Twenty-Three Falun Gong Practitioners Verified Being Tortured to Death in August 2004 (Photos)

Twenty-three Falun Gong practitioners have been tortured to death during August 2004. These deaths are confirmed deaths and were reported by trustworthy people from Mainland China. The total number of verified deaths has risen to 1,047 practitioners.

Summary of Known Tortured-to-Death Cases in August

A total of twenty-three deaths by torture cases were reported from ten provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities. Five deaths in Liaoning Province, four deaths in Sichuan Province, four deaths in Tianjin City, three deaths in Heilongjiang Province, two deaths in Hebei Province, and one death each in Jilin, Shandong, Anhui, and Guizhou Provinces, and Xingjiang Autonomous Region.

Among those 23 Falun Gong practitioners who were tortured to death, the oldest was Wang Qingzhou, 57, from Weihai City, Shandong Province. The youngest was Lian Ping, 29 years old, from Donggang City, Liaoning Province. Seven practitioners were older than 50 and represent 30 percent of the total death numbers. Ten were women, representing 43 percent of the total death by torture numbers.

Among the 23 cases, 15 practitioners were tortured to death in 2004. 18 practitioners were tortured to death either at the detention centre or died shortly after being taken home. 17 practitioners were sentenced to prison terms or sent to forced labour camps because they remained steadfast in their Falun Gong practice, or because they clarified the truth about Falun Gong. The length of their prison terms ranges up to eleven years. There are practitioners from whom large sums-of money was extorted before they died. Two practitioners were tortured to the point of metal collapse before they died.

31 Year-Old Pharmacist Ms. Zhang Hong from Harbin City Dies as a Result of Torture at the Wanjia Forced Labour Camp

Ms. Zhang Hong, 31, was a pharmacist at the Fourth Hospital in Harbin City. Because she remained firm in her belief in Falun Gong, she was sentenced to one year of hard labour. On July 22nd 2004, she was once again sent to the Wanjia Forced Labour Camp in Harbin and suffered severe torture. She died on July 31.

While at the camp, Ms. Zhang Hong refused to cooperate with the persecutors and refused to write the "Three Statements", which are specific documents denouncing Falun Gong.

In the afternoon of July 22nd, the guards forced her to stand on the floor, with her hands cuffed to two upper-bunk bed poles. She began a hunger strike on July 24th and the guards force-fed her on July 26th. They force-fed her large amounts of a concentrated saline solution. Afterwards, the guards didn't give her water to drink and forbade her to use the toilet. They handcuffed her to the beds during the day and manacled her in a metal chair at night. She had heart problems, but they made her sleep on a bare bed, with her hands and feet cuffed to the head and foot of the bed so she could not move. She was forced to relieve herself on the bed. The guards also stripped off all her pants and put the bed in a hallway, where there was a freezing draft. She was only covered with a thin sheet. When they force-fed her on July 29, the sheet was soaked with blood. The guards threw the sheet in the toilet, but a witness found it. Since Ms. Zhang was also forced to stand while being cuffed to bed poles, her feet became severely swollen. When the evildoers gave her an intravenous injection on July 30th, Yao, head of the Drill Division Group, used regular water to clean the IV bottle.

During all this abuse and gross mistreatment, Zhang Hong loudly exposed the atrocities committed against her. The guards ordered inmates to tape her mouth. These inmates also force-fed Zhang Hong.

While being subjected to this inhumane torture, Zhang Hong lost consciousness several times. Despite the brutality, guard Li Changjie told Captain Zhao Yuqing that Zhang Hong was faking. Zhao Yuqing then told him that after she recovers, they would take care of her (meaning shocking her with electric batons). On the afternoon of the July 30th, Zhang Hong was forced to sit on an iron chair. Her head was covered with white tape and both of her hands were handcuffed behind her back. Her complexion was extremely pale, and both of her feet were grossly swollen.

In the afternoon of July 31st, four male guards carried Zhang Hong away on a stretcher and disinfected the entire room afterwards. It was rumoured that Ms. Zhang Hong was taken to the No. 211 Hospital. Section head Zhao later said, "Ms. Zhang Hong died from kidney failure as a result of heart disease."

When her family went to the hospital, they saw that her eyes and mouth were wide open, and that she had lost about 40 pounds in a very short period of time. The labour camp authorities demanded that Ms. Zhang's family cremate her body as soon as possible, but this demand was firmly refused. Ms. Zhang's family is now turning to the legal system with an appeal to investigate her death.

45-Year-Old Bank Clerk, Mr. Liu Jingrong, Practitioner from Dongliao County, Jilin Province Is Tortured to Death

Mr. Liu Jingrong, 45, was a former employee of the Agriculture Bank in Dongliao County, Jilin Province. He has suffered time after time under the persecution, because he insisted on practising Falun Gong. He was detained and tortured in the Liaoyuan Forced Labour Camp, Jilin City Forced Labour Camp, and Jiutai Yinmahe Forced Labour Camp. He passed away on January 31st 2004.

