On March 5, 2002, Falun Gong practitioners in China's northeastern city of Changchun broadcast documentaries regarding the perscution of Falun Gong over China's state-run airwaves, exposing Jiang Zemin's systematic cover-up of atrocities committed against Falun Gong practitioners. This revelation of the true story sent fear down from the highest levels of the Jiang's regime. Enraged, Jiang Zemin sent out a secret order to "kill without pardon" those responsible for the broadcast. Over the next few days, more than 5,000 Falun Gong practitioners were detained during an all out and unprecedented police sweep in Changchun and the city was placed under near-martial law. Dozens were killed as a result of police brutality during the round up. Unfortunately, a total media blackout, imposed by the regime, severely hampered many attempts to contact local witnesses and confirm the individual reports. At least six death cases were later confirmed and at least fifteen Falun Gong practitioners were later sentenced to prison terms ranging from 4 to 20 years.
[On April 1, reports received from Changchun indicates that all leaders in Jilin Province and Changchun city were ordered to be removed from office should another cable TV broadcast occur, and police officers who fail to meet their "arrest quota" of Falun Gong practitioners were to be dismissed along with their supervisors. These reports help explain the scope and severity of the police action. Such threats are a typical example of the policy of implication that Jiang uses 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 year prison terms. Mr. Liu Chengjun, one of the main participants of the broadcast, was sentenced to 19 years in prison. On December 26, 2003, after 21 months of torture and abuse, Mr. Liu Chengjun died while in police custody. The "610 Office" announced a 50,000 Yuan reward for the capture of Mr. Hou Minkai, another participant. [500 Yuan is approximately 1-month salary of an average urban worker.] Mr. Hou was abducted by the police on August 21, 2002, 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.
[Note: "610 Office" is an agency specifically created to persecute Falun Gong, with absolute power over each level of administration in the Party and all other political and judiciary systems. Due to pressure from the international community, Jiang's regime has renamed the "610 Office" on October 15, 2003, and lied to the world, stating that the "610 Office" has been "disbanded."]
Because of the information blockade, we can only surmise from the scarce information available to us that the ten female Falun Gong practitioners participating in the March 5 video broadcast must be or were imprisoned in Heizuizi Female Prison in Changchun and Jilin Provincial Female Prison. The male practitioners participating in the broadcast must be or were imprisoned in Jilin Prison. It is expected that all of them have suffered from inhuman savage beatings, electric shocks with electric batons, and many other types of ruthless tortures which are perpetrated against Falun Gong practitioners as a matter of course. The recent death of Mr. Liu Chengjun leaves a grave and immediate concern for the rest of the Falun Gong practitioners who are responsible for broadcasting factual information about the persecution of Falun Gong on March 5.
Ten Participants of the March 5, 2002 Broadcast Are Women; Several Practitioners were Tortured to Death or Missing before the Show Trial in September 2002
According to a Chinese News report on April 1, 2002, eighteen Falun Gong practitioners, including Mr. Liang Zhenxing, Ms. Zhou Runjun, Ms. Zhao Jian, Mr. Liu Chengjun, Mr. Yun Qingbin, and more, broadcast video programmes showing factual information about Falun Gong and the truth behind the staged "Self-Immolation act" in Changchun City and Songyuan City in Jilin Province. In the photographs published in the China News on April 1, 2002, Mr. Liu Chengjun had already lost the ability to sit up on his own and had to lean against the wall. Rather than describing that he was "wearing" a green shirt, it is more accurate to say that Mr. Liu was covered with a shirt. It was as if they were trying hard to cover his upper body below the neck, including his arms. There were bloodstains on his shirt. Other participants also showed signs of torture. One could notice a large bloodstain on Ms. Zhou Runjun's crewneck T-shirt inside the blue stripe woven shirt. Her complexion was extremely pale and her lips appeared to be bloodless. As for Mr. Liang Zhenxing, there was a trace of blood on his left temple. On April 1, 2002, China News' report containing these photos was removed from the website shortly afterwards to conceal the evidence of the torture against these Falun Gong practitioners. Fortunately we were able to download these images before they and the evidence they display were covered up.
