falun Gong practitioners follow the principle of 'Truthfulness-Compassion-Tolearance' to be good people in society. They only strive for the right to practice the exercises. Falun Gong is peaceful and rational, has nothing to do with politics and it is not against the government. Jiang and his cronies persecute Falun Gong, they are not worthy of being called humans."
According to a report from Minghui. Net [Chinese version of Clearwisdom.net a Falun Gong website] on December 29, 2003, at Dalian City Forced Labour Camp in Liaoning Province, the police guards instigated the perpetrators to use the most debased methods to torture female Falun Gong practitioners. They used mops to poke at the practitioners' vaginas, inserted hot pepper into their vaginas, used a shoe brush to brush their private parts until they were bleeding. They also hung a practitioner with their legs tied by two ropes which were held by people at both sides. A chair was placed under the practitioner. They would hang the practitioner up and down, so the sharp angle of the chair would hit the practitioner's private parts until they were bleeding. Falun Gong practitioners Ms. Zhong Shujuan, Ms. Sun Yan, Ms. Chen Hui, Ms. Fu Shuying, Ms. Man Chunrong, Ms.Wang Lijun, Ms. Chang Xuexia, and Ms. Fan Yue have all suffered such torture. Ms. Chang Xuexia once fainted as a result of torture. Ms. Zhong Shujuan bled a lot after the torture, and her private parts were severely swollen. The tendon between her thighs was severely injured. She could not squat for three months. Others had to help her when she used the restroom. Such debased torture against Falun Gong practitioners are going on in many labour camps and prisons where Falun Gong practitioners are being detained.
The press conference also called for the release of American citizen Charles Li. Chinese authorities sentenced him to three years in prison on March 21, 2003 on the charge that he "planned" to use TV to broadcast the truth about Falun Gong to the public. He is detained in Nanjing Prison where he has been beaten. Over the last two months, he was forced to attend daily brainwashing sessions. He is suffering persecution both physically and mentally.
The statement said in conclusion, "We hope that everyone will condemn the Jiang regime's brutality and violence against innocent people, end this campaign of persecution and murder against Falun Gong practitioners that are persisting in their belief of "Truthfulness-Compassion-Tolerance," and lend their support to the Falun Gong practitioners' righteous acts of upholding the truth and exposing the Jiang regime's lies."
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| The memorial in front of the Chinese Embassy in Washington DC | Reading the memorial statement in Chinese |
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| Reading the memorial statement in English | Minghui School students lend support |
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