In mid-March 2000, the Dongliao County Public Security Bureau staff unlawfully sentenced him to one year in a forced labour camp. The guards at the Liaoyuan Forced Labour Camp tortured him brutally and forced him into performing inhuman hard labour. Because he practised the Falun Gong exercises, the guard once cuffed both his hands to iron bars outdoors. Although it was bitterly cold they left him there for the entire night. Another time the guard removed his clothes, pushed him to the ground and poured cold water on him. He was lying in the corridor, freezing, the entire night. Liu Jingrong previously weighed more than 80 kilograms (176 lbs.), after a few months of torment, he weighed less than 50 kilograms (110 lbs.).

In April 2001, not long after Liu Jingrong returned home, his workplace gave him more than 4,000 Yuan (1) in back-wages, but the Political Protection Section of the Dongliao County Public Security Bureau found out about it. They sent four policemen to seize Liu Jingrong, and intended to take the money from him. Because Liu Jingrong refused to sign a statement denouncing Falun Gong, he was brutally tortured by the police, and unlawfully held for two years in a forced labour camp. Three months later, he was secretly transferred from Liaoyuan Forced Labour Camp to Jilin City Forced Labour Camp.

The guards of Jilin City Forced Labour Camp removed Liu Jingrong's clothes, searched him, tortured him with electric batons, beat him with spiked clubs, and forced him to sit on a wooden stool until his skin showed wet gangrene. He became disabled.

In December 2001, Jilin City Forced Labour Camp transferred Liu Jingrong to Jiutai Yinmahe Forced Labour Camp. Liu Jingrong was bed ridden for seven months, and was unable to get up. In the forced labour camp, he was on the verge of death.

In July 2002, Jiutai Yinmahe Forced Labour Camp sent Liu Jingrong home, after realizing that he was in critical condition. Liu Jingrong did not recover from the brutal torture. He passed away on January 31st 2004.

Mr. Cui Zhilin Is Tortured to Death by Guards in Nanshan Jail of Liaoning Province - His body Is Covered with Bruises

Mr. Cui Zhilin, 43, was a practitioner from Fuxin City, Liaoning Province. He was tortured to death by guards in Nanshan Jail of Jinzhou City, Liaoning Province. The guards prevented his family from taking pictures of the scars on his body, and attempted to cremate his body by force without the family's consent.

On September 18th 2002, Mr. Cui Zhilin was arrested in Fuxin City. The Fuxin Court illegally sentenced Mr. Cui Zhilin to 11 years in jail without notifying his family. During the second half of 2003, he was transferred from the local detention centre to the Fifth Unit of Nanshan Jail. The practitioners held there appealed against their wrongful imprisonment.

Cui Zhilin always persisted in Dafa cultivation, and he created truth-clarifying posters in prison. On August 5th 2004, his family suddenly received a notice that he had committed suicide by jumping to his death. Upon arriving, his family found that he was already being put in a hospital morgue. The camp police couldn't provide any proof that he had committed suicide by jumping to his death.

Upon his family's insistence, an autopsy by the medical examiner was performed. His family then discovered that his body had been cruelly beaten and that it was too horrible to look at. He was skin and bones, and there was a hole on the backside of his head. His ears, nose and mouth were stuffed with cotton balls. His gums were rotten. His back was covered with blue and purple marks. His armpits, ribs, hips, both sides of his thighs, and the area below the anklebone had obvious signs of long-term electric shock torture. A portion of his skin at the elbow had disappeared. His testicles were swollen, and blue and purple. His body had obvious signs of soaking in medical liquid or water, and had been cleaned.

Police intimidated and threatened the family members, and obstructed pictures the family attempted to take of the body. Later, the police provided the burial expenses of 7,800 Yuan to preclude any further investigation.

Ms. Shan Yuqin Becomes Mentally Traumatized and Dies as a Result of Persecution

Ms. Shan Yuqin, 48, was from Dalianhe in Yilan County of Heilongjiang Province. Because she persisted in practising Falun Dafa, she was relentlessly persecuted. She was tortured during her imprisonment in the Wanjia Forced Labour Camp, resulting in mental trauma. After being released, her condition continued to deteriorate. She passed away on August 20th 2004.

In February 2000, Shan Yuqin went to Beijing to appeal, and was arrested by the Dalianhe Town Police Department. She was sent to Yilan County Second Detention Centre and had 2,500 Yuan forcibly confiscated. In July 2000, she was detained again for 34 days and another 1,500 Yuan was forcefully confiscated from her. On November 27th 2000, she was arrested at her home by the Dalianhe Town Police Department. She was sent to a detention centre, where she was detained for 210 days and fined 960 Yuan. During this detention period, she was once sent to a brainwashing class where they attempted to force her give up Falun Dafa.

