Since Changchun TV Broadcasts Exposing Human Rights Violations against Falun Gong Practitioners, Jiang's Regime Escalates Brutal Persecution to Unprecedented Heights

On March 5, 2002, Falun Gong practitioners in China's northeastern city of Changchun broadcast programmes over China's state-run airwaves, exposing the systematic atrocities against Falun Gong practitioners and Jiang Zemin's attempts to cover them up. This exposure of the truth produced fear in the highest levels of the regime. Enraged, Jiang Zemin ordered to "kill without pardon" those responsible for the broadcast. Over the next few days, more than 5,000 people believed to be practitioners of Falun Gong were detained during an all-out and unprecedented police sweep in Changchun, and the city was under near-martial law. Dozens were killed as a result of police brutality during the round up. A total media blackout severely hampered many attempts to contact locals and confirm individual reports. At least six death cases were later confirmed. At least fifteen Falun Gong practitioners were later sentenced to 4 to 20 years in prison.

[On April 1, reports received from Changchun indicate that all leaders in Jilin Province and Changchun city will be removed from office if another cable TV broadcast takes place, and police officers who fail to meet their "arrest quota" will be fired along with their supervisors. These reports help explain the scope and severity of the police action. Such threats are a common way for Jiang to demand results from state employees and clearly show that the victims of Jiang's persecution campaign extend well beyond the ranks of those who practise Falun Gong. ("A Crisis Unfolds in Changchun" from Falun Dafa Information Centre)]

In September 2002, at least fifteen practitioners involved in the broadcast were sentenced to 4 to 19 years prison terms. Mr. Liu Chengjun, one of the main participants of the broadcast, was sentenced to 19 years in prison and sent to the Jilin Provincial Forced Labour Camp. On December 26, 2003, after 21 months of torture and abuse, Mr. Liu Chengjun died Friday morning while in police custody. On August 21, 2002, Mr. Hou Minkai, also involved in the broadcasting, was abducted by police and tortured to death within two days. At least eight other Falun Gong practitioners directly participating in the March 5 TV broadcast have been tortured to death. Since mid-October of 2003, hundreds of Falun Gong practitioners who were illegally imprisoned in Jilin Prison have been on a group hunger strike to protest the persecution. Their current situation is not known.

Six Practitioners Killed as a Result of Police Brutality During the Round-Up

Around 8:00 PM on March 5, 2002, eight Changchun cable TV stations showed programmes with information about Falun Gong. The broadcast lasted about 50 minutes, after practitioners had tapped into the signal with off-the-shelf equipment (they did not "take over the station" as some reports suggest; no force or violence was used). One of the programmes aired was the Self-Immolation or Staged Act, a slow-motion analysis of the same film that officials had broadcast incessantly, following a January 2001 self-immolation incident at Tiananmen Square. This incident was used to bend public opinion against Falun Gong. The film, aired on March 5, cast serious doubt on the government's version of the incident and provided evidence that, in fact, the incident was staged by Jiang's regime. The other programme was Falun Dafa Worldwide, which showed people of more than 60 countries practising Falun Gong, contradicting the government's claim that Falun Gong is banned worldwide. Changchun cable TV stations had about 300,000 household subscribers, totaling an audience of over one million.

1. During March 2002, the police arrested Ms. Li Rong, a Falun Gong practitioner from Changchun City, justifying it with the accusation that she had assisted in the March 5 video broadcast. Ms. Li died of torture between March and April of 2002 while in police custody.

2. On March 6, 2002, the police arrested 34-year-old Falun Gong practitioner Ms. Shen Jianli, Professor of Mathematics at Jilin University's Department of Applied Mathematics. At the end of April 2002, Professor Shen died of torture while in police custody. Professor Shen's husband is also a Falun Gong practitioner and currently under unlawful police detention. Their 4-year-old daughter is currently under the care of a friend.

3. On the night of March 11, 2002, the police arrested 34-year-old Falun Gong practitioner Mr. Liu Haibo at her home. Mr. Liu Haibo was a radiologist at Chuncheng Hospital in Luuyuan Precinct, Changchun City. After making the arrest, the police kept torturing Dr. Liu until after 1:00 A.M. the next day, when they realized that his heart had already stopped beating. The police sent Dr. Liu to the emergency room for resuscitation, but it was too late.

4. On March 16, 2002, a male Falun Gong practitioner believed to be in his 30's and an employee of the Industry and Commerce Bank was beaten to death by police at the Public Security Bureau's branch in Jincheng Precinct in Changchun. According to a witness, the man bore several visible wounds and showed signs of internal bleeding from the beatings. Additionally, his body had become extremely "contorted" from the abuse, this source reported. The man's exact identity remains unknown as police are blocking all information related to this case.