According to a report on September 20, 2002, by Taiwan's Central News Agency, Changchun City Intermediary People's Court sentenced fifteen participants of the March 5 TV broadcast to unprecedented long prison terms. More than fifteen Falun Gong practitioners were defendants in this trial, but only the subsequent fifteen names and their illegal sentences are known to us: 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; 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.
We concluded from the April 1, 2002 China News report, as well as other reliable information from our sources in China and published on the Clearwisdom.net (Minghui.org) website, that at least six more Falun Gong practitioners may have also participated in the March 5 video broadcast and had been sentenced in the show trial of September 2002. They were Ms. Tian Li, Ms. Chi Yan, Ms. Xiang Xiaomin (sentenced to 12 years), Ms. Qu Shufang (sentenced to 6 years), Ms. Zhao Heping (sentenced to 6 years), and Ms. Liang Shuying (sentenced to 4 years).
Falun Gong practitioner Mr. Hou Minkai also participated in the March 5 video broadcast. Sadly, we report that he was tortured to death prior to the show trial in September 2002. The whereabouts of several Falun Gong practitioners that had been arrested by the police are unknown at this time.
Mr. Lei Min: Suffering from the Brutal "Death Bed" Torture in Jilin Prison
Mr. Lei Min was illegally imprisoned in the 4th platoon at Jilin Prison, and later transferred to another platoon, especially established to torture Falun Gong practitioners who refuse to renounce their belief, such as Mr. Lei Min. While Lei suffered the most excruciating "Death Bed" torture, the prison guards ordered prison inmates to attack him, directing their beatings on his head and genitals. Under this hellish torture Lei was forced, against his will, to write a "Repentance Statement", but during his detention in a "Small Cell," Lei cut his finger with his teeth and wrote a solemn declaration in blood to declare the "Repentance Statement" to be null and void. When the prison guards saw his solemn declaration, they became furious. They started to beat him up savagely and subjected him to the brutal torture of the "Death Bed" once again.
Illustration of the inhuman "Death Bed" torture: A person's four limbs are tied and stretched into four different directions. The limbs are pulled until the practitioner's torso is raised up in the air. The torturer then places a rolled-up hard quilt underneath the torso, and pulls the limbs hard towards four different directions while pressing hard on his torso. It is a newly invented torture designed to assure that Falun Gong practitioners suffer the most excruciating pain.
The "Death Bed" is also known as the "Execution Bed." This newly invented torture uses reinforced armature bars fixed onto a board. The torturers twist the body of the practitioner between these bars. The practitioners' arms or legs are pulled apart diagonally from the torso. After the torturers stretch the practitioners' limbs towards four different directions to the extreme, they secure the practitioner's body in this twisted position. The torturers then place sticks, bowls, cans, bottles, rolled-up hard quilt, etc., between the practitioner's torso and the board. Finally, the torturers suspend the practitioner's torso in midair. The torturers use small leather covered hammers to hammer all the practitioners' joints until they turn black and blue. The practitioner will experience increasingly greater and more excruciating pain as all their joints are continuously stretched to the limit and the ligaments are torn.
[Locked in a Small Cell: Solitary confinement, widely condemned around the world, is among the cruelest tortures. A small cell is a room of less than three-square metres. It has no window, no bed, no water, and no toilet. A victim is locked in a small cell for months, having to eat, sleep, and excrete in the same small area. Since the height of the room is less than 1.5 meters, one cannot stand straight. To exacerbate the agony, the guards often handcuff the victim to the small cell door for many days so the victim cannot sleep.]
According to the latest Clearwisdom.net (Minghui.org) reports, based on sources in China, Jilin Prison has given an internal order to all the platoons: "You must not kill a Falun Gong practitioner inside his cell. However, you may 'severely discipline' Falun Gong practitioners in a 'Small Cell' where there are no witnesses. All Falun Gong practitioners that die inside the 'Small Cell' will be declared as 'suicide' or 'natural death.'"