In 2001, Shan Yuqin was arrested again by the Dalianhe Town Police Department and sentenced to two years of forced labour. While she was detained at the Wanjia Labour Camp, she was brutally beaten by the guards, and shocked with electric batons. The police cuffed her hands and hung her up. The cuffs cut deep into her flesh and the scars on her wrists were noticeable at all times. Fourteen of her teeth were knocked out. Her health deteriorated due to the long-term torture to which she was subjected. She suffered from paralysis over half of her body. She had become an invalid and had to be cared for by others.

Shan Yuqin suffered a mental collapse and her mood swung very quickly. One minute she was crying, the next minute she was laughing. Only under this situation did the labour camp advise the Dalianhe Town Police Department to ask her family to pick her up. However, the town government party secretary Mao Yongfeng and the Dalianhe Town Police Department chief refused to stamp the documents needed for Shan's release. Later when Mao Yongfeng went to the labour camp to do some business, the camp authorities asked if they could release Shan on medical parole. Mao said, "Isn't she still alive? As long as she still has one breath left, keep her here." As a result, Shan was detained for six additional months, during which time her condition continually worsened. On December 30th 2003, the Yinlan County "610 Office" and Shan's family picked her up. After she returned home, her health became worse and she remained bedridden. On August 20, 2004, she passed away.

Town Government Officials Beat 56-Year-Old Xia Wei to Death

Since July 19th 1999, Dafa practitioner Mr. Xia Wei and his wife Deng Zhongqin from Yuehe Village in Laochi Township, Suining City, Sichuan Province were cruelly persecuted by Jiang's cohorts, because they insisted on practising Falun Dafa. On July 19th 2000, Xia Wei was arrested by the police and beaten into unconsciousness. Since then, he suffered from many symptoms, including frequently vomiting blood, chest pain, and dizziness. Under the extended persecution, maltreatment, and harassment, he died on November 12th 2001. His wife was illegally sentenced to two and a half years of forced labour at Nanmusi Women's Labour Camp in Zizhong City, Sichuan Province, because she made a Dafa truth-clarifying banner.

On July 19th 2000, when the couple were at their daughter's house, police from the Nanqiang police station were abducting Dafa practitioners in the village and taking them to the brainwashing centre. They passed by the house and saw the Xia Wei couple, so they forcibly arrested them. They took them to the Longping City brainwashing class without due cause.

After 7:00 p.m. the same night, Laochi Township official Deng Xiaolin, women's group director Liu Quiying, and a policeman took the couple back to the local area. When Xia Wei was at the door, without saying a word, Deng Xiaolin grabbed him, and punched and kicked Xia Wei's body inhumanly. The 56-year-old Xia Wei fell to the floor. His nose was bleeding, and at the time, the bully was still not satisfied and continued kicking Xia Wei with a vengeance, using all his strength.

At this time the policeman opened the door of the car, grabbed Xia Wei, who was on the floor, and pushed him into the car. He was incapable of moving, his nose was bleeding profusely, and blood was all over his clothes. His wife Deng Zhongqin was also pushed into the car. She saw that her husband was motionless inside the car and that his face was very pale. She tried to help him to sit up. The two thugs, Deng Xiaolin and Liu Quiquing, were swearing continuously once they got inside the car.

After driving for 2 hours, they arrived at the Laochi Township office, and Xia Wei was already unconscious. Deng Xiaolin saw that Xia Wei was motionless, and he started yelling, "Don't play games with me! I'm your daddy and I'll hit you again!" Xia Wei's face was swollen and his entire body was bruised. He was extremely weak and could not swallow any food. The police were afraid to take responsibility and the next day advised his daughter to bail him out for 2,000 Yuan.

Xia Wei's daughter saw that he was beaten into such condition, and was afraid that the police would persecute her parents again. Xia Wei's daughter, who did not practise Falun Gong, asked for help everywhere. Finally, she bailed out her parents by paying 200 Yuan. After returning home, Xia Wei was frequently vomiting blood, had chest pain and dizziness, and was extremely weak. The township officials and policemen frequently harassed him, and kept close surveillance on the couple. One time, when the police went to harass them, Xia Wei and his wife were not home, so the policemen handcuffed their daughter and son-in-law and took them hostage. The policemen beat up his daughter and son-in-law to force them to disclose the whereabouts of their parents. The policemen even stole the 100 Yuan they carried in their pockets. On November 12th 2001, Xia Wei died due to injustice. He vomited a lot of blood before his death. We all know that Jiang's cohorts and accomplices had beaten Dafa practitioner Xia Wei to death.

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Every persecution incidence is another blood debt Jiang's regime owes Dafa practitioners. Every case is another knot in the rope of the perpetrators. Jiang's regime bears responsibility for every death, for all torture and the blood debts, which are increasing, and its persecution and genocidal crimes against Falun Gong. Time is running out for them.

(1) Yuan is the Chinese currency. The average monthly salary of an urban worker in China is 500 Yuan.

Chinese version available at http://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2004/9/4/83299.html