5. On March 18, 2002, 34-year-old Falun Gong practitioner Mr. Liu Yi from Qingnian Road, Luuyuan area, Changchun was beaten to death by police officers from the Public Security Bureau's Luuyuan Precinct Branch in Changchun, according to sources in China. As of March 20th, Mr. Liu Yi's remains were held at the People's Liberation Army 208 Hospital. The police monitored Mr. Liu Yi's family members 24 hours a day and took measures that information of Mr. Liu's death would not be revealed to the media.

6. On March 20, 2002, 54-year-old Falun Gong practitioner Ms. Li Shuqin was abducted by policemen from Changjiu Road Police Station, and then tortured to death at the 3rd Detention Centre in Changchun City.

7. On March 15, 2002, Amnesty International headquarters in London issued an Urgent Action statement (ASA 17/011/2002 UA 81/02) for Falun Gong practitioners in Changchun. "Dozens of suspected members of the Falun Gong spiritual movement have reportedly been detained during a security crackdown in Changchun City, Jilin Province," the Urgent Action stated. "Amnesty International believes they are at serious risk of torture or ill-treatment." On April 11, 2002, Amnesty International issued another Urgent Action Notice for practitioners in Changchun. Unfortunately, their Urgent Action statements failed to deter Jiang Zemin and his evil cohorts' brutal crimes.

Heroes of the March 5 Video Broadcast Punished with Prison Terms of Unprecedented Lengths

According to a report on September 20, 2002 by Taiwan's Central News Agency, Changchun City Intermediary People's Court sentenced fifteen participants of March 5 TV broadcast to unusually long prison terms. Ms. Zhou Runjun and Mr. Liu Weimin were each sentenced to 20 years in prison; Mr. Liang Zhenxing and Mr. Liu Chengjun, 19 years each; Mr. Zhang Wen, 18 years; Mr. Lei Min, 17 years; Mr. Sun Changjun, Mr. Li Dehai, and Ms. Zhao Jian, 15 years each; Mr. Yun Qingbin and Mr. Liu Dong, 14 years each; Mr. Wei Xiushan, 12 years; Mr. Zhuang Xiankun and Ms. Chen Yanmei, 11 years each; and Ms. Li Xiaojie, 4 years.

In mid-September of 2002, during the trial, the bailiffs repeatedly dragged the aforementioned Falun Gong practitioners to a room in the court building, where the bailiffs brutally beat and shocked them with cattle prods. Ms. Chen Yanmei and Mr. Liu Chengjun, besides enduring incapacitating gunshot wounds to the legs, were subjected to savage and extended beatings by the police. Thus, Ms. Chen Yanmei, Mr. Liu Chengjun and Mr. Liang Zhenxing lost the ability to walk and had to be carried to their cells. In response to the brutalities that occurred in the court, a staff member from Jilin City Prison stated, "Whatever happened in court is none of our business. It's all done by the Changchun City Public Security Bureau."

Mr. Hou Minkai: The "610 Office" put a 50,000 Yuan Bounty on his Head and Tortured him to Death Within Two Days of his Arrest

35-year-old Falun Gong practitioner Mr. Hou Minkai from Changchun City also participated in the March 5 video broadcast. The "610 Office" put a 50,000 yuan bounty on his head, plus a reward of two levels up in promotion. Mr. Hou was arrested on August 21, 2002 and tortured to death by prison inmates within two days. The police cremated his body secretly on August 23, 2002.

Mr. Liu Chengjun Dies after 21 Months of Torture and Abuse

After 21 months of appalling torture and abuse in police custody, one of the men who broadcasted programs over China's state-run airwaves exposing the systematic cover-up of atrocities against Falun Gong practitioners died on Friday morning of December 26, 2003 in China-Japan Union Hospital of Jilin University in Changchun City, Jilin Province.

On March 24, 2002, Liu Chengjun was arrested for his involvement in the broadcasts. After making the arrest, one police officer drew his gun and shot Mr. Liu twice in the legs and burned his hand with fire. In early May of 2002, he was transferred to the Tiebei Detention Centre, where he continued to suffer from the police brutality. The police tortured him on the "Tiger Bench" for 52 consecutive days. [Tiger Bench: A victim is tied on a narrow wooden or iron bench by the thighs and knees, with hands tied behind the back. Increasing number of boards or bricks inserted under his feet creates excruciating pain. The police often use this device to immobilise Falun Gong practitioners to force-feed them.] Mr. Liu lost his ability to walk because of this brutal torture, and was carried to the court for the trial. This is unlawful under the Chinese Constitution. In September 2002, Mr. Liu was sentenced to 19 years in prison, and sent to the Jilin Prison.