Since the order has been given, the persecution in Jilin Prison has escalated at an alarming rate. Since June 2003, more than 100 Falun Gong practitioners, including Mr. Liu Chengjun, have been on a group hunger strike to protest the persecution. Now that Mr. Liu Chengjun has been tortured to death, the rest of the Falun Gong practitioners in Jilin Prison have become the immediate target. Their current situation warrants grave and immediate concern!
Mr. Liang Zhenxing: Interrogated through Torture in a Secret Torture Chamber
Mr. Liang Zhenxing was illegally sentenced to 19 years in prison during an unlawful trial in September 2002. He is currently imprisoned in Jilin Prison. Sources from China have indicated that Mr. Liang suffered from the inhuman torture of "Death Bed" and had a close encounter with death. Mr. Liang Zhenxing was arrested and sent to Tiebei Detention Centre in Changchun City. Prior to his 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 of 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.
Ms. Zhao Jian: Currently Incarcerated in the Jilin Provincial Female Prison
Ms. Zhao Jian is a college graduate and a Falun Gong practitioner from Changchun City. Because she participated in the March 5 video broadcast, the Changchun City Public Security Bureau announced a 20,000 Yuan reward [approximately 40-month salary of an average urban worker] for her capture. The police abducted her in March 2002 on the street. They blindfolded her and took her to the secret torture chamber near Jingyue Lake in Changchun. She was subject to the "Tiger Bench" torture, electric shocks with electric batons, choking with cigarette fumes right under her nose, near suffocation with a sealed plastic bag over her head, being handcuffed behind her back in the "Carrying the Sword on the Back" style (See Figure 8), and many other types of tortures. After being shocked with multiple electric batons for a long time, Zhao's arms were and are still paralysed.
[Tiger Bench: Practitioners are forced to sit on a small iron bench that is approximately 20 cm (6 inches) tall with their knees tied together. With their hands tied behind their backs or sometimes placed on their knees, they are forced to sit straight up and look straight ahead. They are not allowed to turn their heads, close their eyes, talk to anyone or move at all. Several inmates are assigned to watch over the practitioners and force them to remain motionless while sitting on the bench. Usually some hard objects are inserted underneath the practitioners' lower legs or ankles to make it harder for them to tolerate this abuse.]
Ms. Zhou Runjun: The Police Broke Her Ribs
Ms. Zhou Runjun was sentenced to a 20 year prison term, and is now imprisoned in Jilin Provincial Female Prison. Prior to the trial in September 2002, Ms. Zhou had also been taken to the secret torture chamber near Jingyue Lake for interrogation through torture. The police shocked Ms. Zhou with electric batons, tortured her on the "Tiger Bench", and broke her ribs. She was later sent to the Public Security Officers' Hospital in Changchun City. The tortures of the 1st platoon of the Public Security Bureau once caused Ms. Zhou heart failure.
Atrocities Faced by Several Other Participants in the March 5 Broadcast
According a Clearwisdom.net (Minghui.org) report on January 19, 2003, the police subjected three female Falun Gong practitioners who participated in the March 5 video broadcast to inhuman tortures. Some of the tortures are recounted as follows: Three police officers used three electric batons to shock Ms. Chi Yan simultaneously all over her body, including inside her mouth, nipples, and genital area. Her body is covered with gruesome wounds. Ms. Tian Li was shocked many times with electric batons while she was forced to sit on the "Tiger Bench" for an extended period of time. The combination of "Tiger Bench" and electric batons torture caused her to scream in anguish over and over again. Police kept shocking Ms. Tian with multiple electric batons until the batteries ran out. But the torture did not stop there. The police repeatedly changed batteries and continued to shock Ms. Tian with multiple electric batons. For five consecutive days and nights, Ms. Li Xiaojie was forced to sit on "Tiger Bench" while being shocked with an electric baton. She passed out many times during the torture due to the extreme pain.
