The Appeal Letter of Ms. Wei Jianyu, a Lecturer at Fujian Institute of Technology

To Chief Procurator Jia of the Supreme People's Procuratorate and other responsible parties:

My name is Wei Jianyu. I am a 39 year old woman from Shaowu City, Fujian Province. I graduated from Tianjin University in 1986 and was a lecturer from Fujian Institute of Technology.

I have never broken any laws, but because I have been practising Falun Gong and persisting in my belief in the principles of "Truthfulness, Compassion, Forbearance," I was detained illegally, my home was ransacked, and I was sentenced to prison and tortured. I have been living in a nightmare without having done anything wrong. Now I am filing a complaint about the persecution to the related departments. I appeal to your conscience and ask for an investigation so that a judgment in justice can be made.

On the morning of October 25, 1999, I was taken away by the police when I was exercising and meditating in Luiyi Park in Fuzhou City, Fujian Province. In the police station, after they found out that I was practising Falun Gong, they charged me with "disturbing the social order" and sent me to a detention centre for 15 days.

After this, I went back to school, but the school authorities did not allow me to teach anymore. I felt that it was very serious and could not be resolved locally. Therefore, in December 1999 I went to Beijing to appeal. The police brought me back again and they sent me to the First Detention Centre in Fuzhou City for one month. After I was released and went back to school, the school closely monitored me.

On April 19, 2000, the police came to my school and took me away while I was at work. They also ransacked my home. This was a violation of my basic human rights. I lived by the principles of "Truthfulness, Compassion, Forbearance" and was determined to be a good person, and for this I received such illegal treatment. Under the situation of having no place to appeal, I had to ask for help from the United Nations Human Rights Organization. The law- breaking officials found an open letter published on Clearwisdom Net addressed to "United Nations Human Rights Organization" with practitioners' signatures in my home. I was sentenced to 4 years and released in April 18, 2004 when the term expired.

After I went home, the local police told me not to talk about Falun Gong. They also told me to notify them if I went out of town to find work. I did not break any law but went to jail for four years. After I came back to society, I still did not any freedom of movement or speech compared to other citizens. The persecution caused me to lose the feeling of security towards the land that I love. Actually it has been five whole years since July 20, 1999. Over these five years, countless Falun Gong practitioners have been arrested, humiliated and beaten. We are a group of kind-hearted regular citizens. Hurting us this way is not beneficial to the country, the citizens of the country or anyone else.

We believe in "Truthfulness, Compassion, Forbearance"; therefore we truly love our country and our fellow citizens. We are not attached to personal sentiments, but treat all citizens as our relatives. We enjoy our lives and want our families to be happy. But my husband divorced me because he was afraid he would be arrested through "guilt by association." Even though I loved my career and worked hard at my job, the school fired me because I practised Falun Gong. I treasured my family but some of my family members avoided me out of fear that they, too, would suffer persecution. My elder brother, who is illiterate, was persecuted to the point that he had no money and therefore he announced that he wanted to break all ties from me and not recognize me as his sister. The persecution forcefully took away my living environment. I went back to my hometown to live with my 70-year-old mother. If all this were just my own situation I could survive based on my strong will power. I am a college graduate trained by the country in the 1980's. Now is my prime time to contribute to the country, since I have the ability and confidence. It is a loss for the country to push me to such a hopeless situation.

My colleagues and my neighbours all know how I treat others. I am kind and honest. My situation makes others scared and it puts them in a terrible position. I am heart-broken from seeing this. The persecution and propaganda and labeling of good people as criminals is prelude to a disaster for the whole society, country and people. It has twisted people's moral standard; it is swallowing people's conscience, destroying human nature and pushing people towards the edge of destruction.

So many days and nights I find myself repeatedly pondering this question: "We are being responsible to society and reflect our true situation to others around us. How could that be selfish or evil?" Protecting human rights and safeguarding justice is not only legal but it is the manifestation of following and protecting the country's constitution and laws. Therefore, I feel that the injustice done to Falun Gong practitioners is not just a matter of our own well being, it is the responsibility of every kind hearted person to clarify the situation. We are appealing and at the same time taking the risk of being arrested, and I firmly believe that appealing is not illegal. Therefore, my mind is at ease and I feel that I have the responsibility and duty to appeal the injustice done to me. This is out of conscience deep from my heart. I hope that the responsible offices can create justice for me.

Chinese version available at http://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2004/8/8/81290.html