Sources indicate that Mr. Liu was subjected to severe torture and abuse throughout his imprisonment. According to eyewitnesses who saw Mr. Liu in October 2003, he was incapacitated and "hard to recognise" from the torture. His captors continued to torture him, even to the point that his body and face became contorted. Thus he was barely able to speak. This continued even while being held at the Jilin City Central Hospital. Despite an October 24 diagnosis of "acute kidney failure, cardiac arrhythmia, critical condition" and repeated attempts by his family to arrange for medical parole, Chinese authorities denied the request. After the police transferred Mr. Liu to Jilin Provincial Public Security Officers' Hospital, where he was again declared to be on the brink of death, Jilin Prison finally agreed on November 4 to grant medical parole. However, the documentation for medical parole was never completed because Debiao Police Precinct in Nong'an County, Mr. Liu's legal residence county, refused to put a signature stamp on the document to grant the medical parole, for fear of potential legal consequences if Liu should die. Instead, they transferred the application for medical parole to Nong'an County Public Security Bureau. The Bureau's "610 Office" refused to put a signature stamp on the document, so Jilin Prison officials later destroyed the application.

At 4:00 A.M. on December 26, 2003, Liu Chengjun died from his injuries in Sino-Japan Union Hospital of Jilin University in Changchun City, Jilin Province after 21 months of torture and abuse. Mr. Liu's body was cremated seven hours after his death. No autopsy was performed and the family had not consented to the cremation. According to eyewitnesses, there was blood in Mr. Liu's nose, ears, on his thighs and other parts of his body.

Relevant Contacts

Jilin Prison
Address: 100 Junmin Road, Jilin City, Jilin Province 132000
Operator: 86-432-4881551
Department of Education: 86-432-4881511 x3040
Department of Prison Politics: 86-432-2409418
Prison Procuratorate: 86-432-4881515
Fax: 86-432-4881559

Jilin City Central Hospital
Address: 4 Nanjing Street, Jilin City, Jilin Province 132011
Operator: 86-432-2456181
Office: 86-432-2452391
Fax: 86-432-2452391

Changchun City Central Hospital
Address: No.1810 People's Street, Changchun City, Jilin Province 130051
Telephone:
86-431-8916232
86-431-8916233
86-431-8916234
Email: [email protected]

Sino-Japan Union Hospital of Jilin University

Address: 126 Xiantai Blvd., Changchun, Jilin Province 130033
Telephone:
86-431-4646484
86-431-4645324
Email: [email protected]

Mr. Liang Zhenxing: Interrogated through Tortures in a Secret Torture Chamber

According to sources from China, Mr. Liang Zhenxing, another main participant of the March 5 video broadcast, was arrested and sent to Tiebei Detention Centre in Changchun City. Prior to his illegal trial in September 2002, the policemen would take him out of the detention centre every two to three days for interrogation through torture. Each time Mr. Liang was covered with a blindfold before he was taken out of Tiebei Detention Centre, and returned with injuries all over his body. Because he is a local resident in Changchun City, he was able to guess that the so-called "interrogation" took place near Jingyue Lake in Changchun. The police keep a secret torture chamber near Jingyue Lake, where they subjected Mr. Liang to all kinds of brutal tortures.

Video Broadcasts Show the Factual Information about Falun Gong

Since the successful March 5's video broadcast in Changchun City, video programmes with factual information about Falun Gong continued to be broadcast all over China. The lies Jiang Zemin had publicised to justify the persecution against Falun Gong were exposed one by one.

On October 26, 2003, Falun Gong practitioners tapped into a cable TV network from a node in the north of the water tower belonging to Nahe City Train Station in Nahe City, Heilongjiang Province, and between 6:00 P.M. and 7:00 P.M successfully broadcast more than 20 minutes of video programmes with factual information about Falun Gong. Approximately 600 households watched the video programme.

In August 2003, Falun Gong practitioners developed a high-power transmitter and successfully aired video programmes with factual information about Falun Gong in Southern China, where almost everyone owns a TV set. Hundreds of thousands of viewers watched nearly an hour of truth clarification programmes. Because they made thorough arrangements beforehand and used a timer to automatically start the transmission, all of the practitioners safely withdrew from the transmitting location. At the same time, they used effective methods to prevent their facilities from being detected, so the police never found the transmitter.

On January 23, 2003, the second anniversary of the deceptive Self-Immolation incident in Tiananmen Square, Falun Gong practitioners from a city in Northeast China successfully broadcast a programme revealing the truth of the staged Tiananmen Square Self-Immolation on cable TV in a residential area. The program lasted more than 30 minutes and could be viewed on all the cable TV channels.

