Five Falun Dafa Practitioners from Henan, Heilongjiang, Liaoning and Hunan Provinces Died as a Result of Persecution

1. Ms. Hu Guimin was a 66-year old Falun Dafa practitioner who lived in Puyang City, Henan Province. Since July 1999, the police frequently came to her home to harass her. They also ransacked her home. In April 2003, the persecutors harassed and threatened her 28 times. Ms. Hu was forced to leave her home to avoid further persecution. After suffering a stroke, she was taken to a hospital. The police came to the hospital and threatened her: "We know that you cannot move now. We would have arrested and sentenced you to forced labour had you not been sick." Hu's health continued to deteriorate and she died on May 19, 2003.

2. Mr. Wang Zhenshan was a 50-year old resident of Shuangcheng City, Heilongjiang Province. He began to practise Falun Dafa in 1996. He was firm in his cultivation and therefore enjoyed good health. Since July 20, 1999, the persecutors came to his home frequently and harassed him. They searched for Falun Dafa books and Teacher Li's pictures throughout his home. This persecution was too much for Mr. Wang and he became sick to the point of being bedridden. One year later, he went to Beijing to appeal in 2002, despite his physical condition. After he safely returned, members of the village and town "610 Office" (1) harassed him many times. As a result, his health condition worsened and Mr. Wang died in December of 2003 .

3. Ms. Yang Gaoshi was a 93-year-old resident of a village near Shuangcheng City, Heilongjiang Province. In 1996, she began to practise Falun Dafa. Her son, grandson and granddaughter-in-law also practised Falun Dafa. After the persecution started, her son and granddaughter-in-law were arrested twice and severely tortured. The elderly lady went to the brainwashing centre to ask the persecutors to release her son and granddaughter-in-law. Members of the local 610 Office manhandled her and dragged her out of the brainwashing centre. Ms. Yang was injured by this brutal treatment and she became bedridden. In December 8, 2002, Ms. Yang died.

4. Mr. Qi Guorong was an 81-year old resident of a village near Liaoyang City, Liaoning Province. His entire family practised Falun Gong. After July 20, 1999, the persecutors broke into and ransacked his home repeatedly. They also arrested, harassed, and abused the entire family. In late 2001, two of his sons and one daughter in law were arrested at home and sentenced to 18 months of forced labour. The elderly man was deeply affected by the suffering of his family and by being separated from his sons. He suffered many hardships as a result of their being away. As a result, Mr. Qi died in April of 2002 due to the prolonged harassment and mental torture.

5. Ms. Zhou Changli was 52 years old. She was a retired worker from the No. 2 Textile Machinery Factory in Changde City, Hunan Province. After she began to practise Falun Gong in 1997, her kidney condition, a hereditary disease that many of her family members suffered, disappeared and she enjoyed good health. On October 25, 2000, after Jiang Zemin's regime began to persecute Falun Gong, Ms. Zhou went to Beijing to clarify the truth (2). The police arrested her on Tiananmen Square and took her to a nearby police station. The persecutors transferred her to the Liaison Office of Hunan Province in Beijing. Then, security men from her workplace and some police took her to a Detention Centre in Hunan Province. During the unlawful interrogation, the police humiliated her using dirty language, and a tall policeman kicked her hard with his leather shoes. Inside the detention centre, Ms. Zhou suffered from acute leg pain, yet she was still forced to plant vegetables on a farm daily. She suffered both mentally and physically.

Ms. Zhou was detained in the detention centre for 15 days, and they extorted over 6,000 yuan (3) from her. In May 2001, someone reported her to the police while she was watching a truth-clarifying CD. The police arrested her and detained her again in a Detention Centre. The security section head from her workplace came to the detention centre many times, trying to brainwash her. The perpetrators also ordered Ms. Zhou's brother and sister to persuade her to give up her cultivation. Under pressure, Ms. Zhou copied the "Three Statements" (4) prepared by the security section head.

After she was released, Ms. Zhou's husband and daughter prevented her from reading Falun Dafa books and practising the exercises, as they were also were pressured by their own workplaces. Her husband and daughter took away all of her Falun Dafa books and truth-clarifying materials. A few months later, she went to see a doctor because of the acute pain in her legs. The medical exam showed that she suffered from late stage lung cancer. On October 22, 2001, Ms. Zhou Changli died as a direct result of the prolonged mental and physical torture she had endured.

Note:

(1) "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.

(2) Clarifying the Truth: Because of the nationwide persecution of Falun Gong in China, and the fact that the unrelenting hate -campaign carried out by China’s state-controlled media, Falun Gong publish and broadcast nothing but false and slanderous reports about Falun Gong and cover up the brutal persecution taking place in China, practitioners inside and outside of China have been actively engaged in what is referred to as "clarifying the truth" – explaining to the public the facts about Falun Gong and exposing the evil persecution. Truth clarification activities include face to face conversations with people, posting notices and posters, handing out flyers, and hanging banners explaining the truth about Falun Gong. Outside of China, where Falun Gong is freely practised, practitioners further expose the persecution in China through anti-torture re-enactments, art exhibits, Internet websites, books, magazines, newspapers, movies and letter writing. The goal of clarifying the truth is to help people understand what Falun Gong is and, to raise public awareness and support, in order to dispel the lies of the current communist regime in China and to raise public support to to bring about the end of the persecution. (Variations: "clarifying the truth", "truth clarifying", "truth-clarifying", "truth clarification", "truth-clarification", "clarifying the facts", "clarified the truth", and "clarified the facts")

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

(4) "Three Statements": Practitioners are coerced under brainwashing and torture to write "Repentance Statement," "Guarantee Statement" or 'Dissociation Statement" as proof that they have given up their belief. In the statement, the practitioner is forced to admit remorse for practising Falun Gong, promise to give up Falun Gong, and never again associate with other practitioners or go to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong.

Chinese version available at http://minghui.ca/mh/articles/2005/3/4/96620.html