Protect Women's and Children's Rights: An Appeal for the Release of Nursing Mother Ms. Lu Yanna, a Falun Gong Practitioner

In 2000, the policeman in Longkou City, Shandong province beat an elderly lady to death, simply because she was exercising her constitutional right to appeal the injustice against Falun Gong. The elderly lady's name is Ms. Xiangcui Tian. Today, the authorities abducted and illegally detained a young mother, Lu Yanna, who was still breastfeeding her baby. The officials in the government of Fengyi Town, took these actions to retaliate against Ms. Lu because they discovered that Ms. Lu had publicly exposed their crime of beating Xiangcui Tian to death.

Because Lu Yanna exposed the murder, she was tortured by policeman Xiangyang Ma in Longkou Police Station, until she became unconscious three times . Because she told the truth, she and her husband were forced to leave home for more than three years to avoid unlawful arrest. Because she persisted in being a good person, she was put on a "wanted list" that offered a 60,000 Yuan (1) reward to those who caught her. Her grandmother died from the stress of being harassed and terrorized constantly by the police from the Xiadingjia Police Station in Longkou City.

On April 8, 2004, Lu Yanna's husband, Xihui Diao disappeared after he went out to hand out truth-clarifying materials. After that, Ms. Lu, who was a new mother with a 10-day-old baby, was abducted by police from her home and taken 600 miles away to Longkou City.

I was shocked when I learned of this news. Lu Yanna was a woman who had just given birth to a baby 10 days earlier. The inhumane behaviour of the policemen in Longkou broke numerous laws and regulations including the Law of Women's Right to Protection, the Law of Women and Children's Rights to Protection. Not only was Ms. Lu persecuted, but also her newborn baby was hurt physically and psychologically.

The third article of the first chapter of the Law of Women's Right to Protection declares, "It is the obligation of all of the people to protect the legal rights of women. The government, social groups, companies, the self-ruled organizations should protect the rights of women following this law and related law. The government adopts effective measures to provide the necessary conditions to ensure the woman execute their rights. Article 25 mentions clearly: "Women need special protection when they are in menstruation, pregnancy, childbirth, and lactation." However, the government officials abducted Lu Yanna while she was recovering from childbirth and while she was nursing, which caused great emotional and physical pain to all concerned.

Article 34 states, "The freedom of the living body of a woman should not be infringed upon. Illegal detention and any other measures which bereave or limit the freedom of women are forbidden. Illegally searching a woman's body is forbidden."

Article 39 states, "A Woman's rights to her reputation and dignity are protected by the law. Any means that impair a woman's reputation and dignity including insult, slander, and violation of women's privacy are forbidden."

Article 49 states, "Any behaviour impairing the legal rights of women and breaking this law or other law and rules with defined punishment, must be punished by these laws and rules."

Article 52 states, "Any behaviour impairing the legal rights of women and causing damage to property or other loss, should compensate the loss by the law or take the corresponding civil responsibility."

In the first chapter (General Rules) of Order No. 308 of the State Department of the People's Republic of China --"The Implementation of Mothers and Infants Health Protection Law", Article 4 states, "Citizens have the right to find out information regarding the protection of the health of mothers and infants. The government ensures that citizens have the rights to obtain the proper service of the protection of the health of mothers and infants."

Article 6 states, "All levels of the government should put the work of the protection of the health of mothers and infants into their plan of economic and social development, provide the necessary financial, technical, and material condition to support the development of the protection of the health of mothers and infants, and provide the special support for the work of the protection of the health of mothers and infants in areas with poor economic conditions."

Article 8 states, "The financial, police, civil, education, labour protection, family planning department and other departments in government above the level of county should coordinate the medical departments on the same level in their own range of obligation to protect the health of mothers and infants."

Article 30 states, "Maternity leave is the right of woman given by the government. If a woman has an infant less than 12 month old, the employer should allow her to take some time off from her working days for lactation purpose."

The articles to protect children and environment in the Plan of Development of Children in Shandong Province (2001-2010) state:

Consummate and implement the related laws and rules to protect the children's right:

1) To protect children's right in living, development, being-protected and involvement by law

2) To punish any lawbreaking behaviour impairing children's legal rights.

-- Control and reduce the number of criminal cases in impairing children's legal rights. Abusing, abandoning, and killing children, especially girls, and disabling children are forbidden. Make the social environment of children's development better.

--Respect children, take good care of children, and avoid the children suffering any forms of discrimination and hurt.

Reading these articles in the laws and looking at what is really happening in China, I suddenly found that these laws and rules have become a farce, so weak and empty! A scene came into my mind of a fragile mother holding a newborn baby in her arms that was terrified by the ferocious shouting of policemen. In such a place full of torture and terror, we cannot imagine how upset Lu Yanna would be, the lack of nutrition and poor living conditions, and the psychological and physical damage to the mother and the poor baby.

According to the news on May 26, 2004 on Minghui.net, the policeman in Longkou City tried to force Lu Yanna to write a release which would allow her family members to take care of the 10-day-old infant who was crying for her mother's milk. Ms. Lu refused to write it and wrote a letter describing the persecution her family suffered. The authorities, fearful of the evidence of their crimes, refused to accept her letter. However, they still forced Lu Yanna to hand over the baby to her family members. The poor baby girl--less than 30 days old, lost her right to be fed with her mother's milk. Now, Lu Yanna has started a hunger strike in protest against the persecution and of having her baby taken from her. She was detained secretly in Beihai Hospital for intravenous injections and her family members were not allowed to see her.

Facing injury and pain caused by abuse, Lu Yanna, a woman who should be a happy mother enjoying the bliss of having just given birth to a child, must surely feel that her happiness has been stolen from her. Her little baby girl has been taken from her side, when instead she should be in her mother's arms enjoying her mother's warmth and breast milk. The murderer who beat Xiangcui Tian to death and who should be punished is instead still enjoying freedom, while a kind and innocent new mother was unjustly arrested and her 10-day-old baby taken from her by force simply because she told the truth about the murder. The wicked policemen in Longkou City, who murder good people and crush humanity, should be brought to justice.

We sincerely hope that people all over the world will be concerned about Lu Yanna and her little baby, and lend their support, so that this mother who is being tortured will soon be released and have her baby returned to her. To protect human rights and respect, let us try our best. Voices of justice from every place will play an important role in ending the persecution. We sternly warn the wrongdoers in Longkou: Stop your wicked behaviour and no longer help a tyrant to do evil. We hope that under the condemnation and pressure of international organizations and people with a sense of justice, the government, the police station and the Women's Union of Longkou City can really implement China's laws in favor of women and children and make them a reality. Restore freedom unconditionally to Lu Yanna's family. All kind-hearted people will continue to watch how Lu Yanna's case develops. We are watching her situation closely.

Appendix:

The perpetrators in Longkou City and their phone numbers:

Chenhui Wang：86-535-162567083,86-13963801066

Daotang Ma：86-535-95958-7710,86-13001606810

Zhuangda Qi：86-535-95950-6338949,86-13505451806

Ruqi Jing:：86-535-95958-86120

Xiaoli Liu：86-535-162563213

Headquarters of "610 Office" (2)：0535-8622610,0535-8622556

"610 Office"：0535-8503460

Notes

(1) Yuan is the unit of Chinese currency; 500 yuan is equal to the average monthly income of an urban worker in China.

(2) The "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.

Chinese version available at http://minghui.org/mh/articles/2004/6/19/77464.html