EFGIC: 140 Falun Gong Deaths in China Reported in Two Months despite On-going Cover-up

Three out of the four children in the Chen family (top) have been killed for their Falun Gong practice, including the eldest son Chen Aizhong (bottom left) who was tortured to death in 2001, and youngest daughter Chen Hongping (bottom right) who died in 2003 following 18 months of torture that broke both of her legs. The middle son, Chen Aili, was killed on November 5th 2004

LONDON [EFGIC]– In November and December 2004, sources inside China confirmed the deaths of another 140 Falun Gong practitioners from state persecution.

Former Chinese Communist leader Jiang Zemin initiated the campaign against the peaceful practice in 1999, declaring that, “The Communist Party must defeat Falun Gong.”

The 140 cases collected during the two-month period are of Falun Gong practitioners who were killed over several years. Due to China’s information blockade, however, their stories were only revealed recently.

Although the European Falun Gong Information Centre has verified that 1,290 Falun Gong practitioners have been killed as a result of the persecution of the practice in China, the actual death toll remains unknown. According to information from Chinese Government sources, the death toll could be more than 7,000.

The cases that were verified during the last two months of 2004, are of individuals who were killed by both physical and psychological torture in detention centres, forced labour camps, prisons, mental hospitals, drug rehabilitation centres, brainwashing classes, local police stations, and “610 Offices.”

The extra-judicial killings took place across 19 Chinese provinces.

Three Siblings Killed, Persecution of Parents and Elder Sister Continues

The November 5, 2004 death of Chen Aili of Hebei Province has added yet another heart-wrenching chapter to the Chen family’s tragedy, and offers a glimpse at pains families suffer under China’s Falun Gong ban.

Aili and the rest of his family practised Falun Gong. A source that knew of the family reported that Aili’s father and mother got rid of back pain and arthritis, respectively, through the practice. Yet, when the Chinese Communist Party began persecuting Falun Gong, the family was torn apart.

Aili is now the third of four siblings to have died of physical abuse in custody. His older brother, Aizhong, was put in a Hebei labour camp on September 12, 2001, only to be tortured to death eight days later. Their sister, Hongping, was wrongfully arrested and later beaten by prison authorities; she died on March 5, 2003, following 18 months of torture that broke both her legs. The only surviving sibling, Shulan, is presently being illegally detained in Beijing. The authorities hold Shulan’s daughter as well.

75 Year-Old Who Revealed Information to Hong Kong Reporter Tortured to Death

Ms. Cheng Ke, a retired construction manager from Tianjin was 75 years old. She participated in the April 23, 1999 manifestations that took place in Tianjin leading up to the famous gathering in Beijing two days later.

Although the appeals were peaceful, she was beaten by police in Tianjin. Because she answered a Hong Kong journalist’s questions about how she was beaten, she was arrested and charged with “revealing state secrets.”

She had been detained for a total of four years in two Tianjin forced labour camps until she was recently tortured to death at the Hexi District Police Station. Sources inside China indicate that all the Falun Gong practitioners detained in Hexi are on hunger strike in protest of her killing.

Labour Bureau Chief is Killed during Escalation of Persecution in Shenyang, November 2004

Ms. Li Ling, 51, was the former Guta District Labour Bureau Chief. When Jiang Zemin banned Falun Gong in 1999, Ms. Li travelled to Beijing and peacefully appealed on Tiananmen Square, asking her government to reverse the policy. She was arrested and sentenced to a two-year term in Shenyang’s Dabei Prison.

Ms. Li died of torture during forced conversion on November 17, 2004, in what sources are calling a new round of persecution targeting Shenyang Falun Gong practitioners who refuse to give up their spiritual beliefs.

Jilin City Police Cover-Up Mr. Shao Hui Death for Two Years

Shao Hui with his wife and child.

Mr. Shao Hui was a clinical doctor from Jilin Province’s Huadian City. In December 2000, Shao, who had his phone tapped since the persecution began, was abducted from his home. He and his wife, Mu Ping, were both sentenced to three years in Jilin Province’s Huanxiling Forced Labour Camp for being Falun Gong practitioners. There, Shao was tortured and repeatedly deprived of sleep.

On March 21, 2002, Shao escaped from the illegal detention. In August 2002, however, officers found him hiding in a rental apartment. Another practitioner living with him tried to escape by jumping out the window but was disabled from the fall. Police killed Shao inside the apartment.

The police covered up the story and did not disclose Shao’s death to his family for two years. Shao’s wife was sent home from the labour camp in October, 2003 when she was on the brink of death.

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NEWS – Jan. 21, 2005
European Falun Gong Information Centre, More contacts. www.clearharmony.net

Background

Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa (about), is a practice of meditation and exercises with teachings based on the universal principle of “Truthfulness-Compassion-Tolerance.” Practised in over 60 countries world-wide, Falun Gong has roots in traditional Chinese culture. With government estimates of as many as 100 million practising Falun Gong in China, China’s then-Communist leader, Jiang Zemin, outlawed the peaceful practice in July 1999 (report). Since that time, Jiang’s regime has intensified its propaganda campaign to turn public opinion against the practice while imprisoning, torturing and even murdering those who practise it. The European Falun Gong Information Centre has verified details of 1290 deaths (reports) since the persecution of Falun Gong in China began in 1999. In October 2001, however, Government officials inside China reported that the actual death toll was well over 1,600. Expert sources now estimate that figure to be much higher. Hundreds of thousands have been detained, with more than 100,000 being sentenced to forced labour camps, typically without trial.

FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT THE EUROPEAN FALUN GONG INFORMATION CENTRE – Peter Jauhal + 44 (0) 7739 172 452, Nicolas Schols +32 47 98 75 734
More contacts. www.clearharmony.net Email: [email protected]