Around 8:00 P.M. on October 19, 2002, a cable TV channel in a Southwestern city broadcasted a video programme with information about Falun Gong for about two hours. Some of the audience members were able to watch programs entitled Witness, Self-immolation or Staged Act, 36 Western Practitioners Appeal in Beijing and Falun Dafa Around the World.

According to a Radio Free Asia media report on September 6, 2002, around 7:15 P.M. on September 6, 2002, Falun Gong truth clarification programs were successfully broadcast on cable TV programmes belonging to the Baiyin Company in Baiyin City, Gansu Province. This cable system covers an area of approximately 3 kilometres (or 1.86 miles) in diameter and provides TV broadcast services to 100,000 Baiyin company employees and their families. The programme lasted about 15 minutes and exposed Jiang's brutal persecution of Falun Gong.

More Than 100 Falun Gong Practitioners in Mortal Danger in Jilin Prison

According to Minghui.org's Chinese report on October 26, 2003, more than 100 Falun Gong practitioners who are unjustly imprisoned in Jilin Prison began a group hunger strike to protest the brutal persecution against them and other Falun Gong practitioners. Their lives are in mortal danger. It has been confirmed that Mr. Liu Chengjun was at the brink of death on October 26. Now that Liu Chengjun has been tortured to death, they have become the immediate targets. Their current situation warrants grave and immediate concern!

Jilin Prison
Address: 100 Junmin Road, Jilin City, Jilin Province 132000
Operator: 86-432-4881551
Department of Education: 86-432-4881511 x3040
Department of Prison Politics: 86-432-2409418
Prison Procuratorate: 86-432-4881515
Fax: 86-432-4881559

Intercepting TV Programs with Video Programming Showing Factual Information about Falun Gong Protects the Audience's Right to Know the Truth

Driven by an illogical jealousy over Falun Gong's overwhelming popularity in China, Jiang Zemin has been frantically persecuting Falun Gong practitioners, and during the process has murdered countless practitioners. Meanwhile, in order to sustain the persecution by instigating people's hatred toward Falun Gong, Jiang Zemin has abused his power and used the nation's TV stations and other media as his personal propaganda tools to spread fabricated stories and fictitious acts to slander Falun Gong. Jiang and his group of depraved cohorts have never adhered to China's law in dealing with Falun Gong practitioners. The entire world was once misguided by the Jiang regime's poisonous deceit, and could not easily see that a Chinese Communist leader in today's modern world has started another persecution against people of belief.

Today's Falun Gong practitioners who conduct themselves by the principles of Truthfulness, Compassion, and Tolerance are standing up against Jiang Zemin's genocide of Falun Gong practitioners using a non-violent approach. Falun Gong practitioners in China have been travelling far and wide to distribute to the Chinese people materials containing the truth about Falun Gong and to post messages on the streets and alleys throughout China. They have been risking their precious lives to broadcast video programmes. The have been diligent in exposing the lies Jiang Zemin uses to justify the persecution. They show factual information about the magnificence of Falun Gong. They have been doing these noble and courageous deeds to free the Chinese people from Jiang Zemin's poisonous lies, to bring out the conscience in Chinese people, to ally themselves with supportive people throughout the world to condemn Jiang Zemin's campaign of suppression, and to prevent more people from becoming victims of his lies.

Minghui.org has heard from Chinese readers who wrote and expressed their admiration for those courageous Falun Gong practitioners who stood up and spoke the truth about Falun Gong. Some of the most common feedback includes: "Not everyone has the courage to be a hero. Please forgive my lack of courage to step out and speak the truth. Yet I still have some good conscience left in me to know that what you have been doing is right. You have helped increasing numbers of people to wake up and recognise Jiang Zemin's lies. I sincerely hope that you will continue your efforts." "This iron cage (metaphor for China under the information blockade) needs more sunlight!" "It is my opinion that, if everyone conducted himself in ways similar to Falun Gong practitioners, the skyrocketing crime rate would definitely drop substantially. How wonderful it would be if everyone could learn to discipline himself and adhere to moral values and become compassionate like Falun Gong practitioners!"

To free people from Jiang Zemin's lies, Falun Gong practitioners persevere in clarifying the truth about Falun Gong and the persecution with rationality, and endure the physical and spiritual torments inflicted upon them. Many practitioners have lost their lives during the process. But their efforts shall not be in vain. The concepts of honouring kindness and turning away from wickedness have been running in the veins of the Chinese people for more than 5,000 years, and shall never be washed away by Jiang Zemin's reign of terror. In the course of history this is but an instant. Increasing numbers of people continue to step forward to support Falun Gong's voice of justice and righteousness. Falun Gong practitioners shall continue their efforts until the world is enveloped with Truthfulness, Compassion and Tolerance.

Chinese version available at http://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2003/12/31/63681.html