During the unlawful trial in September 2002, Ms. Chen Yanmei was sentenced to 11 years in prison. On September 18, 2002, during the trial, Ms. Chen was hauled to a room where the bailiffs beat her savagely and shocked her with multiple electric batons. Like her fellow participant of the March 5 video broadcast, Ms. Chen Yanmei had to be carried back to her prison cell daily after the trial because of the inhuman tortures. After the sentence, Ms. Chen Yanmei was transferred to Heizuizi Female Prison in Heilongjiang Province. According to our sources, Ms. Xiang Xiaomin was sentenced to 12 years in prison; Ms. Qu Shufang, 6 years; Ms. Zhao Heping, 6 years; and Ms. Liang Shuying, 4 years. They had also been transferred to Heizuizi Female Prison after the trial.
The police arrested Mr. Yun Qingbin in Yushu City, Jilin Province in August 2002. According to a Clearwisdom.net (Minghui.org) report on January 31, 2002, the police subjected Mr. Yun Qingbin to sleep deprivation, because he refused to write the "Four Statements." [The "Four Statements" were invented by the "610 Office" to prove a Falun Gong practitioner to have renounced Falun Gong. They are consisted of a Repentance Statement, a Guarantee Statement (to never practise Falun Gong), a Disassociation Statement, and a Revelation Statement (of fabricated flaws of Falun Gong.] Another participant, Mr. Liu Weimin, was sentenced to 20 years in prison. We were unable to obtain further information about these practitioners until now.
Changchun City Public Security Bureau Builds a Torture Chamber near Jingyue Lake in Changchun for Torturing Falun Gong Practitioners
According to multiple Clearwisdom.net (Minghui.org) reports sources from China reported that many participants in the March 5 video broadcast had been taken to a torture chamber near Jingyue Lake for interrogation through severe torture.
According to sources from China, Mr. Liang Zhenxing, another main participant of the March 5 video broadcast, was arrested and taken to Tiebei Detention Centre in Changchun City. Prior to his trial in September 2002, the policemen would take him from the detention center every two to three days for interrogation with torture. Each time Mr. Liang was covered with a blindfold before he was taken from the 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 with all kinds of brutal tortures.
A separate information source revealed on January 19, 2003 that Changchun City Public Security Bureau kept a secret torture chamber near Jingyue Lake. The police shocked Ms. Zhou with electric batons, tortured her with "Tiger Bench", and broke her ribs. She is now imprisoned in the Public Security Officers' Hospital in Changchun City. Many other Falun Gong practitioners who participated in the March 5 video broadcast have also been taken to the torture chamber, but we have been unable to obtain their names so far.
The Bailiffs Beat and Shock Falun Gong Practitioners with Electric Batons During the Show Trial in September 2002
In mid-September of 2002, during the show 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 electric batons. Each day after the trial, Ms. Chen Yanmei, Mr. Liu Chengjun and Mr. Liang Zhenxing lost their ability to walk due to the torture 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."
On September 20, 2002 right before the court announced the sentences, the fifteen Falun Gong practitioners were first brought to a room where several bailiffs shocked each practitioner with electric batons while shouting aloud, "You are not allowed to speak and scream in the courtroom!" Sources who witnessed this concealed torture inside the People's Court stated that while the police shocked practitioners with electric batons, the practitioners rolled on the floor with their hands handcuffed behind their backs and crying out loud in agony. Ms. Chen Yanmei and Mr. Liu Chengjun, besides already having incapacitating gunshot wounds to his legs, were subject to more savage and extended beatings by the police than other practitioners. Our sources indicated that, after the judge announced the sentences, the bailiffs took the fifteen practitioners to a room where several bailiffs grabbed each practitioner's hand, handcuffed them behind the back, and forced his/her fingerprints on the legal documents as a legal form of acceptance to the verdict while telling each practitioner, "It is you who put your fingerprints on the legal documents."
This is the truth about the Show Trial of Falun Gong practitioners that took place on September 18, 2002.
Chinese version available at http://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2004/1/7/64230.html
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